Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-06-28

only saved from punishment by his PooIsI
influence; that he would guarantee fho,
this man, Mac Lindsay, would pick INV
from the county where he lived, and wh;ap
was between the two lines during the ,.a oh
sixty or one hundred men equally az A.
Ing and brave as himself; that this man
Mac Lindsay, would give the Governor ~
trouble-that if any of these men, arrcs,as
by him, undertook any resistance he wouII
kill them, or they would be lost and nera,
be heard of again. do not undertake -
state his exact words, but this was the srS
stance OF his conversation. The Goyernor a,
this time was sitting in his chair. He cot
up and walked neryously up and d.
the room for few minutes before an,,
thing was said. l got up from the SCAT
occupied on the sofa, i'm the south-w
corner of the room, and stated TO the ,,n,,
ernor, and it may have been In the M
ence of some others of the company. tba,
such proposition was infamous, and tIoI
if 1t resulted as suggested the coyernor
would be damned i'll the memories of men
for all time. Mr.. Pool then said 7 hal
misunderstood his meaning, that he diJ
not intend that result, he wanted TO illuo
trate the determined character of Lipdsay
and he may have qualified it in a ooo,,
many other ways. He stated IL. ,his con
nection that ClaytOn's troops gave no tro,,-
bic. At this time some other man wLo
was present, l do not recollect distinctl,,
who it was said that he could furnisI
sixty or one hundred men of the same do
scription from his county, and mentioned
some wonderful exploits they had perform.
ed during the war. All of these PROPOSE
tions and suggestions with regard to ,isin,,
such violent material were objected 10 hv
| Gov. Holden.
AT sometime during this conversation
and when the propriety of using military
measures was under discussion, and when
| Gov. Holden was, as l understood it. Oh
jecting to the means proposed, and seem
| ing lndisposed to undertake the movement
Mr.. Pool said in substance about tlis
| 'Governor, you do not know how they are
talking about you in Washington. The
Republicans there say that YOU are a ,ail-
ure, and Grant says that you and Smith of
Alabama were made governors of States
by the Republican party under the recon
| structlon acts, and that you are sitting still
and permitting these ku l6lux TO take them
away from you, or cause them to slip away
from YOU"
There was meeting the next day at
which only the Governor, John Pool and
| myself were present. Somebody Suggested
the appointment of Col. Clarke WHO was
in the city. Col. Clarke was sent for. and
after persuasion, agreed to accept the CON-
| mand. concurred.
q. Who invited you to the conference
in the executive office
A. was invited by the Governor.
q. State as near as you can, the rola
.ive positions of the Governor, John Pool
yourself, aud any other persons you can
recollect.
A. just previous to the time when MIR.
Pool recommended his military plan, he
had been standing, conversing with some
body, at the southeast window. The Gov
ernor was either in his chair or walking llp
and down the room, between where his
chair sat and the subdivision between the
southern windows, and L was sitting on the
sofa near the southwestern window, or near
the Governors chair.
q. What was Mr.. Pools manner?
a. My impression from his MANNER was.
that Mr.. Pool meant what he said until his
proposition met with disfavor; and then ho
varied his manner so as to induce the be-
lief that he had been TESTING.
| q. Please state what was your inference,
from the language of Mr.. Pool, before his
plan met with disfavor, of the character
and antecedents of Lindsay?
A. l thought Lindsay Il determined vii
lain, capable Of taking life ut the instance
of q superior without question. drew The
inference from Mr.. Pools statement, AMI
that was my reason for denouncine il inf:,-
nous.
q. Did BIr. Pool suggest the arrest OF
any parties by name, or did he suggest the
arrest of prominent gentlemen of the con
sentative party q?
A. cannot say from my own recolcc-
ton, with absolute certainty, that he did,
and am diSinclined to the belief that he
did. l have some distinct idea OF some
thing Of the kind, but think il must have
| 4
stantly read.
g. Had you ever heard, until Mr.. Pool
made the statement, of the particular acts
which Mr.. Pool said Governor Clayton had
performed in Arkansas ?
A. l had not. had a confused notion
from the Geographic accounts Of ncwspa
pers, to which paid little attention, such
thugs being common, that Governor Clay
ton was undertaking a military movement
against certain portions Of Arkansas
=. Did you understand MIR. Pool TO ap-
prove and recommend to Governor Holden
the conduct Of Governor Clayton?
n. did. My understanding was that
when he related what Governor Clayton
> had done he intended that it should he fol
lowed by Governor Holden.
q. bid Mr.. Pool, in that conversation
give Gov. Holden, Gen. Grants opinion OF
Clayton?
A. am not certain that hc did, but he
did use Grants name in connection will
Governor Clayton and Governor Smith 0
Alabama.
Q. Have you had any conversation OF
communication with the other parties Wht
were present, who corroborate your state
mentS if SO, who are the parties
a. L have conversed with Col. VIM. J
Clarke in regard TO this matter, and he said
though he had no distinct recollection o
the specific conversation, he did recollec
that many violent propositions were made
but none adopted. j. III. Harris told me
in front of the Court House in this city, il
the Fall Of 1870, that III that meeting, Mr.
John Pool made neutrality-suspicious. of whicl
his recollection was not distinct, of Il very
violent character, and said something about
closing men," or that " he had a man who
would lose men," have had converse
ton with ID. A. jenkins who nenes being
present at the time also with |. j. Young
r who agrees substantially with the facts AZ
| have stated them, and with Governo,
Holden, who also agrees with the facts as
, have stated them.
q. When Senator Pool spoke of resist
ance, did you understand it as relating
solely to instances Of that kind, or rather
that he would dispose of men in such {:
way as to relieve Governor Holden of the
odium and responsibility of such things:
A. thought both from the first suggest
iOn-that he, Lindsay, would do it in either
case, and render courts-martial unneces-
sary. lie afterwards qualified it, but not
until it had met with the disapproval OF
nearly every person present in that part OF
the room. He then qualified it as L have
stated it, i'll my eXaminatlon-in-chief.
a IL inf or n