St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-06-28

which | carefully read, and in whicl
there are Il great many good things
and | commend the reading of il to eV
cry gentleman here who may not have
already read it. He comedies all tina
has been alleged of outrage and cruelty
against the cnlored race. but he argue,
that there is no political significance Il
all in it. that il grows entirely out q
the hatred of the negro rs such. and Il:
Il freeman. But there is more in thi,
than Mr.. Pollard admits. The ncgr,
would he tolerated ;t> Il freeman an,
even IS Il voter if he would give his po
lilical support I" the ruling class III tl,
South. This he cannot and will not do
The ruling white class i'll the South
the good blood. the property holders
were i'll the rebellion. They are Dem.
ocratS. or Conservatives. or Liberal:
now: they support everything aud amy
thing except the Republican party. Th,
cnlorcd man is in everything political
their exact opposite. and he must he
lie knows (howtNtr ignorant and um
l.ttcrcd hc may hc) that to the Rrpuh
lican party lie owes his freedom and
every civil and political right he pos
SeSSeS. He knows but for that party
he would still he but il chattcl, and hat
if the Democratic party had its way h,
would still he Il slave.
This knowledge and this feeling max,
every colurcd man in the South IL Re
publican. and make ii impossible fol
him To hc anything else. | do not meal
to say that there may not hc individual
cases where some personal interest ol
Influence MAY induce IL colorcd man to
vote the other way, but | do say that
every colored man who votes his .iudg
ment and honest feelings will vote with
the Republican party. And here let
me say Ia my friends over the WAY thLt
you may nominate ~ many Horace
GrcelcNs or I> many other men a. NnIl
please To be supported 10y the Dcmoc
racy. you will get II" support from the
colorcd men of the South. They are
Republicans, 'haptizcd 10y fire. and
are sure 10 Il man for General Grant nI
whncvermaN carry the Republican ban
ntr.
Mr.. Speaker. after the negroes had
received their freedom. and thus he
come entitled tn civil rights a> free
men. it WAS determined 10y their old
dom should hr nominal merely. They
attempted this bN State laws. to which
| have already alluded. There might
10y possibility have been some fear that
there would hc out breaks and disturb
ances 10y them. though there seems
never /" have been any decent prcteNt
for such fear: and do not believe that
II existed Ia amy apPrcciahlr extent,
The whole current of evidence on all
sides bears uniformly i'll favor of the
quiet and good order observed bN tn,
negroes. 1t WAS perfectly clear upon
all the evidence taken 10y the commit
tee that the secret Organization known
popularity a. the ku kluN. but having
really Various other names. WAS set uI
for the purpose of keeping the negroes
in Il state of subsection to the old south
rIn rebel element.
After the ballot WIS given To the ne
gro full Use and scope WAS found fnr
the organization. 1t was devised I,
work not only on the fears hut also ol
the superstition of the colorrd people
The strength of numbers IN which the
klans generally rode. armed to tn,
teeth. the bloody work they often made
were quite enough tu excite the fears o
Drawer and less dctcnccl,>S people than
the poor freedmen of the south. hur
probably THEN horrible, and yhu>tly at
tire 10y middighl t"rrhliyht was ~ p"
tent of Influence ~ thriI Ia>hcs al thcil
pistols.
Now. >ir. il MAS formerly denied that
such Il thing ~ ku kluN klan> existed
For Il long time the Democratic pres,
denied il. have repeatedly heard il
denied hN gentlemen CA this floor Bu
if proof of their existence WI> needed
it has hccm demonstrated ahundantlN
hN the lahurS of this committee. 1t j.
conceded in the rlah"r:rtc report of tia,
minority 1" have prevailed over con
siderable portions of the South.
Ii" committee examined hmdrrd
of persons who had been Victims q
( ihrir terrible and cruel d,,u> II hn
hccm demonstrated that thousands &"
persons have been put l." death 10y
them. that still greater numbers haN,
been cruelty >ruurUcd. IuniInrd. IN,
dI>tigurcd. and many more forced I,
flee from their homes for safety. Th,
attempt i no longer made to DENY rhr
/ existence. but in some WAY to m>tit,
/ 'l tN'll>t' IT. WV I'ltltll>t' SCI lIl VIZ
/ that il was Il kind of voluntary locl
police Ia preserve the peace and keel
good order III the community. and tina
+ they only visited punishment upon per
SONS who have Violated good order ol
committed some otfrnSc.
have already said that the concur
rent testimony of men of all GLASSES lrl,
been that the colorcd people of tin
South have never shown any but the
most orderly and law abiding diSpoSi
ton. But if this were otherwise. al
witnesses of all parties agree that i'll al
parts of the South there has not beer
the slightest difficulty in enforcing tin
laws and furnishing all ordinary otlcnS
eS against the laws. There doubtlrS
have been instances where punishment
WAS inflicted for some real or suppose,
0t1enSe of the person punished: one q
two instances of that class have bee
paraded with IL great noise hy the mi
nnrity of the committee. as if the man
thousands of utterly unprovokcd an
same character.
The evidence of witnesses called b
the minority of the committee had II
tendency to contradict the vast mass a
outrages i'll detail proved by the vic
tins of them and hy other cntirel
credible witnesses. Their witneSse
were eX-membcrs of Congress, eX-Gov
ernorS. eX-iudgeS, men who general
lived i'll the cities and large towns
aloof from the actual scenes of the ont
RACES. and who probably swore trul
when they stated they had never see
Ku kluX. But some of them had til
hardihood to swear they did not believ
in their existence, and believed it WA
all got up for effect by the Iepuhlica
papers in the North. My charity is n,
broad enough to enable me to believ