Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-01-31
Greed of Ofics and Power without PrInCl-
pIs or Houesty-OffiOIaI PIunGerers.
Letter TO the Mayer Of Chicago from
Northern Mas who has been Ia
Chlcot county, Arkansas.
Ne Tells what He Sees aad What He knows,
and Appeals to the President and
Congress.

| though living witnesses IN the OOutA
of the crimes so heartily condemned
and the ignorance and vice so forci'
bly, pictured and deplored. Mr.. Moore
is neither journalist nor politician,
simply a citizen travelling for the re-
storation of his health, and being q
friend of Mr.. Medill, selects him as
the public man Of his acquaintance at
the North most likely to sympsthise
with him in the story which he re-
cites and which has moved him to the
expression Of just indignation. We
ask, at the hands of our contempora-
ries, widespread publication for this
Northern testimony as to carpetbag
rapacity, greed and crime.
LAKE VILLAGE, CHIoCT County, ARK,
Hon. Joseph Medin, Chicago Tribune:
Dear Sir-Your letters of Introduction
have won me hosts OF friends wherever I
have been in the south, and want to
thank you for them, and at the same time
give you some facts of interest about this
country. Lake Village snd Chicot county
have become known throughout the
world by the terrible scenes enacted here
few weeks sgO, but no one in the North
caE hsYs az idea of the state of things
here without seeing for himself. Chicot
county in snte-bellum times was the
richest, fsirest, and most productive
county in the State,
OLD RIVER LAKE,
q beautiful sheet of water in the form of
horse shoe, eighteen miles in length and
about a mile in width, is lined in on either
side with pl8ntstiOrs entirely above over
hOw, which, ten years ago, were like
continuous garden all under cultivation,
raising q bale of cotton to the acre, with
elegant houses, negro quarters. stables,
etc. Lake Village, the county seat, wss
prosperous village on the bank of the
lake, st It's head or toe of the horseshoe,
and from this point you could see eight or
tea miles down on either side of the lake,
take in at q glance twenty or thirty large
plantations, and In the distance the river
and steamboats,. It was indeed the most
beautiful spot for 8 home have seen in
any country, snd as rich as beautiful
Corn, cotton, and fruit of every variety
grew in luxurisnoe. But now it is, in
decd, a gloomy picture.
HOMES ARE DEsoLATED,
buildings going to decay, stock all gone,
isnds grown up in weeds, almost every
white woman in the country gone, white
men sfrsid Of their lives and getting away
as fast possible, every plantation for sale
st fraction Of its former worth, q large
portion Of the little crop Of cotton grown
still in the fields wasting In the wind,
negroes riding in the streets and roads
with their guns, white men all gloomy
and del scted and not smiling face eeeD.
What has caused this wonderful changer
= knH HI ns-E- i.
ties down like q night Of desth9-this
devastation and waste of this garden spot
of the Sunny SoUth7 Nothing, sir; moth
ing st all that is peculiar to Chicot
county; nothing that differs from slmost
any county in
MISSISSIPPI, ARKANSAS Oh LoUIsIANA,
Only the great tidal wave that has been
rolling over these States broke little
in Lake VILLAGE, and startled the whole
county. But the outbreak was ss likely
to occur in sny other spot.
The simple facts Of this affair are that
three quiet, unassuning farmers, living
from one to four miles of that village,
met tOgsther one sunny day in grocery,
and drank; on5 Of them, ct least, too
muCh-a thing unusual for him. In his
muddled state of mind he allowed him.
self to get into discussion with 6 colored
lawyer. The result was blows, q knife,
and, by mere accident, death. The cut
would not once in q hundred times have
killed, The whole colorsd psOple of the
neighbOThOOG were told that this cOlored
man was killed by Ku-klux; three de-
termined men had deliberately planned
his murder; one struck the blow, another
handed him the knife, and third stood
st the door to prevent rescue. They were
told
THEY MUST REVENGE his DEATH,
sad they gathered by hundreds,
reSdy to do the bidding of their master,
and fearfully they did 1t. The three
white men hsd been taken to Jail. But
thejsu was no barrier. The Keys were
found, the three men marched out in day
hght-nO attempt to conosEl the murder.
These deludsd negroes were only obeying
orders, and they drove the poor men
before them like hogs into the wood,
shOt them, riddled them, beat out
thsir brains and left them lit
tie ssmblsHce Of human beings, and
strswed Its contents In the ro6d-then
went bowling and shooting through the
town 10 tntimtdste the white people
then went 20 the houses of the murdered
men to pillsge and rob.
Now who is to blamef Who murdered
these three respectable nen3 Not these
poor
UNEDUoATED, UNTHINKINe NEeRoRs.
They were only the executioners. They
only obeyed Instructions. They say
the Judge of the county court
gave the order; but he is not TO
blame II he only obeyed instructions
Of the governor who appointed him,
who gave him q carte blanche to run the
business Of the county; who gave him
blank commissions 70 appoint all his
subOrdinstes. But the governor acts only
for his msEter. To Powell Clsyton, SEN
stor of Arkansas in Washington, then,
believe, is traced the origin of this great
crime. To him, to his satellites, to his
thieVins, worthless, wicked crew of ban
dts, hC ldiBg ali the Offices in the State by
his appointment, by his chicanery, by
his frsud and imposition upon the poor
pnlstseTed dsrkies. The record Of his
INFAMYIN THE STATE
is well known; how he became gov
ernOr; how he issued fraudulent certif1
Gates; how he induced the legislature,
composed largely Of negroes, two-thirds
OF whom cannot read or write, to pass 3
law allowing the governor to appoint all
the county officers until the election in
ls72;hOw be Issued state bonds dd libitiss8
how he became senator by fraud; how
be contracted with 81 adley in considers
ton OF having him elec,ed governor.
See how bis appointments Plan worked In
Chicot county. he tells Jim Mason, q
smart mulatio man, raised on planta-
tion there, be will make him judge of the
county II ne win have elected to the State
senate the man he wants. or course, the
mulattO Is created judge-and also has sp-
pointments sent in blank tor him to i'll
up for the other county officers. Jim is
too
KIND HEARTED
to forget his friends-the result Is Chicot
county has for ali its county officers a
set of men who-Well, / shall not describe
them-yOu have seen something OF the
ward politicians in Chicago, pick out the
worst set in the worst ward and multiply /
their meanness by q hundred thousand,
and you get the proportions. Not man
Of these own any property In the county, \
or would be elected by the people. What |
do they dot They see their masters
issuing State bonds by the millions,
why not issue county boncsf So they
COUNTY soRIP,
which Is abundant as leaves, quoted at
thirty cents on the dollsr-Stste bonds
shout the same; taxes, five snd a-haif per
CONCENTRATIONS made by colored asses
sors who get q per centage, Of course,
making the value Of lands as high as they
will .bssr. At least two thousand dollars on
q plantation is an average tax In Ohicot
county. Judge Mason says, very honest
ly, In speaking of the issue Of bonds: "I
see those other fellows making money out
OF ofica, am going to make some too"
Now, my dear sir, this Is the condition
OF thingsin
oHIoor COUNTY,
and 1 believe, indeed, IL is not worse than
IN verp many counties of this
and otner States, Look ct Louis
iana and her governor. Look ct
Governor Scott and South Caro-
lima. and GeOrgis and Governor Bullock.
what "a 10 be donef Lst any thinking
man 20 through this country and look