The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-09-08
THE INDIANA STATE SENTINEL TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1874

to this fact, and have learned at last that
men who assemble in masks at midnight, and
take the law into their own hands, execut-
ing bloody vengeance upon prisoners merely
accused of crime and waiting trial, can
not count upon alliance or support in the
Northern States. We are too busy here in
attacking public thieves and plunderers TO
stop to defend the more dangerous deeds of
open outlaws, nor have we the inclination il
we had the time. Southerners of note are
now impressed with the conviction that
they can not shake off a portion of the re-
sponsibility for the violence committed in
the community ia which th9shold the chief
places, and they are taking active measures to
secure peace and good order. Their efforts
will go far to counteract the bad impression
made by the acts Of lawless desperadoes. AS
a matter of good policy, therefore, they are
doing well. 1t may be likewise that a sense
of justice, reverence for law and hatred for
anarchy influence them to protest against
the disorders now shaking the Southern
states to their foundations. A memorable
meeting of men thus eager to vindicate out
building in Memphis on last Friday even
ing. 1t was called to give expression to the
sentiment of the better classes of the citizens
in regard to the recent outrages in Gibson
county, Tenn.
The assemblage was large in number, re-
spectacle in character and enthusiastic in
feeling. Judge Wright reported a series of
which were unanimously
adopted. They set forth the facts of the re-
moval of sixteen colored prisoners from the
county jail, and their cruel execution, and
declared the sentiment of the meeting to be
urgent for the punishment of every indi-
vidual engaged in the outrage, to the fullest
extent of the law. Furthermore, vigilance
was urged in hunting out the criminals, and
zeal demanded in their prosecution. The
action of the governor in Offering heavy re-
wards for the apprehension of the murder
ers was also commended, and finally, by way
of sting in the last resolution, the decIara-
ton is added: "That we fear very much that
the colored people of Gibson county, IN the
late troubles in that county, were melted
'by the counsels of bad men tor political eff
feet, and that we feel no hesitation in de-
'nouncing all such counsels as stir up strife
'and trouble, come from what quarter they
may"
Speeches were made by ex-Gov. Isham G.
Harris, the Hon. L. c. Haynes, Col. Duncan
McRae, Jefferson Davis and Gen. n. b. For
rest. The tone of the speakers was in har-
mony, and favored the maintenance of law
and order and the punishment of the out
rage which the meeting had gathered to de
nounce. The utterances of the last two
speakers were of special interest. Forrest
rose to his feet in response to loud calls from
the audience, and declared that he bad come
there as a humble citizen to enter his protest
against the atrocities committed in Gibson
adding that he was ready to start
next day to hunt up the murderers. He
closed with this short. sharp and decisive
declaration, which was received with great
applause:
I am ready to protect the black man as much
and as quick as the white man | want to see
our people act in harmony. We have suffered
untold millions by these troubles already: Will
they never stop? They should be stopped, they
must be stopped, and IL You all will be as deter
mined as am to stop them, They will be stopped.
We have got to hunt these men down. We have
the officers ana the law on our side, and we must
hunt these men down black or white, treat all
alike, and when this is done you VIII see no more
mui ders in this community.
The speech of jefferson Davis was, like all
those made during the evening, short; but
it was peculiar and to the purpose. The
aroma of the lost case hung round it like
a delicate perfume, poetical and delicious,
not offensive. He said they had assembled
less to express horror at particular crime
than to vindicate the memory of the dead
and the honor of the living. They were met
to show the world abroad that they were
not race of assassins, that they were
men who, in asserting their right
would go on to the end of their lives with
out wearing mask,or backing their faces.
He asserted that the tenderest relations
had ever existed between the Southern
white men and the negroes, and, even
though what he considered their natural
relations had been broken up, the old affec-
tions should remain. Every Southern mans
memory ran back to the good old black
woman that nursed him in his infancy, the
boy who hunted and fished with him, and
the man who taught him to ride. He
closed with few ringing sentences that show
much of the old fire of southern genius and
a few sparks of old southern hate:
1t now rests with you to show TO the world
that you are incapable of secret crime: that you
hate the men who wear the mask or black the
face, and that whatever is necessary for the
public peace you will do in an open manner with
the visor raised and the helmet open.
The colored people require the white
man to provide for and look after them now as
much as they ever did Now, there are men
who think that in the event of of races
that the blacks would be extermiDated, and that
we would then have happy and roseate
future. have no sympathy with those men.
The negroes were my inds in the olden time.
and took care OF our wives and children and
homes in the time of war. They brought this
are the only ones, 1 think that can or will be
ever able to successfully cultivate it. But don {
intend to touch upon question upon which
every man has already an opinion. have no
feeling against the colored men. trhe only ind'g-