The daily gazette., 1874-12-14
From the Balt;m0re SIM.
Iress6eN Grant Oh Southern
Oufra0es.

While we have given the President
credit for the general spirit of his mes
sage, and the purposes aimed at in it,
there can be no doubt that on the sub
ject of Southern Outrages he speaks in
II somewhat ambiguous tone. He
thinks that there have been wrongs
committed on both whites and blacks.
He speaks of white leaguers and bands
of masked and armed men in connec-
tion with preparations for the late
election. There were decided indi-
cations, he thinks, on that occasion of
determination, by acts of violence
and intimidation, to deprive citizens
of the freedom OF the ballot because of
their political opinion. How far the
President may be correctly Informed
on this subject we will not undertake
to say, but it would seem that he is
not over confident himself OF his facts
from the apparent tone of apology in
which he justifics his interference in
Southern affairs, while at the same
time protesting to regret its necessity.
He confesses that Southern citizens
have suffered grievous wrongs, and ad-
mits that :" the, better part of them, y
fhave sd dIspos-. -.tion 70 be ~fuw-ubiding
and to do no violence either to indi-
viduals or to tie laws existing" and
says that he "sympathiZes with their
PROSTATE condition, and would do all
in his power to relieve them, acknOw-
ledging that they have had most trying
governments TO live under, and very
oppressive ones in the way of taxa
| tion." The late elections indicate
that the American people concur in
| this view of the Southern situation,
and emphatically show that they do
not concur with the President in his
belief of outrages to such an extent
upon any class of the voters in the
Sorth SO as to justify federal inter-
ference.
Among the many instances which
thave occurred of the unreliability of
stories reported by interested Southern
Underwriters for. political effect of
loutrages upon the blacks, is one men
toned in late; letter in the New
York Tribune. A few weeks ago n
correspondent sent that journal a copy
of a letter he had received from Ala
bama, telling a story of the murder of
J an estimable citizen, Mr.. A. e. West,
who was said to have been shot in the
; most brutal manner because he was
Yankee. The Tribune says that no
sooner was the narrative of his assassi-
: nation read at the scene of the supposed
} tragedy thau half score of witnesses
! nastened to inform it that the whole
2 story was lie. Among others, Mr.
West himself is very much annoyed at
. the reported murder, as he has not
been hurt in any way, but still lives,
: and on the best tel ms with his neigh
tbors.
1t remarkable feature of Southern
outrages that their victims, after
being slaughtered, frequently come
to life. This is true of colored as well
as white men, the former often figur'
= ing in political conventions, and pas
sing resolutions of thanks to journals
which had recorded their untimely
! taking off 1t is not worth while fol
any one to permit his feelings to bt
! narrowed by stories of either white OF
black martyrdoms in the South till the
, lauthority of the narrative has beer
$ thoroughly examined, and sufficient
: Itime has elapsed to be sure that tho
dead will not come TO life again.