The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-09-10

TENNESSEE 1RO UBLES---,SPEELIf
Rl,i JEFFERSON D.fFBS--SOUTH,
RI,N MEN THE TRtE FRIENDS
or THE NEGROES lt seh,s,a
|, kIr.Jeiferson Davis addresse,la meeting
i'm Mrmbhiso On the 2Sth ult., called togive
expression t. the public sentiment cons
cerning the ontrages in Gibson county.
Mr. Dovil slid
FRIRNDS AND CoUNrRYMRN:-AN \ on have
assembled tonight, not for the hare pur-
pose of giving that expression which hu-
inanity demands, hut yQu have assembled
fora holier duty. q 1t is what you owe to
yourselves, what you owe to your poster
ity; what yOu owe tothe living; what you
owe TO the gallant dead who died fight
ING forthe sacred cause of Southern lnde-
pendence. And y0u men OfiiPolk, of
Gmndy, of Gibson beware that yOu do
not dishonor the dead nor tarnish the
living. Youa not here toexpress your
horror of particular crime. ltisacrime
to be punished, and to be punished as it
deserves crime that appeals to the
officers of the law that they will do their
duty. You have come here to appeal to
TO the country abroad that you are not
race of assassins, that you don't wear
masks, and that i'm asserting yOur rights,
you will 90 forward to, the end Of your
lives never wearing musk nor even
blackening your face, Applause ] ] was
the other day particularly struck at read.
the testimony OF of q negro before one OF
those INVESTIGATION committees in South
Carolina, lie was asked ifhe knew Wade
Hampton? Oh, yes, they had been raised
together from childhood. Did he believe
that he was engaged in any Of those ,Ku
KIux oGtrages? No, he did not Why
Because" said the negro, IF Massa
Wade Hampton bad anything to do with
those men, IL would have been the white
men that he would have been after, and
not the negroes" Applause The South
ern men arethe only friends the negro
has in any part ofthe world 1t becomes
us to be their friends Every Southern
mans memory runs back TO the good old
black woman who nursed him in his in
fancy, and then to the boy who hunted
and fished with him, and the man who
learned him TO ride. All llremember with
what ioy and manifestations of love the
nurse welcomed him back home after he
had reached manhood. While these
memories cluster around him, he can
never forget them when they stood in
those relations which believe God in
tended that they should occupy. If these
relations have been disturbed, it has been
by those incendiaries who have come in
among us only to stir up strife. 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 nee
essary for the public peace that you will
| do in an open manner, with the visor
raised and the helmet open. Applause
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 thatin the event
of war of races the blacks would be ex-
terminated, and that we then would
have a happy and rOseate future. have
no sympathy with those men The ne
groes were my friends in the olden time,
and took care of our wives, and children,
homes in the time of war. They brought
this grand Mississippi Valley into culti-
walton, and are the only ones, think,
that can or will ever be able tosuccesful-
ly cultivate it. [Applause.l But don't
intend to to touch upon a question upon
which every man has already formed an
opinion. have no feeling against the
colored men. The only Indignation which
| / feel is against those white men who
have carried them into the position they
now occupy. Let US have our vengeance
against them, notagainst the poor blacks.
[Applause.l