Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1874-10-23
THE CHATTANOoaA CONVENTION.


dress Upon the Condition OF Affairs In
THE Southern states.
In the Chattanooga Convention on the
14th the Committee on Outrages reported
progress and asked TO be excused from
reporting to the convention because OF
the voluminous matter they were re-
qured to handle. After some opposi-
ton the report was adopted, with in
structions to the committee to present
their statistics early in the session of
Congress.
The resolutions, unanimously adopted,
are substantially as follows:
WHEREAS, We recognize the equality of all
men before the law and hold that ft is the duty
Of the Government in dealing with the people to
mete out equal and exact justice to all, Of what
ever race, color or persuasion, religion or poll
WHEREAs, The Federal Congress has the nm.
doubted power to enforce by suitable legislation
the said rights; therefore, be II
ReSOiDed, That we rcatirm and indOrsc the
platform of the National Republican Convention
adopted at Philadelphia In 1872, in declaring that
the equal civil and political rights of all citizens
should be enforced by appropriate State and
ResofreK, That we fully indorse the action Of
the National Administration in taking active
measures to suppress the outrages, violence and
States, and maintaining law and order and the
rights OF all classes, especially action suppress
ing the recent lnsurreetion and upholding the
existing Government OF Louisiana.
The third denounces in the strongest
terms the perpetrators of the murders
and other outrages in the South, and ar
raigns the Democratic party, which has
fostered the existence of the KuKluX
and White League, and indorses the en-
deavors of the Federal Government to
bring the murderers to justice.
The fourth recommends that, whenever
the government of any State is over
thrown by insurrection, that the Federal
Government Teinstate it.
The fifth denounces the color line, and
all measures which tend to the Inaugural
tion of war of races, or division of citi-
zens into parties defined by color or con-
ditions.
The sixth recommends the President to
look into the character and conduct of
Federal officers in the South, and remove
any against whom there may be sus-
picions.
The seventh recommends the sale of
public lands for the benefit of education,
the funds to be divided among the States
according to the ratio of illiteracy.
The eighth urges upon the Republican
party in the South and the Administration
at Washington the necessity of selecting
none but honest and capable men for
office, and recommends the National Ad-
ministration to remove all such as do not
possess these qualifications.
The ninth recommends the opening of
rivers and water-courses in the South, and
the maintenance of naval stations on the
Southern coast
The last is as follows:
ResoiUed, That we earnestly appeal to all citi-
zens of the United States whatever their political
associations may be- who revere the sacred mai
esty of the law and the dignity of the nation, to
aid us in our honest effort to restore tranquility
70 fTNf 4Ffntsr
and to develop the material interests of the whole
country.
Other resolutions were subsequently
adopted, demanding from Congress some
action looking to the reappOrtionment of
the Congressional districts in Georgia
and denouncing the misrepresentation
and mendacity of most of the agents of
the Associated Press in the South in con
cealing the outrages the Democratic
party have committed and in traducing
Southern Republicans.
The report of the committee to pre-.
pare an address upon the condition OF
affairs in the Southern States was made
and unanimously adopted. The address
is as follows:
A parallel t. RS convention finds no prcce
dent in the political history of the country. Tn,
supporters of grand humanity. which taxed tC
the utmost the blood aud treasure of the nation
to establish, are compelled to come together tC
vindicate themselves to their fellow-laborers il
that cause against the persistent misrepresenta
tion of those who to the death opposed the prin
ciples involved in that sublime contest. W,
meet here to repel the assertion that we are an,
less patriots than when many Of us were founc
keeping step to the music of the Union, or les
conscientious than when Others of US upheld th
cause of the Confederation. We shall deal truth
fully with the Southern political situation
though our presentation of it will be marred b.
the necessity to cOndense the most prolific polit
ical theme of the day to the concise limits re
quired TO command attention.
The record of the crimes that have staine,
Southern soil since reconstruction is testified {,
I'm terms by the Committee on Facts and Stats
tics, presenting to the public summary of ont
RACES which staggers belief. We would cndeavo
tOmpress upon our political brethren of tn
North the vast distinction existing between tn
features Of political contest in their region an
of the same event in the reconstructed States Ii
the one case ii is rivalry; in the other it /
strife In the one it is confined to a brief period
in the other it prevails at all times and on al
occasions. and the political situation seemingl
becomes the material interest. In one regio
the struggle is brief and peaceably conducted; il
the other II Is prolonged and perpetual. marke,
by bitterness, intolerance persecution, murde
and assassination. In one section of the Unio
Republicanism is a badge of honorable patriot
ism; in the other large proportion of the Demo
cratic and Conservative classes prefer TO regar
it as political leprosy, contact with which Is I
be stunned, and those protesting its principle
are assumed to be the social, moral and politicu
enemies of the South and the experience o
numbers of this convention demonstrates tn
fact that within the land of their nativity an
adoption their lives, and those of men of tnei
party laltn, are IN constant peril through tn
maintenance of political idea, and they fin
themselves without adequate protection iron
either the State or National Government. All tn
malignancy and bitterness generated BY crushe
pride of political and sectional opinion; by dc
feat upon the battlefield and the downfall of tn
lost cause: by the overthrow of the dominancv 4
the white race; by immediate poverty, pressin
want, and the necessity to labor, are aggravate
by the presence of the direct cause-in the opiI
ion of the old citizens of the South-the cOlore
man The force of the very circumstances III
der which the colored man was emancipate
and enfranchised made him an adhereI
to the party in power, and put him i
political antagonism with the dsaffecte
white classes, The circumstances of reconstrut
tion under which negro citizenship became pal
of the organized law of the nation and an el,
ment of Southern politics, divided parties
many States of the South as fact placing III
whites in one body and the colored In anothe
almost as exclusively and distinctly as fthe line
of the party demarkatiOn We're intentional
drawn upon the distinction of race. and this inc
dental yet under the circumstances unavoidable
political distribution of the races into oppOsin
party combinations serves most pOtently to au
me't enlnity and provoke strife. When the nj
rcpentant, unreconstructed old shareholders st
tte ions-despised race standing clothed with Ii
dignity ana prerogatlves OF American citizen
the former slave now the political equal befol
the law of the master, no longer chatte out
voter, controlled by his own preferences and COZ
yiction, and determined in his political actio
and aililiation by his own will, not only Il
vaunted pride of race, but the arrogance engei
dered by vicious and oppressive institution
contribute to embittur many OF the white men
the South, and they not unnaturally feel, thoug
unJusuy, ludt the blNCk mans privileges hay
been acquired through the downfall and at tho O.
pcn-e OF the proud and hitherto dominant Cal
Caslan. In the presence of these hostile pOltic
and personal prCjUdiCu5 the ColOTed people fcl
that their rights are In jeopardy, and every COZ
test, to them at least, involves not only the su
cess or dcleat of cherished political conviction
but the lOss or safety of their political and civ
Iights, and this fear for the safety and perpetui
ofinterests so dear and vital to them comes in
Intensity the anxiety and passion attendant upC
every political campaign.
The ncwy-enfranchised citizen is also obno
ious to the opposition masses because of Il
personal affiliations that the force Of his necess
ues has occasiOned Beginning his new ventu
asa voter, and making his initial efforts as a cit
zen, not only embarrassed by the novelty of h
duties and his inexperienoe In public affairs bl
without the counsel and sympathy of his mol
experienced and better informed white neg
bors, and In many instances against their bit
opposition, he has been compelled TO select II
newcomer among the whites as his adviser al