The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1874-10-08
SENATOR SHURZ ON rrKTr,
SOUTHERN SITUATION.
Extrac.s from EEI- Late Snaa.n
WHAT THE ADMINISTRATION OUGHT TO

and all the Southern States. or to strip
or their official power, the multitude If
lederal office holders, who have looked
upon themselves as mere party agents
using All their influence to sustain and
s.rengthen the blood suckers desolatinp
Inat country, and probably not in manv
cases obvious Of their own profit. And 7
was sincerely reioiced when a few DAYS
| ago read in the papers that the Presi-
deht was seriously thinking of boldi,o a
terrible muster of federal placemen IN Tho
4 South. 1t is timely resolution NJ.
I was it more necessary Let ne bo,1o H. )
not single one of those who ba1,o ,oa.la
the federal authority symbol ~ selfsb
PARTISAN power and greedy oppression
may escape him, and that the beo;npin,,
ne made with Packard and his associates
whose partisan appeals led the President
10 recognize the Kellogg government two
years ago, and brought him into posi-
tion IN which he now could not perform the
duty OF enforcing the federal authority
without at the same time sustaining a fla
grant wrong
But there the duty of the National
government does not end. Tt will not
have been fully performed as long as the
usurpaton set on foot by Fedesal Judge
and supported by the federal power is not
undone. No longer than the period of
Its next meeting should the Congress of
the United States permit any citizen of
Louisiana to believe that the highest leo
lslatlve power of the republic can so far
yield to partisan. spirit as to sustain a
palPable, an undoubted usurpation. even
after that usurpation has most ionOnini
ously demonstrated its inability to sustain
itself That duty remains unfulflIed
until that precedent is wiped out, which
Is as dangerous as that of n successful
revolution would have been; the precedent
of a successful coup d'etat, creating a
State Government and a Legislature with
out the evidence of election, bv the mere
fiat of Federal Judge, supported bv a
United States Marshal and Federal bayo-
nets, and band of reckless partisan adj
venturers. Let the highest powers in the
land once more make every citizen I'M
derstand and feel that, while preserving
intact the lawful authority of the govern
ment, they are ready to throw aside all
selfish considerations. of party interest
when the rights and the welfare of the
people and the integrity of republican
institutions are in question. Let this be
done-let it be done by those who stand
at the head of the dominant party-as
proof Of good faith and patriotic spirit,
and the lessons taught by the events in
Louisiana, will be of inestimable benefit
to the whole American people.
THE SOUTH HAS A DUTY.
On the other hand, the citizens of the
South must not be permitted to forget
that they, too, have duty to perform.
The people of the North sincerely desire
that they should have honest and consti-
tutional government. Even large ma
jority of the Republicans in the North
have long been heartily disguised with
the government of thieving adventures
which plundered the South. But when
that public opinion was on the point of
becoming so strong that no partisan spirit
in power could have long resisted it, what
happened? The bloody riot in New
Orleans in 1866; the organization Of the
Ku Klux all over the South; the butchery
of Grant parish in 1873; the murders of
Coushatta; the slaughters of the helpless
negroes in Trenton, Tennessee, not to
speak Of minor atrocities! What was the
effect ? The growing sympathy with the
victims of plumber wasturned into sympa-
thy with the victims of murder.
When the Ku-Klux bill was before the
Senate / opposed it, by argument and
vote, on constitutional grounds. But
knowing, as | did, that the Ku-Klux bill
was not only supported by partisan
schemers anxious for the preservation of
party ascendeney, but also by unselfish
and fair minded men, impelled beyond
the limits of their constitutional powers
by a generous impulse, then expressed
the opinion that unless such
DEEDS CT BLOODY VIOLENCE
were suppressed by the Southern people
themselves, federal interferences in any
form, with all its consequences, would be
demanded and sustained by an overpow-
erng public opinion, and no constitutional
argument would be strong enough to
prevent or stop it. 1t is to be hoped
that by this time the people Of the South |
have learned that those who disgrace
them bv deeds of bloody violence are their
worst enemies Let them act upon that
lesson. Let them dissolve their white
mems leagues; for every organization
based upon distinction of color is not
only wrong in itself, but harmful to both /
races. Let them make the poor negro
feel that he has not only willing, but an
active, protector in every good citizen. |
Let them understand that the most eff !
Gent method to fight the thieves who rule |
them is by relentless suppressing. the
murderous ruffians among themselves,
who strip them of the sympathy OF the /
country. Silent disapproval is nothing 4
Good intentions are nothing Mere public
resolutions are nothing. Only vigorous
action will avail Only the practical
punishment of malefactors will serve: /
They Justly demand that no thief shall
find grace because he is a Republican.
Let them show that no murderer will lind
grace with them because heis Democrat. /
Let party spirit cease to be a shelter TO
the criminal. No white mans league VIII
do them any good. An antl-ruthan
league, of which every good citizen
is a member, is the thing the South /
wants. !,
/ say this as true friend of the South
ern people, who has more than once
raised his voice against the wrongs they /
have suffered. And / hail with gladness
the spirit animating the Governor of Ten
nessee, who does not resist until all the
murderers of Trenton are in the clutches
of the law; and the charge of that Ken /
lucky Judge, who tells his grand jury that /
if thew fail to indict, not only the man /
who committed murder, but also the
Sheriff who willtully neglected to arrest /
that murderer, he will find grand jurYmen l
in another county who will do their duty |
II that shirt. which will relentlessly |