New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-09-24
SENATOR MORTON ATINDIAN.APOLIs,
The Past asd Present Condition of the
SOUTH

SENATOR MORTON AT TINDIANAPOLIs.
The Past asd Present Condition Of the
SOUTH
Senator Morton addressed an immense
audience at Masonic Hall. September Is.
reviewing the pas, and presen: conditicn Of
the South. He spoke earnestly and calmly.
and his remark. throughout were enrhu'
siss.ically spplauied. Thousands who came
to hear him were turned away for want OF
room. The following Is condensed report
of his speech.
We are told that reconstruction :s fall
ure, and that tae recen. disturbances oy
the White Leagues are evidence that 1t was
based UPON false principles. ! dlssel: tsol0
this statement entirely.
So Ear as reconst struct:on has failed. i has
been br the conduc: 8. ;.s enemies. not Dee
cause Of intrinsic defects .! tte systein.
The resistance offered to it by nurderers
and desperadoes does noc prove II uasound
anv more than the violations OF the cr.m.'
ma: law by teions prove it unsounc. Ihe
system OF reconstruction is based on the
5yoadest principles OF justice. ''e9ua!i'y anu
.epublicanism.'
The fourteenth amendment excluded q
certain class Ok rebels from holding once,
but that class has been diminished by
Congress until i does no. number over
10 men. Ine resistance to seeoas: rue.
:ior grows out OF the fierce opposition
to the abolition Of slavery, and - the
elevation Of the negroes to civ! and
political rights. The proposition to estao'
..sh a white mans government. exc!u dine
negroes from participation. is war no: cniy
with the system OF reconstruction. but With
tie fourteenth and fifteenth amendments.
The White Leagues are An armed organ.za'
,iorfe having but single principle. which ,s
that all political power. State and national
shal! be vested only in white men. exciud'
ing the negro Totally. They recognize nc
line Of demackatior in politics EXCEPT 1.-THE
color line Their weapons are murder and
perjury. and they point to 5'''' "wi. deeds
VI murder as evidence :AA. the system OF
reconstruction is uns".ind and failure.
The recent Outburst OK murde.Ous vIo.
leuce. not Only in Louisiana. but throughout
most Of the Southern States. has. in great
part. grown out OF . deiuslve notion that
;he Pcesiien. would not again in:erte.e 20
suppress violence in the Eal.ru, prote. : 10
lives and Liberties Of the people, and .1!ain'
tain the State governments Al the exercise
OF their authority. They were mistake n,
and the President has again int. posed. has
Gisarmed the insuryection in louisiana, and
has notified them IN other States snRt he
viii enforce the laws for the protection OF
life. liberty and property. This elbows
wha: would be the condition OF th;ngs in
the South if there wss Demo-
cratic administration at Washington
rha: would not interfere :os the pro-
section o: life and property. For Two
months n majority ot the South.
ern States there has been high carnival OF
murder: . reign Of terror has again been
established. the like OF which Il AS not existed
since :he war. But = small par: Of the
crimes co1um:-:ed are made known 20 che
Northern public. When negroes and white
Republicans syt shot down ia drOves we
hear about il with all the excuses and justi'
tications tLa: can Oe offered: but at the
solitary killing-sno0ting Of negroes IN the
ione.y fields and woods. and il theiI
cabins, the public hear almost nothing
The men who serd out the news from the
Sou.h are. with lew exceptions. Democrats
and sympa.hizers with these crimes. some.
times participants. II they give news even
ci the large: nassacres they accept it with
apologies and justifcasions. The solitary
:he South the newspapers dare not publish
them.
The telegraph ie loaded with reports That
tie neg,oee are rising and have conspired
70 exterminate the whites. and tha. the
whites are standing on the defensive. bU.
when .he facts finally come. il turns on:
.ha. only negroes and white Republicans
are killed. These eto,ies are disgueting.y
stupid and silly. and when Northern news
papers republish and credit them they de-
grade their own Intelligence. We cemem
oer how the negroes behaved during the
war. when they knew sheir masters were
fighting tor their perpetual slavery. All
tie negroes ask is 70 De let alone. They
know very vel. that they can not cope with
Che whites il any struggle with arMs. They
have little property and comparatively few
arms. They are no: able 70 defend them
selves.
These wicked caiumnies are made thc
pretex. for assassinations in every part OF
The Nourh. The White Leaguers or the ku.
Klux ,tor they are the same thing) go gun.
ming Tor negroes. They hunt them like
squirrels; they murder them eing1y and by
tue score upon false pretexts Of none at all.
In many cases white Republicans are mur.
Iered. 1t is not war OF races: il 10 war
Of one .ace upon another, and broadly. i:
is a war upon che Republicans Of the South.
tensions Of social equality OF fear of the
civil rights bill. but to make this white
mans government and reduce tie negroes
as near.y as possible to slaves.
You nave heard OF the butcherieS recent.
ly Ia Kentucky. Tennessee. Alabama and
other States. and ] have not I,ae or
strength to euumerate them. The recen:
"utbu-s.s have no: been confined to cne
State: :hey run through nearly the whole
Sou.h.
Louisiana is .;ust now attracting much
more attention than any other. On Monday
:h. White League conspiracy broke out N
Louisiana, overturned the State govern.
men., and attempted to establish a new
one. in the conflict In New Orieans thirty
men are reported killed and fifty wounded.
To understand the condition of louisiana.
we must go oack eight years. During that
time :he State has been made a vast
slaughter house. the murders extending to
almost every Plantation.
In 1866 the Republicans, in convention
at the Mechanics Institute 70 propose
amendments 20 the constitution. were Sc.
upon by the police and a yast mob OF armed
ruttians. and nore than 200 killed and
wounded in iess than thirty minutes. the
details Of that butchery. given BY the com.
mitree that investigated it, were eickenlng.
and never excelled in atrocity.
In the spring 1865. the State being re.
constructed. an election was held under the
protection of the government of the Uni cd
States, confessed by all fair election, and
Republicans carried the State by $4,000
majority. In the summer the Ku-Klux we're
organized. Between Septembeg and the
November election they had killed and
wounded over 1000 persons. mostly negroes.
az Is shown by the report Of committee Of
Congress-.
The crueities p-rpetrated we're never ex.
ceeded by the lndldns. Nor did tina: com.
mittto examine the whole State. A reign
0s terror was created. Republicans were
kept from the polls and the Democrats car.
rleu the November election by 1900 ma
jority. making a change of 81 900 votes. In
some parishes the Republicans cast not q
single .'ote. in Others two. in others ten.