Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-10-15
The Southern Rel ie:liOD-ItS EX-
tent aud Consequence.
EFr m the Republ c for oc,obe }

/ ~ ctCS vi CeptcikuGI kOtb, DtIAOCi1ti
paper published at Atlanta, Georgia:
! Against the fate that confronts US
what have the Southern people! Is
it that prudence which such papers
as the Louisville Courier JoulHut ad-
vOcates, but " Nhicn men less gifted
than the editor If that paper call a
da.tardly submission! No! Oar
only hope is i'll a stern, resolute resis-
tance-a resistance to the death. II
necessary, with arms In orr hands.
Let there be White Leagues formed
in every town. village, and hamlet Of
the South, and let US ganize for the
great struggle whicn seems to be in
evitable. If the October elections
which are to be held at the North are
favorable to the Radicals the time
will have arrived for us to prepare for
the very worst. The ralicalism of the
Repubucan party must be met by the
radicalism OF white men. We have no
war to make against the United States
Government, but against the RCpubll-
can party our hate must be unquench-
bic, our war interminable and merciless
Fast meeting aaay is the day for wordy
protests and idle appeals to the MA
nanin,lty Of the Republican party.
"Dy brute force they are endeavor-
ils t. fo.cs u into aeqniescenee to
their hideuus programme. We have
submitted long enough to indlgnitles,
and it is time to meet brute force with
brute force. Every Southern State
should swarm with White Leagues,
ana we should stand ready to act the
moment Grant signs the civil rights
bill 1t W II not do to wait until Rad
icalism has fettered us to the car Of
social equality before We make an eff
fort to resist it. The signing Of the
bill will be declaration of war against
the Southern whites. It is our duty
to ourselves. it is our duty to our chill
dren, it Is our duty to the white race
whose prowess subducd the wilderness
Of this continent whose civilization
filled it with cities, and tUwns, and
villages? whose mind gave it power
and grandeur, and whose labor impair
ted to it prosperity, and whose love
made peace and happiness dwell with
IN its homes, to take up the gage Of
battle the moment it is thrown down.
''it the white Democrats of the
North are men they will not stand idly
Dy aud see Us borne down By Northern
Itadicals and hal barbarouS negroes
but no matter what they may do, IL is
time for US to organize. We have been
temporizing long enough. Let North
ern Radicals understand that military
supervision OF Southern elections and
the civil rights bill mean war, that war
means bloodshed, and that We are ter
ribly in earnest, and even they, fanati-
cal as they are, may retrace their steps
before it IS too late.
L he question naturally arises wheth-
er such sentiments as are expressed by
the editor Of the Nevs are shared by
his Democratic fellow-citizens in the
South. As his paper is sustained in
that section it is fair to presume that
ne has following, and that his senti.
ments are such as find ready market
III the community in which they are so
shaDn'l osly avowed. If there ale
Democrats in the South who do not
support these lawless threats the time
has arrived when their opposition should
be announced.
When leading organ openly pro
claims the determination Of its supper
ter5 to make deo 3erNto and RELENTLESS
and bloody war upon TIE majority Of
the American people for no other rea-
son than that they favor the enforce
uIeut of law and the preservation OF
life liberty, and property; and daily
eliminating in assassination aud revo
luton, it is time that good citizens take
warning, no matter to what political
party tney may belong. These same
inen III not disSimilar strains declared
war upon the RepuOIican party III 1861,
and it Is unnecessary to remind them Vi
the consequences. They may as we'll
take note now as hereafter that war
Of determination or subsection, such
as they propose. will not be submitted
to by the American people without re-
sistamce They may as well learn now
as hereafter that citizenship involves
protection wherever it may exist, and
that the people Of the United States
iii ant lnu.un+ IN no nvrlulpI from
portion OF their territory, nor will they
permit unlawful OF disloyaI combina-
tiona to deprive them Of any OF the
rights of citizenship anywhere that
the fag floats or the national author
ity can penetrate. No effort OF W lie
Leagues or other unlawful, murderoua,
or revolutionary combination will be
able 20 drag this controversy into the
gutter of partisan warfare. It's above
and beyond that. 1t involves the very
existence of civil liberty and constltu,
tionaI government. 1t IS not one mo-
ment too early, for the people OF the
United States to look the whole
question in the face from this stand
point
The disclaimer which the Ne~s eau
tiouslv puts forth that =" We hare no
ror against the United Stn'es Cor
erame@t," will not be available. 1t is
war upon all constituted government
It is anarchy. 1t IS as much revo-
luton and as intolerant IN spirit and