New-York tribune., 1875-09-02
THE GEORGIA CONSPIRACY.
WHAT THE NEGROES MEANT TO DO.


ATTACK UPON THE WHITE PEoPIE-wHAI Ihh
CONFESSIONS ARE WORTH.
lrRox STAFF CORRESPONDENT or THE TRIBuSEI
S.yDrRsvHLE, Washington Co., Ga, Aug. 27.-
The meeting of the negroes Of this part OF Georgia ae
Wayuesbcro in May last, which was attended by a
number of delegates from this county, was mys-
terry to all those who were present IL their WORD Is
to be taken for it. Corday Harris, who went to
Waynesboro himself, and who seems TO have been
placed by Morris upon confidential footing, says
that he did not hear Morrs's speech, and although
he saw and talked with Morris during the day, tho
latter gave him no information whatever as to tho
object of the gathering But Coriay Harris himself
issued the call for the second meeting to be held az
Sandersvle and states in the call the object to Do
to elect military General" although in every
conversation l have had with him he has affirmed
that he has not belonged to any military company
and does not know of their existence Others who
went to Waynesboro pretend to be equally ignorant.
THE NEGRO AS A WITNESS.
Among the delegates to Waynesboro was Francis
Merkerson Of this county who has not yet been cap
turcd. According to the confession OF Jake Moor
man, who Is prisoner here, Merkerson toid thc
latter and others with him all about the meeting
and what was accomplished. Jake Moormans
confession has been published but in order to sat
isfy myself whether he would tell the same story in
conversation and to see how he would stand cross
examination, had him called ont of the gang and
spent an hour in conversation with him. AZ many
of the readers Of THE TRIBUNE know, the testimony
of Southern negro not always entitled to credit
even when he is confessing his own crimes. Any
one who has ever studied even specifically the de-
velopment Of intellect in children cannot have failef
to be astonshed, sometimes, at the strange freaks
which the Imagination often plays. Events follow
one another IN the child's mind, when
he gives his imagination free play, in uttcr
defiance of any known physical or mental
laws, and his original "stories" are often
strange and ncongruous. The negrO's mind is very
like child's his imagination is generally under
kind Of control, but the courts Of law all over the
South have found the greatest difficulty in drawing
the line between the negro's knowledge and his
imagination. A great many of the negroes have an
idea that when they are accused OF n crime II they
Gown mp or "make clean breast of H." they will
get off with lighter punishment or none at all, ana
il ia no uncommon thing in the cities Of the Sonh
for au ignorant negro to be proved innocent OF Of
fenses which he has confessed. For this reason it is
necessary that the confessions made by negroes on
this occasion shall be most carefully serutinized be-
fore they are accepted as evidence.
JAKE MooRMAN's CONFESSION.
Jake Norman is a negro Of rather dull intellecs
even for man Of hrs race He is about 10 years OF
age, tall and rather slim, and speaks very indls-
tinctly, jumbling his words together When asked
him to tell me what he knew about this plot, he
began talking in low tone of voice, rarely looking
up from the floor, and was able to understand so
little That he said and he omitted many important
links in his narrative while dwelling ut length upon
unmportant points, that was finally forced to stop
him and draw the story out by repeated questions.
shall not attempt to reproduce his pecularities OF
dialect idiOm.
Moorman said that he was first lieutenant Of
company commanded by Jerry Waters and organ
lied at Buckeye Coored Church in Laurens County.
Laurens sent no delegates to Waynesboro, but was
represented by Francis Merkerson OF this county.
Moorman saw Merkerson before the Waynesboro
meeting but at that time he learned nothing OF the
object of the meeting. When Merkerson returned.
he called meeting at Moorman's house and made
speech to those present, of whom there were about
twenty. He told them that they must form " Band
of Brothers. and must put their names down not to
steal produce and trade it of for whisky; to stand
by one another and to obey what their officers told
them. He also reported that they were all to vote
for Gen. Grant next year and to make him KING.
"GRANr TO Bs KING"
"Now. Jako,n said l. did Merkcrson tell you that
ba hoard about the election of Grant to be King, al
WaynesbOrO 7"
"Yes. Sir - was his reply, "that is what he re-
ported. He said that We were not 10 work on tho
roads any more under the direction of white oicers'
but were to have our own officers, and II the white
people wOnld not agree to that, then the black men
were TO GO to one end Of the road to be repaired and
the white men to the other, ard they were to work
in separate gangs. He said we all to have Az
of land"
"How did he say yon were to get !"
"Well he didn't tell us at that time, and we didnS
know. The jury question was talked about, and he
said that at the next term Of the Court were 60
ing to have twelve cOlored jurors end twelve white
Ones and We were to have our rights"
At this meeting Norman says, the names of .
number Of the colored people were taken down and
their numbers were added to at subsequent meetings.
The second was held at Buckeye Church week
after the lrst and some time later there was mus
ter, at which ~ were present. Mooman got all bis
instructions and information from Mcrkerson, who
in turn said that he received them from Corday
Harris, who in turn received them from " General"
Morris, and that Gen. p. X. Rivers of South Caro-
lima was the ommander-n-chief. Norman and his
friends seem to have thought more about the 40
acres Of land and the mule than anything else, and
asked MerkersOn abOnt 1t every time they saw him.
lie told them that when Gen. Grant was made king
the land would all belong to him-in short, would
be Government land, and they would be
allowed TO take il at Government prices and Oh long
credit. Nothing seems to have been said about any
force being necessary to take it until about the first
Of the present month, when 1t seemed to enter the
heads OF some of them that the white people might
object TO any such arrangement. Merkerson said
that they would not that the lands would not
belong to them any way when Grant was king.
THE ALLEGED ORDER FOR ATTACK.