Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1875-03-18

In 1866 or 1867, Gen. George ID
Thomas testified that there was secre
organization extending over the whole
South, whose purpose was the dissolu
ton of the Union or the destruction o.
the government, while the forms of urior
were allowed to exist. Although he t,,ei
commanded the Department of the Ten
nessee, and although his means of in
formation were superior to those of any
other person, the statement seemed SC
improbable that no heed was given to it.
even by the committee before which the
statement was made.
Of the truth of those statements there
is now no doubt. Gen. Thomas was O
Southern man, but his devotion to his
country knew no limits, and he gave
himself to her defense without reserve.
He possessed the three great qualities of
courage, patriotism and integrity, and
it is in vain to inquire in which he
most excelled. As his statements were
supported by additional evidence from
time to- time, the leaders of the South
and their allies In the North strenuously
asserted that the whole was a fabrica-
ton; but when the existence of the or
ganization could no longer be denied,
its innocent character was asserted as
universally and with the same assumed
confidence.
An extraordinary and not agreeable
side of human character is exposed by
the testimony of men of influence In the
South who were members of secret
organization, whose purposes, as they
declared, were entirely innocent.
At length, in 1872, the true character
of the organization, it's purposes, its
crimes, were disclosed to the country.
Some of its leaders in murderous under
takings, and many of its dupes, were ar
rested and punished but It's leaders in
council, they who were most guilty, es-
capped.
In truth, the White League of 1875 is,
In the knowledge we possess of its char
acter, in the assertions of innocence
made by its members and defenders, in
no important particular different from
the Ku-Klux organization of 1871 and
1 anticipate that its career, history, and
the exposure of its crimes will render
the evidence of its identity completes
and conclusive.
When the friends of peace, order and
justice complain that murders are f,e-
quent in Louisiana, they are met by the
counter assertion that murders occur
in Indiana and Massachu-
sets. This we are compelled to admit
and Immediately those who deny the ex-
istence of the White League, or assert
its innocence, or excuse and defend its
proceedings, assume That they have
gained their cause-that equality in
crime in some sense absolves the Grim
inals.
Murder is the greatest of crimes, and
as a legal offense it is always the same;
but as an offense against society, against
the state, it has many degrees of turpi-
tude.
Murders which ere the result of the
fiery passions directed against real or
offender are not usually re-
peated even if the murderers go unpun-
ished. Society is shocked, the example
is pernicious, but the cause or the occa-
sion of the crime has disappeared with
its commission. In other countries, and
perhaps occasionally in this, desperate
men have combined for purposes of rob-
berry and plumber, and accepted murder
as means to the end. Such men Justly
have been called banditti. But the
sphere in which banditti operate is a
limited one. Their victims are drawn
from small class of society, and from
class-the wealthy-which always and
everywhere has the largest influence in
the state, and from its resources is better
able than other classes to provide for its
own defense.
The banditti of Italy would be shocked
by truthful narrative of the crimes of the
Ku-Klux in America but in Italy there
wasnone to excuse or defend the crimes of
the banditti. 1 speak now of the Ku-
Klux, because its organization and char
acter are fully known but / do not
doubt that the organization discovered
by Gen. Thomas in 1866 and 1867, and
the White League of 1874 and 1875 are
identical with it.
If the Ku-Klux had not existed in the
South if it had not included many
leading men of the South if it had not
made murder an engine in politics if it
had not overawed the well -disposed white
people of the South If IL had not on