The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-09-11
The Clinton Massacre.

The recent outbreak and the slaughter of
forty colorsd men in Clinton, Mississippi
plainly indicates that Mr.. Lamar and bis as
which seems to constitute the greater part of
the white men of the State. None of the ac-
counts can be called Republican. The New
York Herald is not likely to give negro sid
ed account. What are the facts? A body of
colored men organize Republican meeting
Before it begins the, Democratic leaders ap-
pear and ask for part of the time for
Democratic speaker. The request is granted
and for over an hour the colored men listen
quietly. When their turn comes, some of the
halEdrunk, brutal whites, whose idle and disso-
lutte ways make them reproaches to any race,
commenced a row. The colored people par
ticipated and several persons were killed. The
trouble should have ended there. It would
then have been a mere quarre! incident to
the civilization of State where every man
carries revolver aud bo tile of forty-rod
whiskey. But it did not end there. During
the night two hundred armed men came from
Vicksburg and the next day proceeded to
hunt and kill colord men. Over forty were
killed and hundreds driven to the swamps.
The colored president of the Republican club
was called to his door and shot.
Unfortunately for Mississippi, says the
New York Herald, this is not an isolated case
of unprovoked outrage upon colored people
within few months On the Fourth of
July, when the blacks of Vicksburg met
quietly in the Court House to celebrate the
dav, few white rufians intruded
on the meeting, and after insulting and noisy
demeanor, began to shoot right and left and
broke ups the assemblage. There was not
the least excuse for this; but we do not re-
member that any one was punished for it.,
though the men were very well known. With
in the last month there have been several little
sscrimmages'' between whites and blacks in
the state, showing good deal of bad blood
and readiness on the part of the superior
race' to shoot the inferior on very slight
provocaton, or none at all.
These are facts which cannot be covered
up by crying "bloody shirt" These outrages
are so we'll known and so brutal and bloody
that they cannot be laughed down. There is
a large class in the South who thoroughly ig-
more the rights of colored men. To be sure
they are worthless class, but nevertheless a
large one; (; and there is every reason to believe
that they propose in one way and another to
practically deprive the colored man of his
rights.
1t would not be fair to hold the Democratic
party in the North responsible for these out
RACES, yet it is surprising that Democratic pa
pers in Maine either ignore these outrages or
make light of them and give the rufianly
murderers aid and comfort By apologizing
for them and MAKING LIGHT OF THE MAS
sACRE OF FORTY AMERICAN CITIZENS who
have right to the protection of the govern
ment.
Should the rights of citizen of the United
States be interfered with in foreign land,
our government would demand the fullest
reparation, but with the present dangerous
element in the South citizens are shot down
and hunted like wild beasts with the greatest
impunity. We know that our Democratic
contemporaries will derisively shout "bloody
Shirt" and thereby become the apologists OF
the Vicksburg murderers, but the. fact re-
mains all the same. Wholesale murder has
been committed the present week in Mssiss-
ippi.