St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-01-01
Democratic Home Rule"

Northern sentiment against them. The
fact was that itwas il wanton and muir
derOus assault upon them. There has
Just been il similar slaughter i'll NickS-
burg, which WAS carefully Photographed
as an attack upon that city 10y the ne
grocS. although the report admitted
that the result was the massacre OF
SIXTY or Il hundred negroes and ne
white man. The simple fact is that Il
white mob attempted to compel the
resignation of certain colorcd officers.
among whom WAS the sheriff. Crosby.
All the officers fled except Crosby. and
he signed Il Resignation. No one,
SAYS the Cincinnati Commercial. which,
is an independent and not Il Republican
journal. "crncralcd What his fate would
he if he had not done 50. He would
have been hanged on the spot. Crosby
escaped and SAW the Governor. who
ordered him to return and take posses
sion of his office. and summon the
people Ia sustain him. He did 81. and
the Cincinnati Commercial. which sent
IL correspondent to the scene To- irNe>ti-
gate. tells the sequel
"Ilc sent news To the country tnr the
negroes To come in Monday and report
To the Courthouse. They came. were
met at the city limits. and slaughtered
simply slaughtered and hutrhcIcd.
They we've chased through the woods
and fields and shot down like dogs.
Many were shot after they gave up.
ami some were shot on their knees
while begging tor mcIcl. The spirit
"t demons WIS III the people. 1t WAS
not safe tnl amy one not i'll full accord
with them Ia hc ON the street. one
poor old negro 10y the name of Ambrose
Brown WAS ordered off the street 10y
Captain CoWan. Il former rebel battery
commander. and hcIug tardN ia going.
Cowau Deliberately shot him. MANY
prisoners We're taken and kept i'll the
Court holi>,. and taken ont in the
morning. With WiukS and mods. and
laughter and Jest. il WAS reported that
three of the most obnoxious made their
escape. which means they have simply
been murdered while prisoners. This
L. umquC>tiouablN the Truth of the m;I>-
>aCrc, and the people OF the nation
should fully recognize all its rnnInltic>.
The worst ui ii il that the persons who
have been guilty of this Wholesale mlu
dcI fully justify themselves upon the
statement of facts that We have given.
and. We are bound tn add. they .IIc ami
mated Toy the conviction that there has
been i political revolution in the North.
and that THEN time has come.
The last words OF this extract are
very significant. Nine Years ago. when
il WAS thought that Andrew johnson
would favor the Democratic party. the
negroes were slaughtered at New or
l.. I, 81. al, Il.
autumn elections seems to show Il gen
cral reaction and Democratic rc>tnra-
ton. the negroes are slaughtered at
Nick>burg. We presume that no we'll
Informed person Supp">'S that this
Nick~burg massacre would have oc-
CURED had the Democratic party been
a> generally defeated us it WAS success
full in the elections. The moral needs
no enforcement. The facts show u>
what is to he expected under Demo
cratic ''homc rule.
All that is wanted in the national
policy toward the southern States l.
that practical common >cn>c which *
the characteristic of the American and
English political genius. 1t is not I'm
imtleNihle indifference nor Il ScoIn OF
facts. 1t is Il policy of administration
that is wanted hut the administration
Of friends. not of foes. There Is some
thing comical in the air with which the
Democrats propose what they call
'homc rule, Il phrase borrowed from
the Irish friends of Il separate Parlia-
mcnt. the impracticahility of which Mr..
Freeman has comclusivcly exposed.
The Democrats mean by "home rule"
State sovereignty, and they say with
truth there would have been no South
ern question had they been in power.
There would have been NO southern
question, Just as order reigned in War
SAW. Home rule we are now in
formed, requires that the States should
have reconstructed themselves. And
what that was the country was. 1t WAS
the practical restoration of all of Slav-
cry but the name. 1t was vaglant laws.
apprentice laws, black codes, nou-own-
elship of the land by the negroes. their
exclusion from all civil rights. and in
general the same legislation which
made General Terry say i'll Virginia
that the condition of the frccdmen waS
worse than that of the slaves. Should
the Democrats return to power in the
national government, their policy would
he what it would have been had they
controlled the government ut the end
of the war. They already announce
that ''homc rule" is the remedy for all
Southern ills. meaning 10y ''home rule"
the supremacy of the spirit whose man
iteStatiOmS made the amendments nee
eSsary. They will repeal the laws en-
forcing them, and leave the amend
mcnts to shift for themselves.
No reasonable man could complain
of this if il promised to give the negro
fair play or an equal chance with other
citizens. ''Let him he treated like the
rest of us, and don't cocker him and
hold him up. If he can't stand, let
him fall Certainly so say we all.
Let him be treated like the rest of us.
But don't knock him down. and then
say that he can't stand. The difficulty
is that he is not treated like the rest of
lis, and the ill treatment comes from
those who stigmatize him and brand
him with Odium III every way. In such
il situation .'hOme rule" is sound poll
cy only when the national power is in
the hands of his friends. not of his
enemies. Look" says one of the
cOlored leaders of his people in Georgia
look how we are summarily tried
and convicted for trivial charges before