National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1876-07-13
THE HAMBURG MASSACRE.

The following editorial appeared in the
Charleston Is. c. Nens and Courier on
the morning of the 10th instant This
journal is the leading Democratic sheet of
the State, and in the terrible slaughter at
Hamburg it sees SO much positive bar
barity that 1t cannot stomach the crime. 1t
says: "Assuming that the accounts of the
Hamburg fight given by the Augusta
newspapers are in the main correct, we
" find little, if any, excuse for the conflict
itself. and absolutely none for the COW
ardly killing OF the seven negro prisoners
"who were shot down like rabbits long
after they had surrendered. The inso-
lence of the negro militiamen, out of
(Which the trouble came, could easily
"have been punished without resort to
arms. General Butler, who appears to
have been in command of the whites,
admitted that an apology by the militia
"men would satisfy his clients. The
affront to Mr.. Butler, therefore, was not
the immediate cause of the fight that fol-
lowed. This was brought on by the de-
"msnd that the militiamen surrender
their arms into the keeping of the
whites. The presence of armed bodies
Of negroes is menace to any commu-
nifty; but we do not understand that the
danger was such as to justify the whites
in demanding the surrender of the arms,
or In laying siege to the house in which
the negroes took refuge, and killing the
negroes who attempted to escape. The
killing Of seven of the prisoners was bar
barous in the. extreme. We have no
words strong enough to express our con-
domination oFsuch crime. They who
do such deeds SOW the wind. We pray
"that they and those who are innocent of
the wrong may not reap the whirl-
wind"
The editor of the Nfps and Courier
is more sagacious than most of his frAter-
nifty in the South. Elsewhere will be
found full details Of the massacre as
printed in the News and Courier upon which
the above comments were made. But in
order to fully comprehend the diabolism of
this sanguinary effort to preserve law and
order in South Carolina it must be remem
bered that the cOlored troops who were
paradiDg on the Fourth of July were the
regularly organized militia of South Caro-
lima. They were properly parading in
celebration Of the Centennial Fourth of
July. The parties who undertook to
disarm and punish them were chiefly mob
of invaders from Augusta, Georgia. The
question naturally arises: What will Gov
ernor Chamberlain do about this matter :?
VIII he supinely submit to this insult to
the State of which he is the Executive
Or will he demand the surrender of these
assassins? The constitution Of South Caro-
lima does not authorize the disarming Of
the militia by private citizens. We shall
soon see whether Governor Chamberlain
has the nerve and energy to stand by his
own militia in its proper observance of the
anniversary Of the natal day Of the coun-
try.
Apart from this view Of the subject, the
vengeance of this mob of assasslns, this
Georgia banditti, was the most blrbarous
which has yet occurred in the history Of
the country. The outrages in Coushatta
and Grant parishes of Louisiana pale beside
it in demoniac fury. The fends of hell
alone can compare with 1t in ferocity.
The Ncws and Courier may we'd pay