The Leavenworth weekly times., 1876-08-03
A CONFEDERATE DEFENSE CT HAM
BURG.

While nearly every Democratic paper IL
the North is cursins the premature enthu'
siasm Of the Georgia Democrats, who couio
no, wait until after the election, but wen'
over TO Hamburg, :. C., and murdered
balf-score or 50 OF Republicans, whose only
os:.n.e consisted in having black skin anG
voting the Republican ticket, and while
pme Democratic papers in the South are
striving TO palliate the murder and cover Il
out of eight, the Southern Confederate
papers openly justify it. Among these
papers is the Augusta (Ga.) Conatutionalist
AZ this paper is the representative of .:the
red-hot secession journals, and is laborine
zealously for Tilden and Hendricks, We re
produce brief extracts from a series Of ar
ticles upon the Hamburg massacre that
have appeared in its columns, that cur rea.
DER may know the spirit of fendishness
which pervades the.e papers and the con-
stituents they represent in their relations TO
the Republican negroes in the South. The
Csrasiitti0ndli,a says "for years past, Ham
DuTg HE Dttll Tic flit-k iAApck
hole in South Carolina. 1t is ruled by ne
gro intendants, aldermen, constables. and
inhabited exclusively by negroes" Ii the
town is inhabited exclusively by negroes,
who shosiid rule it but negroes? Who can
rule IT but negr,es?
By what authority Of law or equity can
carpet -baggers go in and hold the offices in
a town in which they are non-residents
fI'La nnthnrat e L.,
night was simply the climax Of a wrath
that had been long and wantonly provoked,
and they could forbear no longer" Forbear
from what? Why could these Augusta
Democrats forbear no longer? The events
Oi that bloody day answer these questions.
They could not forbear killing negroes be-
cause they were Republicans. 1t says !:
"Gen. Butler was there Professionally
not dreaming at the time he went that any
outbreak would occur. He did his best un-
der the circumstances" The evidence in
this case, a. furnished by Southern Dem
ocratic papers themselves, shows that Gen.
Butler was there TO disarm a negro militia
company, regularly organized and armed
by the State. is that professional What
law or form of law justified him in sending
10 Georgia Tor a force TO disarm this com
pany? These black men were citizens, and
entitled TO all the rights of citizens The
Constitution of the United States pro-
vides that "a well-regulated militia being
necessary to the security of free State, the
right OF the people to keep and bear arms
shall not be infriBged." When, therefore,
Gen. Butler sent over TO Augusta, in Geor-
gia, for a mob to disarm these men in
South Carolina, ne was violating their
constitutional right. Is that professional
The COnSitaiOnaiia lets out the secret of its
hatred and virulence in the following ex-
tract:
Hamburg is very blot upon creation,
and the life OF every negro in it-all OF
them politically poisoned, misguided,
wrong g-headed-is not worth that OF young
Merriwether who fell in the fray" "Politi-
cally poisoned" That is it exactly. Ham
burg is a very blot upon creation because
its people are Republicans; therefore, kill
them In another article the Constitutional
ia makes light of the affair, as follows at
is nothing but poppycock TO keep up a
squall over riot in South Carolina, when
atrocities OF a grayer character are Of al
most daily occurrence in all parts of the
Union. The South is to-day the most
peaceful section" 1t may be nothing but
poppycock in Augusta, Ga. TO murder men
in cold blood who are guilty of no infraction
OF the laws, Of no violation OF the public
peace, OF no ofiense against society, and 10
shoot them down because they vote the Re
publican ticket; but before this campaign
is finished the COnSIt,aionalif will fad to
its sorrow how such massacre is regarded
in the North. "The South is to-day the
most peaceful section" forsooth, Will the