Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-08-18

shine as lights forever and forever. And
, under that equal sky, under the LIGHT oi
that equal sun, ali men, of whatever race OF
color, shall stand equal before the law"
That was the plan Of recon
! sEuction offered to those who had
been in rebellion, offered BY gen
erous and brave nation; and challenge
the world to show an act OF equal generos-
ity to conquered people. What answez
did it meets By the advice Of Andrew
johnson, a bad adviser, backed by the ad.
vice of the Northern Democracy, still
worse adviser, ten of the eleven States late
lv in rebellion contemptuously rejected the
plan of reconstruction embraced in the
Fourteenth Amendment of the COnstitu-
ton. They would have none of it; they
had been invited by their Northern allies
to stand out, and were told that when the
Democracy came into power they shonld
be permitted to come back to their places
without guarantees or conditions.
This brings Us TO 1868. Had the transfer.
nation occurred then For remember,
1 gentlemen, / am searching for the date Of
the great transformation similar to that
which has taken place in the gentleman
from Mississippi. We do not find itin 1868.
On the contrary, in that year, we find Frank
p. Blair, Of Missouri, writing these words,
which a few days after they were written,
gave him the nomination for the Vice Pres
ideney on the Democratic ticket:
There is but one way to restore government
ard the Constitution; and that is for the Pres.
ident-eleet to declare all these acts
| And the constitutional amendment with
them
to declars all these acts nall and void, compel
the army to undo its 1siTpatiOns at the Soush.
s1d dIsperse the garnet bag State governmentS
own governments and elect Senators and hep
resentatiEes.
| Because he wrote that letter he was nom
mated for Vice President by the Demoerat-
ic party. Therefore, as late as July, 1888.
the transformation had not occurred.
Had 1t occurred In 1872? In 1871 and
| 1872 all the amendments of the Constitution
had been adopted, against the stubborn re-
moeraey. l call you to witness that, With
the exception Of three or four Democrats
Representatives who voted for the. abolition
OF slavery, the three great mepdments-the
Thirteenth, the Fourteenth, and the Fif-
teenth, met the determined and united op--
position of the Democracy Of this country.
/ Each OF the amendments nov SO praised by
| the gentleman, was adopted against thA
| whole weight OF your resistance. And two
years after the adoption Of the last amend.
ment, in many of your State platforms. they
=
In 1871 and 1872 occurred throughout the ]
South those dreadful scenes enacted by the I
ku-hlux organization, of which will say
only this, that man Jac;ls D7Sneeps among
the Democrats of the slave holding States.
Reverdy johnson, who WAS sent down 10 1
defend those who were indicted for their
crimes, held up his hands IN horror at the
shocking barbarities that had been perpe.
trated BY his clients upon negro citizens.
frafo 10 1r-, Al
as sufficient proof of the character of that
great conspiracy against the freedom of the /
eolored race. So the transf0rmation had
not come in the days Of Ku-Klux Of 1871
and 1872.
Had it come IA 1873 and the beginning of
1872 Had it come in the State OF Nissis.
sippR Had it come in one-dusrter of the
States lately in rebeIlion2 Here is q report
FROM an honorable committee Of this House.
signed by two gentlemen who are still men, /
bers, Mr.. COnger and Mr.. Hurlbut-a report
made as late as December, 1874, in which
there is disclosed, by innumerable wit.
nesses, the proof that the white-line organi.
cation, an armed military orgaaizstien |
formed within the Demoeratie party, had !
leagued themselves together to prevent the |
enjoyment Of suffrage and equal rights by |
the colored men Of the South. Without de- |
tanning the House to read them now, / VIII
quote two or three paragraphs from that re-
port, dated December 14th, 1874, and |
printed House Document No. 265.
THE WHITE LINZ"
This interior organization has not vet as
suIned definitely in the State Of Mississippi 1
such precise form and SO distinct an eTiTta45eee
as in the State of Louisiana, but is undues-
tionabiy an extension into Mississippi of the |
,st xe.ee league ks kSrganiEation, na,, whose head
COUNTY it is sometimes called the 'sWbite
Line, ana By that nEme is famiIiarly spoken i
Of py the leadssnF papers Of yieksburg, as well
this committee. Jt is also known az t.people'sil
clubs; but in all instances the formation of
the clubs OF evil organization is accompanied
by estab bhshing within the clubs themselves |,
military organization, ofhcered, equipped and
armed.
Thus the clubs and the tax-payers' Iearue are
open associations, apparently directed toward
objects in which all citizens might lawfully 4
unite. but controlled from within By the mill
tary and partisan organizations whose purposes
The purposes Of these clubs or white-line
are these. as they are openly ayoWed-
or secretly cherished~
L They are first to make census and enroll
ment of ali the white men in the State.
2. To incorporate into the interior military
ORGANIZATIONS all the whites who will join with i
5. To set aside, by whatever means may be
the election Of colored men to Office, |
and to nulIify in practice the enabling and en-
u
forcing the right Of all citizens, without dis
tinetion Of color, to hold Offices, if properly !
elected to them. L
4. 10 allow none but white men to be elected
10 office or to hold office.
And how was it about the same time and
even later in other States? Here Is re-
port upon Louisiana, the report from which {.
he gentleman quoted, a report that ex-
libits the same condition of affairs; signed 4
oy the gentleman who sits in front Of me ]
Mr.. Hoar.) Although BY minority of the
it is q report Of great power and
Il indubitable truth. l quote from page IS; Z
The White League is an organization which
xists in New Orleans, and contains at least
rom. twenty-five hundred to three thousand 4
members, armed, drilled, and Oficered as {
military organization. Organizations bearing 1
he same name extend throughout many parts I
f the State. .
On the I4th ofSeptember, 1874. it arose upon
nd attacked the police Of the city, the pretext
& the attack being the seizure of arms which ii +
ad imported from the North; and having de- \
Aated them with considerable slaughter, it :
Ook possession OF the state House, oYerthreW
he State government, and installed q new Gov
rnor in 6fiee, and kept him in power until the P
Inited States interfered This rising was 9
tanned beforehand.
The White League Of New Orleans itself was z
nd is q constant menace to the Republicans Of n
hewhole state.
We cannot doubt that the effect ofallthese
on; and to intimidato the eOlored voters and
be white Republicans. n
So the transformation had not occurred in | q
.ugust, 1874, / come down now to 1875, TO v
he late autumn of that year, and ask If the / Il
had then occurred. will "