Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-07-28


'fto comply. Word was then sent to Au
gusta, Ga, just across the river, and {,
other localities, for help TO enforce thu
disarming, and by nightfall of the 9Th tn,
streets of Hamburg were filled with whit,
men, far Outnumbcring the negroes, whC
collected in their armory TO defend them
selves. Both white and black nor. combat
ants fled from the town, which was now
In the hands of the besiegers and the he.
sieged. After several attacks had beer
made upon the armory, with some casual
ties on each side, the negroes sought tc
make their escape, and several succeeded
The whites at length forced the armory
and captured twenty.nine negroes in theiI
hiding places. Gen Butler then rode
home, leaving the prisoners in the hands
of strong guard, with instructions to take
them to the Jail in Augusta. The guardf
Etook them out on the high road, suddenly
released them and told them TO run, and
as they ran, commenced firing into them,
Killing seven and wounding others. They
then returned to the town and pillaged it,
not even sparing the residence of the col.
ored Trial Justice, who had been their
| friend and tool through the whole affair.
Our readers will remember that the
above version of this cowardly and brutal
/ 10 hH llOul vi
Southern Democratic, not Republican, pa
| pers, and therefore gives the facts in a
| light as favorablea as possible for the Dem
ocratic side. Taking the Democratic YER
sion as authority, il even then appears as
a most brutal, cowardly and ruflianly mas
sacre Of helpless prisoners, who had been
disarmed without authority, and whose
original otfense was simply question of
courtesy. II would not have been ex.
pected that a white militia company
would have made way in the South for
the passage of two cOlored men; it could
not have been expected, considering the
relations between the two races, that a
black company would act any differently
The OtTense, however, if it were an offense
was one that could easily have been settled
without any resort to violence. No ex.
cuse can be made for il. 1t was a
cowardly, cold -blooded massacre of help
less, unoffending men, that will challenge
any of Sitting Bulls or Capt. Jacks acts
for fiendish cruelty. We quote a little
further from good Democratic authorities.
The Charleston Is. CO. Nelcs, a vehement
Tilden and Hendricks organ, says:
Assuming that the accounts OF the Hamburg
fight given by the Augusta newspapers are in the
main correct we find little " any, excuse for the
conflict itself and absolutely none for the killing
OF the seven negro prisoners, who were shot down
like rabbits long after they had surrendered The
insolence OF the negro militamen, out Of which
the trouble came, could easily have been punished
without resort to arms The killing Of seven
of the prisoners was barbarous in the extreme.
We have no words strong enough to express our
condemnation OF such q 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
whirwind.
The same paper furthermore adds that
al -, ,f
is that " terrified submission" 1t tells us
that, not content with numbering the pris-
oners, A" the bodies of two of them were
mutilated with hatchets and bayonets," :"
Sitting Bull fashion. 1t tells us that all
the killed had families, with one excep-
ton, and the grief and distress of the
women and children were violent and
heart-rending. AS the New York Herald
says, in commenting upon the affair:
" These extracts are not from speech of
Senator Morton, intended to inflame the
North, but from the Charleston NetoS and
Courier, one of the ablest Journals in the
South, and leading the campaign in South
Carolina for Tilden and Hendricks" And
yet when two colored members of Con-
gress rise in their places, and appeal for
protection for their race, and demand that
they shall be treated rs white citizens,
Southern members sneer at them, and two
Northern cravens like Cochrane and Cox
rush to the rescue of the Confederates,
and finally, in sheer desperation over the
indignant appeals of the two cOlored
members, adjourn the House TO prevent
any action upon their appeal, These
men, however, cannot adjourn the opinion
of the people. They cannot adjourn dis
cussion upon it. They cannot adjourn
the feeling of horror with which law
abiding people will regard it. They can
not adjourn the fact that the victims of
this massacre were Republicans murdered
by Democrats, whose real ohense con-
sists of their politics and their black skin
And the people, discussing and reasoning
upon this brutal massacre, will reach this
question: If these cowardly miscreants
have so much license now. how much
more license will they have when Tilden
and Hendricks are elected and the Demo
cratic policy is carried out of Withdrawing
the troops from every Southern State and
reducing the army to minimum of
weakness and inefiiciency? If Tilden and
Hendricks are elected, will the Buffers of
of the South have more or less license than
they now have to shoot and kill at their
own optionG
Now, what is the duty of the Governor
of South Carolina in this CASEY 1t should
be noticed that the blacks were in the
right from the very outset. They were
and recognized by the Constitution of the
United States as military company
Their action at the outset was precisely
what that of any other militia company in
the United States would have been. 1t
should be remembered that neither this
Trial Justice nor the Confederate lawyer
who prosecuted had any more right to de-
mand their disarming, or to proceed to
enforce it than the people of Chicago had.
1t should be still further remembered that
| the massacre was not the result of an
affray at the time; that no violence was
offered these two young Southern bloods
who attempted to drive through this com
pany when they could have driven round
it; that there was no sudden ebullition of
passion, but ON the other hand, that il
was perpetrated days after in cool blood.
| These being the facts, the crime is MUIR
der. The Southern Democratic news
papers are sorry for it, but they are sorry
because it has happened on the eve of a
Presidential election, and their sorrow is
not of that genuine kind which demands
that compensation shall be made for this
murder. They demand no punishment.
Whatever may be the opinion of Southern
Democratic newspapers, Southern Con
gressmen, or their Northern allies like
COchrane and Cox, the duty of Gov. Cham
berlain is clear. He must demand the APP
prchension of these Georgia murderers for
trial in South Carolina, where the murder
was committed. If the State is powerless
to arrest them, then the United States
must do it. These men have committed a
cold blooded murder, and they must pay
the penalty. Having been punished, it IS
her duty then to reorganize the Company
and restore to them their arms.-Chicdgo
Tribune.