Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-10-30

of October. 1t had been a question
whether it was safe to hold the meet
ing. Samuel Lee, Probate Judge o
the county, had, however, been to SCI
President Hayes, and the Presiden
had advised that the meeting shoull
be held and requested Judge Lee t.
attend. The President also said tina,
the United States Attorney and u. 8
Marshal should be present to prevent
violence and preserve order.
The Inter- Ocean tells the result thus;
In furtherance of this plan 5000
armed democrats, cavalry, infantry,
and artillery, met at Sumter, and SO
placed their cannon as to fire blank
cartridges over the heads of the 800
negroes who had assembled to hear
republican speakers. According to
the democratic account this firing
commenced at 3 O'Clock in the morn
ing, and continued until the republic
an meeting adjourned. According to
the same account the cannon was at
one time loaded with ten-penny nails
and turned on the negroes, and the
rihemen were in line, when one of
HamptOn's staff interfered. The cor
respondent tells the story to show
what peacemaker HamptOn's Lieu
tenant was, but, in telling it, he shows
the spirit of the democrats assembled,
But Sam Lee was not present, and
the republicans were taunted with the
fact. The Marshal and District At
torney were not present, and the re-
publicans were made to believe that
the Federal Government was power.
less to interfere. But why was Lee
not present?
The democrats said he had disap-
peared, and that he could not be
found. The first knowledge of his
whereabouts comes in the shape of q
letter written to his friends at Wash
ington. In this he describes his own
adventures on the day Of the Sumter
meeting. Early in the day his house
was surrounded by q cavalry cOmpa-
ny commanded by Dargan, one of
Hampton's aids, and candidate for
the legislature from the Sumter dis
trict. They abused him and threat
ened his life If he dared attend the
meeting. He escaped during the day
when exciting events called his guard
to another part of the field, and re-
manned concealed. This explains why
Lee was not present. Why District
Attorney NOrthrOp was not present
has not been explained. The Sumter
correspondent of the Augusta CrOta-
icle says he Is absent from Charleston
and that his whereabouts are un-
known. Possibly he has a story to
tell in connection with the events of
the 18th.
The republican speaker who did
make a speech was white man NAM
ed COghlan, a man 80 years old, and
an old resident of the county. He
defied the democrats to the last, as
serting the right Offree speech. Since
the meeting he has been arrested on
fifteen State warrants, for various CT
fenses, and is threatened with crimi-
nal prosecution in connection with
his management of the County Treas
ury years ago. The democrats pro-
pose to silence this troublesome Octo-
genarian if they have to exhaust all
the warrant blanks in the county.
Several other republicans have been
arrested for assaulting the helpless
and innocent lambs who carried load
ed rifles in their hands and pistols in
their belts. And this, the Southern
papers tell us is a triumph of the
Hampton policy" And verify It'll
would seem so. The AttOrney-Gen-
erals circular has been spit upon; the
of the National Govern
ment has been defied; the republicans
of strong republican district have
been disorganized and demoralized,
and Hampton has triumphed.