Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-10-26
Southern Outrages.

From the New York Times.l
The occurrences at Sumpter. in South
Carolina, and in Tensas Parish, Louisiana,
are in some respects worse than events
that were familiar in the Kuklux days.
Then there was a pretense of secrecy
The perpetrators of crimes were rarely
willing TO proclaim their responsibility
Now the outrages are done in broad day
light; the perpetrators are socially infiu-
entail and make no secret of their dongs;
and the white population of the neighbor-
hood are so close in fellowship with the
respectable ruffians whose guilt is notori-
Gus, or so much in dread OF their ven
geance, that they make no effort to pro-
tect the victims or to secure the punish
ment of their oppressors.
For aught that appears TO the contrary,
the Sumpter outrage is approved by the
white South Cardinals, from Gov IIamp-
ton down to 1.-THE trash that glorify him.
more infamous affair cannot be mag
ined. 1t was an audacious piece of bull
DOING, and might easily have led to mas
sacre. But not a word has been dropped
from Gov. Hampton condemnatory of the
proceeding and its authors His assur-
ance that the blacks shall be protected in
the exercise of their rights is belied by
the suppression OF a republican meeting.
His declaration that the law shall be i'm
partially administered. regardless of pol
itics and color, is falsified by the i'm
munity which the democratic ruflians who
planned and executed the affair enjoy.
The law remains dead letter, Governor
and magistrates alike looking on while its
provisions are violated. And the whites
of the State utter no protest either against
the great crime or the policy out of which
it grew. With the best possible inten-
tons toward South Carolina, as toward
the whole South, the North finds itself
the witness of a state of things that is
incompatible with freedom, with human
ity. or with that forgetfulness in regard to
sectionsl politics which it desires to cult
vate.
The Tensas Parish occurrences are
equally irritating and equally disgraceful
to Gov. Nichols and the Louisiana democ-
racy. The Parish is overwhelmingly re-
publican but republican convention is not
allowed. to meet. There is recognized
republican vote of z. 800 against register
ed democratic vote of 800 The 800 nomi-
nate candidates and then call out troops to
enforce an order forbidding the 900 to
say who shall represent them. The house
of q republican leader is attacked; shots
are fired; life is lost, and the managers
of the democratic minority summon sol
diers from other parishes, and even
from Vicksburg. to ensure the success of
their plans. Gov Nichols, like Governor
Hampton, learns of the outrage and does
nothing. His pledges are broken, and he
looks on complacently. Not an arrest is
made; nor Is there an effort to insure to
the $500 republicans the safe exercise of
undoubted rights. Lousians's profession
of gratitude for Northern benevolence
would sound more sincere if it manifested
some respect for Northern ideas of liberty
and justice in its treatment of colored citi-
zens. 1t is not pleasant to reflect that the
hand which one day is extended for relief
may the next day MAIN or kill man
whose only offense is that he is r, publ.
can.
aryto ia in f,cg
cry stage Of the canvass as conducted by
the democracy in these States. The use
of troops by partisan managers for pari-
san effect is so fiagrantly unlawful that
one wonders how Wade Hampton can al.
low his authority in the matter to be so
insoleutly disregarded. On the occasion
of the Sumter outrage the town was con-
verted into camp. in defiance of the lin
itaiions which surround the calling out OF
the military. In Louisiana, again, troops
were collected in Tensas Parish at the bid
ding OF the democratic leaders, who went
so far as to summon military help from
Mississippi without the Intervention of the
governor. In each State the governor has
been virtually deposed by the violent dem
Gratis. who keep him in Office for appear.
auce sake. while using the machinery of
the State government tor the furtherance
of partisan ends. The silence of the peo-
pie in the presence of these shameful acts
entails upon them not a little responsibility,
and they should not be surprised if the eff
feet at the North be to chill the good feel
ing which has been developed and to foster
animosities which we would gladly see
buried.
In the Southern States where the policy
of Cancellation has been most generously