National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1878-02-19
Cancellation and Pncincation.

Miss Times an article which embodied u
bull-dozing letter to q colored man in Pike
County, in that State, giving him notice that
unless he left theState in fifteen days he would
receive buckshot soup" In view of this,
we advised the colored citizens Of Missis-
sippi to organize for seli-defense against
these interlcrenccs with their rights and to
stand fcarlcssly by them, and then they
would win the esteem Of their fellow men,
and soon become masters of The situation.
This suggestion has aroused the Times to a
sense of the situation, and it replies in these
terms
The remedy for existing evils in this section
is not in organized resistance on the part of the
colored people but on the contrary, such re-
sistance would inevitably be followed by un.
told privation, suffering, violence and blood
she'd which would he borne by the colorcd
people in proportion rs 800 is 10 one. This Is
so perfectly apparent to cll-informcd persons
that we do not deem it necessary to advance
any arguments to sustain our assertion. All
the white people of Mississippi are not
bull .dOzers, rs some would have us be-
lieve, but on the other hand, large
majority are just and humane men aud
good citizens, and IL is only through the ac
tive, lnltllgeuI cHurls OF tnlA Glass, tnt colDTtu
people cooperating, that peace can be secured,
lawlessneSs suppressed, aud protection guar
antecd. 1t is highly gratifying to state that
those who constitute this class are becoming
more and more outspoken every day in favor
of law aud order, and that their ranks are con
stantly being swellcd by recruits from among
the less thoughtful and discerning who are be-
ginning to realize that the nearest and dearest
indeed, every interest is at stake, and that our
u i,4tp l.. in hn al iu nI
the laws and in according equal rights and
cvcn-handed justice to every man, woman,
aud child OH Mississippi soil
These are honied phrases, and we would
that they represented the true spirit and
sentiment Of Mississippi, and, for that mat
ter, of all the South But on that point our
credulity is not readily moulded into such
belief. Circumstances forbid that we
shall accept them as rejecting either the
feeling or purposes of the mass Of the peo-
pie of the late insurgent States. BY their
fruits we judge them, and until it shall be-
come fixed fact that Republicans, black
and white, are protected in free and I'M
molested exercise of their political opinions
and rights, we must be pardoncd for with
hoiuihS oul toLhucnce lrol thcSe generous
expressions OF our Mississippi cotcmpO-
rary, which if they represented popular
sentiment and feeling TO any extent, would
be highly commcndabIc.
Of the numerical strength of the colofed
citizens of Mississippi to maintain their
inalienablc rights under proper organiza-
ton and concert OF action, there is no doubt.
We would not advise an aggressive, but q
defensive organization, which would Sc
cure to every Republican in that State Il
peaceful enjoyment and exercise of his
rights, the same as are secured TO their po'
litical brethren in Massachusetts, Pcnnsyl-
vania, or Iowa. We would be the last tt
counsel the colored citizen to defy or vio-
late the law by any initiative act of his
own. lie should never infringe upon the
rights OF Others, nor should he peaceably
submit to any infringement upon his own
rights as an American citizen, either from