Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-04-28
William Lloyd GarriS0n's Letter
to the FancuiI Hall Meeting in
Behalf of the Negroes LcaN ing
the South.

! HOytfT NORRIS. FsSY.. = H"tf f"tf" ~ 'ftt "''
mttfee Of arrangements.
! Dear Sir: / am glad to see that public
meeting i, to be held at Fancuil Hall on
Thursday next in aid of the colorcd refugees
who in utter dcstitutiun are seeking homes in
the West | find that am announced To be
one of the speakers or the occasion, but the
state of my health will prevent my participate
ing in the proceedings and ! can only send
as a substitute for my presence an inadequate
cxprc,sio of my views and feelings respect
ing this most affecting exodus.
Sclfprompted as Il movement it tells IT.
own story Of unrcquitted toll, mrrciie>s cN'tc-
ton and persistent brutality of treatment
of blasted hopes and broken spirits in their
several localities where the victims were born
and raised and to which they tcnseiou,lN
chung until longer endurance became intpIcr-
able: of homes invaded and made de>olatc by
armed bandits, claiming that they alone should
dccil, " hat shall be the laws and who the
Flaw makers; OF personal and political right
ruthlcs-lv clovcu down; of constitutional
guarantees set at naught, and furnishing the
prcteXt for AL manner of atrocities: ana
| finally of the complete ascendency IN that
doublv accused section of the unaltcrcd and
exultant rebel spirit over the Federal Gov
eminent over the American Constitution and
nag-the much Wanted policy of ''conciia-
! ton to the contrary Notwithstanding Thank
! God Il at admonitorv events have pnt an end
to that infatuated chilling and cooling with
the fierce bird of prey; and that the blindcst
are beginning to perceive and confess that
the policy aforesaid was simply casting pearls
to swine The experiment has proved sig
naliy disastrous in all its bearings.
The spectacle of thousands Of half naked.
empty handed, dcspairng men, women and
children fleeing as for their lives from on,
part of the country to another. and pretcrring
to risk starvation and death BY the way rath-
or than remain where they naturally belong.
is one qualified to move pitying Heaven and
to awaken all that is sympathetic and gcncr-
Gus in the human heart Their claims for
Immediate charitable relief are equally just
and imperative and it i most gratifying to
perceive disposition in various direction,
To minister. to the wants Of these poor out
casts BY nothing that Trey have done on
the score of idlpncss, dissil alton or disorder
! ly couduct have they brought this suffering
and exposure upon themselves. On the con-
trary they have been the only indu,tri DIS,
unohtnding. law-abiding and loyal portion OF
the population in that quarter, with but few
exceptions, and yet their safety is in flight.
/ While. therefore. grave, exciting and rcia-
/ tvelv important as the PRESENT exodus OF "A
! few thousand of cOlOrcd Refugees from Ais
sissippi and Louisiana may be, il i only an
incident Of the hour. demanding succOr and
aid in various forms until they have time to
select their dwelling places But what ~
the four millions of colored people in the an
/ tire South? Their eYilement is question not
to be seriously entertained for a moment
either as a possible or desirable event
/ The American GoVernmenment is but =
mockcry and deserves to be overthrow if
IN. 1. .l
1 in the midst of wolves. If the nation, hay
| ing ,ecreed their emancipation and in
vested them under the Constitution with all
the right of citizenship, can neither devise
nor find a way to vindcate their manhood.
then its acts have been tarcical and the local
usurpati0u of a contemplate body of ari>t0-
cratic factionsts is more than a match for the
/ LOYALTY and strength of the American people,
! and it j. the latter who are as effectively
''bulldozed" and ruled BY the ''shot gun pol
lev as the coored people themselves.
| But, gracious God. is this widespread es-
opponent from uncomfortable wrong and out
rage to be treated simply rs furnishing an
oCca sion for the exercise of benevolent
spirit toward our suffering fellow-crcaturcs
/ If they are deserving of the deepest commits
Grafton what shall be sal | of those bv whom
they have been 'pecled, meted out and trod-
der pity on the one hand is there not also for
intense moral Indignation on the other: No
such stress of circumstances should have
been feasible under the American Govern
mcnt, nor could it have occurred if we had
had such government worthy of its name,
It's prctenaions and its claim to universal al
legiancc. But, so far as the South i con
cerned, it is practically non-existent in the
matter of securing life, liberty and the pur-
suit of happiness to all who dwell on it, soil
AS natural and lawful right. There con
Spiracy and usurpatio2 success fullv bear sway.
In all the late rebel States there scarcely cX-
lists "A Legitimate State administration, for ne
election has been permitted without being
more or less control' by fraud, intimidation
and lawlessnes>. The two Senators from
South Carolina at Washington, Hampton an,
. Butler. are occupying seats to which they
were not honestly elected, and their face.
, should become crimson every time they en-
! ter the Senate Chamber If they had THEN
+ deserts, Hampton would be in the pententiar,
4 and Hamburg massacre Butler be living i'm 1
grave of infsmy, a. crimes are adjudgcd ant
Il punished ina civilized community. The 20
O litiCal party now loudly claiming to be RIGHT
[ fully in the ascendant in both houses of Con
gress owes its supremacy solely to the sup
/ port of the "Solid South" made such Il,
:, by that solid South, il is ruled as abiectlv a,
, was ever plantation slave under the lash o
: slave driver.
t 1t j. clear, therefore, that the battle of lib
ertyan,l equal rights is to be fought over again
not in Il party sense In the ordinary meaning
of that term. but by the uprising and consoii
dating of a loyal treedom-loying North over
whclmng in numbers, resoute in purpose
invincible in action, and supreme in patriot
ism, based on impartial justice, and all en-
bracing citizenship.
Let the edict 20 forth trumpet-tongucd tina
T there shall be a speedy end pnt to ali thl
bloody misrule that no ,isorganzing South
ern theory of State rights shall defiant
/ dominate this Federal Government to the sub
version Of the Constitution that the millions
Of loyal colored citizens at the South, nov
under ban and virtually DISTINGUISHED shal
be put in the safe enjoyment of their rights
shall freely vote and be fairly repres "utcd-
just where they are located. And let the raj
lying cry be heard from the Atlantic to tn,
Pacific coast liberty and canal rights fol