New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-08-01

nee. The "best men of Yazoo County" did
not bother about Dixon's candidacy until they
found that many whites and large majority
of the negroes were going to vote for him.
Then they thought it time to bestir them
selves. They first accused him of approprl-
ating TO his own use, while a member of the
Democratic County Committee, in 1879, q
sum of money which the committee got
from the dead body OF q negro member
of the Legislature who was hanged by a
Dsmocratic mob. Dixon replied that this
money, and good deal more Deside,
was used to pay for stutfing ballot-boxes ana
purchasing certificates of election for Demo-
Gratis who were not elected. The best men"
were naturally outraged in their finer feelings
by this revelation, and they concluded That
the time had come to put an end to Dixon or
his candidacy, or both. SO they besleSed
Dlxon's house, where the candidate was found
IN company with his wife and six children.
He might have met with the fate Of Judge
Chisolm had not the Mayor of the town,
Joseph II. Holt, brayely interfered for his
protection The Sheriff of the county was
with the mob, but the Mayor, to his great
credit be it SAID, threatened to shoot the
first man who crossed the threshold. Then
there was parley, and Dixon refused to
withdraw from the canvass, giving rea-
sons which, in the language of the local
newspaper, "were not deemed satisfactory to
90 the great assembly of earnest, determined
"men." Finally, yielding to the appeals of
his family, he consented, and signed card to
the public in which be said " For the sake
:" of the peace and harmony of the county,
land the affection ! bear for my family and
"frends, agree to withdraw from the pOlltl-
cal canvass or race issue in the future, pro-
"vided | will be protected in my rights as any
"other citizen, and my friend, r. A. Flana-
gan, is to be unmolested in his rights"
An extra of The Kd-oo City Herald was
promptly printed. containing this card and Il
one-sided account of the affair, in which the
brutal mob was made to figure as a gathering
of merchants, planters, farmers and others
having the best interests of the county at
heart. Tile Herald could not, however, hold it
self back from growing over the political re-
suit Of the business which it did in the fol-
lowing iubilant strain So the political can
"yass in this county may be considered as at
can end. The Democratic flag now waves
" over this glorious old county uncOntami-
"nated and unchallenged, and long may it
"wavo."
If this affair were merely the OutgTOwth
of local barbarsm it might be passed over
ms of no general interest, bus it is plainly the
result of political system established by the
Southern leaders for purposes of far greater
importance than the election of a county
sheriff. This system has a plan for dealing
ma u m fri fp q m
position to Democratic supremacy in any dis
trIct, county or State. Personal abuse is first
heaped upon him, and slanderOus stories are
circulated to destroy his good name. Every
form of social and business pressure is brought
TO bear to force him to retire. If he still
holds out he is charged in the news apers
with trying TO revive race issues and stir up
a race conflict. After this, he is a marked
man, and if he should be found dead by the
roadside some morning, with a bullet-hoe in
his head, no coroner's jury viii inquire very
closely after the assassin. III he stays
at home at nights, and goes well
armed during the day, and is known
to be prompt in defending himself, he will
probably escape bodily harm /; but he Will soon
be waited upon by large number of the
chest men Of the county," each furnished
with n persuasive argument carried in the hip
pocket, and he will find it prudent to make
up his mind, as Dixon did, to withdraw from
the canvass for the sake of peace and har-
mony. lie knows that if he should refuse his
lite would not be worth farthing. He would
be far safer among the Sioux or the Bashi-
Bazouks than among his own neighbors and
relatives. This Is the system which keeps the
South solid, and viii make it a compact force
III the Presidential election next year.