Daily Republican., 1879-01-07
THE .BLOODY SHIRT"
A etter from william Lloyd OAR
rison Demanding that II he Made
the Great Issue.


the Great Issue.
The following is Il letter recently
written by William Lloyd Garrison up.
on the Presidents southern policy and
the stand which, in the writer's 0pin.
ion, he Republican party should tax,
| in order to succeed in 1880. The letter
is az follows:
Bosroy. Dee. 10. ls7S.-DEAR S.R
| agree with you that a
marked change for the better is taking
place in public sentiment at the North
! in relation to the Incidentally disas
trous policy Of President Hayes and the
| practical disfrancIiissmrnt Of the rLtirc
coIored population OF the South by
shameless fraud, brutal intimidation
and remors.less slaughter. STILL ! am
not sanguine as to n Republican tri.
umph at the next Presidential Strug
gle, seeing that, with n we'll assured
solid south for the Democratic nom.
inee less than fifty votes will be need
ed from all the North to carry him into
the White House.
"The only feasible way to prevent
such catastrophe-and this is de-
manded 10y every consideration oftrutb,
justice and rights for the Republic
can party, its organs and leaders, to
meet this issue in an uncompromising
and innexible spirit. There is nothing
which strikes such terror or causes
such foaming at the mouth III the ranks
of the armed conspirators at the South,
or ELECTS such responsive howlings
from their s-rvile minious at the North,
as waving the bloody shirt'-a term
Of their own deyising in order to make
a jest of the most sanguinary ontragts,
but which comprehensively symbol
zes long extended reign of terror,
during which thousands Of innocent
victims hsv. been murdered with i'm
punity for daring to assert their poilti.
cal rights as fire.. American citizens.
Yes, let the bloody shirt continue
to he waved until an end be pnt to the
shedding CT blood by the organized as
sassns Who are boldly and successfully
setting the Federal Government at def
anc-. and trampling the Constitution
and laws of the country under their
feet. Let it be shown by go, tir,nation
strong as proofs from Holy Writ that
the South (using that designation as Of
Odd is still full Of the habitations of
cruelty; that her hands are stained and
her garments saturated with blood;
that her feet run to evil and there is no
Judgment in her goings; that she is as
dsloyal in spirit as she was when she
fired her first shot at Fort Sumter; that
she only lacks tue power to tr-enslave
the millions who have been tmancipa-
ted on her soil, in order to save the
Union and bafl!. her reasonable de-
signs; that in nothing does she so much
glory as in her attempt to destroy the
Republic, and in the SUCCESSES OF her
Confederate leaders on the battlefield;
that sh. has rrpent-d of nothing, and
is ashamed of nothing that she has
done, hut exactly the reverse;
that she drspis-s the North (bar-
barsm snecrlnS at civili2ation as
she always has done, and counts as
'mudsilIs' tn. Northern working
classes, while endeavoring to use them
for her own evil ends: that she is gloat
ing over the prospect of soon having
the reins Of government over the whole
country in her own hands; that as for
her leading men in Church aud State,
in Congress and out Of 1t, "the best of
them aresharper than a thorn h.dgr,"
and the most deeply responsible for the
numbrrless atrocities that have been
perpetrated upon the Southern loyal
population white and black; and that
nothing but perfect unity of spirit and
action at the North, to the extent, at
least of ou'-Eoting ''the Solid South"
at the approaching Presidential election
can avert the most disastrous conse-
Quences to the country. "rhe bloody
shirt ~ In hoc signo rinces!
Yours, very truly,
"WM. LLOYD GARRISON"