Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-09-11
The Last Mississippi Murder.


We will never, never yield"
The Last Mississippi Murder.
The coarse cruelty of Mississippi
Democrats in heaping OblOquy on the
memory of Captain Dixon after they
had murdered him can only be measured
by the additional tOrtures which these
unreasonable ISLANDERS must have in
tiicted upon the dead mans widow. 1t
is the overwhelming grief of the dOubly-
stricken woman which adds such a pro-
found pathOs to her appeal-an appeal
which has touched the sympathies of a
million readers. And yet 10 ordinary
murder, under whatever circumstances
Of cOwardice OF cruelty it might have
been perpetrated. could kindle such
widespread resentment; no merely pri-
vate grief could cause such a universal
outhowing Of sympathy. The fact is
that this crime has a National signifi-
canoe; it comes directly home to every
citizen Of the Republic, and every voter
feels that he has some duties and re-
spOnsibilities in the premises. 1t was
not typical Southern encounter" al
though the principles were men of YiO-
lence. 1t was not simply an evidence Of
the semi-barbarous condition Of society
in some of the Southern States, al
though it could have happened no where
else. Dixon was killed by the organized
force which holds the South solid, which
has made it solid by other murders ae-
tual and possible, which comes to Wash
ingtOn and controls the majority in both
branches of the National Legislature,
and which our own representatives are
compelled to face. General Garfield
was right when he said at BiddefOrd
the other evening: Every vote you cast
in Maine against the Republican party
is vote to let the rascality of Southern
caucuses control the country that you
live in, and make the laws for you"
And "rascality" is a mild word to char
acterize the shotgun plan of conducting
Southern caucuses.
OF course all Southern Democrats are
neither murdererS nor murderOuS. But
none the less is the statement true that
but for murder and threatened murder
| the South would not be solid to-day. 1t
is a most significant passage in Mrs.
DixOnis statement, published in yester-
terday's Tribune, when she recalls the
day when her husband was crowned
with laurel for service in the cause of
Democracy, and when he drew his bra-
vOs up in review before Singleton and
Lamar to receive the commendatiOn Of
these leaders. Singleton and Lamar are
not exceptionally violent men-indeed,
they are rather more highly civilized
than the average Southern Congress
man. But here stand both these law
makers smiling appreciation upon an
armed array Of lawless rutfians because
they won political victory with shot
guns. Did not these leaders thus for
mally recognize the potency of this new
force in politics, and, at the same time,
assume a share of the responsibility for
all the blood spilled in sitting OppOsi-
ton to the Democracy? Singleton Is
on the stump in Mississippi to-day
struggling to talk himself into the Sen
ate. Does he utter q word Of mildest
censure upon the pastimes Of YazOO?
and Lamar in Washington is dumb.
What can they say when the seats they
now occupy in Congress were both
bought with violence, if not with blood?
This is the fundamental reason for
the profound feeling aroused by this
sample Mississippi murder. It is q rep
resentative incident. 1t illuminates the
whole method Of Southern sOlidiies-
tion. 1t stands for q hundred other
murders which have never been heard
of, because the victims were poor Re-
publicans, instead of eminent Demo
Gratis. 1t calls attention to the fact that
one Democrat with a shotgun in the
South has more political power than
half dozen Republicans in the North
with nothing but ballot apiece. These
are matters Of the deepest political i'm
pOrtance not only to Mississippi and
Mississippisns. but to every citizen of
every State. They are worth pOndering
over, and they are just what the North
ern people are pOndering over to-day.
Maine and Ohio can never be Demo-
cratic in the face of such reminder.
The South sohdifed by murder will be
confronted by the North solidiied for
justice. This last outrage has FASTENED
forward the day, which always comes at
last in this country. when enlightened
opinion makes itself felt as a conquer
ing force. in spite Of bayenets cad buck
shot-[N. Y. Tribune.
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