The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-08-21
The Solid South.
EUTAw, GREEN Co. ALA.
August 7, 1880.

August 7. 1880.
Sir-I claim descent from one, and
connection with another, of the most
honorable Union Wing families OF
this State, al Of whom were opposed
to and voted against secession.
Yet at the breaking out of the war
l promptly Joined the army of Gen
eral Lee, and served till the close OF
the rebellion, receiving number OF
wounds in the service sand, pointing
to my civil and military record, l
challt nge the respect of all Southern
men. In 1875, after Alabama by
fraud and the white-lne- race issue,
was seized by the Democratic party,
my sense of honor and Justice revol-
ted, and l openly espoused the cause
of the Republican party. For this
crime (?) am to day stranger and
an alien among the friends of my
youth and my companions in arms.
have the honor to he member
of the State Republican Executive
Committee, chairman of the Repub-
lican Executive Comm ,ttee of the
Sixth Congressional District and
chairman of our County Republican
Committee. l had the honor to rep
resent my county in the late State
Republican Convention and my dis
trict as delegate to the late National
Republican Convention at Chicago.
On the 10th day Of July went to
the town Of Pleasant Ridge, in this
county, to make Republican speech.
Soon after | began crowd of white
Democrats, several with opened
knives and large sticks in their
hands, came up and Immediately be.
gan to interrupt me, so that could
scarcely utter two sentences cOnsecu-
lively. | rem onstrated. assuring
them that they were injuring their
own cause by such course, and dis.
tinctly announcing to them that 1
did not desire to array one race
against the other, but simply to break
down the whlte-line race issue raised
by the Democratic party !; and yet,
while reading a letter published on
August IA, 1879, in the Entaw Wing
democratic paper, l vas stopped,
forbidden by them to read the letter,
and cursed and abused2repeatedly in
the vilest terms and one of their
number declared that they were all
Democrats, and that l should not
abuse the Democratic party. The
accuracy of this statement Is admitted
by the Eutaw Mirror. another Dem.
ocratic paper published here, on July
~, 1880.
But this is not all. They cursed
my little year-Old boy, who
stood dumb with fright before them.
Moreover, | was obliged to desist in
my effort to speak, and was assured
by Mr.. VIM. Heron. an aged gentle
man, that | was in great personal
danger and, but for his protection,
/ am fully satisfied that | should have
sustained serious, if not fatal. injury.
The newspaper, the Mirror, in COM
menting on the affair says: THAT
VIII ich seems to have given most
offence was statement which Mr..
Bird is said to have made TO the effect
that the Democrats lay in the shade
all the year, and then cheated the
negroes out of all they made" There
upon the editor indites long leader,
calculated to intiame the passions of
men. The charge against me is a
miserable untruth. l simply read
from the Eutaw Wig the following
sentence: 1.-The effort seems to have
been, with every recent legislature,
to perfect the laws touching agricul-
ture that the m0nied man could shut
his eyes and sleep the year out, and
then gObble up all the laborers
made" This explanation was made
to the editor, who engaged to do me
ju ,tice in his columns, but has so far
failed to do so.
On the I'd inst. we had here what
Republicans foolishly expected would
be an election, but which proved to
be hollow count. This county, in
which the Republicans are better Or
gained than they have been for
years, and which gave Hayes and
Wheeler l, 63l majority, was turned
over to the Democrats. At one box,
where we had three respectable
gentlemen 1.-TWO of whom were Dem
Ocrats) to inspect the tickets and see
them delivered into the hands of the
managers, our 61S Republican ballots
on the final count turned out to be
only 343, the balance going to swell
the Democratic vote so that this
box, that gives Hayes and Wheeler
525 majority, is now counted Demo
cratic by Is majority. At another
box, where five competent witnesses
Inspected every ticket carefully, and
where every voter marched sinEly to
the box with his ticket in full view
and placed it into the hands of the
managers, our $50 votes "pannSd,