Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-01-15
THE VISITORS TO MENTOR.
THE COLORED DELEGATION AND
GEN. GARFIELD.
Address of IL. B. Elliott. COIOred, of
South Carolina. TO the President
Elect-RevampingW WornOut RadI-
cal FaIsehOods.

CLEVELAND, o., January 14.-The colored
delegation visited Mentor to-day and waited
upon General Garfield at his house. The
delegation was composed of r. B. Elliott,
Samuel Lee and D. A. Straker, of South
Carolins; Henry E. Curry, of Texas; James
B. Deveaux, of Georgia, and George w.
Prince, Jr., George L. MADISON, James W.
Hood, John A. LeanY, j. w. Harris and
Stewart Ellison, Of North Carolina.
On being received by General Garfield,
R. b. Elliott, the spokesman, addressed the
President elect, and after congratulating
him on his election said:
I'VE have come to present you
brief statement of our condition
in the South, but not In a spirit
Of dictation, but in the belief that fair
representation OF the cause can best be
made OF those of us who are compelled to
endure grievous wrongs for opinions sake.
Although clothed with the rights of
citizenship by the provisions of the Uonsti-
triton Of the United States, and recognized
as such by legislative enactment
in all the Southern States, we
are citizens in name and not
In fact. Our right to participate in cleo
tions for the choice of public officers is not
only questioned, but in many localities abso-
lutely denied US by means of armed violence,
fraud and intimidation.
"In many of the Southern States, sir, the
rights OF maioritles are Illegally and wan
tonly subverted by the imperiOus will of
unscrupulous minorities, for no other reason
than this, that these msjorities consist of
men who, free and enfranchised by the
laws of the land, prefer to remain loyal TO
the country Of which they are citizens, and
steadfast In support of that political party
which saved the life Of the nation, and to
the charge OF which can most safely be en-
trusted the duty of preserving the results
accomplished by the late war.
"The methods resorted to bv our political
opponents in the South to deprive us of
rightful participation In public affairs have
been so often stated to the public and are SO
well known to you that 1t is unnecessary
that we should enter upon 8 de-
tailed statement on this occasion. Suffice
it to say that by the infamous use Of fraudu-
lent tissue ballots, by deliberate Justification
Of the registry books and election returns,
by forcible e1ectment from the polls of
negro voters, by armed mobe, by
murder and a general system of terror
lam, and by refusal In many instances
to hold elections at precincts where
majority OF the voters are Republicans,
elections have been rendered q nero farce,
OtdGC nave O6GQ H3Qe 10 Q6-
rive their powers not from the consent of
the governed, but from the arbitrary will
OF domineering mnorities.
"We are powerless, sir, to redress the
wrongs through the machinery of the State
courts, for to all intents and purposes
they are organized against US,
the jury oftentimes being composed
not only of those who sympathize
with the violators of the law, but FREQUENT
10 anncicffuo In arf af al -
in the wrong doing.'
The address then goes On to say that even
In the Federal courts the colored people can
not obtain redress of the wrongs done them
for the reasons that those who are
responsible for those wrongs sit in the jury
box to pass judgment on them. That this
condition Of affairs has created feeling of
unrest among the colored people of the
South, and has led many of them to seek
relief In strange and uncongenial parts of
the country"
The address then sets forth the made
Quacy of educational facilities in the South
and urges the importance of creating q
national system of education under con
troll of the Federal Government.
The address then continues: "We deem IL
our duty, In the interest of those whom we
have the honor to represent, as we'll as in
the interest of the Republican party at
large, to call attention to the character
of Federal appointments in the South In the
past, and respectfully urge that the system
OF placing in public positions men not only
IN want Of sympathy with the principles of
the Republican party, but who use those posi-
tions to obstruct and hinder the enforcement
the laws passed for the protection of the
rights of American citizens, be abandoned,
and that those men, though calling them
selves Republicans, are of no fixed or well
defined political sentiments-men who are
all things to all men and nothing to
any, and who are totally without
a following and represent nobody but
themselves-be no longer set over us as
representatives of the Federal Government.
Such appointments, sir, instead of strength
ening the Republican party, have been a
positive source of weakuessr."
The address closes with the expression of
hope and belief that the rights and interests
OF the colored people will not be forgotten
by the President elect in the hour of his
triumph.