The Osceola times., 1882-03-04
That Mass Meeting.

"'"'' '"'' w '"'" ''"' '"' "''''"'S
had already been held at / o'clock,
and were further surprised to learn
that some sort of " Mass q Meet
ing" had been held two DAYS before,
and that the secretary of the com
mittee appointed to draft resolutions,
had interviewed the editor of this pa
per with the view of having the pro-
ceedings published, but that he had
positively refused to do so, on the
ground that some of those who held
said meeting were inimical to his in
terests, while a few Others were his
personal enemies, &c. This was an
astonisher. as well AS that such
meeting had been held, to us, as it
will be to at least half of the citizens
of the corporation, Taking our in
formant along, we were soon IN the
presence of said committee secretary,
who in answer to our interrogatories
relative to the above report, said that
he certainly did not make any such
statement, he had not seen us since
the meeting, but intended to see and
request us to publish their proceed
ings. On being informed that we
had never, at any time, refused to
publish at our own expense anything
calculated to further or advance the
interests of the people at large; he
then handed us copy of the pro-
ceedings which will be found in this
issue.
Without the least desire to reflect
in any manner upon the few individ-
uals who composed this mass meet
ing, it does seem to us, who have a
tolerably fair knowledge of the peo-
pie of this county, and particularly
of that class who employ the colored
laborers, in whose behalf this mass
meeting and resolutions seem mostly
gotten up for, that this step was
little, just lectle too previous, and
would lead one to think there was
bug floating around on top of chip.
That there are a great many Of our
people, who are suffering, land the
suffering is not confined to the col
ored people by any means), and
starvation giving them pretty
square look in the face, we have ev-
cry reason to know; many would be
in that fix even if the waters had re-
manned forty feet below the banks,
e" the poor We have always with YOU"
feed them on whiskcy and they'll
remain with you), it couldn't be 9th
wise, but that there should be GO per
cent of the entire population starv-
ing because work is temporarily sus-
pended, we don't believe. The large
majority of the colored people, daily
laborers, are in the employ of such
men as Robt. Friend, Thompson &
Caruth, J. W. Uzzell, James Craig
head, d. l.. Ferguson, Jas. ID. Driver,
J. l.. Driver, w. +. Williams, Capt.
Dan. Matthews, Jefferson, II. b.
Cooke, J. J. Carr, Miss Sarah Hick-
man and a few others; yet none of
these men have been heard to com
plain, nor were they present or even
in this mass meeting
and why "a few self-appointed sayiours
of the starving" colored laborcrs,
who have no direct interest in their
welfare, who employ no labor, ex-
oept perhaps a house servant by one
or two, and boot black of a Sunday
to put polish on their boots, should
be so very prematurely solicitous, as
to rush into little caucus, call it a
Mass meeting of the people of Mis-
sissippi county, and solicit aid of the
general government in DOLLARS and
CENTS, can but suggest one motive,
one solution.
The meeting held subsequently,,
wednesday, was a little better rep
resented, and composed of some %
or 80 individuals, of the town and
immediate vicinity, and was honored
by two or three landlords who en-
ploy labor, bu, who remained passive
spectators in the "large and enthu-
sisstic" Mass Meeting of the People
of Mississippi County; their deliber-
ations, however, were characterized
by moderate request for aid in the
shape of supplies, from the merchants
of Memphis, who reap, year after
wear. the fruit of the laborers of the
county. This, "considering the pre-