Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-24
shall deny to any person within its jurisdi

ana with the purpose or affecting. the result
Of said election then about to occur by creating
/ by means of such unlawful violence and homi-
| eide a state of alarm on the part of peaceable
! citizens throughout said State when should
induce them to refrain from voting or to vote
| differently from their previous intentions al
! said election; and
WHEREAS 1t Is alleged that all the victims
| of said attack were of one race and of one 'po-
otheT and
WHEREAS, 1t is alleged that the authorities
| of said state of Virginia have net brought any
| of the persons connected with said conspira-
cies, violence and hOmicides before courts of
! Justice for examination or trial, whereby tie
| equal rights Of citizenship and the equal pro-
! lection Of the laws have not been secured to
| all people of said State; and
| WHEREAS, A general election was to occur
and did occur in the State of Mississippi on
the 9th day Of November, 1888; and
WHEREAS, 1t is alleged and currently re-
! ported in the public press that prior to said
/ election in the county OF COpiah, State of Mis-
! slsslppi, there was an organized movement by
/ members of one party to prevent members of
| another party from voting at that election land
| to prevent iree and open discussion and eX-
| preston of political opinions; that this purpose
! was carried into execution by organized plans
/ of terror and violence; that the means used
| for that purpose were by lawless and or
/ ganlzed mobs, moving by night and by day,
/ assaulting and in some cases killing lawful
! voters, with view, by terror and fear Of vio-
| lence, to deter others from voting; that this
! violence was committed by one party upon
| the members of another party,
! with view to deprive the latter Of their
] constitutional rights, and extended throughout
| said county of COpiah and into portions Of
! other counties of that State; that as part of
| this general plan and conspiracy one J. p.
! Matthews, peaceable and law-abiding cltl-
/ zen of COplah county, was warned not to vote,
| and on his voting on the day of the election,
was murdered at the place of election by
! persons elected for that purpose, with the APP
| prOval, express or implied, of the officers of
election. made
| the murderer; that his killing was subse-
! quently approved by public meeting in said
! town, composed entirely Of members of one
| party, ana by such public meeting 1t was
! justified and approved, and the following
resolutions Were adopted:
| "WHEREAs, Rumors are current that the re-
! latives of the late J. p. Matthews have threat
/ ened the peace of society in order to aVenge
/ his death, by killing Democrats and destroy
! ing their property: now, therefore, be 1t
! "Resotged. By the people of COpiah county,
in mass meeting assembled, this day, at the
| court house of said county, that If any person
! shall be injured, or an attempt made to injure
/ him, either in person Sr property, in any man
ner. by said relatives or friends of said j. p.
1 Matthews that we hereby declare that we
] will hold his SAID relatives and friends who
! participate accountable for the same, and that
! we viii regard them as without the pale and
| protection of the law, and common enemies Of
| society, and that we will visit upon them GER
! tain and swift retribution. Be it further
| ''ResOIUed, That so long as the friends and
! "
| laws and become good citizens, we hereby
! pledge them the protection Of the law.
''Resol0ed Jitrther, That in the opinion of
! this meeting 1t IS necessary to the safety of
society and the welfare of all races and classes
| in this country that the Matthews family shall
keep out of politics in Copiah county.
'Res0ICed further, That from henceforth no
man and set of men shall organize the negro
race against the whites in this county. and if
il shall be attempted in further, we hereby
give notice that ii shall be at the peril of the
! gttpmDTInV q
"ReSOired, That we do hereby pledge our
selves each to the other, our lives and fortunes
and our sacred honor, that we will all and
individually from hencefOrth hold ourselves
IN readiness to enforce the foregoing resou
tl0ns, and to meet at any time upon the call Of
the Chairman Of this meeting.
"ResOlced, That committee of twenty -four
from eaCh supervisors district be appointed
by the Chair to present a copy of these resolu-
tions to the brothers and sons of the late J. p
| Matthews, and that the same be published in
the COplah Signal and Crystal Springs Meteor
"ResOlced, By the citizens of Copiah county.
in mass meeting assembled, that the honors
| heretofore wOrn and worthily so, by beat No.
| 2 be and the same are hereby awarded to
beat No 3. Be it further
"Resotced, That this resolution is by no means
intended 10 reflect upon the past and present
services of beat No. ?, but to show our appre
citation OF the result of the election Of the
ticket IN beat No. 3. 1t is also
Res tired, That clubs continue their Organi-
zatlon and consider themselves not disbanded,
Democratic Executive Committee.
'Reso1ced, That the thanks of this meeting
be extended to the Hazehurst Brass Band for
| their services on this occasion.
"lsignedl j. L. MEADE, Chairman.
JESSE THOMPSON, JR.,
&c. J. ALLEN,
secretaries"
AND, WHEREAS, II is alleged that the au-
/ thorltles Of the state of Mississippi have ut
| terly failed and neglected to protect and pre-
serve the citizens of that State in the equal
/ enjoyment of civil and political rights, but
| have in some cases contributed to their over
throw, and have failed to punish or bring to
/ trial persons alleged to be guilty of the con-
/ spracles, violence and hOmicides above
stated in disregard of the equal rights of citi-
] zenshlp in the equal protection of the law
! fore.
/ Rrsolred, That the Committee on Privileges
/ aad Elections be, and it is hereby instructed
| to inquire into all the circumstances of and
| connected with said alleged events and into
! the condition of the constitutional rights and
! securities before named Of the people Of Vir-
! gina and Mississippi, and that it report by
/ bill OF otherwise as soon as may be;
! and that 1t have power to send for persons
/ and papers, and TO sit during the sittngs of
/ the Senate, and that it may employ a stenO-
/ graphcr or stenographers.
/ Mr.. Sherman asked immediate con-
/ SideFatlOn of the resolution. Under the
| objection of Mr.. Cockrell it went over
until tomorrow, and Will be printed. Mr.
Cockrell thought that the gentleman
/ Offering it may by tomorrow desire to add
/ a few more whereases to it.
The bills from the House repeating the
test oath and providing for an expedition
for the relief of Lieut.. Greely were read
| twice and referred.
Mr.. Vance introduced joint resolution
to provide for the cOmmemoration of the
| landing Of Sir Walter Raleigh's colony on
! Roanoke Island, n. T.. On Mr.. Vance's
/ own suggestion the resolution was laId on
the table to be hereafter called.
Mr., Wan Wy0k offered a resolution.
which, after amendment, was agreed to,
calling for full information from the At
torney General as to the fees paid attor-
neys in the star route cases.
The Senate took up the unfinished busi-
ness, being the bill providing a civil gov
ernment for the Territory of Alaska,
After some debate ON the Alaska bill the
Senate went into executive session, and
after ten minutes session adjourned.
IN THE HOUSE.
In the House the reading of the journal
this morning consumed half an hour,
Mr.. Long, of Massachusetts, introduced a
joint resolution giving the thanks of Con-
! gress to Captain Erie Gabrielson, COM
manding the United States Revenue
steamer Dexter and the officers and men
uhuGf ullu5 anu tu6 men VINO manned the
Gay Head life boat, for their brave con-
duct in rescuing the survivors of the
wreck of the steamer City of Columbus,
and especially to Lieut.. Rhodes, who
twice swan to the steamer and rescued
two men who were clinging to the rigging.
The resolution passed.
Mr.. Burns, from the Committee on Ap-
preparations, reported bill to supply the
deficiencies in regard to the rebate of the
tax on tobacco. 1t was referred to the
committee Of the whole, and MIR. Burns
stated that he would ask action on it to-
morrow. 1t apprOpriates $3,750,OOO for
the payment of the tobacco rebate,
Mr.. Aiken, of South Carolina. from the
Committee on Agriculture, reported a bill
establishing department of agriculture.
The House went into committee of the
whole ana considered the bills on the cal
endar.
Without passing any of the bills on
the calendar or reaching action upon anv
other measures the House adjourned.