New-York tribune., 1884-02-28
COpLAH COUNTY SPEAKS FOR ITSI

| is the only lifting response
| COPLAH COUNTY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
The Senate Committee which went to New
Orleans to investigate the Copah County muir
| der listened TO some extraordinary testimony
| on Tuesday 1t was field day for the Demo-
Gratis Their witnesses were marshalled in force.
and having local sentiment behind them to
re- echo every reckless utterance, they talked
not wisely but too well. When one of them said,
" If you should send your biggest man, General
| Grant, down into our county to organize the
negroes he would be killed at once" the crowd
of Democratic sympathizers in the committee
room applauded. These reckless brutes did not
stop to think that that burst of applause would
be heard in every part of the Union.
Rarely, if ever has such a complete exposure
been made of the intolerance which is typical
of the Southern Democracy as in this hear
ing, and of necessity the men were entirely un-
conscious of the impression they produced upon
hearers from the North, where, though politics
is bitter and stormy enough mans right to his
own opinion and his own life is respected. The
committee had before them Meade, the editor
of the Copiah paper who led the mob, and was
and is chairman of the Democratic committee,
and presided at the meeting which adopted the
famous resolutions Hargraves, the sheriff. VINO
should have exercised the powers OF the law
against the murderers Dodds, young lawyer,
who sewrote the resolutions before their adOp-
toni and others The "high-toned and ele-
CANT" citizens of Copiah, as one of the wit
nesses said they were were thus officially rep
resented so to speak, in the matter OF the
of Not md nth
The tone of all these witnesses was the re-
verse of apoogetic. Meade did not deem it his
duty" to make any allusion to the Matthews
murder or the outrages. 1t never "occurred"
to him to do So The mob was made up OF
taxpayers and good men," He thought 1t
would have been "bettern if tho resolution
warning Matthews not to vote had not been
passed." better for Matthews" He calmly
admitted that he approved the resolutions
adopted at the meeting after Matthews murder,
and when asked if he approved of the action OF
the mob alsO said that "depended entirely
upon circumstances"
Mr.. Dodds gave the committee to understand
that it was only through his efforts that the
" high toned and elegant" citizens of Copiah
were restrained from electing Wheeler, the
murderer of Matthews, to be Mayor, and he
even deprecated his being made Marshal, which
was the honor finally bestowed upon man
the blood upon whose hands was hardly dry.
1t is already matter of history that Wheeler
failed of the Democratic nomination for Mayer
by only three votes.) Dodds struck out of the
resolutions one ordering the Matthews family
TO leave the county, but suffered the rest to
stand including the following which he thought
"unfair."
Whereas Certain rumors are current that the relatives
OF the late j. p Matthews have threatened the peace OF
society order to avenge his DEATH by killing Demo-
Gratis and destroying their property therefore be
Resolre BY the people ofCOpiah County In meet
ing assembled this day at the Court House OF SAID
county, that any person shall be injured or attempted
TO be Injured either person property In any manner
by the said relatives friends Of said j. p Matthews
that we hereby declare that will hold his said rea
tves friends who participate accountable for the
same and thsiwe hereby regard them without the pale
and protection OF the law, and common enemies OF
society," and that we will visit upon them certain and
swift retrbutiOn.
We have thought 1t worth while to reproduce
this resolution to show what a leading COplah
County Democrat thought, under the circum-
stances, to be unfair But the policy of COM
plete immunity for Democratic murderers-
d" certain and swift retributiOn for the avcng-
ers of murder, seems to have suited everybody
else, and may be set down as the Democratic
code of morals in Copiah County Mr.. Dodds's
testimony further showed how correctly the
meeting which passed those resolutions repre-
sented popular sentiment. One of them warned
any persons who attempted to organize the ne
gro race that they would do it at their peril.
This witness declared that he approved this
"most emphatically." that General Grant would
be killed if he should try it, and that they
"would have taken human life, if it had been
necessary" in order to get rid of the Independ-
ents. He would not admit that the resolutions
were "disgracefu," but thought 1t was :" bad
policy" to pass them.
There is nothing in all this inconsistent with
the practices of the Democratic party in the
South. The showing need surprise none but
those who continually insist that manifesto
tions like these simply illustrate the low tone
of Southern civilization without regard to party
in spite of the fact that they are to be seen i'll
one party only.
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lDD0TNTHENT