Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-08-06
MIR. Hoar's National Inquest Bill.

/ 1t is probable that Senator Hoar will
continue to make bloody shirt speeches
as long as he remains in the Senate. He
i is very near sighted, and his spectacles
are not the kind which enable him to see
that the country is tired of speeches OF
that sort.
His speech the other day, IN which he
insisted that Congress should not adjourn
until it had passed his bill-ridiculous
and unconstitutional as it is-which
provides for national inquest
to inquire into the killing OF colored
men by white Democrats in the Southern
States. The Senator cited a few cases,
gathered from newspapers, in which 1t
was alleged that colored men had been
badly treated by white men for political
reasons, but he was unable to say whether
or not there was any truth in any OF them.
His chief reliance for his facts was upon
an old scrap book which he had borrowed
for the occasion from Frederick Douglass.
A remarkable thing in connection with
the speech was that it was apparently
approved by no Senator except Mr.
Dawes, who is from the same State that
Mr.. Hoar is. 1t wasn't approved becau Sc
the Republican Senator'S were wise
enough to see that it was inopportune,
and that all the alleged facts 1t contained
were too old to be used for campaign ma
terlal.
1t is remarkable that men like Senator
Hoar, who have the reputation OF being
capable and even bright, should be con-
tinually insisting that the white people of
the South take especial pleasure in ILL
treating aud numbering the colored people.
Notwithstanding there have been no dis
turbances in the South for many months
that are worth noticing, MIR. Hoar, and
those who agree with him in this matter,
insist that the killing of negroes is going
on all the time.
For years there has not been SO much
opposition to the recognized authorities
and to the laws in all the Southern States
together as there has been in Chicago and
st. Louis within the last few mouths.
The lawless defed the authorities and the
law-abiding citizens in those cities, and
murdered the officers who attempted to
preserve the peace. Mr.. Hoar's inquest
bill, however, is not intended to find out
the reasons for the disturbed state of
affairs in those cities. In fact, he does
not appear to care how many men are
murdered 80 long as they have white
skins. The killing Of one colored man,
even though the killing is justitiable,
touches him more deeply than the killing
of any number of white men.
But Mr.. Hoar is not to be blamed for
the condition Of his mind relative to the
alleged ill-treatment of colored people In
the South. He cannot help believing that
they are treated cruelty because, since he
was child, he has been taught to believe
they are. Where the testimony is all
the other way, however, he might
very justly cease to express his
views for fear that he might be mistaken,
A man who cannot get nearer the truth
! than he does, when dealing with a matter
in which millions Of people are interested
| is not qualified to represent great State
in the Senate. The prompt way in which
the Senate refused to consider his bill
ought to have caused him to suspect thai
the day of the bloody shirt business is
| past