The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-08-05
THE BOYS IN Blue.

nuarter of a century, it should be threat
ened with disruption by the everything
s'color'' question, but such is the TACT.
The men in the southern states who were
loyal to the Union in the dark days or 'ol
are the ones who insist that the negro has
no place in the social gatherings OF the
Ersnd Army of the Republic. Col George
q. Hedges, commander of the department
of Louisiana and Mississippi, together
with several trusty aides, has come pre-
pared to fight the matter out.
UNLESS the thing is Strengthened out
1uripp this encampment," " he said today,
'ttbere wont be a white member OF the
Grand Army Of the Republic south OF the
Ohio or Potomac year hence. lEey are
outnumbering us in the posts. thus puII1,
ting us directly under them. that we ,LI VIII
not stand Now we want to rule ourselves
and have the colored people go oy IIe5n-
selves. All we ask for is provisional! de-
Dartrnent. embracing Florida, louisiana
and Texas"
A dozen or more southern white men
expressed themselves in a similar STRAIN.
There are two sides TO the colored queS-
fion. and Col James Lewis (colored)' au-
ministrator Of public works, Oh New VI
leans, is the champion of the coloreq slae'
When asked what the trouble IN Louis
iana was, he said:
well, there were 24,8O0 colored men
unlisted in the army from LOuSlana-mofe
than from all the other states together.
We were regularly enlisted; we fought as
history tells you, and then we were non
Drablv discharged With these things to
Dnr credit we had all the rights of any
man to form Grand Army posts. We dld
This and we were recognized by General
Alger when a fight was made on u.s. we
have nine posts with a membership OF
Dver 900: vet we are not recognized by
the commander of our department. we
ret no representation in the convention,
and are ordered to report to the command
rr-in-cbief We have prepared strong
rase on the matter, and all l ask Is nfteen
minutes in which TO present it to a com
tnittee or the convention itself. The de-
partment commander thinks we want
social recognition. l claim that the order
is not a social one, but historical ana
fraternal one"
SPRNGFIELD. O., August 4.-John
Brown Post. Grand Army Of the Repub-
lie, (coored will send a letter to Detroit
deDouucing the southerners who want to
GUST the negroes from the ranks. Inc
letter asserts that the southern posts are
now appealing to the northern posts re-
gardless of color for charity, and other
wise roasts them. The letter will create
sensation.
CANDIDATES FOR COMMANDER.
Tie various candidates for commander
in-chief are pressing their claims with In
creased energy tonight, and the contest IS
bv no means over. Charles 7. Lincoln, OF
Washington, d. c., assistant commits
sioner of pensions, has withdrawn from
the race. AS it stands tonight, the choice
OF fcommander-in-chief is between Weis-
sert, of Wisconsin; Smedburg, of Cali.
fornia: Hurst. of Ohio, and Hedges, OF
New York Weissert's candidacy IS the
only one that is sharply defined as TO
states. The west, with the exception of the
Pacific coasts practically solid for this can
didate. and, whlleit must be borne In mind
that the states west of the Mississippi
have two-thirds of the delegates, inroads
have been made in that quarter The sit
nation is complicated tonight by the sud
den extravagant claims of Ohio for Hurst
and rumOr that Illinois may decide to
present the name of Ex-Governor Richard
J. Oglesby for commander-in-chief.
The next national encampment Will be
held at Washington City. Diligent in
quiry at various department headquarters
indicates that when the roll of states IS
called on the location of the next encamp-
ment, Washington will get the prize by a
vote of nearly two to one.