The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-11-25
sword" The power Of the sword IL

observance OF the laws, or TO punish
any breach of them. There was no
power to enforce laws in Wilmington
by those who had authority to do so
conferred by law. Capacity had not
thus been conferred. Hence,
Result number two, revolution.
A body of citizens, whose published
names are a guarantee to all who know
them of every mainly virtue, met in
council, an American right. They
passed resolutions demanding the ex-
pulsion Of the negro editor referred
to, which was justifiable, and the re-
moval of his printing press from the
city, which was an error, and suggest
ing the resignation Of the mayor and
aldermen. But the resolutions being
passed and signed, every possible con-
sideration demanded their enforce
ment. When the time limit had ex-
pired the citizens marched without re-
~sistance, to the Record Office, with
Colonel A. NJ. Waddell at their head.
The point is that there was no resist
ance by the constituted authorities to
the destruction of the printing Office.
By accident, it is declared by those
LCSC tIo - I" ~
believed, the building caught fire. By
the efforts of white citizens the negro
church and dwelling close by were
saved. But that was the beginning Of
confusion. Inc negroes were more to
be feared for their cowardice than for
their courage. One Of them fired a
pistol, WOunding a white man, a volley
was fired in return, and the long defer
red ace conflict was on. If motives of
cruelty instead of self-defense had pre-
vailed the killed and wounded among
the negroes would have been numbered
by the hundred or the thousand. AS
it was twenty negroes were killed, sew
eral We're ordered to leave the city,
together with some of their white
leaders, and three white men were
wounded. The mayor and aldermen
met in lawful session and proved to the
world their unfitness for their position
by resigning, n by one, and electing
one by one, successors from the citi-
Zens' committee. The new board Of
aldermen elected Colonel WaddeIl,
mayor, and from that moment order
began to reign. The mayor marched
to the Jail where some Of the negro
ringleaderS had been imprisoned and
protected the prisoners from a mob. A
little later one Of the white men who
had instigated the negroes to violence
was rescued from death at the hands
Of a mob. Special policemen were
sworn in, the city patrOlled by them
and the military companies who had
arrived at the scene, and all other cit
liens, white and black, ordered to dis
or,,, n md nrocorrn Tho noooo
The difference between the old gov
eminent and the new is that the new
has the power of the sword. And it
has that power because there are back
of it the forces of morality, intelli-
gence, courage, capacity and character
in the city, banded together by all
that makes life sweet and home dear.
But the ability to rule involves the
right of suffrage under our govern
ment. The power of the sword finds
modern expression in the formula,
1.-The bullet behind the ballot" We do
not allow our women and children to
vote, however intelligent they may be,
because they have not the power to
enforce. by arms if need be, the decis-
ions of the ballot box. So, a man who
Id hCpI away Tx pulls ny tuS
firing of a canon or the parade of men
On horseback clad in red flannel shirts,
is not entitled to vote, because he
would be worthless in UNFOLDING the
decision of the ballots. So that man
hood suffrage needs to have a new
meaning put into it, with the emphasis
on manhood. The greatest political
crime Of this century was the bestOWal
Of unlimited suffrage upon a race, one
or two generations removed from bar
barism and just relieved from slavery,
a race that in all the millenniumS of
its history had never proved itself
capable of self-government. A gener-
alton of freedom has not made the ne
gro appreciably more capable of self
government, nor will his mere num-
erical superiority ever put the govern
ment of his white neighbor into his
hands. 1t is better to know than to
think. It will be better for plans of
government to be based upon facts
tina upon ideal theories. That was
a new declaration of independence that
was signed at Wilmington the other
day and its preamble makes an appeal
to enlightenment everywhere. Be
lleving that the constitution of the
United States contemplated a govern
ment to be carried on by an enlighten-
people"
North Carolina owes it to herself as
a duty of first consideration so to
amend the suffrage laws as to remove
forever the possibility of any but an
enlightened government. With excep-
tons which should be and will be
made, putting a premium upon educa-
ton and thrift, the suffrage should be
taken from a race whose ignorance,
venality and cOwardice has been a
standing temptation to fraud, corrup-
ton and violence.
1t will be infinitely better for the
negro himself to forego his ambition
to rule until he has proved himself
worthy. He owes to the southern peo-
pie that for which the ballot is small