The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-09-20

GreeDvf11ess Town C0uncIlmen-Yee
b Capital Of Pitt Has q White Ma.
j0rity-An Infamous R~edissfeuus OF
the Town Put it Under Black Rule.
Charlotte Observer. 17th.o

Is one or the cursed The republican
popuiist crowd is in charge, and she
will soon be In the hands of the ne
groes. AS in other counties, they are
clamoring for more offices. They feel
their oats. and they may win in No
vember- The county is now full Of ne
gro officers, but the demand Is for a
clean sweep. No section has a more
turbulent and dangerous class of ne
groes than has Pitt county. As a rule.
they are ignorant and vicious. Inso-
lence and rowdyism are their chief
traits. They are always Fac TO pick
a quarrel with white people. They are
worse now than ever before. Like the
lion that has tasted blood. they are
beyond control by fair means. They
have gotten on top, as they express il.
and h decent citizens OF Pitt county
must bear n insults. Indeed, the color
line is drawn. A fight between a small
white boy and a negro boy would be
sufflclent TO cause a riot. In all public
places the young negro men are impu-
dent and lond, While the young wo-
men are very saucy n impertinent.
They make vulgar remarks and use
profane language before white ladies.
The half grown negro boys have not
an lota or respect for the old colored
But the good, honest. law
abiding citizens of the town of Green
Vile have stood the affronts of the ne
gro too long already. There is going to
be trouble in that town one of these
days. When the day of settlement
comes there is going to be a bloody
day in North Carolina history.
OF course there are toughs among
the white people, and the town
has her quota of that class of white
men; but it is not this class that l
refer to. 1t is the business men and
the inoffensive citizens of the town
that are going to throw off the yoke
of disgrace that now binds their neckS.
They are the one that suffer from the
insults of the negroes.
The negro office-holder in Pitt is not
any worse than he is in other coun-
| ties, but the bulk Of the negroes in the
trenches are the troublesome ones.
They are just keeping pace with the
spirit Of the times in this section.
They feel like celebrating, and to do it,
they insult innocent people.
I found in Greenville, the county seat
of Pitt, the same species of negro in
science that 1 did in Wilmington and
New Bern. 1t is caused by a worthless
police force. There is no telling the
influence a strong, fearless band of
police officers in the chief town of a
county yields throughout the entire
county. In Wilmington and in Green
vile, the backbone of the police force
is made Of negroes. Fred Cox, a white
man, is chief of police in Greenville,
but he is a man Of no character and
no courage. He is a man of the lowest
brute instincts. His associate on the
force is Moses King, a big, black ne
gro weighing over $50 pounds. Moses
is shaped like a half-moon and travels
like a duck. He is a very picturesque
looking officer, but I will wager that
he could not catch and arrest the
Whooping cough. However, he is a
man of more principle and better parts
in general than Cox. The latter was
imported from the county for the place
that he pretends to fill. To show the
tendency of the times, it will not be
amiss to state that five negroes, living
fifteen miles in the country, walked all
the way to Greenville, soon after
Moses Kings election, to see "a negro
policeman" One of them remarked as
he started out: "Well, the niger is on
top now, and we can do wha we
please Such is their candid opinion.
Young negroes in the town of Green
Vile have been heard to say: DO as
you please, boys, we are in power
Greenville has for councilmen four
L dllo " ~ IN
groes are John Marable, a tobacco
hand; Sifox Fleming, a carpenter;
Dempsey Ruffin, a blacksmith, and
William Britt, a drayman. Messrs. A.
l.. Blow and w. L. Brown are the
white men. They are democrats. This
bard was elected in May. The board
last year was of the same kind as the
one in office today. That board collect
ed over S., 500, and more than $2,756
were expended for officers salaries. On
the LIST day of last May, just before go
ing out of office, the old board collect
ed S64S for license of various kinds for
the ensuing year, and used it. 1t should
have been turned owe to the new
board. Only $14 of it was left.
Wiley NOrcOtt, a negro school teach
err, is clerk of the present board.
This state of affairs has been brought
about in Greenville by redistricting the
town. 1t is the handiwork of Skinner
and others. Charlotte was in danger
of being treated likewise during the
last legislature. DR.. j. B..
prevented it. There are four wards in
G~reenville, two white and W black.
The negro wards elect I'VE cOuncilmen
each, and the white ward one each.
The voters of the town are divided as
follows: Ward 1, 1,OsO white, 1913 color
ed; Ward 2, IS white and 9 colOred;
Ward 3, 80 white and IS cOlOred; Ward
4, "a white and II colored-total, 254
white and 221 colored. h was &C
cording to the town election of last
May. Here it is observed that, though
the white voters are in the majority
in the town, the negroes are in control.
That is what the fusion gang did for
the thriving little Gown of G~reenville.
It may be of interest to note the
amount of taxes paid by the city Of
fcers last year. The radical mayor
paid, above poll tax, 43 cents; the chief
of police, FREQ Cox, 80 cents: Moses
King, negro policeman, s5.75; the first
negro councilman "a cents; the second
So cents, and the other two nothing.
Greenville is blessed with a demo-
cratic treasurer and a democratic tax
collector. The negroes elected to these
offices could not make their bonds.
Frank Johnson. a negro notary public
of BERTHE county, was tax lister last
year. After he had finished, the work
had to be done over at extra expense
to the county. Last year Greenville
had a drunken, gambling negro for a
night policeman. He was worse than
nothing. Private citizens of the town
had to employ two white policemen