The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1898-09-05
THE LESSON Of NORTH CAROLINA APPLE
To THE PRESENT SITUATION IN GEORGIA

|
of that race are not any more particu-
lar in the matter Of clandestine meet
ings with colored men than are the
white men with colored women. Meet
ings Of this kind go on for some time
until the woman's infatuation or the
mans boldness bring attention to them
and the man is lynched for rape. Every
negro lvnched is called big, burly,
| black BRUTE when in fact many OF
those who have thus been dealt Win
| had white men for their fathers, ana
! were not only not black and 'purly'
hut were sufficiently attractive 1or
white girls Of culture and reflne1nent
| to fall in love with them as Is well
! known to all"
,,eo T., +bo country districts of eastern
VII C,orolina Is not safe unless there Il,
q white man within call every mll"t' "
Who aay The vicious blacks nave
| dued 50 full of this kind of tax 'h'iN NV
seize the slightest opportunity " l,
+b women The blacks feel secure i'"', :,
I arrest and conviction because he'ii9 a'
the magist rates. ConstapleS anu
sherfffs there are of their own coloi' ''''i "
rnnubI,cnn Judge, Spencer u. Adams n,s
,o,,o ca far as to apologize for the raplSt9
/ Il
In q charge to the jury, saying lIltl ne u''
NOT consider them so bad as seuucei''
wave If crime has swept over the
black belt of North Carolina SINCE the i"-
siorists got In office. The people are "ohi"i
aIiyad md q crusade is on to restore WilIto
SUPREMACY and decent government l" i'
store protection to property ana I" fc"-
dnr Iifa in the country counties SAFE lor
women.
A Wave of Crime.
u,,o Raleigh News and Observer, COM
,oortirr on the crime in the state. says
."rho wave Of negro outrages began 500"
ftar the republican government calil' ''o
mower IN North Carolina 1T "ouo ,te
have passed over the state win an 10
horrors If the men VINO peiicNc AZ ~
supremacy had remained in power III A>'-'
Carolina. ~, >roeor+
."Wbv? Upon the advent Of the present
,',,ii,,n administrations elected by ne
GRO votes the negro felt that he was TINS
rulIng spirit in North Carolina. Inc heSio
politician thought he had rlS"l '" '''N
office and lord It over white men, hIu ol
parently the white politicians agreed W.T."
him for negroes were placed III po9''lohS
where they could control the salaries '"'"
o,nnIovment Of white ladies as well as
uritn mon The ignorant negro brute
Thought he had license to outrage WhlIo
women and to escape the penalty Oh 'HS
law for his base crime. And so between
the two the public service mas Decit ~
competent and on a low level, ana lhe
white women in the country districts nave
been afraid to visit their nelghporS Will
out protection.
Rut sunposa for y moment that the dem
ocrats of Georgia were oVerContident TINS
fan and that through a light vote on theiT
part and complete fusion and tull N"te
of populists and republicans, the lal''I
Were to get into power here. IhaJ Is the
way North Cardinals democrats were do-
fcatcd. They were oVerconhdont IN lo'i'
They had met the populists and republicans
Us Independent organizations, each party
with its own ticket in 1892, and had trl-
umDhed over both. In 1894 the democratic
leaders seemed 10 be hypnotized and they
were taken unaware.
Again there were three tickets in the
field. In that year there was no election
as the statehouse officers had been chosen
in 1899 for four years The democrats,
knowing that they had a safe majority over
the popul.sts and republicans combined,
took little heed of the proposed fusion
which was talked of in the papers, and
was openly championed by Marion Butler
the rising young hope of popullsm. The
democrats felt that victory was assured
and as il was an off year in state politics,
they did not turn out at the polls whereas
organized and fully alive to the impor-
lance of casting every possible vote, did
go to the polls and voted with perfect UNI
dcrstanding between each other As a re
suit The republicans and populists secured
together majority of the members of the
general assembly, and they also elected
most Of the congressman from the state as
well as some judges OF the superior court.
Democrats Were Over Confident.
The defeat was a great surprise to the
democrats, and they watched with much
interest the programme prepared by the
fusion leaders for the Legislature to carry
out. with the exception Of the legislature.
which was elected two years later, the one
of 1894 was probably the most Incompetent
that ever met and attempted to legislate
in the capitol at Raleigh. one Of the first
bills passed by the fusion legislature
amended the charter of the town of Green
VILE ~ c. This town is the home Of eX-
Governor Jarvis and other cultured and
prOm.n ent people The whites We're in the
maj Orty in GreenVllle, but the negroes de-
sired to control 1t. SO they got the legisla-
ture TO pass a bill cutting up the town
into four wards, in two Of which the
whites had a majority and in the other
two the blacks held the majority. This was
simply a case of gcrrymandering, and If
1t had gone no further. would not have
amounted to very much, but the legiSla-
ture gave to the white wards power to
elect only one alderman, while to the ne
gro wards il gave two aldermen each.
These six aldermen elected the mayor and
other city officers. When the election came
up the four negroes voted together and
being in the majority, elected the mayor,
the clerk. the chief of police and other
officers. The mayor and chief of police
were afterwards indicted for gambling,
and plead guilty. Omitting the white al
dermen all the other city officials, including
the police force paid In taxes less than S.
year They collected $500 year in taxes
and paid out to themselves in salaries more
than half OF 1t.
The experience of this town, Greenville,
Is Just a sample Of what other towns in
the state were subjected to under fusion
regime. Even Wilmington, the leading city
in the safe, has negro policemen and nu-
merouS negro officials. NeWberne and other
cities were treated i'm the same way and
Goldsboro Wilson and Fayetteville were
threatened with negro domination.
Negro Discrimination.
Decent white people have little or no
voice in the government in the black belt
counties-practcally everything being turn
ed over to the negroes. This never could
have occurred had il not been for the
help which the white popuists gave to Tho
ftY h. &C.,