The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-10-28

to the southern people.
After a cruel and constituencies cru
sade, continued for some years in a
yengeful spirit, to force the equality Of
the races, the attempt was abandoned,
and now the almost unanimous belief,
even among those who i~nstigated 1t, is
that The greatest crime that has ever
been perpetrated against modern civil
lization was the investment OF the ne
gro with the right of suffrage. Every
where, except in North Carolina, this
sentiment has k practical shape,
and everywhere except here the negro,
as a factor in politics, is a cypher. 1t
is profoundly humiliating to be COM
PEELED TO acknowledge this exception,
and it would be still more profoundly
humiliating to believe that any argu-
ment is necessary to persuade the
white people Of this state that, If it
so continues, disaster, social, political
and economic, awaits us. If / thought
the people of North Carolina
would submit q do not say consent)
longer to the present condition of
things, much less to the worse condi-
ton which would inevitably follow, I
would be ashamed to acknowledge my
self a citizen of the state, and would
wish to shake her dust from my feet
forever.
1t is precisely because I believe that
they will not submit and ought not to
submit to it hat / am here tonight.
What a commentary it is upon our
boosted civilization that here, in the
most quiet and conservative of the
original thirteen states, and at the
end of the nineteenth century, we are
reduced to the pitiful necessity of
choosing whether we will live under
the domination of negroes led by a
few ~unprincipled white men, and see
h. prri n = - I +l~%
prove ourselves worthy of the respect
of mankind by restoring good gov
at all hazards and at every
cost. Yet this is the issue and the only
issue in the pending election. There
is with the people of Eastern North
carolina, no question Of gold or silver,
or tariff, or the like, and still less any
question of mere local and fractional
politics. The man who would, even for
a moment, inject such an issue into the
contest is both a fool and an enemy of
society.
We are in the presence Of a crisis be-
fore which all such questions sink into
insignifcence The salvation of socie-
ty depends on the outcome of this cleo
tiOn-nOt the restoration of good gov
only, or the protection Of
property, or the reduction of taxation.
or of the public expenditures, but all
these, together with the preservation
Of peace, and good order, and prosperi-
ty for all of both races. To suppose
that under such circumstances North
CarOlinians will fail to meet the issue
squarely and manfully is to attribute
to them an imbecility and a pusillani-
nifty which they have never, in the two
undred years of their history, exhibit
ed, and which would make them for
ever contemplate in the Eyes of the
civilized world.
Are we less intelligent, or less cour-
ageous, or more degraded than the
people of the other states who have
settled this question for themselves?
What is the matter with us?
L Will tell you. We are afflicted with
an excess of the virtue of f~orbearance
which, beyond a certain point, ceases
to be a virtue at all, and becomes a
want of self-respect. If the people of
this state, after their great victory in
1870, had resolved, and had acted upon
the resolution that every man who
sought office at the hands of the ne
groes must also seek business at
their hands, and find his social rela-
lions among them, the present state
OF things could never have occurred.
That is what was done elsewhere, and
in those localities hat species of ami
NAL is very scarce. We are in this re-
spect as in some others, behind the
age, but while it is not too late to
profit by our experience, it is too late
to use hat as a remedy for exeisting
evils. A more heroic remedy should be
applied now. I DO NOT HESITATE
TO SAY THUS PUBLICLY THAT IF
A RACE CONFLICT OCCURS IN
NORTH CAROLINA THE VERY
FIRST MEN THAT OUGHT TO BE
HELD TO ACCOUNT ARE THE
WHITE LEADERS OF THE NE
GROES WHO WILL BE CHIEFLY
RESPONSIBLE FOR 1T, AND THE
WORK OUGHT TO BEGIN All THE
| LEAVE ANY DOUBT AS TO WHOM
1 MEAN BY THIS PHRASE. ]
MEAN THE GOVERNOP OF THIS
STATE, WHO IS THE ENGINEER
OF ALL THE DEVILTRY ANE
MEANNESS. l trust that no such duty
will be thrust upon us, out if it is,
trust that it will be rigidly and fear
lessly performed. 1t is an abuse OF
language for such men to talk about
the freedom of elections and the purity
of the ballot. There never has beer
any freedom in the negroes exercise
of the right of suffrage. They havt
invariably voted blindly and solidly a:
a race, against every interest of thu
white people among whom they live
and on whom they depend for employ
ment.
1t is a part of their religion to d.
so, and wherever there is an exception
to this rule the offender is an objec
of hatred and persecution to them. Thu
terrorism practiced by them in this re
spect has no parallel in any free coun
try, and yet their leaders talk to then
about being "bulldozed" by the whit
people!
The freedom of the ballot, indeed
Look at the election law passed by tn
last legislature. There's freedom 70
you-so much freedom hat any ex
convict, or minor, or nonresident ne
gro who chooses to swear that he is
qualified voter a have his nam
placed on the registration books il
spite of anything that anybody cal
do or say, and if on the second Satur
day before the election his right t
vote is challenged, the challenger i
compelled to swear to the particulars
notice must be serve at the challen
gers expense, he must summon hi
witnesses, at his own expense, tn
whole burden of proof is thrown o.
| hin, instead of on tho other ma rtv an