Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1898-08-18

Raleigh, August 6, 1898.
W. H. Bernard, ESQ. Editor the
morning Star.
Dear Sir:-In response to your
request for an account of how the
town of Greenville was turned over
to the negroes by the Republican
Populist-Fusion Legislature I
submit the following statement Of
facts:
The county of Pitt has a popu-
lation of about thirty thousand
people and is one of the finest
agricultural counties in the State.
Greenville, it's capital town, has
a population of about three
thousand people and is a growing,
prosperous. town, A majority Of
it's voters are white men, and if
the people were left to select
their officers by any fair or usual
method they would be certain to
choose competent white men.
The town, however, is the home
of one of the leading Republicans
of the State, and being under OBJ
legations to the negroes he plan
ned to have the town turned over
to them. And here is the way it
was done: The fusion Legislature
of 1895, adopting his plan, divid-
ed the town into four wards. The
boundaries of these wards were
SO turned and zigzagged as to put
a majority of negro voters in the
second and fourth wards. The
first ward is shaped very much
like large broad-axe, with a very
long handle, and the third ward
is like the letter Y. The next
step in this devilish plan was to
confer upon each of the wards
having a majority of negro voters
the right to elect two councilmen
each, and to restrict the white
wards to one councilman each.
At the town election May, IS
| 81, the negroes availed themselves
of the power given them by the
Experimentation Legislature
and took charge Of the town. They
elected four negroes councilmen
while the white people could elect
but two. Thus we had a board
composed of four negroes and two
white men, This board elected a
white Republican mayor, a white
chief of police, a negro assistant
policeman for the day,a negro po-
liceman for the night, and anegro
clerk to the board.
| The taxable property of the
| town is near three quarters Of a
million of dollars. The board of
councilmen levy the taxes and or
der the expenditures. It may be
interesting to know how those
who levied and spent the taxes
ranked as tax payers. One of the
negro councilmen paid 81 cents
taxes on property, another 63
cents and the other two nothing
$50 the four negro councilmen whe
controlled the board paid $1.41
taxes on property for the support
of the town. The white Repub.
lican mayor paid 43 cents OF
property and the white Republi
can chief Of police did not dc
quite SO well, he paid only
80 cents. The negro elerl
paid nothing and the Negro
night watchman nothing. TIL
negro assistant policeman pait
$5.75. The nine men who contro
: the town, levy its taxes and spen'
| the money, paid all together ST.
g and leaving out the assistan
: negro day policeman, the othe
eight paid $2.20. The revenue
; of the town for the year fror
), May, 1897, to May, 1898 was abou
. S., 500, of which about $3.50
went to pay salaries and fees c
: office or place holders. The whit
e Republican mayor and the whit
I Republican chief of police we1
: : both indicted at September tern
4 1897, Of Pitt Superior court &c
gambling. They confessed the