The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-01-06

ns Pressy-
ens Facu

taken on the Wilmington revolution
None OF the religious papers at the
north, so far as / have seen them make
the distinction nat The Outlook
makes between the affair al Wilmington
and that at Greenwood. s. c. You
trace the trouble to the right source
the bestowment of unlimited suffrage
upon those untitled for its responsible
tiles. The point of disagreement be-
tween o and the Wilmington people
and their defenders is as to the need
of the revolution" when the wrong
that had been done by the destruction
of home rule for the city could soon
have been righted by the legislature.
/ believe that the presentation Of a few
facts will remove that difference.
The, sheriff OF the county Of New
Hanover, which is practically the city of
Wilmington. was a mere figurehead, ut
1erly incompetent, and there is a suit
now pending against him for having
farmed out his office, contrary TO the
law Of the state, to G.. z. French, whom
The Independent recently extolled
G.. z. French, one of the banished,
owned no property in the city or coun-
lty, and was a member of the carpet
bag legislature, and acknowledged on
oath hat he had received, as a men,
Der of the legislature, several thousand
dollars for which he did not do any
work or give anything in exchange. All
the deputies under French were negroes
(some of them so ignorant that they
could not read the warrants they were
sent to serve.) except n white man,
who was a drunken sot. The policemen
in the heart of the town and on the
principal streets were negroes; there
were two negro Aldermen. a negro
register of deeds, a negro deputy to the
(carpetbag) treasurer, and negro depu-
ties and clerks in nearly all the offices
of the custom house; while the city
hall, sheriff's Office, and registers Office.
were lOafing places for negro politi-
clans. Two of the Offices mentioned
were filled by white saloon keepers of
the lowest class.
Another point wfIich has been over
looked is that the negroes are in a ma
iority of ninety-nine out Of a hundred
in the party which was in power in
Wilmington, and that the politicians
who hoped TO keep their favor and their
votes were bound to obey their wishes
and yield to their prejudices. So the
people who owned ninety-five per cent.
Of the property were under the rule OF
a population that owned five per cent;
in other words, under the control Of the
idle and vicious, drunk with the power
they had.
Now, it is easy to imagine the sort
Of government this would be. There
were burglaries, highway robberies, OF
incendiary fires of almost nightly oc-
currence. Since the inauguration Of
that government there have been five
hundred of these crimes among the
white population of some ten thousand
souls! One lady had her house robbed
eight times this summer. Another was
robbed seven times. Very few respect
able houses escaped being robbed that
did not have a private watchman-a
functionary almost unknown in our
southern towns. A gentleman in Will
mington, an officer in the First Pres
byterian church, writes: Seven
robberies have occurred within a stones
throw of my back piazza in three
months, and there were no arrests
When / had been robbed three times,
l ventured to tell the chief of police
He replied: It's just boys-you cam
catch them made no inquiries, and
took no interest in the matter" The
chief of police owned no property in
the city, rented a house for eight dol.
lars a month, and a writ of eiectment
had to be served on him before h,
would pay that. Two ladies caught {
negro man in their bedroom, and helC
him until help came. HeNwas released
on straw bond, and neither he nor hi
bond has been seen since.
Ought not such a government to hav,
been done away with as quickly as tina
could be accomplished? Ought it t
have been endured a day longer thar
necessary? Suppose the Chinese shoul'
| elect by their votes, in New York City
a governor who should prevail upon tn,
| legislature TO change the charter so a
to turn the city government over int
| the hands of the Chinese, owning fiv
per cen Of the property, and utterl.
unfit to rule, how long would the revo
luton be deferred?
Nor was this all, or even the worst
The effect of their fellows in places O
political power turned the heads @
the whole negro population-the serv
ing class. They demanded the whole O
the sidewalk as a matter of right. whit
women learning soon, for fear of insult
to step out into the street to avoid col
lision. White women were slapped /
the face on the streets on absolutel
no p~rovocation. Most of the testimon
as to the language used to refined an
gentle women is unprintable.
When the white Tsuple began to arr
themselves, for the protection whic
the government denied them, the n,
groes began to talk openly of ''burnin
the town." of killing the ONE
they ran into the street. the nurse
began to threaten the safety of the
charges, and the cooks began 10 hir
at poisoning. There was a great de
OF talk of matches and kerosene ar
even dynamite. The churches were no
beds for the growth of these murderer
IDEAS. The negroes began to gather
4 ynnhr h1>n4ysn- ia So -