Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-07-10

4
| flights.
He paused as though about to stop when
1 Legree, evidently surprised and delighted
/ at his powers, said:
go on! Go onP'
Eyes, 20 on" shouted Perkins. I'VE
are done with race and color lines"
| A dreamy look came to Tins eyes as he
continued:
''Our proud white aristocrats of the
/ south are in a panic Il seems. They fear
the coming power of the negro. They
/ fear their Desdemonas may be fascinated
again by an Othello! Well, Othello's day
4 has come at last. II he has dreamed
dreams in the past his tongue dared not
speak, the day Is fast coming when he
4 will put these dreams into deeds, not
i words.
''The south has not paid the penalties of
her crimes. The work Of the conqueror
/ has not yet been done In this land. Our
work now is to bring the proud low and
exalt the lowly. This is the first duty OF
conoueror.
the French revolutionists established
a tanney, where they tanned the hides
| the Of dead artstocrats into leather with
which they shod the common people. This
was France in the eighteenth century
/ with a thousand years OF Christian cul-
i ture.
when the English army conquered
Scotland they hunted and killed every fu-
| gitive to a man, tore from the homes Of
\ their fallen foes their wives, stripped them
naked, and made them follow the army
begging bread the laughing stock and
| sport of every soldier and camp follower!
i This was England in the meridian of An
| glo-Saxon intellectual glory, the Eng
| land of Shakespeare, who was writing
Othello to please the warlike populace.
IT say to my peolpe now in the Ian
guage of the inspired world, "All things
are yoursl' have been drilling and teach
| ing them through the Union league, the
young and the old. / have told the old
men that they will be just as useful as
the young. If they can't carry musket
they can apply the torch when the time
comes. And they are ready now to an
swer the call of the Lord!'
They crowded around Tim and wrung
his hand.
Early in 1867. two years after the war,
Thaddeus Stevens passed through con-
gress his famous bill destroying the gov
ernments of the southern states and d.
viding them into military districts, en-
| franchising the whole negro race and dis
\ franchising one-fourth of the whites. The
/ army was sent back to the south to en-
| force these DEGREES at the point of the
/ bayonet The authority of the supreme
| court was destroyed by a supplementary
/ act and the south denied the right of ap-
peal. Mr.. Stevens then introduced his bill
/ to confiscate the property Of the white
people OF the south. The negroes laid
down their hoes and plows and began to
gather in excited meetings. Crimes of
| violence increased daily. Not night pass
ed but that burning barn or home
wrote its message OF anarchy on the black
| sky.
The negroes refused to sign any con-
tracts to work, to pay rents or vacate
their houses on notice even from the
/ Freedman's bureau.
| The negroes on General Worth's planta-
/ ton not only refused to work or move.
but organized to prevent any white man
from putting his foot on the land.
General Worth procured a special order
4 from the headquarters Of the Freedman 8
| bureau for the district located at INDIE
pendence. When the oficer appeared and
attempted to serve this notice the negroes
mobbed him.
A company of troops were ordered to
Hambright and the notice served again
| by the bureau ofhcial, accompanied by the
captain of this company.
The negroes asked for time to hold a
| meeting and discuss the question. They
/ held their meeting and gathered fully 1ve
hundred men from the neighborhood, all
armed with revolvers or muskets. They
| asked Legree and Tim Shelby to tell them
what they should do. There was no un-
certain sound in what Legree said. He
looked over the crowd Of eager faces with
pride and conscious power.
Gentlemen, your duty is plain. Hold
your land! It's yours. You've worked
| IL for a lifetime. These officers here tell
you that old Andy Johnson has pardoned
General Worth and that you have no
rights on the land without his contract.
| tell you old Andy Johnson has no right
| to pardon a rebel and that he will be
hanged before another year. Thaddeus
Stevens, Charles Sumner and B. #. But
| =
has never failed yet on anything he has
set his hand. He has promised to give you
the land Stick to It! Shake your fist In
old Andy Johnson's face and the face of
this bureau and tell them sou
Dat we Wilt" shouted negro woman,
as Tim Shelby rose to speak
you have suffered" said Tim. Now
let the white man suffer. Times have
changed. In the old days the white man
said:
John. come black my boots!'
"And the poor negro had to black his
boots. expect to see the day when
will say to a white man: Black my boots!
And the white man will tip his hat and
hurry to 90 what tell him!"
Eyes, Lawd! Glory to God! Hear dat
nowP'
1--WE will drive the white men out OF this
country. That is the purpose Of our friends
| at Washington. II white men want to live
II
wants. II they don't like their Job they
can move to a more congenial climate.
You have congress on your side, backed
by a million bayonets. There is no presi-
dent The supreme court is chained. In
San Domingo no white man Is allowed to
vote, hold office, or hold a foot OF land.
We will make this mighty south a more
glorious San Domingo!'
A frenzied shout rent the air. Tim and
Legree were carried on the shoulders OF
stalwart men in triumphant procession
with i've hundred crazy negroes yelling
and screaming at their heels.
The officers made their escape in the
confusion and beat a hasty retreat to
town. They reported the situation to
headquarters and asked for instructions.
CHAPTER XII
RED SNOWDROPS
The spirit of anarchy was in the faint
ed air. The bonds that held sociey were