The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-09
AN OUTRAGEOUS ExAaaERA-
 TT0N

AN OUTRAGEOUS EXAGGERA-
 TON.
 On this page is reproduced from The New Slavery" by J. c. Manning, Repub- lican postmaster of Alexander City.
 The Advertiser does not care to make an extended argument to answer this bit ter diatribe against the South by one who pretends to be a Southern man. Man ming has been tor years wen nigh crazy on the subject of newspaper notoriety. He has been in all parties and at all times has used every opportunity pos sible to pose in the public eye. It has not been many years since he was a wild eyed Populist, abusing the North and Wall Street to the limit of his voice. He seizes on any pretext to write for the press. This last performance in a North ern paper is in keeping with his career. It is not likely. however, that he cal culated upon the reproduction of this par ticular display of his vanity in an Ala bama newspaper. It is likely to give him more notoriety here at home than he will enjoy.
 The most outrageous assertion he makes Is that the Coosa case he mentions Is only one of ten thousand, that the ruling spirit of Alabama's white people is typi- lied by this Coosa County peonage busi- ness. It Is not probable that any other Republican even in this State entertains such an untrue conception or would dream of making such a wild statement. Unfortunately. however for Alabama Manning is practically unknown in the North, and his utterances cannot be taken with the very large allowance they de- serve from the rattle-brained, egotistic busy-body he is known to be here.
 It is no wonder. therefore, that The Evening Post in another issue editorial ly acts upon the assertions of such char acter as Manning's and says:
 "A square dear' for the negro was the burden of President Rooseveltss speech yesterday at the tomb of Abraham Lin coin. Inspiration might well have come tS him from that mighty shade. And on the issue. The new slave-driving in Alabama has prtcked the conscience of the nation. It is perceived that this re- hand in hand with the the atte@ps sa1 nss to eGdRe de prive him of that sure defence of the freeman in a democracy-the ballot. Once represented. and they are easy game for the oppfessor.
 Here The Post makes a radical error. These peonage cases are not a develop ment following the disfranchisement of the negro. The State courts and the State officers have been trying to get at this very Coosa County pesthole for several years. At one time indictments were found in the State court against this very man Pace, who seems to be the prin- cipal figure in the present indictments in the Federal Court. But, if we are in- formed correctly. the State could never secure trial because the Witnesses could never be found. The cases had to be finally abandoned on this account Even now, the great National Government, with all It's treasury and resources has had to use the expensive secret service for months to work up these cases, and the negro witnesses are now being cor rallied in the jails at the expense of the government, to hold them for the day of trial.
 The fact is clear that these cases of new slavery" have nothing to do with the adoption of the new Constitution in Alabama. If there is any difference, the mass of white people are more kindly disposed toward the negro now than be- fore their disfranchisement. These peon- age cases are simply few here and there. There have not been tens of thou sands of such cases. We doubt extreme ly whether there have been even hun dreds of them in all the State in the past twenty years. If there have been, why has not the great National Government with it's all powerful Federal Courts. gone after them before? The whole thing is beginning to take on an ugly political as- pect. Ars. MT. Roosevelt, his administra- ton and his Republican newspaper friends simply trying to work up another bloody shirt" campaign cry for next year? The yawp of Manning and the dis tortions of such papers as The Evening Post look very much that way.