The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-08-21
Gives His Views Of the People Of the Old
Dominion.
HOSPlTABLE, KIND, CONSCIENTIOUS and RELIGIOUS
But Still Wrapped Up In Their DeluSlOnS.
CONCLUDING PART OF LETTER. J

And now, as in much that I've writ
ten, / have rather criticised the ma
tive whites of this section, will here
say that never lived by better, kind
er neighbors than they are; they will
do as much, make as great a sacri-
flee, and discommode themselves to
as great an extent, to accommodate
a neighbor as any people I ever knew.
that greater portion of the adult
population are church members, than
in any place nwhich have ever be-
fore lived. Notwithstanding the
many respects in which 1 think they
are wrong, / am glad to say that
1 believe a majority of them aim to
do right.
Politically the Old Dominion is all
wrong and likely to remain so-for
many years at least. The Common
people are honest and want and try
to do what is right in matters politi-
cal, but they always were, and still
are wrongly taught, deceived and
led astray by a, few political leaders
who are as bitterly rebel today as
they and their fathers were forty
years ago. Ever since I have lived
here, have taken the Richmond
Times-Dispatch, one of the leading
papers of the South, and from its
editorials and from numerous ex-
tracts which it prints from other
Southern papers, and the speeches
of their many leading politicians,
have come to the conclusion,
above stated. as to their, r,,being bitter
Ily rebel. Thinking as 1 did, and as
so many Northern people still do,
that the animosities of the war had
about died out. Il was utterly sur
prised, and greatly grieved to find sc
imuch of Il still alive. and such strong
and persistent efforts on the part Of
so many leading journals to keep
them alive, and to "tear agape the
healing wound afresh." / enclose
two clippings from the Times Dis
Ipatch which L assure you are fail
! samples of what you will find in al
most every issue of said journal ani
of numerous extracts which 1t pub
IHshes from other papers and thu
, IspeeShes of their political leaders.
! They never tire of discussing th'
war,.reconstruction, carpet-bag-rule
tnegro domination, ETC., lauding t.
the skies the Confederacy, an
, Ievery body who had anything to d.
. in the matter of inaugnrating it An
keeping it alive, and abusing, sland
;, Iering and villifying everybody VIII
! i'm any way helped put down the Re
Ibellion. And if facts get in the wa
q of their arguments-so much tn
worse for the facts-they must ge
J, Iout of the way. In one issue of tn
;. Times Dispatch, the editor intro
) lduced long array of figures provin
Ito his own satisfaction 1t may bt
THAT the North had over six time
as many soldiers in the. field as th
JConfederacy had-that in all th
numbered often many times owe
but in the face of numbers, held the
- ground and gained many victorie
, by their superior prowess and bra
ery. Unlike their political brethre
of the North they do not deny, b,
frankly admit the existence forr
W erly of Kuklux Klans with their i
~ foundations, barbarities, and eve
ID murder, together with ballot-be
ID stuffings and false returns, but the
y excuse, justify and commend the
ID on the ground that they were Il
E. only means at hand to prevent neg
h. domination, which term they CO
"a stantly use as being descriptive
la everything fearful, abomianble al
horrible, and to prevent which al
and every crime is justifiable.
Here in Virginia-now that the
Il new constitution virtually disfra
ed chises the negro, they rejoice al
n are exceeding glad-glad to kno
or that at last they are saved fro
NEGRO domination. What risk tn
have run. what dire calamity tn
have escaped. In the State the
Iare about five whites to two negro,
now suppose these two negroes h
- risen up and dominated these Il
81 whites-it'stoo horrible to think
" They claim, and profess to belle
that the North, and in fact the WHIT
World, though they were for til
against them, are gradually comi
"a round to their way of thinking, a
,;r are beginning to see things as tn
af saw them plainly forty years al
and that the principles for whi
they fought, are already beginni
and will soon completely triumI
They claim that they are the oI
rk, people in the world, who thorough
he know the negro. and consequent
lily the only ones capable of assigni
him to and keeping him in his pr
er place. The North don't know h
go at all, hence their many mistak
his Another Southern paper, in 4
ter cussing the negro question said ii
'ay after all, we needed the negro's lal
old on the Southern farm-to this I
in Times Dispatch put in a general
NAL, and called attention to I