The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1908-10-29

the ku-Klux as a Gang OF
Inefable Meanness.
| Circular sent out from Democratic Head
quarters.
The people OF North Carolina have
been taught for a generation that
the darkest period in it's history was
that period when the Confederate
soldier returned from defeat, and,
!@ghile engaged in the hard struge lie OF
rebuilding neglected and destroyed
homes and fortunes, the carpet-bag-
gers, under encouragement OF the
National Government, organized and
enfranchsed the negroes, disfran-
chised the best white citizenship of
the State and made OF our govern
ment such mixture OF farce and
tragedy, OF rascality and stealth, OF
dishonor and disorder, that few Re-
publicans have dared openly to de-
fend it.
But i'll this campaign there has
been found in North Carolina one
Republican, OF enough prominence to
have been made a Supreme Court
Judge in the one intervening black
| period when that party was inpower
in the State, to defend it and to de-
nOunce the Inen and the means which
put Il stop to that nightmare OF hOr-
ror and restored peace and safety to
| the State. In the Academy OF Music
in Raleigh. on Thursday night, OctO-
Der Sth. Il speech was made by EX-
Judge ". A. Montgomery, preparing
| the way for and Introductory of Mr..
j. Elwood Cox, Republican nominee
for Governor, which was reported by
| Mr.. Edward l.. Conn, a reporter of
Well-kuOWn fairness and accuracy on
the staff of the News and Observer,
rs follows:
Judge Montgomery stated that it
had been Il long time since he had
made an appearance at poitlca
| gathering 1T has been twenty
| years since | had that pleasure and
honor" He announced that he
would speak plainly, and he did. He
| would ask no favor or consideration,
he said, of those who opposed his
| views. He had not wanted the office
! OF Associate Juseice, he declared
| and so told those who had offered it
to him: but, he said, when Butler
went to him and told him to stand
by what he thought were his principles,
he accepted the office.
Reverting to the days of '6S and 90
the times that the Democrats say the
"carpet-baggers and scalaWags set a
low order OF morals and broke into
the natural order of things" Judge
Montgomery gave utterance tC
words as startling us unusual. lie
praised the work of the reconstruc
tiOnists, lauding the results of their
legislation in this State. He eulogized
the Northern people for their mag
nanimity to the people of the South
considering the peril into which they
had been put by the South and the
great Southern army that threatened
the destruction of their civilization. >
WAS there ever he asked, pas
sionately, such a spectacle in al
history" He said that mot ever
one Southern man was prosecuted
| DN the North AFTER the war. Is
the Judges memory failing SO badly
that he does not remember the arrest
and persecution OF President Jefferson
DaviS?D
Judge Montgomery denounced the
hu-kluX klan, read passages il
which the members OF that organiza
ton were denominated murderers
and speaking of it in this State
exclaimed: The ku-klux was tt
incite the people OF North Caroline
and the South against the Nationa
government He said the people
never hear Il Democrat condemn thu
ku-kluX and their Outrages,' an,
referred to them as ''delectable Sc
of gentlemen" and to their char
acter in the words 1.-The ineffa bI'
meanness of the gang"
Judge Montgomery spoke with Thu
greatest contempt OF the play, 9TH
Traitor" which will be in Raleigh
one night next week A play il
being engineered, he said, 1.-THE onl,
purpose of which is to revive old feel
ings, and its hero will be probabl,
one of those ku-kluX leaders," hi