Year: 1875

Fellow-citizens of Washington county:
The condition Of public affairs of our
county, as il at present exists, and as it
has existed for FIVE years past, is such
that something out of the ordinary course
of party policy is necessary to protect the
material interests of our people. The
great mass of the Republican party in
this county, and in fact the whole State,
lie composed of people ofcolor. We COM
pose the voting class, who have been
made the instruments of designing and
treacherous demagogues, who, for their
own selfish and dishonest purposes, have
made use of the offices to which they were
elected by our suffrages as means of max
ing themselves suddenly wealthy, without
regard to the interests of their constituents
whom they have sbamelessly plundered.


These men are in general not connected
with us who have elected them by any


ties of interest; and as a class sedulously
abstain from any act showing desire to
assist in bearing part of the burdens
they have so constantly been heaping
upon us, but have, instead, been keeping
their ill-gotten gains in such places and
condition as to prevent any revenue
coming from it to the support of the gov.
ernment, or to assist in paying the taxes
they were SO ready to impose. g


The people of Washington county


have been more shamolessly robbed than
the people of any other county in. the
State-money absolutely stolen or EN-
bezzled by the men who obtained their
Offices by our suffrages, to the amount of
tens of thousands of dollars, and all the
county officials, with scarcely an excep-
ton, banding together for mutual assist
ance and to sustain each other, and like
other bands of thieves, each to play the
part assigned him. This system of high
handed robbery has resulted in enormous
taxation, which has steadily increased
until it has become double what it was
five years ago, without particle of cor
responding benefit. The condition of
the public buildings, of the roads and
bridges, and public works generally, is
a source of shame to our people; and
our schools, as schools, may be said to
have scarcely an existence. Our county
is branded as the Utopia of dishonest and
corrupt oficials-has State, and almost
national reputation as the harvest.feld
of political plunderers, who are and have
been pecking at the vitals ofa people who
have been blindly led to offer themselves
as prey to these unscrupulous and insa.
table political vultures. All effort to
overturn this organized band have hith-
erto been in vain, and spirit is even
now being manifested by some of our
unfortunate, misguided people, to con-
tinue as blindly following the leadership
of the same men who have openly and
VIGOROUSLY proven themselves to be un-
worthy of public trust and confidence.
Some of these men, gorged with the
hard-earned gains of our laboring popu-
lation, of which they have been riAed,
despairing of being again suffered to
fatten at the public crib, are now taking
their departure for other lands, there TO
revel in the wealth so suddenly
and dishonesty accumulated in this
county. The remainder, not yet
satisfied, and hoping to perpetuate
their disastrous rule, are now striving
by any means to again foist upon us. A
few men who like their masters have moth
ing at stake, neither families, property,
nor reputation, are lending themselves as
tools to be used by these design
ing men to carry out their nefarious
purposes. Their conduct at the conven-
ton of the 18th of September may be


taken as evidence of what their intentions


are as to the future. The wishes of the
people are to be utterly disregarded.


Nothing but the selfish desires of the So
called leaders is to be considered. We have
been in the past-we see and feel now
what are the consequences of the misrule
of the men who managed and manipulated
that convention. We, the Republicans
the colored men of the county-are
held responsible parties of all the evils
with which we are surrounded. Our State
government is stigmatized at the North
as a negro government, and every evil
and every disadvantage which the people
suffer, and disorder and disturbance which
occurs, is said by even Republicans at the


North, to be directly cbargeable as a
consequence of rule. We know that
what are known as negro governments are
controlled invariably, not by the negro,


but by white men who have used the
negro as a tool, and who have, in all cases,
done the plundering, and appropriated


the spoils, using the negro only as a tool
and scape-goat. They have reaped the
harvest-we bear the odium. And
uharnuar disturbances have arisen having