p. 214 | News and Miscellany

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 20, 1868

News and Miscellany.

Can ye not discern the Signs of the Times? Matt. xvi, 3.

The Southern Situation.

OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS.

As a matter of record, and to refresh the memory, and arouse the attention of our readers to the portentous indications in the South, we re-produce some of the leading facts on this subject, as given in official reports.

The Congregationalist of the 6th inst. presents a succinct sketch of a report on the terrible state of affairs in

TEXAS.

The Committee appointed by the State Convention of Texas to investigate the lawlessness and violence which have existed in that State since the close of the war, report that up to the first of June, 1868, there had been 939 murders. Many of them were committed for plunder, and the testimony shows that some of the highways are infested by bandits who would take life for a horse or a purse. During these three years, 379 freedmen have been killed by whites, while but ten whites have been killed by freedmen. Hundreds of loyal men are forced by rebel intolerance to forsake their homes in Texas. The testimony shows also, that the freedmen, in many parts of the State, are unrestrainedly injured, and frequently killed, because they claim the rights of freemen. During the first month of Gen. Hancock's administration, 30 murders were reported by the Freedmen's Bureau, and, on an average, there have been fifty-five per month since he has been in command. Hon. A. O. Cooley, the only loyal Senator in 1866, was shot July 10th, by a rebel assassin,

and Wheelock H. Upton, one of the strongest Union men in Western Texas, was hung by a mob in the early part of July.

LOUISIANA.

That nearly the same state of things exists in Louisiana, is manifest from the dignified and truthful letter of Gov. Warmouth to the President of the United States. After naming some of the documents transmitted, he adds:

“I send other letters and papers showing clearly that in many of the parishes there exists no protection for the citizens in the courts, and that men are shot down in the roads, in their homes, and elsewhere, without a question being asked, or any steps taken to bring the offenders to justice. The Judge of the Twelfth Judicial District refuses to go to the Parish of Franklin, unless a force is sent with him to protect him from violence; and he is not obnoxious on personal or political grounds, for in politics he was opposed to the new Constitution, and is a life-long citizen of the State. The Sheriff of the Parish of Franklin, a democrat, has resigned, confessing his inability to make any arrests, or discharge the duties of his office, on account of the condition of affairs there. Prominent Union men, in the Parish of Caddo, write me that their homes are beset by desperadoes, and that their lives and property have thus far been saved from destruction only by armed men who volunteer to guard them. As you will see by the letter of Mr. Hudspeth, District Attorney for the Eighth District, men, women, and children, have recently been murdered in the Parish of St. Landry, by bands of armed men, who remain thus far unpunished and unmolested. From the very best information, Mr. President, I have no doubt that one hundred and fifty men have been murdered in Louisiana in the last month and a half. Startling as this statement is, letters of the most reliable character fully confirm it. There seems to be a settled determination on the part of those men who adhered to the rebellion, to either kill or drive away the Union white men, and leading colored men, so as to be able to terrify the masses of the colored people into voting as they shall dictate. There is a secret organization throughout the State known as the K. W. C. It is founded for the purpose of placing and keeping the colored people in a condition of inferiority, and with a view to this end contemplates and designs the precipitation of a conflict between the two races. Many prominent citizens of the State are leaders in it; its members are sworn under oaths of the most binding character, to carry out the purposes of the organization at all costs, hazards, and sacrifices, and by measures, however desperate, that their leaders may adopt. There are military organizations on foot in this city under the auspices of this secret organization. They drill openly in our streets at night, or in halls, and may be seen. In short, I fully believe that there is meditated a bloody revolution, the certain fruit of which would be long continued, if not hopeless confusion, disaster, and ruin to the State.”—Am. Missionary.