Senator Sumner on the Political Condition of the South.
By Charles Sumner
UNHAPPILY we are not yet relieved from anxiety on account of the Rebellion. Though reconstruction is in our statute book, it is not yet established in the universal heart of the Nation, as it must be before peace can be permanently assured. There are painful reports from States lately in rebellion, showing that life is unsafe and society is disorganized. North Carolina has always been considered much less mercurial and violent than her Southern neighbor, with whom the Rebellion begun; but this slow and staid State is now disturbed by bad spirits, menacing revolution and blood. A private letter says: “I am assured, by men who know, that blood will be spilt if Congress does not interfere. The excitement of 1861 bore no comparison to this.” In certain counties the Ku-Klux-Klan so far dominates that to be a unionist is to brave death. Nor is this evil spirit confined to North Carolina. It shows itself in other States, and promises to extend. Alas! that after all the terrible sacrifices of these latter days, we should be called to this new experience. And yet the Rebellion is said to be suppressed. This is a mistake. So long as men are in peril, whose only offense is that they love the Nation, or that their skins are not “white,” the Rebellion still exists. Force is needed; nor is this the time to remove political disabilities. Our first obligation is to those who stood by the Nation, and those others whom the Nation has rescued from bondage. These two classes must be protected at all hazards. Here is a sacred duty. And not until this is completely performed can we listen to the talk of amnesty.