WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? OK, RECONSTRUCTION AND ITS RESULTS. BY HILARY A. HERBERT, M. C, Alabama; ZEBULON B. VANCE, U. S. Senator, North Carolina; JOHN J. HEMPHILL, M.C., South Carolina; HENRY G. TURNER, M. C, Georgia; SAMUEL PASCO, U. S. Senator, Florida; IRA P. JONES, Tennessee; ROBERT STILES, Esq., Virginia; O. S. LONG and WILLIAM L. WILSON, M. C, West Virginia; GEORGE G. VEST, U. S. Senator, Mo.; WILLIAM M. FISHBACK, Arkansas; ETHELBERT BARKSDALE, Ex-M. C, Miss. ; CHARLES STEWART, M. C, Texas; B. J. SAGE, Louisiana. BALTIMORE: R. H. WOODWARD & COMPANY. 1890. Obf^Hsht, 1890, 9y BILABT A. HEKBEBT. B: TLo While lluOfie ^e:^ication< TO THE BUSINESS MEN OF THE NORTH THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFUIvEY DEDICATED. Hilary A. Herbert. April I, 1890. CONTENTS. CHAPTBR I. RECONSTRUCTION AT WASHINGTON. Lincoln's death calamity to the South, 1 ; Lincoln's theory of Reconstruction, 1, 2 ; Ste- vens' theory — Sumner's, 2 ; Lincoln's plan in message of 18G3, 2, 3 ; Act of Congress, July, 1864— Lincoln's pocket veto— Winter-Davis protest, 4-6 ; Congress adjourned leaving Lincoln to carry out his own policy — Lincoln has prepared the proclamation — Johnson subsequently adopts, 5, 6 ; Blaine's opinion— comments, 6, 7 ; Andrew Johnson retains Lincoln's cabinet — issues Lincoln's North Carolina proclamation, 8, 9 ; Civil governments rapidly restored, 9-11 ; Congress convenes, 11 ; Sherman shows Johnson is following Lincoln plan, 12 ; Stevens deter- mined to "secure perpetual ascendency to party of the Union"— Joint committee on recon- struction, 13, 14 ; Veto of civil rights bill— split in cabinet, 14, 15 ; Rejection of 14th Amend- ment—causes, 15, 16 ; The Freedmen's Bureau— its evil influences— Grant's report, 16-18 ; The Committee of Fifteen — its methods, 18-20 ; Eepublicans victorious in Congressional elec- tions, 21 ; Impeachment, 21, 22 ; Negro Suffrage for the District of Columbia, 22, 23 ; Taken away by Republicans themselves in 1874, 24 ; Congre'^s decided, in 1867, war was not over and passed reconstruction laws supplanting civil authorities by military power, 24-26 : McAr- dle case, 26 ; Lincoln to Shepley, 27 ; Senator Wilson's prophecy that these acts would Repub- licauize the South — its fulfillment, 27, 28. CHAPTER II. RECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. Wretched condition of people in 1865, 29 ; Old political feuds still divided them, 25-30 ; Senator Fessenden on Freedmen's Bureau, 30; Bureau's influence over colored man, 30-31 ; Vagrancy laws— Blaine's comments in " Twenty Years in Congress " and New England Stat- utes cited in reply, 31-36 ; Reflections on self-government, 36, 37; Representatives refused admission to Congress— exultation of blacks, dejection of whites — Friction between races — V ^.j OON'TKNTS. : : ..trict, hc«dqu»rU'i« ot Atlauta; Gen. Swayne of Alabama, , j«, 3© : G»n. CUnton organixes oppoaition or Conservative ^gjlj Itfin^iin brfvMO U#n- CUnton and Senator Wilson— Riot in Mobile— Gen. Pope lla«Vo6ed constitution— whites despondent- ly^. 1,,^ < ; r-licvcd — Gon. Bleado in command, 45 ; Ek-ctiou for rati- %c»Uon ■-»t« oniciahf to be elected at the same time— Republican a-titM lf^**. 4A, 17 ; SumiMT " would nut see new states born of tlio bayonet " — Gen. M^mU 4srlan« o I'-d by 8,114 rotes according to law of its submission, a»l Ikto iWfmltil -^ ' for state olTlccrB— Remarkable report of reconstruction twllln that Mhar-qitrot citangr uf law could affect election already held — Congress adopts o '• rrjuft rvjt'cte'l and defeated nominees installed, 47-50 ; State credit ki. . _ j^»ut railruad legislation, oTt-r issues of bonds— frauds — increase of debt, ftl-^3, lUilanUe uflk^-boklenii, &3, M; election uf 1870 — Republican quarrels — Lindsay, fHiiiii f ■!. eUclfU UuTpmor — Smith mils on troops to rot^dn him in office, then abandons MHrtart — iJadaky's administration unsuccessful, 65-.')7 ; Lewis, Republican, elected Governor, IVTS-IhMl t^acblalura— U. S. Iruupa again called on, 57-69; The judiciary, amusing charge legfaailjary. S^t-€\ ; Oinpaign of 1K74 — State debt, the militar3', hand-cuflTs, overflow bacon — DMBumU r««W*ai the state, CI-^ ; A new constitution, reduction of salaries and expenses f, 4«U, Kbuula, flgtxnM, reflections, Gl-C\>. CHAPTKR III. RRCONSTRUCTION IN NORTH C.VROLINA. "^'' ' " ' ^Wr WM f.if re»i..mt|un ..f the Union, 70, 71 ; Theory was secession •^ ' * f thr Union— Thl« rrciigniwHl by all branches of the Government • «4 Kmj WarvU-k— caaD of James Kagan— Rcrcrdy Johnson- minority report, 71-74 ; ' ■* and North Carnlino put under military rule, ■ i^t*, 75. 7C; Klectlfranchise number sufficient to place state in hands of loyal persons, etc., 309 ; Character of Consti- tution—Davis made Governor -12th Legislature — Bribery and corruption 369,370; Passage of law authorizing Governor to select and enroll militia and to d clare martial law, 371, 372 ; Law of July 1, 1870, established "state police" and gave Governor absolute power over all executive officer^, 372, 373 ; Terrorism under Davis— Gathings case, 374, 375 ; Oongressional elections October, 1871— Methods, 375, 376 ; Walker, Limestone and Free- CONTENTS. xiii stone Counties, martial law in, 376, 377 ; Indebtedness of towns and counties increased 377 ; Increase of taxation and state debt— Credit destroyed— School fund robbed — Election of Democratic Governor and Legislature— Eesto-ation of credit — Reduction of taxation, 378, 379; Increase of population — Capital— School funds — Low taxes — Prosperous schools — No discrimination on account of color, 379-381 ; Conclusion, 381, 382. CHAPTER XIV. RECONSTRUCTION IN I.OUISIANA. Introductory — Situation, 383-385 ; Steps from War to Peace — Election of Governor Hahn, February, 1864 — Election for Constitution, September 1864, 385, 386 ; Lincoln's course — Joint Resolution of Legislature, 387-389 ; The riot of July, 1866— Causes, 389-392 ; Military Gov- ernment in Peace— Sheridan — Hancock — Packard — Registration methods— Methods under Lincoln, at war, 1864 — Methods in peace, 1^68, under reconstruction— Contrasted, 392-397 ; The Advent of Warmothism — Methods— Board of Registration — Expenses— Returning Board methods — Bribery — Instances and figures, 397-403 ; Warmothism — Expenditures contrasted — Debt and taxation— Figures — Constabulary law — Metropolitan Police— Catling and Napol- eon guns— Infantry, cavalry, artillery and state navy— How Governor obtained control of judiciary— Complete Dictatorship — Profligacy and corruption— United States troops and Deputy Marshals— Republican factions at War — General Emery interferes— Election of 1872 — Disputed result — Kellogg vs. Warmoth — Warmoth's hitherto unsigned law — Durell's Mid- night order — Senator Carpenter's Report — United States artillery in possession of State Capi- tol — Kellogg installed— Colfax Riot, 403-417 ; Warmoth-Kelloggism — Metropolitan Police increased — Cavalry — Artillery — Tax resisters — Registration and election laws improved on — Profits of debt scaling — Figures — Collisions between people and military — Democratic vic- tory of 1874 reversed by Returning Board — De Trobriand — Troops march Democrats out of Legislative Hall — They again disperse legal Legislature in 1875— General Sheridan, 417-424 ; Final struggle for supremacy — Democrats victorious — Returning Board again, 424-427 ; Shrinking of values — Figures — Increase of debt— Figures— Conclusion, 424-429. CHAPTER XV. SUNRISE. Prosperity follows the restoration of good govprnment — South advancing — The last decade — Figures from Manufacturer's Record, as to assessed values, railroads, agricultural products, mining, manufacturing, banking, 430-434 ; Rates of percentage of increase three- fold greater South than North and West, 435 ; Vice-President Morton's interview, 436, 437 ; Education of the negro— Statistics, 43S, 439 ; The race question, 4'>9-142. — Appendix, 4t3. PREFACE. PEKHAPS in no particular is the intellectual pro- gress of this age more notable than in the ever increasing public demand for accurate history. In the phenomena of preceding ages we seek the causes of existing conditions. Of these existing conditions the most potent factor is to be found, of course, in the immediate past. The lessons drawn from recent experience will ahvays, therefore, be the most valu- able that history can teach ; provided only we get the facts correctly before us. The difficulties when one writes of what happened only twenty and twenty- five years ago are twofold, resting both with the writer and the reader. The former must school himself to an impartial study of his topic that he may write correctly; the latter must endeavor to lay aside pre- judice that he may judge fairly. The authors of the articles which comprise this volume, each agreed when he undertook the task assigned him to write as impartially as possible, to "understate rather than to XV ^^.l PREFACE. overstate facts." In like manner the reader is in- vited to judge calmly and dispassionately of the statements these writers have made, and draw his own inferences. He may possibly conclude that each has failed in greater or less degree in his effort to write dispassionately; but he wall probably be more ready to overlook any exhibitions, if such there be, of temper, that ought to have been restrained, w^hen he remembers that we were all parts of what we relate. " Quis talia fando Myrmidonum, Dolopumve aut duri miles Ulixei, Temperet a lacrimis ? " A complete history of reconstruction in all the states would fill many volumes. The plan of this work has been to condense into a chapter the con- trolling facts in relation to each state. It is hoped that we may thus arrest the attention of men who can devote to public ajffairs only a few hours of their time. Each article is signed by its author, who thus be- comes directly responsible for the truth of his state- ments. The parallelism throughout the history of all these states, whether in lines of retrogression or of pro- gress, furnishes a striking illustration of the truism. — Like causes produce like effects. PKEFACE. xvii This work has not been undertaken with any such impracticable purpose as agitating for the repeal of the Fifteenth Amendmentj or for the deportation of the negro. Its object is to show to the public, and more especially to those business men of the North, who have made investments in the South, or who have trade relations with their Southern fellow- citizens, the consequences which once followed an interference in the domestic affairs of certain states by those, who either did not understand the situation or were reckless of results. A thorough comprehen- sion of the facts we attempt to portray will, it is be- lieved, at least aid the reader in deciding what ought not to be done by the Federal Government. Even this much will be of value in the solution of one of the pressing problems of to-day, for, however it may be in morals, in statesmanship, it is undoubtedly true that sins of commission are generally more fatal than sins of omission. Hilary A. Herbert. April 1, 1890. WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? OR, RECONSTRUCTION AND ITS RESULTS CHAPTER I. RECONSTRUCTION AT WASHINGTON. UNDER ABRAHAM I,INCOI,N. I'^HE death of Abraham Lincoln was an appalling calam- ity- — especially to the South, Had the crazy assassin withheld his hand, reconstruction could never have been formulated, as it was, into the Acts of March 2d and March 23d, 1867. Mr. Lincoln's leading thought in the conduct of the war was the preservation of the Government of the fathers; and he took issue squarely with those who, like Mr. Sum- ner, were seeking to take advantage of the times and ^' change this Government from its original form and make it a strong centralized power. ''"^ He believed the Government to be, as Chief Justice Chase afterwards defined it, in Texas vs. White, '^ an indestructible union composed of indestruc- tible states. " Upon this idea of the constitution he based his theory of restoration, — a theory which, at the time of his death, was well known, though it appears to have since been industriously forgotten. This theory was, that the insurrectionary states, notwithstanding the w*ar, still ex- isted as states — that they were never out of the Union and were always subject to the constitution. Hence it * Nicolay and Hay's " Lincoln.'"— Century, Oct., 1889. 1 2 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? followed that those people of these several states, who were entitled to vote by the laws existing at the date of the at- tempted acts of secession, had, when they returned to their alleo-iance and were pardoned, the power of reconstruction in their own hands. On this theory President Lincoln aided the people to set up state governments in Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas— all without any aid from Congress. But from the beginning there were eminent Republicans in Congress who denied the authority of the President to "intermeddle," as they called it, in this business. As early as 1861, Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, had an- nounced the doctrine, that the constitution and laws were suspended where they could not be enforced ; that those who had defied them could not invoke their protection, and that Congress could legislate for such rebellious territory outside of and without regard to the Constitution. Mr. Sumner laid down the proposition, in resolutions introduced February 11th, 1862, that, by attempting to secede, a state had committed suicide, and its soil had become territory subject to the supreme control of Con- gress. Both of these theories, which did not differ in result, denied to the President any power whatever in the premises. But Mr. Lincoln seems always to have stood on the declara- tion made by Congress in July, 1861 : that the war was being waged " to defend the Constitution and all laws in pur- suance thereof, and to preserve the union, with all the dignitv, equality and rights of the several states unimpaired; tliat as soon as these objects were aocompUshed, the icar ought to cease, " &c. Pursuing steadily the spirit of these resolutions, even down to the day of his unhappy death, reconstruction as practiced by him was, simply, restoration of civil author- ity in the insurgent, but still existent states by the people thereof, aided by the military power of the United States. More than two years af\er this question of power had begun to be mooted in Congress the President formulated and communicated to that body, in his message of Decem- ber 8th, 1863, the plan he proposed thereafter to follow. In no material particular did it differ from the theory EECONSTKUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 3 upon which he had theretofore acted. He said : '^ Looking now to the 2)resent and future, and with reference to a resump- tion of the national authority within the states wherein that authority has been suspended, I have thought fit to issue a proclamation, a copy of which is herewith transmitted.'' In the proclamation, embracing the plan, he offers par- don to all who will swear ''henceforth'^ to support the Constitution of the United States, &c., and proclaims that when those who, accepting this amnesty, shall have taken the oath of allegiance, each '' being a qualified voter by the election laws of the state, existing immediateli) before the so- called act of secession, and excluding all others, shall re-es- tablish a state government, which shall be republican and in no wise contravening said oath ; such shall be recognized as the true government of the state,^' etc., etc. This was President Lincoln's plan for restoring the in- surgent states to the Union ; it left the question of suf- frage entirely in the hands of those who were qualified to vote under the laws existing at the date of secession. It was precisely this proposition — viz., that each insurgent state, at the time of rehabilitation, must decide for itself whether it would adopt negro suffrage — that angered the Republicans in Congress when acted on by Andrew Johnson ; and culmi- nated in the impeachment proceedings. But Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson were two dif- ferent persons. Johnson was pugnacious — seeking always to beat down his adversary and never to conciliate. Lincoln, on the other hand, never needlessly antagonized those who could be won to his views, though he was accustomed to adhere to his matured opinions with inflexible purpose ; as we shall see he did in this case, in the face of the fiercest op])osition. When this message of December, 1863, went in, many of the Republican leaders were claiming for Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the question of reconstruction under the clause of the Constitution which declares that : '' The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a repub- lican form of government." The counter-claim by the Pres- ident, that he could aid the people to set up governments for themselves, seemed a challenge. 4 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Congress debated the question at length, and finally, in July, 1864, passed, by a small majority in each House, a bill "to guarantee to certain states a republican form ot government." This bill did not meet the wishes of extremists, because it did not give the ballot to the negro ; but, if it became law, it would be a step gained for the extremists. It asserted the jurisdiction of Congress and provided expressly that the President should recognize by proclamation the state govern- ments established under it, only ^' after obtaining the consent of Congress. " The President refused to approve the bill and defeated it by a " pocket veto." July 9th he made a public statement, giving reasons for his course. The bill, he said, was received by him only one hour before the adjournment of Congress, and, among other things, he thought that the system of restoration it provided was " one very proper for the loyal people of any state choosing to adopt it. " But he clearly was opposed to forcing it on any state by law, as he went on to say that he would at all times be " prepared to give the Executive aid and assistance to any such peo])Ie ; " that is, people who should " choose to adopt it, " the Congressional plan, " when the insurrection should be suppressed, " etc. Senator Wade and Representative Henry Winter Davis re- sponded in an angry protest. To the admirers of Mr. Lincoln this document, dated in July, 1864, contains charges that are astounding. After stating that the signers had read the pro- clamation "without surprise, but not without indignation," the protest contends that want of time for examination was a false pretense. " Ignorance of its contents is out of the ques- tion," says the manifesto ; and then argues that Mr. Lincoln was cognizant of a plan by which " the bill would be staved off in the Senate to a period too late in the session to require the President to veto it in order to defeat it, and that he," the President, " would retain the bill if necessary, and thereby defeat it. " The protest further says : " The President, by preventing this bill from becoming a law, holds the electoral votes of the rebel states at the dictation of his personal ambition," and complains that the will of Congress is to be " held for nought unless the loyal people of the rebel states choose to adopt it.'' EECONSTRUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 5 It also calls Mr. Lincoln's action ^^ a studied outrage on the legislative rights of the people.'^ Here the issue was squarely made whether the President was / to restore or the Congress to reconstruct the insurgent states./ The President went on his way. Long after his plan of restoration had been published to the world his party, in convention assembled, had approved his " practical wisdom," " unselfish patriotism " and " unswerving fidelity to the Constitution,'^ and now, in November, 1864, on this platform, Mr. Lincoln received 212 electoral votes to 21 for George B. McClellan. On the 5th of December, 1864, the President sent in his last annual message, which was without any allusion to the question of reconstruction, unless it was in his mind when, speaking of the insurgents, he said : " They can at any moment have peace simply by laying down their arms and submitting to the national authority under the Constitution ;" and its closing words possibly had reference to the same subject : " In stating a single condition of peace, I mean to say that the war will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it.'' It is very clear that up to this point Mr. Lincoln was de- termined never to become a party to any political war upon the Southern states waged for the purpose of compelling them to range under a political banner. Congress, during the session that ended 1864-65, either did not care or did not dare to insist on any reassertion of its right to reconstruct. On the contrary, seeing, as it undoubtedly did, that the Confederacy was about to collapse, it adjourned on the 4th of March, leaving Mr. Lincoln an open field for his policy of restoration. Every member of that Congress knew what that policy was. It meant ihe promptest possible restoration of civil authority in the states by the aid of Exec- utive power. And so, now, shortly before his death, the President went on to prepare, or cause to be prepared, the proclamation for the restoration of North Carolina, which was issued by his successor, Andrew Johnson, May 29th, 1865, and was the basis of all Mr. Johnson's subsequent work in that field. g WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Mr. McCuUoch, Secretary of the Treasury during the last few weeks of Lincoln's and throughout the whole of Johnson's administration, says, in his " Men and Measures of Half a Century," p. 378 : " The very same instrument for restoring the national authority over North Carolina and placing her where she stood before her attempted secession, which had been approved by Mr. Lincoln, was, by Mr. Stanton, presented at the first Cabinet meeting which was held at the Executive Mansion after Mr. Lincoln's death, and, having been carefully considered at two or three meetings, was adopted as the re- construction policy of the Administration." On the 18th day of July, 1867, Geu Grant, before the Re- construction Committee, said that, according to his recollection, *' the very paper (the North Carolina proclamation) which I heard read twice while Mr. Lincoln was President was the one which was carried right through," by President Johnson. In the face of these facts it is remarkable that intelligent public opinion should seem to have since settled down to the conclusion that the restoration policy of Andrew Johnson was a departure from that of Abraham Lincoln. Upon the all important and controlling point, that the people of each state were to settle for themselves the question of suffrage, this being a constitutional right they had not lost, the views of Lincoln and Johnson were identical. It would seem that Mr. Blaine holds a different opinion. He says, in discussing the North Carolina proclamation as is- sued by Johnson, vol. II. p. 77, "Twenty Years in Congress" : "It was specially provided in the Proclamation that in choosing delegates to any state convention no person shall be qualified as an elector or eligible as a member, unless he shall have previously taken the pi'escribed oath of allegiance and unless he shall also possess the qualifications of a voter as de- fined under the Constitution and laws of North Carolina, as they existed on the 20th May, 1861, immediately prior to the so-called ordinance of secession. Mr. Lincoln had in mind, as was shown by his letter to Gov. Hahn, of Louisiana, to try the experiment of negro suffrage, beginning with those who had served in the Union Army and who could read and write ; but President Johnson's plan confined the suffrage to white EECONSTRUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 7 men, by prescribing the same qualifications as required in North Carolina before the war.'^ Not only was this North Carolina proclamation approved by Mr. Lincoln ; not only was it consistent with the theory he had so long: maintained against such fierce opposition ; not only did it leave the question of suffrage exactly where it was left by the message of December 8th, 1863 ; but the very letter referred to by Mr. Blaine, to show a difference between the views of the two statesmen, conclusively proves, when quoted fully, that they both believed that, as was provided in the proclamation Mr. Blaine was discussing, suffrage was a matter for the states to regulate. Mr. Lincoln's letter to Gov. Hahn says: "Now you are about to have a convention which, among other things, will probably define the elective franehise, I barely suggest, for your private consideration, whether some of the colored people may not be let in, as, for instance, the very intelligent, and espe- cially those who have fought gallantly in our ranks. " But this is only a suggestion, not to the public, but to you alone.^' Andrew Johnson made a similar suggestion when he wrote, August 15th, 1865, to Gov. Sharkey, of Mississippi : " If you could extend the elective franchise to all persons of color who can read the Constitution of the United States in English and write their names, and to all persons of color who own real estate valued at not less than two hundred and fifty dollars, and pay taxes thereon, you would completely disarm the ad- versary and set an example that other states will follow.^' The difference was that Andrew Johnson did not say : " This \ is only a suggestion, not to the public, but to you alone.^^ The letter to Gov. Hahn does show that Mr. Lincoln would have been glad to have the states, in regulating the suffrage, make certain exceptions in favor of the negro — exceptions that w^ould not probably embrace ten per cent, of the colored male adults in any Southern state, and could therefore have done no harm — but the letter also clearly shows that he thought it would be an unwarrantable interference with the rights of the state for the President of the United States to do more than make a private suggestion about the matter. That the writer 8 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? of this letter would ever have consented to put negro suffrage upon the states by a law of Congress is inconceivable; unless there had come some radical change in his opinions; and this cannot be shown. If no better evidence can be adduced than this offered by Mr. Blaine to show a difference between the plans of two Presidents, and we have seen none, then we are authorized to conclude that the Presidential plan remained the same, from the time it was inaugurated by Mr. Lincoln, in 1862, down to the date when, in March, 1867, Congress concluded to destroy the state governments, which the people, acting in accordance with that plan, had set up for themselves — some of them under Lincoln's and others under Johnson's supervision. In discussing the motives which influenced Congress in re- fusing to recognize and in finally overthrowing these govern- ments and demanding constitutional amendments, a great American law writer, Judge J. Clark Hare, himself a Repub- lican in politics, in his recent work on American Constitutional Law p. 747, says : " When the South was prostrated by the Rebellion, the dominant party resolved on measures that would tend to keep them in power and might be necessary for the protection of the colored race." The author, pursuing, as he declares in his preface, "juris- prudence with an eye single to truth," here affirms that the controlling motive of Congress in reconstructing the states and the constitution was partisan ; with as much confidence as if his statement were based on a decision of the Supreme Court. ANDREW JOHNSON AND RESTORATION. Congress adjourned March 4th, 1865, not to convene again untd the first Monday in December, unless called to meet in extra session. Johnson was inaugurated President on the 14th of April, 1865, just as the Confederacy fell. As he intended to carry on the work of restoration upon the lines laid down by his great predecessor, he needed no aid from Congress ; and so it seemed to be a happy contingency that it was not in session. In his Cabmet were Seward, McCulloch, Stanton, Welles EECONSTEUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 9 Dennison, Harlan and Speed, — the same strong men gathered around his council board by the late President, and all still in favor of the Lincoln plan of restoration. The sudden collapse of the Confederacy was remarkable. Within forty days from the date when General Johnston gave up his sword there was not a single Confederate soldier in arms. The surrender was complete. Submission to the au- thority of the United States was everywhere absolute. Courts were established ; the postal service rehabilitated ; tax collect- ors and tax assessors went about their business. On the 29th of May, President Johnson issued the procla- mation that had been approved by President Lincoln for the restoration of civil government of North Carolina. William H. Holden was appointed provisional governor, with authority to call a convention to frame a constitution of government for the State. Proclamations, similar to that for North Carolina, followed for South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and other States. The people of the late Confederate States accepted with readiness the Presidential policy of reconstruction. In fact, the unanimity with which those who had waged such a desperate conflict against the Union now took again the oath of alle- giance to the Constitution of the United States was a phenom- enon that startled the Republican politicians ; and it must have inspired distrust in the minds of many honest Northern voters. But it was all in the utmost good faith ; and it was not strange. From the days when the agitation of the slavery question' began to divide the country into two sections, the South alwoys talked more about and cared more for the Constitution, which! it looked to for the protection of its property rights in slaves,! than did the North, which relied on its majority of voters to maintain whatever views of public policy it might happen to entertain. Thus it came about that the South was as devoted to the Constitution as was the North uncompromising for the Union. When, therefore, the Southern states had seceded, the Constitution of the United States became the constitution of the Confederate States, with such changes only as would em- phasize and make still clearer the reserved powers of the states. IQ WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? It is simply history to say, that the people of the Confederate States looked upon themselves, during the late war, as fighting to perpetuate the Constitution of their fathers. Slavery they deemed merely an incident. Secession they regarded simply as a method by which they could place themselves in position to forever maintain inviolate the Constitution of 1789. Noth- ing but the spirit of liberty, however mistaken it may have been, could have animated slave-holder and non-slave-holder to make side by side that terrible struggle of four years for the Confederacy, just as similar noble impulses animated the people of the Northern States to pour out so much of their blood and treasure for the Union. When the Confederacy had died, and independence was no longer possible, slavery, it was apparent, had gone down forever. Secession, too, was dead. These two obstacles removed, the pathway to progress in the Union seemed open, and Southern people were invited now by Johnson, as they had been by Lincoln, to come back and claim the protection of the Con- stitution under which they were born. They had never, in fact, lived under any other. And now it is quite clear how the Southern people could and did attempt to resume their places in the Union with far greater unanimity than prevailed among them when attempt- ing to go out. Shortly after the assembling of Congress in December, 1865, the President was able to report that the people of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Lou- isiana, Arkansas and Tennessee had reorganized their State governments. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitu- tion of the United States, abolishing slavery, had been adopted by twenty-seven states, the requisite three- fourths of the whole number, the reconstructed government of five of the seceding states having been counted as part of the twenty-seven. The conventions of the seceding states had all repealed or declared null and void the ordinances of secession. Every office in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana, legislative, executive and judicial, was filled either by an original Union man or by one who, having been pardoned, had taken the oath of allegiance to the United States. EECONSTKUCTION AT WASHINGTON. H The laws were in full operation. Senators and Represen- tatives from most of these states were already in Washington asking to be seated in Congress, and the work of restoration, so far as it lay in the hands of the people of these states, was completed. The report to the President made by General Grant, December 18th, 1865, was a fair statement of the con- dition at that time of public sentiment in the South. " I am satisfied the mass of thinking men in the South accept the present situation of affairs in good faith. The questions which have hitherto divided the sentiment of the people of the two sections, slavery and state rights, or the right of the State to secede from the Union, they regard as having been settled for- ever by the highest tribunal, that of arms, that man can resort to. I was pleased to learn from the leading men whom I met that they not only accepted the decision arrived at as final, but now the smoke of battle has cleared away and time has been given for reflection, that the decision has been a fortunate one for the whole country, they receiving like benefits from it with those who opposed them in the field and in the council.^' But by the new State Constitutions, which the Southern people had made for themselves, suffrage was confined to white men, just as it was in Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan and other Northern States ; and, too, the Senators and Representatives- elect now asking to represent these late Confederate States were mostly Democrats. This was the situation when Con2:ress convened in Decem- ber, 1865. That body was largely Republican in both branches. Would this Republican Congress admit these Democratic States ? If not, upon what ground would the refusal be based ? CONGRESS — 1865-66 — POLITICS. The first session of the Thirty-ninth Congress began De- cember 4, 1865. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Schuyler Colfax, upon accepting the office, said : '' The Thirty-eighth Congress closed its constitutional existence with the storm-cloud of war still hovering over us ; and after nine months' absence, Congress resumes its legisla- tive authority in these council halls, rejoicing that from shore to shore in our land there is peace." 12 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? The people of the Southern states had reconstructed their Governments upon the idea that peace had come; but this very same House of Representatives, which now began with this declaration of its Speaker, that peace reigned supreme, was to make war upon the state governments of the South, justify- ing itself upon the theory that the war was not over. The Presidential plan was to be disregarded. Congress, in the lan- guage of Mr. Thad. Stevens, henceforth its accepted leader, was to " take no account of the aggregation of white- washed rebels who, without any legal authority, have assembled in the capi- tals of the late rebel States and simulated legislative bodies." However completely this generation may have forgotten that Johnson's policy was Lincoln's, that Congress knew it well, for early in that session Mr. Sherman said in debate : " When Mr. Johnson came into power he found the rebel- lion substantially subdued. What did he do ? His first act was to retain in his confidence and in his councils every mem- ber of the Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln ; and, so far as we know, every measure adopted by Andrew Johnson has had the approval and sanction of that Cabinet." There can be but little doubt that if Mr. Lincoln had lived, he would, during 1865, have progressed at least as rapidly with his plan of reconstruction as did President Johnson ; he was always anxious to put an end to military control, and the successful ending of the war would have left him the most popular man this country has ever seen since Washington. Yet even Mr. Lincoln could not have avoided a struggle with Congress.* In December, 1865, Republican leaders felt that a crisis in the history of their party had come ; and many of them were ready to go to any extreme. Mr. Stevens said on the floor of the House of Representatives, that if the late Confederate States were admitted to representation in Congress under the Presidential plan, without any changes in the basis of repre- sentation, these states, with the Democrats '^ that would be *Mr. Stanton, near the close of his life, looking back over those exciting times, declared that " If Mr. Lincoln had lived, he would have had a hard time with his party, as he would have been at odds with it on Kecon- BiTuctlonJ'—McCuUoch, " 3Ien and Measures." KECONSTKUCTION AT WASHINGTON. I3 elected in the best of times at the North/' would control the country ; and he said, on the 14th December, 1865 : '' According to my judgment, they (the insurrectionary states) ought never to be recognized as capable of acting in the Union or of being counted as valid states until the Constitu- tion shall have been so amended as to make it what its mak- ers intended ; and so as to secure ^perpetual ascendency to the party of the Unions Mr. Stevens had two plans : first, to reduce the .representa- tion to which the late slave-holding states were entitled under the Constitution ; secondly, to enfranchise blacks and dis- franchise whites. But the mind of the Northern voter was not yet ready for negro suffrage. Pennsylv^ania, Ohio and other States still denied it. Connecticut, in 1865, gave a majority against it of 6,272. Even in October, 1867, Ohio gave a constitutional majority against colored suffrage of 50,629 ; and so late as November, 1867, Kansas was against negro suffrage by a majority of 8,938 ; while Minnesota adhered to the white basis by a majority of 1,298. It was perfectly clear that the people were not now, in the winter of 1865-66, prepared to endorse the extreme measures that were being mooted at Washington. What Congress would do was an interesting problem. Mr. Thad. Stevens, however, seems never to have doubted how it would be solved. He predicted that public sentiment, w^ithin less than two years, would come up to his position. But to the accomplishment of such a result time and work w^ere necessary. As a first step, on the 4th of December, 1865, the very day the Thirty-ninth Congress was organized, Mr. Stevens introduced and passed in the House, by a party vote of 133 to 36, under the previous question, without debate, a resolution to provide for a joint committeee of fifteen to report on the condition of '^ the states which formed the so-called Confederate States of America." The Senate assented at once to the formation of the joint committee, and afterwards, on the 23d of February, 1866, finally agreed to a concurrent resolution, which had been the second proposition of Mr. Stevens' original resolution, that neither House should admit l^ WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? any member from the late insurrectionary states until the report of the joint committee, on reconstruction, thereafter to be made, should be finally acted on. Thus it was settled, that the people most vitally interested in the two great problems, the basis of representation and the qualification of voters, were to have no part, in Congress, at least, in their solution. But more than that, here was time gained within which the effort could be made to bring the Northern mind up to Mr. Stevens' position. The joint resolution refusing admittance to Southern Repre- sentatives and Senators was not passed without strenuous oppo- sition. It was an open declaration of war upon the Presiden- tial plan. Mr. Raymond, of New York, a distinguished Republican, made a great speech in defence of the President's policy. Mr. Shellabarger, of Ohio, to break the force of Mr. Raymond's argument, talked thus : "They framed iniquity and universal murder into law . . . . Their pirates burned your unarmed commerce upon every sea. They carved the bones of your dead heroes into ornaments, and drank from goblets made out of their skulls. They poisoned your fountains, put mines under your soldiers' prisons ; organized bands whose leaders were concealed in your homes ; and commissions ordered the torch and yellow fever to be carried to your cities, and to your women and children. They planned one universal bonfire of the North from Lake Ontario to the Missouri," etc., etc. The Honorable Henry Wilson, in his *^ History of Recon- struction," quotes this and many other similar passionate ap- peals, intending them, of course, as fair specimens of the argu- ments which brought about there-construction of Federal and state Constitutions. Early in this session Congress sent to the President a civil rights bill conferring many rights, not including suffrage, however, upon emancipated slaves. This Mr. Johnson vetoed on the ground that it was unconstitutional ; and, accordino- to decisions since made by the Supreme Court, it was. The veto of this bill greatly aggravated the quarrel, which was already open and bitter between the President and Congress. It also lost Mr. Johnson the support of Messrs. Dennison^ / EECONSTRUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 15 Harlan and Speed, who resigned from the Cabinet. Mr. Stanton, too, became an avowed enemy of the President and his policy. Bnt he did not resign. He was advised by Mr. Sumner and others to " stick ; ^^ and he remained in the Cabi- net as an obstructionist. This was utterly without precedent, and serves well to illustrate the height to which party passion had risen. Another reason for the break in the Cabinet, in all probability, was that Southern Democrats very naturally were supporting President Johnson's policy. Senator Wil- son's " History of Reconstruction " is full of eloquent in- vectives launched in the House and Senate at Andrew Johnson because he was supported by Democrats, " rebels,'' " cojiper- heads," " traitors," " importers of poisoned clothing," etc., etc. The memorable words of Mr. Lincoln in his last annual message were : ^' The war will cease on the part of the Govern- ment whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it." But Mr. Lincoln had passed away and his words had lost their power. Mr. Blaine, in his " Twenty Years," even mentions it as a cause of offence that those, who were in arms against the Government when Congress adjourned in March, 1865, were, some of them, at the hotels in Washing- ton, demanding to be admitted to seats in the Congress which met in December. The inflammatory debates in the first session of the Thirty-ninth Congress were preliminary to the canvass for members of Congress to be elected in the autumn of 1866. No factor in those elections proved more potential than the rejection by Southern Legislatures of the pending Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The clauses on which its acceptance or rejection turned in these assemblies were : Section II., which appor- tioned Representatives in Congress upon the basis of the vot- ing population ; and Section III., which provided that no per- son should hold office under the United States who, having taken an oath as a Federal or state officer to support the Consti- tution, had subsequently engaged in the war against the Union. It was claimed bv the friends of the Amendment to be especially unfiir that the South should have representation for its freed men and not give them the ballot. The right, how- ever, of a State to have representation for all its free inhabit- jg WHY THE SOLI-D SOUTH? ants, whether voters or not, was secured by the Constitution, and 'that instrument even allowed three-fifths representation for slaves. New York, Ohio and other states denied the ballot to free negroes; some states excluded by property qualifications and others by educational tests, yet all enjoyed representation for all their peoples. The reply to this was that the Constitution ought to be amended because the South would now have, if negroes were denied the ballot, a larger proportion of non-voters than the North. Southern people were slow to see that this was good reason for change in the Constitution, especially as they be- lieved they were already entitled to representation, and con- ceived that they ought to have a voice in proposing as well as in the ratification of amendments. Five of the restored states had already ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, and such ratification had been counted valid. If they were states, they were certainly entitled to representation. So they claimed. It was perhaps imprudent for Southern people at that time to undertake to chop logic with their conquerors, or indeed to claim any rights at all — as the net results of their insistence were, that they were called " impudent claimants '^ by the Kepublican Convention at Pittsburgh, and indeed everywhere in the Republican press. The insuperable objection, however, to the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment was to be found in the clause which required the people of the late Confederate States to disfranchise their own leaders, to brand with dishonor those who had led them in peace and in war. The rejection of this amendment at the South greatly strengthened the Republican position ; because the North, looking at it from a different stand-point, thought the proposi- tion a fair one. If any among those who proposed the amend- ment intended it should be rejected, it was shrewdly devised ; if it was not intended to procure its own rejection, then it was clumsily contrived. THE FREEDMEN's BUREAU. Even before the close of the war public sentiment had demanded some provision for the protection of the liberated RECONSTKUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 17 slaves, wlio everywhere came flocking into tne Union lines. The result was the establishment by law, March 3d, 1865, of a Freedmen's Bureau, which was speedily extended, after hostilities had ceased, into all the late Confederate States. The law made the agents of this Bureau guardians of freedmen, with power to make their contracts, settle their disputes with employers and care for them generally. The position of Bureau agent was one of power and respon- sibility, capable of being used beneficently, and sometimes, no doubt, it was ; but these officials were subjected to great temptation. Many people, who believed that the newly emancipated slave needed a guardian to take care of him, believed also that, if he only had the ballot, he could take care of himself and the country, too. In fact, the sentiment in favor of uni- versal suffrage was already strong, even in the spring of 1865 ; and it was natural for every Bureau agent, who might have a turn for politics, to conclude that, with the Bureau^s help, Mr. Stevens and his friends might eventually succeed in giving the negro the ballot. The Bureau agent was ^^ the next friend " of the negro. With negro suffrage, this official's fortune was made. Without it, of course, this stranger had no hope of office in the South. It was not therefore to his interest, if he had political aspirations, that there should be peace between the races. From conscientious men, connected with this Bureau, General Grant obtained the information upon which he based the opinion, given to the President in the report already quoted from, that ''Hhe belief widely spread among the freed- men of the Southern states that the lands of their former owners will, at least in part, be divided among them, has come from the agents of this Bureau. This belief is seriously interfering with the willingness of the freedmen to make contracts for the coming yearj^ And he further said : ^' Many, perhaps the majority, of the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau advise the freedmen that by their own industry they must expect to live. ... In some instances, I am sorry to say, the freedman^s mind does not seem to be disabused of the idea that he has a right to live without care or provision for the future. The 2 13 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? effect of the belief in the division of lands is idleness and accumu- iation in camps, towns and cities!^ The first lesson in the horn-book of liberty for the freed- man obviously was, that in the sweat of his face he must earn his bread — a law unto all men since the days of Adam. It is a sad commentary on the workings of the Bureau, that the best thing General Grant could say of its agents w^as, that " many, and perhaps a majority of them," did so advise. If these officials were really responsible, as General Grant be- lieved, for the demoralized labor condition at the South — and their power over the freedmen is beyond all question — then they were, in fact, organizing chaos where their mission was peace and good order. Nearly every one of these agents, who remained South after reconstruction, was a candidate for office ; and many actually became Governors, Judges, Legislators, Congressmen, Postmasters, Revenue officers, etc. Such a situation as confronted Southern Legislatures in the fall and early winter of 1865 was never before witnessed in America. Prior to 1861 the laws to compel people to in- dustrious habits were not generally so stringent in the South as in the North. This resulted partly from slavery and partly from the easy conditions of life in a mild climate. There were no laws that met the new situation. New and stringent statutes were passed to prevent vagrancy and idleness. There is not space here to discuss these laws. They will be treated of in a subsequent chapter and compared with statutes then in force in Northern states. Suffice it to say now, they did not merit the odium visited upon them by many honest Northern voters, who, not understanding the situation, were led to be- lieve them nothing; short of an effi)rt to re-enslave the ne^ro, when their purpose was sun ply to counteract the teachings that had demoralized the freedman and compel him to in- dustrious habits. THE COMMITTEE OF FIFTEEN. The passage of the concurrent resolution in December 1865, to inquire into the condition of the late Confederate KECONSTRUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 19 States meant open, hospitality ^o the Presidential plan. Hav- ing declared war, the dominant party of course exercised great care in selecting members to serve on the committee which was to make this inquiry. Mr. Blaine (Vol. II., p. 127) says : " It was foreseen that in an especial degree the fortunes of the Republican party would be in the keeping of the fifteen men who might be chosen.'^ Speaker Colfax and the ap- pointing power in the Senate put on the committee twelve Republicans and only three Democrats, one from- the Senate and two from the House. The field from which testimony was to be drawn was the unre- presented South. On the sub-committee which took testimony as to Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ala- bama, Mississippi and Arkansas, there was not a Democrat to call or to question a witness. The only hope of fair play lay in the magnanimity or sense of justice of men who had already voted to refuse admission to the Southern members and who were placed upon the committee with the expectation, as Mr. Blaine has indicated, that they would take care of the Re- publican party. There is not space here to discuss the evidence of the witnesses, who chose or were chosen to come before these gentlemen. It consists of hundreds of pages of speculative testimony, hearsay, etc. The crimes committed, in the most peaceful times, within eighteen consecutive mouths, among any population of eight millions, would, if industriously arrayed, make a fearful record. To make that arraignment of the late Confederate States was the task to which this able committee addressed itself in 1866. The situation in these states w^as peculiar. AVhen the sur- viving soldiers returned from the field, around their desolated homes they found four millions of slaves suddenly man- umitted. The returning soldiers were themselves more or less affected by that demoralization which is an unfailing con- sequence of protracted war. The negroes were demoralized by their newly-found freedom. They turned, for the most part, a deaf ear to the advice of their old masters and listened with avidity to the tales that were bruited about, said to have 20 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? come from the stranger friends who had freed them, to the effect that the lands of their rebel masters were to be confis- cated and divided among them. It is impossible that, under such circumstances, however earnestly all good citizens might strive for the general good, there should not have been fric- tion between the races. Yet, notwithstanding the extraordi- nary and unprecedented conditions there was, to General Grant, nothing, as his report already quoted shows, in the situation there in the fall of 1865, that was not creditable to the masses of the people. General Grant was not in politics. The gentlemen of the committee of fifteen were ; and a few words as to the treatment of one state, as a sample, will suffice to show that the methods employed were such as to allow no rational expectation of reaching correct conclusions. As to the condition in Alabama only five persons, who claimed to be citizens, were examined. These were all Republican politi- cians. The testimony of each was bitterly partisan ; under the government of the state as it then existed, no one of these witnesses could hope for official preferment. In his testi- mony each was striving for the overthrow of his existing state government, and the setting up of some such institutions as followed under Congressional reconstruction. AVhen this re- construction had finally taken place, the first of these five witnesses became Governor of his state ; the second became a Senator in Congress ; the third secured a life position in one of the departments at Washington ; the fourth became a circuit judge in Alabama, and the fifth a judge of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia — all as Republicans. There was no Democrat in the sub committee, which examined these gentlemen, to cross-examine them ; and not a citizen of Alabama w^as called before that sub-committee to answer or explain their evidence. Of the report of this committee, based upon evidence taken by such methods, Mr. Blaine per- mits himself to say (Vol. II. p. 9) : "That report is to be taken as an absolutely truthful picture of the Southern states at that time." The first session of the Thirty-ninth Congress now came to a close. Besides the passage, over the President's objections, of a still more radical Freedmen's Bureau Bill than that de- EECONSTRUCTION AT WASmNGTON. 21 feated by his first veto, it had accomplished little else than to drive most of the moderate Republicans into the ranks of the extremists. On adjournment, members went into the can- vass at home. The late Confederate States were held out of the Union ; and their status was to be determined by elec- tions at the North. The rejection of the Fourteenth Amend- ment, the report of the joint committee of fifteen, the testi- mony taken by that committee, the evidence furnished by agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, the vetoes and the alleged treachery to the Republican party of Andrew Johnson — these were the material of the canvass. Mr. Johnson had adhered rigidly to Abraham Lincoln's theory of restoration. That theory the Republicans now were assailing and Johnson was on trial as an apostate. CONGRESS, 1866-67. The Republicans came back to the last session of the Thirty-ninth Congress, which began on the first Monday in December, 1866, exulting in a great victory. Never since the beginning of the Government had there been such a campaign during an ^' off year." Though no President was to be elected, four national conventions had been held ; the air was filled with inflammatory speeches and the dying embeis of the passions engendered by the civil war were fanned into flames. The result of the election was a majority, in the Fortieth Congress, of 31 for the Republicans in the Senate and 94 in the House. The Republicans were greatly elated. Presi- dent Johnson, who was still ready with his vetoes, was the only obstacle in their path. It was proposed to remove him by impeachment. As ])ut by Mr. Shuckers, himself a Re- publican, in his life of C. J. Chase, (p. 547) the Republican leaders at this juncture "felt the vast importance of the Presidential patronage; many of them felt, too, that according to the maxim that to the victors belong the spoils, the Re- publican party was rightfully entitled to the Federal patron- age ; and they determined to get possession of it. There was but one method and that was by impeachment and removal of the President/^ 22 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? On the 7th of January, 1867, Mr. Loan offered a resohi- tion that, " for the purpose of securing the fruits of the victories gained," impeachment of the President was neces- sary. On the same day Mr. Kelso, also '* for the purpose of securing the fruits of the victories gained," introduced im- peachment resolutions. Then Mr. Ashley moved and carried resolutions for the appo ntment of a committee to inquire for grounds on which the President could be impeached. No proof was offered; the committee was to hunt for proof. Tlie President's '^ bank account was examined. His private con- duct in Washington was carefully scrutinized. Men were employed to investigate his pul)lic and private character in Tennessee. But nothing was found to his discredit." (McCulloch, p. 394.) Notwithstanding the futility of this effort, in one form or another, the impeachment program nie survived until the next winter, when President Johnson fur- nished an excuse in the removal of Mr. Stanton from the Secretaryship of War, and the impeachment proceedings were theu pressed to a conclusion." Id is now well understood that no legal grounds for the impeachment existed ; and even at that day, in the height of party passion, there were seven Pepublican Senators, the exact number necessary to save the President who, in spite of party pressure, voted " not guilty " at the trial. The excitement prevailing in the country at large, at the time of the impeachment, may be judged of by the following editorial paragraph from the Harrisburg (Penna.) State Guard : " Just as sure as we believe the blood of xA.braham Lincoln is on the soul of Andrew Johnson, so certain are we that he contemplates drenching the country once more in the blood of civil war." The effort to impeach the President was not allowed to delay the programme of Congress. Universal suffrage hav- ing been decided son, obviously the first step was, in the language of Mr. Henry Wilson, in his " History of Reconstruc- tion," (p. 267) " the extension of suffrage to the colored race in the District of Columbia, both as a right and an example.'^ The bill to this effect was before the Senate. Mr. Buckalew, of Pennsylvania, presented thus the grounds upon which KECONSTEUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 23 Democrats opposed it : '^ Our ancestors placed suffrage upon the broad common-sense principle that it should be lodged in and exercised by those who could use it most wisely and most safely and most efficiently to serve the ends for which Govern- ment was instituted/' and ^^not upon any abstract or transcend- ental notion of human rights which ignored the existing facts of social life." And, he said ; " I shall not vote to degrade suffrage. I shall not vote to pollute and corrupt the founda- tion of political power in this country, either in my own state or in any other." The debate took a wide range. It was understood that the late Confederate States were to share the fate of the District. One question was whether the right of suffrao:e should be confined to those who could read and write. Mr. Sumner stated his position thus : " Now to my mind nothing is clearer than the absolute necessity of suffrage for all colored persons in the disorganized states. It will not be enough if you give it to those who read and write ; you will not, in this way, acquire the voting force which you need there for the protection of Unionists, whether white or black. Yoit will not secure the new allies, who are essential to the national cause.'' The bill granting suffrage passed, without qualification. On January 7, 1867, the President returned it with his objec- tions. Mr. Sherman, discussing the veto, said : " The President says this is not the place for this experiment. I say it is the place of all others, because, if the negroes here abuse the political power we give them, we can withdraw the privilege at any moment." It is curious, glancing forward a few years, to see the re- sult of this initial experiment. In 1871, while the Republi- cans were still in power in both Houses, a law was passed allowing the District of Columbia to elect its own Legislature and Governor. The newly enfranchised voters, who were given the ballot " both as a right and as an example," had thus full opportunity to show their capacity. What was occurring, at that time, in the Southern states was always a matter of partisan dispute, but the noon-day sun was shining full upon the Capital District, and the whole country saw that the political power conferred was being '^ abused." As 24 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Senator Sherman had indicated it might be, it was, in 1874, promptly '' withdrawn " by a law which took away, not only from the black man, but also from the white man, the right, which the latter had long enjoyed, of voting in the District of Columbia. The new law provided that the District should be governed by three commissioners appointed by the Presi- dent. There has not been a ballot cast in the District since 1874. Congress had the right to enact universal suffrage in the District of Columbia. It has exclusive jurisdiction there, under the Constitution ; but that instrument might have been searched in vain, in 1867, for any power over the elective franchise in the states. Mr. Justice Nelson, of the Supreme Court of the United States, on the circuit had decided, in the case of Eyjan, that South Carolina was entitled, after her civil government had been restored under the Presidential plan, to all the rights of a state in the Union. In a carefully prepared opinion he said : ^* A new Constitution had been formed, a Governor and Legislature elected under it and the state placed iu the full enjoyment of all her constitutional rights and privileges." What vyas true of South Carolina was true of others of the late Confederate States, and if these states were states, as Mr. Justice Nelson held, then Congress had no power over suffrage within their borders. But this view of the Constitution did not suit the majority in Congress. The victory at the polls in the fall had put them abreast with Mr. Stevens, and now, in the winter of '66-67, they claimed full power over the late insurrectionary states, on the ground that it was for Congress to decide when the war had ceased ; and they decided it was not yet over, Mr. Fessenden put it thus : "■ Is there anything more cer- tain than that the conqueror has a right, if he chooses, to change the form of government, that he has the right to punish?" etc. On the 15th of March, 1867, Senator Howard, of ]\Iichigan, said : '' They took their own time to get out of the Union ; let them take their own time to return. They took their own time to initiate the war ; we took our time to close the war." Mr. Maynard, of Tennessee, seemed to think it necessary to show that the continued existence of the war RECONSTRUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 25 was o^fact, really existing, and not a fiction assumed for juris- dictional purposes, and he said, on the floor of the House, in February, '67 : ^' It is not quite accurate to say that we are at peace ; that there is no war. What peace is it? The peace of Vesuvius at rest, the peace of the slumbering volcano ; the fires banked up, not extinguished ; the strength of the combatants exhausted, but their wrath not appeased ; no longer able to continue the conflict, but awaiting a favorable opportunity to renew it." The facts were that for eighteen months prior to Mr. May- nard's speech there had not been, nor has there been, during the nearly a quarter of a century elapsing since, any offer or thought; in any of the late Confederate States, of resistance to the General Government ; unless one may denominate such the occasional shooting, by a moonshiner, of a revenue officer; and this has occurred, oftener than elsewhere, in the Republican District of East Tennessee, represented, the writer believes, by Mr. Maynard when he claimed to be standing on a volcano. Nevertheless Congress solemnly adjudged, for itself, that the war was not over; and so, on the 2d of March, 1867, in order, as was recited in the preamble, ^^to protect life and property in the rebel states of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louis- iana, Florida, Texas and Arkansas," '* until loyal and republican state governments can be legally established," it was enacted that those states should be divided into military districts and placed under military rule. On the 23d, of March, 1867, a supplemental act was passed, completing the plan of reconstruction.* These acts annulled the state govern- ments then in operation ; enfranchised the negro ; dis- franchised all who had participated in the war against the Union, whether pardoned or not, if they had previously held any executive, legislative or judicial office under the state or General Government; provided for the calling of conven- tions, the framing and adopting of state constitutions, the election of state officers; and, in fact, pointed out all the ma- chinery necessary to put into operation new governments upon * See these acts in full. (Appendix A and B.) 2Q WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? the ruins of the old. Until the several states should be ad- mitted under these new governments into the Union, the military officers in command were to have absolute power over life, liberty and property ; with the sole exception, that death sentences were subject to approval by the President. Several ineffectual efforts were made to get the question of the validity of these laws before the Supreme Court of the United States. At last the case of McCardle from Mississippi seemed to present it fairly. McCardle, basing his denial of the power of a military court to punish him on the ground that the reconstruction laws conferring that authority were unconstitutional, appealed to the Supreme Court. That Court denied a motion to dismiss the appeal. The case was then argued on its own merits. The argument was concluded on the 9th March, 1868 ; and the Court took the case under ad- visement. While it was being so held, to prevent a decision of the question, a bill was rushed through both Houses and finally passed, March 27th, 1867, over the President's veto, depriving the Court of jurisdiction over such appeals. This act, of course, implied the fear that the decision would be ad- verse to the validity of the laws, as a favorable decision would have been of immense value to the Republican party. Con- sidering all the circumstances, it is indeed natural to conclude that this hasty action was based upon positive information that the decision, if made, would declare null and void the reconstruction laws. After the passage of these laws and the muzzling of the Supreme Court, the careful observer of existing conditions, looking at the many adventurers who had followed in the wake of the army, at the numerous employees of the Freed- men's Bureau, so long in training for their now fast ripening opportunities, might easily have predicted that the legislation of Congress would inevitably result in what Mr. Lincoln had feared and deplored as far back as 1862. Just before the election for members of Congress, which had been ordered by Governor Shepley in Louisiana, President Lincoln addressed him a letter, November 21st, 1862, saying that only " respectable citizens of Louisiana," voted for by " other respectable citizens," were wanted as representatives RECONSTRUCTION AT WASHINGTON. 27 in Washington. "To send/' he says, ^'a parcel of Northern men here, elected, as would be understood, and perhaps justly so, at the point of the bayonet, would be disgraceful and outrageous.'' But party spirit had now gotten far away from that lofty plane on which Lincoln, the statesman, had stood. Even Mr, Garfield, usually generous and conservative, had become so much excited as to say, in the discussion of these measures on the 18th February, 1867, and seemingly- with exultation: *'This bill sets out by laying its hands on the rebel governments and taking the very breath of life out of them ; in the next place it puts the bayonet at the breast of every rebel in the South ; in the next place it leaves in the hands of Congress utterly and absolutely the work of recon- struction." In other words, Mr. Garfield meant that if the results were not satisfactory. Congress might, at will, modify or change its plans. But happily, as it no doubt appeared, there was only need for a few more changes in the law. The reconstructors builded even better than they knew. The results exceeded even the sanguine prediction of Mr. Henry Wilson, who said, March 15, 1867, on the floor of the Senate : " With the exercise of practical judgment, with good organization, scattering the great truth and the facts before the people, a majority of these states will, within a twelvemonth, send here Senators and Representatives, who think as we think, speak as we speak and vote as we vote, and will give their electoral votes for whoever we nominate for President in 1868." In a little more than a "twelvemonth " from the date of Mr. W^ilson's prediction — by the close of June 1868 — eight of the eleven Confederate states were rej)resented in both branches of Congress. Of these Representatives all but two were Republican, and among the sixteen Senators there was not a sino:le Democrat. About one-half of these Senators and Representatives were Northern men, elected when, as Mr. Garfield said, "the bayonet was at the breast of every rebel in the South," — a thing Mr. Lincoln had characterized as " disgraceful and out- rageous." 28 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? The " fruits of the war'' were being gathered. Nothing remained but to perpetuate existing conditions. Not only did these newly set up states ratify with alacrity the 14th Amendment, but by the 30th of March, 1870, with their assistance, the 15th Amendment was also declared part of the Constitution. Suffrage had been granted to the negro in the Southern states by Congress. This Amendment pro- vided that ^' the right to vote should not be abridged by the United States, or by any state on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.'' The net results of these reconstruction measures were that, in the 41st Congress, beginning March 5, 1871, when the twelve Southern states, including West Virginia, had all been gathered into the fold, they were represented by 22 Repub- licans and 2 Democratic Senators and 48 Republican and 13 Democratic Representatives. The National Republican party had, in the language of Mr. Sumner, secured the " new allies '' it needed in the South. What these new allies accomplished in the several Southern states will appear in the subsequent chapters of this book. Hilary A. Herbert CHAPTER II. RECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. "Those men in the South, who are seeking to establish a black man's party, are the enemies of this principle of equality ; and if they carry out their plans they will strike Republicanism a blow far heavier than the Democracy can deal." — Horace Greeley in the Tribune, summer of 1867. I. HOW THE REPUBLICANS OBTAINED CONTROL. IT is difficult to convey any proper idea of the wretchedness that prevailed in Alabama at the close of our Civil War. Thousands who were totally unaccustomed to labor found themselves in extreme poverty, and in many cases father, husband, brother or son — the last and only hope — was sleep- ing in a soldier's grave. The State had lost of her citizens by the war, including the disabled, 25,227, more than 20 per cent, of those who could now have been counted upon as bread-winners. The credit system had been universal, but now all credit was gone ; provision crops had gone to feed both Confederate and Federal armies ; plow stock had most of it been destroyed or carried away ; negro laborers were de- moralized, and flocked into towns and camps around Freed- men's Bureau Agencies ; and, to fill the cup to the brim, a severe drought came with its afflictions, so that the crops of corn and small grain throughout the State in 1865 were not more than one-fifth the usual amount.* These results of the Civil War, the reader can readily see, had no tendency to obliterate the political feuds that had divided the people of the State in days gone by. On the contrary, there was a manifest disposition to seek, in the history of the past, for the causes which had led to the evils of the present. Politics in Alabama had always been more or less exciting. It had long been customary for the * Governor Parsons' message to Legislature, November, 1865. 29 30 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? champions of opposing parties to meet in joint debate, and dis- cussion had greatly intensified political differences. Whigs and Democrats, Union men and Secessionists, had all been thoroughly in earnest. Even the terrible four years^ war had not brought them together; and in the summer of 1865 it did not seem possible that time could ever set in motion any forces powerful enough to compact all these peo})le into one party. Certainly the presence at that time of Union soldiers in the State had no such tendency. It was expected that, as a matter of course, the soldiers would be removed when civil authority should be restored, and the relations between them and the ex-Confederates were very kindly. But there was little sympathy between the citizen and the agent of the Freedmen's Bureau. This Bureau agent, for the most part, had not been a soldier; his past experience, his present avocation, and his aspirations for the future, all dif- fered him from the veteran, who had learned on the battle- field to respect his foe, and who found, in his own approving conscience and the gratitude of his countrymen, sufficient reward for the services he had rendered. Senator Fessenden, of Maine, very accurately described the fnture personnel of the Freedmen's Bureau, when he said, in his speech opposing the bill for its establishment : " You give these creatures to the kind protection of broken-down politicians, and adventurers, and decayed ministers of the Gospel, and make them overseers to make fortunes out of the poor creatures." The outline portrait he drew was artistic, but it was not given the great Senator then to see all the op- portunities that were to open before these future friends of the colored man. They w^re not to be content w^ith the petty business of robbing the negro ; they were to become states- men, and traffic and barter away the credit of States. Never were men more prompt to realize a new situation. Enfran- chisement of blacks and disfranchisement of white leaders had already been mooted in Congress, even before the passage of the bill establishing the Bureau. The consummation of such a scheme would affoi'd vast opportunities to those who could control the negro vote ; and Bureau employees began at once to establish themselves in the confidence of the colored KECONSTEUCTION IN ALABAMA. 31 man. The phrase flashed like lightning through the region of the late Confederacy that at Freedmeu's Bureau agencies " the bottom rail was on top." The conditions which this expression implied exasperated the whites, in like ratio as the negroes were delighted. The faith of the freedraan in the guardian the Government hud })laced over him soon became unbounded, and, if these guardians had so desired, everj able-bodied freedman in Ala- bama would, in the fall of 1865, if not already provided for, have been hunting a home and wages for the coming year. Instead of this they were generally found here, as Gen, Grant reported on the 11th of December, 1865, they were elsewhere, refusing to make contracts and waiting for Government aid. There had never been any system of statutes compelling to industrious habits in Alabama, as there was in the New England states. What could the Legislature do but pass laws to prevent idleness and vagrancy ? On the 21st day of June, 1865, President Johnston had issued his proclamation for the restoration of civil authority in Alabama, appointing I^ewis E. Parsons, a Union man. Provisional Governor. A state convention had been called, had met, abrogated the ordinance of secession and repudiated the Confederate debt. Then a Legislature had been elected. It was now in session and had ratified the thirteenth amend- ment, abolishing slavery, with practical unanimity. It then addressed itself to the task of providing laws to remedy the labor situation. In the Congressional canvass at the North, during the next fall, these Alabama laws, with others of like character, passed by states in like condition, were made to figure as ''new slave codes in the South." Mr. Blaine devotes many pages of his "Twenty Years in Congress" to these statutes, denouncing them unreservedly, without so much as noticing the conditions which called them forth. His effort seems to be to embalm into enduring history the political literature of that exciting period. The limits of this article permit only a brief reply to his strictures. He says (p. 94, Vol. 11): ''In Alabama, which might serve as an example for the other rebellious states^ 'stubborn and refractory servants^ and 'servants who loiter oo WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? away their time' were declared by tlie law to be 'vagrants' and might be brought before a Justice of the Peace and fined fifty doTlars, and in default of payment they might be hired out on three days' notice by public outcry for the pc^riod of six months. No fair man can fail to see that the whole eifect and presumably the direct intent of this law was to reduce the helpless negro to slavery for half the year," etc. This statute is not widely different from the following law of Rhode Island, Rev. of 1872, p. 243: '^f any servant or apprentice shall depart from the service of his master or otherwise neglect his duty " he shall be arrested on oath to be made " in writing by his master," and the officer may commit him to the state work-house of correction," etc. Certainly " otherivise neglect his duty " is as broad as " loiter away his time," and includes " stubborn and refractory " and much more — and the punishment in both cases is hard labor ; differ- ing in kind because there were no work-houses in Alabama as in Rhode Island. After further comment on the statute above quoted, Mr. Blaine assails the apprentice law, which is not materially different from the apprentice laws of the New England states, except in one parti-cular, to which he calls especial attention, thus : '' Then follows a suggestive proviso that if said minor be the child of a freedman, as if any other class were really referred to, the former owner of said minor shall have the preference." This was really a humane provision. The old master was far more apt to be kind to a child, who had been born his, than a stranger would be. General Schofield, who had been much in the South, recog- nized this fact when he promulgated orders, May 15th, 1865, constituting a code for the Government of Freedmen in North Carolina. The second section of the order was : " The former masters are constituted the guardians of minors in the absence of parents or other near relatives capable of supporting them.'' Mr. Blaine continues his comments. *' To tighten the grasp of ownership on the minor, who was now styled an apprentice, it was enacted, in almost the precise phrase of the old slave code, that whoever shall entice said apprentice from his master or mistress and furnish food or clothing to him or her, without KECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 33 said coDsent, shall be fined in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars." Compare Statutes of Connecticut, Eev. of 1866, p. 320 : ^* If any person shall entice such minor (apprentice) from the service or employment of such master . . .or shall aid or abet therein" he shall be fined "a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars or be imprisoned for a term not exceeding six months.^' The penalty here might reach six months^ imprisonment. The same offense in Alabama could only be punished by fine. Pages 95-6, Mr. Blaine says : " The ingenuity of Alabama Legislators in contriving schemes to re-enslave the negroes was not exhausted by the odious and comprehensive statutes already cited. They passed an act to incorporate the city of Mobile, substituting a new charter for the old one. The city had suffered much from the suspension and decay of trade during the war, and it was in need of labor to make repairs to streets, culverts, sewers, wharves and all other public prop- erty. By the new charter Aldermen and Common Council were empowered to cause all vagrants ... all such as have no visible means of support ... all who can show no reasonable source of employment or business in the city . . . all those who have no fixed residence or cannot give a good account of themselv^es . . . or are loitering in and about tippling-houses, to give security for their behavior for a reasonable time and to indemnify the City against any charge for their support and in case of their inability or re- fusal to give such security, to cause them to be confined to labor for a limited time, not exceeding six mouths, which labor shall be designated by the Mayor, Aldermen and Com- mon Council for the benefit of the City. It will be observed, by the least intelligent, that the charge made in this City Or- dinance was in substance the poverty of the classes quoted, a poverty which was of course the inevitable result of slavery/' etc., etc. Before commenting on this extract, let it be noted that here is no charge of any abuses under the law. All this de- nunciation is based on the legislation^ as found in the books. Now Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connec- 3 34 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? ticut were never situated as Alabama was in 1865, never had Government Bureau Agents demoralizing labor in their midst, and yet we find in General Statutes Rhode Island, 1872, p. 555 : " Every sturdy beggar who shall apply for alms or solicit charity ; every person wandering abroad and lodging in Station-houses and not giving a good account of himself . . . every vagrant or disorderly person shall be im- prisoned not less than six months nor more than three years/^ In General Statutes No. 5, of 1864, p. 24, of Vermont, acts similar to those described in the Rhode Island and Alabama statutes are made punishable by imprisonment not exceeding six months, and any citizen " may of his own authority and without process arrest '^ and convey to the magistrate, etc. If he could have found in the Alabama law any authority for a private citizen to " arrest without process,'^ what term woidd have been too harsh for Mr. Blaine to use ? In General Statutes of Connecticut, Rev. of 1865, p. 109, is found a law that declares vagrants, " all persons who travel from place to place without lawful occasion ... all persons camping on the public highway without consent,^' etc. By public Statutes Massachusetts, 1882, p. 1170, persons ^^ roving about from place to place and begging or living with- out labor ^^ are declared tramps and made subject to imprison- ment in the house of correction '^ not less than six months nor more than two years," while in Alabama the punishment for similar offences could not exceed six months. Mr. Blaine seems not to have known, when he was making these attacks on the legislation of a distant state, that similar and even harsher laws were in force all around him. Indeed, tlie laws of his own state were, as they are now, more rigor- ous than those he was assailing. The second volume of "Twenty Years in Congress " was published in 1882. At that very time the law of Maine (see CliapterXXI.) provided for committing to the work-house "all poor, indigent persons maintained by or receiving alms from the town, all able- bodied persons, not having estate or means otherwise to main- tain themselves who refuse or neglect to ivork/' etc., etc. . . . and after being thus committed to the work-house, " for no EECONSTKUCTION IN ALABAMA. 35 crime but poverty," the unfortunate man, by Section 8 of the same chapter, '' for idleness, obstinacy or disorderly con- duct," is subject to be punished "as provided by the lawful regulations of the House." But that is not all. We might paraphrase Mr. Blaine and say : " The ingenuity of Maine legislators in contriving schemes to circumvent the unfortunate poor was not ex- hausted by the odious and comprehensive statutes already cited." They provided, Section 17, p. 925, Rev. Statutes, 1883, that " whoever gees about from town to town, or from place to j^lace in any town, asking for food or shelter, or begging . . . shall be deemed a tramp and be imprisoned at hard labor in the state prison for not more than fifteen months." By this law the laborer locked out of a mill by act of the owner is made a tramp, if, while going from town to town in quest of w^ork, he begs bread to subsist life or even asks for shelter. Section 18, on the same page, then declares : " If a tramp enters a dwelling house, or kindles a fire in the high- way or on the land of another, without the consent of the owner or occupant ... he shall be punished at hard labor in the state prison for not more than two years." The poor man may starve and freeze, but must not beg. If he does he is punishable, in Maine, to the extent of two years in the state prisou for his very first offense. The limit of the Ala- bama law was six months. As a sort of capping to the sheaf he has been gathering in the field of Alabama legislation, Mr. Blaine crowns his fore- going criticisms with this remark : ^' The fact w'ill not escape attention that in th^se enactments the words ' master,' * mis- tress' and 'servant' are used." This in Alabama legislation appears to be the very climax of iniquity ; and yet, in the Revised Statutes of Maine, 1883, p. 256, under the heading *' Masters, Apprentices and Servants," occur the words " master " and '^ mistress," and further on the words " mas- ters" and ''mistresses." The simple truth is that these ])hrases are so imbedded in the terminology of the law that they probably occur in the statutes of every state in the Union. Prof. Alexander Johnson, in his article on Reconstruction 36 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? (Cyc. Pol. Sci., Vol. III. p. 546), says, the controlling reason of the Republican successes in the Congressional elections at the North in 1866 ''will be found in the constant irritation kept up by the general cast of the legislation in regard to freedmen by the reconstructed legislatures in 1865-66,'^ etc., etc. If this be true, then it is submitted that the sober judg- ment of this day must be, that in 1866 the Northern mind was so much excited that it did not judge the situation fairly. Mr. Blaine has commented on the Alabama legislation taken "as an example" of other legislation in the South. Certainly no one can present the partisan view of that situation more strongly than he has done. The writer of this article would never think of citing these New England Statutes for the purpose of basing on them a serious attack on the legislation of those states. Law\s aimed at idleness, it is well known, are never so harsh in their actual operation as the strict letter of the statute would seem to indicate. But when the author of a book, as important as that of Mr. Blaine, ignores this fact and bases a studied assault solely on the language of statutes, it is but just to reply by quota- tions from statutes. Of the comparison the reader can judge for himself. How unfortunate it is that there is so much political dyna- mite in the negro question ! When will the time come when the voter will sternly demand that politicians shall apj)eal to reason and not to passion ? * The Spring of 1866 was now come. The first of January had passed without the division of land, which had been ex- pected to take place then, and the colored people were begin- ning to see the necessity of exerting themselves ; but negro labor was still much demoralized. As for the whites, even those who had been most hopeful were beginning to despond. They had done all they could for the restoration of honest, economical government to the State. But Congress had re- fused to allow them representation, and the Freedmen's Bu- reau and the army were still exercising supreme power in the state, while the battle for negro suffrage was being fought out in Washington and before the people of the North. Could EECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 37 ' good government at the South be expected if the ballot should be given to the newly enfranchised black man ? Few Ala- bam iaus thought so. Republican government must be founded on virtue, intelli- gence and patriotism. Of all the races in the world the negro alone had been able to hold, always, a whole continent locked in the impenetrable mysteries of barbarism. First Egyptian, and then Moorish civilization had assailed Africa from the North ; then Asiatics from the East and Europeans from the West had essayed to penetrate it — but Africa was still the dark continent. This was the fight the African had fought at home against civilization. Brought from his native land, freed from native influences, as a slave he had greatly devel- oped — he was kindly disposed, docile and faithful. He had cared for the women and children of the South, even when battles were being fought in which his freedom was at stake. For this the Southern people felt deeply grateful, yet they could not think that his training as a slave had fitted him to take part in the government of a state. Liberia, the free state, a creature of generous charities, though under the continued sustentation of the most intelli- gent philanthropists, was nevertheless a failure. Hayti and San Domingo were monumental warnings. The celebrated English historian James Anthony Froude, in his book '' The English in the West Indies, '^ p. 88, says : *' In Hayti, the black republic allows no white man to hold land in freehold.'' And he adds, as the result of a thorough study of the subject, ^' the blacks elsewhere with the same opportunities will de- velop the same aspirations." There seemed in 1866 to be no ground to hope that an ex- periment of negro suffrage in the South would prove more successful than elsewhere. Nevertheless there were Alaba- mians who favored it. Some of these were politicians, con- tent to take office at any price to the country ; but others of them were good citizens, who had become so embittered by the w^ar, that they were willing to accept the aid even of their former slaves in their fight against the Secessionists ; though there was comino; a crisis that was to silence even a hatred like this. 38 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? The people of Alabama felt that they were vitally interested ill the question of universal suifrage, and that they ought to have a voice in its settlement. Congress, however, had decided that they should not, and seemed now determined to put it upon them. This produced, necessarily, more or less of exasperation among the whites ; and caused, at the same time, a spirit of exultation on the part of the blacks. Indeed, the colored people were already beginning to assume a tone of de- fiance, encouraged, as they were, not only by the refusal of Congress to recognize the state government, but also by Freed men's Bureau agents, who had the army and all the power of the United States behind them. Of course, it was impossible that every citizen in the state could, in his dealings with either whites or blacks, be always circumspect, prudent and just. In spite of every influence that could be brought to bear by thoughtful men, who comprehended the situation, there was some strife between the races. Provocations were often excessively resented, and, as is al- ways the case, in such crises, every wrong done, if a colored man was the subject, even every peccadillo, was magnified, many times over, by political opponents. The situation in the South figured largely in the North in the elections of 1866. The Republicans succeeded. The Re- construction Acts were passed, over the President's veto, March 2d, and March 19th, 1867. Gen. Pope was placed in command of the district composed of Georgia, Florida, Ala- bama and Mississippi. Gen. Wager Swayne took command of the state, with headquarters at Montgomery. The state had been thoroughly reorganized and her courts in full operation for nearly eighteen months ; but now the sound of the bugle, resounding night and morning through the cor- ridors of her capitol, indicated that all power was again in the mailed hand of the soldier. The army had come to over- throw the government set up by the people under the plan devised by Lincoln and followed by Johnson ; just as, two years before, it had come to destroy the government that had existed under Jefferson Davis. Gen. Swayne, in a speech at Montgomery, March 1867, thus pictured the situation : " It is nearly two years since the KECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 39 war ended, yet instead of the blessings of peace, we have had difficulties which can hardly be exaggerated and which are still increasing; criminations and re-criminations springing from the past ; doubt engendering paralysis and poverty to blight all present effort ; discouragement and apprehension clouding all our future/' There was yet a possibility that the reconstruction policy of Congress might fail. President Johnson, though Congress was constantly passing bills over his vetoes, was still standing firm. He thought that, if a proper case were brought, the Supreme Court would declare the laws void. That they were violative of the Constitution he had no manner of doubt, and feeling, as he always did, supreme confidence in the judgment of the people, he was absolutely sure that such would be the popular verdict in the Presidential election of 1868. But the majority of the people of Alabama were not as hopeful as was the President. In April, 1867, Albert Gallatin Brown, formerly United States Senator from Mississippi, and possessing largely the confidence of Southern people, came out in a letter advising acquiescence in the policy of Congress, and participation in the proceedings described by the Reconstruction Acts, that peace and as good government as was possible might be secured to the country. His letter was soon reenforced by another of similar import from John A. Campbell, a distin- guished Alabamian, formerly a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. A majority of the leading papers of the state took the same position. They advised acquiescence and assistance, '^not because we approv^e the policy of the reconstruction laws, but because it is the best we can do.'' The leader of the opposition was Gen. James H. Clanton, a man of phenomenal courage, of great directness of thought and speech and of singular magnetism. He had been a Whig, and was opposed to secession; but when the war began, believing in the doctrine of state sovereignty, he cast his lot with the people of his state and made a brave Confederate soldier. He now organized the opposition under the name of the Conservative party of Alabama. This was a name that would offend the prejudices of no one and would em- 40 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? brace all who desired to preserve the government that had been organized in the state under the Presidential plan. On the 11th of May, 1867, Senator Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, made a political speech at the capitol in Mont- gomery to a great crowd of whites and blacks. He took the position that the Republican party had entitled itself to the votes of all the colored men, and then, assuming that the negroes must and would act together, he made an able appeal to white men to join them. Gen. Clanton replied, combating Mr. Wilson's positions, and especially contending that the Southern white man was the natural ally and best friend of the negro. Gen. Clanton's speech had wide circulation and great effect. It pointed out that the result of the teachings of Senator Wilson would be the establishment in the state of a party that would be controlled by aliens and colored men. A few days afterwards. May 14th, Judge Kelley, of Penn- sylvania, made a political speech at night in the streets of Mobile, which, unfortunately, Avas attended by a riot. Pistols were fired, mostly, if not entirely, in the air, and, though nobody was hurt in the riot, the meeting was broken up. Gen. Swayne, after investigation, reported. May 20th, to Gen. Pope that ''the disturbance was not apprehended or deliberately planned, unless, possibly, by a small party of ruffians, such as are usually found in cities,'^ etc. Gen. Pope, nevertheless, thought proper to remove Major Withers for not preventing the riot, and he appointed in his stead a Mr. Gustavus Horton. The following is an example of the administration of Mr. Horton : — ^ The Mobile Tribune had been publishing some spicy criti- cisms of his decisions, and had made mention, also, of Mr. Bromberg, then affiliating politically with the mayor. Charles Archie Johnson was a good-natured, half-witted, loud- mouthed deformed negro news-vender; and on one particular occasion he made himself especially offensive by crying aloud on the streets, "Here's yer Mobile Tribune, wid all about Mayor Horton an' his Bomberg rats." The IMayor, it is said,^^considered this an offense against the "Civil Rights Bill/' which, as we shall see, afterwards made a marked SECONSTKUCTION IN ALABAMA. 41 figure in Alabama Courts, and he actually sentenced the negro Johnson to banishment from Mobile to New Orleans. This was all very ludicrous. Banishment is contrary to the genius of American government ; but so is the appointment of a civil officer in time of peace by a military chieftain ; and the logical mind of the mayor, who had gotten his power from Gen. Pope, was unable to comprehend why he, Mayor Horton, could not banish a negro, just over to New Orleans. Soon after the assignment of Gen. Swayne to the command over Alabama it came to be an open secret that he was a prospective candidate for the United States Senate. As far back as June 4th, 1866, the General had begun to make straight the way before him. On that day, which was two days after the first meeting of the Montgomery Council of the Union League of America, his name was proposed for membership in that Council and on the next day he was initiated. This Council was simply an association of those who were training themselves for leadership in the party, which, it was then evident, Congress was about to legislate into existence in Alabama. It is true that the Constitution of the League declared in the concluding words of Sec. 2 that its purpose was '4o protect, strengthen and defend all loyal men without regard to sect, condition or party '^; but if it had had no other object than this it would have welcomed all good men to membership. The minutes show, however, that many such were refused admission, evidently from the spirit of rivalry, for nearly all these rejections occurred after the passage of the reconstruction laws, and when the time was drawing near for a division of the spoils. Indeed, the pur- poses of the organization are not left to inference at all. May 22d, 1867, this Montgomery Council resolved "that the Union League is the right arm of the Union Republican party of the United States, and that no man should be initiated into the League who does not heartily endorse the principles and policy of the Union Republican party.'^ The Montgomery Council was composed mainly, if not altogether, of white Republicans. The Lincoln Council, in the same city, and many others elsewhere, were for blacks, principally. While the Union League was a means of solidi- 42 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? fying the negro vote, it was also used to shut out white men. Not only were reputable citizens kept out by the votes of members, but the very framework of the League was so con- structed as to exclude most of the Southern whites. The fifth question asked of an applicant upon his initiation was ''Do you hold and believe that secession is treason ?'' etc. Of course, although the man who had fought for secession was willing to renounce it for the future, he could not be ex- pected to assent to this proposition. When Southern white men were thus excluded from, while the negro was sworn into, this controlling organization, no other political result was possible than that which followed — a republican party dominated by negroes — a black man's party. Gen. Swayne's Chief Clerk, Keiffer, was Secretary of the Montgomery Council, U. L. A., and was also chairman of the Kepublican Executive Committee for the State. When Gen. Pope, May 21st, 1867, ordered the registration of voters, Gen. Swayne appointed for each of the forty-two districts three persons, all Republicans. Montgomery was headquarters of the General and of the Republican party. From that city General Swayne sent five colored men to be registrars in distant counties. Thus while registration proceeded during the day these registrars had opportunity at night to organize the Union League among the colored men who came to be registered. Mystery is always attractive, especially to the uneducated. To the freedman an invitation to join a secret league, which was to protect him in the newly-found liberties, of which he was told his former master was conspiring to deprive him, was simply irresistible ; and the invitation certainly lost no force because it came from those who were his guardians by law and who claimed that their party had freed liim. In the Union League the negroes were sworn with uplifted hand, '' in the presence of God and these witnesses," " to vote only for, and for none but, those who advocate and support the great principles set forth by the League to fill any office of honor, profit or trust in either the State or General Government."* -X- See Eitual, Constitution and By-Laws of National Council Union League, p. 13. EECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 43 The forms and ceremonies for the initiation of a member, as prescribed in the pamphlet above quoted, when followed by an explanation of the signs, grips and pass-words, as printed in the key intended '^ for the use of officers of the Council only,^' must have been, to the inexperienced freed- man, another chapter from Revelations. How impressive these words, which the initiating officer spoke to the new members, " with clasped and uplifted hands repeat after me the Freed man's Pledge — To defend and perpetuate Freedom ^ Political Equality and an indivisible Union I pledge my life, my fortune and my sacred honor. So help me God ! '^ These are some of the things that occurred inside of the League. Outside, the freed man found leading members of Congress coming down South to tell him that his allegiance was due to the party that had freed him and given him the bdlot. He also found great soldiers, like Gen. Swayne, giv- ing the same advice. What folly for Mr. Greeley to deplore the formation of " a black man's party " ! The forces brought to bear upon the freedman could not be resisted ; he was clay in the hands of the potter ; and was fashioned to the uses of those who wrouorht. Gen. Swayne, though he undoubtedly hoped to get office by the destruction of the Lincoln-Johnson Government in Alabama, was nevertheless far more conservative in his utter- ances than his superior, Gen. Pope. In a letter to Gen. Grant of date July 14th, 1867, Gen. Pope wrote concerning the freedmen : " It may be safely said that the marvelous pro- gress made in the education of these people, aided by the noble charitable contributions of Northern societies and individuals, finds no parallel in the history of manldnd. If continued, it must be by the same means, and if the masses of the white people exhibit the same indisposition to be educated that they do now, five years will have transferred intelligence and educa- tion, so far as the masses are concerned, to the colored people of this District," which included Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. In the South this was looked upon as an official justification of the scheme to put the black race over the white, and it did not there popularize either the General 44 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? in command or the policy of Congress ; but the marvelous prophecy may have found believers in other parts of the country. All these things tended to drive away those intelligent and influential men whose support was necssary to the suc- cess of a llepublican party in Alabama, but there still re- mained a very great indisposition to oppose tlie policy of Congress. July 23d, 1867, General Clanton, Chairman of the State Committee, called a convention of the opposition, tlien called, as we have seen, " the Conservative Party of Alabama,'' to meet on September 4th. Strenuous efforts were made tO secure a large attendance, but only thirteen out of the sixty- five counties of the state were represented. But now the teachings of those who were organizing the black man's party were beginning to bring results that u»ere startling. The negro was rapidly assuming an attitude of hostility to the Southern white man. Several instances had occurred during this summer of colored men resisting arrest by white officers ; and now the idea of forcibly preventing the meet- ing of the Conservative or Opposition Convention at Mont- gomery began to take shape. Fortunately, however, a few leading colored meu, appreciating the situation, formed them- selves into a "SPECIAL Committee on the Situation/^ and resolved that they would " use all the influence they may possess to counteract any acts of violence," if offered, " to the convention." They were so successful that the delegates to the convention did not know of the danger till it had passed. Two days afterwards, September 6th, 1867, L. J. Williams, a colored Republican, published a card, as chair- man, setting forth what this " Special Committee " had done, and taking to it the credit of having preserved the peace. It was indeed creditable to Williams and the com- mittee acting with him, that they should suppress this con- templated outrage. The fact, however, that such a move- ment should have been conceived by those, who had so lately been slaves, is an amazing proof of the facility with which the colored men imbibed the lessons that were being taught them. As it was, the convention met and adjourned EECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 45 in peace, after having passed resolutions deprecating efforts to array race against race, favoring education of the negro and expressing the belief that Congress did not possess the power to regulate suffrage, Some months after this occur- rence one Wade Potter, a colored man, who had been speak- ing in the interest of the Democrats, was assaulted by a mob of negroes in the streets of ^lontgomery, and a serious riot was only prevented by the coolness and courage of Gen. Clanton, who came personally to the rescue of Potter. The extent to which the color line was drawn in those days by the colored people may be judged of when it is stated that negroes who dared to vote with the Democrats w^ere often expelled from their churches. Gen. Pope, August 31st, ordered an election for delegates to a Constitutional Convention, the voting to begin October 1st, 1867, and last three days. At this election 18,553 white men voted for delegates. Besides these, many more passively favored this reconstruction policy by refusing to register. The convention to frame a new constitution met on tho 5th of jS^ovember, 1867, and it was a remarkable assem- blage. Some of its members were Alabamians, intent on the best government that might be possible; others were natives of the state, with not a thought beyond self; many were negroes, for the most part densely ignorant, and many were Northern men who, having failed in life at home, had come South to seek their fortunes in politics, carrying all their worldly possessions in grip-sacks — " carpet-baggers.^^ In a Democratic newspaper, the place of nativity of ninety- seven out of a hundred members of the convention purports to have been given ; thirty-one of them being from Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maine, New Jer- sey, New York, Ohio, Canada and Scotland. The debates in the convention on disfranchising certain classes of whites, on mixed schools, intermarriage of the races, and other ques- tions were exciting and inflammatory. These discussions, duly reported by the newpapers of the day, were read through- out the state with the deepest concern. An overwhelming majority of the constituency of this convention was colored, and it had not been long in session before it became quite 46 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? clear that the black man's party was in control. The fact, that had begun to dawn on Mr. Greeley even at his distance, in Alabama was startling. Every member of the Convention had entered it as a friend of the reconstruction policy of Congress ; but delegates began now to falter, and when the Convention adjourned, thirteen of them issued an address, December 10th, 1867, protesting ao-ainst the constitution that had been agreed upon, because '^it tended to the abasement and degradation of the white population of the state,'^ because it authorized mixed schools and because the Convention had refused to prohibit the inter- marriao'e of the races. The protest pointed out, as evidencing the measure in which leading white Republicans cringed to their colored colleagues, that, ^Hhough the Judiciary Committee had unanimoitdy reported a measure providing against amal- gamation, yet the Convention tabled it ; and many members of the Committee, who had concurred in the report of the Oom- mitteej receding from their position, voted to lay it on thetable.^^ The white people of the state were now greatly depressed. Many sought homes in Texas — some in the North and West, and numbers went to Brazil. So general was the disposition to go in this last direction that on the 17th December, 1867, Mr. Chas. Nathan, of New Orleans, published notice that he had contracted with the Emperor of Brazil to carry to that country one thousand families per annum. Those, however, who still hoped for the failure of the Congressional plan of reconstruc- tion were much encouraged by the result of the fall elections of 1867 in the North. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut and California all went Democratic on anti- negro suffrage resolutions, and in Ohio the suffrage amend- ment was defeated by 50,000 majority. Greatly to the relief of the people, Gen. Pope was, on the 28th day of December, 1867, relieved, and Gen. Meade, Jan- uary 6tli, took command of the District. Early in January Gen. Swayne was also sent away from the state. The Vote on the Constitution. The election for the ratification or rejection of the Consti- tution was to be held on the 1st, 2d and 3d of February, KECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 47 1868, and its friends and foes now prepared for the conflict. The law of Congress provided that at this election officers to carry on the new government should be chosen, to take office, however, only upon event of the ratification of t'he Constitu- tion. The Republicans nominated a full ticket; among them the following from the Freedmen's Bureau : Applegate, of Ohio, for Lieutenant-Governor ; Miller, of Maine, Secretary of State; Reynolds, of Maine, Auditor; Jno. C. Keiffer, of Ohio, Commissioner Internal Revenue. As a sample of their nominations for county officers in localities where Northerners had located, the ticket for Montgomery County may be given. For the Legislature; Willard Warner, of Ohio, Paul Strobach, of Austria, and three colored men. For County officers : Pro- bate Judge Eely, of New York ; Clerk Circuit Court, Brain- ard, a Northerner; and for Sheriff, Barbour, also a Northerner. All these had come into the state either with the army or had followed in its wake. The Conservatives determined to defeat the Constitution if possible. It was deemed a serious menace to the welfare of the state. " Born of the Bayonet.^^ Mr. Sumner, when the vote on the reconstruction bill of March 2, 1867, was about to be taken, troubled his associates in the Senate very much by a sudden flash of his old love for government based on the consent of the people. He would vote for the bill, but confessed his regret that Congress should employ the military for the purposes of reconstruction, and said, " I would not see new states born of the bayonet.'^ But so the new state of Alabama literally was. A clause in the supplementary Act of March 23d required that a majority of the registered vote should be cast, else the Con- stitution could not be ratified, even though it received every vote that was polled. Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, had pointed out in debate one possible effect of this provision of the bill thus : "It is a proposition to enable the rebel leaders to take advantage of all persons who are hostile to these terms and all persons who cannot go to the poljs to vote.'^ But the motion to strike it out was voted down. The provision 48 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? became a law, after the attention of Congress had been called to the effect it might have, and it never occurred to any man in Alabama, that Congress would disregard and violate its own enactment. A conference of prominent Conservatives from all parts of the state met at the Exchange Hotel, in Montgomery, on the first day of January, 1868, to consider how the proposed Con- stitution could best be defeated. After an anxious considera- tion of the whole subject, protracted for three days, it was decided to register and remain away from the polls, making no nominations for fear that friends of the candidates, in localities where they were likely to be successful, might be tempted to vote for the constitution. An eloquent address was issued, signed by all the participants in the conference, closing thus : " With a deep and solemn apprehension of the perils of our condition, with a painful sense of the responsi- bility of advising or indicating a course of action ; after in- voking the presence and guidance in our deliberations of that God, who presides over the destinies of nations, after elaborate and ])rotracted and unreserved conference and discussion," they had come to the conclusion to recommend that electors should register and not vote. The time for holding the election was protracted by Gen. Meade, from three to five days, that all might have the fullest opportunity to vote. The constitution was beaten. It carried down with it, of course, all the Republican candidates ; but, as they had no opponents, these candidates would all take office if Congress could be induced to declare that the consti- tution had been ratified. In that event the newly-created Republican party of Alabama would have full possession of every department of the state government. So a delegation was immediately started off to Washington, to make charges of frauds in the election, which had been held under military supervision. The House Committee on Reconstruction at Washington, without waiting to hear from Gen. Meade, who, on the spot, was investigating these complaints, reported, on March 10th, in favor of declaring that the constitution had been ratified. The reasoning era ployed to sustain this conclusion would be incredible if it were not of record. The report says: EECONSTKUCTION IN ALABAMA. 49 " Some time before the Alabama election the committee saw the injustice of the law (meaning the provision which required a majority of the registered electors to vote), and requested Congress to restore the majority principle in the vote on the constitution. The House did not hesitate to perceive the in- justice and passed the act and sent it to the Senate. 2%e Senate suffered the act to sleep on their files for two months. They then (which was after the election was over) took it up and passed it, and it has now {after the election) passed both Houses. The principle then that a majority of votes shall govern has been restored and your committee can see tio reason why it should not govern in this easeJ^ This was arguing that the result of an election could be changed by a subsequent change of the law under which it was held. Thirteen days after this Gen. Meade made his report. In it he says, that some of the Alabama Republicans had asked him to report that the returns, "when properly explained, will show a majority of the registered voters as being in favor of this measure.'' He "regretted extremely" that he could not concur in this view, and said, " I cannot but look on the result of the recent election as the expression of opinion, that the registered voters do not desire to be restored under the Constitution submitted to them ; and, in view of the recent action of Congress giving ratification to a majority of the votes cast, I would prefer seeing the Convention reassembled for a revision of the Constitution and the revised Constitution submitted to the people under the new lawJ' The General did not ao;ree with the Committee of the House that the new laio affected the old election. He goes on to say, ''The Con- stitution fails of ratification by 8,114 votes." He then points out reasons which he thinks made the Con- stitution less acceptable than the Convention, and concluded by showing that — "Convention had white votes, 18,553 While Constitution had only 5.802 Loss in white vote, 12,751 " The reader, if he lives out of the state, may possibly have 4 50 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? forgotten what dow occurred; but on the minds of the people of Alabama an impression was made never to be erased. Congress did not venture to declare that Gen. Meade's report did not truthfully state the results of the election, but, waiting till certain others of the states had held their elec- tions under the new law, it placed Alabama with these and admitted them all in one act, declaring in the preamble that they had adopted their Constitutions "by large majoiities of the votes cast at the elections held for the ratitication or rejec- tion of the same;'' whereas the law governing the Alabama election. Act of March 23d, 1867, Sec. 5, required tliat there should be cast "a majority of the votes of the registered voters voting upon the question of such ratification." In the face of the indisputable fact that the Constitution was defeated according to this law by an overwhelming majority, and of the peculiar wording, as above given, of this act of admission, the inference is, that members reconciled themselves to vote for this bill upon the theory avowed in passing the original reconstruction acts, viz. : that the whole question was "absolutely in the hands of Congress," and it could do as it pleased. But if this was the theory of the bill, then the only possible answer to the charge of misleading the Conservatives in Alabama, who relied upon the law as it was written, is that " no faith is to be kept with heretics." II. WHAT THE REPUBLICANS DID WHEN IN CONTROL. The newly-made legislators were fond of their avocation. They held three sessions in their first year, beginning respect- ively July 13th, September 16th and November 2d. There were twenty-six negroes in the House and one in the Senate. They were, of course, unfitted by want of education for the high positions they occupied; but so much deference was shown to them and the constituencies behind them that they naturally supposed the supremacy of the black man's party was secure. They had been led out of captivity into the promised land, and now it was to be theirs forever. That this was the sentiment that animated them was abundantly manifest by the debates. It is much to their credit that, RECONSTEUCTIOX IN ALABAMA. 51 while under the belief that power was irrevocably theirs, they cousentecl, at the first session of the Legislature, to the enactment of a law relieving of disabilities those who were disfranchised by the State Constitution. Gov. W. H. Suv-tb/ was understood to be largely instrumental in securiiifi^J 'th(5 passage of the bill. State Credit. In the first report made by the Republican State Auditor, Mr. R. M. Reynolds, .he said : " Alabama stands in a proud position in the financial world. . . . Nothing but gross mismanagement of her finances wnll cause her credit to decline.'^ Of that credit the State had always been proud. More than one installment of gold was sent through the block- ade during the war to pay interest on her foreign debt. The new state government would have been, even if hon- estly and carefully administered, more expensive than that which it had displaced. New offices had been created — a Lieutenant-Governor, a Commissioner of Industrial Re- sources, and a body, with legislative powers, called the Board of Education. Pay and salaries, too, had been increased all along the line; but the figures thus added to expenditures are not worth compiling in view of the vast indebtedness that was soon to overwhelm the state and drive her for years out of the money markets of the world. In the first report of Mr. Reynolds the Bonded debt of the state was $5,270,000.00 Educational fund and miscellaneous, 3,085,683.51 $8,355,6S3.51 The legislative schemes already embarked had not yet begun to bear fruit. During the session beginning in July, 1868, there was no very important legislation. Per diem pay and mileage seemed to be satisfactory. At the second session a state aid law, en- dorsing bonds for railroad companies under certain conditions, which had been passed by the preceding state government, February 19th, 1867, was taken up, amended and the aid 52 ' WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? . increased from |12,000 to ^1 6,000 a mile. The old law was said to be useless. No one would comply with its conditions. But if the state would endorse to the extent of sixteen ^•vv«tead of twelve thousand dollars per mile, capitalists from ^jYg^j^rth and from Europe were ready, it was claimed, with energy Enterprise and money to build railroads that would at once' Jlevelop the resources of the state, and in a few years Alabai^ would rival Pennsylvania. The theory of the law was that these financiers were to put money enough into ea(;h enterprise to build the first twenty miles of the road and thus secure the state against loss. But the fact was that most of the pretended capitalists had nothing but audacity and a clever knack of manipulating corrupt legislatures. Some had not even money enough with which to pay bribes, and were forced to rely on such advances as they might obtain, on the faith of tlieir schemes, from the confederates, who were to handle the bonds of the state. Bribery in the Legislature at first is claimed to have been so cheap that one member was reported to have said that some of his brethren "sold their votes for prices that would have disgraced a negro in the time of slavery." Various roads were begun, constructed, after a fashion, for a few miles and then abandoned. The schemers had no funds of their own, or, if they had, they did not invest them in Alabama. They swore falsely to get the bonds and always got them ; sometimes for many miles that had not been touched. MILES. The E. A. & C. was built 25 The Selma & Gulf, 40 Marion & Memphis 45 Savannah & Memphis, 40 Selma & New Orleans, 20 Only one road begun under this law was completed, the A. & C. It was two hundred and ninety-five miles in length, and entitled by the statute to endorsement ivhen completed to the extent of §4,420,000. But, when yet lacking one hun- dred miles of completion, it had received, as shown by the report made to the House of Representatives by B. B. Lewis, Chairman in 1873, bonds to the extent of $5,300,000; and, RECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 53 not even satisfied with these, it demanded of the Legislature $2,000,000 of straight bonds- and got them. Governor W. H. Smith issued most 6 P these^ bonds, inchid- ing the over-issue to the A.. & C No one believes- ir ^ accepted any bribe, but he was criminally careless. /-^In a let- ter dated April 3d, 1871, after explaining the over-issues, he said, "I admit that if I had attended strictly to the endorse- ment and issue of these bonds that all this never would have occurred/' He trusted the railroad company and the bond brokers, who were leagued together to rob the state. Besides the general state aid law, many special acts were passed. February 25th, 1870, a bill authorizing the state to endorse for the M. & M. R. R. Co. to the extent of ^2,500; March 3d, 1870, an additional endorsement of $6,000 per mile for the S. & N. R. R. Co. was provided for. The Legislature had also, December 31st, 1868, authorized cities and towns to subscribe. From these the adventurers now secured large amounts of bonds to be issued by counties lying along the lines of their projected roads; from Lee County, $275,000; Pickens, §80,000; Chambers,8l50,000;Tallapoosa,$125,000; Randolph, §100,000; Dallas, $140,000. The bonds were received and sold, but the roads were never completed. Sev- eral cities and towns also subscribed. The Liberality of the Colored Man, Whenever the question of subscription was before the people, the colored man, paying little or no taxes, was relied upon to vote down the unwilling tax-payer. Some striking instances of the liberality of the negro in official position are furnished the writer by Judge P. G. Wood, of Dallas County, who, as Probate Judge, is in charge of the books and speaks advisedly. These are here given as samples. The Court of County Commissioners has entire control of county finances. Four Republicans with the Probate Judge composed this court in Dallas County, two white and two colored, and one of the latter alwaj^s signed his mark because he could not write. September 11th, 1864, a question being before the court of the rate of taxation, both the whites voted 54 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? for the lower and both the colored men voted for the higher rate, *' although their names do not appear on the tax books/' ^.^^This same court elected a physician for the jail prisoners \ ^^^(*)[7^ ^6^' y^^LV. The Slieriff, who was jailer, denied their rie-ht to e^^' refused admittance to their physician and em- ployed c>3 himself. On September 4th, 1874, the court allowed ^^ claim of its doctor, who had not performed the service?, and on the same day allowed the claim of the Sher- iff's doctor, who had. ^' Equality is equity." This county, though in that respect it was by no means alone, was blessed with illiterate office-holders ; and it was one of the richest counties in the state. November 7th, 1871, it elected nine colored Justices of the Peace, several of whom could scarcely write their names. One of them made no claim to education, and, scorning all false pretences, made his cross-mark on his official bond. A Justice of the Peace in Alabama has authority among other things, to try posses- sory actions relating to lands of whatever value, and may in- carcerate to await trial, or discharge even persons accused of murder. At the same time, November 7th, 1871, three colored constables were elected, who signed their official bonds by cross-marks. Constables execute process civil and crim- inal, including such as require sales of pro^^erty to satisfy executions. That it was deemed the proper thing in those days to put illiterates in high and responsible positions is shown by the fact that the Republican Governor, Lewis, in December, 1873, appointed to a vacancy in the Court of County Commis- sioners of Dallas, Oscar Huntley, who could not write. His name is signed to the minutes of the court by his cross-mark, and he possessed not more than the average capacity of the uneducated colored man. These and other like occurrences elsewhere in the state demonstrate that ^'the black man's party," the formation of which Mr. Greeley had feared, was in full control ; for not only did the negroes themselves select of their own color incompetent men for office, but they com- pelled their Governor to do the same thing. A representative Republic is representative in fact as well as in name. KECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. _ 55 The Election of 1870. In November, 1870, an election was held for Governor and other officers, and for members of the Lower House of the Legislature. The Senators all held over, refusing to clas- sify and allow half of their number to be elected, as the Democrats contended their Constitution required. The can- vass was an exciting one. During the previous year certain leading Republicans had petitioned Gov. Smith to call out the negro militia under the pretence of enforcing the law. The Governor, as his letter hereafter quoted shows, under- stood the motive perfectly. He was a Republican and desired the success of his party; but he refused to enter into the plans of these conspirators against the peace of the state, and, in his message of November 15th, 1869, replied to this demand, without mentioning it, by the statement : " Nowhere have the courts been interrupted. No resistance has been encountered by officers of court in their efforts to discharge the duties im- posed upon them by law." Eight months afterwards, when the Republican primaries began to be held, the County Con- vention of Madison, dominated by certain of these men, criticised the Governor for not having complied with their demand. In a letter to the Huntsville Advocate, dated July 25th, 1870, Governor Smith replied, denouncing '^ Geo. E. " Spencer (Senator), J. D. Sibley, J. J. Hinds and others" as systematically uttering every conceivable falsehood. . . . During my entire administration of the State Government but one officer has certified to me that he was unable, on ac- count of lawlessness, to execute his official duties. That officer was the Sheriff of Morgan Coui^. I immediately made application to Gen. Crawford for Troops. They were sent, and the said sheriff refused their assistance. . . . My candid opinion is that Sibley does not want the law exe- cuted, because that would put down crime, and crime is his life's blood. Re would like very much to have a ku-klux out- rage every week to assist him in keeping up strife between the whites and the blacks, that he might be more certain of the votes of the latter. He tvould like to have a feiv colored men killed every week to furnish semblance of truth to Spencer^ s libels upon 5G WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? the people of the state generally. The man acts as though he thought it Avould be his duty to insult every man who ever had any connection with the rebellion. ... It is but pro- per in this connection that I should speak in strong terms of condemnation of the conduct of two ichite men in Taskegee a few days ago in advising the colored men to resist the author- ity of the Sheriff; and these are not hi-Jdnx, but are .Republi- cans.^' The author of this letter was not only a Republican Governor, but he was overwhelmingly renominated shortlj^ afterwards. In November Lindsay and the other Democratic candidates for state offices were elected. Lindsay's majority for Govei-nor was decided, but Gov. Smith began a contest by suing out an injunction, which was served on R. N. Barr, President of the Senate. As the other Republican nominees had not contested the election of their opponents, the Democratic Lieutenant- Governor elect, Moren, took his seat as presiding officer of the Senate, and as such counted the vote. Lindsay was de- clared legally elected. Smith's attorneys had not enjoined Moren. But Governor Smith barricaded himself in the Executive chamber, and, surrounding it by United States troops, refused to surrender the office. Federal troops were always present in those days to render prompt obedience to the orders of the Republican Governor. December 6th, Judge J. Q. Smith, a Republican judge, issued a notice to Governor Smith to show cause why he should not surrender the books and papers of the office. Smith appeared and aban- doned his contest. Governor Lindsay's administration was not a success. In- deed, an abler man than he might well have failed. The Lower House was Democratic, but the Senate was Republican. The state had already defaulted. There was no money to pay interest with and the credit of the state was at a low ebb. Governor Lindsay was not only unable to cope with the situation, but was himself guilty of carelessness. He per- mitted himself to be duped,~by false affidavits, into endorsing $400,000 of the bonds of the E. A. & C. R. R., when it had liot been built as required by that Act. The Democrats in convention, in 1872, not only failed to renominate Gov.Lind- KECONSTKUCTION IN ALABAMA. 57 say, as is the party custom in the state for one term, but they also omitted to endorse his administration. It was fortunate, however, that in 1870 they had elected a majority of the*^ Lower House in the Legislature, for at the session of 1870-71 another set of financiers had made up their minds to come down South and help build up Alabama. Their demand was for $5,000,000 with which to set furnaces and factories going. They were too late. If they had only come the session be- fore there was no chance for a bill containing $5,000,000, properly pressed, to have failed. Governor Lewis, In November, 1872, Grant carried the state over Greeley, and at the same election D. P. Lewis, a Republican, was elected Governor. The Democrats claimed both branches of the Legislature according to the returns ; and their members- elect met in the chambers at the capitol as provided by law. But Senator George E. Spencer, the same who had quarreled with Governor Smith for not calling out the negro militia, was to be re-elected at this session, and, on his advice, the Re- publicans assembled what was called, from its place of meet- ing, the Court-House Legislature, claiming that they had a quorum in both branches. Governor Lindsay recognized the Capitol bodies. This Capitol Legislature, having possession of the returns, counted the votes in due time and declared Lewis elected Governor. Gov. Lewis accepted the count, but repudiated those who made it, and recognized the Court-House bodies. Gov. Lewis, too, called for United States troops, and they came. In a letter dated Dec. 1st, 1872, the Governor himself narrates : '' I telegraphed Capt. T. B. Weir, 7th U. S. Cavalry, at Opelika, after night of the 29th, to corn^ to llontgomery with all disposable force by first train, to which he responded. Early on Saturday fnorning Capt. Weir arrived with thirty men and reported to Mr. Strobach, tvho stationed them on a vacant lot adjoining the Capitol, where they are now quietly tentedj^ It is to be noted here that this was four years after Con- 58 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? gress had declared Alabama rehabilitated and entitled to all the rights of statehood. The new State of Montana has at this writing (February, 1889) two rival bodies, each claiming to be the lawful legis- lature. If, when this case arose, Gov. Toole had telegraphed for United States troops, and they had come by first train and encamped on a lot adjoining the capitol to aid the Governor of Montana and his political party, the case would have been entirely analogous to that at Montgomery in December, 1872. After having surrounded his capitol with United States troops, the next move of the Chief Executive of Alabama was to call to his aid the Republican Attorney-General of the United States, who sent a telegram proposing terms for the settlement of the dispute. The Governor, in his letter sub- mitting this telegram to the Capitol Legislature, denominated ^' these suggestions as a gentle intimation of the convictions of the law officer of the United States Government of his views.'' As this "gentle intimation" was reinforced by United States troops, "quietly tented on a lot adjoining the Capitol," the Democrats thought there was nothing left but to submit. December 17, 1870, both Houses organized under the Attorney-General's plan. This left the Democrats with still a majority on joint ballot. The next morning, December 1 8th, the presiding officer of the Senate, McKinstry, the Kepubli- can Lieutenant-Governor, announced that he had changed his mind, and concluded that the Senate could not be organ- ized under the " plan" until a pending contest of Miller, Re- publican, against Martin, Democratic incumbent, was decided. Hamilton, Democrat, appealed from the decision of the chair. McKinstry, without precedent to sustain him, refused to allow the appeal and the Democrats submitted. Time was required to take testimony in the Miller-Martin case. During the interval Edwards, a Democratic Senator, called home by sickness, "paired" on the Miller-Martin contest with Glass, Republican. Edwards gone, the case was at oncebrought on. Glass broke his pair and voted. Parks, a Democrat, changed his vote and moved a re-consideration to get time to send for Edwards. McKinstry refusing to entertain the RECONSTEUCTION IN ALABAMA. 59 motion, Parks offered to put it himself, but his colleagues begged him to desist. So McKiiistry, riding roughshod over the law, declared Miller, Republican, seated from a Democratic district. When McKinstry made an arbitrary ruling his answer to Democratic protests was : " Gentlemen, I hope you do not mean violence. If you do I will leave the chair." The meaning of this was only too plain. United States troops were hard by, ready to assist the Republican presiding officer if the Democrats, who constituted a majority of the Senate, did not peaceably submit to his arbitrary ruling. No Anglo-Saxon Legislative body had ever yet so tamely bowed its neck to the yoke of a master ; unless it was in some simi- larly situated Southern state, but the once proud state of Alabama was now prostrate in the dust. Still another move was necessary to re-elect Senator Spencer. A Democratic mem- ber of the House, socially inclined, after indulging in liquor with some Rej)ublican friends the night before, was too sick to attend the election next day ; and so Mr. Geo. E. Spencer went to the United States Senate for six years more. The member claimed that his liquor was drugged. The Judiciary. Never was the will of the voter more clearly reflected by his servant in high place than by the Republican office-hold- er in Alabama. The judges of the Supreme Court were all Alabamians, long identified with the state, but, w^ith possibly one exception, they bowed to what were supposed to be the prejudices of the dominant element in their party with as much deference as did Convention and Legislature. They decided that whites and blacks could inter-marry. It will be remembered that the state convention had simply voted down a provision to prevent in- ter-marriage. A subsequent Legislature had adopted a large body of pre-existing law without having observed, perhaps, that one clause forbade inter-marriage of the races. It will amuse lawyers to know that the learned Alabama Court held that this law was nullified by the Civil Rights Bill passed by Congress. Of course, the Supreme Court of the United QO WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? States decided diiFerently when a case was brought before it. The Alabama Court decided, Judge Saffold dissenting, that the acts of Mr. Spencer's Court-House Legislature were valid, though even the Attorney-General's figuring left their Senate without a quorum. It also decided that all judgments renderc d in the state during the war were void. From the disastrous consequences of such an opinion the state was only saved by the Supreme Court of the United States. In the days we write of a young law student in Alabama asked a witty ex-Judge of the Supreme Court if he would not advise him to make, in those troublous times, a special study of Constitutional law. " No," was the reply, " I ad- vise you to study all the unconstitutional law you can find." Ignorance of the law on the part of those in Judicial position was so common as of itself scarcely to cause remark, except among lawyers. Take, as a sample, the criminal Court of the City of Selma, having jurif^diction extending even to capital cases. Its first Judge was one Corbin, an old Vir- ginian, a bon vivant who had never practiced law ; and its first clerk was Roderick Thomas, a colored man, who had only acquired a little education after he was freed. Corbin, after the loss of his fortune, concluded to be a Re})ublican and a Judge, for the salary. As the old gentleman sat in Court, contemplating himself and his grand jurors, the ludi- crousness of the situation must have taken strong hold of him, and this it probably was that inspired his charge to the grand jury, July 27th, 1874, from which we make a short extract, premising that it is a fair sample of the whole : " Time was, and not very distantly, gentlemen, when this charge was done up and delivered in grand old style ; when grand old judges, robed in costly black silk gowns and coiflPured with huge old periwigs, swelling out their august personages, were escorted into the Court-rooms by obsequious sheriffs, bearing high before them and with stately step their blazoned insignia of office. . . . Fair ladies and courtly old dames of pinguid proportions, in rich and rustling silk bro- cades, flocked to grace the court-room w^ith their enchanting presence and to hear the august, gowned and periwigged old judges ventilate their classic literature and their cultivated KECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 61 oratory in the grandiloquent old charge. Not French or Eng- lish soldiers, in leagued alliance of deathly war, on the far- famed heights of Balaklava, moved in more solemn tramp to martial step, huge blasts rippling their thrilling echoes up the long valley and precipitous ravines of that impregnable Rus- sian fortress, than did those grand old judges in their terrific charges against the offenders of their day," etc., etc. Poor old Judge Corbin ! Though he continued to vote and claim fel- lowship with his party, he could not keep step with them in all things; so they abolished his court and re-established it, all to put another in the judgeship. The learned ex-judge, a few days after this law was passed, said his party reminded him of "a. parcel of pigs; as soon as one got an ear of corn the others took after him to get it away." Judge Corbin's successor was his former Clerk of the Court, the colored man Roderick Thomas. So it could not have been professional ignorance that lost the old judge his seat. He knew quite as much law and ten times more rhetoric than Thomas. But Thomas got the place of judge of the Court that had jurisdiction over capital cases ; and another colored man became clerk, with no more qualifications than Thomas had. The year 1874, which was to mark another era in the his- tory of Alabama, had now come. The government ^' born of the bayonet" had been in existence six years. A general election was to be held in November, and both parties began early to prepare for the conflict. The Republicans who rep- resented the state in Congress had made their contributions at an early date. They had secured, in the Act of March 28th, 1874, authority for the President to issue army rations and clothing to the destitute along the Alabama, Tombigbee and Warrior Rivers, all in Alabama ; and, to carry out this and a similar Act relating to the Mississippi, four hundred thousand dollars were appropriated by the Sundry Civil Act, approved June 23d, 1874. It may be as well here to give the history of this adventure, which was based on the pretense of a disastrous overflow. Q2 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? There had really been no unusual overflows anywhere in the state. The money sent to Alabama was distributed as an electioneering fund; some of it at points like Opelika, which had not been under water since the days of Noah's flood. This open prostitution of public funds, became a most effective weapon in the hands of the Democrats. To crown the mis- adventure, the Republican Governor, Lewis, probably to stamp with the seal of his condemnation the folly of the super- serviceable politicians, who had secured this hapless appro})ri- ation, in his message to the Legislature, just after the election, took occasion to say, pointedly, that the state had during the year been " free from floods." The Republicans renominated Governor Lewis and the Democrats selected as their candidate George S. Houston. And now began the great struggle which was to redeem Ala- bama from Republican rule. The state was bankrupt — its credit gone. Governor Lewis had reported to the I>/egislature, November 17th, 1873, that he was '^unable to sell for money any of the state bonds." The debt, which had been at the beginning of Republican administration in the state S^^j356,083.51, was now, as appears by the official report, September 30th, 1874, including straight and endorsed railroad bonds, $25,503,593.30. City and county indebtedness had in many cases increased in like proportion, with no betterments to show for expendi- tures. The administration of public affairs in the state for many years preceding the Civil War had been notably simple and economical. Taxes had been low, honestly collected and faithftdly applied. To a people trained in such a school of government the extravagance and corruption now everywhere apparent, coupled with the higher rates of taxation and bankrupt con- dition of the treasury, were appalling. More intolerable still were the turmoil and strife between whites and blacks, created and kept alive by those who, as the Republican Governor Smith had said, ^^ would like to have a few colored men killed every week to furnish a sem- EECX)NSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 63 blance of truth to Spencer's libels upon the people of the state generally/' as well as to make them more "certain of the vote of the negroes." Not only was immigration repelled by these causes, but good citizens were driven out of the state. It is absolutely safe to say that Alabama during the six years of Republican rule gained practically nothing by immigration, and at the same time lost more inhabitants by emigration than by that terrible war, which destroyed fully one-fifth of her people able to bear arms. Thousands more were now resolved to leave the state if, after another and supreme effort, they should fail to rid themselves of a domi- nation that was blighting all hope of the future. Few things are more difficult than to overcome political prf^udices as bitter as those which had formerly divided the white people of Alabama, but six years of Republican misrule had been, in most cases, sufficient for the purpose. In 1874 the people seemed to forget that they had ever been AVhigs and Demo- crats, Secessionists and Union men ; and when this came about the days of the black man's party in Alabama were num- bered. Although the whites had lost over twenty thousand men in the war who would nosv have been voting, they had in the state, by the census of 1870, a majority of 7,6«51 of those within the voting age. In 1880 this majority, as the census showed, was 23,038, and by the coming of age of boys too young to have been in the war, the white voters certainly outnumbered the blacks in 1874 bv over ten thousand. The Republicans had forced the color line upon an unwil- ling people. The first resolution of the Democratic platform of July, 1874, was that "the radical and dominant faction of the Republican party in this state persistently and by false and fraudulent representations have inflamed the passions and prejudices of the negroes, as a race, against the white people, and have thereby made it necessary for white people to unite and act together in self-defense and for the preservation of white civilization." That the people of the state accepted this issue in this manner is the rock of oifense against which partisan clamor in distant states has so often since that day lashed itself into fury. 64 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? The campaign of 1874 was not unattended by the usual eiForts to inflame the public mind of the North and to intimi- date Democratic voters at home by the display of Federal power, both civil and military. Troops were, of course, loudly called for. Charles Hayes, a member of Congress from the Eutaw District, published a long list of Democratic outrages ; and additional credence was given to his narrative by an endorsement of his character by Senator Hawley, of Connecticut. So promptly were these statements disproved, that Mr. Hawley was understood to have virtually recanted his endorsement. ^'L. M. J.," of Montgomery, who was, as it afterwards appeared, a certain J. M. Levy, wrote a letter to the Washington Chronicle, which the editor appropriately headed in flaming lines — '^ALABAMA— THE CONFLICT OF RACES. Horrible Assassination — The Southern Republicans Imitate the Indians by Symbolic Scalping of their Victims. The Way Negro Insurrections are Produced and Proclaimed. Republicans, both White and Black, Warned not to take Part in the Canvass. Murder, Personal Indignities. Hell itself Broke Loose, and All the Devils There. The United States Asked to Protect Her Citizens." The falsehoods of this article were proven by certificates from Probate Judge Geo. Eely, Deputy Marshal G. B. Ran- dolph, Clerk of the City Council Hughes, and J. A. Miuuis, United States Attorney — all Republicans. There were, during the year 1874, conflicts between whites and blacks, in which both parties received injuries and losses. These were incited, Democrats claimed, by Republican leaders to invoke the aid of Federal authorities, civil and military, in the pending election. It certainly was natural that those Republicans wlio were continually crying out that outrages were committed by the Democrats, should desire, for these complaints, some basis of fact to stand on. The Spencer KECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 65 wing of the Republican party were undoubtedly pursuing the same tactics now as in 1870, when Governor Smith con- demned them in the letter from which extracts have been given. The Republican press, however, claimed that the acts which were to bring United States troops into the state to superintend the elections always resulted from the folly of the Democrats, who did not desire the presence of troops, and that the troubles were never instigated by the Republicans, who were anxious to have the troops. The political training of the colored man had been such that it was perfectly natural for him to look upon United States soldiers, when he saw them come into the state, as sent to see that he voted the Republi- can ticket. Another method resorted to in this campaign was to hand- cuff Democrats and carry them great distances and by devious routes through populous portions of the state, exhibiting them, by the w^ay, in such manner as to encourage the blacks and intimidate the whites. The United States Marshal, having warrants against two citizens of Choctaw County, in order to make his act more impressive, descended with his deputies upon the County Democratic Convention while in session. Having marched his prisoners out, instead of bringing them before a commit- ting officer nearer by, he carried them to Mobile, and instead of going by the usual route, the river, or by the next most usually traveled w^ay, the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, he con- veyed them down to Selma, across to Montgomery and then down the Mobile road — over three hundred miles — for a pre- liminary trial. The presence of troops and the exhibition of prisoners handcuffed, while it encouraged the negroes, served greatly to intensify the zeal of Democrats. Thousands of whites were inspired during that campaign with the feeling that their future homes depended u])on the result of the election. The aliens among the Republican leaders also felt that their future habitations depended on the election, for they had no business in Alabama, except office-holding. The Democrats were successful. They carried by over ten thousand majority all the state offices and they elected large majorities in both branches of the Legislature. QQ WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? The clutch of the carpet-bagger was broken ; most of them left the State; and there was at once peace between whites and blacks. A new Constitution was adopted. Superfluous offices were abolished. Salaries were cut clown and fixed by the Constitution, some of theui, perhaps, at too low a figure ; and it is believed that, in many respects, the limitations upon the power of the Legislature were made too stringent. It was the necessary reaction, the swing of the pendulum from corruption and extravagance to the severest simplicity and economy in government. The coi^equences have been most happy. The credit of the state has been fully restored. When the election of 1874 took place, the State had in cir- culation one million dollars of obligations called " Patton '' or " Horse-shoe money.'^ Although this was receivable for taxes, and bore 8 per cent, interest, it was hawked about, be- fore the election, at 65 to 70 cents on the dollar. After the Democrats went into power these obligations went promptly to par, and were soon paid off and discharged. The indebtedness of the State, which was in 1868, $8,355,- 683.51, and in 1874, all told, $25,503,593.00, was, September 30th, 1888, $12,085,219.95, and every outstanding interest- bearing bond is now above par. To replace old bonds the Governor recently sold 4 per cent, bonds amounting to $900- 000 at a premium. Taxes are low. Life, liberty and property are protected by law, and foreign capital is coming in. The property in the State as assessed for taxation in 1876 was ^135,585, 792,- 00 ; in 1888 it was $223,925,869.00. There are no official figures that show accurately the num- ber of white and colored pupils in the public schools during the six years of public ascendancy, but ex jyecle Herculem. From a total school revenue of $524,621.68 in 1869, the Republicans paid to their school officials other than teachers $75,173.92. From a total school revenue of $539,209.04 in 1888 (not counting funds arising from local taxation), school officials were paid $13,992.80. The teachers are paid partly by the State and partly from private sources. Attendance upon and interest in these schools is rapidly growing. RECONSTRUCTION IN ALABAMA. 67 White. Colored. In 1877 attendance was .... 88,622 54,991) " 1888 " " ..... 159,671 98,919 The Census showed the following number of whites and blacks within school age : White. Colored. 1870 229,139 157,918. 1880 217,320 170,449. This decrease in the number of white children (11,819) while the blacks were increasing (12,531) though, probably due, in some slight degree, to inaccuracies in the census, is to be accounted for by the exodus of whites in the winters of 1871, '72 and '73, fleeing from bad government. The increase in the number of schools from 1870, when the state was under the Republican rule, to 1880, when it had been six years under the Democratic control, as shown by the same census returns was as follows : Schools. White. Colored. 1870 1355 490 1880 3085 1512 The census of 1890, now near at hand, w ill show a gratify- ing increase in the value of properties held by colored men. It may be mentioned as a significant fact that Nathan Alexander, recently appointed by President Harrison as Re- ceiver of Public Monies at Montgomery, gave a bond of $60,000, and it is said that all his bondsmen are colored men. They qualified in the sum of $120,000. The colored population is progressing everywhere in the state — slowly in the black-belt, where the negro predominates; much more rapidly in the counties where the whites out- number the blacks. Their progress is marked in morality, intelligence and property. If the next census shall corrobo- rate, as it will, the truth of this observation, viz.: that the negro prospers most where the power and influence of the white man is greatest, then it is submitted that the fair con- clusion is that, though Southern whites do not wish to be governed by a black man's party, yet they are, in fact, the best friends the negro has. gg WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? A careful study of the life of Abraham Lincoln must always cause fresh regret to well up in the heart of every Southerner as often as he shall recur to the awful deed of his assassination. Mr. Lincoln would have left suffrage to the states to regulate. Then it would have come to the colored man gradually and as he was fitted for it ; and the negro would have regarded the Southern white man, who conferred it, as his friend. As it was, suffrage came to the colored man through an act of Congress. That act would never have been passed if the majority of Southern white men had been voting with the Republican party. It was passed because the colored men were expected to vote against the views of the electors legally qualified by state laws. To see that the newly-made voters performed this duty the Republican party sent gentlemen like Messrs. Wilson and Kel- ley down South to tell them that they must all vote together for the party that gave them the ballot. Already among them were other men, correctly described by Senator Fessenden as " adventurers, and broken-down preachers and politicians,'* consorting, day and night, with these ignorant freedmen, poi- soning their minds against their white neighbors and mustering them, with uplifted hands in midnight meetings, into a politi- cal league, which, by its very constitution, excluded most of the Southern whites. Under these circumstances the domi- nation of either a black man's party or a white man's party was not to be avoided. The facts of history are that the people of Alabama, pros- trated by an unsuccessful war, and divided by the bitter memories of the past, were very loth to oppose what seemed to be the behests of the strongest government man had ever seen. They were utterly unable to unite and agree on any policy whatever. For six long years they suffered degrada- tion, poverty and detraction, before they made up their minds to come together to assert, as they finally did, their supreiAacy. in numbers, wealth, education and moral power. They have now in successful operation a g^overnment that, for the pro- tection it affords to the lives, liberties and property of all its people, white and black, may safely challenge comparison with that of any state in the Union. Education and the EECONSTKUCTION IN ALABAMA. 69 liberalizing iDfluences of the age, to which Alabama is fully alive, will gradually, aud surely, and safely solve every prob- lem that can arise within her borders if she herself is left to deal with them. Will the American people, in the liglit of the terrible experience of the past, permit outside influences to prevent this consummation ? Hilary A. Herbert. CHAPTER III. RECONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA. THE greatest physical punishment we can inflict upon man is death. There is a vast difference in the atrocity of crimes which we call capital, but the penalty is the same. The man who slays his parent, his child or his brother is simply handed, as he is for the murder of a stranger. Hap- pily, however, public sentiment superadds something to the penalties of such offences, by holding up the perpetrators to the execration of mankind. So it is with many offences against the social or political laws of civilized communities ; for the infraction of which, in the nature of things, no ade- quate punishment is provided. The heinousness of such offences consists in an element of faithlessness — -a betrayal of trust— treachery. The destruction of the flock by the shepherd ; the robbing of the ward by the guardian ; the scandalizing of religion by a dissolute priest — are all crimes which find their most ap- propriate puwishment in that public contempt which is society's excommunication. In this catalogue is to be placed the betrayal of constitutional liberty, in its supreme home and by its especial guardians, in what is falsely termed the rrconstructicm of the Southern states. This was a crime against the principles of free government for Avhich no adequate punishment is provided by law. In fact, the criminals assumed to be above the law which they enacted, and the law itself was the crime. The criminals sat in the law-making chamber, on the bench and in the jury-box, instead of standing in the dock. It is with the hope that at this distance and in these more dispassionate times, I -may aid in directing upon that 70 EECONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA. 71 movement at least a portion of that execration which it so richly deserves, that I have consented to write this article. It is an episode in American history that not only should not be forgotten, but which deserves to be studied by every considerate patriot in the United States. It is not necessary or pertinent to argue the original question of the right of a state to secede. In the very brief allusion I shall make to the subject,* I propose to treat it from the Northern standpoint : as settled, and that such a right never existed under the unamended Constitution. With this under- standing I shall submit a few observations on the legality and propriety of the reconstruction acts of 1867. The Southern states, believing they had a right to secede and depart from the Union, attempted to do so by repealing the ordinances of their conventions by which they had sever- ally accepted the Constitution and become members of the Union. The remaining states, possessed of the autonomy of the Federal Government, said "No, you cannot do that: your ordinances of repeal are void ; you are still in the Union and subject to the Constitution, and your attempt to maintain the validity of your ordinances by force is simply insurrection and rebellion, which we are bound by the constitution to sup- press.'^ Accordingly they waged war to suppress it and did suppress it. The slogan from the day when the first ordinance of secession was passed until the firing of the last shot in the war, had been the restoration of the Union. That had been the cry everywhere when men were appealed to to enlist : — *^ Join the army and help restore the Union.'' Was it not re- stored when the " rebellion " was suppressed and Lee gave up his sword to Grant ? Everybody supposed so then ; but yet it seems that Congress thought not, for the eleven states were declared by Congress to be out of the Union. Now it is well known that during the contest, so great was the aversion of the popular mind to the coercing of sovereign states and. the invasion of their soil, that nothing but this appeal for re- storing the well-beloved Union could have succeeded in filling the armies which were necessary to effect it. When that war, therefore, was closed, was the Constitution in any way changed? Or were the relations of the offending states themselves to the 72 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Constitotlon and the Union (their guilty officials having been supplanted) in the slightest degree altered? Had not the Northern idea triumphed ? Was not the Constitution supreme over the insurrectionary states ? If so, where were they,— in the Union or out of the Union ? There were only two ways by which they could possibly have gotten out : — legally, by virtue of their ordinances or by force of arras. As the legality was denied and the resort to foit;e was a failure, the conclusion is unavoidable, that they were in the Union, — subject to all the requirements and entitled to all the privileges of the Consti- tution. Individuals might indeed have been punished if they had committed treason, but the states in their corporate capacity could commit no wrong and therefore were not subject to pun- ishment. Under our theory their existence was immortal, and the moment the individuals who had done wrong in the name of the state had been disposed of, they moved onward with their ancient laws and institutions restored, — subject in the language of Justice Nelson, ''only to the new reorganization, by the appointment of the proper officers to give them opera- tion and eifect.'^ This view was acknowledged and acted u})on by the Government in all its branches, from 18G5 to 1867. President Johnson (by what authority is not precisely known), immediately after the termination of the war, appointed temporary Governors for the states, with authority to appoint all needful officials] and directed them to call prin:iary con- ventions, form Constitutions and reorganize the state govern- ments in all their branches ; and he also invited them, under their new Constitution, to elect Senators and Representatives in Congress in the usual and regular way. This was promptly done by North Carolina, and her new government was recog- nized by the President. It was also recognized by Congress in so far as the submitting of the proposed Constitutional amendment to her State Legislature for ratification was a recogr- nition. So far also as any cases were brought before it, the judicial authority of the United States treated these state governments as valid. In the case of Amy Warwick, before the United States District Court of Massacusetts, Judge Sprague, referring to the supposed effect of the belligerent KECONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA. - 73 rigliis which it was conceded belonged to the Government during the rebellion, by giving it, when suppressed, the rights of conquest, used the following language : " This is an error, a grave and dangerous error. Belligerent rights cannot be exercised where there are no belligerents. Conquest of a foreign country giv-es absolute, unlimited sov^ereign rights, but no nation ever makes such a conquest of its own territory. If a hostile power either from without or within takes and holds possession and dominion over any portion of its terri- tory, and the nation by force of arms expel or overthrow the enemy and suppresses hostilities, it acquires no new title and merely regains the possession of that of which it had been temporarily deprived. The nation acquires no new sovereignty, but merely maintains its previous rights. When the United States takes possession of a rebel district they merely vindicate their pre-existing title. Under despotic governments, confis- cation may be unlimited ; but under our government the right of sovereignty over any portion of a state is given and limited by the Constitution, and will be the same after the war as it was before." If this doctrine be true, and I imagine it will not be denied, of course the existing state authorities at the time were the only power which the Courts could recognize for the administration of law, — for the Constitution had con- ferred none in such cases upon the Federal Government. Still stronger is the language of Mr. Justice Nelson, of the Supreme Court, in the application of James Egan for a habeas corpus to be discharged from imprisonment imposed upon him by the sentence of a military commission in South Caro- lina for an olfence committed within that state. He promptly discharged the prisoner and said among other things : " For all that appears, the civil, local courts of the State of South Carolina were in the full exercise of their judicial functions at the time of this trial, as restored by the suppression of the rebellion some seven months previously, and by the revival of the laws and the reorganization of the state, in obedience to and in conformity with its constitutional duties to the Union. Indeed, long previous to this, the provisional government had been appointed by the President, who is Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States (and whose will 74 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? under martial law constituted the only rule of action), for the special purpose of changing the existing state of things and restoring the civil government over the people. In opera- tion of this appointment a new Constitution had been formed, a Governor and Legislature elected under it, and the state placed in the full enjoyment, or entitled to the full enjoyment of allher constitutional rights and privileges. The consti- tutional laws of the Union were thereby enjoyed and obeyed, and were as authoritative and binding over the people of the state as in any other portion of the country. Indeed, the moment the rebellion was suppressed and the government growino- out of it was subv^erted, the ancient laws resumed their accustomed sway, subject only to the new reorganization by the appointment of the proper officers to give them opera- tion and effect. This organization and appointment of public functionaries, which was under the superintendence and direction of the President, the Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the country, and who, as such, had previously governed the state from imperative necessity by the force of martial law, had already taken place, and the necessity no longer existed. In the language of Mr. Reverdy Johnson, who wrote the minority report upon the reconstruction bills : ^' We submit that nothing could be more conclusive in favor of the doctrine for which they are cited than these judgments," — that is, the doctrine that these new state governments were both, de facto and de jure, the legal and proper governments of the states lately in insurrection. Notwithstanding all this. Congress, for purely partisan pur- poses, proceeded to treat these states as outside of the Union ; and as alien communities who were to be dealt with anew under the laws of conquest and admitted to the Union on conditions of its own imposing. They happened to be Demo- cratic in their politics : and it was not desirable to have the Union restored by the admission of eleven Democratic states ; that would seriously endanger the Republican party. They could not longer refuse to admit them to representa- tion in Congress^ which was the obvious constitutional right RECONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA. 75 of these states, but they determined ou couditions which would strengthen, not weaken, the Republican party. To do this they dissolved the Union by an Act of Congress, declaring that as they were out, they should only be readmitted on the formation of new constitutions and the adoption of certain amendments to the Federal Constitution. They were to be placed under military rule, every vestige of civil authority was to be abolished, and every civil magistrate displaced. Suffrage was to be made universal, except that every citizen was to be excluded from all participation in the primary pro- ceedings who was proscribed by the proposed Fourteenth Amendment. All this was done and more, several years after the war had ended, without the slightest provocation on the part of the Southern states, save only that they would vote the Democratic ticket. North Carolina, who had already, in obedience to the President's invitation, held a convention and remodeled her government in conformity with the changed condition of affiiirs, and who had elected a full corps of Federal and State officials, became a part of " Military District No. 2.'^ Orders from " Headquarters'' in Charleston, South Carolina, dissolved her state government, framed after her ancient custom and traditions, overturned her laws and displaced her officials. Anarchy reigned, tempered only by the will of a military satrap. A new convention was called by his authority. The negroes were invited to vote, though their suffrage was not known to either State or Federal law ; whilst many thousands, embracing nearly all of her leading citizens, were disfranchised. As the Sepoy troops were commanded by British officers, so these ignorant negroes were officered by a trained corps of expert thieves and scoundrels who showed them how to plunder the helpless whites. The excuse given for this legislation was that the states lately in insurrection were in a state of complete anarchy, entirely without civil law and a republican form of govern- ment. Each assertion was a lie so palpable and monstrous, that the historian will wonder at the hardihood which in- duced men to base momentous' actions upon it North Carolina had a republican form of government, ^ 76 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? framed by a convention of qualified members, who had been chosen by her legal electors ; and under tiic Constitution thus formed, civil officers of every grade had been elected and installed; courts had been opened; justice was everywhere administered, and order secured in the usual way. In addition to this, her duly chosen Senators and Represen- tatives stood waiting for admission at the doors of Congress. To deny all this would justify the denial of any event of the past. No fact of history is more notorious. Naturally there could be no other than the worst of consequences attending a procedure thus begun in fraud and false pretence, and sup- ported by force. A saturnalia began. Our English-speaking race has not known its like since the plunder of Ireland in the sixteenth century. Detachments of the army were sta- tioned at various points to overawe the people. Almost everv citizen of experience of affairs in the state was dis- franchised, and over the others hung the threat of confisca- tion. Under such circumstances the new convention was called by military orders : the qualification of its members, its electors, and the persons to hold the elections, the time and place, were all prescribed by the same authority. Many of the poll-holders were candidates, whilst their associates wero negroes who could neither read nor write. The returns, instead of being compared in public, as was customary, were sealed up and sent to ^Mieadquarters " in Charleston, South Carolina. There they were examined in secret and the result announced. That result was 110 Republicans and 10 Democrats! The voting population of the state, as ascertained by the census two years afterwards, was 214,222 ; the registration for that election in 1868 was 103,060 whites and 71,657 negroes — total 174,717. The result shows that about 40,000 were either disfranchised or in some other way were deterred from voting. Of the 110 Republicans who were announced by General Canby to be elected and pronounced by the sergeant who kept the door to be " duly qualified," were thirteen (13) negroes, and eight (8) strangers, who came to be wittily called '^carpet- baggers." They were not citizens of the state and were in EECONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA. 77 no way entitled to the privilege of making laws for North Carolina ; but they came to officer the negroes and to teach loyalty to the whites. The rest were disaffected white natives, mostly without property to be taxed or sympathy with their race, or regard for the misfortunes of their country. The language of the registration oath is a sufficient indica- tion of their character. They met in January, 1868, and framed a Constitution after those of Ohio, Illinois and other Northern states, ignoring much of that of our fathers. But little more than thirty days' notice of the election for ratification was given. But now comes the most iniquitous part of this entire, shameful proceeding. They had succeeded in stifling the voice of the people, by enforcing the disfranchising clauses of the reconstruction acts. Congress went no further, and plainly meant to go no further, than to provide the machinery for a primary conven- tion as the initial point of the new government. It assumed the right to prescribe the qualifi(!ations of the voters that far only. To have done so one moment after that conveution met would have justified Federal control of the suffrage in every state and for all time. Accordingly, the new Constitu- tion provided that all males of legal age should both vote and be eligible to office, except when convicted of felony. But to make sure of their hold on the state and the plunder which they meditated, by collusion with the military despot, they held the election for state officers at the same time with that for ratification, and applied the same disfranchisement to both ! In this way at least 40,000 citizens, by a pure fraud, were deprived of the right to vote for the Constitution of their country and the officers elected under it, although it expressly provided in terms that they should vote ! It is difficult to imagine a more despotic proceeding, or a precedent more dan- gerous to constitutional liberty. Here the foundation was laid for all the corruption and misrule which followed. Had the suffrage been free and honest, as the organic law required, there can be no doubt but that the Legislature at least would have represented the property and character of the state and both been safe. By this procedure the logical absurdity was presented of submitting to the negro the question of his own 78 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? rio-bt of suffrage. Primarily he was allowed to vote on the question. The Constitution permitted the white man to vote, but the military orders would not admit him to the polls ; whereas the negro's only right to vote was under the Constitu- tion which was not yet adopted. The white man's right was co-existent with the government. The question may be stated, for clearness, thus: The white men had the exclusive control of the body politic and the right of the suffrage from the foundation of the govern- ment — it was his government, for he made it ; the negroes, who had no such rigbts, came forward and asked to be ad- mitted to equal privileges with the white men. The question was decided by the applicants and not by those in whom the power to grant the application rested. A man desires to become a member of the church ; his application is referred not to the authorities of the church, but to the candidate himself. By such shameless devices was North Carolina reconstructed, and all the base and disrepu- table elements of society fastened upon the virtue and intelli- gence of the state. What little of wealth the war had spared was at the mercy of those whose greed was only equaled by the unscrupulous villany which fed it. On the 4th of July, 1868, the new government was inaugu- rated. With a clean sweep of all the state officials and nearly all the counties, and a large majority of the Legislature, and backed by the army of the United States, they had it all their own way. The Senate stood thirty-eight Republicans and twelve Democrats. The House stood eighty Republicans to forty Democrats. Of the Republicans there were twelve carpet- baggers and nineteen negroes — several of whom could not read or write. They made loud promises of a new genera- tion of progress; and they were soon to bring about "a new heavens and a new earth.^' They told how the old order of things had been weighted down by slavery, and the poor had been oppressed by an aristocracy based upon it ; and they declared that their divine mission was to regenerate a vast state and awaken the latent energies of a sleeping people and develop the hidden resources of buried wealth ! EECONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA. 79 The better to do this, a number of outside carpet-baggers were called in to assist in the great work of progress by manipulating the negroes and the purchasable whites. Prom- inent among these strangers were one Milton S. Littlefield, Dewees and others — men whose reputations at home, if they ever had a home, entitled them to the contempt of their neighbors, and who, in their wanderings in search of plunder in the wake of devastating armies, left everywhere behind them a stench of foulness and corruption. They immediately organized for a raid upon the depleted treasury of an impoverished people. It was soon stripped of every available dollar ; then the school fund was robbed, its investments were sold to pay their per diem^ which was spread out indefinitely by their protracted and unusual sit- tings. Four hundred and twenty thousand (S420,000) dollars of stock in the Wilmington & Weldon and the Wilmington & Manchester Railroads, which belonged to the educational fund, for the benefit of the poor children of the state, were sold by the Republican Treasurer for §158,000; which, with §100,000 more, borrowed from the Bank of George W. Swepson, was paid for their services, at the rate of eight dollars a day, to these negroes and carpet-baggers, who were professing to be the especial friends of education. But having speedily swept away all that was visible and capable of asportation, there remained, unhappily, a still greater intangible mine of rich material for plunder in the credit of the state. Viewed as a corporation, though her fields had been devastated by war and her substance wasted by fire, yet that which was left constituted assets of consider- able value and gave her obligations a standing in the market. Having obtained the power to control these assets and pro- vided a rigid guarantee to this end in the Constitution itself, they resolved to rob the living and the yet unborn by the issue to themseh^es of her promises to pay. A ring was formed, the chief of which were the said Littlefield and one George W. Swepson, a native, whose reputation for integrity was so bad as to make that of Little- field tolerable. He was, perhaps, the most adroit agent of corruption who was ever known in North Carolina, as was 80 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? evidenced by the way in which he manipidated lawyers, legislators and juda^es. This ring demanded, and in most cases received, ten (10) per cent, on all ai)propriatious passed by that Legislature, and it was notoriously nnderstood that none, however meritorious, could pass Avithout the payment of this tithe, and that any, however outrageous, could pass upon its payment. With this arrangement, Littlefield, De- wees, Laflin and others bought the Legislature, giving orders upon Swepson, who acted as treasurer of the corruption fund. Lavish entertainments were given and paid for in the same way ; a regular bar was established in the Capitol, and it was said that, with somewhat less publicity, some of its rooms were devoted to the purposes of prostitution. Decency fled abashed ; the spectacle of coarse, ignorant negroes sitting at table, drinking champagne and smoking Havana cigars, was not uncommon. I cannot refrain, in this connection, from telling a story which I have heard of one old *' Cuffy,'^ who was a member of that body, and a shining light in the move- ment of progress — one who, in the language of Mr. Hoar, had his ''face turned toward the morning light.'' A friend, going to see him one night at his rooms, found him sitting at a table, by the dim light of a tallow dip, laboriously counting a pile of money, and chuckling to himself "Why," said his visitor, "what amuses you so, Uncle CufTy ?" "Well, boss," he replied, grinning from ear to ear, "I 's been sold in my life 'leven times, an', fo' de Lord, dis is de fust time I eber got de money ! " Railroad companies were chartered right and left, and the friends and members of the thieving-guild were made presi- dents, directors and treasurers. When the booty was not likely to go round and give each one a fair divide, existing railroads were cut in two and old ones revived on paper. Bonds were issued for the stock of the state in all these projects, and they were issued at once and in full, without limitations or conditions, and without any proper requirement that the private stock should be bona fide. In this way, in less than four months the Legislature authorized the issuing of bonds of the state to the extent of $2 e5,3 50,000. In addition to this, bonds had been issued for RECONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA. gl various other schemes of minor importance, whilst the old debt of the state, including accumulated interest, was at least $16,000,000. The whole debt thus imposed upon our people exceeded §42,000,000; whilst the whole property of the state assessed for taxation in our then impoverished condition barely reached $120,000,000. In 1860, when the taxables of the state were assessed at $292,000,000, the total amount of taxes collected for state purposes was $543,000. In 1870 the taxables were assessed at $130,000,000, and the amount of taxes collected was $1,160,000 — more than double the amount upon less than half the property ; and this, too, without the payment of interest upon the state debt. They had provided carefully for obtaining as high a price as possible for these bonds, by bulling them in the Constitution itself. They knew that the crash would inevitably come, and took all possible means of filling their pockets before it arrived. That inevitable end came sooner than they thought. The old saying, that ^i Whom the gods wished to destroy they first made mad/^ was literally fulfilled. Rashly confi- dent of their security for a number of years, there was no extremity of excess to which they did not go. It is safe to say that there was not a transaction, routine or otherwise, con- nected with the administration of the government in which there was not more or less of corruption. The county authorities, emulating the example of the state, began a system of plunder in their municipal credit and plunged many of them so deeply in debt, that some of the wealthiest in the state had their script hawked on the streets at ten (10) cents on the dollar. Many of the bonds of the state were paid out in fabulous sums to lawyers and in some cases even to judges. Hundreds of thousands were gambled away in New York, and a noted courtesan of that city ex- hibited $100,000 of these bonds which she said she received from a railroad president. The administration of justice was conducted but little bet- ter than the legislation of the state. It may without exag- geration be termed scandalous. A majority of the judges were either ignorant or corrupt. In fact, reconstruction pro- cesses had so winnowed the people, as to leave but very few 6 g2 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? lawyers of learning and integrity in the ranks of the Repub- lican party from which to choose judges. Several of them were known as $20 lawyers — that is, men who had never studied law, but had obtained a license to practice upon proof of good character and the payment of §20. Several of them were notoriously cor- rupt. In a short time a large petition, signed by both Dem- ocratic and Republican lawyers, was presented to the Legis- ture asking for the removal of one for incompetency ; whilst another resigned to escape impeachment. It scarcely seems credible, and yet it is true, that with this $25,000,000 of bonds authorized to be issued, $14,000,000 of which were actually issued, not one mile of railroad was built in the state. That, with all the school fund which the state had left from the war, supplemented as it was by a con- siderable taxation for school purposes, not one child in the state, white or black, was educated in any public school for two years. Not one public building or charitable institution of any kind was built. No single thing was done to sustain the credit of the state or to improve the condition of the peo- ple. They simply sank the state as low in the scale of pro- gress as could possibly be done short of universal ruin. To all of this, and more than my pen can possibly describe, the people of North Carolina submitted with long-suffering patience. They were spirit-broken by the results of the war — the desolation of their homes and the slaughter of their sons. They were worn down to the earth by the degradation im- posed upon them by the negro-equality of the Civil Rights Bill and all the racking evils of the times. But a day was coming when their ancient Spirit was once more to re-assert itself. That Legislature which had robbed them of their sub- stance, finally attempted to rob them of their vital liberties. Under the pretence of suppressing internal disorders, it passed a bill known as the Sohoffaer Act, by which the Gov- ernor of the state was authorized to declare any county in his discretion to be in a state of insurrection ; to proclaim martial law over it, and to arrest summarily and try by a drum-head court all accused persons. To enable him to execute this law, he was authorized to raise two regiments of soldiers, to be KECONSTEUCTION IN NORTH CAEOLINA. 83 used at his discretion. This he pro(;eeded to do. One regi- ment was composed of negroes enlisted in the eastern conn- ties; the other was composed of supposed white men from the mountains of East Tennessee and North Carolina, — deserters, renegades and cut-throats, for the most part, — under the com- mand of one Kirk, of infamous memory. This vile and ill- assorted crew descended from the mountains and repaired to Raleigh to be armed and equipped, spreading terror as they went. They were dispatched to the counties of Orange, Ala- mance and Caswell, where they immediately proceeded to make quite a number of arrests. A court-ma'-tial was con- vened for the trial of the prisoners. All this in a time of profound peace. The whole country took alarm and began to blaze. The quiet pride of old North Carolina could stand the plunder of her substance, but would not endure the de- privation of trial by jury. The writ of habeas corpus was instantly applied for, to Chief Justice Pearson, who granted it readily, but with instructions to the marshal endorsed upon it, that if the Governor, upon whom it was to be served, should refuse to obey, he was to make return of that fact to him. Upon his intimation, Governor Holden of course declined to obey, whereupon the chief justice quietly declared that the power of the judiciary was exhausted, notwithstanding the fact that there was a statute authorizing him to summon the posse Gomitafus in aid of the execution of his own writs. A sad commentary on our condition indeed, when a great and learned judge should so far yield to the disorders of the times as to shrink from the performance of a solemn duty in this way. It was w^ith the greatest difficulty that the cooler- headed men of the state restrained the impetuous youth ; but they did. Happily an election for attorney-general and members of the Legislature was approaching, and would be held in the ensuino* Auo-ust of 1870. All violence was averted in the hope that the offending Governor and exhausted judiciary would hear the voice of the people, if they would not hear the voice of conscience. And it was so. Although troops were stationed in various points of the state to intimidate the voters, and though Governor Holden 84 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? was assured by public dispatches of the support of President Grant, and though leading editors and public men were ar- rested or threatened with arrest, yet the peo})le went to the polls with a calmness and a determination never equaled in our state. The disfranchised white citizens had then their first chance at the ballot-box, whilst hundreds and thousands of the better sort of Republicans voted with them. The state was redeemed amidst the thankful prayers of all honest men. The Legislature was largely Democratic, and it proceeded promptly to repeal all obnoxious legislation — that including the issue of bonds, and the Schoffner Act in par- ticular — and to the impeachment of the Governor. Reconstruction and its outrages were at an end in North Carolina. Its consequences, alas ! were not so easily effaced. That great debt still hangs as a cloud over our people, threat- ening their credit and retarding their prosperity. The com- pensation for all these ills which we suffered we hope to reap from the lessons which suffering ever teaches. I am also in the hope that this recital of these unhappy events may tend in some degree to soften the opinion and mitigate the judg- ment of many of my impartial countrymen in the Northern portion of our Union towards the people of North Carolina and their conduct in the ordeal through which they they have passed ; as well as upon that unfinished journey which is before them, so thickly beset with the disturbing results of civil war. Zebulon B. Yance. CHAPTER IV. RECONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. WHEN" the acts of March 2d and March 23(1, for the recon. struction of the late Confederate States were passed, the Governor of South Carolina was the Hon. James L. Orr, a man of great ability and sagacity, and of well- known conservative views, who afterwards held high position in the Republican party. The first step by the new citizens in the process of recon- struction was the election of delegates to a convention called to meet in January, 1868, in Charleston, for the purpose of framing a state Constitution. It was composed of thirty-four whites and sixty-three blacks. At the time, the body was said to be made up of Northern adventurers. Southern rene- gades, and ignorant negroes. Many of the members of the convention afterwards became prominent in the Legislature, in state offices, and in Congress, and the reader, as he follows these pages, which give some account of their actings and doings, can form his own opinion as to whether the above description is true of those of whom it was spoken. The constitution was adopted in April, 1868, by the votes of the negroes upon whom the right to vote had not then been conferred, either by the Constitution of the state or United States; and whose right to vote at all, upon anything, so far as state authority was concerned, was the very question to be settled by the Constitution which they themselves voted to adopt. For while the reconstruction acts of Congress assumed to confer the elective franchise upon the negro, the Fifteeuth Amendment-. to the Constitution, which, in the words of the proclamation of President Grant, "makes at once four millions of people voters,'' was ratified on March 30th, 1870. 85 86 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? The Republicans named as their candidate for Governor, General R. K. Scott, of Ohio, who was one of the officers of the Freedraen's Bureau in the state, and the Conservatives, as then called, embracing tiie reputable tax-payers of the state, nominated the Hon. W. D. Porter, of (■harleston. Mr. Porter was a gentleman of liberal views, of the highest in- tegrity and ability, and had long been recognized as one of the foremost citizens of the state. If the newly-fledged citi- zens had desired that public affairs should be honestly and wisely administered, they could have chosen no better man. Instead of that, General Scott was elected by a majority of two to one, and he and his associates ,took office under the new Constitution on July 9th, 1868. The General Assembly, then elected, consisted of seventy- two whites and eighty-five colored members. In the Senate were seven Democrats, in the House fourteen ; the remaining one hundred and thirty-six were Republican F. J. Moses, Jr., a white man, a nativ^e of the state, whose character is properly delineated in the words of Governor Ciiamberlain, quoted hereafter, was chosen Speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives. With the inauguration of Governor Scott and the meeting of the General Assembly elected with him began the recon- struction legislation of South Carolina. Mr. James S, Pike, late Minister of the United States at the Hague, a Republican and an original abolitionist, Avho visited the state in 1873, after five years' supremacy by Scott and his successor, Moses, and their allies, has published a pungent and instructive account of public affairs during that trying time, under the title of "The Prostrate State.'' The most significant of the striking features of this book is that he undertakes to write a correct history of the state by di- viding the principal frauds, already committed or then in process of completion, into eight distinct classes, which he enumerates as follows : — 1. Those wdiich relate to the increase of the state debt. 2. The frauds practiced in the purchase of lauds for the freed men. 3. The railroad frauds. RECONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 87 4. The election frauds. 5. The frauds practiced in the redemption of the notes of the Bank of South Carolina. 6. The census fraud. 7. The fraud in furnishing the legislative chamber. 8. General and legislative corruption. That is one way, and a very good one, to treat the subject to be discussed. I will not do this, however, but will en- deavor to give a brief account of some of the more important events as they occurred under each administration, in a some- what chronological order. A law providing for the holding of the next general elec- tion was naturally among the first things that received legis- lative attention. The act passed contained fifty-seven sections and was well devised for its purpose. Its four chief features were : 1. Providing for the appointment by the Governor of the three Commissioners of Election for each county, who were authorized to appoint all the managers at the various polling precincts. 2. Failure to provide by law either for the number or location of the voting precincts in the state, and leaving with the Commissioners of each county the absolute power to designate the number of precincts in their respective counties, at any place and at any time, even on the day of election, and that without any notice to the voters. 3. Failure to provide that the voters should be sworn by the managers when they presented themselves to vote. 4. The omission of any penalty whatever for the violation of the election law by illegal voting or repeating. As the Commissioners were usually candidates themselves ; as they fixed the polling precincts most convenient for their own party and most inconvenient for their opponents ; as Governor Scott refused upon application to appoint one Com- missioner from the opposition, and as the Republican General Committee refused to permit a committee composed of mem- bers of both political parties to watch the ballot boxes until the vote was counted ; the prospects of a fair and honest elec- tion were necessarily dim and discouraging. gg WHY TflE SOLID SOUTH? An act was passed in 1869, defining the civil rights of the new citizens, which contained one or more very noticeable features. After defining what the rights and privileges of the colored man should be on railroads, in theatres and other public places, it changed the long established rule of evidence that all men shall be considered innocent until proved guilty, and expressly enacted, that if the person whose rights under the act were alleged to have been denied, happened to be colored, then the burden of proof should be on the defendant ; so that any person or corporation named in the act, if simply accused by a person of color, was thereby to be presumed to be guilty and was liable to be subjected to heavy penalties, upon this mere accusation, without a particle of proof from the plaintiff or any other witness. The prosecuting officers of the state were specially directed by the statute to ''rigorously'' enforce the provisions of this law, under pain of heavy fines and forfeitures. Immediately upon the inauguration of the' new officials and the meeting of the General Assembly was begun that system of extravagance, profligacy and corruption which ruled almost unhindered through the entire eight years of Republican domination in the state, which made South Carolina notorious throughout this whole country and drove the res})ectable peo- ple of the state almost to despair. There is great difficulty in portraying in an interesting way the true condition of public affairs at this period of the state's history. The whole Government and every part of it was so rotten and the corruption so great and all-pervading that the simple recital of the facts soon dulls the sensibilities and wearies the indignation of the reader and he is tempted to turn away in disgust. Without attempting to give in detail the many acts of cor- ruption that marked the career of the Republican adminis- tration, let me mention some of the more prominent by way of examples of the whole. When the Republicans first met in Legislative Assembly in 1868 thev used the same buildiup; which the whites had occu- pied before them and furnished the halls in an inexpensive manner and one best suited to the impoverished condition of KECONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA, 89 the state. As soon, however, as they were more firmly fixed in ]30wer and became more accustomed to making appro- priations from public funds they exhibited most luxurious taste. They undertook to furnish anew the halls of legisla- tion in the State House. For clocks that cost five dollars two years previous they substituted in 1871 and '72 clocks at six hundred dollars : for forty cent spittoons, eight dollar cus- pidors : for four dollar l)enches, two hundred dollar crimson sofas : for one dollar chairs, sixty dollar crimson plush gothic chairs : for ten dollar desks, one hundred and seventy-five dollar desks : for four dollar looking-glasses, six hundred dollar mirrors, etc., etc. The entire bill for furnishing the Hall of the House of Representatives was over $50,000, and the Legislature think- ing that entirely too small appropriated $95,000, to pay for it. Within the past year this hall has been nicely furnished anew at an expense of $3,061. The total amount paid out for furniture alone in four years was over $200,000, and in 1877 when this question was in- vestigated there remained in the State House only $17,715, worth as appraised at the prices originally charged for it. At least forty bed-rooms were furnished at the expense of the state, and some of these as often as three times. Another item of expense was designated "supplies, sundries and incidentals'' and this amounted in one session of the Legislature to $350,000. Of this sum $125,000 was spent in maintaining a restaurant in one of the committee rooms of the Capitol, including liquors and cigars to which all officials and their friends helped themselves without cost except to the tax-payers. This restaurant or bar-room was kept open every day for six years, from eight o'clock in the morning till three o'clock the following morning. While legislation was pending in the United States Congress to take the census of 1870 the General Assembly of South Carolina, by way of showing a want of confidence in the ability or fairness of the same party in Washington, provided for a census of the state under state authority. Of course it was not so elaborate as the United States census but while the total cost of the extensive work done by the latter, except 90 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? the mere compilation in the census office, was $43,203.13, the tax payers. of South Carolina, for a perfectly useless enu- meration had to pay $75,524 00. Many years prior to the late war South Carolina established a State Bank whose bills the state was bound to redeem. In proceedings in Court, begun in Charleston, against the Bank subsequent to the late war, advertisement was made ex- tensively over the country for about eighteen months for all holders of these bills to present them to the Court, and less than $500,000 were presented under this order and adv^ertisement. The Legislature then came forward and appointed a com- mittee to count these bills with a view of having them funded in state bonds. To the absolute astonishment of every body, Avhat the Court had found to be $500,000 of Bank bills, this committee re- ported to be $1,258,550, and under an act of the General Assembly of September 15, 1868, bonds of the state were issued to the amount of $1,590,000 to redeem these bills. In the words of Mr. Pike, above quoted : "By this one simple operation the state thus ai)pears to have been defrauded of a round million." It was generally alleged and credited that most of the state officials, as well as members of the legislature were holders of these bills. Governor Scott himself being interested to the extent of $50,000 or $60,000. Joseph Crews, one mem- ber of the legislative committee appointed to count the bills, deposited $30,000 of them in a bank in Columbia soon after the bonds were issued, and when the bills ought to have been, and the public supposed they had been destroyed. Among other measures to which attention was given by the General Assembly during Scott's first administration was one of an apparently humane purpose, and if it had been honestly and prudently carried out might have produced some benefi- cial results. This was the establishment of the Land Com- mission, the alleged object of which was to buy homes for the homeless, and for this purpose the Legislature appropriated in March 1869, $200,000 and in March 1870, $500,000. One not thoroughly acquainted with the character of the public officials of the state at that time might suppose that KECONST RUCTION IN SOUTH CAEOLINA. 91 while they would rob the state and fleece the tax-payers they would spare the poor ignorant and homeless negroes for whose benefit this money was appropriated and by whose votes these officials obtained the power to plunder the state and insult and over-ride her decent people. From official sources it appears that $802,137.44 was spent by the land commission, and that with this sum was purchased 112,404 acres of land. There were a few cases in which the land was good and the prices probably fair, but the character of the majority, both as to quality and price, may be gathered from the report of an investigation made by a com- mittee of the Republican Legislature. One sand bed of 6,918 acres not worth $1 per acre was bought for $44,418 : one tract of 3,200 acres worth about §1,500 was bought for §19,- 5 )0 and another large tract known as Hell-hole Swamp, was bought for §26,100 and charged to the state at §120,000. These lands as a whole were so utterly worthless that to have supported one able-bodied freedman upon them would have bean regarded as the greatest of agricultural achievements. JSTo motive except that of public plunder can be assigned for purchases of this kind unless the then land commissioner thought to settle the negro question in South Carolina by starving him to death. During Governor Scott's first term he did not omit to put in operation every engine which ingenuity could suggest to secure his renominatiou and re-election as his own immediate successor. On March 1st, 1870, he approved an act of the General Assembly for the government of general elections. Unlike the act of 1868, it required that the voters should be sworn before voting and provided a penalty for illegal voting. It is remarkable however for three things: 1. It failed to make provision for the registration of v^oters as expressly required by the Constitution, and as had been done in the act of 1868. 2. It failed as in the previous act to fix either the number or places of the election precincts in any county, and left it entirely in the power of the commissioners of election of each county to designate any number and any places as precincts for holding the election, on any day before the electioUj or even 92 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? ou the very day Itself, aud without any uotlce whatever to the voters. 3. It failed to provide for the public counting of the votes at the close of the polls, and expressly gave the managers power to take the boxes and votes and hold them for three days before returning them to the commisioners of election to be counted, and to these commissioners it gave the power to hold the boxes and ballots for ten days before declaring the result. In a report made by Judge Poland, a prominent and able Kepublican of Vermont, as chairman on the part of the House, of a Congressional committee appointed in March 1871, to investigate the condition of the late Confederate states, is found this comment on the election laws of South Carolina. '' The election law of the state is one which could not be better calculated to produce frauds by affording the facilities to commit and conceal them, and tempted by these facilities we cannot doubt that in many instances they were cuaimittcd." On March 16th, 1869^ the Governor approved "An Act to Organize and Govern the Militia of the State of South Carolina," which made provision for the organization of the militia into regiments, battalions, etc , as the Governor might deem expedient. It then provided that there should be no military organizations or formations for the purpose of arm- ing, drilling, exercising the manual of arms, or military manoeuvres not authorized by the act and by the Commander- in-Chief, and subjected any citizen violating this act to pun- ishment in the penitentiary, at hard labor, for not less than one nor more than three years. Under this act the Governor refused to receive any but colored companies. The penalties for exercising the manual of arms were intended to, and did, prohibit any but those whom he authorized from enjoying this privilege. On February 8th, 1869, an act was passed authorizing the Governor to employ an armed force, who were to be mounted and fully equipped ; and on the 16th of the same month he was empowered "to purchase two thousand stand of arms." In 1870 Governor Scott was renominated by the regular Kepublicau convention, and R. B. Carpenter, himself a Re- publican, then regarded as among the ablest and most avail- EECONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 93 able of the new statesmen, was nominated by the ^^ Reform Party," composed of the whites and dissatisfied Repnblicans. Governor Scott, becoming apprehensive as to his reelection, soon made apparent the motives that had prompted the pass- age of the four acts of the General Assembly above specified. Ninety-six thousand colored men were enrolled in military companies throughout the state, the simple enrollment costing the state over $200,000 ; the Governor in this way furnishing employment and compensation to his political "strikers" and ''heelers" at public expense. The Adjutant General, F. J. Moses, Jr., bought one thousand Winchester Rifles for about $38,000, and one million "central fire copper cartridges" at a cost of $37,000. On the order of the Governor the Adju- tant General went to Washington and procured ten thousand Springfield muskets from the general government, thus an- ticipating for years in advance the state's quota of arms. Tliese he had changed to breech loaders, which, with altera- tions in the accoutrements and the purchase above referred to, cost $180,750. Of which Moses, by his own confession, through fraud, was to get $10,000. It was all charged to the state at $250,000. There were only two or three white companies in the state, and they were ordered by Governor Scott to surrender their arms and disband ; and fourteen full regiments of negroes were oro^anized before the election. These were fullv armed and equipped and ammunition issued to them, as upon the eve of battle. When called out on duty they were to be paid under the act, and were, in truth, paid the same compensation as officers and soldiers of the same grade in the Regular Army ; and it was held by the authorities of the state at the time, that when they were attending political meetings in advocacy of Scott's election, they were "on service" within the meaning of the statute. Before a committee of the Legislature, ex-Governor Moses testified as follows with reference to organizing the militia: "The militia was organized and armed for political purposes by the advice and consent of Governor Scott, and I was commissioned by Governor Scott to proceed to Washing- ton and procure all the arms and accoutrements possible from 94 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? the United States Goverumeut, and at the same time purchase ammunition and make the contract referred to. The object was to arm and organize the militia for the campaign in 1870.'^ The "armed force/' or constabulary, was organized and maintained for the same purpose. I quote from two of the reports made by deputies to the chief constable. On June 25th, 1870, J. W. Anderson, deputy constable, says: "We can carry the county (York County) if we get constables enough, by encouraging the militia and frightening the poor white men. I am going into the campaign for Scott." On July 8th, 1870, Joseph Crews, deputy constable for Laurens County, says : " We are going to have a hard cam- paign up here, and we must have more constables. I will carry the election here with the militia if the constables will work with me. I am giving out ammunition all the time. Tell Scott he is all right here now." John B. Hubbard, the chief constable, testified before a legislative committee, in 1877 : "It was understood that by arming the colored militia and keeping some of the most influential officers under pay, that a full vote would be brought out for the Republicans, and the Democracy, or many of the weak-kneed Democrats intimidated. At the time the militia was organized there was but, coinparatively speaking, little lawlessness. The militia, being organized and armed, caused an increase of crime and bloodshed in most of the counties in proportion to their numbers and the number of arms and amount of ammunition furnished them." Again, the chief constable says: "Ostensibly the object of the con- stabulary force was for the preservation of the peace, but in reality it was organized and used for political purposes and ends. Governor Scott would order me to send men to any county where the Republican party most needed encourage- ment and reorganization. The deputies were authorized and instructed to attend all political meetings and report the po- litical condition of the county to me, and I would report the same to the Governor." Of the constables thus employed twenty were elected to the Legislature or to county offices. They were paid by the KECONSTRUCTIOX IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 95 state their mileage and -per diem while they overrode the white people of the state and made sure of the election of Scott and themselves to office. In 1869 of 506 convicts in the State Penitentiary 136 were pardoned, and in 1870, the year of the election, of 575 there were 205 pardoned, so that in one year more than one- third of all the criminals in the penitentiary were turned out by the Gov^ernor to prey again upon the people. Governor Scott spent §374,000 of the funds of the state in his canvass, and by means of this and the convincing powerof armed militia, state constables and pardoned convicts, he beat his opponent over 30,000 votes and was thus enabled to in- flict himself for a second term upon the state. In 1870 the appropriations by the General Assembly had reached a very extravagant sum and Governor Scott vetoed a bill for legislative expenses, in which he uses the following language : " I regard the money already appropriated daring this session, and the sum included in this bill, amounting in the aggregate to $100,000, as simply enormous for one ses- sion. It is beyond the comprehension of any one, how the General Assembly could legitimately expend one-half that amount of money." This was most unusual conduct on the part of the Governor, and so far as I can remember or have learned, is the only occasion in which he was ever seized with a spasm of virtue or exhibited any indignation at the conduct of the Legislature. Neither before nor after this was there ever the slightest adumbration of such a spirit. In 1871 it was discovered that the Financial Board had illegally issued several millions of state bonds, and it was determined by some members of the Legislature that Parker, the treasurer of the state, and Scott the Governor, both of whom were members of this board, should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. When these proceedings were about to be successfully carried through the House of Representatives, Scott became very much alarmed, and in order to save himself from tlie disgrace of being impeached he sent for two of his political associates and issued to them three warrants upon the armed force fund, leaving the amount blank, to be filled in by any sum the holders deemed 96 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? necessary. These three certificates were afterwards filled up so as to aggregate $48,645, and with this amount of money these two associates of the Governor, by bribing members of the Legislature, were enabled to prevent the passage of the resolution of impeachment. During the proceedings it be- came necessary to obtain some rulings from the Speaker of the House, and in order to secure these the member who made the motion on which the rulings were based was paid $500 for his services and to Speaker Moses they paid $15,000. The warrants drawn and signed by the Governor were all made out in the names of fictitious persons and these names were indorsed upon them and the money drawn from the treasury of the state. It was understood, of course, at the time that the names were fictitious and that the money was to be used for the purpose of buying the votes of members of the Legis- lature to prevent the impeachment. The policy of South Carolina for some years before the war had been to give state aid to railroad enterprises, and as a consequence she had become directly and financially inter- ested in several of the principal roads of the state. To rob the state of the most valuable of this property and convert it by " due process of law '^ into their own pockets, Governor Scott, John J. Patterson and others of their asso- ciates, inaugurated some schemes which did not reach their full fruition until Scott's second term. Let me mention two cases. In 1868 the Legislature passed an Act authorizing the issue of $4,000,000 of bonds of the Blue Ridge Railroad Company, then constructed for a distance of about thirty miles, guaranteeing their payment and reserving a lien on the road and its franchises to save the state from loss. At the same session it passed a similar act authorizing the Green- ville and Columbia Railroad to issue $2,000,000 of bonds guaranteed by the state and reserving a statutory lien on the road to save the state harmless. The stock of the Blue Ridge Railroad was owned princi- pally by the state and the city of Charleston, and was con- trolled by the Governor of the state and the Mayor of that city; and shortly after the guarantee by the state of the EECONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 97 $2,000,000 of bonds of the Greenville and Columbia Rail- road its stock was bought up by John J. Patterson (subse- quently United States Senator), Governor Scott and other state and legislative officers. 21,698 shares of this stock were owned by the state which, in 1869, was valued by the controller at |433,960.00. A bill was passed through the Legislature by bribery and the procurement of these officials for the sale of the state stock, which was approved March L, 1870, and the next day with- out advertisement or notice to the public they became the purchasers for §59,669.50, all of .which was paid out of funds of the state by an understanding with and the manipulation of H. H. Kimpton, the financial agent of the state in New York. This stock did not cost the purchasers one cent. After this ring thus became the owners of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad the Legislature released the two roads, the Blue Ridge and the Greenville and Columbia, from all liability on account of the bonds issued under the former acts, and left the state vv ith a debt of $6,000,000 from this source and nothing whatever to show for it. As the years went by and the management of public aflPairs for private gain became the settled and acknowledged policy of the state there grew up three regular combinations amongst the higher officials of the state, designated as the '^ Bond Riuo;" the " Leo^islative Rino;'' and the " Printino^ Ring:.'^ The first of these had its foundation in the following legisla- tion : Not long after Governor Scott entered upon his first term as Governor the Legislature provided for the creation of a Financial Board, and for the appointment of a Financial Agent in New York. The agent appointed w^as one H. H. Kimpton. Pie had no reputation warranting his selection for such a responsible trust ; he gave no security and there appears to have been no contract made with him as to the amount of his compensation. He was entrusted during about two years' operations with §2,700,000 of state bonds and the interest and other charges, not including his commissions, amounted in one year to §94,777.42, or $7,914.78 per month, which made the funds advanced to the state cost about seven- teen per cent, per annum over and above his commissions. 7 98 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? All the risk and expense of this agency for the first two years of its existence resulted in the sale of $1,000,000 worth of bonds at the moderate figure of seventy cents on the dollar, and the cost of effecting this net result in that time was cer- tainly as much as $159,974.13 and how greatly in excess of that it is impossible to ascertain. In his report of September 30th, 1872, which appears to be the last made by him, we find that he sold in September of that year $4,214,500 of South Carolina bonds for $1,238,344 and that on the balance of $1,627,075.63 in his hands October 1st, 1871, his interest and commission charges for one year amounted to $382,- 936.68. It is impossible to ascertain or state fully the management or manipulation of the finances of the state through the agency of this man Kimpton. Before a Legislative com- mittee he acknowledged "the incorrectness of his accounts, and admitted that he was directed by the financial board not to make real but fictitious entries; so frightfully large were the expenses of the transactions of the agency, in negotiations of loans, etc., the board thought it best to keep the true amounts in disguise.'' Mr. Pike in his " Prostrate State," speaking of the state finances in 1873 says: " But, as the treasury of South Caro- lina has been so thoroughly gutted by the thieves who have hitherto had possession of the state government, there is nothing left to steal. The note of any negro in the state is worth as much on the market as a South Carolina bond. It would puzzle even a Yankee carpet- bagger to make anything out of the office of State Treasurer under the circumstances." During the six years from 1868 to 1874 that Scott was the governor of the state, F. J. Moses, Jr., was the speaker of the House of Representatives. His chief mode of illegally procuring public funds was by the issue of pay certificates, which under the law the presid- ing officers of the two houses of the General Assembly were authorized to issue for the payment of the salaries of the members and senators and attaches of the two Houses. Out of this power and the constant exercise of it grew up what was familiarly known as the *^ Legislative Ring." EECONSTEUCTION IN SOUTH CAKOLINA. 99 This "Ring" was composed of the presiding officers and clerks of the House and Senate together with the state Treas- urer and some minor officials. These certificates could be issued legally only for the payment of members and attaches of the General Assembly, but soon it became the regular means by which the members of this ring kept even with their associates of the other rings in the general plundering of the state. Eight porters were employed in the State House and certificates issued to 238 : 10 messengers employed and certificates issued to 140 at one session, and 212 at another: 8 laborers and 5 to 10 pages were actually in service while certificates were issued to 159 laborers and 124 pages. Of one lot of 150 certificates nominally given to clerks not one was legal. During one session pay certificates were issued amounting to $1,168,255. All of which, except $200,- 000 was pure and untarnished robbery. Moses admitted under oath that at the request of Jno. J. Patterson, he had issued at one time to the latter who was not a member of the General Assembly, $30,000.00 in certificates upon his paying to him $10,000 in money therefor. If any one of these three chief ^^ rings'' that controlled the public purse and managed the state's affairs in those days was more audacious than its co-operative rings it was the '^ Printing Ring." This like the others was composed chiefly of state officers, the Governor, Attorney-General and others being members. The total cost of printing in South Carolina for the 8 years of Republican domination, 1868 to 1876, was $1,326,589.00. Total for printing for 78 years previous^ 1790 to 1868, was $609,000.00 ; showing an excess for cost of printing in 8 years over 78 years previous of $717,589.00. The average cos^ of the public printing under the Republican administration per year was $165,823.00 ; average cost per annum under former administrations, $7,807.00 ; cost for one 3'ear under Hampton's administration, $6,178,00. Amount appropriated in one year 1872-73 by Republicans for printing $450,000.00 ; Amount appropriated in 25 years ending 1866, $278,251.00 ; Excess of one year's appropria- tion over 25 years, $171,749.00. IQQ WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? It would be easy to present these startling amounts in other litrhts and compare them with appropriations for the same purpose in other states, showing for instance that the cost of printing in South Carolina in one year exceeded by $122,- 932.13 the cost of like work in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland together, but these un- adorned figures speak so powerfully that nothing can be added to their force. Of course all these immense sums did not reach the pockets of the " ring." A large part of them had to be paid to senators and members to smooth the way for their bills through the Legislature. For the passage of one printing bill for $250,000 they paid to members and senators and others, various sums aggre- gating $112,550. During Scott's second administration he maintained his former record by pardoning 247 convicts. In the Autumn of 1871 General Grant, then President of the United States, issued his proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus in nine counties of the state, and sent a large military force into these counties to arrest persons charged with crime. About six hundred citizens of the state were arrested and held in jail for weeks and months ; some of them were tried in the United States courts and convicted, and were sentenced to pay fines ranging from $20 to $1000, and to suffer im- prisonment from one month to five years. Before the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus there had been outbreaks of violence in several counties, the cause of which was fully explained by Judge Carpenter, a ]^rom- inent Republican official of the state, in his testimony given before the Congressional Committee, in 1871. He says in substance that the pardoning of criminals, the election law and other things of a like character were the sole causes of men taking the law into their own hands. There was a great deal of excitement, a o;reat sense of insecurity and a great feeling of indignation. The appointees to office wore not only incompetent, but corrupt. Men were made School Commissioners who could neither read nor write. Salaries EECONSTEUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. IQl were increased, public offices multiplied, while the only busi- ness of the officers seemed to be to prey upon the people. The most peaceable citizens of the state felt that they were without a government to protect them ; that in fact the government was inimical to them ; that it protected and rewarded the criminals while it punished the innocent and law-abiding. Under such circumstances it is not to be wondered at that men would try to do something to protect themselves. Towards the end of Scott's second term the political par- ties made their nominations for state and other offices. The Republicans named as their candidate for governor F. J. Moses, Jr., who had been for the four previous years Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Conservatives and Bolt- ing Republicans supported for the Governorship Reuben Tom- linson, who was thought to be the one Republican most likely to bring about some reform. Both parties criticised severely before the public the practices of Scott's administration, and promised a correction of them. Moses was elected by the usual majority. A Republican writer, in October, 1873, gives this opinion of the past and the existing administration : " The whole of the late administration, which terminated its existence in November, 1872, was a morass of rottenness, and the present administration was born of the corruption of that ; but for the exhaustion of the state, there is no good reason to believe it would steal less than its predecessor." In 1860, the taxable value of propertv in the state was $490,000,000, and the taxes a little less than $400,000 In 1871, the taxable value had been reduced to $184,000,000, and the taxes increased to $2,000,000. Thus while the property of the state, between 1860 and 1871, had been re- duced to a little over one-third of its former amount, the taxes, in the same period, had been increased five hundred per cent. In 1874, the last year of Moses' administration, the property of the state was assessed for taxation, and the assessmentfell from pO,000,000 to $40,000,000 below the aggregate of the previous assessment In 1874, 2900 pieces of real estate in Charleston county alone were forfeited for taxes. In 19 counties taken together, 93,293 acres of land 102 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? were sold in the same year for unpaid taxes, and 343,971 acres were forfeited to the state for the same reason. By the beginning of the term of F. J. Moses, Jr., and after four years of Republican rule, the debt of the state had increased from $5,407,306 to $18,515,033, including past due and un- paid interest for three years. During three years no public works of any importance were begun or finished. The entire increase of $13,000,000 of debt represented nothing but un- necessary and profligate expenditures and stealing. The intelligent property owners of the state, having practi- cally no influence on legislation, realizing the dreadful condi- tion to which they were being reduced, and knowing that no redress could be had through any branch of the state govern- ment, organized in 1871, what was known as the Tax-payers' Convention. This body, as a whole, was thoroughly represent- ative of the virtue, intelligence and property of tlie state. They discussed fully the condition of public affairs and issued an address to the public, in which they set forth the status of the public debt, the financial condition of the state, etc., and hoped in this way to bring to bear the honest sentiment of the country in favor of a change, and thus stay, in a measure, the hand by which they were being ruined. Their effort produced no appreciable results. In 1874 another convention was held, in which again the dreadful state of affairs was plainly and fully made known, and an appeal issued to the country. In addition, a large committee was appointed to proceed to Washington to lay before the President a full statement of the condition of our affairs, and to make known to him the position to Avhich we had been reduced, and to invoke his aid toward providing some relief. With some difficulty, a meagre sum was raised from the impoverished people to meet the expenses of this committee, but before they could reach the National Capital the state officials drew ^2,500 of the money of these same tax-payers from the treasury, and sent several of their number to see the President and arrange that no heed should be given to the committee of citizens. So completely successful was their mission that when the committee of tax-payers arrived, EECONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH CAEOLINA. 103 the mind of the President was completely closed to their appeal and they were not even heard with patience. Thus again the eiForts of the tax-payers proved utterly futile. Upon the Legislature that was elected in 1872, devolved the duty of choosing a United States Senator. There were three candidates, namely: R. B. Elliot, who based his claims on the fact that he was the leading negro politician of the state; R. K. Scott, who had just retired from the Governor- ship and claimed this further honor on account of his services to his party, and John J. Patterson, who relied solely on his money. With such arguments and such a constituency, the result was never in any doubt. Before a committee of the Legisla- ture, sixty witnesses from every part of the state testified under oath that Patterson had bribed members of the Leo-is- lature to vote for him. Most of these witnesses were either members, who had themselves taken the money, or friends of members who were present when this contract yvas made or the cash paid, or the agents and workers of Patterson, who had been personally engaged in contracting for and settling for the votes. Votes, in that election ranged from $25 to $2,000. This last sum, of which one half was paid, having been offered in the Senate Chamber while the election was in progress be- tween the first and second ballots, to the Senator who had nominated Scott and who says '^ that with some hesitation he voted for Patterson." Two remarks of Patterson which are on record and pre- served, tell the story of this whole transaction in very suc- cinct form. Early in the canvass he stated to a member of the House, that $75,000 if necessary, would be spent in securing his election, and at the end he declared that " the d — d election had cost him more than it was worth." Charges of bribery were made against Patterson, and he became so much alarmed at the prospects of a prosecution that he appealed to Governor Moses, and the latter removed the jury commissioner of the county and had a friend of Patterson's appointed for the pur- 104 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? pose of having jury lists made up to secure the new Senators' safety, and it was done accordingly. Patterson occupied a seat in the United States Senate for six years, but he repre- sented nothing whatever, in South Carolina. He represented simply his own pocket-hook. During Moses' administration the pardoning of criminals became a simple matter of bargain and sale. Any convict who had strong friends or a long purse, was in no danger of having to serve out a sentence in the Penitentiary. So com- mon and notorious did the pardoning of criminals become, that judges announced from the bench, their unwillingness to put the people to the expense and trouble of convicting crim- inals for the Governor to pardon. During his term of two years he issued 457 pardons. On October 31, 1874, there re- mained in the penitentiary only 168 convicts, and Moses par- doned 46 during the month of November following, which was the last month of his service as Governor. In May, 1875, Governor Chamberlain declared in an in- terview with a correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, that when, at the end of Moses' administration, he entered on his duties as Governor, two hundred trial justices were hold- ing office by executive appointment, who could neither read nor write the English language. The jurisdiction of these officers in civil matters extended to actions on contract, for penalties and forfeitures, for in- juries to person and property, and generally to all cases where the sum claimed did not exceed one hundred dollars. Their criminal jurisdiction embraced practically all offences where the penalty of fine or forfeiture did not exceed one hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the jail not exceeding thirty days. They had power to examine into treason, felonies, grand larcenies, high crimes and misdemeanors, and to bind over or commit those appearing to be guilty of these offences. Every Trial Justice was empowered to admit to bail all persons except those charged with an offence, the punishment of which was death, and in the latter case, he could discharge the prisoner if it clearly appeared that the charge was not founded in probability. RECONSTKUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 105 Any two Trial Justices could grant the Writ of Habeas Cor- pus as fully and effectually as the highest Judges in the state. In December, 1873, the General Assembly passed an act to reduce the public debt and provide for its j^ayment. This act recognized as valid of the principal and interest of the debt, §11,480,033.91, and provided for the issue of new bonds of the state for fifty per cent, of the value of this, and repudiated outright $5,965,000.00 of bonds known as con- version bonds. As the term of Governor Moses was coming; to a close the nominations for state officers were made. The regular Re- publicans nominated D. H. Chamberlain, for the governorship, who had been the Attorney-General during: Scott's admin- istration; and the bolting Republicans placed against him John T. Green, a native, a Republican and a Circuit Judge, and again the Democrats or Conservatives joined them and supported their candidate. The administration of state affairs under Moses had become so intolerably rotten and corrupt that the reputable and honest people of the state were outraged beyond all expression, and even the more cautious participants in the schemes of plunder were frightened into a manifestation of opposition to such a course. The election showed over 1:2,000 more votes than had been cast at any time since 1868, and the majority of the regular Republican ticket was reduced to about one-third of the usual number. Governor Chamberlain, quite in contrast with his prede- cessors, talked reform after his election as well as before it. In his inaugural address he exposed unmercifully the ex- travagance of expenditures under the former administrations and insisted that there must be a change. He pointed out among other extravagances that the expenses of the Legisla- ture for six years for mileage, pay of members and employees, etc., had been $2,147,430.97 and for executive contingent expenses $376,832.74. Some portions of the negro militia organized and armed by Governor Scott were still in existence and in January 1875 a serious affray occurred in Edgefield county between men of different races. The usual course before that in all such cases IQQ WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? had been for the Governor to work up these troubles into insur- rections and have some negroes killed and then appeal to the President for troops to suppress them. Governor Chamberlain took the wiser course of simply issuing his proclamation directing the militia and other military organizations to dis- arm and cease all military exercises. This was done and the trouble was allayed at once. It was the first instance since 1868 in which a reasonable and just policy had been adopted toward the white people of the state in such cases, and their astonishment and delight at receiving some kind consideration at the hands of their own state gov^ernment was too marked to escape notice. The result fully justified the wisdom of the Governor's course. During the first sitting of the Legislature of 1874-75, the Governor had a long and severe contest with the baser elements of his own party. They endeavored to have the State Treasurer, who was a strong friend of the Governor, removed from office, but this was defeated by a combination between the Democrats and some of the Republi- can friends of the Gov^ernor. He vetoed during this session nineteen bills chiefly on the grounds of extravagance and profligacy, and in every one he was sustained by the same combination of political elements. In the face of great and unrelenting opposition in his own party Governor Chamberlain, by the aid of the Democrats and some of his political allies in the Legislature, had been able to accomplish some marked and wholesome reforms in public expenditures, and for this he had won the warm praise of a number of the leading papers and many of the promi- nent conservative citizens of the State. His course had done much to allay race antagonism, had created a greater sense of security in the public mind and given the people some ground for the hope of better days in the future. These feelings were, however, entirely dissipated by one act of the Legislature of 1875, which set at defiance all the efforts at genuine reform in the state, and left no ground for any reasonable man to base a belief on that public affairs would ever permanently improve under the control of the party then in power. Eight judges were to be chosen that session. It was well EECONSTKUCTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 107 known that the Governor had expressed himself as beino- greatly interested in having selected men of ability and es- pecially of personal integrity. While he was temporarily absent the conspirators went into an election and chose for two of the most important posts in the state, F. J. Moses, Jr. and W. J. Whipper. Mr. Allen, the author of " Chamberlain's Administration in South Carolina, '^ characterizes this action as " an oifence against public honor and safety on the part of the legislative body more flagrant than any other which stained the era of recon- struction in South Carolina, and perhaps the most alarming legislative action in any Southern state.^' On his return to Columbia and learning what had been accomplished by the Republicans of the General Assembly, the Governor declared, in a published interview, "■ This calamity is infinitely greater, in my judgment, than any which has yet fallen on this state, or, I might add, upon any part of the South." A few days subsequent to this Governor Chamberlain in declining an invitation to the banquet of a New England Society said : " I cannot attend 3'our supper to-night ; but if there ever was an hour when the spirit of the Puritans, the spirit of undying, unconquerable enmity and defiance to wrong ought to animate their sons, it is this hour, here, in South Carolina. The civilization of the Puritan and the Cavalier, of the Roundhead and the Huguenot is in peril. Courage, determination, union, victory, must be our watchwords. The grim Puritans never quailed under threat or blow. Let their sons now imitate their example ! " The election of these men to two of the most important judicial positions in the state, in spite of all opposition, both inside and outside of the party in power, sent a thrill of horror through the entire commonwealth and aroused the people to an extent unprecedented for years. Large meetings were held in nearly every county in the state, in which the firm determination was expressed that these men should never be permitted to enter as judges into the courts of justice. Fortunately the use of any forcible means was obviated by the refusal of the Governor to commission 108 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? either Moses or Whipper upon leo^al grounds, which were afterwards, iu another case, approved by the Supreme Court of the state. Whipper threatened to take his office by force, but was deterred from such a course by the prompt action of the Governor in issuing a proclamation, in which he dechired that he would arrest him and every one aiding and abetting him as rioters and disturbers of the peace. Governor Chamberlain, in a letter to President Grant, again characterizes these men chosen by his party as judges as follows: ''Unless the entirely universal opinion of all who are familiar with his career is mistaken, he (Moses) is as infamous a character as ever in any age disgraced and pros- tituted public position. The character of W. J. Whij)per, according to my belief and the belief of all good men in the state, so far as I am informed, differs from that of Moses only in the extent to which opportunity has allowed him to ex- hibit it. The election of these two men to judicial offices sends a thrill of horror through the state. It compels men of all parties who respect decency, virtue or civilization to utter their loudest protests against the outrage of their election.'^ The election to such places of these two men, not only wholly incompetent, but well known to be flagrantly dis- honest and corrupt was the beginning of a change in the state. At nearly every one of the mass meetings held in the different counties to protest against this action of the General Assembly, resolutions were adopted by the people, declaring that all hope of securing even a tolerable government under the dominant party had been dissipated and that the sole prospect of reform in public affairs lay in the reorganization of the Democratic party and its induction into power. Governor Chamberlain quickly apprehended that this would be the result. In his first utterance for the public, after the Moses-Whipper affair, he said : " I look upon their election as a horrible disaster — a disaster equally great to the state and to the Republican party. The gravest consequences of all kinds will follow. One immediate effect will obvi-. ously be the reorganization of the Democratic party within RECONSTRUCTION IX SOUTH CAROLINA. 109 the state as the only means left, in the judgment of its mem- bers, for opposing a solid and reliable front to this terrible crevasse of misgov^ernment and public debauchery. I could have wished, as a Republican, to hav^e kept off such an issue." He rightly appreciated the situation. The negroes seemed to be elated by this defiance of decency upon the part of their chosen Representatives in the Legislature, and the whites were thoroughly aroused to a sense of the danger that con- fronted them. The negro militia in some portions of the state became greatly interested in parading and drilling, and the whites seeing this thought that it was prudent to be ready to take care of themselves and their families. As a result of this condition of things there were several bloody encounters between the blacks and whites, in which a number of persons were killed and wounded. These troubles, of course, did not conduce to a kindly . feeling between the two races, and the sentiment that the intelligent tax-payers of the state must control public affairs or be ruined and driven from their homes continually grew and increased among the people. For a time there was great difference of opinion among the leading men of the state as to whether it was wisest to try again the plan of compromising on a ticket with the opposi- tion, or make a straightout Democratic nomination. The latter was finally decided upon. The other course had been tried for eight years and no appreciable benefit had been de- rived from it. And while the efforts of Governor Chamber- lain in behalf of economy and decency had resulted in some temporary good, it had been made manifest that he was unable to control his own party. In 1868 we had nominated for Governor an honorable and able citizen of the state; in 1870 we had joined in nomina- ting an able carpet-bagger, whom the Republicans had before that placed on the bench ; in 1872 we had, in conjunction with some Republicans, supported another carpet-bag Repub- can official who had some claims to honesty; and in 1874 we had again given our votes and influence to a native Republi- can of fair ability and character who had been named for Governor by the dissatisfied Republicans. 110 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? In all of these several instances we had also nominated and supported tickets for the Legislature and county ollices made up partly of blacks and partly of whites. We had held con- ventions of the tax payers and ap})ealed to the country, and had sent a delegation to the Capital of the Nation for the ])urpose of acquainting the President of the United States with the true condition of the state, and had protested in every possible way against such inhuman tyranny. All these efforts had proven to be worse than worthless, and it had become manifest that the real question that confronted the people of the state was one of race su- premacy. The Republicans renominated Governor Chamberlain and the Democrats put in the field a full ticket of white men, with General Wade Hampton at the head of it. The campaign that followed was the most exciting ever known in the state, and resulted in the election of the Democratic ticket. With the installation of these officers and the meeting of the General Assembly began the first honest and economical administration that the state had known since the beginning of reconstruction, and from that time to the present the affairs of the state have been managed with a regard for the people's welfare. The public schools and the institutions for higher education have been cared for and su])ported. The interest on the public debt has been paid, and instead of selling six per cent, bonds of the state at twenty-five or thirty cents on the dollar, the four-and-a-half per cent, bonds of the state are now bringing more than par. Instead of salaries costing $230,800, as in 1872, they were reduced to §106,200 in 1876. In place of paying $712,200 for legislative expenses, as hi 1871, this item was reduced to $42,000 in 1880. The public printing, which cost $450,000 in 1872, was reduced to $6,900 in 1878. The state, counties, towns and school districts have now no floating debt and all obligations are paid as they ma- ture. Instead of profligacy we have honesty ; instead of extravagance, economy ; instead of uneasiness, we have con- ' tentment, and instead of rioting, peace. The resources of the state are being greatly developed ; the EECONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH CAKOLINA. m manufacturing enterprises are multiplying wonderfully and the people are looking to the future for still greater develop- ment of its industries and resources. All we ask is to be let alone, and that, surely, is not so great a request that it cannot or ought not be granted. Jno. J. Hemphill. CHAPTER Y. RECONSTRUCTION IN GEORGIA. " A military Kepublic, a Government founded on mock elections and supported only by the sword, is a movement indeed, but a retrograde and disastrous movement from the regular and old-fashiohed monarchical systems." "Absurd, preposterous is it, a scoff and a satire on free forms of consti- tutional liberty for frames of government to be prescribed by military leaders, and the right of suffrage to be exercised at the point of the sword." Daniel Webster. THE Confederacy of Southern states had perished. Its great commanders had in succession surrendered their swords, and their ragged and hungry soldiers, weary of strife, had returned to their desolated iiomes. Mr. Davis was a captive, and the members of his cabinet were cither prisoners or exiles. There was sincere and universal submission to the authority of the United States. The invading armies could not find a single armed enemy from Maryland to the Mexican border. Soon after the crops of that disastrous year had been planted, masters called up their slaves and informed them that they w^ere free. The plow stood still, and the freedmen went to town. All the agencies of conjmerce were either destroyed or suspended. The private debts of a prosperous era had survived the means of payment. Of money there was none. The banks were broken and the treasuries of the towns, cities, counties and state were empty. Notes and bills of the state had become uncurrent, and the treasury notes and bank bills of the United States had not yet flowed into the country. There was cotton, now becoming valuable, stored away against the evil day, but array officers and treasury agents were hunt- ing this last resource of a ruined people with unrelenting rapacity. The railroads were wrecked, and had no means 112 EECONSTRUCTION IN GEORGIA. II3 with which to replace their tracks and rolling stock. Cities and great tracts of country were in ashes. Colleges and schools were silent, the teachers without pupils and the chil- dren without teachers. Even the great charities and asylums of the State, at this time when they were most needed, were unable to take care of lunatics, the deaf and blind. From Tennessee to Savannah, a region twenty miles wide, had been ravaged, and even the seed corn, implements of husbandry and farm animals, had been destroyed or removed by the army of General Sherman. The means of social enjoyment were wanting, and thousands lacked even the means of sub- sistence. And over this scene of confusion and wretchedness hung like a pall, the apprehension of pains and penalties, of pro- scription and humiliation. There has not been such an opportunity for statesmanship since the War of the Revolution. The white population of the state in 1860 was 591,550, and yetthe state had furnished to the Confederate armies 120,000 soldiers. (See address by the historian and scholar, Colonel C. C. Jones, Jr., LL. D., made at Augusta, April 25, 1889.) Such unanimity and devotion were without a parallel in history. To support the cause of independence, the fortunes and lives of the entire people had been pledged. It is ob- vious that persecution would only endear that cause to all Georgians. On the other hand, magnanimous treatment would have vindicated those who had deprecated secession, and would have discredited the wisdom of those who had advocated that measure. The Congress of the United States had, in July, 1861, re solved, that 'Hhis war is not waged on our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those [Southern] states, but to de- fend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality and rights of the several states unimpaired, and that so soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought to ccase.'^ The author of this resolution was Andrew Johnson, then a 8 114 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Senator from the State of Tennessee, and, by the assassination of Mr. liincoln, he was now the President of the United States. If he and his party had stood by the policy an- nounced by Congress in 1861, there would have been very few in Georgia, in 1865, to defend the policy of secession. The Governor was arrested by soldiers and lodged in prison. Fetters were riveted upon Mr. Davis, and he was kept in close custody for two years without bail and without a trial. Garrisons of United States troops, often colored soldiers, invaded every county and took charge of every court- house. The Freedmen^s Bureau interposed between the farmers and their late slaves, and inaugurated distrust and estrange- ment where there should have been kindness and sympathy. Martial law and military tribunals displaced the old system of justice and the ancient jurisprudence. Justice was sold, and a recovery was a military capture. The writer saw a trial of a case of trover between two citizens before an Ohio lieu- tenant in uniform, without a jury. There was complete strangulation of the state, and the only security for life or property was the military power, or the strong hand. And in these conditions can be found the germs of the hostility which ensued between the races, and of the alienation which finally made the South solid against the Republican party. On the 29th of May, 1865, was published the President's proclamation of amnesty, from which were excepted fourteen classes. These excepted classes included persons of experience and influence, all of whom would have gladly co-operated in the work of restoration, and also those " the estimated value of whose taxable property was over twenty thousand dollars." The proclamation was in eifect an executive decree of wholesale outlawry, and strange, as it may ap])ear to lawyer and layman, informations were soon afterwards filed in the United States Court by the District Attorney, praying confis- cation of the property of the proscribed classes. And these disgraceful proceedings, wholly unwarranted by law, resulted at last in a harvest of costs exacted as a condition of settle- ment from people who were unable to bear the burden. This abuse of judicial process, previously unknown in the South, soon became familiar as a means of extortion, and has not RECONSTRUCTION IN GEORGIA. 115 yet been fully eradicated in cases in which the Government is a party. Examples are not lacking to reinforce this state- ment. On the 17th of June in the same year, the President issued a proclamation by which James Johnson was appointed pro- visional Governor of the state, whose duty it should be at the earliest practicable period to prescril)e such rules and regula- tions as might be necessary and proper for convening a con- vention composed of delegates to be chosen by that portion of the people of the state who were loyal to the United States ; and the proclamation further provided that no person should be qualified as an elector, or should be eligible as a member of such convention unless he had been amnestied and was a voter qualified as prescribed by the constitution and laws in force prior to the 9th of January, 1861, the date of the at- tempted secession of the state. And the proclamation further directed the military and nav^al officers and forces in the De- partment of Georgia to aid and assist the provisional Gover- nor ; and the State, the Treasury, the Interior and Post-office Departments were directed to see that the laws of their re- spective departments were put in operation in the state, and the District Judge for the District of Georgia was instructed to hold his courts. The Attorney-General was directed to instruct the proper officers to libel and bring to judgment, confiscation and sale, property subject to confiscation. And the President further directed that if suitable residents could not be found for the Federal appointments in the state, then the several departments should make the appointment from other states. The citizens of the state being disfranchised as to Federal offices by the test oath, this proclamation was the first invitation to the carpet-baggers. They became very im- portant factors in the subsequent history of the state. This scheme of the President was a great departure from the plan of restoration which he had himself embodied in the resolutions of Congress before cited. But the provisional Governor entered upon his duties with the earnest co-opera- tion of the people, because an opportunity seemed to have arrived for the substitution of civil govei^nment for military despotism. To the convention, which was soon after called, 116 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? there were chosen delegates of known conservatism and ia many cases men w^io were originally o})posed to secession. The ordinance of secession was formally repealed or rescinded, and a constitution was framed and adopted, abolishing slavery and conforming the state in all respects to the new conditions. Under pressure from Washington, by the President and members of Congress, an ordinance w^as adopted by the con- vention for the repudiation of bonds, treasury notes and other obligations issued by the state during the period of the war. These securities had been sought by guardians and trustees for the investment of funds in their hands, and all prudent citizens hoarded them with care. The act of the convention, by which they were declared null, brought ruin on many widows and orphans, and reduced to penury man}' citizens too old to start life over again. The Congress then in office was engaged in the considera- tion of a proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States so as to nullify these state obligations, and it was finally embodied in the Fourteenth Amendment, And these incidents first prepared the public mind to determine the legality of obligations of the state having the apparent sanc- tion of law. The precedent was afterward followed with good reason, when the people recovered their liberties in 1871. The General Assembly chosen by the people, as the Con- stitution provided, soon afterward met at Milledgeville, in the old capitol, and Charles J. Jenkins, a man of exalted char- acter, an old Whig, was inaugurated as Governor. The Legislature laid the necessary taxes, made the appropriations required for the support of the Government, provided funds by loans for the immediate ^vants of the state, ratified the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, invested the negroes with all the civil rights of white j)ersons, except the right to vote and hold office, and, in fact, with all the privileges and guarantees enjoyed by them in many of the Northern States. Under these new laws, the white people of the state were allowed no greater superiority over negroes than the white citizens of the District of Columbia had over the colored population under the laws of Congress. KECONSTRUCTION IN GEORGIA. 117 Alexander H. Stephens and Herschel V. Johnson, both of whom had been ardent Union men, Mr. Johnson having been a candidate for the Vice-Presidency on the ticket with Mr. Douglass, and Mr. Stephens a zealous and able champion of that ticket, and both of whom had^ in the convention of 1861, eloquently resisted secession, were chosen as Senators to the United States. It should also be noted that this General Assembly refused to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, chiefly because it imposed political disabil- ities upon the leading men of the state, for no other reason than that they had served the people in the various positions to which they had been elected or appointed. In March, 1866, Congress passed a concurrent resolution that no Senator or Representative should be admitted into either branch of Congress from any of the eleven states which had been declared to be in insurrection, until Congress should declare such states entitled to representation. Mr. Stephens and Mr. Johnson were repulsed from the Senate, and the gentlemen who had been elected to the House were scarcely able to present their credentials. Thus ignominiously failed the policy of restoration which the President had formulated and which seemed to coincide with the plan of Mr. Lincoln, and thenceforth the old Union party in Georgia almost disappeared. This flouting of the President and the revengeful temper of Congress, as shown in the debates of that period, against the white people of the South, dispelled all delusions, and all differences in that section practically ceased. Leaving out the memory of long years of common suff'erings and misfortunes, they had the same apprehensions of approach- ing oppression. Their only enemies in Congress belonged to the Republican party, and they were bitter and vindictive; their only friends in power were Democrats. Their situation united them with each other, and with the Democratic party. A.11 the measures of the Republican party from this time forth, touching Southern affairs, treated the Southern states, not as states in the Union upon the theory of the Constitution on which the war had been fought^ but as conquered provinces. ;ilg WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? On the 16th of July, 1866, Congress passed an act extend- ino- the provisions of the act estabhshiug the bureau for the reHef of freedmen, and enacting that the Commissioner should, under the direction of the President, appoint such agents, clerks and assistants as might be required for the proper con- duct of the bureau. No limit was tixed for the number of these agents, and they were to be so far deemed in the mili- tary service of the United States as to be under military juris- diction, and entitled to the military protection of the govern- ment. And the act further provided that the President should through the Commissioner and the officers of the bu- reau and under such rules and regulations of the President, through the Secretary of War should prescribe, extend mili- tary protection and have military jurisdiction over all cases and questions concerning the free enjoyment of the personal immunities and rights conferred by the act, until the state should be duly represented in the Congress of the United States. Thus every bureab agent was a coiu't with military jurisdiction. Such a court was established in every county in the state. These special tribunals were officered by persons who could take the test oath, and became the nurseries from which aliens and strangers disseminated among the negroes hate and rancor towards the white citizens. And Congress on the 13th of the same month appropriated $6,887,700 for the fiscal year beginning with the iirst day of the month for the support of the bureau, for salaries, clothing for distribu- tion, for commissary stores, medical department, transportation, schoolteachers, repairs and rents of school-houses and asylums. Power limited by none of the safeguards to which freemen had been accustomed, the creation of an army of officers and employees whose number and functions were prescribed not by Congress, but by the executive branch, and a prodigal ap- propriation of money to be distributed by these officers without any defined accountability, were the prerogatives conferred on this extraordinary institution. And the administration of the system inevitably provoked irritation between the races, tempted the agents to foment the discords by which their continuance in office could be secured, and attracted the freed- men from the farms to the towns. In the towns the bureau KECONSTRUCTION IN GEOEGIA. II9 located the schools and dispensed provisions, and mendicancy and prejudice, and heard complaints. In 1867, the acts known as the reconstruction acts of Con- gress were passed over the President's veto. These acts sub- ordinated all government existing in the state to a military commander, conferring on him the authority to administer all the powers of the state, authorizing him to appoint and remove Avhom he pleased, and life and liberty were subject to such military commissions or tribunals as he might create. The courts of the state could sit, but only by permission of the general in command. Those who had been members of any state Legislature, or held any executive or judicial office in any state and afterwards engaged in the war against the United States, were disfranchised, and the other male persons in the state, without regard to color or previous condition, should be registered as voters by the officers of military crea- tion, and these registered persons might vote at the election held under military supervision for or against a convention and for delegates to form a new constitution for the state if a majority should be cast for a convention. Congress by dis- franchising and enfranchising whom it pleased, fixed the basis of suffrage in the state. And one of these acts, (that of July 19th,) enacted that no district commander, or member of the board of registration, or any of the officers or appointees acting under them, should be bound by any opinion of any civil officer of the United States. By the operation of these acts, Georgia was reduced to a mere military district, in which the will of the commanding general was supreme, with no right of appeal from his orders to any court, or to any civil officer of the state or of the general government. The details of these acts have already been sufficiently stated in a previous chapter ; and the study of them can afford no pleasure to any American citizen. The registration took place substantially as Congress pre- scribed, and by General Pope's order, the election was held on the 29th, 30th and 31st of October, and on the 1st and 2nd of November, 1867, the polls being kept open for five days under the management of army officers, and with troops con- venient to every voting place. By a general order from the 120 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? headquarters of the district, the conventiou was declared to have beeu carried, and the delegates of the Republican i^arty were declared elected. The delegates were ordered to meet in convention, not at Milledgeville, the capital of the state, but at Atlanta, on the 9th day of December, and proceed to frame a constitution and civil government for the state. When the convention met, Foster Blodgett, afterwards a fugitive from the state, was elected temporary chairman, and on taking the chair, among other things said : ^' To-day the Republic is free! This convention is a splendid exemplifica- tion of the fact. Gentlemen, I tender you my congratula- tions. The whole civilized world greet you to-day, assembled as the representatives of the people of the free state of Georgia !'' And the permanent president, on assuming the chair, said tlrnt " it will gladden every patriotic heart to know that liberty still lives in our grand old Commonwealth.'^ These fine sentiments were uttered not far from General Pope's headquarters, and the first resolution adopted after the organization, informed him that, ^' in obedience to his orders this convention is now assembled and organized, and invites his presence in the convention at his pleasure.^^ And a few days afterwards he was met at the door of the hall by a committee and escorted in uniform and with a ^clanking sword, amid applause, to the right of the President. Speeches were made on this occasion, but the manliest was made by General Pope. Soon after the convention met, the delegates realized that no fund had been provided to pay for their patriotic services, and an ordiance was passed to levy and collect a tax for that purpose ; but as the slow process of taxation could not relieve immediate wants, the ordinance further directed the treasurer of the state to advance to the convention out of the treasury $40,000. The treasurer refused to honor this requisition, in the absence of an execu- tive warrant. General Pope having been removed by the president from the command of the district, his successor, General Meade, early in January 1868, required Governor Jenkins to issue a warrant for the sum demanded by the convention. The Governor refused to comply, on the ground that the constitution of the state, which he had sworn to sup- RECONSTEUCTION IN GEORGIA. 121 port, expressly provided that no money should be taken from the treasury, except by executive warrant upon appropria- tions made by law. The new commander thereupon issued an order deposing the Governor, State Treasurer and Con- troller General, and appointed army officers to execute their functions. The gubernatorial appointee of General Meade, on presenting himself to assume the government of the state, read in answer to a question, an extract from his instructions directing him in case of resistance, to employ such force as might be necessary. Governor Jenkins in his account of the affair said that, as far as was practicable in the brief interval allowed him, he placed the moveable values of the state and certainly the money then in the treasury beyond reach, but these military men took actual [)ossession of the State Capitol and its grounds, of the executive mansion and its furniture and of the archives of the State, proceeded to collect taxes, seized upon the income of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, then in good order and successful operation, and secured all the revenues of the State subsequently flowing into the Treasury. Governor Jenkins, as soon as action was taken under the reconstruction acts, had repaired to Washington and filed a bill in the Supreme Court in the name of the state, against General Pope and others, seeking to enjoin any proceedings under these acts, as infringements of the Con- stitution of the United States. Permission was given to file the bill, (and only a state in the Union could file such a bill in that court), but it was dismissed after argument, on the ground that it alleged neither interference nor the threat of interference with the property of the state, which allegation, the court held was necessary to make a case for their consideration. When the subsequent seizure of the great offices of the state and of all its accessible property oc- curred, Governor Jenkins, deeming himself still the rightful Governor of the State, again went before the Supreme Court alleging these facts, and permission was given to file the bill ; but the permission was revoked the next day, and a new rule of practice devised and enforced, which compelled delays, and finally the learned counsel for the state, Mr. O'Connor, Mr. 222 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Black Mr. Field and others, were told that there did not re- main of the term, time enough to hear and determine a motion for injunction. Before the commencement of the next term, the Atlanta Convention had done its work. (See the report made by Governor Jenkins in 1872, House Journal, p. 405.) On the 11th of March, the convention adopted an ordi- nance providing that should it be necessary for the convention after its adjournment to reassemble it should do so at the call of its president pro tempore, or in default of both, by the general commanding the Third Military District, and or- dained that an election should be held beginning the 20th of April following, at such places as might be designated by the commanding general, for voting on the ratification of the new Constitution, and for the election of Governor, members of the General Assembly, Representatives in Congress and other officers, said election to be kept open from day to day at the discretion of the commanding general, and the qualifications of voters were to be the same as those prescribed by the act of Congress, known as the Sherman Bill, and General Meade was requested to give the necessary orders, and cause due re- turns to be made and certificates of election to issue. The militarv commander published general orders on the 14th and 15th of March, assuming entire chaise of the election, providing that it should commence on the 20th of April and continue for four days, prescribing the minutest details and providing that sheriffs and other civil officers failing to per- form with energy and good faith the duties required of them, and citizens charged with violation of the right of suffrage, should be tried and punished by the military authority, and directing that the returns of the election should be made to himself. The Constitution so made and submitted to the people was framed by delegates elected almost entirely by those who had no right to vote according to the laws of the state, the white people having almost universally refused to participate in the election. It proposed the enfranchisement of the colored people, and they were to vote on the proposition, and many of the white ])eople were not allowed this pif vilege. It was a curious plebiscit. EECONSTKUCTION IN GEOKGIA. 123 The Constitution also ordained that no court in the state should have jurisdiction to try or determine any suit against any resident of the state, upon any contract or agreement made or implied, or upon any contract made in renewal of any debt existing prior to the first day of June, 1865, and it provided for each head of a family a homestead and exemption against his debts of the aggregate value of $3,000 in gold. These transparent devices with others of a similar charac- ter, were artfully designed to attract the support of the debtor class, and after the election were annulled because in conflict with the Constitution of the United States. Those who were deceived and disappointed by the scheme, had no further reason in the years that followed, to act with the Re- publican party. In the interval between the convention and the election, the white people in some sections of the state were assured by the advocates of the Constitution that after its ratification negroes would not be eligible to office. The argument was that negroes had no political rights, except such as were con- ferred by law, and that the Constitution was silent on the subject. This view undoubtedly beguiled some persons who for other reasons were inclined to vote for ratification. Congress on the 12th of March, of this year, passed an act providing that a majority of the votes actually cast should determine the election, the previous acts having required a majority of the registered voters. There was no longer any motive for standing aloof, and Democrats as well as Republi- cans nominated candidates for the various offices. This policy of the Democrats possibly brought some of their voters to support the Constitution, who wished their candidates to take charge of the administration. The election was held on the appointed days and General Meade declared that the Constitution was ratified, and that Rufus B. Bullock, the Republican candidate for governor, was eleeted over John B. Gordon. On the 4th of July, the new General Assembly met under orders from Mr. Bullock and General Meade. The Gover- nor-elect relying on a military edict, assumed the chair, and proceeded to organize the two bodies. A Secretary was desig- 124 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? nated by him to call the roll of the Senate, and Senators were requested to present themselves and take the oath of office. A Democratic Senator inquired of the Chairman whether ob- jection to the qualification of any Senator could at this juncture be entertained. The Chairman decided in the negative, and the call of the roll proceeded. After the Senators had taken the oath, the Chairman ordered an election for president. This order having been executed, and the Republican candi- date, Benjamin Conley, having received twenty-three votes, the Chairman declared him duly elected president of the Senate. The journal further recites that the election of a Secretary of the Senate was next " ordered.^^ And after the President had made a speech, the Grovernor-eleot withdrew. This ceremony was then repeated in the House of Bjepresentatlves, mufatlsmnfandis. The Governor- elect put himself in the chair, caused to be called the roll of the members-elect prepared by General Meade and "ordered^' the election of a speaker. During the call of the roll, Mr. Scott moved to adjourn. The Chair decided the motion out of order. Mr. Scott appealed to the House, and the Chairman declared that there could be no ap- peal except to the military. Mr. Scott appealed to the military, receiving no response, and the Secretary proceeded with the call. R. L. McWliorter, Republican, was by the Chairman declared elected, and to him the Governor yielded tlie chair. In reply to a communication from the General Assembly, notifying him through a joint committee that the organization of the two houses had been perfected, the Governor-elect transmitted a letter from General Meade, in which the Com- manding General informed his excellency that he had no in- structions to give, further than to make known that in his judgment neither house was legally organized until it was purged of members ineligible under the reconstruction acts. Committees were then appointed in each House, charged with the duty of reporting upon the eligibility of members, and upon their reports, each House resolved that all its members were eligible. General Meade in his report, states that the provisional Governor in communicating to him this action of the House, nevertheless, "expressed his opinion, founded on evidence RECONSTEUCTIOX IN GEORGIA. 125 presented to him, that several members of both Houses were ineligible and called on me to exercise my power and require said members to vacate their seats. Ou reflecting upon this subject, I could not see how I was to take the individual judg- ment of the provisional governor in thefaceof asolemnactof a parliamentary body, especially as from the testimony presented, I did not in several cases agree with the judgment of the provis- ional governor. . . . My judgment was decidedly that I had fulfilled my duty in compelling the houses to take the action they had and that having thus acted, I had neither the authority nor was it politic or expedient, to over-rule their action and set up my judgment in opposition. ... I allude thus in extenso to this subject because his excellency, the Governor of Georgia, in a public speech recently delivered at Albion, N. Y., is pleased to attribute the failure of Georgia to be properly reconstructed, to my action in failing to purge the Legislature of his political opponents, he having advised me when he urged such action, that his friends had been relieved of their disability by Congress." (For this report see Senate election cases, pp. 291-2.) The provisional governor seems to have been trying in his own way to recast the result of the late election, and to use the blunt soldier for that purpose, as he had already done on many occasions. General Meade, on the 20th of July, advised and instructed the Governor that he had no further opposition to make to the two Houses proceeding with the business for which they were called together, and that he considered them legally organized. The Governor then also informed the General Assembly that they were required by the act of Congress, of June 25th, 1868, to ratify the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution of the United States. A resolution to that efl^ect was at once proposed and adopted. The same communication from the Governor informed the General Assembly that they were required, •' by solemn public act, to declare the assent of the state to that portion of the act of Congress which makes null and void" certain parts of the^new constitution which carried the taint of repudiation and impaired the obligation of contracts. And this last requirement was fulfilled. This little punctilio of Congress is a surprise under the circum- stances. 126 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Mr. Bullock dropped his provisional title, and the state became entitled to representation in Congress, according to the act of June 25th. Joshua Hill and H. V. M. Miller were elected United States Senators. They were not admitteci to their seats until February, 1871. There had sat in the constitutional convention thirty-three negroes, and in the General Assembly now in session about the same number of colored men had seats. They had been, by their Republican associates of the white race, the carpet- baggers and other adventurers, seduced into a state of dis- dainful scorn, of the old proprietors of power in Georgia. Soon after the two Houses had entered upon the regular busi- ness of the session, the question which had been discussed during the interval between the convention and the last elec- tion, as to legal right of the colored ])eople to hold office, again became a topic of great interest, and finally a resolution was introduced in each body declaring them ineligible to seats. After a long discussion, on the third day of September, the House, by a vote of 83 to 23, passed the resolution, and 25 negroes ceased to be members. In the Senate, by a similar resolution, passed on the 12th day of September, two seats were vacated. Not many days after these events, the candidates who received the next highest votes were ad- mitted to the seats. The Governor took occasion to send a message to the House, in which he inveighed against the decision of the General Assembly upon the qualifications of their own members, and his keynote was that after the surrender, ^' we were totally without polit- ical rights and privileges. Those which we have since ac- quired, are such as have from time to time been granted us by Congress." The view of the Supreme Court of the United States was different. That Court held that " the State (Texas) did not cease to be a state, nor her citizens to be citizens of the Union.'' (7 Wal. 701.) The message was returned to the Governor with a resolu- tion to the eifect, that his excellency did not keep their con- sciences. The question of the eligibility of the negro to office in Georgia, came before the Supreme Court of the state in 1869. KECONSTRUCTION IN GEORGIA. 127 That court consisted of three judges, appointed by Bullock, and confirmed by the Senate. Two of them were Republi- cans, and one was a Democrat who had sat upon that bench when the court was first organized. The case was a quo ivarranto brought up from the county of Chatham, by a colored man against whom a judgment of ouster from a county office had been granted by the Superior Court. The lower court was reversed by the two Republican judges, the Democratic judge dissenting. But it is interesting to note that one of the Republican judges, who was the Chief Justice, held that the right of the negro to hold office, so far as it de- pended on the constitution and laws of the state, was subject to repeal by the General Assembly. (39 Gen. Report.) The military administration of the executive and judicial departments of the state may require brief mention. The Governor's functions were devolved on an officer detailed from the army, and all the subordinate departments of the executive branch ex})erienced the same fate. Two eminent judges of the Superior Court were displaced because they chose to obey the law of the state rather than military com- mands. And all the judges and all the county and muni- cipal officers who were not removed held their places only by the permission or sufferance of the district commander. It is obvious that such an administration of public affairs could not have the hearty cooperation of the people. Crimes, no doubt, were committed in some instances against odious per- sons, and some secret murders went unpunished. The courts were virtually suspended, and army officers and soldiers not only had no relations of confidence with the community, but were unfit for civil duties. A case in point may be given as an illustration. Durino; the nio-ht of the 30th of March, 1868, Geo. W. Ashburn, a white man, was assassmated m a low, negro brothel in the city of Columbus. His lodging was in a back room. He had been steward in a hotel, but, during the new era, had served as a member of the constitu- tional convention. On the last day of the convention he, as one of the minority of a committee, and against the recom- mendation of the majority, had caused that body to pass resolutions urging Congress to remove all political disabilities 128 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? from the people of the state. It may be inferred, with pro- priety, that he was not specially offensive merely on account of his being a Republican. It was shown that ho had per- sonal enemies among his associates, who had threatened to take his life. But it was al once charged that the killing was a political murder. The municipal authorities of the city, nevertheless, offered a reward of five hundred dollars for the assassins, and General Meade offered two thousand dollars for the same purpose. The election on the ratification of the constitution, as well as of members of the General Assembly, was to occur in a few weeks; candidates were in the field, and the excitement ran higii. The mayor and aldermen of the city were removed by General Meade, and his subalterns substituted. On the 6th of April, thirteen citizens were arrested by an officer of the army, and when asked for his authority, he pointed to his file of soldiers. Nearly all the persons arrested were men of high position, who, in the opin- ion of the community, would not have been capable of such an atrocity. One of them was a Democratic candidate for the General Assembly (now a member of Congress), another was a candidate for a county office, and a third was the chair- man of the Democratic committee, conducting the canvass of his party. It was supposed that political motives led to their arrest. They were kept for a few days under guard by soldiers in the court-house — which should have been an asy- lum against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment — and were then allowed to give bond for their appearance before General Meade, whenever required. Three hundred and ninety-three of their neighbors eagerly became the bail of the prisoners. They were not permitted to know why they had been arrested, of what they were accused, or why they w^ere released on bond. During the month of May eight arrests were made, and the prisoners were conveyed under guard of soldiers from Columbus, on the western boundary of the state, to Fort Pu- laski, on the marshes below Savannah. They were confined in dark cells without ventilation, and but four feet by seven. No bed or blankets were furnished them. An old oyster can -was given each prisoner, and in this both coffee and soup were served. No kindness from their friends or relations or coun- RECONSTKUCTION IN GEORGIA. 129 sel, nor any communication from them, was allowed. They were forced to remain in tliese cells, prostrated by heat and tortured by insects. John Wells, one of these prisoners, a negro, was taken out of his cell and put into a chair in one of the casemates, with a cannon pointed at his head and a soldier holding the string, ready,, apparently, to shoot the gun. A barber lathered his head and pretended to be preparing to shave it. After ten minutes of this treatment he was put back in his cell, with the understanding that if he did not tell something it would be worse for him. Another negro prisoner, John Stapler, was put before the gun, with no suc- cess. He was afterward put in the sweat-box and kept in great agony for thirty hours. When removed from the box, his legs were swollen. The story of the treatment of these negroes is taken from an affidavit made in Washington by Wm. H. Reed, one of the two detective officers employed by General Howard and General Meade to procure evidence for the government. During the month of June fourteen arrests were made at Columbus, and the prisoners were conveyed to McPherson barracks,, near Atlanta. There they were placed in cells six feet wide by ten feet long. These cells were after- ward divided by a partition, reducing their width to less than three feet. Neither bed nor bedding was furnished for sev- eral days. A prisoner lying on the floor (Dr. Kirksey) could, at the same time, touch the opposite walls with his elbows. The Fort Pulaski prisoners were transferred to these barracks, and after a while the new partitions were removed. Nine of the prisoners were discharged without any explanation, four were held as witnesses, and nine were detained for trial. On the 29th of June a military commission, consisting of seven officers of high rank, was convened at McPherson barracks, by order of General Mciide, for the trial of the prisoners. The accusation, in the military form of a charge and specifi- cation, alleged, in technical language, that they had killed and murdered George A. Ashburn, "contrary to the laws of said state, the good order, peace and dignity thereof.'' The trial proceeded for a month, able and distinguished counsel having been employed on both sides. It was watched with intense interest in all parts of the state. All the wit- 9 130 V WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? nesses for the Government who testified to any material fa(;tfl, were shown, by their own evidence, to have been exposed to the influence of torture or fear, or the promise of immunity and freedom. W. A. Duke, against whom more positive tes- timony was adduced than against any other defendant, was able to demonstrate by incontestable proofs and a multitude of witnesses, that he was forty miles from Columbus, on the night of Ashburn's murder. General Meade then dissolved the commission on the pretext that civil government was about to be restored in Georgia, and the prisoners were abruptly discharged. This military prosecution of honorable citizens, so full of exasperating details, and conducted with such ostentatious de- fiance of all rights of freemen, was not calculated to attract to the government the support of law-abiding people. At the presidential election of 1868, the people of Georgia gave a majority to the Democratic electors, of 45,000, and the supremacy of that party in the state has been maintained at every subsequent election. When the General Assembly met in January, 1869, the Governor in his message, stated that he had advised Congress that the reconstruction acts had not been fully executed in the state, that the members should have been required to take the oath (commonly known as the iron-clad oath), prescribed for officers of the United States, that the members had decided their own qualifications and had made wrong decisions, and that the result was the defeat of the purposes of Congress, " these purposes having been the establishment of a loyal and Republican State Government,'^ etc. The Governor in this message enforcing these views upon the General Assembl}^, quotes with approval the sentiment that " it is certainly the duty of district commanders to take what the framers of the reconstruction laws wanted, to express as much as what they do express, and to execute the law according to that interpre- tation.'' And the Governor contrary to the opinion of Gen- eral Grant, recommended that the persons returned as elected in April should be reassembled, that the test oath should be enforced except those who had been relieved of their disabil- ities, (who according to General Meade were his friends); that EECONSTRUCTION IN GEORGIA. 131 this would restore the colored members ; that tlie body thus organized should decide upon the eligibility of the excluded members, and after the work of reconstruction should be completed, the test oath would not apply. This scheme was perhaps what his excellency desired rather than what he ex- pected at this time. It was not adopted. General Grant, the new President, was inaugurated in March of this year, and on the first Monday in December, the new Congress met. On the 22d of December the President approved an " act to pro- mote the reconstruction of the State of Georgia,'^ which was framed according to the plan outlined and recommended by the Governor. It did not prescribe the iron-clad oath, but it provided a test oath stringent enough to exclude some persons whom the people had elected. By this act the Governor was author- ized and directed forthwith by proclamation, to summon all persons elected to the General Assembly of the state as ap- peared by the proclamation of General Meade. The Governor on the same day (December 22d), issued a proclamation sum- moning all persons elected, &c., ^' who are qualified," to ap- pear at Atlanta on the 10th of January, 1870. A person designated as clerk j9?'o tem. was ordered to organize the Senate on that day, and the oaths were administered by a commis- sioner named by the Governor. Such Senators as could take the new test oaths were sworn as directed on the day ap- pointed, and the others were excluded. Mr. Conley was again elected president, and the two negro Senators were again in their seats. The president made an- other inaugural speech, in which he said : " The Government has determined that in this Republic, which is not, never was and never can be a democracy ; that in this Republic, Repub- licans shall rule." He seems to have adopted the sentiment of the Governor, expressed on a former occasion. In the House the organization proceeded under the auspices of A. L. Harris, who was detailed by the Governor for that purpose. Harris was a man from New England, of enor- mous girth, who recognized only such motions as he desired, and directed the proceedings according to his own taste. His 132 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? will was the only parliamentary law. A member insisted that the House had the right to choose its presiding officer even for the purpose of organization. Harris suppressed him. The incident did not appear in the Journal, because he also took control of the minutes. (Senate Election Cases, p. 298.) He had the roll made by General Meade, called, and as each member appeared, Harris directed him to be sworn alone. When he grew weary, or for other reason wished to terminate the session for the dav, he announced that the House would take a recess until a time named by him. The new reconstruction act provided that upon ap])lication to the Government, the President should employ such mili- tary and naval forces as might be necessary to enforce and execute the acts, and General Terry was now the commander of the district. This officer, perhaps on the request of the Governor, convened a board of military officers, instructed to determine the qualifications of certain members of both Houses, and the finding of this board as to the eligibility or ineligibility of any member was enforced by the orders of General Terry, and reinforced by Harris. When the military officers had judged and determined the qualifications of Senators and Representatives elected by citi- zens, and the obnoxious members had been excluded from their seats, Harris, on the 26th of January, announced that the House would proceed to the election of a Speaker, and the election of Mr. McWhorter again took place. On the next day, the Speaker directed to be read to the House a communication from the Governor, presenting the names of the candidates who had received the next highest vote to that of each of the members excluded by the military orders for ineligibility. General Terry also supported this view, by a letter to the Governor, on the day following that of the com- munication of his excellency to the Speaker. At first the House, no doubt remembering that the Governor had re- garded it as a reproach to seat minority candidates on a for- mer occasion, refused to accede to Bullock's recommendation • but when General Terry threw his sword into the scale, the House obsequiously reversed its action, and twelve friends of the Governor, in this way were admitted. KECONSTEUCTION IN GEOKGIA. 133 In March, 1870, the Judiciary Committee of the Senate of the United States made a report reviewing this organization of the General Assembly of the state, in which report it is held that such organization was not warranted by law in the following respects : " First: In the control and direction of its proceedings by Harris. *^ Second : In the exclusion from taking the oaths and from seats of three members who offered to swear in. " Third: In the seating of persons not having a majority of the votes of the electors/' And on January 23rd, 1871, the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate, in reporting upon the credentials of Joshua Hill, H. V. M. Miller, Henry P. Farrow and Richard H. AVhitely, (the latter two having been elected by the Gen- eral Assembly after the last reconstruction in 1870), affirmed the former report, and decided that Georgia was a state in the Union and entitled to representation in July, 1868, and that Hill and Miller were entitled to their seats, and they were soon after admitted as heretofore stated. It thus appears that the Senate of the United States in December, 1869, concurred in an act entitled '^an act to pro- mote the reconstruction of the state of Georgia," and after- wards held that she was a state in the Union in 1868, and in that year lawfully elected Senators to the Congress of the United States. The last act imposed upon the Legislature of the state a requirement that it should ratify the fifteenth constitutional amendment, and it was done to order. From this time, the Governor and the General Assembly were on excellent terms, and the current of legislation encoun- tered no obstruction. His excellency had triumphed. The state was delivered into his hands. The strangers called carpet- baggers, the southern Republicans, called by a name still more odious, and the negro members, formed the majority of the Legislature, and between them and the executive there were the kindest relations, because he had given them power and a golden opportunity. The tax-payers almost to a man had voted against the persons who composed this majority. 134 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? To these tax-payers, they were objects of very general execra- tion. If they had not been upheld by military power, they s, might have been carted about with placards on their backs, as were the men whom George the 3d aj)pointed to the Legisla- ture of Massachusetts. The allowance was nine dollars a day, to say nothing of mileage, free passes and other things. The session with occasional short intermissions, continued from January 10th, to the 25th of October. The expenditures made on account of the pay and mileage of members and officers amounted during the term of this Legislature to $979,- 055 — a sum four or five times as much as was ever expended on the same account by any former Legislature. There were 104 clerks, or nearly one clerk to every two members. The Constitution having conferred on the General Assem- bly the power to authorize the endorsement by the state of the bonds of private corporations on certain terms, there were passed at this session thirty-two acts which directed state en- dorsements to be placed on the bonds of as many different railroads. These endorsements so authorized with the con- tingent liability created by seven other acts previously passed, would have amounted to $40,000,000. All the railroads built under these acts collapsed with a single exception, and the latter would have been built without the aid of the state. All the bonds that were so endorsed, with the same exception, were endorsed iu violation of the terms prescribed by the Constitution, and of the acts providing for the endorsement. In order to hold together the combination of members who supported these measures, a resolution was passed requiring " that each and every bill in which state aid is granted, be retained by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House respectively until each and every such bill is a(!ted upon, so that they may all go to the Governor at once." This arrangement pooled all their bills and consolidated all their supporting influences. It was a conspiracy which en- abled every member to command the vote of every other member who had such a bill. It was supposed to have been an inveution of the lobby. During this year, acts were passed authorizing the Governor to issue $2,000,000 of seven per cent, currency bonds upon EECONSTEUCTION IN GEORGIA. 135 which to obtain temporary loans for immediate use, also $3,- 000,000 of seven per cent, gold bonds for the purpose of re- deeming bonds of the state, and *' for such other purposes as the General Assembly might direct." These issues were made, it is to be remembered, although the ordinary revenues of the state were ample for all legitimate expenditures. Under another act passed this year, the Governor delivered to a rail- road company bonds of the state to the amount of $1,800,000, the state having already under another act endorsed the bonds of the same company to the amount of $3,300,000, and both acts were in conflict with the Constitution. At this session, on the recommendation of the Governor, an act passed releasing to certain claimants, on a worthless pretext, which could deceive no lawyer, property in the city of Atlanta worth a quarter of a million of dollars. The beneficiaries of this transaction were known as the ^' Mitchell Orphans." Among the new men of that epoch was H. I, Kimball, who having failed elsewhere to find scope and appreciation for his great gifts, brought them to Georgia in quest of the opportu- nities which tlie process of destroying a state and then rebuild- ing it afforded. His was the genius which undertook the construction of the railroad which has just been mentioned as the donee of so much favor from the General Assembly. Be- sides he had other roads in process of construction upon the credit of the state during his primacy, and in addition a grand opera house, and a great hotel, in the city of Atlanta. His recourse for the millions required for these enterprises was the credit of the state. The Legislature gave him charters, and bonds, and endorsed the bonds of his corporations at his pleasure. The state bought his opera house at a good round price, for a capitol. He was paid temporarily for this pro- perty in the currency bonds to relieve his urgent wants, and when the gold bonds were engraved and ready for circulation, his friend, the governor, gave him of these two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with the understanding; that currency bonds to that amount should be returned. The latter bonds he neglected to restore. He became the financial agent of the state by Bullock's appointment, and hawked the bonds of 136 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? state about In New York with remarkable freedom. In that capacity he went to that city, to take up currency bonds which had been hypothecated by Bullock, and to substitute the gold bonds. His letter of instruction directed him to cancel and return to the treasury the currency bonds. With one bank he made the substitution as directed, but instead of cancelling and returning to the treasury the currency bonds received of the bank, he applied one hundred and seventy thousand dol- lars of them to his own private use as colUiterals for loans. He deposited gold bonds to a large amount with other bankers who had currency bonds, but did not require the surrender of the latter before he gave up the gold bonds, and so two sets of bonds were held for the same liability. Some of these bankers were his own financial associates. He had received the state's endorsement of two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars of bonds of a railroad company (other than that hitherto mentioned), and for some reason, having had an act passed changing the name of the company, he received the endorsement of the state on the bonds of the road under the new name amounting to three hundred thou- sand dollars, upon the promise that he would use them to ex- tinguish the first issue. The promise was not fulfilled, and the new bonds of the road went upon the market as addi- tional obligations of the road and of the state. When Bullock became Governor, the state owned a rail- road runniufj- frotn Atlanta to Chattanooo;a, which connected O CD / all the railroad systems of the state with the West. It was wrecked by General Sherman during the latter part of the war, but it had under the administration of Governor Jenkins, and at great cost, been put in excellent condition. It easily earned a net revenue for the state of three or four hun- dred thousand cfoUars a year. It paid into the treasury twenty-five thousand dollars per month during 1869, under an appointee of Governor Bullock (Col. Hurlbut) with all the embarrassments which that appointment involved. But Col. Hurlbut was not satisfactory to the Governor, and in defiance of warnings as to the character of Foster Blodget, the latter was appointed superintendent. The new superintendent of the road entered upon his duties on the first day of January, RECONSTKUCTION IN GEORGIA. 137 1870. For the year 1869, Hurlbut expended in operating the road, §985,633.80. During the year 1870, Blodget's expendi- tures aggregated $2,043,293.87. He left tlie road in bad condition, and a debt of over half a million which the state had to pay out of the treasury. Not less than a million of dollars was lost by the change of superintendents. Under a provision of the Constitution, a poll-tax of one dollar was levied for educational purposes. The fund created by this tax, amounted in 1870, to ^268,000. In 1870 it was used to compensate members of the General Assembly, and such teachers as were employed in the public schools of that year went without compensation. The children attend- ing schools during the year 1870 were 67,1 42 white and 10,351 colored, aggregating 77,493. For the sake of comparison, it may be here stated that there were actually enrolled in the public schools of the state in 1888, of white children 200,768, and colored children 120,390, aggregating 321,896. In 1868, when Governor Bullock was installed, the debt of the state was $5,827,000. At the end of his administration the treasurer reported the debt to be $12, 450,000, and en- dorsed bonds in addition $5,733,000, aggregating $18,183,000, and the bonds of the state were no longer marketable, except at very ruinous rates. Now the bonds of the state bearing four and a half per cent, are worth in the market a premium of twenty per cent. Since 1870, the state road has paid into the treasury twenty- five thousand dollars every month, or six million in twenty years. The Governor during his term of three years, pardoned three hundred and forty-six offenders against the law. Some of these offenders received pardons before trial. He granted seven pardons in advance of trial to one man who pleaded then to seven separate indictments. These acts of the execu- tive did not tend to inspire confidence in the law, nor pro- mote the administration of jnstice in the Courts. The taxable property of the state in 1860 amounted to $672,322,777, in 1870 to $226,329,769, and in 1889 to $345,- 000,000, exclusive of railroad property. Prosperity, such as this rapid and steady increase of wealth implies, is fair evi- 138 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? dence that good government has followed the expiration of Governor Bullock's term. And the commerce of the state freed from the apprehension of misgovern ment, it is confi- dently believed, is twice as great as before the war. On the 3rd of October, 1870, Bullock a])proved an act en- titled ^' an act to provide for an election and to alter and amend the laws in relation to holding the elections." It was drawiT with great care. It provided that an election for members of the General Assembly, members of Congress and county officers should be held on the 20th, 21st, and 22nd day of December, thereafter. The continuance of the election for three days, without any registration of voters, gave great facility to repeating. One colored man is known to have voted thirteen times by the mere device of changing his hat and his name each time. The law further provided that the election should be held only at the Court House of each county, or in an incorpor- ated city or town by five managers, three of whom were to be nominated by the Governor, two by the ordinary of the county, and all of them were to be confirmed by the Senate. In those counties in which the ordinaries were of the Governor's party (and such was i;he case in nearly half of the counties) all the managers were selected by the same party influence. The act furthermore provided that the managers should have no power to refuse ballots of male persons of *' apparent full age," resident in the county, who had not previously voted, and it prohibited all challenges. It was stuffed with pains and penalties. The political campaign that ensued was memorable. It was not a race between two parties, either of which would have administered public affairs with honesty and justice in all departments. On the part of the Democrats, it was a struggle for good government. It was a situation in which all good citizens banded themselves together against profligacy and corruption and a disgraceful administration. On the other hand, the negroes were told by their leaders that their defeat involved the loss of their political privileges, and even of their personal freedom. It was a contest for supremacy between those who had always been masters, and those who had been KECONSTRUCTION IN GEORGIA. 139 their slaves. It was a trial in which if one side succeeded there would be an honest administration for all, and if the other succeeded, there would be ruin for ali. The instinct of caste also intensified the efforts of bcth parties. In Georgia the issue of such a struggle could not be doubt- ful. The victory was overwhelming. Xot a disorder occurred, and Btdlock's own managers counted the votes. Such rejoic- ing was never known before in Georgia. The Christmas-tide had brought a new redemption. Before the deputies of an indignant people could meet and confront him, Bullock had resigned his office and fled the state. And it may be truthfully said that reconstruction accom- plished not one useful result, and left behind it, not one pleas- ant recollection. H. G. Turner. Note. — The journals of the two houses of the General Assembly of the state, the reports of the Comptroller General and the Treasurer of the state, tlie messages of Governor Bullock and of acting Governor Conlev, of the years 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871 and 1872, and the reports and testunony submitted to the General Assembly in 1872 by the committee appointed to investigate the bonds of the state (Thomas J. Simmons, chairman,) and the committee appointed to investigate the administration and management of the VV^estern and Atlantic Eailroad (Milton A. Candler, chairman,) are cited as authorities. CHAPTER VI. RECONSTRUCTION IN FLORIDA. rpHIS fragmentary history of the reconstruction period in X Florida opens about the time of the adjournment of tlie Constitutional convention of 18G8. The convention had left two factions in the Republican party, named after prominent leaders the Richards or Billings faction and the Osborn ring. The result of the bitter contest between them for the supremacy, during the days of the con- vention, was favorable to the followers and supporters of Osborn. The old party leaders of the ante-bellum days had been dis- franchised and silenced and there was no political organization in a condition to resist the Republican plan of controlling this and other Southern states by the negro vote, directed and managed by their party friends who had drifted southward with the Union army or had afterwards followed in its wake. The Osborn faction represented the more conservative ele- ments of the Republican party in Florida. Its leadership was among army officers, those holding Federal positions, and agents of the Freedmen's Bureau. Their opponents charged that they had used the influence and patronage of these posi- tions to advance their personal interests and likened them to " hungry wolves around a carcass," in their efforts to secure political promotion. Harrison Reed was their candidate for Governor, AVilliam H. Gleason for Lieutenant Governor, and Charles M. Ham- ilton for Representative in the Fortieth Congress. Liberty Billings was placed at the head of the ticket nominated by the faction named after him. The Democrats nominated as their candidate for Governor, 140 KECONSTRUCTION IN FLORIDA. 141 Colonel George W. Scott, who had been famous as a bold cavalry leader during the latter part of the war, and was at the time of the election, at the head of a large mercantile business in Tallahassee. All the machinery of the election was in the hands of the Osborn faction. It was held under the ordinance framed by their convention. Horatio Jenkins, Jr., the president of the convention, was at the head of the Board which canvassed and announced the result. The inspectors continued the election, under the law, for three days and had the custody of the ballot boxes each night. Superior numbers did not neces- sarily decide the result. Ballot boxes were constructed with false bottoms for use in the large negro counties, where the Billings faction seemed to be preponderant, and though the aperture through which the votes were passed was carefully sealed each evening, and the key was ostentatiously entrusted to one who did not have the control of the box, an ingenious slide enabled the custodian, in the seclusion of his home, during the quiet of the night, to mould the majority at will. A sample of this contrivance was sent on to New York after the election and placed where the people might see one of the instruments through which the Congressional recon- struction was accomplished. The result of the three days' election, as announced by the Jenkius canvassing board, was the adoption of the Osborn constitution and the election of Reed, Gleason and Hamilton, notwithstanding the general belief, among the supporters of Billings and the Democrats, that this was not the true result. But they could only submit to the power of the general gov- ernment, and Reed entered upon his administration on the first day of July, 1868. The Legislature which was assembled rewarded Osborn by electing him to the United States Senate, and Adonijah S. Welch* became his immediate colleague. In his first message to the Legislature, Gov^ernor Reed heartily endorsed the plan of reconstruction of which he was the exponent and the Constitution which had been framed under it. He placed himself in decided antagonism to the old population who did not believe that the time had arrived * In some of the records this name is spelled Welsh. 142 WPIY THE SOLID SOUTH? for universal suffrage. He semed to be fully aware of the diffiulties which surrounded him, but entered upon his work in a hopeful spirit, and he really seems, at the outset, to have desired to put his administration upon a sound and honest financial basis. With this end in view, he appointed as his comptroller, Colonel Robert, H. Gamble, a man of ex^xdlent financial ability, inflexible integrity, thoroughly identihcd with the state and her interests, and universally respected. He also appointed James D. Westcott, Jr., Attorney-General, and a little later an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. His father had been a United States senator, and though the younger Westcott had not then had an opportunity to make his mark, his future was full of promise, and all who had been brought into business contact with him had entire confidence in his ability and integrity, and in both respects his career justified this confidence. It was generally understood that these gen- tlemen severed no political ties and entered into no new political associations in accepting these appointments. The system of state government in 1860 was modest and inexpensive, adapted to the resources of a thinly-populated state, with a tax valuation of $67,529,231, of which $29,206,632 was the valuation placed on its slave property. The system included the following executive and judicial ofiicers with their salaries as stated : Officers. Salaries. Governor • $ 2,500 Secretary of State, 800 Comptroller, 1,100 Treasurer, 800 Attorney-General, 500 Adjutant-General, 500 Three Justices of the Supreme Court, at $2500 each, *■ 7,500 Five Circuit Judges, at $2500 each, 12,500 Total, $26,200 Under the administration of Governor Walker directly after the war, the salaries of the Governor and judges were increased to $3000 each, which increased the total amount of these expenditures to $30,700. EECONSTRUCTION IN FLORIDA. I43 In 1869 the total tax valuation was reduced to $29, 700,- 022, and the people were emerging from a war which had left them impoverished, yet the scale of expenditures for like salaries under the reconstructed Government was as follows : Officers. Salaries. Governor, I 5,000 Lieutenant-Governor, 2,500 Eiglit Cabinet officers, at |3000, 24,000 Chief Justice, 4,500 Two Associate Justices, at $4000, 8,000 Seven Circuit Judges, at $8500, 24,500 Total, $68,500 Governor Reed, in his first message, asked whether the Government, notwithstanding this largely increased salary list, could be maintained without imposing any additional taxation upon the people and answered his own inquiry by attempting to demonstrate, with the aid of an imposing array of figures, that it could.* The following table will compare the financial management of his administration with that of some of his predecessors, and will prove how sadly his expectations went astray, and how strong a tide of extravagance or corruption carried the expenditures, far beyond his figures and his promises of good government. BECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES OF THE STATE FOR CERTAIN YEARS NAMED. Years. Receipts. Expenditures. 1860 $115,894.89 $117,808.85 1867 161,806.21 187,6d7.63 1868 223,433.67 234,233.80 1869 347,097.12 374,973.23 1870 192,488.60 295,078.50 1871 275,005.59 410,491.19 1872 257,233.54 304,214.35 Thus in the four full years of Reed's administration the annual expenditures averaged §346,189.32, as compared with Walker's only full year of $187,667.63, making an average ^Assembly Journal, 1st Session, 1868, pp. 55-58. 144 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? annual increase of $158,521.69. And notwithstanding the increased receipts, there was a deficiency of §312,932.42 created in these four years. The first Legislature under the new Constitution, met shortly before the Governor was inaugurated, and was Re- publican in both branches. It contained some of the ele- ments of dissension that had been active ever since the strug- gle for office commenced in the party ranks, but there was no outbreak while the session continued. These intestine quar- rels were upon constantly shifting lines, and some of the most influential who had supported Reed against Billings were soon arrayed against him. This was largely owing to the immense patronage given to the Governor by the new Con- stitution. Under it he had the authority to appoint every state and county officer except the Lieutenant-Governor and the constables, and the Supreme Court decided that he could even appoint a Lieutenant-Governor in case of a vacancy. As there were many aspirants for every place, the di-sappoint- meuts were numerous and affi^rded am})le reason for an ever increasing list of malcontents, who were ready to array them- selves with the opposition. The following are some of the most important acts of leg- islation of this session, which require mention here. An election law manifestly framed in the interest of the party in power. It required no oath to check false or illegal registration. It promoted repeating. Though the new Con- stitution required a registration of the voters and the statute provided for one, it enabled any unregistered applicant to vote on the day of election if he was willing to swear that he had been registered. An issue of State bonds to the amount of $300,000, draw- ing interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum, ostensibly to find the outstanding debt of the state. A law to control the official advertising of the state in favor of newspapers favorable to the administration. An act authorizing the Governor to employ as many spies and detectives as he saw fit. By its terms a secret fund was placed at his disposal, for which he was not required to give any official account. RECONSTRUCTION IN FLORIDA. I45 The power of choosing the electors to vote for President and Vice-President was taken from the people and given to the Legislature. Various railroad, canal, steamboat, navigation and " im- provement" companies, were organized and liberal terms made with them in the shape of lands actually granted or author- ized to be granted by the Trustees of the Internal Improve- ment Fund, in whom the title was vested. The ill-will against Reed began to assume definite shape when the Legislature met to choose the electors in November. Brief as was their sitting they commenced impeachment pro- ceedings against him, but he was saved for the time by the Supreme Court which ruled that there being no quorum of the Senate present at the time the effort at impeachment was abortive. Lieutenant-Governor Gleason was at the head of the oppo- sition, and when thus attacked Reed was not inactive. His Attorney General, on the 19th of December, filed an informa- tion in the nature of a quo warranto against Gleason claiming that he had no rio-ht to the office of Lieutenant-Governor, be- cause at the time of his election he had not been a citizen of Florida for three years, as required by the new state consti- tution. Of course, this disqualification was well known to Reed when they were nominated ou the same ticket. They were both from Wisconsin, though the Governor first reached Florida. But the law was plain, and after a long legal fight, terminating in the United States Supreme Court, Gleason was ousted. Reed next attacked his Secretary of State, George J. Alden, who had arrayed himself openly with Gleason and other enemies of the Governor in the attempted impeachment. Alden was removed, and in selecting his successor Reed vastly increased his strength with the freed men, whom he had wholly ignored, up to this time, in his state appointments. Jonathan C. Gibbs, the new Secretary of State, was of African descent, a graduate of Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, and though he had but recently come to the state, he had made a favorable impression upon those of his people 10 146 WflY THE SOLID SOUTH ? with whom he had come in contact. They afterwards showed their appreciation of this recognition by giving Reed a larger share of their support. This appointment was distasteful to the white Republicans, but they did not dare to oppose it when it was afterwards sent to the Senate for confirmation. The Legislature held its second regular session in June, 1869 ; Marcellus L. Stearns became the Speaker of the lower House. The record shows a bad state of feeling in the Republican ranks. The impeachment proceedings were revived and took definite shape. A committee was appointed to investigate the charges against the Governor, with power to take testimony. The majority of the committee, made up of three Republicans and two Democrats, reported that the evidence before them sustained two of the charges. One was that Reed had entertained a proposition from a certain person in Leon county, to appoint a friend as Clerk of the Court there, the person asking for the appointment to pay Reed five hundred dollars for the use of the state. The five hundred dollars w^re paid to Reed, the desired appoint- ment was made, but the money failed to reach the state treasury. The second was, that an amount of about seven thousand dollars, arising from the sale of certain Virginia and other state bonds, made under legislative authority by the Gover- nor, was paid into his hands in lawful money, but instead thereof Reed paid into the state treasury the same nominal amount in state scrip which was largely depreciated. It was charged that Gleason had failed to account for the funds which had reached his hands as Financial Agent of the State under the appointment of the Constitutional Conven- tion. It was proposed to investigate the election of Abijah Gil- bert, who had been chosen to succed Welch (or Welsh) in the United States Senate, and to proceed to another election, upon the ground that Gilbert's election had been effected by the free use of money. Charges of wholesale and retail bribery against different EECONSTRUCTION IN FLORIDA. 147 factions and individuals were bandied about. Voters were said to have a regular market value, and the recognized leaders of the majority were ready, according to these accusations, to bar- gain for the passage or defeat of any measure that the money kings of the lobby were sufficiently interested in to support or oppose by these corrupt agencies. But though many of the outside world were ready to believe all that these statesmen charired ao^ainst one another, neither the accusers nor the accused could afford to continue the Kilkenny cat fight to the extinction of their adversaries. A settlement and a compro- mise was reached, and the assemblage beca.ue a happy family once more. The effort to elect a new United States Senator to contest Gilbert's seat was, after some ineffectual balloting, indefinitely postponed, but it was renewed and consummated at another session. Gleasou made a report of his financial doings which was accepted as correct. A bill was passed, giving Billings and Richards the per diem and mJleao^e, which the Constitutional Convention had denied them. The testimony against Reed was kept from the record and deposited in the office of the Secretary of State. And a negro member of the Assembly who had joined in the majority report against him offered a resolution that it contained nothing justifying an impeaclnnent. The adoption of this resolution terminated, for the time, the pro- ceedincrs ao-ainst the Governor. Just before the final adjournment the Governor was author- ized to negotiate a second issue of six per cent, bonds to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars. The history of this period should contain a full account of the complication? arising from the sale of some of the rail- roads belonging to the Internal Improvement System of the State and the manao-ement of the trust fund which was in the hands of the Governor and some of the members of his cabi- net, and had been granted to the state by the liberality of the general government. The subject is full of interest, and the writer may enter more fully upon it at some other time. In this connection he will confine himself to a few references to the matter, here and there, to illustrate the general misman- 148 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? agement, recklessness and dishonesty which characterized this reconstruction period. In March, 1869, the Pensacola and Georgia railroad was sold by the trustees, to the great injury of the people living in the counties along its line. A large portion of the stock iwas owned by these counties and it was controlled by the county commissioners who were Reed's ai)poi uteres and who made no effort to protect it. The sale was announced to be for cash but the purchasers were allowed to make payment in un- matured bonds, greatly depreciated, worth thirty-five or forty cents on the dollar, which were received at their face value. The deed was delivered while there was an unpaid balance of the purchase money of four hundred and twelve thousand four hundred dollars still due, and it was only collected after a tedious and expensive litigation, ending in the Court of last resort at Washington, and carried to a successful termination in better days, after the sceptre of power had been taken from the Republican reconstruction ists. The purchasers rerpiired additional legislation to perfect their schemes, and some of them were mixed up with many of the scandals of the day. The Supreme Court of the United States, which had occasion to consider all the facts of these transactions, says with reference to two of the most conspicuous actors in this business : ^'Littlefield and Swepson have both shown themselves capable of the most shameful frauds." * At the legislative sessions of June 1869 and January 1870 an arrangement was made by which the new corporation, into which the purchased roads was merged, was to obtain state aid to the amount of four million dollars in state bonds. Bri- bery and corruption were at these sessions with open hand. Littlefield handled plenty of money, and the statesmen of all shades of color vv^ere unwilling to bestow upon him as a gratu- ity the valuable privileges which he was able and* willing to pay for. So much was said about the matter that the grand jury of Leon County, where the Legislature met, felt bound to take * The following cases will throw light upon this railroid litigation: Anderson vs. i^tate of Florida, 91 U. S. 667; Railroad Companies vs. Schutte, 103 U. S. 118 ; Littlefield vs. Trustees of I. I. Fund, 117 U.S. 419. KEC0X5TRUCT10N IN FLORIDA. I49 notice of it at the Fall term of the Court in 1870. The record of the Circuit Court shows that a cabinet officer, two state Senators and General Littlefield himself were indicted for bribery connected directly and indirectly with this railroad legislation. Littlefield was charged with paying Reed twelve thousand dollars for approving his bill. Senator Charles H. Pearce, of Tallahassee, a negro preacher, generally known as Bishop Pearce, was indicted for offering bribes to other brothers in black to induce them to vote against the impeachment of Keed for his alleged bribery as well as other crimes. Pearce was tried before a jury upon one of these indictments and found guilty, and on appeal to the Supreme Court, the judg- ment against him was sustained. But he was afterwards par- doned and was one of the counted in electors who voted for Hayes and Wheeler in 1876. The zealous State's Attorney who directed the investigation which resulted in these indictments soon after lost his official head, and Pearce was the only one of the accused persons who was ever brought to trial. The regular session of 1870 found the treasury on the verge of bankruptcy and the administration torn by a contin- uation of its internal dissensions and weakened by the alien- ation of the conservative influences which had met Reed's ad- vances and promises of good government in a friendly spirit. The taxes were payable in Comptroller's warrants and Treasurer's certificates, known as state scrip. An economical management of the finances would have kept this scrip from serious depreciation. But the constantly increasing expendi- tures, so far beyond Reed's own figures, carried its price steadily downward. By this time it sold at fifty cents on the dollar, and often for less when there was no immediate demand for it for the payment of taxes. The evil was increased by the officials who handled the people's money, from the Governor downward. Many of these financial offi- cers were among the most active in trading in it, and thus depreciating the state's credit to their personal gain. The money that reached the hands of these official speculators was transformed into the depreciated scrip by the time it reached the treasury. 150 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? The following statement, based upon the Comptroller's Report, will give some idea of the ratio of increase of the state expenditures : — Expenses. 1860. 1869. Legislature, $11,057.00 $42,959.90 Officers of Legislature, . . . 1,580.00 5,655.80 Printing of do. ... 4,500.00 17,205.49 Stationery of do. ... 455.58 1,799.00 Total, §17,592.58 $07,620.19* Thus it appears that the printing alone, under the new order of things, cost about as much as the entire legislative expenses had formerly amounted to, and the increase in the printing and stationery accounts occurrcnl at a time wlien ignorance and illiteracy barred no one from membership in Senate or Assembly. The Governor had hoped to provide for the increasing ex- penses by the sale of the bonds which the Legislature had authorized, but the wasteful extravagance of the Government soon became known in business circles throughout the country, and he was successful in getting but small relief from this source, and only upon most unf-ivorable terms. The liittlefield and Swepson issue of four millions, which was ready for the market at fifty cents on the dollar, if no better terms could be obtained, seriously embarrassed the negotiations of the other state bonds. The Comptroller stated in his annual report that there was no money in the treasury, and that the resources of the state "were much weakened by incompetent and irresponsible assessors and collectors of revenue.'' f The Treasurer stated that the delinquent list was ruinously large, and that the blame rested mainly upon the revenue officers of the state, whom he plainly intimated were deficient in good business qualifications and integrity. In finding a cause for this, he says, "Under the disqualifying clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, it has been, and is, impossible, ^Assembly Journal, third session, 1870, Appendix, p. 8. t Assembly Journal, 1870, Appendix, p. 5. Same, p. 10. KECONSTRUCTION IX FLORIDA. 151 in many counties of the state, to find men competent for these places.'' It will be borne in mind that the amendment re- ferred to excluded most of the ante bellum population from holding office, and left the responsibility of government with the freedmen and their new Republican allies. Reed was still kept under the shadow of impeachment. The majority of the committee appointed to investigate the charges of dishonesty, corruption, malfeasance and incompe- tency preferred against him, reported that they were sustained by the evidence, but for the time he was spared, on a close vote by the numerical strength of his faithful black allies. About this time the Governor and other trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund incurred the discipline of the United States Circuit Court. They undertook to aid some of the wild cat corporations which had been chartered by the Legislature by giving them large quantities of land or selling it at nominal prices. A large creditor of the fund, Francis Vose of Massachusetts, who held bonds issued by the trustees in aid of the Florida Railroad Company, filed a bill complaining of the mal-ad- ministration of the trust, alleging the w^aste and destruction of the fund by selling at nominal prices the lands by the hun- dred thousand and even million acres, and the diversion of the funds comino; to their hands from its lawful and lesfiti- mate use. It was prayed that the fraudulent conveyances be set aside, that an injunction be granted to restrain the trustees from further waste, and that the fund be taken from them and placed in the hands of a receiver. On the sixth day of December, 1870, Justice Woods granted the injunction. It recites the following acts: '^ You the said trustees are misappropriating the funds belonging to the said trust, are improperly and fraudulently misa})propriating the same, are selling and transferring said land in amounts and manners and for considerations that are wholly inconsistent with and violative of said act ; that vou are donatino^ and dis- posing of the same for merely nominal prices and for scrip and state warrants not recognized as the lawful currency of the United States.'' It goes on to recite an engagement for the sale of one million one hundred thousand acres of the 152 WHY TPIE SOLID SOUTH? trust lands, " at the nominal price of ten cents per acre." It goes on further to charge, " And that thus you the said trus- tees are wasting and destroying the land and the fund so vested in you by the said act of 1855 and by the foregoing and by other lawless and fraudulent acts are diverting the moneys which have come and are coming into your hands by virtue of said trust from the payment of coupons in the order in which they fell due," etc. A penalty of $10,000 for con- tempt was fixed in case the injunction against the continuance of these wrongful acts was disobeyed. Notwithstanding the injunction, all of the trustees, except Col. Gamble, on the tenth day of February, 1871, '' for and in the consideration of the sum of one dollar to them in hand paid," conveyed to one of the companies, with which they had been contracting, 1,360,600 acres of the trust land. There- upon the complainant, Francis Vose, brought the matter to the attention of the Court by petition, and Justice Woods, on the seventeenth day of April, 1871, made an order requiring the disobedient trustees to show cause why they should not be held in contempt. The conveyances were declared void, a re conveyance of the lands to the trustees was ordered, and in June, 1872, the vast Internal Improvement Fund of the state was taken from the trustees and placed in the hands of a receiver, who was continued in charge until after the Republican party went out of power. Under a different management of the affairs of the state these unfortunate complications were unravelled and the litigation was terminated. By the same order an attachment was granted against the trustees who had signed the objectionable deeds and at the December term, to which it was returnable, the people of Florida had the mortification of seeing their Governor and several of the members of his Cabinet arraigned as criminals at the bar of the Court, and though no actual punishment was inflieted upon them, no order was ever made relieving them of the charge of contempt. After these conveyances had been declared void and the re- conveyance of the lands had been enforced by the Court, some of the parties applied to have restored to them coupons of the EECONSTRUCTION IN FLOEIDA. 153 Internal Improvement bonds which had been accepted as money in their attempted purchase. The application was finally considered after the Democrats had come into power, and the new trustees resisted the motion to restore the coupons and demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Court that many of tliem had been paid and cancelled before they had been thus used as purchase money, and by some crooked and dishonest course had passed from the custody of the state officials and had again been received when their true status must have been known and should have been a matter of record. The Court very properly denied the motion to restore the coupons.* After the adjournment of the regular session of 1870, a paper purporting to be an Act of the Legislature, signed by the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly, was found in the office of the Secretary of State with the acts that had reached tliere in due course of leo;islation. It was entitled "An act to authorize the Gov- ernor to ask for and receive the Agricultural Land Scrip from the United States.'' It was a forgery. No such act had been passed. No bill of this title had been introduced, though one having a similar purpose had been before the Legislature, but fiiiled to become a law. The Trustees of the Agricultural College, which was established at the same session, to secure the benefit of the wise educational provision made by the Congress, were vested with power to control this scrip, and it was transferred and assigned to them and their successors as a basis for the sup- port of the college. The effi^rt to divert it to the Governor's possession was probably suggested by the desperate financial condition of the state. C. T. Chase was the State "Superintendent of Public In- * The reader is referred to the records of the cases cited in the note which went to to the Supreme Court of the United States for a fuller state- ment of the facts relating to the injunction and receivership. ♦ Trustees vs. Greenough, 105 U. S., 527. Union Trust Co., vs. Southern. 1 tt g a r-t iVr. iqi Inland N. and I. Co., and Trus- [ ^- ^- ^"P- ^t- ^^t^^ti' tees of I. I. Fund. J ^^^^^^^ ^^''^' ^^^^- I 154 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? striiction. He went to Washington and called on Secretary Cox to arrange for receiving the scrip, as one of the Trustees of the Agricultural College. He found that the Governor had already claimed it under the forged statute. The matter was considered and deliberated and at last came before the President and his Cabinet. The following extract from one of Mr. Chase's letters will show the impression made upon them by this unparalleled proceeding. " On my return from New York, the Secretary informed me that he had been favored with several interviews with His Excellency, Governor Reed, and a written communication about the Land Scrip, that he, the Secretary, had brought the matter up before the Cabinet, and that General Grant and Attorney-General Hoar, with others participated in the dis- cussion, and that the final conclusion arrived at was, that the scrip should not be issued under that claim, but that one point remained undecided, to wit : ' Whether the Secretary, being an executive officer of the United States, could go back of the cer- tificate of the Secretary of State under seal of state and inquire into the validity of a law.' At a subsequent interview, the Sec- retary informed me that Attorney-General Hoar had decided that question in the negative, therefore, if he took any action in the matter, he should be obliged to recognize the document. Yet in his own mind, he was morally certain, from all that he had learned, that it was not a law, and that if it were, he should still feel that it was wrong for him to issue the scrip to the Governor to be used in the manner which the Executive informed him he purposed to use it; that was in connection with the general finances of the state, and that he had, or should, so inform His Excellency."* The Governor foiled in his efforts to get the scrip, came home to call the Legislature in'extraordinary session, so that some further scheme might be devised for keeping the wheels of government in motion. The friends of the college, how- ever, rallied and prevented him from getting authority to use tliese educational funds for ordinary state purposes. Much interest was felt in the approaching election for a * Senate Journal, Extra Session 1876, page 62. RECONSTEUCTION IX FLORIDA. 155 Representative in Congress and a Lieutenant-Governor to fill the vacancy caused by the ouster of Gleason, which had been temporarily filled by the appointment of Edmund C. Weeks by the Governor. Samuel T. Day for Lieutenant-Governor and Josiah T. Walls for E-epresentative, were the Republican candidates. The Democrats nominated William D. JBloxhara for Lieutenant-Governor and Silas L. Niblack for Represen- tative in Congress. Niblack was elected by a majority of 22S, and Bloxham by a majority of 64. But the work of the people had to undergo the manipulation of a counting board. The returns from nine counties, eight of them Dem- ocratic, were held back and did not reach the State Capitol, officially, till the result was announced and the defeated Re- publicans had received certificates of election. Bloxham challenged Day's title in the courts and finally gained his office by the judgment of the Justices, the majority of them being of Republican antecedents. Niblack contested Wall's seat and the records of the Forty- second Congress will show that he was declared elected and was seated. But the Republican majority delayed their just action until the closing days of the last session. The most shameful part of this affiiir was the arrest and prosecution of P. W. White, Judge of the Circuit Court, in the circuit in which the state capital was included, who, upoa complaint of Bloxham, had issued an injunction to restrain the counting of the vote until all the returns had been received. It was charged that his official act was a violation of the Federal election laws and the machinery of the United States Court was corruptly and wickedly used to hinder the due course of justice and facilitate the effi>rts of the conspira- tors. After their purpose had been accomplished the prose- cution of Judge White was not further pressed. The fourth regular session of the Legislature was famous for the contests for seats and the unblushino; disreoi;ard of the will of the people by the Republicans. The Democrats had elected a majority of the Senators but the election machinery was supervised by a returning board whose majority was Republican and the usurper, Day, was the presiding officer. Two regularly elected Democrats, Sutton and ^laloney, 156 WHY THE SOUpD SOUTH? were denied their seats. A third, Ross, was seated upon liis certificate, but was afterwards ousted on a contest, by exchid- ing from the count a Democratic precinct, upon the groiuid that the clerk was ? non-resident, aUhough he was a duly registered voter. The contestant iu this case, Johnson, was seated when only half of the Senators were present, as shown by the yea and nay vote on the question of adojiting the committee's report on the subject, although the Supreme Court had, but a short time before decided, that a majority of the full number of Senators, authorized by the Constitution, alone constituted a quorum, and that a less number could only enforce the attendance of absentees or adjourn. Two Republicans claimed the right to represent the Duval County District. W. PI. Christy had the certificate and was seated, but was ousted by Horatio Jenkins, Jr., on the fourth day of the session. Christy had been supported by one wing of the Republicans aided by Democrats who believed him to be a more conservative man than his opponent. Jenkins was seated by accepting the results of the famous Yellow Bluff fraud. A forged return which added two hundred and fourteen to Jenkins' vote was substituted in place of the true return, on the way from the voting-precinct to the Court House. With- out this fraudulent addition Jenkins was defeated. The in- spectors appeared before the county canvassers and pronounced the signatures to this return to be forgeries, and it was re- jected. The guilty tool who committed this crime was tried and convicted, though the State Senate, with all the facts before it, had wilfully accepted the forgery and cast aside the honest return. The same spirit was exhibited in the lower House. After Gleason had been driven from the office of Lieu- tenant-Governor, he desired to continue his personal influence in the Legislature, where he had inaugurated many ''• im- provement " schemes while presiding over the Senate. He claimed a home in the remote county of Dade, wdiere he and his friends held all the county offices. At the election W. H. Benest was regularly elected to the Assembly. No one at home denied his right to the seat. He was delayed on his journey and reached Tallahassee a day or two after the Legis- KECOXSTRUCTION IN FLORIDA. I57 latnre had met, and to his surprise found Gleason recognized as the member from Dade, and serving as chairman of the two most important committees, on the Judiciary and on Finance and Taxation, besides having a membership in others of nearly equal importance. Gleason was not in the state on the day of the election, and was not then a candidate for the position. On coming to his county afterwards he pretended to call a special election, io^noring that already held. The Governor alone had this power under the law. Those in the secret went through the sham of an election, and with a cer- tificate of the result he presented himself on the first day of the session, and was admitted on this piece of paper, worth- less upon its face, and held his seat until the final adjourn- ment. Benest was vigilant in pressing his rights, but could not even get a report from the Committee on Elections till the very last day of the session.* At the regular session of 1872 the Comptroller reported a most discouraging condition of the state finances. The war- rants issued for the past year were $135,486 in excess of the receipts. The rate of state taxation, which had been 16f cents on the hundred dollars in 1861, and 50 cents in 1867, had been increased to $1.37.t The bonded indebtedness of the state was increased from §466,364.63 in 1868, when Reed became Governor, to $1,269,973.33, besides the railroad issue of four millions which had not yet been declared illegal. The outstanding warrants and certificates had, in the same period, increased from $57,492.32 to $458,8*92.20. The burden of taxation was made heavier by a system of equalization of valuation. The Comptroller thus, speaks of the high rate of taxation and of this system : ^' We have resorted to a rate of taxation under which the people suffer and every branch of industry is crippled.^' ''And w4ien it is a fact that the property paying these taxes is not valued by its owners, but byiin entirely impracticable system, and an en- tirely incompetent body, both in state and counties, it is not surprising that its owners should be dissatisfied." "The * Assembly Journal, 5th Session, 1872. Appendix, pages 1-6. fThis was in addition to the county tax which in many counties was larger than the State tax. 158 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? average value of property, both real and personal, has de- creased since 1870, yet the aggregate value for the basis of taxation is increased $49,737.31/' The Governor complains in his message that more than two-thirds of the bonds issued in aid of Littlefield's road had been wasted without making any real progress in the work. He says : '' It appears that the bonds were entrusted by the company to one of the firms of swindlers who abound in New York, which, by fraud and villany, have diverted much of the proceeds from the work on which they were issued, and there remains but $1,200,000 for the purpose of extend- ing the road beyond the river."* And he might have truth- fully added that none of it was expended in road-building or improvement on this side of the riv^er. The impeachment proceedings were renewed and reached their culminating ])oint at this session in the exhibition of twelve articles, and a few days later four additional ones, charging the Governor, among other things, with conspiring with Littlefield and others to embezzle moneys belonging to the state, accepting bribes, defrauding the state, and falsifying his own official acts. By a unanimous vote the Assembly adopted the articles, and a committee was appointed to im- peach him, before the Imr of the Senate of high crimes and misdemeanors, incompetency, malfeasance in office and conduct detrimental to good morals. His suspension from office fol- lowed. Prominent among the members of the committee which preferred these charges was a citizen of African descent named John Wallace, who was afterwards in the State Senate, and has since published a work on '^Carpet-bag Rule in Florida," in which Reed is represented as carrying on a constant struggle for the right against the corrupt men who at this period con- trolled and dictated the policy of the Republican party. The Legislature adjourned without trying the impeachment case, leaving the reins of government in Day's hands, who had been counted in as Lieutenant-Governor, to the exclusion of Bloxham. This situation was satisfactory to Reed's ene- mies, for a state election was approaching, and the control of the official patronage would have enabled them to dictate the * Assembly Journal, 1872, p. 35. RECONSTRUCTION IN FLORIDA. I59 state and Congressional nominations and the l^ational offices for the ensuing four years. But there was an obstacle in the way. Bloxham's just claim to the office of Lieutenant-Gov- ernor was being vigorously pushed and the final decision of the Supreme Court could not be much longer delayed. His counsel had first proceeded by mandamus to compel a correct canvass of the votes, but, when on the threshold of victory, the law under which the canvass should have been made was surreptitiously repealed. The Court, though clearly stating Bloxham's right, would not direct the Board to proceed under a law which no longer existed. The new action which had been immediately commenced Avas soon to be decided, and the result must give the state a Democratic Governor unless the impeachment could be dismissed. Terms were made with Reed. Day called an extra session of the Legislature to meet April 23d, 1872. On the fourth of May it was decided that the continuance of the impeachment case without trial to another session was in effect a discharge and acquittal of the Governor, and he was restored to his office, but he was never relieved of the opprobrium of the impeachment charges. The expected judgment in Bloxham's favor was rendered June 1st, and for seven months, after all the duties of his office had terminated, he enjoyed the barren title of Lieuten- ant-Governor. The nominating conventions met during the summer. Bloxham was the Democratic candidate for Governor and General Robert Bullock, now a member of the 51st Congress, was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor. The new apportion- ment gave Florida an additional Representative in Congress and the nominees were Charles W. Jones, who afterwards represented Florida in the Senate, and Silas L. Niblack, who was still engaged in his contest in the 42d Congress. Owing to the strife in the carpet-bag element of the Republican party, it was deemed prudent to select a candidate for Governor from among the Southern white membership, and Justice O. B. Hart was selected. The carpet-baggers were represented by M. L. Stearns, who had been speaker of the Assembly, who held the second place on the ticket, and by W. J. Purman, who was a candidate for 160 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Representative in Congress. The froedmcn received recog- nition by the nomination of J. T. Walls as the other can- didate for Representative. Reed was appeased by a vote endorsing his administration and a hollow promise of the succession to Osborn's seat in the Senate. The Democratic victory of 1870 and the character of the immigration which had since flowed into the state made it manifest that unless some extraordinary means were used Bloxham and Bullock would lead their i)arty to victory. The Republican gain over the Democrats was in the counties having a large negro population. In two of these, Leon and Jefferson, where there had been no increase of population by immigration the Rejiublican vote was increased from 2,824 to 4,566 while the Democratic vote was only increased from 1,202 to 1,379. This remarkable gain'was enough to give Hart the majority declared in his favor of 1,553. There was a like increase in other countities of the black-belt sufficient to offset the entire increase in the Demo- cratic vote. As the whole machinery was in the hands of the Republi- can office-holders, inspectors and clerks, it was easy to arrange for such a result. The same voting lists were at every pre- cinct in the county; the precincts were conveniently arranged near the centres of the black population ; there was no obstacle in the way of voting at every precinct within reach, even in the same name ; there were plenty of duplicate names on the lists; and a few skilled manipulators had no difficulty in managing an army of docile and obedient voters so as to pro- duce the result determined upon before the election. The Republican ticket was declared elected, and Governor Hart was inauo-nrated in 1873. His first message showed that he fully realized the deplor- able condition of the state. Outstanding warrants for cur- rent expenses were fearfully increasing at double rates. There was no money in the State Treasury even to pay express charges or telegraph fees. Back taxes to the amount of $598,000, had failed to reach the treasury, and he urged that assessors and collectors be compelled to do their duty. He uses these words : '' I doubt if there is another state in which RECONSTRUCTION IN FLORIDA, 161 SO great a proportion of the revenue is withheld from the treasury after it has been paid to the proper officers by the tax-payers." * He charges revenue officers with substituting depreciated scrip for moneys collected from the people, and falsely swear- ing that these identical warrants were actually received, ^^ thus setting at defiance the criminal code, cheating and thieving the public for the purpose of pocketing the difference, and adding perjury to fraud without fear of punishment." f With reference to the bribery, which was notorious and which had been forced upon his attention while a member of the Supreme Court by the Pearce Appeal, he says : ^' If our officers and Legislators are not beyond the reach of those who would tempt them from their duty, then indeed have the temples of law and justice become the dens of thieves," % He speaks thus of the frequent election frauds : " It has come to be regarded as a matter of grave concern, whether the choice of officers depends upon the voice of a majority of the people of the state or counties, or whether it depends upon the skill of a board of canvassers in receiving or re- jecting, upon petty and technical grounds the evidence of the result." § In conclusion he calls upon them . to endeavor to lift the state " out of the slough of insolvency into which she has fallen, not through any lack of resources, or fault of her own, but through the criminal neglect and malfeasance of those to whom she had entrusted the duty of receiving from her people the means of support which they, the people, are ever ready to afford her." |i The sequel demonstrates that Hart, with all the good in- tentions which })ermeate this message, was powerless to effect a reform under the circumstances which surrounded him. He had reached his high office by the votes and methods of the men whose crimes he was condemning. The bankruptcy of the state, the incompetency and malfeasance of her Republi- can officials, had not weakened the party under whose admin- istration this state of things had become possible. The hand- * Assembly Journal, 6th Session, 1873, pp. 33-41. tDo. p. 41, ip. 44. I Do. p. 44. || Do. p. 47 11 IQ2 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? ful of white leaders had no difficulty in controlling its vast negro majority, and their inexperience in governmental matters, the dense ignorance and stupidity of the large mass of them, their deficient sense of honor and integrity, their faihu'e to appreciate the duties and responsibilities of their new citizen- ship, made their numerical strength a constant menace to good government, as long as they were under the control of politi- cal leaders, whose misgovernment had called forth these severe rebukes from one whom they had so recently elevated to the Gubernatorial office. Wallace in his work on *^ Carpet-bag Rule" gives an in- teresting account of this session. To use his own language : " This was a gala day for the colored brother." S. B. Conover became Speaker of the Assembly, and during the session was chosen to succed Osborn in the Senate. Wallace says that money was freely used in this contest but that the Republican rivals of Conover had the largest supply. He was among the tempted but when offi^red money as an inducement to stand firm in the Conover ranks he virtuously promised to do so with- out money and advised the tem]:>ter to "buy those who desired to sell" and the briber "went flying to other parts of the bat- tle-field to use the money where it would do the most good/' This work shoufd be read by all who seek to know the inside history of this corrupt period. Many of its details are inac- curate and there are manifest errors and mistakes of fact when the author gets beyond his personal experience, but within that range there is no reason for doubting his disclosure of plots, intrigue and villany. It would require the exj)eri- ence in crime of a Titus Gates or the imairination of a Munch- ausen, to invent all the details of this history. Gne of the election contests of this session justifies the severe language already quoted from the Governor's message. Dade county occupies the extreme south-eastern part of the Florida peninsula. In territorial extent it contains more than seven thousand square miles, but according to the previ- ous census of 1870, the population was only 85. Yet it was entitled to a member of the Assembly, and with the adjoin- ing county of Brevard, with a population of 1216, formed a Senatorial District. EECONSTRUCTIOX I.^ FLORIDA. 163 It was in counties like these, thinly populated and remote from communication, that the Republican workers plied tlieir schemes to control the Legislature. Only about nine of the thirty-nine were safely Republican after the disabilities result- ing from the war had been removed. Enouo;h of the others to make the desired majority were managed or manipulated by some sharp or crooked device on the day of election, or treated by the counting out process applied later. The Benest contest came from this same county of Dade. November 5th, 1872, E. T. Sturtevant was Judge of the County Court. Gleason, who had occupied Benest's seat, was now Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts ; together they composed a majority of the Board of County Canvassers and, in the absence of the third member, the entire Board. Only one precinct was opened in the county on the day of election. At that Sturtevant was one of the inspectors, and Gleason was clerk. Both were candidates at the election, the former for the Senate, the latter for the Assembly, against J. J. Brown, the Democratic candidate. When the election closed it was regularly announced, in the presence of the voters, that the majority of the votes had been cast against Sturtevant and Gleason, who had each received fourteen votes, and this result was duly certified, and the two defeated candidates signed the required certificates, acting under oath as election officers. Before the meeting of the County Board, the defeated candi- dates prepared a petition to themselves as a County Board, alleg- ino^ that certain foreigners had voted without producing their na^uj-alization papers. These were old citizens of the county who had frequently voted before, and no one at this election had challenged their right to vote, or asked for their papers. The Board acted on this petition and deducted the number of votes cast by these citizens from the votes of their success- ful opponents without taking evidence as to how they voted, thus reversing the result, and as County Canvassers certified this false result in their own behalf to the State Capitol. Israel M. Stewart, the Democratic candidate for Senator, who was thus robbed of his majority in Dade, received in his own county of Brevard 39 out of the G9 votes, but none was 164 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? cast there for Sturtevant. In order to complete this outrage, the Brevard returns were held back by the Republican officers of election, or detained by the United States mail agents till the State Canvassers had met and announced the election of Sturtevant and Gleason, and they were accordingly seated, upon their minority vote of 14 from a single precinct in Dade. The majority of the Committee on Elections of the Assembly simply reported that " we are of the opinion that William 11. Gleason is entitled to his seat.'' They denied none of the conclusions of fact reached by the minority. Their report was adopted and Gleason retained the seat against Brown. There was no final determination of Stewart's contest against Sturtevant during the first session of the Senate. The term was for four years, and it was renewed at the second ses- sion two years later, but without effect. Wallace was chairman of the Committee on Elections which reported in favor of Gleason, and was in the Senate at the next term, where he supported Sturtevant wlienever action was at- tempted in Stewart's favor. In his book he mentions his vote in Sturtevant's behalf as one of the only two acts com- mitted during these days of reconstruction which he regrets. Governor Hart was in feeble health when he commenced his term and went to a more Northern clime after the adjourn- ment of the Legislature. In his second Message he spoke of the state finances in rather a more encouraging tone, but there was little actual improvement, and his hopes for the future were not realized under his successor, nor would they have been had he lived, for the personal integrity of one man could not check the prevailing tide of extravagance and corruption. He died soon after the adjournment of the Legislature of 1874, enjoying the respect of all who knew him, and amid general expressions of regret. The new Governor, Marcel 1 us L. Stearns, had been promi- nent among the extreme men of his party all through this reconstruction period. He w^ent to Florida as an officer of the Freed men's Bureau, and this position had given him influence with this class of voters. His administration was but little more than a continuance of those which preceded it. His personal integrity was assailed even more bitterly EECONSTEUCTION IN FLOEIDA. 165 than that of ReecVs. Purman was high in the counsels of his party, and had abundant opportunity to know what his associates had done. He delivered a speech in the House of Representatives, March 9th, 1875, in which he assailed Stearns bitterly and brought some serious charges against him. But these accusations injured neither with his party friends. The Republican Convention of 1876 nominated Stearns for Governor and Purman for reelecticm to the Na- tional House of Representatives, and they went lovingly through the campaign on the same ticket, notwithstanding the wickedness or the slanders of the past. Before this history closes some further mention should be made of the abuse of the process of the United States Courts to aid the plans of the Republican leaders. I shall relate but two instances. At a municipal election held in Tallahassee, during this period, a number of influential Democratic voters were absent. The election was close. The absence of these voters was pro- cured by summoning them to appear on the morning of the election as witnesses before the United States Court at Jack- sonville, more than one hundred and sixty miles distant. They were not used or needed as witnesses but were detained till the election was over and the Republican ticket elected, and then dismissed. The State Senate was, on one occasion, organized in a sim- ilar way. It was nearly evenly divided ; there were several contested seats. On the morning of the day fixed for the meeting of the Legislature, Senators Crawford and McCaskill were arrested on fictitious charges and carried to Jacksonville by a Deputy United States Marshal. They were held there upon the warrants of arrest till the Republicans had completed their plans and organized the Senate, and were then discharged. The closing months of Stearns' administration will ever be memorable, on account of the great election contest of 1876, which was felt throughout the whole country. The author has already given an account of it in a speech delivered in the United States Senate during the Fiftieth Congress. Stearns headed the Republican ticket and George F. Drew was the successful Democratic candidate. ] QQ WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? The Democratic State Committee could not prevent the action of the Electoral Commission, but when their state ticket was counted out, they forced the Canvassing Board, through the process of the State Supreme Court, to make an honest count. It is pleasant to be able to add that a majority of the justices who rendered the judgment against this Boai'd were Republicans in their political faith, but they adminis- tered the laws without reference to politics. The inaugura- tion of Drew as Governor and Noble A. Hull as Lieutenant- Governor and the organization of a Democratic Legislature followed and the state was redeemed. Reviewing the history of this period from 1868 to 1876, we find a record of extravagance, corruption and wasteful ex- penditure. The enormous amounts taken from the tax-payers and raised by mortgaging the industry of the future were all consumed with nothing to show for the outlay. No ])ublic buildings, no institutions for the unfortunate, no colleges, normal schools, or seminaries were built or aided from the state treasury during this period. The school system, though liberally supported by taxation, had disappointed the reason- able expectations of the people. Crime had gone unpunished. Property was unsafe. Farmers almost abandoned the effort to raise meat because of the constant depredations upon their stock. Many of the magistrates were incompetent, some were notoriously corrupt, and thieves and depredators w^ere not seriously alarmed at the ])rospect of a conviction before a negro jury. The effect is illustrated by the following table which gives the valuation of personal property at different dates, in sev^en of the large agricultural counties, compris- ing some of the wealthiest portions of the state at those times. VALUATION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY. Counties. 1867. 1870. 1873. 1875. Alachua, . | 750,944 $542,874 $871,422 $348,349 Gadsden, . 83^,666 493,848 392,865 338,760 Jackson, . . 667,371 544,940 495,400 415,970 Jefferson, . 816,858 753,302 506,325 415,512 Leon, . . . 1260,820 945,623 903,088 662,884 Madison, . 493,195 446,256 372,647 363,478 Marion, . . 694,291 539,489 515,143 444,347 5,519,145 4,266,132 3,556,890 2,989,300 RECONSTEUCTION IN FLORIDA. 167 This amounts to a net reduction of over 45 per cent, in eight years. The receipts and expenditures of tlie four years covered by the administrations of Hatt and Stearns were as follows : RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES OF THE STATE FROM 1873 TO 1876. Years. Receipts. Expenditures. 1873 $564,405.81 $536,192.55 1874 401,679.68 292,037.37 1875 384,735.24 290,261.43 1876 286,280.58 260,187.19 Total $1,737,101.31 $1,378,978.54 Showing an average of expenditures of $344,744 63 per annum as compared with the average of $346,189.32 during four years of Reed's administration. The county expendi- tures and taxation were additional to those of the state enu- merated in these tables. This sketch will be closed by comparing some of the figures of this period of reconstruction and Republican mis-govern- ment with the results that followed as soon as the Democrats came into power under George F. Drew and continued under successive administrations. When the Republicans went out of power, they had estab- lished in nine years under their school system 676 schools, attended by 28,444 scholars. The amount raised for schools by taxation and their management of the state school fund during their last year of power was $158,846,36. The following table exhibits the subsequent progress of the educational interests of the state. SCHOOL STATISTICS OF THE STATE FOR CERTAIN YEARS. Years. Schools. Pupils. Expended for Schools. 1876 676 28,444 $158,846.36 1880 1,131 38,315 141,934.16 1883 1,479 51,945 249,054.08 1888 2,219 63,848 484,110.23 The following table exhibits the taxes assessed during the 168 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? last three years of Republican rule, and the three succeeding years of a Democratic administration. Oovernor. Hart& Stearns Drew STATE TAJSES ASSESSED FROM 1873 TO 1880 Years. Amounts. Totals for 3 Years. 1873 $422,994.59 1874 429,318.09 1875 408,684.71 1876 380,858.69 $1,641,856.08 1877 330,595.60 1878 265,240.98 1879 249,879.80 1880 ...... 237,420.12 Saved in 4 years under Democratic administration Average per year ....•* 1,083.136.50 558,719.58 139,679.89 The following table exhibits the steady increase in the tax- able property of the state since the last year of the Stearns' administration. VALUE OF THE REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA AS ASSESSED FOR TAXATION AT DIFFERENT DATES. Years. Total Amounts. 1876 $29,688,337 1880 31,157,846 1883 55,249,311 1888 87,552,447 Samuel Pasco. CHAPTER yil. RECONSTRUCTION IN TENNESSEE. THE Legislature of Tennessee was in session at the time of the Presidential election in 1860. There was no public man in her borders at that time v/ho was either an avowed abolitionist or a disunionist, per se. The successful candidate for the Presidency had received no vote in Tennessee. The peo- ple were apprehensive of the grave results which eventually followed that election ; but they determined to wait. While other states south were passing ordinances of secession and appealing to Tennessee to join them, she declined hasty action. As late as February, 1861, her people expressed their desire to remain in the Union by a majority of 67,054 in a total vote of 116,552. They declared at the same time their opposition to holding a delegated convention to consider and determine what should be done in the impending emer- gency, by a majority of 11,875. They opposed secession, and equally opposed civil war. Had no gun been fired, Ten- nessee would not have changed her position. When, however, the officer in command of Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor refused to recognize the Confederate authority, and President Lincoln ordered supplies to him, the approach of the steamer " Star of the West '^ with these sup- plies drew the fire of Confederate guns, and when this was quickly followed by a call from Mr. Lincoln upon Tennessee for volunteers to march upon the South, the shock came, and was electric. In less than sixty days the people of the state had voted to separate from the Union and to become a member of the Confederate States by a vote of 104,913 to 47,238. In less than a year, March, 1862, Andrew Johnson was transferred from the United States Senate (which he had not before left) and installed as Military Governor of Tennessee by 169 170 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? appointment of the Secretary of War, under the ])rotection of the Federal Armies. His authority as defined in his appointment was, "- to exercise and perform within the limits of the state, all and singular, the powers, duties and functions pertaining to the office of Military Governor, including the power to establish all necessary offices, tribunals, etc." September 19th, 1863, the President sent him a supple- mentary authorization " to exercise such powers as may be necessary and proper to enable the loyal people of Tennessee to present such a republican form of State (jovernmentas will entitle the state to the guarantee of the United States there- for, and to be protected under such state government by the United States, against invasion and domestic violence, all according to the Fourth Article of the Constitution of the United States." The office was new to the laws and history of the state and country. Its powers and duties were limited only by the will of one man, the occupant. As the Federal Armies advanced southward, Governor Johnson proceeded to make appoint- ments, and fill vacancies with loyal men. The vast majority of the offices were vacated upon the Federal military occupa- tion of the country. In truth the active duties and func- tions of the civil authorities were practically suspended in every part of the state open to a conflict of the opposing forces, and these parts embraced nearly its entire extent. During the years 1862 and 1863 the operations of the con- tending armies in and for Tennessee were not of such decisive character as to give permanent foothold to either. The pro- gress made, therefore, by the Military Governor toward re- storing civil administration, amounted to little. Towards the close of 1863 the Federal forces occupied the state from a line forty miles east of Kuoxville to Mem])his, with strong garrisons at both these points and at Nashville, Chattanooga and other points. Their successes elsewhere during the sum- mer and fall campaigns of this year in the capture of Vicks- burg and relieving the Mississippi river from hostile ob- structions from source to mouth, the repulse of Lee in Pennsylvania, besides their holdings in the Carolinas and northeastern Virginia, induced the President to seriously con- KECONSTRUCTIOX IN TENNESSEE. 171 sider tlie rehabilitation of such states or parts of states as were deemed permanently under the Federal control. He determined to issue a proclamation of amnesty as the first step in this direction. This document accompanied his annual message to Congress, and was dated the 8th of De- cember, 1863. It embodied his plan of reconstruction, and promised " pardon and restoration of property, except as to slaves, to all who directly or by implication have participated in the existing rebellion, with certain exceptions specified, upon their taking an oath to "henceforth support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder; abide by and support all acts of Congress passed, and all proclamations of the Presi- dent made with reference to slaves, so far and so long as not repealed, modified or held void by Congress or by decision of the Supreme Court." He further promised that whenever a number of persons in and of the states at war with the Union, not less than one-tenth of the vote cast in the Presi- dential election of 1860, and being qualified voters under the laws previous, to secession, shall reestablish a State Govern- ment, republican in form and in nowise contravening the said oath, ^'such shall be recognized as the true Government of the state,'^ etc., etc. This was, substantially, Mr. Lincoln's plan of reconstruction. The first step subsequent to its promulgation, taken by the Military Governor of Tennessee, was a proclamation, dated January 26th, 1864, ordering county elections to be held on the first Saturday in March. In this proclamation he an- nounced that these elections were ordered in Tennessee as a state of the Union ; prescribed the qualification of voters and an oath to be taken by each elector before voting. This oath varied from the one prescribed by the President, in requiring the affiant to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and to promise to '^ conduct himself as a true and faithful citizen of the United States,'' ardently desiring the suppression of the present insurrection and rebellion against the Government of the United States, etc., etc. The marked difference between the oath required by the proclamation of the President and that of the Military Gov- J 72 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? ernor attracted attention, and the question arose as to whether the amnesty oath wouhl not be sutlicient for a voter, without taking that prescribed by the Governor, and was submitted to the President, who replied, "In county elections you had better stand by Governor Johnson's plan, otherwise you will have conflict and confusion. I have seen his plan/' This election was a failure. Comparatively few of the qualified voters appeared at the polls. At military posts, such as Nashville and Memphis, Government employees who had been in the place six months, contributed the larger part of the vote, small as it was. Davidson County (including the Capital of the state) cast only 1229 for Sheriff out of 6665 votes cast in 1860. Only a few counties voted at all. In the meantime there were certain Unionists, persons who, in the earlier stages of the war, had made themselves conspicu- ous in opposition to the then-existing order of things, and who were now im])atient because the state was not resolved to har- monious relations with the Union. They were not warriors, but statesmen ; refugees at one time, and, at another, in some co- terie or meeting of persons of like situation, bewailing together the deplorable condition of the country. These men were never contented with the movements of the armies nor with the measures of civil administration. Their hearts were filled with bitterness, and their minds with plans to crush and destroy the adversary. There was another class of Unionists, who remained at home and attended to their business as best they might, giving no conspicuous demonstration of elation or depression, in the varying exigencies of war, thoughtful and watchful observers of events, patriotic in their hearts and true to their convictions. The Presidential campaign followed in 1864. On the 2nd of August of that year, a meeting was held at Nashville, which called a convention to be held on the 5th of September, to consider the reorganization of the state, and the question of putting out an electoral ticket and undertaking to hold an election for President in November. This convention met pursuant to the call, only a few coun- ties holding primary meetings to appoint delegates. It was largely composed of the military element, the 1st Tennessee KECUNSTRUCTION IX TENNESSEE. 173 Cavalry, 2nd Tennessee Mounted Infantry, and the 1st Ten- nessee Infantry sending representatives for 33 counties. But the convention adopted a resolution admitting as qualified to participate in its deliberations, "all unconditional Union men, who are for all the measures of the Government looking to putting down the rebellion, from diiferent parts of the state/' The convention adopted resolutions favoring the appoint- ment of agents to look after the interests of soldiers and their families; the enrollment and organization of the militia; the immediate abandi^nment of slavery, and its prohibition by amendment of the state constitution ; the removal from office of all disloyal men ; the holding of an election for President by the Union people, and the oath prescribed in March to be required of electors ; and requesting the Military Governor to execute the resolutions in such manner as he might deem best. The convention also nominated a Lincoln and Johnson electoral ticket, and appointed an Executive Committee of fifteen — five from each grand division of the state. Another ticket fav^oring McClellan and Pendleton was sub- sequently brought out by parties not in sympathy with the convention, but was withdrawn before the election. On the 7th of September, 1864, during the session of the convention, the Military Governor issued his proclamation declaring his purpose to proceed to appoint officers and esta- blish tribunals, as he had heretofore done, in all the counties and districts of the state, wherever the people gave evidence of loyalty and a desire for civil government, all officers to take the oath last prescribed. On the 13th of September he issued a proclamation order- ing the enrollment of the militia of the State in accordance with the wish of the late convention, between the ages of 18 and 50 years, the magistrates to be the enrolling officers, and those failing or refusing to serve without good excuse to be sent beyond the limits of the state. On the 30th of September the (military) Governor issued his proclamation, under the request of the convention, order- ing an election for President and Vice-President of the United States to be held at the county-seat or other suitable place in 174 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? every county in the state, in the following November, at which all citizens and soldiers, six months resident in the state pre- vious to the election, being white, and citizens of the United States and loyal to the Union, were authorized to vote. '* To secure the ballot-box against the contamination of treason," the oath prescribed by the convention was required of the voter. This remarkable product of a popular meeting thus became a law controlling the highest right of the citizen, and compelled the elector to swear tliat he was an active friend of the Government of the United States, and the enemy of the so-called Confederate States ; that he ardently desired the suppression of the rebellion against the United States, etc., etc., with great amplification of detail. Upon the appearance of this proclamation the McClellan and Pendleton electors united in a protest addressed to the President, in which they asserted that the method prescribed was contrary to the election laws of Tennessee ; that it ad- mitted persons to vote not allowed by the law ; that it pro- vided for holding the election at only one place in the county, when the law required it in each civil district ; that the oath required was unusual and a test oath. They further pro- tested against the interference of the militarv Governor Avith the elective franchise, and asked that all military interference be w^ithdrawn '' so far as to allow the loyal men of Tennessee a full and free election, meaning by the loyal men of Tennes- see those who have not participated in the rebellion or given it aid and comfort, or who may have complied with such terms of amnesty as have been offered them under your au- thority.'^ This protest was presented to the President on the 15th of October by John Lellyett, of Nashville, one of the signers and one of the McClellan Presidential electors. From the accounts of the interview which reached the public at the time, Mr. Lellyett did not find Mr. Lincoln in the amiable frame of mind usual with him, or that jocose disposition with which he often looked upon the gravest concerns. The ver- bal interview closed without a satisfactory reply to the protest. A formal written answer was given on the 22d of October, which closed with : ^' Except it be to give protection against KECONSTRUCTION IN TENNESSEE. 175 violence, I decline to interfere in any way with any Presiden- tial election/' The effect of these events was the withdrawal of the McClellan and Pendleton ticket from the race in Ten- nessee. The Presidential election which followed in Tennes- see was a farce. The people refrained from participating in a proceeding so far from the free and unrestrained elections to which they had been accustomed. They did not look upon this as having the sanction of law, or as possessing proper au- thority and regularity. At Nashville, as an example, the vote was only 1228, and came largely from Government em- ployees. By joint resolution of Congress the electoral vote of Tennessee was not received and counted, on the ground, as stated in the j)reamble, that the state had " rebelled against the Government of the United States, and was in such condition on the 8th day of Nov^ember, 1864, that no valid election for electors of President and Vice-President of the United States, according to the Constitution and laws thereof, \vas held on said day.'' These fruitless steps towards reconstruction in Tennessee were discouraging, the more so from the fact that a decided difference of opinion and feeling had developed among the leading Unionists, shown in the two presidential electoral tickets. A period had now arrived that required more deci- sive action. The election of the militaiy Governor to the Vice- Presidency would soon call him from the state and from his official duties as Governor. The Executive Committee appointed by the September convention, published a call in December for the assembling of a convention at Nashville, on the 9th of January, 1865, to take counsel as to the best method of restoring the state to its proper relations with the Union, It was not expected that it would do more than to provide for a constitutional convention composed of delegates to be elected by the peo- ple, with authority to act in all matters relating to the or- ganic law. The convention assembled on Monday, the 9th of January, pursuant to the call. It was composed, like that of Septem- ber, of comparatively few holding credentials from primary county meetings. It was in session five days. The result of 176 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? its deliberations was: the adoption of an amendment to the State Constitution abolishing slavery and forbidding the Legislature to make "any law recognising the right of property in man ; " and a schedule which repeated the section of the Constitution forbidding the General Assembly to pass enancipat vol. 1, page 124 : "That such questions are purely political, and do not belong to the province of the judiciary, sufficiently appears from the case of Luther vs. Borden, 7 Howard 1." Th.e case cited by ]\Ir. Hare, is the leading case, but there are others. For an excel- lent statement of the position and some strong reasons in sup- port of it, see Scott vs. Jones, 5 How^ard, IMI-H. All this is undeniable, but one inference from it must not be overlooked. The action of the political department upon such questions being final, and not reviewable by the courts, of course the courts cannot and do not say whether, in their opinion, in any given case of this class, C-ongress has or has not violated the constitution. The Attorney- General occu- pies a peculiar and a very different position in the Govern- ment. In some respects related to the judicial, he is more closely connected with the political department. It is his special province and duty to advise the executive, as to the legal phase of political questions. Accordingly, Mr. Lincoln consulted Attorney-General Bates when, in December, 1862, the bill admitting West Virginia, passed by both houses, came into his hands for approval ; although, for reasons best EECONSTKUCTION IN VIRGIXIA. 255 known to himself, he did not follow his opinion. Possibly the political considerations, as sometimes happens, ontweighed the legal. But the people of the United States might do well to examine Mr. Bates' opinion. It may be found in Vol. X. of Attorney-GeneraPs Opinions, page 426, etc. It is thus epitomized by himself: ''I am of opinion that the bill is not warranted by the constitution.^' The syllabus is too long to print, and, in order that our synopsis of the opinion may be better comprehended, we here insert Section 3, of Article IV., of the United States Consti- tution, which is the provision involved. '^New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; bat no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States without the consent of the Legislatures of the States con- cerned, as well as of the Congress.'' The synopsis of Attorney-General Bates' opinion is as fol- lows : Congress can admit only existing states; West Vir- ginia did not exist till Congress admitted her. The letter of the constitution either prohibits the formation of a state within the territory of another state, or else per- mits it with the consent of the legislatures of both the states concerned. Upon either construction, the admission of West Virginia violates the letter. Even if the consent of the legislature of the parent state alone were sufficient, yet the spirit and sense, at least, require the consent of a legislature really representing the entire state, and not, as in this case, only that jxirt which is to form the new state. The question Mr. Bates raises, as to whether the constitu- tion absolutely prohibits the formation of a new state within the jurisdiction of another state, or permits it with the con- sent of both the states concerned, is in some degree a question of punctuation. The section is punctuated above, as it is in most copies of the constitution, as it is in Mr. Madison's notes, and in his papers in the Federalist, i. e., with a semi-co- Ion instead of a comma, after the words, "jurisdiction of any other State." The bearing of this is obvious. 256 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Those who care to look into the probal)le origin of this provision will be interested in the examination and compar- ison of 11 Heming's Statutes-at-Large, pages 569-70 and 326, referring to Virginia's cession of the northwest terri- tory and the conditions she proposed — with two of Mr. Mad- ison's papers in the Federalist, No. 38, page 299, and No. 43, pages 340-41. Our idea is that Section 3d of Article 4th is the guarantee Virginia demanded, though in another form. We think, that is, that the old guarantee demanded by Vir- ginia, is the origin of the clause of the ])resent constitution which Attorney-General Bates' opinion discusses. 2d. In the Reconstruction Acts. The right to pass these statutes was claimed by Congress under what is termed " the guarantee clause '' of the consti- tution, being Section 4th of Article 4th, which is in these words : "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican Form of government, and shall pro- tect each of them against invasion ; and, on a})plication of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence." The position and principle are precisely the same as above. The question is di political owe, and within the exclusive pro- vince of the political department. We will not go into the history of the efforts made to have the constitutionality of these laws tested. Any one who».is interested can examine the cases for himself. The most important are State of Mis- sissippi vs. Johnson, 4 Wal., 475 ; ex parte McCardle, 7 Wal., 506 ; and Texas vs. Wlute, 7 Wal., 700. The McCardle case was nev^r decided upon its merits, because, after it was argued and submitted, Congress took away the jurisdiction of the court. Some authorities regard Texas vs. White as set- tling th'C constitutionality of the acts. We do not regard it as departing at all from the principle of Luther vs. Borden, which it quotes with approval. Our purpose is not in any manner to suggest the raising of any of these questions in the future. We regard them as settled, upon the distinct and conclusive ground that the courts cannot entertain jurisdiction of them. But^ for this RECONSTEUCTIOX IN VIRGINIA. 257 very reason, because the courts never have reviewed and never can review the action of Congress in either of the momentous matters herein discussed, we deem it well the American people should for themselves examine the constitu- tional provisions involved, and the action of Congress in the premises, and pass their own judgment. We are happy, that, as to one of these questions, they may be aided, if not guided by the opinion of the legal adviser of President Lincoln's Cabinet. Egbert Stiles. CHAPTER IX. RECONSTRUCTION IN WEST VIRGINIA. THE history of the state of West Virginia during the re- construction period does not differ greatly from that of the other border states. . There was the same display of revengeful legislation, the same struggle of a minority to retain political power, that marked the transition between war and peace in Maryland, Missouri and elsewhere. The State Government being entirely in the control of the Republican party, and a full delegation of Republicans being })resent in • both Houses of Congress, West Virginia was ex' mpted from the operation of the reconstruction laws, and her people were left to deal with the problem of pacification in their own way, without interference by the Federal authorities and without much assistance from the tribe of carpet-baggers. The native Republicans were numerous enough to hold all the offices of value, and they were naturally averse to sharing the feast with strangers who came in after the fray. Hence the adventurers from Northern States, who played so conspicuous parts in the South in the years immediately succeeding the civil Avar, did not find a congenial field of operations in West Virginia and sought out otlier localities where the white Republicans were fewer and the negroes more numerous. At the beginning of the war there was a strong Union sentiment amt)ng the people of the counties of Virginia now composing the state of West Virginia. There was a decided majority against the ordinance of secession ; but after the war had actually begun, and the state of Virginia became the scene of conflict, very many of those who had voted against secession either enrolled themselves in the Confederate army or remained at home in either active or tacit sympathy with 258 KECONSTRUCTION IN WEST VIRGINIA. 259 the Confederate cause^ so that in 1863 when the new state was formed, a large majority of the legal inhabitants of the counties embraced within its limits took no part in the trans- action. Out of a voting population in 1860 of more than 50,000, the state of West Virginia started upon its career with the expressed consent and approbatiou of less than 19,- 000 votes. The Uuion sentiment was strongest in the coun- ties lying along the Northern and Western borders, or along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ; it was weaker in the interior counties; while in the counties upon the Southern and Eastern borders it was almost non-existent, the people being practically unanimous in support of the South- ern cause. According to the reports of the Adjutant-General, the state of West Virginia was credited with furnishing to the Union army, from first to last, a total of 31,884 men. Several entire regiments which are credited to West Virginia, were recruited in Ohio or elsewhere, and officered by Ohio men. During the last two years of the war^ when large bounties w^ere paid for enlistments to complete the quota of troops called for, the volunteers came almost entirely from abroad, and when substitutes were secured to take the places of conscripted men, these substitutes were for the most part obtained in Northern cities or were newly-arrived immigrants from abroad. It is now impossible to obtain any accurate fio;ures as to the number of soldiers furnished to the Southern armies by the counties composing West Virginia. The mus- ter-rolls hav^e been lost or destroyed, and it is not known that any record even approaching completeness is now in existence. Recruiting was active in many of the counties at the begin- ning of the war ; but when the Federal armies advanced in 1861, of course enlistment in the Confederate army ceased at all points within the Federal line, though it went on with increased activity and thoroughness in the counties not under Federal control, and it can scarcely be doubted that the total number of West Virginians who served at one time or an- other in the Confederate army exceeded by several thousands the number who espoused the Union cause. These facts are mentioned here simply for the purpose of affording some clue to the relative strength of the parties 260 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? when the war closed and the era of reconstriiotion "began. The returns of elections held at various times during the con- tinuance of the war afford no trustworthy indication of pop- ular sentiment. They are significantly one-sided, and siiow only that the people opposed to the party in power did not vote; not that they did not exist. The Constitution of ]863, and the officers elected under it, all derived their authority from a minority composed of scarcely more than one-third of the people of the state. The Constitution of 1863 was, in the main, a fair, prudent and equitable instrument. True, it was afterwards warped by construction so as to tolerate the most proscriptive and unjust enactments, but that was the fault of the Legishiture and the courts ; the Constitution was right, but the courts were wrong. The Constitutional provision as to the elective franchise was contained in Section 1 of Article III. in these words : "The white male citizens of the state shall be entitled to vote at all elections held within the election districts in which they respectively reside ; but no person who is a minor, or of unsound mind, or a pauper, or who is under conviction of treason, felony, or bribery in an election, or who has not been a resident of the state for one year, and of the county in which he offers to vote for thirty days next preceding such offer, shall be permitted to vote while such disability contin- ues.'^ The Constitution declared in Section 6 of Article I., tliat, '* The citizens of the state are the citizens of the United States residing therein." These provisions are in the main similar to those relating to the SI me subject in the Constitution of Virginia and of other states, and the restrictions upon the suffrage are only those which are usually imposed. They are ])rospective in effect and attach to no crime a punishment which had not been ordained before the offence was committed, and the disa- bility to vote is made contingent upon conviction of the crime. The first Legislature held under the new Constitution adopted a number of '' war measures," such as acts for the KECONSTEUCTION IN WEST VIEGIXIA. 261 forfeiture of the property of persons engaged in rebellion, and various other sanguinary resolutions, but it did not attempt to restrict the suiFrage further than is provided in the section of the Constitution quoted above. The general election law passed at this session provided that, " The supervisor and inspectors at every election shall permit all persons to vote who are residents of their town- ship and qualified to vote according to the first section of the third article of the Constitution/^ If a voter were challenged, he might be required to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of West Virginia — only this and nothing more — and this oath alone was to be exacted from officers of the state. But at the same session — that of 1863 — the Legislature seriously damaged the Constitution which the members had so recently and enthusiastically adopted and sworn to support, by enacting a law in the fol- low^pg terms : " Every person elected or appointed to any office of trust, civil or military, shall, before proceeding to exercise the authority or discharge the duties of the same, take the fol- lowing oath : I, A. B., do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitu- tion of this state ; that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States; that I have voluntarily given no aid or comfort to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto, by countenancing, counseling or encouraging them in the same ; that I have not sought, accepted, nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority in hostility to the United States ; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power or Constitution within the United States hostile or inimical thereto; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.'' This is the first appearance of the famous test -oath upon the statute books of West Virginia. It appeared a great many times afterwards : sometimes with additional clauses or with care- fully drawn limitations; but always in its main features it w^as the same. Having set it out in full here, it will be here- 262 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? after referred to simply as "the test-oath '^ and will not be again presented in its entirety. Ao the election held in the fall of 1864 there was very- little opposition to the Republican candidates. A McClellan electoral ticket was put in the field a few weeks before the election, but it was voted for in only a few of the counties, and Mr. Lincoln, carried the state, receiving 23,233 votes as against 10,437 votes cast for tlic Democratic candidate. There was no opposition to the Republican ticket for -state officers. But the vote cast for McClellan, small as it was, seems to have alarmed the Republican politicMuns. The war was nearly over and it was apparent to all that the unequal com- bat must soon end in the triumph of the Federal arms. Already the Confederate armies were rapidly disintegrating. The rebels were coming home ; not in battalions, nor even by squads; but singly and quietly they were seeking to rebuild their desolate homes and take their places in the ranks of peaceful avocation. There was nothing in the Constitution or laws of the state that could ])rohibit them from voting. There was danger that the will of the majority might be ex- pressed at the polls ; that the i)eople, who are the source of all lawful authority in a government republican in form, might come to claim their own. In this emergency the Legislature, on the 25th of Febru- ary, 1865, proceeded to amend the election law which had been adopted in November, 1863, by providing that if the right of any voter were challenged at the polls, he should not be allowed to vote until he produced an affidavit, duly sworn to before and attested by a notary or other officer authorized to administer an oath, in which the unlucky citizen was required to swear that he had never voluntarily borne arms against the United States, " the reorganized gov- ernment of Virginia/^ or the state of West Virginia, etc., etc., after the style of the test-oath for officers set forth above. Just why the voter was required to purge himself of any past hostility to the reorganized government of Virginia seems rather difficult to understand at this distance of time. The government of Virginia was reorganized at Wheeling for the purpose of giving its consent to the formation of the new EECONSTRUCTIOX IN WEST VIEGINIA. 263 state, and thus technically complying with one of the require- ments of the Federal Constitution, and when that consent was given, the reorganized government took itself away to Alexan- dria and concerned thfe people of the state no more. Whether any human being ever bore arms against the reorganized government of Virginia who did not at the same time bear arms against the United States, to say nothing of the state of AVest Virginia, would have puzzled even the framers of the law to find out. But the phrase has a solemn jingle and hence was repeated in full in every clause of the oath. It was immediately pointed out and contended by those who had regard for popular rights that the amendment to the election law was plainly and flagrantly in violation of the Constitution ; that the Legislature had no power to pass such an act; and that the members who voted for it had deliber- ately and with full knowledge violated their oaths. In reply, the Republican members said, in effect. We know it is uncon- stitutional, but we mean to amend the Constitution itself in conformity with the act, and in the mean time we will enforce the amended law. Accordingly, on the 1st of March, 1865, the following amendment was proposed, to be added to the first section of Article III. : — *'No person who, since the first day of June, 1861, has giv^en, or shall give voluntary aid or assistance to the rebellion against the United States shall be a citizen of this state or be allowed to vote at any election held therein, unless he has volunteered into the military or naval service of the United States, and has been, or shall be, honorably discharged there- from.^^ The mode of amendment fixed by the Constitution required the proposition to be agreed to by a majority of each house of the Legislature ; published in each county for three months before the next general election ; agreed to a second time by both houses of the Legislature, and then submitted to a vote of the people, and if a majority of the qualified voters voting upon the question ratified the proposed amendment it became of force '''from the time of such i^atlfication, as a part of the Constitution of the state.'^ The Legislature elected in the fall of 1865, by excluding 264 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH?] the votes of those who could only be lawfully excluded from the ballot after the proposed change had been made in the Constitution, met in January, 1806, and, on the 13th of Feb- ruary assented the second time to tlie proposed amendment, and provided for submitting it to a vote of the people at the election to be held for school and township officers on the 24th of the following ^lay. But the Legislature of 1866 went much further than any of its predecessors in the destruction of popular rights; in the establishment of an oligarchy ; in the erection of a privi- leged class, in whom alone the j)ower of government sliould reside. Fearful lest the election officers should fail to enforce the confessedly unconstitutional act of 1865 relating to elec- tions by the people, they vested in the hands of the Governor of the state the right of the people to vote and enabled him to control the franchise. They went about it in this way : An act was passed for the registration of voters ; a board of registration was to be appointed by the Governor in each county, consisting of three persons "from among the citizens most known for loyalty, firmness and uprightness;'' the board was to appoint a registrar in each township, whose duty it was to place upon the roll of voters only those citizens who could take the test-oath. The township registrar was remov- able by the board of registration, and the board of registra- tion was removable by the Gov^ernor. It was thus possible for the Governor to supervise the rights of every citizen, from the highest to the lowest. If a registrar was found to have scruples as to the exclusion of his neighbors from the polls, he was prom])tly removed and a more serviceable man ap- pointed by the board of registration, and if the board became frightened by the prospect of being called upon to defend suits at law, the Governor could always be relied upon to re- move any man who hesitated to do the work assigned to him. In fact, the whole machinery of registration was practically subject to the absolute and arbitrary will of the Governor; and when it is known that by subsequent enactments nearly all of the civil rights of the people were made dependent upon the registration ; that the man who was not a regis- tered voter was practically under sentence of outlawry ; EECONSTRUCTIO:^ 1]S WEST VIRGINIA. 265 some idea of the vast power given to the Governor may be conceived. Daring the year 1865, there had been much discussion in the newspapers and at public meetings as to the duty of elec- tion officers. It had been insisted that the amendment to the general election law could not be regarded as valid and that whoever enforced it or acted under it did so at his own peril. The supervisors and inspectors were threatened with suits for damages if they refused the ballot of any voter who possessed the constitutional qualifications. It was contended that a void act was void from the beginning and never could have any validity whatever, and therefore it could not protect th6 officer who enforced it. But in order to stiffen and encourage the officers, the Legislature provided that all suits brought ag^ainst them for acts done in obedience to the unconstitutional law should be defended at public expense, and on the 17th of February, 1866, an act was passed " to prevent and punish the forcible or unlawful obstruction of public justice,'^ by which it was provided that " no officer in the lawful discharge of his official duty under any act of the Legislature, or any order or proclamation of the Governor of this state shall be deemed personally responsible therefor (either civilly or crimi- nally) by reason of such act, order or proclamation being afterwards adjudged by any Court of this state to be uncon- stitutional and void." The same Legislature required all the supervisors and In- spectors of election to take the test oath before entering upon the discharge of their duty, and provided that '^ in no case shall the votes taken at any place of voting be counted unless said oath so appear on the poll books." Having thus arranged the election law so as to enforce be- fore ratification the constitutional amendment which they wished to adopt, the Legislature proceeded to punish the members of the bar who had dared to call in question the validity of their acts, and on the 14th of February, 1866, it was enacted that no attorney-at-law should be allowed to practice in any court, or before any justice or board of su{>er- visors until he had taken a test-oath that he had not "since the twentieth day of June, 1863" borne arms against 2G6 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? the United States, etc. The date inserted in the oath was thB date of the formation of the state of West Virginia, bnt why attorneys were limited to tliat date while voters were required to swear that they had not been enathizer, or in any other terms indicating his disaffection to the government of the United States in its contest with rebellion, or his sympathy with those engaged in such rebellion ; or having ever voted at any election by the people in this state, or in any other of the United States, or in any of their territories, or under the United States, shall thereafter have sought or received, under claim of alienage, the protection of any foreign Govern- ment, through any consul or other officer thereof, in order to secure exemption from military duty in the militia of this state, or in the Army of the United States ; nor shall any such person be capable of holding in thisstate, any office RECONSTRUCTION IN MISSOURI. 287 of honor, trust or profit under its authority ; or of being an officer, councilman, director, trustee, or other manager of any corporation, public or private, now existing, or hereafter established by its authority ; or of acting as a professor or teacher in any educational institution, or in any common or other school ; or of holding any real estate, or other property in trust for the use of any church, religious society or congre- gation. But the foregoing provisions in relation to acts done against the United States shall not apply to any person not a citizen thereof, or who shall have committed such acts while in the service of some foreign country at war with the United States, and who has, since such acts, been naturalized, or mav hereafter be naturalized, under the laws of the United States ; and the oath of loyalty hereinafter prescribed when taken by any such person, shall be considered as taken in such sense." The Constitution also provided that the General Assembly should enact laws for the registration of voters, and that no one should be allowed to register or vote until he had taken an oath in accordance with the section above quoted, but that the taking such oath was not conclusive as to loyalty, but might be negatived by other evidence, the registering officers being the only judges. The ninth section provided that no person should practice law, or be competent as a bishop, priest, deacon, minister, elder, or other clergyman of any religious persuasion, sect or denomination, to teach, or preach, or solemnize marriages, unless such person shall have first taken, subscribed, and filed the expurgatorial oath required as to voters by the third section. Under these provisions the parent who had given a piece of bread or cup of water to a son in the service of the Con- federate States, or who had in any way expressed sympathy for such son, was prohibited from registering as a voter, or serving as a juror, or holding any office, or acting as trustee, or practicing law, or teaching in any school, or preaching the Gospel, or solemnizing any religious rite. A more inhuman, atrocious, and barbarous instrument than this Constitution was never invented. An election was ordered for June the 6th, 1865, to ascer- 288 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? tain the sense of the people as to the adoption or rejection of the Constitution ; but no person was permitted to vote " who should not be a qualified voter according to the terms of this Constitution, if the second article thereof were then in force.'^ In other words, no one could vote who could not take the oath prescribed by the instrument upon the adoption of which the vote was taken. Of course, the Constitution was declared adopted, but with all the means that could be invented by partisan malevolence, or enforced bv brutal violence, the majority in the state was only 1,862, there being 43,670 votes for, and 41,808 votes against the instrument. It must be remembered that bodies of armed radical militia, inflamed with the worst passions of civil war, were camped around the voting places and bran- dished their weapons upon the day of election, with threats of violence to all who opposed the Constitution. The best men in the state were disfranchised — gray-haired pioneers who had fought the Indians for the soil on which they had built their homes; lawyers, eminent in their profession, who had presided over courts of justice, and others who liad made the first laws enacted for the state ; ministers who had spent their lives in preaching the Gospel of Christ; the first citi- zens and largest tax-payers were driven from the polls, whilst ignorance, violence, and fraud controlled the ballot box. So monstrous was the outrage, that many leaders of the Union party refused to take the oath prescribed, and openly denounced the Constitution. W. y. N. Bay and John D. S. Dryden, Judges of the Su- preme Court, and Union men of undoubted loyalty, refused to take the oath, and were removed from the bench by the police of St. Louis, and taken as prisoners before the City Recorder. Major-General Francis P. Blair, the admitted leader of the Unionists in Missouri, and who had commanded an army corps on the Federal side during the war, went before the Registers in his uniform, demanded to be recorded as a voter without taking the oath, and being refused at once instituted a suit for damages against the Registering officers. On January the 14th, 1867, the case of Father John A. RECONSTRUCTION IN MISSOURI. 289 Cummings, a Koman Catholic priest, who had been indicted and convicted for administering the rites of his church, with- out first taking the oath prescribed by the Drake Constitution came before the Supreme Court of the United States, the state of Missouri being defendant in error. It was held after an able and exhaustive review of all the questions in- volved in the record, by a majority of the Court, Justice Field delivering the opinion, that the Missouri test-oath as it was termed, was in violation of those provisions of the Fed- eral Constitution which prohibits any state from enacting a bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, and was therefore null and void. The twenty-fourth General Assembly elected under the operation of the unconstitutional provisions which disfran- chised the intelligent and property-holding voters of the state, assembled on January the 7th, 1868, and proceeded at once to enact a registration law far more stringent and arbitrary than that which had received the condemnation of the United States Supreme Court. RAILROADS SOLD. The same General Assembly, with a large Republican ma- jority in both House and Senate, passed an act, which was approved by the Republican Governor, on March 31st, 1868, providing for the sale of the Pacific Railroad, which had been forfeited to the state, to the Pacific Railroad Company, for the sum of $5,000,000, the state having issued its bonds to the amount of $7,000,000, to aid in the construction of the road. The influences which were potent enough to secure this legislation, may be conjectured from the official report of George R. Taylor, president of the company, made after the sale, to the board of directors, in which he stated that the passage of the bill had cost the company $192,000. It was well known at the time, and is now notorious, that the Legislature was purchased by the Railroad Company, and the amounts paid to various members have been often stated. During the six years from 1864 to 1870, when the Repub- 19 290 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? lican party controlled Missouri, venality, corruption and prof- ligate extravagance in expenditure of the people's money held high carnival. At different times ])rior to the war, the state granted to va- rious Railroad Companies aid in the construction of their roads within the state, by issuing state bonds to the amount of §23,701,000, viz : To the Pacific Railroad, $7,000,000. To the Pacific Railroad, for its South West Branch, $4,500,- 000. To the Hannibal and St. Josei)h, $3,000,000. To the North Missouri, $4,350,000. To the St. Louis and Iron Mountain, §3,501,000. To the Cairo and Fulton, §G50,000. To the Platte Country, §700,000. By the terms of the con- tracts made with these companies, they bound themselves to pay the interest upon the bonds, advanced as it accrued, but failed to do so, and in consequence of such default, the roads were taken possession of under the provisions of the acts granting the state's aid, and sold by the state, the sales being made under the regime of the Republican party. As stated above, the amount advanced in bonds was $23,701,000, and the amount realized from the sale of the roads was §6,131,496, showing a net loss to the state of $17,569,504, together with interest on ])ast due coupons amounting to $14,166,366, making the debt, principal and interest at the date of sale, $31,735,840. There not being sufficient money in the State Treasury to meet the obligations incurred by reason of the aid to the i^oads, which obligations still rested upon the state less the proceeds of sales made by the Republicans, an act was passed by the General Assembly in March, 1867, authorizing a tax of forty cents on the hundred dollars upon all taxal)le prop- erty in the state for the purpose of paying the interest on the state debt, so that the legacy of the Republican party to the people of Missouri, after six years' rule, Avas the loss of the state's ownership in the valuable railroads built with the peo- ple's money, and a debt of many millions of dollars, to be paid by taxation upon the property of the citizens then liv- ino;, and those com i no; after them. The following summary of these brilliant financial achieve- ments by the Republican party of Missouri, will stand an RECONSTRUCTION IN MISSOURI. 291 enduring monument of the reconstruction period in that Com- monwealth : Original debt assumed by the state, and past due, — Coupons, $31,755,840 Deduct proceeds of sale of roads 6,131,496 Balance to be paid by the state, 25,604,344 Interest paid on this amount to date, .... 17,809,669 Making total cost to the state, 143,414,013 After regaining control of the state's affairs in 1872, the Democrats of Missouri have so managed and utilized the vast resources of the Commonwealth, that the debt left by the Republicans has been largely reduced and will in a few years be entirely extinguished. As an evidence of the economy and honesty with which the finances of Missouri have been handled since 1872, it is only necessary to note the fact that the bonds of the state command a higher price than those of any state in the Union, whilst the taxes imposed upon the people have been steadily decreased. It has been often claimed by the Republican leaders in Missouri, that the sale of the state's property in the railroads for the amounts received, was absolutely necessary at the time, in order to develope the resources of the state by put- ting the roads in the hands of individuals and corporations by whose enterprise they would be completed and operated. Two significant facts disprove this statement and show that other than patriotic motives induced these sales. The official report of George R. Taylor, President of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, showing the expenditure of $192,000 by the Company to secure the passage of the act authorizing the sale of the Missouri Pacific Railroad for §5,000,000, and the ecpially extraordinary circumstances atlendino; the sale of the Iron Mountain and Cairo and Fulton Railroads in the year 1866. These roads were sold by three Commissioners, appointed by the Republican Governor, under the act of the General Assembly, approved March 19th, 1866. The law required the Commissioners to make the sale to the highest and best bidder, the bids to be handed, under seal, to the Commission. 292 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? The bid of John C. Vogel, Samuel Simmons et al., of $900,001), for both roads, was accepted, and the roads trans- ferred to these gentlemen, who immediately afterwards sold their interest to Thomas Allen for a much larger sum than the amount paid the state. And now comes the strangest part of this "strange, event- ful history." One of the Commissioners, a brother-in-law of the Governor, and belonging to the same party, resigned his place on the Commission, and in a published card stated tiiat the bid accepted by the Commissioners for the two roads, was not the highest and best, as the law required, but that he had in vain protested against the action of the other Commission- ers, and, being powerless as a minority member of the board, had no other alternative than to resign. In the face of these facts it requires vastly more than ordi- nary credulity to believe that patriotic motives caused these sales of the state's property. FRAUDULENT COUNTY BONDS. Another legacy of the six years' rule of the Republican party in Missouri, was a county and municipal b.onded in- debtedness of more than $15,000,000, created by county courts and the Republican officials of towns and cities, for the pretended purpose of constructing railroads which had no ex- istence except in the brains of corrupt speculators. The Drake Constitution having excluded from the ballot box a large majority of the property-holders of the state, there were elected in every county, town and city, by the vicious and ignorant element that felt no responsibility, and was the absolute property of designing carpet-baggers, corrupt officials, who became the willing tools of knaves and adven- turers. Railroads in every direction were projected, and county courts, city councils, and boards of trustees, elected by pau- pers and vagabonds, being under the law financial agents of counties^ cities and towns, went into partnership with corrupt speculators and issued without the knowledge and against the consent of the people, more than fifteen million dollars in EECONSTRUCTION IN MISSOURI. 293 county and municipal bonds, the principal and interest of which have been, or are being, paid by the tax-payers. In vain did the plundered people appeal to the courts. By repeated decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, it was adjudged that bonds issued to construct railroads by county courts and municipal authorities, having the legal power to create such indebtedness, the bonds being regular upon their face, and giving no notice of fraud, were in the nature of negotiable instruments, issued to an innocent pur- chaser before maturity, for a valuable consideration, and must be paid, no matter how outrageous the robbery perpetrated by the county or other officials in creating them. Driven to desperation, the tax-payers in some localities rose against the conspirators, and avenged their wrongs in scenes of blood and horror. In 1872 the citizens of Cass County stopped a railroad train and shot to death the Presiding Judge of the County Court and the County Attorney, who had issued two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of fraudulent county bonds, and divided them among a gang of faithless officials and corrupt adventurers. It is to be hoped that never again will be witnessed upon this continent the reign of fraud and outrage to which the people of Missouri were subjected during these years of Re- publican supremacy. They are to-day paying the fraudulent debts then created, and from which they cannot escape. Reconstruction in Missouri cost the tax-payers of the state heavily, but their experience has been cheaply bought, if it prevents the return to power of the party under whose auspices they were wronged and plundered. G. G. Vest. CHAPTER XL RECONSTRUCTION IN ARKANSAS. CRIMINATION and recrimination are as repugnant to good taste as they are to my own inclination. Between sections of a common country they arc criminal. Under this conviction, and that all parts of our Republic; might be fraternized and united in a combined eifort to build up our great nationality, the Southern statesmen have abstained from replying to the many slanders against the Southern people, which have been widely circulated by Republican leaders, until their unanswered reiteration hassled to the belief that they are true, and has produced such wide-spread and deep- rooted prejudices among their less informed followers as to amount, in the judgment of thinking and patriotic men, to a serious danger to our institutions. As evidenced by the character of the late presidential cam- paign in the North, that section is becoming as separate and antagonistic as if we were two distinct and hostile empires. Surely this is to be deplored and surely it becomes a public duty of Southern men who know the facts, to disabuse the minds of the more candid of our fellow-citizens of the North ; to let them see that the antagonism of the people of the South to the Republican party is in no sense an antagonism to the Northern section of our common country; to show them that the conduct of this party in the South was such as not only to repel the patriotism and decency of the South, but was also such as should serve as a monumental warninor to the American people against all attempts to seek party ad- vantage through illegitimate or doubtful legislative enactment. It is under this conviction of duty that I have consented to write this review of Reconstruction in Arkansas. Nor is there the slightest admixture of malice in anything 294 RECONSTRUCTION IN ARKANSAS. 295 I shall say. Accordingly I shall not mention names except when absolutely necessary. I write not of persons, but of conditions, and methods, and outrages, which I could have hoped it might never be necessary to recall. Indeed, many a man who participated in these outrages, when surrounded by the temptations thrown around him by the then conditions, has become a respected and law-abiding citizen since he has been surrounded by the better influences of Democratic supremacy. I shall respect his present stand- ing, holding myself ready, however, to furnish names upon any demand entitled to respect. To obtain a clear appreciation of the state of things in Arkansas during reconstruction it will be necessary to show how the carpet-bag government was put upon our people by Congress, and also what sort of government it was. It was well known that the Southern people had retiirned from the civil war utterly impoverished. Their desolate homes were without furniture, without fencing, without labor, and often without houses. Nothing was left for the support of themselves and their families except their own courage and manhood, and therefore, they could not afford to lose time at elections except upon the most important questions. Accordingly when Congress, in the Reconstruction act of March 23, 1867, section 5, enacted, " That . . it Con- " gress shall be satisfied that such constitution meets the ap ** proval of a majority of all the qualified electors . . . " and the constitution shall be approved by Congress the " state shall be declared entitled to representation . . . *^&c.," the people of Arkansas were disposed to be grateful to them for thus recognizing their impoverished condition and the consequent value to their families of their time, in thus enabling them to defeat an obnoxious constitution by simply registering and remaining at their much needed labors at home, not to vote at all being equivalent to a vote against it. Thus relying implicitly upon the good faith of Congress, the people pursued their labors in security, feeling assured that nothing very damaging to their interests would be con- summated without their consent. 296 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? v A constitutional convention met and formulated a constitu- tion, which was so un-republicaa in its schedule that the people did not dream that Congress would approve it, and accordingly not nearly half of them voted upon its ratification. Its schedule gave three men, James L. Hodges, Joseph Brooks and Thomas M. Bowen, such absolute control of the election of state and county officials under it that they could elect or defeat whom they wished. Section 4 gave them power to select such judges and clerks of election as they saw fit, and to hold the election as long as they might wish in order to alford the negroes opportunity to vote in as many districts as might be needed (see military re- port of Gen. A. C. Gillem upon election in Pulaski County, April 22, 1868). Section 8 gave them power to reject or count all votes which seemed to them legal or illegal, fraudulent or rightful. Section 11 gave these election judges the right to allow any vote with which they might be " satisfied." This constitution ])rovided for the election of all state and county officers under this schedule. The election of these officers was dependent upon the ratification of the proposed constitution, for, although candidates should receive every vote cast for officers, the new government was only to go into operation on condition that the constitution should re- ceive the votes of a majority of all the registered electors. So read the law of Congress at the time the election for the rati- fication or rejection of the constitution began. But alas! On the second day after the election had begun and in the afternoon the following telegram was received by Gen. A. C. Gillem, the officer commanding : " Washington, March 13, 1868. — The last amendatory act passed is "now law. It provides that majority of votes actually cast determines ** adoption or rejection of constitution ; also that electors may at the same *' time vote for members of Congress and all the elective officers provided " for by said constitution. U. S. Grant. " Major-General A- C. Gillem." This notification, coming two days after the election had begun, too late, as every congressman well knew, for the electors of a state having neither railroads or telegraphs, ever to EECONSTEUCTION IN AEKANSAS. 297 hear of its existence in time for use. Such an election could not be in any sense regarded as fairly expressing the wishes of the people of the state. No election can or ought to be re- garded as fair by any authority unless there be full and fair notice of the terras upon which it is to be held. Conducted as they were the elections resulted in the organization of county, town and state governments, elected by a mere tithe of the voters. In Green County, for instance, the sheriff was elected by a total vote of eight ; the clerk by a total vote of seven ; the state senator from the district, composed of Law- rence, Randolph and Green Counties, was elected by a total vote of thirty. The assurance with which these carpet-bag citizens, fresh from the districts of these congressmen, assumed that they Avould be sustained by Congress ; the ready acceptance by that body of a constitution having such a history and wdiich the commanding general declared was not ratified except by counting 1,900 votes which were fraudulent, and the oppor- tune time at which this last "amendatory act ^' was passed and telegraphed, might even justify a suspicion of a con- spiracy between the Congress and the carpet-bag govern- ment. But the writer has no desire to assail Cong-ress. Recognizing the fact that they had been elected to office by an insignificant minority, the officials were shrewd enough to know that in order to hold their ill-gotten power it was ne- cessary that they should have absolute control, first, of the future elections ; second, of the revenues. But first of all they knew that, as there was likely to be trouble as soon as the people should find out how basely they had been betrayed }\nd how wantonly they were to be plundered of every sacred I'ght of the citizen, it was necessary that they should be thoroughly intimidated. Their first legislature in 1868 addressed themselves to thesje three tasks with the ingenuity of the brigand. Although Gen. C. H. Smith, U. S. A., commanding the district of Arkansas, wrote to his superior officer that there was no state of facts existing in Arkansas to warrant such a step, upon the flimsiest pretexts the governor declared martial 298 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? law ill a uuraber of counties where the people were most out- spoken in tlieir denunciation of the government which had been thus foisted upon them witliout their consent. Negro militia marched and marauded and murdered at will through these counties. I might fill page after page with their atrocities, but I for- bear lest their detail stir up animosities which could do no good, but were better suppressed. They grew, however, to such enormity as to shock espe- cially the "old citizens,'^ who were members of the Legisla- ture, and who were more disposed to be conservative than the carpet-bag representatives, as will be seen by the following general order : " Little Eock, Dec. 4, 186B. " Brig. General Upham, "Commanding Dist. N. E. Ark. "General. — I am instructed by the Governor to write you as follows : " Altliougli the Legislature in the first part of the session fully endorsed " the action of his excellency in declaring martial law and putting into " active service the State Guards, it is ajjparent now that many of them are " ' weaker.ing/ especially are the old citizens beginning to refuse that support "which should be given the executive at this time. In order to prevent " the growth of this feeling and to take advantage of this faction it is de- "sirable that our military operations be pushed to an end within the next "thirty days. All we can do now is to show the rebels that we can march "the militia through any county in the state whenever it is necessary. Use *' every effort to catch the desperadoes in Woodruff, Craighead and Greene " Counties. " I hope you will end your operations in your section as soon as possible. " You see we are likely not only to have to fight the rebels but the Legis- "laturealso. We don't propose to allow any advantage. I am, General, " your obedient servant. " Keyes Danforth, "Adj't. General." In another order to General S. W. Mallory, commanding S. E. Dist. of Ark., on the 25ch day of December, 1868, ten days afterwards, the following sentence occurs : ". . . He," '^ the Governor, " thinks you may safely execute many of *^ them. It is absolutely necessary that some examples be '^ made. (Signed) ^'Pbivate Secretary/' RECONSTRUCTION IN ARKANSAS. 299 It will be seen that he dare not sign his name to this carte blanche commission to murder. His caution, however, was quite unnecessary, as the Legis- lature subsequently passed an amnesty act forbidding the punishment of any of the murders or other outrages com- mitted by this militia. The act is here inserted. I would call especial attention to the phrase, *^ or otherwise," and its significance as it occurs in two places in the act. It covers a multitude of wanton crimes : " An act to declare valid and conclusive certain proclamations of the "Governor of the State of Arkansas and acts done in pursuance thereof, '' or in his orders in the declaration of martial law. '*Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas : " Section 1, That all acts, proclamations and orders of the Governor of " the State of Arkansas, or acts done by his authority, or approved after " the third day of November, 1868, and before the first day of April, 1869, " re-!pecting martial law, military trials by courts-martial, or military com- " missions or the arrest and imprisonment or trials of persons charged with " any ollense against the state, or any resistance to the laws thereof, or as "aiiers or abettors thereof, or as guilty of any disloyal practice in " aid thereof, or of affording aid or comfort to those en2,aged therein, "and all proceedings and acts done by the military forces, or had "by courts-martial or military commissions, arrests, imprisonments, "searches and seizures made in the premises l)y any person by the autiior- " ity of the orders of proclamations of the Governor of the State, made as ''aforesaid, or in aid thereof, or otherwise, are hereby apjiroved in all re- '' spects, legalized and made valid to the same extent and with the same " effect as if said orders, proclamations and acts had been issued and made, "and said arrests, imprisonments, searches and seizures, proceedings and " acts had been done under the previous express authority and directions "of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, and in pursuance of " the laws thereof, previously enacted, and expressly authorizing and di- "recting the same to be done. And no courts of the State of Arkansas "shall have or take jurisdiction of, or in any manner review any of the "proceedings had or acts done as aforesaid ; nor shall any person be hel 1 "to answer in any court of said state, for any act done, or omitted to be "done, in pursuance of or in aid of any of said proclamations, or orders, or "otherwise, by any of said force or forces in the period aforesaid, arjd all " officers and other persons in the State of Arkansas, or who acted in aid " thereof, acting in the premises or otherwise shall be held to be prin)a "facie to have been authorized by the jzovernor of the state; provided, "that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prohibit the "convening of courts-martial for the trial of persons belonging to the " militia or state guards of this state. " Section 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its " passage. "Approved April 6, 1869." 300 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Under these orders right eDergetically did they '^push their military operations.^' Democrats who were most outspoken were arrested without charge, carried off, nobody knows, even to this date, where, in some instances ; others were tied up and shot to death ; others whipped, others imprisoned, and all robbed of personal property. They seemed to act in these outrages, as in many others, upon the assumption that the more atrocious the outrage the less it would be believed in the civilized world, while the very complaints of them could be used as evidence of '' Rebel lies," and " Rebel bitterness and disloyalty.'' If it would serve any good purpose I might give scores of instances in detail. But suffice it to say that the very fact that any man connected with these murders and outrages could reside in Arkansas for from fifteen to twenty-five years afterwards unmolested, is the highest possible tribute to the love of peace and order of the people of the state. ELECTIONS. Their first election law was a model of mockery. It should be preserved in the archives of the Nation as at once a history and an admonition. Section 2270 (Gant's Digest) gave the Governor, with the consent of the Senate, power to select all the registrars of votes. Section 2274 gave him power to fill all vacancies (which were sure to occur when he wished it — see page 23 * Po- land's report No. 5, to the 42d Congress, 2d session). Section 2270 gave him the right to select the president of the Board of Registrars. Section 2281 gave the Board of Registrars power to reject any vote at will. Section 2288 gave the Board of Review the power to erase the names of those who had registered if they saw fit to do so. * The Republican House of the Forty-second Congress, second session, raised a Committee, of which Mr. Poland, of Vermont, was chairman, and fent them to Arkansas to investigate the affairs of Arkansas to ascertain if that state had a Republican form of government. RECONSTRUCTION IN ARKANSAS. 301 Section 2307 gave the Board the power to select all clerks and jndges of election. To make the job complete, section 2300 forbade any inter- ference by the courts of justice. Under this farce all the elections of the state were held until, in 1874, they had become so shocking to decency, the people by a vote of ten to one (or 88,000 to 8,000) demanded its overthrow. I might fill a thousand pages, as the report of Hon. Mr. Poland, of Vermont, fills upward of six hundred pages, with outrages upon the ballot perpetrated with impunity under this act, but in the interest of brevity I will cite only a few by way of illustrating each species. NO. 1. ERASING FROM REGISTRATION BOOKS. The favorite scheme, and the one practiced in every pre- cinct in the state, where it was necessary, was to first register all who were entitled to vote and then meet in review in some private place and scratch off with red ink such names as were necessary to secure their majority, under section 2288, which gave them that power. In this legislative district, composed of the counties of Franklin, Crawford, Sebastian and Scott, just before the election of 1872, 2500 names of legal voters were erased by the Board of Review after they had been registered. (See the depositions of many of them in Poland report No. 22, page 35 to 52.) In this county the board struck off 1300 names. (See testimony of one of the board, H. A. Pearce, Poland report No. 2, page 70.) Many of these were Union men and ex-Federal soldiers. NO. 2. THROWING OUT COUNTIES AND PRECINCTS. Another favorite plan, was to have their friends get up some sort of irregularity in precincts or counties and then use it as a pretext for throwing out the precinct or county vote entire. 302 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? In 1872, after all the returns had come up to the Secretary of State, it was found that Brooks was elected Governor. That official (the Secretary of State) sent the returns back to be *^ doctored/' and letters were written to the clerks to amend returns, and excuses Avere gathered up for throwing out enough precincts and counties to elect Baxter. Democratic })recincts in Van Buren County, all but one in Conway County, all of Green, Johnson, Scott and Poinsett Counties were thrown out. Leading Republicans went all over the state to attend to the ''doctoring.'^ (See Poland's report No. 2, pages 244, 245, 255 and 67 to 75.) In Hot Springs County, in 1868, the Register began to register votes, and had registered, perhaps, a dozen, when several gentlemen came into the yard to register. They were quietly laughing and conversing among themselves about e very-day matters, when the Register jumped up and said he wanted protection. The bystanders were astonished. They asked him what he meant? He rc])licd that if he could not get protection he w^ould quit, and immediately picked up his book and left. Nobody understood it until a few days afterward a procla- mation of the Governor declared that no election would be held in this county. The Register had selected an out-of-way precinct to enact this farce. Thus this Democratic county was wholly disfranchised. NO. 3. ERASING AND STUFFING. In Hot Springs County, in 1872, a candidate for State Senator fraudulently struck off three hundred names from the registration books and substituted in their stead several hundred straw names, and after the election, his brother being clerk, he called oft* these straw names and his brother added them to the poll list and voted them. Many of the names scratched oft" were those of Republicans, who would not vote for senator. (See Poland report No. 5, pages 22 to 28.) In Caddo Township, in Clark County, the poll book showed 1148, whereas the registration book and the census showed only 800. (See Poland report No. 5, page 23.) BECONSTKUCTION IN ARKANSAS. 303 In Missouri Township ihe candidate for Clerk, who was one of the judges of election, stole and stuffed the ballot box four hundred votes. This stuffing elected him. In Antioch Township only seventeen names registered but one hundred and twenty- one voted in 1870, etc. NO. 4. STEALING ONE BOX AND SUBSTITUTING ANOTHER. In the town of Van Buren, Crawford County, a leading negro was instructed to place sentinels upon the various roads leading into town, and to keep back negro voters until the afternoon. He was not told why. The supervisors of election were also kept outside until after dinner. The Democrats voted in the forenoon. When the judges and clerks and supervisors went up-stairs to dinner, a box already prepared, having as many votes in it as had voted in the forenoon, and all Republican votes, was substi- tuted for the one in which the forenoon votes had been cast and which was stolen. It was afterward found in the garret with the Democratic votes all in it. In the afternoon the negroes and Republicans did their voting in this new box, which was the one counted. (See Poland's report No. 2, pages 36, 49 and 50.) NO. 5. SECRETLY CHANGING POLLING-PLACES AND STUFFING. In Richland Township, in Crawford County, the polling- place was secretly changed on the night before the election of 1872, from the place where it had been for thirty years, and removed six miles to a cane brake on the farm of the United States Marshal of the Western District of Arkansas. The negroes and the Republicans were advised of the change, but not the Democrats. A box with fifty votes in it, all Republican, was taken to the polling-place, and they were kept in the box and counted by the judge. The box was taken ten miles away in another township, and there the votes were counted. (See Poland report No. 2, pages 36 and 37.) 304 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? NO. 6. DEFEATING REGISTRATION. The Board of Registrars would meet at the appointed time for registration, but would only let a few Re})ublicans in, and then adjourn to the next day. People would come for miles, for three or four days at a time, but as they could not get in, they would get discouraged and go home. In Clarksville and Newport and other phices, not one in ten could register. (See Poland report No. 2, pages 284, 289 and 290.) NO. 7. CERTIFICATION. It was a boast of the Clerk of Union County, that *' the Democrats must think I am a d — d fool, if they ever ex- pect me to certify a Democrat as elected while I am clerk." NO. 8. EXCHANGING. In 1872, in Cache Precinct in Monroe County, 125 more votes were voted for Brooks for Governor than the judges returned. Brooks' votes were given to Baxter and Baxter's to Brooks. (See page 333, Poland report No. 2.) But why multiply examples? Let any candid man read the 670 pages of Mr. Poland's two reports to the Forty- second Congress, second session, and say whether, if any Ar- kansian were seeking a generic phrase, which would include every species of outrage upon the ballot ever invented by man, he would not be justifiable in terming it " REPUBLICANIZING THE BALLOT?" Let it not be forgotten that I have not referred to the testi- mony of Democrats before that committee, but to that of Re- publicans and men, too, who had participated in the outrages to which they swore. They had perpetrated the outrages to secure the election of Baxter as Governor, but when he proved more honest than they had expected, they swore to their own infamy to get him unseated, and hfTv^ing been sustained so long by all departments of government, they EECONSTEUCTION IN ARKANSAS. 305 fully expected Congress to do their bidding and to reinstate them. REVENUES. Their first revenue law is exquisite in the ingenuity of its plan of plunder. Responsible alone to public sentiment of the Worth, they dared not to make the rate of taxation too exorbitant, but raised their enormous revenues through exorbitant assess- ments, which could more readily be hidden from public view. For an illustration, in 1865, the first year of Democratic rule after the war and before reconstruction, the tax on the North 1 of Sec. 1, T. 4, S. R. 2 W., was $2A0. In 1873, the last year of Republican rule, the tax on same tract was $29.70, or upward of TWELVE TIMES AS MUCH. Or to take two other periods, in 1888, when property all over Arkansas was more valuable than ever before, a house and twelve lots in De Witt was assessed at §1060 under Democratic regime. In 1871, under Republican rule, the same house, with only half as many lots and not nearly so well improved, was assessed at $4640, or nearly five times as much. The tax on the same house, greatly improved, with twelve lots, was in 1888, under Democratic rule, $14.60. In 1871, on same house with only half as many lots, under Republican rule, the tax was $92.80, or nearly seven times as much. These remarkable differences were effected through the in- strumentality ot their peculiar assessment law. It is a curi- ous document. Section 38 gave the Governor power to appoint and to remove all assessors. Section 156 gave the assessor 3 J percent, commission upon all taxes collected, as a bribe to assass largely. Section 47 required him to swear that he had not assessed any property at less than its cash value. He could assess it 20 306 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? as much more as lie pleased, and no questions asked. Not only did the governor hold the power of removal m terrorcm over him; not only did they bribe him })y large commissions; not only did they swear him not to assess too little, but Sec- tions 53 and 64 made it the duty of the County Clerk to re- vise the assessor's return and to add as much as he saw fit, but forbade him to reduce " in any case/' Section 154 gave the clerk a bribe for adding in the shape of fees, the amount depending upon number of words. Sections 57 and QQ^ organized a County Board of Equaliza- tion, composed of this same assessor, this same clerk, and two other county officials interested in large tax crops. To this board the law said : You may raise any assessment you think proper, or reduce in any case you wish, but you shall not '' reduce the aggre- gate value of the property of the county below the aggregate value thereof as returned by the assessor with the additions of the clerk as hereinbefore required." Or as it was construed and acted u})on, "you may take from a llepublican as much as you ])lease, but you must put it upon Democrats, so as not to reduce the aggregate.^ yy EXTRAVAGANT RESULTS. Under Democratic rule the amount expended for state pur- poses for the two and one-half vears, from April 18th, 1864, to October 1st, 1866, was only |1 62,000, or $64,000 per annum. Under Republican rule for two years, ending October 1st, 1870, the amount expended for state purposes, was $1,949,- 456.72, or upward of §974,000 })er annum, being more than fifteen times as much. For two years ending October 1st, 1872, the amount ex- pended was $1,805,137.98, or upwards of §902,000 per an- num, being upward of fourteen times as much. For the two years ending October 1st, 1874, the amount expended was $2,529,686.91, or upwards of §1,264,000 per annum, being more than nineteen times as much. In addition to these amounts collected and expended during RECONSTEUCTION IN AKKAXSAS. 307 these six years iiader Republican rule, they left outstand- ing claims amounting to |2, 147, 950. 20, which have been paid bv Democrats since, and which increases their annual average expenditures to §1,259,140.03, or nineteen times as much as under Democratic rule. One item will serve to account for this vast difference. It seems to have been necessary to import carpet-baggers to do certain work of this illegitimate government from which the old citizens recoiled, and when they came to Little Rock it was necessary to provide for them until they were needed in their respective fields of duty. Accordingly they were put upon the pay roll as clerks of some of the departments. For instance : Under the Democrats in 1866, the Auditor's office included that of Land Commissioner. The clerk hire for that year amounted to §4,373.60. Under Republican rule in 1873, the office has been divided into two. The clerk hire in one half (Auditor's office proper) amounted during that vear to §60,461.21. In the other half to §43,673.30, being a total of §104,434.51, or upwards of twenty-three times as much. (See special report of Auditor, January 7th, 1877.) That there be no quibbling about periods, let us take two others for comparison. During the six years of Repul:>lican rule there were expended for state purposes (not including school expenses) a total of §7,555,840.28, being an average of §1,259,140.03 per annum. Of this vast sum less than §iOO,000, or one 75th part, w^ere expended for public improvements. During six years of Democratic rule, from 1880 to 1886, (after most of the floating debt had been paid off) the total cost of state government (not including school expenses) was S2,- 173,446.66, and of this more than §500,000, or nearly one- fourth, was for public buildings. Deducting amount for public buildings and we have under Democratic rule for six years, a total of §1,673,446.66, or about §278,000 per annum. Deducting amount for public buildings under Republican rule and we have left a total of §7,454,830.21 or upwards of 308 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? $1,242,000 per annum. But it should be remembered that a very large part of the expenses under Democratic rule is for care of state institutions built by Democrats and not in ex- istence during the Republican regime. It must not be forgotten, if we would rightly appreciate the enormity of their plunder, that I have been speaking of state taxes and state expenses alone. The county, town and school district taxes and expenses were very much moreextrav- aoraiit and burdensome. The rate ol taxes m the various counties and towns ranged from 2 per cent, to 6 per cent., and school district tax from 2 per cent, to 3J per cent, and upon assessments often more than the property would sell for. These enormous taxes, taken together with the state tax, amounted, in hundreds and thousands of instances, to confiscation. In Union County hr.ndreds of farms were abandoned. In Arkansas Couuty 2,510 tracts of land were sold for taxes in 1868. In this city,* then a village, in 1873 a widow lady, who made a living by sewing, was taxed §60 on a piece of a lot fronting on a back alley and having a house which could be built for from $300 to $400. It was more money than she had ever had at one time in her life. My wife, moved to tears at her deep distress at the prospective and inevitable loss of her home, persuaded me to pay her taxes as an act of charity. The whole state was filled with despondency and gloom. No wonder that the next year there was such an overwhelm- ing demand for the overthrow of the conspiracy. But the half has not yet been told. In addition to all these vast revenues collected and wantonly expended, they left the state and every county, town and school district in the state overwhelmed with DEBTS. If there is a single exception I have not been able to find it out. I doubt not that the aggregate of these county debts * Fort Smith. EECONSTRUCTION IN AEKANSAS. 309 amounted to more than the entire state debt, including the fraudulent bonds of the state, and yet there was absolutely nothing to show for them. The school district of Fort Smith, for an example, was left so deeply in debt that for several years a number of us had to support the public schools by private subscriptions, while the entire tax was appropriated to paying off its debts. ' This county was left a debt of about |1 00,000, with not $500 worth of improvements to show for it. The county of Clark was left a debt of $300,000, of which only $500 was expended in public improvements. Chicot County has a debt of $400,000, with no quid pro quo handed down from the conspiracy. Pulaski County had a debt left her of nearly, if not quite, a $1,000,000 (including Little Eock). The scripts of the various towns, counties and school dis- tricts were worth only from 10 cents to 30 cents on the dollar. Even the state script, bearing 5 per cent, interest, was worth only 25 cents on the dollar. On the other hand, when the Democrats got in power, in 1874, their constitution made the maximum of state taxes 1 per cent, (we levy only one-half of that), that of the county one-half of 1 per cent., that of cities and towns one-half of 1 per cent., that of school districts one-half of 1 per cent. It also forbids the issue of any bonds or other interest-bearing evi- dences of debt for any purpose except to pay pre-existing debts. Yet, notwithstanding these low rates, we have taken up upwards of two millions of the floating debt of the state, paid off several hundred thousand dollars of bonded debt, paid oif nearly all the county and school debts, have built an hun- dred times as many school-houses, and twenty times as many other public improvements as did the Republicans with all their millions of revenues, amounting to from ten to nineteen times as much as have been exacted from the people by the Democratic government. In addition to all these taxes, and county and town and school district debts, they left us a legacy of nearly ten mil- lions of fraudulent State bonds to be dealt with. 1st. Under a law, since declared unconstitutional by our 310 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Supreme Court, bonds of the state were issued, during Re- construction, to the amount of $5,350,000 to certain railroad companies, all in fraud of the law, even if it had been con- stitutional. Fi'om two to three times as much was issued to each road us the terms of the law allowed. To the M. & L. R. R. R. Co. was issued $1,200,000, nearly three times as much as was allowed by the terms of the law. To the L. R., P. B. ^ith them the innumerable offices for which provision was made in the Constitution they had artfully framed, the negroes became for six years pliant instruments in the hands of the adventurers. The purpose of the organic law which they had originated, and their every device, tended to the one object of robbing and luxuriating upon, the labor of the im- poverished people. Having the entire election machinery in their control and the army at their command, they secured four-fifths of the Legislature (the white counties having been deprived of equal representation by a discriminating and iniquitous apportionment), elected their ticket for State officers and Senators and Representatives in Congress. In a word, mongrelism, ignorance and depravity were installed. The State had been *'' reconstructed '' after the most approved fashion of Thad. Stevens, Charles Sumner, O. P. Morton, John Sherman and other great Republican leaders, w'ho looked complacently on their w^ork and said it was good. The Legislature was composed mainly of NEGROES AND CARPET BAGGERS, with a small ingredient of honest and capable citizens of Avhite counties which had been allowed meagre representa- tion. One of the persons elected to the United States Senate w^as a negro, a new-comer froni some other part of the coun- try ; and the other was Adelbert Ames, an army officer who had superintended the election and of whom it w^as truthfully said by Hon. J. L. Alcorn, another Republican, '^ He does not live here ; he has no interest in Mississippi except simply to hold an office as long as that office continues ; and when the office ends, he is done with Mississippi.^^ He was subse- quently transferred from the United States Senate to the office of Governor. The most becoming act of this adven- turer was his resignation of the latter office and departure for his home in the North pending articles of impeachment. Every department of the State government was in the con- trol of the adventurers and negroes. The latter race had a majority in the Legislature, and on several occasions, drew 334 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? the color line and asserted their supremacy. It can be readily seen that ^' reconstruction '^ meant ORGANIZED WAR BETWEEN THE RACES. There could be no peace, prosperity nor order in a State thus governed. The era of niongrelism was an era of anguish and antagonism ; an era of fraud and profligacy. The authoritias of the State did not reflect the will nor pro- mote the welfare of the peo})le. Unprincipled adventurers, and their illiterate and ambitious negro allies, ruled and robbed. Justice was bought and sold. Taxes amounted to confiscation. Labor was robbed of its earnings. The demon of strife like ^'a fury crowned with thorns^' was turned loose. Chaos had come again. It should be remembered that at the close of the war, the people of Mississippi had been brought to the lowest depths of poverty, always excepting the Dugald Dalgettys, who, professing to be on either side, as occasion offered, levied contributions on both. Landlords found their estates encumbered and run to waste. They were pursued with remorseless greed by rapacious creditors. Their laboring capital was gone. Their dwellings were dilapidated or totally destroyed. Their gin houses were dismantled or burned. Their fences rotted down. The mer- chants, finding their means swept out of existence, were forced to compromise with creditors upon terms which under other circumstances would have been discreditable. The con- dition of the emancipated race was deplorable. Traditional slaves, the responsibilities of freedom and citizenship were put upon them suddenly when they were incapable of bearing them. The idea they had of freedom was that it would relieve them of the necessity of labor, and license them to live in idleness, and to indulge in w^hatever propensity they might desire to follow. Every expedient was devised by their self-constituted guardians to mislead, to deceive and rob them of their scanty earnings. A GIGANTIC SWINDLING AGENCY known as the Freed men's Savings Bank, was established at Washington, with br'anches extending through the negro EECONSTRUCTION IN MISSISSIPPI. 335 centres of the South, by the preteDded benefactors of the freedraen. Into this concern they were induced to deposit their small earnings, which were greedily seized and appropri- ated by the human vultures. These deposits have not yet been returned, and though nearly all of the original victims have passed away, claim agents, in the hope of reaping a reward, are beseiging Congress for an appropriation to refund them out of the Federal treasury. While white and black were struggling in the SLOUGH OF A CO:NrMON CALAMITY, such " reconstruction ^' as I have described was inaug^urated. The various departments of the State government Avere filled for the most part as Horace Greeley said, by " rascally advent- urers and refuse of Northern society who came South, out at elbows to make their fortunes;^' negroes, many of whom, did not know the first letter in the alphabet, and scallawags who were natives to the soil and readily became participants in " gathering up the wreck " as their nefarious occupation was appropriately called. The government managed by these classes, it may be imagined greatly aggravated the misfortunes of the people. In an address dated October 8th, 1875, upon the decrease of pro})erty values during five years of their rule, it was demonstrated that it had produced widespread destruction, that the cormorants were devouring more than the toiling people could make by the utmost industry and economy. The progress from the lower deep of desolation to still lower depths was going on with frightful speed. Under the organic law framed for the purpose of encouraging such abuses, the Legislature, constituted mainly of the same material which composed the Mongrel Convention, multiplied offices for the benefit of drones, originated jobs, and voted appropri- ations for the enrichment of rings. The halls, lobbies and committee rooms of the capitol swarmed with harpies. Igno- rance and knavery, inside and out, contended for the mastery over intelligence and honesty. The stream could rise no higher than its source, and was therefore polluted and corrupt. The Judiciary was partisan, not only in the sense that it 336 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? was composed of members of one political organization : but with rare exceptions, they draggled the ermine in the mire of partisan politics, and prostituted to party ends the influence reflected from their positions. Judges were ap- pointed on political grounds without reference to qualification ; and the selection of incompetents was of frequent occurrence. As the property rights, and personal security of every indi- vidual in a comnuinity, depend on the wisdom, integrity, and stability of the courts of justice, a learned and upright judici- ary is a public blessing ; but the sum of all curses is a judici- ary that is weak, incompetent and corrupt. The Executive Department lavished large sums for which no account was rendered, on partisan favorites emjiloyed in the despicable capacity of spies, always a favorite custom of despots who wronged, and feared, the people. This depart- ment had the ready co-operation of the Legislature, in all those infamous schemes of the reconstruction era, such as the Picked Cavalry and the Gatlin gun bills for terrorizing the j)eople ; the bill to carry into eifect the clause of the consti- tution authorizing the transportation of persons for trial to counties remote from the ])laces where their offences were al- leged to have been committed, the Pearl Piver Navigation swindle and kindred measures. It was a custom of the Gov- ernor in derogation of the honor and dignity of the State, upon pretexts created by his own machinations to call upon the federal government for troops to keep the peace, to enforce his decrees and to interfere in State elections. This practice was contrary to the traditions of a free people, and has ever been especially repugnant to t^e people of this country. The colonists before they separated from Great Britain indignantly remonstrated when troops were stationed in their midst, and notified the government of that country that they would not deliberate in their assemblies while troops were stationed in the vicinage. The English-speaking people have ever regarded a standing army at the polls as the deadly enemy of freedom. An act of Parliament passed in 1735, directed that no troops should be quartered at any place where an election was to be held. Gov. Ames, not unmindful of the repugnance of the people of the United States to the continued use of troops in EECONSTRUCTION IN MISSISSIPPI. 337 the States of the Union, with shameless effrontery on the 11th of September, 1875, repeated the call which he had made on the President for additional military force, saying : ^- 1 am aware of the reluctance of the people of the country towards national interference in State elections, (by the use of troops). . . . Permit me to hope that the odium of such inter- ference will not attach to the President, or the Republican party. Let the odium in all its magnitude descend upon me.'' He said it was an *^AN ISSUE OF EACE," and nothing less than the military power of the United States could settle it." This '' issue," it will be borne in mind, was an inevitable consequence of the plan of ^^ recon- struction '' w!:ich had been devised pretendedly to maintain ^' unimpaired," ^^the dignity, equality and rights of the sev- eral States." Under pretence of an educational system wasteful appro- priations were made. The chief ground of complaint by the impoverished tax-payers was that the system instead of being a nursery of useful knowledge, honesty and correct principle in the training of the youths of the State the way they should go, became in fact the convenient cover for all kinds of plun- dering schemes, jobs in school books, jobs in school buildings, jobs in school furniture, jobs in everything. School warrants were depreciated to afford operators the opportunity of speculating and amassing fortunes. The highest rate of com- pensation was paid for the lowest standard of qualification. The head of the department was an embezzler, forger and thief, who wound up his career by fleeing from the State to avoid the penalty of his crime. Speaking of this refugee naturally reminds me of the Penitentiary. This institution had been self-sustaining before the war. Its well-trained muscular labor ought to have more than indemnified the State after the war, but it became a heavy burden, costing on an average during the six years of carpet- bag misrule the large sum of seventy-seven thousand dollars a year. Its financial policy was a model of 22 338 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? PKOFLIGACY AND EXTRAVAGANCE. It was described in language more forcible than I can command, by the late Henry Musgrove, Auditor of Public Accounts during the first four years of misrule. In his report of January 1st, 1874, he said: ^' For the past three years, and the present one now before you, in no single instance have the receipts proper reached the expenditures of any year ; but on the contrary, the latter have far exceeded the former, and hence a debt of considerable magnitude has increased year after year." Governor Ames, in his message of January 4, 1874, bore testimony to the deplorable financial condition, saying: "The state is in debt, her credit is impaired. '' For the increase of indebtedness from a mere song to several millions, there was nothing to show except the dejn-ession of all kinds of industry and an alarming diminution of the property values of the State. Deplorable is the fate of a people whose agents habitually make larger appropriations from their treasury than can be collected by the most grinding system of taxation. It eats up the fruits of toil. Destroys values. Depresses business. Imposes upon them the most exacting of task-masters, an oppressive public debt. Such was the sys- tem declared to have been put in practice during the " recon- struction ^' period. The anomaly existed of an increase of the public debt in proportion to the increase of taxes. The decrease in proj)erty valuation during these six years of mal- administration amounted to forty millions of dollars. Six million four hundred thousand acres comprising twenty per cent, of the lands in the State, had been forfeited for non-pay- ment of taxes. After they were confiscated they ceased to be taxable, and the taxes upon those which remained in the pos- session of their owners, were proportionately raised. THE tax-payers' PRAYER. The tax-payers assembled in a State convention to consider their wrongs; and on the 4th January, 1875, addressed an earnest petition to the Legislature for relief. From this petition the following extract is made : EECONSTRUCTION IN MISSISSIPPI. 339 " To show the extraordinary and rapid increase of taxation imposed on this impoverished people, tliese particulars are cited : In 1869, the state levy was ten cents on the hundred dollars of assessed value of lands. For the year 1871, it was four times as great. For 1872, it was four times as great. For the year 1873, it was eight and a half times as great. For the year 1874, it was fourteen times as great. The people are poorer than ever before. . . . The aggre- gate amount of taxes levied on us, in our poverty, greatly exceeds the amount levied on us in prosperous days. Thus as the people become poorer, are their burdens increased. In many counties, the increase in the county levies, has been still greater.^' Hon. George C. ISIcKee, then and now, a trusted Republican leader, wrote : " I would beg you to bear in mind that there is no fear of cutting too deep. The evil is enor- mous. The petition of the tax-payers should be heeded." Hon. George E. Harris, Republican Ex-Attorney General, and member of Congress, in an open letter to a political asso- ciate, said : " The people are in a stafe of exasperation, and in their poverty and desperation they are in arms against the burden of taxes levied and collected on their property. They have made a respectful appeal to the Legislature for relief." But the respectful appeal of the tax-payers was treated with contempt. It was laughed to scorn by the adventurers and negroes into whose keeping " reconstruction " had been com- mitted, the affairs of the state. And thus the condition grew from bad to worse. The curses of Pharaoh had come again. They were not frogs. They were human vultures who gnawed like consuming cancers into the substance of the people. INFAMY AND DISGRACE CONSTANTLY INCEEASING. In reading the foregoing sketch of the evils produced by " reconstruction '^ upon the plan enforced by the dominant party of the Union, the public will discern the accuracy of the following description of the Southern State governments made at the time by a prominent Northern statesman, Hon. Eugene Hale, a United States Senator from Maine. " The infamy and disgrace of certain Southern State gov- 340 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? crnments have been constantly on tlie increase, . . . There have been bad men in those states who have bought power by wholesale bribery, and have enriched themselves at the expense of the people by peculation, or open-handed robbery. Corruption and anarchy have occupied and possessed these unfortunate States.'^ True to the life. If corruption was sought it was here. If knavery, it was here. If ignorance, it was here. If " an- archy," it was here. The wickedness and folly of forcing the negro into collision with the white race was apparent. The criminal intent to install the former as the ruler of the latter was so gross a violation of nature's laws, that it forced the whites to ignore all other considerations and unite as one man for self-protection. The adventurers were reckless and de- praved. The negroes were intoxicated by the dizzy height to which they had been suddenly raised. The attempt of sec- tional agitators and philonegrists to reverse the abnormal relation of the two races produced the inevitable consequence of strife and bloody conflict. It was worse than folly to suppose that the negro who had through all the ages shown his utter incapacity for self-government could be elevated from a state of slavery into the rulership of the race which history teaches had sometimes been forced to succumb to superior numbers of its own kind, but had never bent the suppliant knee to an inferior race. In Mississippi, the vigilance, forti- tude, courage, and natural force of the white race prevented a repetition of the histories of the negro countries of Hayti and San Domingo where the comparatively few whites residing in the islands when emancipation was proclaimed were either massacred or banished. RESCUED FROM MISRULE. It has been seen that in 1869, a determined effort enabled the white people to defeat the scheme for their permanent dis- franchisement. In 1875, by a similar resolute endeavor, they succeeded in rescuing the State from the misrule which I have sketched. In an address to the ensuing Democratic State Convention, RECONSTRUCTION IN MISSISSIPPL 341 Hon. J. Z. George, Chairman of the State Executive Com- mittee said : '' For the past six years our struggle has been to overthrow misrule and to secure the opportunity of self- government. We were then without a policy beyond the de- termination that economy should supersede waste, and honesty and competency should expel vice and ignorance from official life. The particular measures by which a people can be made great and prosperous did not engage our attention. Now it behooves us to consider what measures will most advance us, and see that they are adopted/^ AVhen this address v/as delivered a Democratic Legislature had already been elected. Governor Ames had resigned and left the State. A Democrat (Hon. J. M. Stone) by virtue of his election as presiding officer of the State Senate, had been installed in the office of Governor, and measures had been taken to arrest the downward course of the State. It was a saying of Edmund Burke that in England from the earliest times the great battles for freedom had been fought on the question of taxation. Here in Mississippi it had been fought on the questions of taxation and of social order. The first step of the reformers was to reduce the one and establish the other. They hastened to lift the burden of superfluous taxes from the shoulders of the oppressed people ; to dismiss super- numerary officials ; to improve the common school system ; to abolish sinecures, and to reduce salaries. State taxes were reduced from 9J mills on the dollar to 2J mills. The taxing power of county boards of supervisors was restricted. It had been shamefully abused. In the counties where the colored element predominated, taxes had ranged anywhere from 15 to 50 mills on the dollar. To prevent this abuse, a law was passed prohibiting boards of supervisors from levying taxes for county purposes which added to the state tax, would exceed 12^ mills on the dollar, except for indispensable purposes. The State was placed on an honest financial basis, by which her depreciated bonds were brought to par. The levee system was improved. The cumbrous and expensive system of hold- ing elections was superseded by a simpler and more economi- cal one. Of the 6,400,000 acres of land which were forfeited for non-payment of the excessive taxes imposed, all except 342 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? 250,000 have been redeemed. Property valuation has been largely increased. Outside capital, too cautious to trust itself to a state administration in which ignorance and corruption were the rule, and capacity and integrity the exception, com- menced seeking investment in all kinds of industrial enter- prises. In 1870, there were in round numbers but 800 miles of railroad in the State. In 1889, there were 2,100 miles. In the public school system the improvement has been marked. For educational purposes, the whites pay 90 per cent, of the taxes, and realize in the schooling of their own race about 40 per cent. A careful investigation of the educational reforms in Mississippi, in common with the other States of the South, has induced a Northern educator, Rev. Dr. A. D. Mayo, eminent alike for his learning and philanthropy, to declare that ^' no other people in human history has made an effort so remarkable as the people of the South, in re-establishing their schools and colleges. Overwhelmed by war and bad govern- ment, they have done wonders,'^ (he continues,) ^' and with the interest and zeal now felt in public schools in the South, the hope for the future is brighter th^m ever.'' He added : ^^ Last year these IG states paid nearly $1,000,000 each for educational purposes, a sum greater according to their means, than ten times the amount now paid by most of the New Eugland States.'' This statement of the eminent Massachusetts educator and philanthropist, is fully verified as to Mississippi, by the report of the State Superintendent of Public Education for the year 1889, wherein it is shown that the State appropriated $1,209,- 343 for school purposes, on a total assessment of property amounting to §157,518,906, and that the number of children enrolled in her public schools are 148,435 white and 172,552 colored. Mr. Spooner, of AVisconsin, a distinguished Republican leader, in a speech in the United States Senate, delivered as late as March 3, 1890, fully supports the glowing report of Dr. Mayo. He says : " The South, since 1880, not only has grown with wonder- ful rapidity, justifying the pride with which her people de- clare to the world their material resources, but she has grown RECONSTRUCTION IN MISSISSIPPI. 343 since 1880, marvelously in the matter of common school edu- cation/' Fortifying his statement with unanswerable figures, he adds : *^ I am brought to the proposition that the Southern people have not only been doing well since 1870 and 1880 in the education of white children, but they have been doing well in the education of colored children." In the same connection, he utters the indisputable truth, that " the burden of the expense is mainly defrayed by the white people of the South.'' Statistics show that JVXississippi has kept abreast with her sister commonwealths of the South. And so there has been a long stride in the MARCH OP IMPROVEMENT, in every element w^hich makes up the sum of public prosper- ity. While no profane attempt has been made to annul the distinctions which Infinite Wisdom has established between the Caucasian and the negro races, nor to bridge over the chasm which He has created, by devices born of fanaticism, the negroes, under white rule, have been afforded 'all the bless- ings of just and impartial laws. Convinced of the safety of their persons and property, they would become entirely con- tented, if their fears and the natural antipathy of race, v/ere not aroused by sectional agitators and fanatics. The object of this paper is to fix the responsibility of ^^re- construction" and its disastrous consequences, where they be- lons:, not to extol the intelliocent and honest rule of the white race. An estimate of what the State suffered by the alien and negro rule resulting from the plan of reconstruction unwisely and needlessly enforced, can be formed by contrasting the losses on the one hand, vv'ith the gains on the other. WHAT ABRAHAM LINCOLN TAUGHT. In clothing the negro with the weighty responsibilities of government when he was utterly unfit for them, the authors of the measure acted not only in defiance of all the lessons of 344 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? history, but of the teachings of the statesman whom they professed to revere above all otliers. In his letter of March 13th, 18(j4, to Michael ITahn, of Louisiana, President Lin- coln wrote : "You are about to have a convention, which will probably define the elective franchise. I have a suggestion for your private consideration, whether some of the colored people may not be let in, as, for instance, the very intelligent, and those who have fought gallantly in our 7'anks. . . . But this is only a suggestion," etc., etc. Mr. Lincoln, it will be seen, was not even clear in the opin- ion that even the "very intelligent negro," and the negro who had fought "gallantly" for his freedom, should be allowed to vote. He could not have tolerated the plan of admitting to suffrage the entire mass of ignorance and total incompetency as provided in the plan of " reconstruction." This is in accord with the well-matured opinion he had previously declared oa the subject of negro capacity for self-government. In 1858, he said: "I am not, and have never been, in favor of bring- ing about, in any form, the social and political equality of the white and the- black races. There is a physical difference which forbids them from living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together, there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the whitest' Thus spoke Abraham Lincoln. But in the plan of "re- construction" forced upon the Southern States, the doctrine w4iich he declared was reversed, so far as it applied to Missis- sippi and other Southern States in which there was a majority of the "inferior" race. Nor could the illustrious prophet of Republicanism have tolerated the plan of turning the Southern States over to CAEPET-B AGGERS AND FEDERAL ARMY OFFICERS, who, taking advantage of their positions, secured their elec- tion to office, as in the case of General Ames. In a letter to G. F. Shipley, in relation to the Government of Louisiana, dated November 21st, 1862, Mr. Lincoln wrote : — RECONSTKUCTION IN MISSISSIPPI. 345 "Mr. Kennedy has some apprehensions that federal officers, not citizens of Louisiana, may run as candidates for Congress in that State. In my view, there would be no possible object in such a course. . . . What we want is conclusive evi- dence that respectable citizens of Louisiana are willing to serve as members of Congress, and to swear to support the Constitution, and that other respectable citizens are willing to vote for them. To send a jxircel of Northern men here as Representatives, elected, as it icould be understood, and perhaps reatly so, at the point of the bayonet, ivould be disgraceful and outrageousj^ Directly opposed to these common-sense ideas of Abraham Lincoln was the policy of '^ reconstruction ^^ devised and en- forced after his death. It was even worse. It was a combi- nation of the two objectionable elements which he described — the negro and the carpet-bagger. We have seen that, under the government of Mississippi succeeding the provisional ad- ministration of Governor Sharkey, '^respectable citizens" were elected to Congress, '' willing to serve, and to swear to support the Constitution," by ''other respectable citizens," and were not admitted. Under the mongrel system eventu- ally adopted, " federal officers, not citizens," and "a parcel of Northern men," who had come as adventurers, were elected by the negro majority and admitted as Representatives and Senators. With language aptly applied. President Lincoln characterized such proceedings as "disgraceful and outrage- ous." Such men were not only sent to represent Mississippi in the national councils, but they were deputed to unite with the negroes to seize the State government, and to have and to hold it for all time. No wonder Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, one of the founders of the anti-slavery party, refer- ring to the overthrow of a similar conspiracy in another Southern State, indignantly proclaimed that it "was sheer madness to place the government of the State in the hands of ignorant negroes and vile carpet-baggers." Said ]\Ir. Beecher, "There never was such a system of taxation and general government. . . . Just consider the state of things ! The South has sunk ail its property in a war that had been bravely fought. Its young men were decimated, but they set 346 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? themselves honestly and sublimely to work. They endured nobly. The class that was sufferint^ all these ills found itself suddenly s^overned by a majority that a little while ago were slaves. There never was such a subversion in the history of the white people. It was monstrous ! '^ THE LESSONS OF HISTORY. In assigning to the negro a part which he was wholly un- prepared to perform, and which he could not undertake with- out bringing calamity upon himself, as well as the whites, the parties to the plot acted not only in defiance of the admoni- tion of their idolized statesman, but of the warnings of history with its ^^ philososophy teaching by examj)le.'' The learned English historian, Allison, in describing the experiments of negro rule in the West Indies, says, it has demonstrated that the negro ^^ does not possess the qualities requisite to erect a fabric of civilized freedom." Mackenzie, in his work on St. Domingo, says, that '^ it is impossible to arrive at any other conclusion but that in the qualities requisite to create and ])er- petuate civilization, the African is decidedly inferior to the European race, and if any doubt could exist on this subject, it would be removed by the subsequent history, and present state of the Haytien government.'^ Sir Spencer St. John, formerly English minister resident at Hayti, in giving the result of his observations after personally knowing the Haytien Republic for twenty-fiv^e years, says : " I know what the black man is, and I have no hesitation in declaring that he is incapable of the art of government, and that to entrust him with framing and working the laws for our (the English) islands (West Indies) is to condemn those islands to inevitable ruin. What the negro may become after centuries of civilized education, I cannot tell, but what I know is, he is not fit to govern now.'' "In spite," he says "of all civilizing elements around the ITaytiens, there is a distinct tendency to sink into the state of an African tribe." After ninety years of trial, the negro government of Hayti is a mockery in which every form of tyranny and vice is blended, instead of progressing towards a higher civilization the EECONSTRUCTION IN MISSISSIPPI. 347 negroes, he says, *^are in a state of rajMcl decadence/' He quotes from another eminent historian of close observa- tion, CJames Anthony Fronde, : the declaration, that in the negro Republic of Hayti, *' there lies active and alive, the horrible revival of the West African superstition, the serpent worship, the child sacrifice, and the cannibalism.'' In his work, " The English in the West Indies," written after he had visited the Islands and investigated carefully, in order to form correct conclusions as to negro capacity for self-govern- ment, he endorses the opinion of Sir Spencer St. John, and says : '^ If for the sake of theory and to shirk responsibility these (negro) islands are left to govern themselves, the state of Hayti stands as a ghastly example of the condition in which they will inevitably fall. If we (the English) persist, we shall be sinning against light — the clearest light that was ever given in such aifalrs." He adds : *' One does not grudge the black man his property, nis freedom, his opportunity of advancing himself; one would wish him as free and prosperous as the fates, and his own ex- ertions can make him, with more and more means of raising himself to the white man's level. But left to himself and without the white man to lead him, he can never reach it. . . . We have a population to deal with, the majority of whom are an inferior race. Inferior, I am obliged to call them, because as yet they have shown no capacity to rise above the condition of their ancestors, except under European laws, European education, and European authority to keep them from war upon one another. . . . Give them independence, and in a few generations they will peel oif such civilization as they have as easily and as willingly as their coats and trousers." CONCLUDIK'G OBSERVATIONS. • It was to this same inferior race comprising a large majority of the whole people that the authors of the '' reconstruction" policy, wickedly but, under an over-ruling Providence, vainly endeavored to commit the destinies of Mississippi. It Is rea- sonable to infer that upon the ordinary questions of govern- 348 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? mental policy the white people of the state would have differed and ranged themselves under the opposing poHtical banners, but when the " race issue/' with its consequences of life and death to their liberty and civilization, was needlessly and cruelly thrust upon them, they were forced into a solid, com- pact organization in obedience to the higher law of self-preser- vation which God in His wisdom has instituted ; and this organization they will maintain so long as the cause which made it inevitable, remains. Candor requires that this should be said. A part of the " reconstruction " plan has expended its force. Other parts having been engrafted upon the Constitution of the United States, have remained to plague not the inventor only, but both the white and the negro races in the South. The blunder must now be clear to the authors themselves. It is not the purpose of the writer to ask them to retrace their steps and undo their folly, but may we not hope that under the influence of the sober, second thought, they will permit us to control our domestic affairs as nominated in the bond of union as it now stands, according to our own judgment, and to take care of ourselves as best we may. Etiielbert Barksdale. Jackson, Mississippi, Marcli 10th, 1890. CHAPTER XIII. RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. WHAT is known as the ordinance of secession, by which Texas was separated from the United States, was ])assed in a convention composed of delegates elected by the people of Texas, on the 1st day of February, A. D. 1861, and soon thereafter Texas became one of the Confederate states. In the war that followed between the states, it is no more than just to say that Texas discharged her full duty to her sister states of the South ; but when the war closed, aside from the loss of property in slaves, the wealth of the state had not been so much impaired as it had been in the other Southern states. She had not suffered devastation from invading troops, and those of her citizens who were not in the army, had pur- sued their avocations without disturbance. The earth had brought forth abundantly, so much so, as not only to supply the demand for home consumption, but to furnish large sun- plies for those who were in the field, \yhen hostilities ceased, large quantities of cotton remained unsold in the hands of the planters, and at that time commanded an unprecedented high price. Farming acreage had been largely increased by those, who with their slaves, had fled from the ravages of the war in other states, and had found refuge in Texas. The great live stock interests in the state had prospered, and horses and cattle were easily converted into cash, at remunerative prices. In comparison with the other states of the South, Texas was in a prosperous condition, and soon attracted the attention of those adventurers who everywhere became known as '^ carpet- baggers. '' To them Texas was indeed "a land flowing with milk and honey.'^ They sent no one out to spy out the land, but came themselves. Their name was legion. Their pur- 349 350 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? pose was to despoil and plunder. The military government which dominated the people during tJie greater part of the re- construction period, furnished them every opportunity to carry- out their thievish purposes. During that period the offices of the state, from the judge on the bench to the constable of a beat, were largely composed of this class of men, and it is but the plain truth to say, that no more ignorant, incompetent, vicious and corrupt men have ever been permitted by any government, to hold official position. To their unparalleled meanness may be attributed much of the wrong and oppres- sion that was inflicted upon the people of this state. tJnder Confederate authority Texas was a part of what was known as the " Trans-Mississippi Department,'' and at the termina- tion of actual hostilities it was under the command of Lieut. Gen. E. Kirby Smith, who through Generals Buckner and Price, surrendered the Department to General Canby, of the United States army, at New Orleans, on the 27th day of May, 1865. On the 17th day of June, A. D. 1865, Andrew John- son, President of the United States, issued his proclamation appointing Andrew J. Hamilton provisional Governor of Texas, whose duty it was stated in the proclamation to be "to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for convening a convention composed of delegates to be chosen by that portion of the people of said state who are loyal to the United States, and no other; for the purpose of altering or amending the* Constitution thereof; and with au- thority to exercise ^vithin the limits of said state all the pow- ers necessary and proper to enable the loyal people of the state of Texas to restore said state to its constitutional rela- tions to the Federal Government, and to present such a Re- publican form of state government as will entitle the state to the guaranty of the United States therefor, and its people to the protection of the United States against invasion, insurrec- tion and domestic violence." Governor Hamilton was a native of Alabama, but had been a citizen of Texas for many years. He was in many respects a remarkable man, and had been more than once elected to high official position by the people of Texas, and at the time of secession he was a Representative from Texas KECONSTEUCTION IN TEXAS. 351 in the Congress of the United States. Hamilton was a man of generous impulses, and of extraordinary intellectual power, but was erratic and unstable in his opinions. At one time he was greatly admired by the people of Texas, and for years before the war they delighted in calling him ^^ Colossal Jack,'^ which was but an a|)propriate indication of his intel- lect and great oratorical ability. He had opposed secession, and shortly after the commencement of hostilities, had placed himself within the lines of the Union forces, where he re- mained until the war was over, but at no time did he take up arms against the South. Some complaint was made because of his delay in calling a convention to form a Con- stitution. But after having re-organized the state by appointing all county, district and state officers except Judges of the Supreme Court, he, on the 17th day of November, A.D. 1865, issued his proclamation for the election of dele- gates to a convention, which assembled on the 7th day of February, 1866, and framed a Constitution that was sub- mitted to the voters of the state, ratified, and the officers of the state therein provided for, elected on the 25th day of June, A.D. 1866. Notwithstanding, many of the citizens of the state were then under political disabilities and could not vote, the Dem- ocratic candidate for Governor, Hon. James W. Throckmor- ton, received 49,277 votes, and his opponent, Hon. E. M. Pease, a Republican, received only 12,168 votes. Governor Throckmorton had lived in Texas from his boyhood, and had served his state for many years in the capacity of a legislator, and was distinguished for his ability, patriotism, purity of character and unflinching courage. Pie was opposed to the secession of the Southern states from the Federal Union, and had exerted his influence to prevent it, and as a delegate in the secession convention in 1861, voted against the passage of the ordinance which declared the separation of Texas from the Union. But while he looked upon secession as impolitic and ruinous, he looked with scarcely less dread upon that doctrine which asserted an undefined and unlimited power in the general government to use its military force against the states, and he followed the fortunes of a majority 'of 352 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? his fellow-citizens, and shared with them the fate of the conflict. He was inaugurated and entered upon the discharge of his duties as Governor, on the 9th day of August, 1866, and no man in that high position was ever surrounded by more em- barrassing circumstances, or confronted with greater difficul- ties. He had a full appreciation of his situation, and clearly perceived the obstacles that he had to overcome, as is mani- fest from the following passage in his inaugural address, viz. : "At a time like the present, when we have just emerged "from the most terrible conflict known to modern times, with "homes made dreary and desolate by the heavy hand of war; "the people impoverished under public and private debts; "the great industrial energies of the country sadly depressed ; "occuiiyino;, in some respects, the position of a state of the " Federal Union, and in others, the condition of a conquered "province, exercising only such privileges as the conqueror in "his wisdom may allow; the loyalty of the people to the "general Government doubted; their integrity questioned; "their honest aspirations for peace and restoration disbelieved, "maligned and traduced, with a constant misapprehension of "their most innocent actions and intentions; with a frontier, "many hundreds of miles in extent, being desolated by a " murderous and powerful enemy ; our devoted frontiersmen " filling bloody graves, their property given to the flames or "carried off as booty, their little ones murdered, and their "wives and daughters carried into captivity more terrible "than death, and reserved for tortures such as savage cruelty "and lust can alone invent; nnprotected by the Government* "we support; with troops quartered in the interior where "there is peace and quiet; unwilling to send citizens to de- "fend the suffering border for fear of arousing unjust suspi- "cions as to the motive ; with a heavy debt created before the "late war, and an empty treasury; with an absolute necessity "for a change in the laws to adapt ourselves to the new order "of things, and embarrassments in every part of our internal "affairs; under such circumstances, with such surroundings, "when so much depends upon prudence and so great an RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 353 "amount of patriotism and intelligence is required, I feel "sadly oppressed with the duties which lie before me.'^ But, notwithstanding the almost insuperable difficulties that stood in his way, the Governor, assisted by the Legislature, went bravely to work to bring order out of chaos, and to restore proper relations between the state and Federal Govern- ment. The convention that had framed the Constitution, and which was composed of men of all political parties, had done everything required of it to facilitate the restoration of such relations. The abolition of slavery was recognized ; the debt created by the war was repudiated ; the ordinance of secession was declared null and void, the right of Texas to secede from the Union renounced, and the permanency of the Union and supremacy of the laws of the United States declared. Pro- vision was made for the future education of the ne2:roes ; for the equal preservation of their liv^es, liberty and property, and for the bestowal of other rights and privileges upon them ; and the right to vote would have been extended to them had it then been required by the general Government ; for our people felt that they had submitted these matters to the arbitrament of the sword ; that it had been decided ao^ainst them, and as brave men it was their duty to submit. The Governor recommended the enactment of such laws as would in good faith carry out the provisions of the Constitu- tion and ordinances of the Convention, and the Legislature promptly complied with his suggestions. So desirous was Governor Throckmorton that everything should be done by the Legislature to bring about proper relations between the state of Texas and the General Government, that on the 29th day of October, a.d. 1866, he addressed a telegram to Presi- dent Johnson, and made inquiry if he could offer any sucrges- tion for further action on the part of the Legislature of Texas that would facilitate restoration ; to which the President re- plied as follows : Washington, D. C, October 30th, 1866. Governor THROcK:vroRTON : Your telegram of the 29th inst. received. I have notliing to sug- gest, further than urg'ng upon the Legislature to make all laws involving civil rights as complete as possible, so as to extend equal and exact justice to all persons, -svithout regard to color, if it has not been done.. "We should 23 354 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? not despair of the Eepublic. My faith is strong, my confidence unlimited in the wisdom, providence, virtue, intelli,2;cnce and magnanimity of the great mass of tlie people, and that their ultimate decision will be uninflu- enced by passion and j)rejudice, engendered by the recent civil war ; ibr the complete restoration of tlie Union by the admission of loyal J^enators and Representatives from all the states to the respective Houses of the Con- gress of the United States. Signed, Andrew Johnson. In his efforts to restore proper relations with the General Government, Governor Throckmorton was not without hope that he would be sustained by the sentiment of the Northern people, as was indicated in his message to the Legislature, wherein he said : " Notwithstanding tlie difficulties which beset us, and the untoward direction given to measures proposed for the<=ett]e- ment of grave questions growing out of the late nnliajipy contest between the Government and the Southern States ; and notwithstanding the measures so proposed have received the sanction of the National Legislature, yet, my fellow-citi- zens, with proper conduct on our part, I do not despair of re- ceiving liberal and generous treatment from our Northern countrymen. '^ He never doubted, and never had cause to doubt, that his own people were desirous of performing all their obligations to the General Government, and this he declared in his in- augural address in the following emphatic language : '^ Having been a resident of Texas for a quarter of a cen- tury ; familiarly acquainted with all her prominent citizens ; having served in the councils of the state for fifteen years, and shared the dangers and toils of the late war with her soldiers ; recently mingled much with the people and corresponded with them in every section of the state within the past few months, I claim to know something of the actual condition of affairs, and I do not hesitate to declare that the great body of the people are earnestly desirous of performing all their obliga- tions to the General Government. A people who have won the. respect and admiration of the world for their chivalry, high daring and fortitude will not be doubted by generous and brave spirits when they assert their loyalty." It was, indeed, true that the people, after the exhaustion EECOXSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 355 caused by four years of war, were in* favor of a restoration of law and order that would give security to life and prop- •erty. They were anxious to begin the work of rebuilding their shattered and ruined fortunes, and realized that a con- tinuance of a condition of hostility to the Federal Govern- ment would be fatal to their hopes and plans. But events, which rapidly followed the utterance by Governor Throck- morton of these words of cheer and hope, painfully demon- strated that the people of the North were not ready to resume fraternal relations with the people of the South. Perhaps there had not been sufficient '* cooling time." In spite of State Constitutions, and legislative enactments evincing the honest desire of the people of the Southern States to accept in good faith the results of the war, and to resume their rela- tions with the General Government, the people of the North- ern States doubted their loyalty to the Government of the United States, and were especially apprehensive that fair treatment would not be given to the negro. They regarded crime in the South not as an excrescence of society, but as the indirect act of Southern society itself, and deemed it right to assume tutelage over the people of the South. The breach that occurred between President Johnson and his party, which culminated in the attempt made to impeach him, only intensified the bitterness of feeling at the North against the people of the South, but in less than nine months after the formation of a State Government in Texas resulted in the passage of the reconstruction laws, and subverted civil gov- ernment, not only in Texas, but in all the Southern States, and in lieu thereof erected a military despotism. But before the enactment of the reconstruction laws, Texas was in the condition described by her Governor as "occupy- ing, in some respects, the position of a state of the Federal Union, and in others, the condition of a conquered province"; and this anomalous condition of things was a prolific source of trouble and embarrassment in the administration of state affairs. As has been shown, a government for the state, essentially republican in its nature, and the Constitution of which had provided for the changes brought about by the war, had been organized in due form, but the Government of 356 WHY THE SOLID SOUTfl ? • . the United States, under the pretence of collecting property that had belonged to the Confederate States, kept within the State a body of soldiers, who were stationed at diiferent points, and some of whom, in small and separate detachments, were kept moving from one place to another. The "Freedmen's Bureau" had its officers and agents everywhere throughout the state, and in many, if not most instances, they had a military force subject to their orders. These officers and agents of the '' Freedmen's Bureau '^ were, for the most part, a set of unmitigated rascals. Sent to pro- tect the negro against the cruelty and rapacity of his em- ployer, they managed to pluck from him his hard-earned dollars, and not unfrequently they were in the pay of the employer, who, from necessity, submitted to be blackmailed, rather than be subjected to constant and unnecessary annoy- ance. The presence of the sokliers for the enforcement of law in a time of profound peace, is revolting to an American, and at this unhappy period the conduct of the sohliers was very often of such character as to exasperate the citizens. Where officers were in command who were possessed of a proper sense of self-respect, and knew how to perform their duties, but little, if any, trouble occurred. But, unfor- tunately, such men were not always in command, and too fre- quently men were in authority who sought to display tlieir love of country and heroism by oppressing the helpless. Such conduct not unfrequently produced trouble. Many of our citizens suffered in person and in property at the hands of licentious and irresponsible men who wore the uniform and marched under the flag of the United States. One of the most flagrant acts of this character was the burning of the town of Brenham, on the night of the 7th of September, A. D. 1866. It excited great indignation throughout the state. The Legislature was in session at the time, and the Governor very properly and prudently called their attention to the matter. In compliance with the recommendation of the Governor, the Legislature sent a committee to Brenham fully authorized to obtain the facts, and from the report made by said com- mittee we learn that on the night of the 7th of September, EECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 357 1866, a party of United States soldiers took possession of a negro ball that was in progress in the honse of a colored man in the town of Brenham. The conduct of the soldiers became so indecent as to cause the negroes to abandon tlieir festivities and seek their homes. Infuriated because the ball had ceased, they sought to inflict vengeance upon some of the negro men who had helped to close it. They pursued one of them to a house where were assembled a number of white ladies and gentlemen and within their hearing, in the most profane and obscene language, abused the negro. Upon being informed by one of the gentleman that ladies were present, and requested not to use improper language, they drew their pistols and transferred their abuse from the negro to the white men, and cursed them as d — n rebels, and threatened to shoot them, when two of the soldiers were shot, one being seriously and the other slightly wounded. The soldiers then retired to their camp, taking their wounded companion with them, but during the night they returned and fired the town. It was indisputably proved that the sokliers set fire to the town. The evidence showed that the soldiers who committed this outrage acted Imder the orders of their commanding officer, or that he connived at their conduct. When an officer of the state went to their camp with the authority of the law, to arrest some of the guilty parties, he was informed by the officer in command that the soldiers he wanted had the night before deserted. They certainly had been spirited away and have never been tried for their crime. Quite a number of houses were consumed, and property to the value of one hundred and thirty-one thousand dollars was destroyed. The loss was sustained and divided among about twenty-five persons, all of whom were of moderate means and not able to sustain it. The United States has never paid one dollar of this loss. The burning of Brenham was exceptional only in the amount of property that was de- stroyed ; certainly not in perfidy and wickedness. Numbers of our citizens were murdered by the soldiers of the United States, and, in some instances, were deliberately shot down by them in the presence of their wives and children. In this diabolical manner were W. A. Burns and his sou Dallas mur- 358 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? dered in Gaudaloupe County. From the testimony taken before the coroner at an inquest held upon the bodies of the deceased, we copy the evidence of Miss Sarah L. Burns, the daui^hter of W. A. Burns, and the sister of Dallas Burns, who was a witness to the horrid deed, and whose testimony was abundantly corroborated by other evidence. After being duly sworn, she testified as follows : Q. State what you know about the killing ot your father, W. A. Burns, and your brother, Dallas Burns. A. Between midnight and day on Sunday morning, March 31, 1807, there came a body of men and surrounded the house of W. A. Burns and demanded the surrender of the house and all that was in it, in the name of the United States. My brother Dallas told them to wait until morning and they would surrender. They then tried to open tiie door, and ray brother Matt told them that if they broke open the door, that he would shoot them. They then said that if they did not surrender they would set fire to the house. They then told my father that they would giv^e him until they could count twenty to surrender, and if he did not surrender in that time, that twenty would fire into the house, and forty would remain. AVhen they counted nineteen my father told them to stop. They then told my father that they would give him until they could count five to surrender, and if he did not surrender in that time, they would set fire to the house. They then counted four, and my father told them to stop, that he would surrender. My father then called for the captain, and told him to come in and act like a gentleman, and tell what they wanted. At that time one of the party said, '^ Here is the captain," and called to the captain and said that Burns wished to see him. The cap- tain came in and several other men at the same time. ^ly father tried to keep back the crowd, and some one of the party said, *' Burns, you shall not be hurt." They then re- marked that there were four gentlemen in here, and asked if Dallas Burns was present, and said to him, "Step out"; and then said, '^ Matt Burns, are you here?" and told him to '^step out," and at the same time they commenced firing. When they commenced firing I jumped up and ran to the KECOXSTRUCTIOX IN TEXAS. 359 door and commenced screaming. After the firing had ceased they walked out of the house and were hxughing, and about that tune there was another shot fired, and I heard some one say, ^' Oh, my son Johnny, are you hurt ? ^^ Dallas Burns made a dying statement, in which he said, "A body of men came to the house and demanded a surren- der. This we refused for some time. The captain then came to the door and talked with father, and told him he did not wish to hurt him, but merely to arrest my brother Matt and myself, under military authority. Upon this we sur- rendered. The captain came in and made a motion to his men, and a portion of their crowd, say five or six, came into the house and cocked their guns. The captain called for Dallas Burns. I hesitated, and was rather slow about coming out, and the captain said, ^Step out, damn you, and take it, for you have it to do,' when I stepped out in the light and they fired upon me." After the perpetration of this atrocious murder, the officer who Avas in command of the soldiers who did it, issued a proclamation in which he denounced citizens of the county as " rebels '' and " thieves/^ and declared that for the commission of offenses, ^' No quarter should be givenJ^ It gives no pleasure to record these instances of cruelty and outrage that were perpetrated by the troops of the United States upon citizens of our State, but they serve to show the dangers always incident to, if not inseparable from the exercise of military power. Let no one suppose that the in- stances given were isolated cases of oppression that might occur under any government, however good. They were of such frequent occurrence as to excite the alarm of good people throughout the state. No Constitutional barriers stood in the way of military authority, and it seemed to hav^e no respect for the rights and privileges that have always been held sacred and inviolable by American citizens. Any good citizen was subject to arrest and imprisonment who had incurred the ill-will of some negro, or the animosity of some degraded white man, who, perhaps, had been a blatant seces- sionist, but for puj'poses of gain, denied his record and loudly proclaimed that he had ever been devoted to the Union. 360 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? Governor Throckmorton liad much correspondence witli the military authorities in Texas in regard to the various and many acts of oppression which our citizens liad to en(hire, and did everything that could be done for their relief. In one of his letters to General Sheridan, he says : ^' I know some of the veriest rogues and scoundrels, who to protect themselves, have applied to the military, and asserted that they were in danger because of their Unionism, when in truth their Unionism was never heard of until after the surrender " This was unfortunately true in too many instances, as is known by those who then lived in Texas. The war had brought about a very upheaval of society, and had thrown to the surface the worst element it contained, and this condition of affairs was recognized by the negro when he said, "The bottom rail has got on top." But nothing could stop the despotism of hate, and all efforts were unavailing to stay the heavy hand of military power. The reign of terror continued, and outrages upon our citizens were of almost daily occurrence. It would re- quire too much space to give an account of all the oppressive acts of the military, and the wrongs that were inflicted upon individuals in the state. The military authorities ])rofessed to abhor crime, and were ever ready to excuse themselves for their arbitrary conduct, because of the necessity of suppress- ing it, and yet with unblushing effrontery asked Governor Throckmorton that he at once extend his pardon to two hun- dred and twenty-seven negro crmvicts in the state peniten- tiary. These negroes were guilty of almost every offense known to our criminal laws. It was, as a matter of course assumed, that they had not been fairly tried, and that theirs conviction was the result of prejudice, and a disposition on the part of those who tried them to deny them fair treat- ment. The absurdity of this assumption was shown by the Gov- ernor in his reply to the application, and as said reply gives a true statement of the treatment of colored persons charged with crime, accorded to them by our law, and the manner of its enforcement by our courts, I will, notwithstanding its length, give it in full, viz : EECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 361 Executive Department of Texas, Austin, March 18, 1867. Brigadier-General Oakes, Commanding U. S. Forces, Austin, Texas. General : — I have examined carefully tlie communication of W. H. St. Chiir, Inspector B. R. F. & A. L., addressed to Lieut. I. F. Kirk ham, A. A. General, on the 26th ult., concerning: the freed people who are convicts in the State Penitentiary, together with the accompanying papers which were placed in my hands a few days since by you. In answer to the suggestions contained in the communication referred to, and the re({uest made tlirough you by Major General Griffin, that a pardon be granted the convicts al- luded to (numbering in all 227), I most respectfully submit, that my dutv as the Chief Magistrate of this state, having in charge a due enforcement of the laws and the well-being of the people of every class and color, pre- cludes the indiscriminate action on my part that is desired. It will be seen by reference to the report made by the Inspector, that these pei'sons are confined for various offenses, many of them of the gravest character, in- cluding murder, rape, assault Avith intent to commit rape, arson, robbery, burglary, assaults with intent to murder, aiding prisoners in jail to escape, and theft. The great majority are for theft, and in many instances for stealing small amounts. But it should be kept in mind that the same law was applicable and operated alike upon Avhite persons, and that a party is just as guilty of crime should the ofiense be for the stealing of one cent as for one million, though the punishment is greater or less in proportion to the amount stolen. It will be observed that in almost every case the conviction has been for the shortest period of time allowed by law. For your information and that of the authorities who are charged with the well-being of the freed people, I will state, that under our laws, no person, white or black, can be prose- cuted in our courts for a criminal offense without having counsel to conduct their defense. If they are too poor to employ counsel, or do not do so, it is the duty of the court to appoint counsel for them, unless such party should see proper to make their own defense. And I mention it as a fact honora- ble to the judiciary of this state, that it is the general custom in all such cases, to appoint the most able and experienced members of the bar. I venture the assertion with great confidence, that not a single convict was tried without having reliable and respectable counsel to defend flie case, and in no instance where a reasonable showing was made that witnesses material to the defense were absent, have they been hurried or forced into trial without them. To show how tender the courts have been of the rights of this class of persons, I will mention a fact which should be known in connection with the case of the freedman, Richard Perkins. In this case Perkins was in- dicted for murder, and able counsel was assigned him by the court. He desired to enter the plea of guilty, and so expressed himself in court ; but the state having all the witnesses present that had been subpoenaed in the case, the court would not permit him to do so. I have been witness repeatedly to the exertions made by counsel thus assigned in defense of such persons, and in some cases I know of^ acquittals that unquestionably would have been convictions had the parties on trial been of the white race. 362 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? To the ears of persons who have been taught to believe that the people of the South are exasperated with, and- wish to oppress the neG:ro, this may appear strange, yet it is true. The great mass of our people — and I am quite sure the same sentiment has due weigiit with the judiciary — feel a sympathy for the negro, and as jurors, make a due allowance for his situa- tion, and tlie temptations by which he has been beset in conseiiuence of sudden emancipation. I would not be understood as asserting tiuit this is true of every person, or every section, but it is tiie general feeling enter- tained by a great majority of our people. Nor would I be understood as asserting" that in every case where negroes have been convicted, tliat a due regard lias been been had for their situation and ignorance, nor that strict and impartial justice has in ev^ery instance been meted out to them. I deem it proper in this connection, as controverting the general charge made against Oiir peo|)le of hostility to the negro, and of the same implied cliarge in Inspector St. Clair's statement, that in quite a number of cases memorials have been addressed to me, signed by the judges, oflicers of the law, members of the bar and citizens, asking pardons for freed men who have been convicted of various offenses, including homicides and other of- fenses, down to misdemeanors. (Juite a number of pardons have been granted by me, including some of the lists sent up from the penitentiary. In every instance but one, ihe white persr)ns making the applications for pardon, have paid the fees of officers and costs of court, amounting usually from thirty to tifty dollars, and sometimes more in felony cases. Some pe- titions have been sent to me, signed by most respectable citizens, asking pardon for freedmen that I have not granted, because I did not think the cases presented came within the rule where executive clemency should be exercised. I would most respectfully remind the authorities that the class of freefl- men now confined in the penitentiary, as a general rule, is the most vicious and dishonest of the entire freed population of the state. And instead of astonishment being expressed at the number, I think it speaks well for the people themselves, and is a contradiction to the charge of white oppression that the number should be no greater than it is. At the time of the surrender, the black population of Texas could not have been less than four hundred thousand. Since then a great reduction has occurred on account of the numbers who have returned to Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and other states. Taking a period of two years, under the circumstances when there was no government of any kind in the State for several months, with tlie country deuioralized by war, and with such a large number of the slaves suddenly emancipated, it is remarkable indeed, that a greater number of crimes were not committed, and a much greater nmnber of convictions had. In looking over the statements of the con- victs, I have been impressed with the falsehoods uttered by the convicts, and evidently relied upon by the agents, which should be apparent to any one acquainted with affairs in this state. Some killed hogs, others stole bacon, etc., bacause as they said, they were hungry, and their employers did not furnish rations. The great effort to procure and retain labor, if fair dealins: was out of the question, makes such statements as these very im- probable ; nor do 1 believe them true. Quite a number acknowledge to the takin;; of the articles charged, but render as an excuse that the parties from whom they took them were in their debt ; others made mistakes, and not KECOXSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 363 a few said they did not do the stealing, but the property was found in their possession, etc. It will afford me much pleasure to co-operate with the authorities of the Bureau in ascertaining the facts of any individual case and whenever any reasonable cause can be shown why executive clemency should be exercised, it will be freely and cheerfully extended. But these facts must come from the officers of the court where the parties were tried, or from citizens of respectability who are acquainted with the previous characters of the convicts. I would say further that it is not the value or amount of the articles stolen that should influence interference in these cases. If the offender was of reasonably good character and habits previ- ous to conviction, then it should have due weight; but if such character had been bad and vicious it should not be regarded. It i^ certainly a novel proceeding, and I cannot believe it is justifiable, that an application of this character should be based upon the statement of the convicts. The course pursued by the Inspector in raising in the minds .of the convicts an expec- tation of release is, in my candid judgment reprehensible and cannot fail to prove mischievous ; and were I to release them would prove of the great- est injury to them. It would be regarded as a license, and be an incentive to them to commit other offenses. I trust in the future the Chief of the Bureau will permit no further interference of this kind with the municipal and police regulations of this state. I must be allowed also to remark, that the statements and implied cen- sures of the Inspector, St. Clair, towards the courts, people and authorities of this state, are neither courteous nor respectful ; nor are they warranted by facts. I cannot close this communication without stating to the officers of the Bureau that I will, at all times and under all circumstances, affi)rd them all the aid in my power to secure every right to the freed people of this state that is guaranteed by the laws of the state and general government, and will be always ready to extend to these people the broadest mantle of mercy and charity, where it can be done with a due res^ard to their inter- ests and a just respect for the interests of the whole body politic. With sentiments of great respect, I am, General, Most respectfully, your obedient servant, J. W. Throckmorton, Governor of Texas. No jiiat man can find fault with Governor Throckmorton for refusing to pardon these convicts, and yet there is no doubt but that his refusal to pardon them was one of the rea- sons that induced General Sheridan to believe him to be '' an impediment to the reconstruction of Texas under the law." It may be that General Sheridan had another reason for believing Governor Throckmorton to be an impediment to reconstruction. The Governor, as was his duty, had applied to General Sheridan to place troops upon the frontier to protect to our people from the depredations of Indians, and General Sheridan, in reply to this application, said : " Tliere were more casualties occurring from outrages perpetrated upon 364 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? ^ Union men and freedmen in the interior of this state than occurs from Indian depredations upon the frontier." Governor Throckmorton replied to this statement made by General Sheridan, and said : ''General, this is truly a startling state- ment, and I exceedingly regret that you have been so unfa- vorably impressed with the general cliaracter of the people of Texas, and that your information should be so incorrect. 1 am frank to admit that many violations of law occur in the interior of Texas; but that these things are the result of rebellious sentiment among the people, or that the outrages committed in consequence of this rebellious feeling are far in exce3s of the Indian depredations upon the frontier, I must solemly and emphatically deny. You have heard one side of the story. Perhaps if the people or authorities of Texas had been as persistent and mendacious in their version of these affairs to you and your officers, as have been the howling crowd of canting, lying scamps, who were doing everything in their power to make trouble and produce alienation of feeling betwen countrymen, you might not think so badly of us. I most positively assert that, of all the outrages occurring in Texas since the surrender, but the fewest possible number have originated out of the feeling alluded to by you." This was a flat contradiction of the statement that General Sheridan had made, and it possibly irritated him. But this was not all. Gov. Throckmorton, in replying to the charge made by Gen. Sheridan, that the people of Texas had perpe- trated such numerous outrages upon Union men and Freedmen, saw fit to call the General's attention to the fact that much crime in Texas had been perpetrated by Federal soldiers in his command. For in another place in his letter, he said : "Suffer me to say that, of the robberies committed upon freedmen in Texas, a great number of them have been by soldiers in your command, and others who have been dis- charged, or deserted from it. It is undoubtedly true that the negroes in the localities of the troops are more afraid of im])0- sition from the soldiers than from any other quarter. Many of the outrages that have occurred in Texas have been per- petrated by deserters and discharged soldiers from the army of the United States. A band of seventeen or eighteen in KECOXSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 365 one body went to general robbing, and are now in the state penitentiary. Another band of deserters from the 6th cavalry went directly North through the state from Waco, and com- mitted every species of outrage. Other squads who were dis- charged, traveled through the state on their way North, some- times repi'esenting a Quartermaster and Commissary and giv- ing receipts, and in other places taking by force.^^ This probably was the ''straw which broke the camel's back'' and in the opinion of Gen. Sheridan, made Throck- morton an " impediment." The reconstruction act of March 2nd, 1867, declared that no legal State Governments, or adequate protection for life or property existed in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Arkansas, and divided said states into military districts, and subjected them to the military authority of the United States, and Louisiana and Texas were made the 5th military district. Said act in section 6 also provides; *' That until the people of said Rebel States shall be, by law, admitted to representation in the Congress of the TJnited States, any civil government which may exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, and in all respects subject to the par- amount authority of the United States, at any time to abolish, modify, control or supersede the same." Thus was the state government that had been organized by the people of Texas at the instance of, and by the authority of, the Federal Government, subordinated to the military author- ity of the United States, and he whom the people of Texas had elected Governor of their state became subject to the or- der of an officer of the United States army. This was humiliating to Gov^ Throckmorton, and it was as much £0 to the people of Texas. With the hope of being able to serve his people, and to some extent alleviate their situation, he sacrificed all personal feeling, and devoted himself to their interests. He at once placed himself in communication with Gen. P. H. Sheridan, who had been placed in command of the 5th military district, and signified his willingness to co- operate with him in the reorganization of the state. He wrote to General Sheridan as follows : 366 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Executive Office, Austin, March 30, 1867. Major-General Sheridan, Commantling Louisiana and Texas, New Orleans. General : — Your telegram of yesterday in answer to mine of the 27th, informing me that Brevet Major General Charles Griffin has direction of the details of the reorganization of this state, is received. I think I am justified in the statement that the people of Texas will participate in the reorganization with great unanimity. While the people with very little division of sentiment regard the terms imposed as onerous and oppresi;ive, yet they are determined to abide the laws and comply with them. As the chief magistrate I shall lend a prompt assistance when in my power, to carry into eflbct the laws referred to, and shall advise the people to jjartici- pate in the reorganization with good feeling and to the extent of securing to the newly enfranchised class the freest exercise of the privilege conferred. 1 have such assurances from various parts of the state, and from most intelli- gent and respectable citizens, that I apprehend General GriflSn will have but little difficulty in thedisthargeof his delicate labors. The people will register promptly, when called upon to avail themselves of all the privi- leges allowed. 1 I'eel confident in tiie liope that yourself and General Griffin ■will extend to the people every facility possible, in order that they may comply with the requirements of the law. I am, General, Very respectfully. Your obedient servant, J. W. Throckmorton. The foregoing letter was a manly acceptance of the situa- tion, and notwithstanding the increased embarrassment of his position, caused by the action of Congress, Governor Throckmorton continued to discharge the duties of his office with the same energy and ability that had ever characterized his official conduct. Never for a moment did he cease to have the law rigidly, but impartially enforced in every county, and but for the intermeddling of the military, peace would have prevailed througliout the state. He was ever ready to assist the military authorities in the discharge of their legitimate duties, and no request for aid of any sort that would facilitate reorganization of the state was made of him that he did not most cheerfully give. But at no time did he fail to protest against their usurpation of power and do his best to protect his people from cruelty and oppression. It was his fearless efforts to protect his peo]^le that led to his removal. On the 30th day of July, 1867, General Sheridan, who was in command of the Fifth Military District, issued the following order : LEECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 367 New- Orleans, July 30, 18G7. Special Order No. 1G5. A careful consideration ot the reports of Major-General Charles GrifBn, U. S. Army, shows tliat J. W. Throckmorton, Governor of Texas, is an impediment to the reconstruction of that state under the law ; he is therefore removed from that office. E. M. Pease is hereby appointed Governor of Texas, in place of J. W. Throckmorton removed. He will be obeyed and respected accordingly. By command of Major-General P. H. Sheridan. (Signed.) • George S. Hartruff, Assistant Adjutant General. (Official.) George Lee, 1st Lieutenant, 21st U. S. Infantry, Acting Assistant Adjutant General. When served with the above order, Governor Throckmorton published an address to the people of Texas, in which he gave a review of his official conduct, and showed that as Governor he had not been an impediment to the reconstruc- tion of the state, but had been an "impediment '^ to the despotic exercise of military power. E. M. Pease who was made Provisional Governor of Texas by order of General Sheridan, was an old citizen, who had been Governor of the state before the war. The people of Texas had the right to expect from him, at least, fair treat- ment, but they were doomed to disappointment. Previous to the war he had been an ultra Democrat, but because of issues growing out of the war, he had become a Republican. Dif- fering with a large majority of the people of Texas about political matters, he became embittered in his feelings, and seemed to be imbued with hatred to those from whom he had obtained his wealth and position. Not long after he became Provisional Governor, he built for himself a monument of infamy that time will not destroy. This man Pease, in a letter to General AV. S. Hancock, then commanding the Fifth Military District, libelled his people, and asked General Han- cock to establish military tribunals— drumhead court-mar- tials — for the trial of citizens who might be charged with offenses, for the perpetration of which, if guilty, they were only amenable to the civil law. The great soldier and hero spurned the proposition, and indignantly refused to become a party to such a crime. The just rebuke administered by General Hancock in his reply to 368 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? the application made by Pease will not be soon forgotten by the American ])eople. It is a production worthy of the pen of any of the Fathers of the Republic. But, unfortunately, the views expi'essed by General Hancock did not accord with those entertained by the Administration at Washiugton, and he was soon removed, and one wlio knew less of the Consti- tution and more of tyranny became his successor. Civil law w^as again subverted, and unlicensed military power was su- preme. The ])eople were helpless. Throckmorton, who had labored to protect them, was succeeded by one who had actu- ally invited their oppression. Military commissions sat in various sections of the state, and citizens of the highest re- spectability were brought before them and given a mere mockery of trial, and sentenced to ignominious punishment. The judges were appointed and removed at the pleasure of the military authorities, and very many of them had no higher conception of duty tlxin to obey the behests of their masters. Those who dared to manifest independence of thought and action were not permitted to obstruct or defeat the purposes of those who were in authority, but were removed and their places supplied with others of less capacity and honor. It was useless to ask such men to interpose their judicial authority for the protection of the citizen. They recognized no right except such as was graciously accorded by arbitrary power, and with them the writ of habeas corpus was not a v/rit of right, but an act of grace. In one instance a United States District Judge, when applied to for the writ of habeas corpus by a number of men who were on trial be- fore a military commission, refused to make any order grant- ing or refusing the writ, and gave as a reason for his refusal to act, that he could not afford to do anythiug that would require of him a decision involving the constitutionality of the reconstruction laws. The cowardly fear manifested by this Judge well illustrates the condition of the country at that time, and the awe that was inspired by military government. What is known as the Reconstruction Convention assem- bled at the capitol, in Austin, on the 1st day of June, 1868. No one had been permitted to vote for the election of dele- RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 369 gates to this convention who had not been registered, and the registration had been so managed by the military anthorities as to give the entire control of it to negroes and carpet-bag Republicans. The result of such conduct was to prevent thousands of Democrats from being registered and the elec- tion of a large majority of Republicans as delegates to the convention. After organization of the convention had been perfected, the Provisional Governor, E. M. Pease, sent to it a message, in which he told but one truth about the people of Texas, and that was, "I knew that my appointment was dis- tasteful to a large majority of the people of Texas who had participated in the rebellion, and who have heretofore exer- cised the political power of the state.'^ He was prolific in his suggestions, and advised a dismem- berment of the state by selling a portion of its territory to the United States; and among other evidences of his little- ness, he said to the convention, ^^It is expected that you will temporarily disfranchise a number of those who participated in the rebellion, sufficient to place the state in the hands of those who are loyal to the United States Government;'^ the obvious meaning of which was the disfranchisement of enough Democrats to place in power for years to come the Republican party in Texas. The Constitution framed by this convention was, as might hav^e been expected, filled with provisions which gave warrant for the exercise of despotic power, and it was ratified by the same class of voters who had authorized its creation. Under it an election for Governor and other state officers was held, and Edmund J. Davis was counted in as Governor of Texas by the military authority of the United States. Davis v/as a native of Florida, but for many years had resided in Texas. During the war he had been a soldier in the Federal army and had attained the rank of Brigadier General. He was a Republican, and so was his only opponent. Governor A. J. Hamilton; but Hamilton was more conservative in his views, and, therefore, more acceptable to the people of Texas. The Democrats presented no candidate for Goverflor, for it was evident that if a Democrat was elected he would not be per- mitted to fill the-position. Such Democrats as were allowed 24 370 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? to vote, and availed themselves of their privilege, supported Hamilton. There is no doubt but what Hamilton was elected. But it had been determined by those in power that he should not have the office. Many counties which gave large majorities to Hamilton were illegally thrown out, and other expedients were resorted to by those in authority to enable them to declare the election of Davis. So it was with the Legislature. It was officially declared that each house liad a majority of Republicans, and thus, by skillful counting, any conflict between the executive and the legislative depart- ments of the government was avoided. The first Legislature after reconstruction that assembled in Texas, known as the 12th Legislature, has passed into history as the most venal and corru])t body that ever disgraced the state. Aside from purely political measures, it is said money was freely used to procure legislation, and that there was scarcely any attempt at concealment. The lobby was thronged with shrewd and unprincipled men from almost every where,who Avere seeking to rob the state of both land and money. Charters obtained to sell, were granted for almost every conceivable purpose. Governor Davis, though a bigot in politics, had the reputation of being an honest man, and he endeavored to check this character of legislation by the exercise of the veto power, but he could do no good, for the bills were passed by the re- quisite majority over his objections. Bribery and corruption were the least of the evils with which the people of Texas had to contend. The party then dominant in the state had been so long accustomed to rely upon the military power of the United States that it seemed to be incapable of administering civil government, and its leaders recognized the fact that the government which they had organized for the state was not a *' Government of the people, by the people and for the people," and could only be a Government of force. Governor Davis in his first message to the Legislature re- commended ^' that a police system be adopted embracing the whole state under one head," and said that no system of laws for the suppression of crime, however severe will be complete " without such powers are conferred on the Executive as will enable him in any emergency to act with the authority of EECONSTEUCTION IN TEXAS. 37j law." What a spectacle was here presented ? A man who claimed to have been elected the Governor of one of the States of this Union demanding of the Legislature of that state that he be clothed with the authority of law for the exercise of despotic power. In this boasted land of liberty, it is hard to realize that such a demand could have been made, but it is more difficult to believe that the Legislature complied with it. The Governor also suggested to the Legislature " the question of making some provision for the temporary establishment of martial law." Evidently it was his design to subvert the liberties of the people and to have authority to maintain a government of force, and to this end he determined upon the organization of a military force, that should be composed of such material as he desired. The Legislature promptly responded to the demands of the Governor, and passed several acts that enabled him to carry out his wicked purpose. The first one we shall notice is an act entitled "An Act to Provide for the Enrollment of the Militia, the Organization and Discipline of the State Guard and for the Public Defense." By this act all able-bodied male citizens residing in the state, between the ages of 18 and 45 were made subject to military duty, except certain classes therein mentioned, and the Governor was made Commander- in-Chief of all the military forces of the state. The militia were, by the act, divided into two classes — one was called ''The State Guard of Texas " and the other the '^ Reserve Militia." It ^vas declared that the State Guard of Texas "shall consist of male persons between the ages of 18 and 45 who shall voluntarily enroll and uniform themselves for service therein, provided the Commander-in-Chief {the Governor) shall designate the number of me7i in each county in this state allowed to enroll in the State Guard, and have the power to reject any person offering himself for enrollment in the sameP The reserve mil itia was composed of all persons subject to military duty who had not enrolled in the State Guard. Thus was the Governor enabled to organize troops without limit as to number, to be composed of a class of men that he wanted to execute his designs. A learned lawyer and distinguished citizen of Texas, not very long after the passage of this law, in commenting upon it said : " We 372 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? desire to call attention to the very important fact, that this act permits able-bodied male citizens, residents in the state, to enroll in the reserve militia, but all persons without qualifica- tions between the ages of 18 and 45 can enroll in the State Guards provided they suit the purposes of the Governor." Why this distinction? The common sense of every man will suggest to his mind the answer. This State Guard is pecu- liarly the Governor's army, selected and organized out of such material as will serve his purposes. The Reserve Militia can lOnly be composed of resident citizens of Texas, and per- haps would refuse to murder, rob and pilfer their fellow-citizens, should they be called upon to do so by the Commander-in-Chief. They are what this act designates them, ^' Reserve/' They can- not act unless called out by the Commander-in-Chief. They remain unorganized, unarmed and unequipped, but we find the State Guard fully organized and equipped, scattered through every or nearly every county in the state, eating up the substance of the ])eople, and in very many instances mur- dering innocent and unoffending citizens ; depriving them of their property by force or fraud ; disturbing the peace and quiet of whole communities and inflaming the animosity of the races ; and in a word fully carrying out the purposes and interests of their organization. To use the Governor's own language, the Legislature in the passage of this act has con- ferred " upon the Executive such powers as will enable him in any emergency to act wath authority of law." In response to the suggestion made by the Governor in re- gard to martial law, the 26th section of the act we are consid- ering, provided "it shall be the duty of the Governor, and he is hereby authorized whenever in his opinion the enforcement of the law of this state is obstructed, within any county or counties by combination of lawless men too strong for the control of the civil authorities, to declare such county or coun- ties under martial law, and to suspend the laws therein until the Legislature shall convene and take such action as it may deem necessary." Not content with the military force already provided, and the extraordinary powers conferred on the Governor, the Leg- islature on the 1st day of July, 1870, passed an act entitled KECONSTEUCTION IN TEXAS. 373 " An Act to Establish a State Police and Provide for the Regulation and Government of the Same/' By the terms of this act, the force was composed of one Chief of Police, four Captains, eight Lieutenants, twenty Sergeants and two hundred and twenty-five Privates. In addition to the above force, the act provided that "All sheriffs and their deputies, constables, marshals of cities and towns, and their deputies, and police of cities and towns shall be considered as a part of the State Police, and be subject to the supervisory control of the Governor and Chief of State Po- lice, and under directions of the Governor, or Chief of State Police, may at any time be called upon to act in concert with the State Police in preserving or suppressing crime, or in bringing to justice, offenders. The Chief of State Police, subject to the Governor^ may make all needful regulations and rules for the government and direction of these officers in matters looking to the maintenance of public peace, prevent- ing or suppressing crime and bringing to justice offenders, and any ot these ojisers failing or refusing j^^^ompt obedience to such rules or regulations^ or to the orders of the Governor, or Chief of State Police, shall be removed from office, and suffer such other punishment as may he prescribed by law.^^ This was an extraordinary power to confer upon the Gov- ernor. It gave him control of all the civil executive offices of the state, and subjected them to removal from office, if they failed or refused prompt obedience to the rules and reg- ulations of the State Police, or to the orders of the Governor or Chief of State Police. The Governor had asked the Legislature ''to confer on him such powers as would enable him in any emergency to act with authority of law." In this act his request was literally complied with, and his pleasure or will, mide the paramount law of the state. The law cre- ating the State Police was amended so as to enable the Gov- ernor to appoint an additional force of twenty men in each county, the expense of which was to be borne by the people of the respective counties. This additional force, like the others, was made subject to the order of the Governor and could be used by him at his pleasure. Was ever king, prince or potentate clothed with greater power ! 374 '^'HY THE SOLID SOUTH? The Davis administration was the result of the methods adopted by the authorities of the United States, who were in control of the state during reconstruction. It was the legiti- mate child of arbitrary power, and the continuation of despotic governmenfe in its very worst form. This was soon made manifest to the people of Texas. Terrible as had been the oppression of the people by the military authorities of the Federal Government, it was now even worse. Men, if possi- ble, more infamous and of less responsibility, were in a posi- tion to injure and harass the people. Not unfrequejitly they availed themselves of their official position to wreak ven- geance upon those who had incurred their personal animosity. The state police was a terror to every community, and in the name and by the authority of the state, they perpetrated crimes of every dcscri})tion. They searched any place, or seized any person or thing, and without probable cause sup- ported by oath or affirmation. The Governor held that the uniform which was worn by the State Guard and state police, together with their silver badge of office, supplied the place of affidavits and warrants, and authorized persons wearing the same to search any place, or to seize any person or thing. In the month of December, 1870, one Lieutenant Prit- chett, at the head of three white and four negro police, went to the house of Colonel James J. Gathings, in Hill County, and by force entered the same and searched it, against the protest of the proprietor. This was done without any authority of law, and no charge of any kind had been pre- ferred against Colonel Gathings or any of his family. After they had left the house, Gathings went to the nearest magis- trate and made affidavit to the facts, upon which the magis- trate issued his warrant for the arrest of the parties offending. Lieutenant Pritchett and his party were arrested and gave bond for their appearance at a certain day before the magis- trate, and forfeited the same ; and instead of appearing before the magistrate, Pritchett went to Austin, the capital of the state, and reported to the Governor. Instead of sending Pritchett back to stand his trial, the Governor placed about one hundred State Guards under General Davidson, the chief of .state police, and ordered him to proceed with all speed to Hill RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 375 Couuty. Upon the arrival of Davidson and his force in Hill County, he arrested Colonel Gathings, and placed Lim in the court-house, from which all citizens were excluded, aud a heavy guard stationed around it. General Davidson informed Colonel Gathings that no military commission would be con- vened to try him if he would pay the expenses of the force, which he estimated at §500.00 per day. Upon Colonel Gathings' refusal to comply w^ith this demand, Davidson informed him that he would declare the county under mar- tial law, tax the county to support the troops, organize a court-martial and try him, and if convicted, send iiim imme- diately to the penitentiary without the right of appeal. After this Davidson proposed to Gathings to settle the matter for $3000. Colonel Gathings, with the assistance of some friends, paid the money. The seventh section of Article I. of the Constitution, then in force, reads as follows, viz. : — "The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions from all unreasonable seizures or searches, and no warrant to search any place, or to seize any persQU or thing, shall issue without describing such piace, person or thing, as near as they may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation." Davis had taken his solemn oath to support this and every other provision of the Constitution, but under the authority granted him by the Legislature, he deliberately violated it, not only in the case of Colonel Gathings, but in hundreds of other instances, A narration of the crimes and outrages committed by Governor Davis and his minions would fill a volume. There was an election for members of Congress in Texas, in the month of October, 1871, and in August prior to this election. Governor Davis issued a proclamation to the people of Texas, wdiich, as a manifestation of despotic authority and for brazen impudence, is without a parallel in the history of this, and perhaps of any other state in the Union. The proclamation reads as follows : — "All persons coming to vote shall deposit their votes with the least possible delay, and after this is done they are for- 376 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? bidden, under any pretext, to remain about the polls, or at the cGnnty seat, unless this h their rcsideneej during the time of eleclion, but shall return to their houses and usual employment^ and peace officers. State Guards or militia on duty at the polls shall see that this regulation is complied with." The Constitution expressly proliibited the arrest of electors during their attendance at elections, and in going to and re- turning from the same, exccjJt in case of treason, felony, or breach of the peace. But what cared Davis and his followers for the Constititu- tion? Undoubtedly it Avas his purpose to place at tlie polls such an array of peace officers. State Guards and state police as would deter many Democrats from voting, but in this he did not succeed. In the Third Congressional District, W. T. Clark was the Republican (candidate for Congress, antl D. C. Giddings was his Democratic opponent. Governor Davis canvassed the district in behalf of Clark, and liis speeches were filled with vituj)eration and abuse of those who differed from him in politics, and were well calculated to create trouble. Every kind of device was resorted to, to inveigle Democrats into the commission of some act by which they would be placed in a false and disloyal attitude. The writer remembers to have seen a number of United States flags suspended across a street, and hung so low that a man of ordinary height could not walk under them without coming in contact with them, and it was well understood that they were thus suspended with the hope that some indiscreet person would tear one or more of them down, so that it mio-ht be flashed over the wires that in Texas the flao; of the Union had been desecrated and trampled under foot. But the plan did not succeed, and the flags remained unmolested. At one time Davis placed Walker County under martial law, and to defray the ex}:>ense3 of the military force that he quartered upon that county, he compelled the people thereof to pay not less than eight thousand dollars. After- wards he placed Limestone and Freestone Counties under martial law, for no other purpose than to keep the vote of those counties from being counted for Giddings, the Demo- cratic candidate for Congress. The people of Limestone RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 377 County were compelled to pay a sum of thirty-six thousand dollars — the amount of a tax that was levied upon them by a military order issued by one General A. G. JNIaaloy, who styled himself "Commander of the State Forces in Limestone County." The Legislature conferred upon the Governor the power to appoint a mayor, and other officers for each incorporated city or town in the state. Under this authority Davis placed "carpet-baggers," and others of his political faith, in control of the municipal governments, in a number of cities in the state, and many of these appointees reaped fortunes from their crookedness in office. Their usual plan was to place a bonded debt upon the city or town, for which but little, if any consideration was received by the inhabitants thereof; but the Mayor and Aldermen became rich, and the people were burdened with increased taxation. In one city of not more than ten or twelve thousand inhabi- tants, they created a debt of one and one half millions of dol- lars, and the improvements for which this debt was incurred could have been obtained for much less than one-third of the amount stated. The bonds generally carried a high rate of interest, and all deficiencies in the payment of matured interest were met by the issuance and sale of new bonds, and thus from time to time were the burdens of the people increased. Under the administration of Gov. Throckmorton, the rate of state taxation was fifteen cents on the hundred dollars, and the taxes levied by the counties were correspondingly low, but were found to be amply sufficient for governmental purposes. The state was then practically out of debt, and had a balance in the treasury. Whatever wrongs had been perpetrated by the military authorities of the United States during the reconstruction period, they had not robbed the treasury, or imposed onerous taxation upon the people. This was reserved for the Davis administration. From 1870 to 1874, the period covered by the administration of Governor Davis, the state ad valorem tax alone was fifty cents on the one hundred dollars, and this was augmented by special state and county taxes, to an 378 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? amount unparalleled in the previous or subsequent history of Texas. Governor Davis in his message to the Legislature, speak- ing of the state debt, said there was due tlie school fund, |82,1 68.82, and due the university fund, §134,472.26, and the only other indebtedness was that of the ten per cent, warrants. This amount, he stated, was not considerable, and further said : "Texas may therefore, substantially be said to be out of debt." This was a frank, but true admission made by the Governor of the financial condition of the state when he and his party came into power. On December 1st, 1873, the Comptroller in the Davis ad- ministration, i\Ir. A. Bledsoe, in his report to the Governor, gives the state debt at that date at §1,797,884.16. And when his administration closed he left, as a legacy to the peo- ple of Texas, a debt that amounted to §4,414,095.45. During the administration of Governor Davis, warrants upon the state treasury were hawked on the markets at forty- five cents on the dollar, and the bonds of the state were prac- tically valueless in the home and foreign markets. The Davis administration made large promises in regard to the education of the youth of the state, and fulfilled them by the creation of a cumbersome system of public schools, in which a vast retinue of officers absorbed the money appropriated for school purposes so rapidly as to prevent the schools from being taught a sufficient length of time to do any good. The children of the state, and especially the colored children, were growing up in ignorance, values were not appreciating, population was but slowly increasing, the state was rapidly becoming bankrupt, and the ruthless exercise of arbitrary power had rendered life, liberty and property insecure. Such were the results of an administration of public affairs that had been forced upon the people of Texas by those who had been placed in charge of reconstruction. But the day of deliverance was at hand. At the next general election the people swept Davis and his party from power, and elected for state officers the entire Democratic ticket. In both houses of the Legislature a large majority of Democrats was elected. RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 379 Kichard Coke was ele(;tecl Governor, and notwithstandino- the immense majority of votes he had received, Davis would have resisted his induction into office if he could have been sustained in such action by the General Government. He vainly appealed to General Grant, who was then President of the United States, to assist him in his proposed usurpation of power, but General Grant refused to give him aid, and Coke was inaugurated and duly installed as Governor of tlie state. The Democratic party has had continuous control of public affairs in Texas since the defeat of Davis, and now, after fifteen years of Democratic government, we can speak with csrtainty of its results. The Democratic Legislature, elected with Governor Coke, immediately repealed the odious laws passed during the Davis administration, and the people felt that they were once more free. State Guards and state police, martial law and military despotism, have become things of the past, and it is sincerely hoped will never be visited upon the people of Texas again. The credit of the state has been restored. Within a few months after the inauguration of Governor Coke, the securities of the state commanded from ninety to ninety-five cents on Wall Street, and afterwards sold for one dollar and forty cents, and at this time rate as high as do the securities of any state in the Union. The bonded debt of the state is now §4,237 730, which is all owned by special funds of the state except §1,220,630. Taxation has been largely reduced. The state ad valorem revenue tax is ten cents on the one hundred dollars, and the tax for the support of the public schools is twelve and one- half cents on the one hundred dollars, and the average rate of county tax is forty-seven cents on the one hundred dollars. These taxes are found to be amply sufficient to meet the ex- penses of state and county gov^ernment. Good government has not been -sWthout its influence in attracting immigration. The census reports show that the population of Texas in 1870 was 818,579 ; that it had increased in 1880 to 1,591,749, and there is little doubt but what Texas will have in 1890 a population of not less than three millions. 380 VVIIY THE SOLID SOUTH? Not only Immigration, but with it capital, was attracted to our state and sought investment ; and enterprise and industry have met witii their just reward. Great progress has been made in the building^ of railroads. In 1870 there was in operation in Texas only 711 miles of railway. In 1888, there had been constructed and was in operation, 8190 miles, and now there cannot be much less than 9000 miles of rail- road in operation in this state. Public education has not been neglected, but it has been fostered and largely developed. Normal schools for the training of teachers, both white and colored, have been estab- lished. A state university richly endowed has been founded, and is now in successful operation ; and the agricultural and mechanical college of the state, has been in a prosperous con- dition for a number of years. AYhen Texas was annexed to, and became a part of, the United States, she reserved her public domain ; and long before the war between the states, a large portion of it was set apart for the maintenance of free schools. A ])art of these lands have been sold, and the proceeds applied to the public school fund ; but there yet remains about twenty-eight millions of acres belonging to the public schools. The permanent school fund now holds bonds amounting to $6,334,957, and Interest bearing notes given in payment for school lands, and secured by liens npon said lands aggregat- ing $10,380,000, the annual Interest on which, together with the money derived from land leases, amounted last year to the sum of $1,010,415.58. And this amount will annually increase for years to come. In addition to the lands belonging to the state, each county in the state owns 17,712 acres of land, the proceeds of which are to be applied exclusively to the support of common schools. For the further aM of free schools, a tax of twelve and one-half cents on the one hundred dollars worth of property, and a poll tax of one dollar on every male inhabitant of the state between the ages of twenty-one and sixty years, is set apart for their support, and each community has the option of supplementing the state funds by local taxation. EECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS. 381 Texas annually expends about $2,778,000 for the support of public free schools. Notwithstanding the negroes own but little property and pay scarcely any taxes — not even a poll tax — and the burden of sustaining the free schools is borne by the white population almost exclusively, yet in the disburse- ment of the school funds no discrimination is made against colored children, but they and the white children fare alike. Complete reports were not made to the Superintendent of public instruction of the state from all the counties last year, but from what were made, we learn that during the year, 364,744 children, between the ages of eight and sixteen attended the free schools, of which number. 280,281 were wdiite, and 84,463 were colored children. Considering the respective number of w4iites and blacks in the state, this is a good showing for the colored people. During the administration of E. J. Davis, the taxes levied for the support of free schools for one year were many times greater than the annual tax levied by the state under Demo- cratic rule, and more school-houses are now built each year, than were built during the entire period of the Davis admin- istration, while the schools are incomparably better. The white people of Texas believe that the best remedy for all the evils which may flow from ^^ universal suffrage,'^ is " universal education,'^ and in the interests of good gov- ernment, they have thought proper to give the colored people the advantages of a common, school education, with the hope that it may help to qualify them for the discharge of the duties incumbent upon American citizens. In Texas the relations between the white and colored people have always been amicable and peaceable. In a few localities in the state, disturbances have occurred, but there has been no serious conflict between the white and colored races, nor is any such conflict apprehended. With the exception of the V/ashington County case before the Senate of the United States at its last session, (and which was not sustained by evidence) it has never been charged that in Texas colored men have been prevented from voting as they pleased ; nor has it been alleged that their votes were not properly counted. Texas has entered upon an era of unexampled prosperity. 382 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Her delightful climate, which permits outdoor worK in every mouth of the year, and her cheap and productiv^e lands, to- getherwith light taxation and exceptional educational insti- tutions, have attracted white immigrants from every state in the Union, as well as from Europe, and this immigration is increasing so rapidly, that with us the negro will soon fail to excite solicitude upon the pare of any political party. What we want in Texas is to be let alone by the Federal Govern- ment and to be allowed to manage our local affairs. Our people earnestly hope that no policy will be adopted by the present or any future Administration of the Federal Government that does not embrace within its scope the whole country. We have had enough of a ^^ Southern policy'' during the "reconstruction period," the evils of which, at least to some extent, I have endeavored to describe in this paper. We trust that the people of no section of the United States will ever again be willing to see a Government of any of the States in this Union, established by the people thereof, sup- planted by a military despotism. Chas. Stewart. CHAPTER XIV. RECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. I. INTRODUCTORY. rpHE loss of Lincoln was a calamity to the South second JL only to the war. But for that sad event, the States, with their autonomy, would, in fact and law, have con- tinued self-government in union, on the line that he had marked, and the horrors of reconstruction Avould have been avoided. Providentially, the leadership of the dominant political party was then in the hands of Lincoln, Seward, Chase, and such like, the former holding the executive power and the supreme command and direction of all federal forces, with the entire military and executive duty and responsibility im- posed upon him, by the Constitution and the laws passed in pursuance of it, of closing the war, establishing peace, and securing the fruits of victory ; the most important of these being to restore the Union, which in constitution and in nature, could but be, at any given time, as Article I. phrases it, ''the several states which may be included within this union." There was actually no opening for any reconstruction that was not unlawful and revolutionary ; and, indeed, there was nothing to reconstruct ; the states were complete, and the "union" ''included" them all. This absolute truth, the Government declared and proclaimed as a fact accomplished — a truth — under the seal of the United States, on April 2d, 1866. What "Course'^ did Congress Marhf *" The answer is gravely important. In July, 1861, Con- gress resolved, (every Republican, in the House but two, and all in the Senate but one, voting yes), that this war is not 383 384 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? waged in *'a spirit of oppression, or for conquest or subjuga- tion, . . . but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union, with all the dig- nity, equality, and rights of the several states unimpaired ; and that, as soon as these objects are attained the war ought to cease/' What was then the Actual Situation, according to the Constitution and laws? Congress had always treated secession as a nullity and as rebellion, and had pledged its faith that the war was purposed only to save the Union, and was not for oppression, conquest or subjugation. Lincoln had, throughout the war, held secession to be null, and the states to be in the Union, but acting rebel liously. Johnson, as history shows, ^'took the position that a state could not secede, and that, therefore, none of the Southern States had ever been really out of the Union.'' And, finally, the Supreme Federal Court settled the matter forever, in never-varying wisdom and justice, in the cases of Texas v. White (7 Wall., 700), White v. Hart (13 Wall., 651), United States v. Ins. Co. (22 Wall., 99), Keith v. Clark (97 U. S., 454), and many others, holding the nullifi/ of seccssiony the continuance of the Union during the war, the indestructi- bility of the states, and the validity of all their acts during the war which were not hostile to the Union or conflicting with the Constitution. And in 22 Wallace, 99, they cite the above cases and others, and say: "After these emphatic utterances, controversy on this subject should cease." When the laying down of arms was completed, the dawn which had cheered the close of Lincoln's life had become the full day of peace ; the Confederates had surrendered and been paroled. They were to go home, obey the laws there, pursue the arts of peace, keep their ])arole, and wage war no more. Habituated to institutional liberty, and relying on the good faith and magnanimity of the victors, the subdued states and their citizens went to work earnestly and honorably, in grad- ually restoring order,. law and justice; and they ever after- wards adhered to the terms and obeyed them, without any attempt at evasion or murmur of discontent; and neither EECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 385 their good faith, nor their obedience to the "supreme law'' was ever impugned. Look Now at the Terms and Conditions. 1. Lay down your arms and submit to the Constitution. 2. Resume your action in the Union, observe its require- ments, and abandon secession as a remedy under it. 3. Abolish slavery. 4. Agree to the sacredness of the Federal war debt, and the nullity of the Confederate one. History shows that these terms were fully complied with ; and that the unity called " the Government," representing the United States, so declared on the second of April, 1866. '^The United States," an association of equals, had resumed business, and Congress was, at best, its agent, with ^'defined duties" and '^designated objects of attention," (to use the very words of Washington, on this subject, in his first inaug- ural), to which "duties" and "objects" every Congressman had sworn to confine himself. The Government of the United States is a unit; Congress acts and binds it ; so does the executive, and so does the judiciary — each in its sphere. The executive holds the seal of the United Stales ; and by affixing it, and promulgating the act, it binds the whole Government, and makes any attempt of Congress to undo or frustrate the same, unconsti- tutional, if not revolutionary. II. STEPS FROM WAR TO PEACE. After the Confederate arms were laid down, the triune personality called " the Government of the United States," took many steps in the establishment of peaceful conditions, beginning early in 1865, and ending in what may be called dejure peace — that of April 2, 1866 — all being done with the universal wish of the people. De facto peace had been enjoyed for nearly a year, with its increasing order, industry, prosperity and content ; and it had convinced every mind, and made every heart feel, not only that " the Southern people could be trusted," but that they were as fit as ever for liberty and self- 25 386 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? rule ; and, moreover, that it was the solemn and pressing duty of the Federal autliorities to permit the people themselves, at once to enjoy and protect their ov/n " blessings of liberty ''^ — these being the very raison d'etre of the Federal Constitution. Lincoln evidently had no intent of taking hold of states, al'ter military necessity had passed. His wise, patriotic, simple, common-sense policy was to restore relations and functions. Passing by Lincoln's civil establishments made under, and in aid of, iiis military authority, and within his military lines, he may be said to have made his first step on his restoration ])lan in February, 18G4 — the plan itself having been stated fully in his proclamation of December 8, 1863. His sugges- tion and promise therein to the subdued part of Louisiana, Avas, in general terms, that if 10 per cent, of the state would elect and hold a state convention and form a constitution, he would recognize them as the state, and consider the other citizens as still enemies. This was, of course, a legitimate war measure, effective o\\\y, flagrante bcllo, being only provisional, and to last till Louisiana, (the old political personality, inde- structible except under Thor's hammei:), should "come to her own." Under executive and military instructions from the commander-in-chief, Gen. Shepley ordered an election for Governor, etc., and members of a convention. A book in the Secretary of State's office gives "a record of the acts of the Governor Michael Hahn;" and "returns of election made by Gen. Sheplev, Military Governor of Louisiana, February 22nd, 1864: ' Hahn, 6,158; Fellows, 2,720; Flanders, 1,847; total vote, 10,725." The convention sat in the spring of 1864; contained no representative Louisianian, i. e. no one whom the people generally would trust. The popular vote is entered in that book thus: "September 19th, 1864, for the Constitution, 6,836; against, 1,566." This record is probably correct, and the statement of a vote of 12,000, false. The Legislature, under the said Constitution, adopted the 13th amendment, abolishing slavery, and the Government, on December 18, 1865, proclaimed its adoption, naming Louisi- ana, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Ar- kansas among the ratifiers. KECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 387 Now let us note the striking and special interest taken by Mr. Lincoln in the restoration of Louisiana. To a committee, June 19, 1863, he wrote: ^^The people of Louisiana shall not lack an opportunity for a fair election of both Federal and State officers, by want of anything within my power to give thera.'' Idem sonans with this, were the steps above mentioned ; and Gov. Hahn's message — probably inspired by Lincoln — to the 10 per cent. Legislature, contained the following: The Constitution "provides wisely that our terms shall ex- pire at an early day, in case of the restoration of peace in the whole state; and it is made my duty, as soon as an election can be ' held in every parish in the state,^ to declare the fact, and order a new election. I need hardly tell you that I shall have real pleasure when this event shall be at hand;" and he winds up by hoping that "the whole people will soon exer- cise the right to elect state officers." The basal idea of these men was the same as we shall ste that Johnson held, viz: that ^Hhe people of the South must be trusted.'^ Two facts should come in here to showLincoln's full confi- dence in Hahn, while they further indicated his nature, and his wise and kind policy towards Louisiana. In the message just quoted, Hahn says : " The President invested me, with- out solicitation or suggestion on my part, with the power exercised hitherto by the military Governor of Louisiana." In a letter to him dated March 13, 1864, Lincoln writes: " Now you are about to have a convention, which, among other things, will define the elective franchise, I barely sug- gest for your private consideration, whether some of the col- lored people may not be let in — as, for instance, the veiy intelligent. . . . But this is only a suggestion, not to the public, but to you alone." The writer will merely say here, that both of these men recognized the people's natural and Constitutional 7'ight of self-rule; their fitness for it; and the duty in the premises of " trusting the Southern people/^ with all their future polit- ical problems. 388 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? The terms of Surrender and Parole accorded to Louisianians at Lee and eTohnston's surrenders, were the same as those granted at Kirby Smith's, which will here be quoted : " Shreveport, May 26, 18G5. The officers and men paroled under this agreement, will be allowed to return to their homes, with the assurance that they will not be disturbed by the authorities of tJie United States, as long as they continue to observe the conditions of their parole, and the laws in force where they reside.^' The jus gentium and the laws of civilized war were thus added to the ^' supreme law of the land/^ and to the goodness of the executive heart and intent, as assurances of protec- tion to the sorely stricken commonwealth. And one of Grant's greatest glories was, his true chivalric faith and mag- nanimity, in earnestly insisting on the sacredness of the terms of surrender and parole. Tlie promised General Election. According to the intent and promises above mentioned, a general election was called in the fall of 1865^ the Legislature of which met November 23d, and fully and fitly represented Louisiana. The first notable act of the real state, her sober second thought and her pledge of sacred faith, was the following sin- cere and solemn act of December 6, 1865 : JOINT RESOLUTIONS RELATIVE TO FEDERAL RELATIONS. Whereas^ It is eminently proper, both to our constituents and the Gov- ernment, that the Representative body, fresh from the people of the whole state, the first that has assembled in Louisiana since the surrender, should give a pul)lic and unmistakable expression of sentiment in regard to the situation, therefore, 1. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the state of Louisiana in General Assembly convened, That there is no spirit of resistance to Federal authority among the people of Louisiana ; that they frankly avowed their purpose and object in the late struggle for sepa- rate government, and having failed in that, they now, with equal frank- ness, accept, as the inevitable result, the present mtuation, including the abolition of slavery, the re-establisment of which they do not expect. 2. Be it further resolved, etc. That, in the expression that '^ the Southern 'people must be trusted," President Johnson exhibited a thorough acquaint- KECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 389 ance with Southern character, and eminent wisdom and statesmanship • and that it is our firm resolve to justify this coniidence, and to sustain the President in his efforts to restore these states to representation in Congress and a position of poliiical equality in the Union. 3. Be it further resolved, etc., That the people of Louisiana are unre- served in their purpose of loyalty ; and, if permitted, that, to the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the states thereunder, do they now look for their future political happiness and prosperity. Duncan S. Cage, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Albert Voorhies, Lieutenant Governor and President of Senate. Approved Dec. 6, 1865. J. Madison Wells, Governor of the state of Louisiana. Louisiana thus fully expressed lier will and wish. She surrendered ^^ under this agreement '' (siqyra) in good faith. She wanted peace, order, law and self-rule. She stipulated for them ; received the pledge of them ; went home to enjoy them ; and took never a backward step ! Her sincerity has never been impugned ! III. THE RIOT OF JULY, 1866. The Southern people being " remitted to the laws as they then existed '' — to use the phrase of General Sherman, as to the Sherman-Johnston agreement — had gone to work in their respective communities, in business, civil and political affairs. Their panoply was, not only the constitution as a law, and the royal faith of its parties, but the moral force of the jus gentium and the laws of war. According to " the agree- ment '^ of surrender and parole, they were " to return to their homes, toith the assurance that they would not be disturbed BY the AUTHORITIES OF THE UNITED STATES as long CLS they continued to observe the conditions of their parole, and THE LAWS IN FORCE lohere they reside.'^ The Lmvs in Force. Was not the federal constitution then " in force ? ^' also the laws under it ? also the state constitutions, and the laws there- under ? also the municipal corporations, and their ordinances? were not these laws all " in force? " If not, when, how, and, for what part, were they repealed ? Inter arma silent leges ; 390 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? but when "surrender" and "parole" were agreed on, and peace was declared, they were silent no longer. The only laws that could be thought to repeal or conflict with any of them, were the war-laws heretofore mentioned, which were provis- ional and temporary, and were so considered by Lincoln, and later, even by Sheridan ; and were finally held to be so by the Courts. The truth is " the laws in force," lying at the basis of every thing — the vital and all-compreliensive laws — were the law of each state's being, and the law of self-govern- ment. The soldiers of Louisiana were as faithful to their parole, as they had been brave in the armies of Lee, Johnston and Kirby Smith. In good faith they went home to the self- rule, self-help and self-cure, to which they were habituated. Lincoln's plain, practical and homely utterances had impressed them with his conservative wisdom and benevolent heart ; and they were pursuing the course which he had marked out. Governor Hahn, acting probably under Lincoln's advice, pro- mised an election, in which the whole people of the state should participate. This was held, and the new Legislature met on November 23, 1865. Peace reigned from shore to shore ; and " the laws in force," referred to in the parole, superseded absolutely the war-laws and orders, especially as these were at best intended as provisional and temporary. Cessante ratione cessat lex. The common-sense view seems to be this, that in returning to self-government, the people were like farmers, mechanics, merchants and manufactureis, who had been absent for a while from their flirms and shops, which they were returning to repossess and work. They went out to fight ; got whipped, and went back to business. Peace, industry and restoration were their chief, if not only ideas. The conquering, party simply required them to go to their homes and institutions, and do as they had always done, in exercising their rights. They found at home the unchanged body-politic; their constitution still stood, as did their state and municipal laws ; and of course in returning to their nor- mal condition, they began their political as well as their private business. Their Legislature, elected in the fall of 1865^ was chosen on Lincoln's plan, under full Federal cog- RECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 391 nizance, was composed of their best men, and was the leo-iti- mate offspring of Louisiana's will. Hence, it was under the express command and sanction of the United States, that they went back to heir business of self-government, the machinery of which they had themselves made and worked, and which was still in existence and oper- ation, though perhaps not in full repair and efficiency. But they owned it ; and their state organic law, their statutes and municipal institutions, all under the federal compact, were the actual '' laws in force where they resided'^ '^h^J? therefore, could but rely with full faith on the '^ assurance ^^ of the government, so solemnly given as heretofore cited. AVhile in this condition, a gang of political gypsies, dis- reputable native whites, and negro leaders, were secretly making a new Constitution for the state, pretending to act as the adjourned convention of 1864 — a war convention, which had been held on Mr. Lincoln's ten per cent, plan, heretofore stated — had finished its work and submitted its plan of a Constitution, which the people had adopted : and it had ad- journed sine die. The people became anxious and unhappy; their anxiety was intensified by the fear that Congress favored the scheme of radical rrconstrudion, i. e., revolution, instead of Lincoln^s benign restoration. About that time, it leaked out that some unlawful or revolutionary scheme, like the forming of a new Constitution, was on foot. When it transpired, the great Louisiana jurist. Christian Roselius, who had stood for the Union and against seceding, in the Convention of 1861, and through the war, said, that ^^ every participant in the treason- able scheme should be arrested and sent to jail." The authori- ties then attempted to suppress the assembly as illegal. The collision of July 30th, 1866, was the result. So secret was the conspiracy, that it had actually matured a Constitution, which was signed by the members, printed and promul- gated, and copies were offered for sale by Bloomfield, Steel & Co., before the public or authorities knew of it as a thing in esse — so far as the writer can learn. Was not that riot, with the bloodshed of that sad affair, the direct result of the bad faith of the Government, or, to be 392 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? more specific — of the Congress? As to whether the whites or the blacks were responsible for the opening attacks, the Re})ublican private secretary of the Republican Governor testified that, *^at the outset, the negroes were, in every in- stance, the instigators of the riot ;'^ and that he " was an eye- witness of the whole aifair." Be that as it may, the flagrant perfidy and tyranny that Avere then threatened, of remitting the people to their homes, home-law and home-rule, i. e., self- government, and then, despite the "j)arole" and "assurance" stated, subjecting them, while in ])rofound peace and perfect obedience, to military domination, martial law, and trials at the drum-head — for such was the menace — must have stirred society in all its depths, set in motion the imj)ulsive, reckless and desperate elements, while relegating the conservative and proprietary forces, which, in quiet times, always rule, to timid inaction,^and even hiding away. Congress, in its tyranny and extravagance, should heed the lesson. All history shows that when society is thus agitated and oppressed, the wealthy and well-to-do classes — if not beneficiaries — are most impa- tient and least forbearing. It is they who are most prone to send up, as of old, the earnest cry : ''Give us a king!" and it is they who can best aid him in getting and keeping his crown ! The reconstruction laws ended, for many millions of Ameri- cans, their two years of profound peace, wonderful recupera- tion, high hopes and cheering prospects. The Government had fully punished them by war, had received their surrender, and given them paroles and solemn assurances of peace and freedom from Federal disturbance ; but it proceeded, not- withstanding, to pour out a second "vial of wrath !" "Hell followed " for ten years ! IV. MILITARY GOVEENMENT IN PEACE. By the Act of Congress passed March 2nd, 1867, and sup- plemented March 23rd, the Southern States were placed under military government, Louisiana and Texas constitut- ing ihe Fifth Military District. Military interference hence- forth was frequent and aggravating. The laws passed by EECOXSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 393 the City Council of New Orleans, requiring the police to be residents of the city for five years, were vetoed and v/iped out by the military commander, because they prevented, he said, the appohitment of ex-Union soldiers on the force. An election for city officers having been fixed for March 11th, 1867, it was postponed by General Sheridan, who assumed command of the district, without warrant of law, because, as he stated, no officer had been appointed under the law, and he thought it necessary for him to act as to the holding of this election, until ^' special instructions covering the case are received." The writer deems it proper here to say, that the violations of the princi})les of institutional liberty shown in these pages, are attributed to Congress, and not to General Sheridan, whose merits as a soldier are known and confessed by all men, and who could but obey orders and do the duties as- signed. On March 27th, 1867, he began removing the state and other officials previously elected, and appointing their suc- cessors, whom he judged more fit for the places. The first was Andrew S. Herron, Attorney-General of the State, and afterwards a member of Congress. John T. Monroe, Mayor of New Orleans, Edmund Abell, Judge of the Criminal Court, and others, were similarly ousted. In April, General Sheridan appointed the Board of Regis- tration, to whom was given full and complete control of all the registration and election machinery of the state. It will be seen that he was complete dictator of the Fifth District in a sense never known before in America. He had absolute control of all the offices, with power of removal and appointment; he could annul or change any laws which did not meet his favor; and with his control of the election and registration machinery, he could elect any persons he chose. The power of removal and appointment was fully exer- cised by him, even in cases in which politics played little part, his obvious and avowed intention being to remove ob- stacles to reconstruction, and to place Louisiana wholly under the control of men who agreed with him as to the manner^ in which the state should be ruled. The new Mayor of New 394 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Orleans — Heath, his appointee — was ordered to re-organize the police force, so that at least half of its members should be ex-Federal soldiers; and the Levee Commissioners — a body wholly non-political, and representing the planters and owners of property fronting on the Mississippi, protected by levees from overflow — were removed, and men more in sym- pathy and accord with his views were appointed in their stead. In this matter alone, did tlie general finally recede. He had dismissed from these important offices men fully acquainted with the levee system of the state, — men who rep- sen ted the j)lanters and farmers paying the levee taxes, and who were skilled and efficient in their duties. After trying his new board three months, finding the state threatened by overflow from the June rise, he receded from his position, dismissed his own appointees, and reinstated the old board. He, before he had been in command very long, removed the Gavcrnor of the state, the Street Commissioner of the citv, and numerous others. At the same time, he interfered with the District Courts in the matter of issuing naturaliza- tion papers, exi)ressing the opinion that too many were being issued. A final order, just previous to the election of mem- bers of the Constitutional Convention, prohibited the assem- bling of men, in certain parishes of Louisiana, for j)olitical purposes. Such were the conditions under which, on September 27th and 28th, 1867, an election was held in Louisiana for dele- gates to a convention that was to frame a new Constitution for the state. With nearly all the state and city officials re- moved, and men appointed in their places by the Military Commander; with the laws suspended, and public meetings prohibited ; with jurisdiction over the naturalization, regis- tration and election laws in his hands, the election was placed wholly under his control. Not even after the result was known, did the removals cease; for the sheriff of Orleans Parish was ousted November 16th, and the Lieutenant- Governor a few days afterwards. The appointment of General Winfield S. Hancock to the command of the Fifth Military District, November 29, 1867, stopped all these military interferences in purely civil mat- EECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. ' 095 ters. In an order issued December 5th, General Hancock gave the true and proper scope and use of military power. He declared that justice in the criminal courts had been clogged and frustrated by former military orders in regard to jurors, and he announced that, in future, trial by jurv, habeas corjms, liberty of the press aud freedom of speech would be preserved, and not interfered with by the military authorities. In another order, touching on the frequent differences be- tween the civil and military authorities, he laid down this doctrine: "The administration of civil justice appertains to the civil courts. The rights of litigants do not depend on the views of the general commanding this district; they are to be adjudged and settled according to the laws. Arbitrary power, such as the General has been urged to assume, has no existence in this country.'^ It is difficult to understand how so self-evident a proposi- tion as this could be denied, or a contrary doctrine be insisted on and carried out, by General Hancock's predecessor. S. B. Packard, afterwards United States Marshal, and claimant to the office of Governor of Louisiana in 1876, was president of the Board of Registration at the time of the vote on the convention, and became engaged in a controv^ersy with General Hancock, which resulted in his arrest. The military power, as represented by General Hancock, was not progres- sive, arbitrary and tyrannical enough to suit the views of those who understood the reconstruction acts and military rule to be simply for the purpose of placing the Republican party, backed by the negro vote, in control of the state. The reo^istration which had been carried on under the board appointed by Sheridan, and over which Packard pre- sided, was wholly in the interest of the Republicans, and was so intended to be. All those citizens who, during the war, had held any civil offices under the Confederate States, were disfranchised ; naturalization papers were disjnited and re- fused, aud white voters denied registration. The result was to reduce the white registration of the state to 45,218, or barely two-thirds of what it ought to have been ; while the negro registration, by false personation and repeated enrol- 396 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? ment, was made to be 84,436, or one voter to every four of the colored po})ulation. In New Orleans the 50,456 negroes registered 15,020 votes, while of the 140,983 whites, only 14,890 were registered. Though the white population was nearly three to one, the negi'ocs were registered in a ma- jority. The election which followed under these conditions, April 17th and 18th, 1868, was an easy and overwhelming victory for the party (Republican) which Congress, by its reconstruc- tion legislation and its military interference, had intended should be placed in control of Louisiana. The election of April, 1868, brought an entirely new set of men to the front in Louisiana — men who had never been heard of before — men who had had no experience whatever in public affairs, and many of whom were not citizens, and had lived in the state but a very short time. In the Senate, there were but half a dozen members of the white race, in whose hands the government had wholly been during all the time that Louisiana had been a state, and but comparatively few whites in the House. In line, tlie new Legislature con- sisted mainly of negroes (mostly former slaves) and whites who had recently moved into the state— generally of that class called carpet-baggers. LOOK ON THIS PICTURE, AND ON THIS. WAR ! PEACE AND SELF-RULE ! 1864. 1868. General Shepley, acting under General Sheridan, acting under government orders, ordered an elec- government orders, ordered an elec- tion, declared who should vote, reg- tion, declared who should vote, reg- istered the voters, and held the elec- istered the voters, and held the elec- tion, tion. The electees, in convention, made The electees, in convention, made the Constitution of 1864. the Constitution of 1868. Mark the vital diffeiences. Shepley acted after the gov- ernment had declared war, and Sheridan after the govern- ment had declared peace ! Shepley acted only on ten per cent, of the state, without usurpation, while Sheridan, or whoever was responsible. EECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 397 usurped, and was ten-fold more violative of freedom and self-government. But Shepley, as we shall see, ^vas justifia- ble, while Sheridan had no earthly excuse, but unlawful or- ders ! But he had no option ; Congress commanded him to act and report that " order reigns in [the Southern] Warsaw '^ ! ' V. THE ADVENT OF WARMOTHISM. The poliiical '^ gypsy swings his pot and pitches his tent wherever there is a prospect of [^political] plunder J^ Warmothism and political gypsyism, when analyzed, will be found synonymous. Their terrible imj^ort is, in a measure seen in the following sketch, made from the vast mass of facts — many volumes in extent — which constitute the reconstruc- tion history of Louisiana. The intelligent citizen of the state will say when he gets through — "the half (or even the tithe) has not been told.'^ Warmothism operated for eight years. Kellogg (a mere incident) could but add to the evil and aggravate its harm. His administration was "pork still, with change of sauce;'' as will be seen. At the head of the new government and party was a young adventurer — a political gypsy, named Henry C. Warmoth — who had come to Louisiana in the Federal army a short time before, from which he had been, as was credibly stated, dismissed for good cause; and who had ingratiated himself with the negroes, by organizing them, and insisting upon their political rights, long before Congress did so. As early as 1866, before the negroes had been granted the elec- tive franchise, Warmoth had held a mock election, at which they voted, and had had himself returned as a delegate from the territory of Louisiana, under universal suffrage. A queer attachment to this election, but very characteristic of Warmoth, was the placing of boxes at the polls, wdiere the negroes who voted could contribute fifty cents each to a fund for paying his expenses to Washington to assert his claims. The negroes had never exercised the elective franchise before; tliey felt honored thereby; and they gladly paid for the privilege of voting for Warmoth. 398 WHY THE SOLID SOUTfl? This little episode — while productive of no impoiitant re- sults at the time, for Congress promptly rejected his claim, based as it was, on the ballots of negrcx^s, on whom it had not, as yet, conferred the elective franchise, — made him the idol and hero of the negro race; and in the convention which followed, he was nominated and, in the subsequent election, chosen Governor. The ensuing Warmoth regime proved far more oppressive and injurious than the previous military rule. Under Warmoth, the dictatorship was still more pronounced, all the affairs of the state being concentrated in the hands of the Governor, at the same time that a system of spoliation was organized which, in a comparatively short time, raised the taxatiou to the highest limits ever known in America, swelled the state debt to many times what it had been before, and re- duced the proud commonwealth to unexampled poverty. The system of spoliation then orgauized, continued until the gang that worked it, quarrelled among themselves over the plunder, and fiually turned state's evidence against each other. It was in this way alone, that the world was made ac- quainted with the evil doings of this conspiracy against the people and their treasury. The Legislature, elected under military control, assembled in New Orleans, June 29, 1868, and Warmoth was inaugurated July 13th. The first action of the Legis- lature was to shut out the Democratic members by a test-oath. The Republicans organized both houses, ap- pointed a committee to investigate the claims of the Democratic members, and finally seated those they pleased. The Democrats admitted, constituted at best, merely a cor- poral's guard, unable to obstruct the various jobs which soon found their way before the Legislature. Recognizing the fact that the election of April, 1868, had been carried by suppressing the white vote, and by the fraud- ulent registration of the negroes, the Warmoth Legislature, in which the Republican influence was overwhelmingly pre- dominant, set to woi4v at once to so change the registration laws of the state, as to prevent the people from ever over- turning the Government at the polls. The general idea of EECONSTRUCTIOX IN LOUISIANA. 399 the Legislature was to concentrate all the election machinery in the hands of the Governor. A number of laws of an ex- perimeLtal character were passed, and it was some time before Warmoth w^as fully satisfied. The election laws of Louisiana from 1868 forward, for ten years, were purposed for fraud and suppression of the popular will. Her system of registration, returning boards, the throwing out of votes, etc., was adopted in most of the other Southern states. No better machinery for fraud and tyranny was ever conceived ; for with the power given to the Governor by the various laws referred to, he could name every official and control the state absolutely. One of the first acts created a Board of Registration, con- sisting of three members, appointed by the Governor, which Board had the appointment of the Supervisors in the several parishes. Warmoth, wdio was always suspicious, was not satisfied with the power of appointing these officials, but adopted the precaution which he ever observed, of insist- ing upon a blank resignation with every appointment, so that if any of the Supervisors of Registration were rebellious, or failed to carry out his wishes, they could be removed at once by filling in a date to their blank resignations, and appointing a more obedient official. There w^as no require- ment that the registration officers should be residents of the parish in wdiicli they acted, and a great majority of them w^ere chosen from New Orleans, from among the large number of adventurers to be found in a great city, and some even Avere citizens and residents of other states. The Super- visors of Registration of a number of parishes had never set foot in them before they arrived there to conduct the elec- tions ; and, in many cases, these non-residents announced themselves as candidates for the Legislature, and returned themselves as elected thereto. As a further safeguard, and to assure the fidelity of the supervisors, they were liberally paid. For example, for the partial registration of 1868, the large sum of $147,- 341.40 was di\'ided among the Board of Registration and the employees. This registration and election machinery, however, gave way before an uprising of the people ; and in the Presiden- 400 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? tial election which followed that of Warmoth a few months, the Republicans were defeated by an overwhelming majority. AVhereupon, the Legislature improved on its registration laws, and developed the more perfect machinery of the Returning Board. By the provisions of the registration and election laws, the decision of any Supervisor of Registration on mat- ters relating to the registry of voters was final, and not sub- ject to revision or correction by any court. The courts were indeed prohibited from interfering in any way with these Supervisors, or their assistants. And the judge of any court so interfering, was subject to a fine of $500 and impeach- ment. After the votes were cast, they were counted in secret by the Supervisor of Registration, surrounded by his appointees, and sealed and sent to the Governor. At a later day, still another improvement was added to the election ma- chinery, by the creation of a Returning Board, whose duty it was to return the vote of the state. If the Commissioners of Election, or the Supervisor of Registration of a parish, accompanied any report by the statement that there was a disturbance, riot, tumult, intimidation or bribery at any poll, the Returning Board could, if it saw proper, throw out that poll, or the vote of the entire parish. This law placed the whole control of the election in the hands of the Governor, and enabled him in 1870 to carry the state by an overwhelming majority, and even the Democratic city of New Orleans. The entire legislation of the first General Assembly held in Louisiana under the reconstruction acts and the so-called Constitution of 1868, was devoted to measures of this kind, intended to fortify the Republican party in power, so that it could never be ousted ; and the machinery was so very com- plete and complicated that a practically unanimous people could not have driven the Republicans out, save by a popular uprising. In addition to the registration and election laws, which, it was hoped, would control all elections, police and constabu- lary laws were passed, creating a standing army in New Or- leans and the parishes, under command of the Governor ; and a printing law, which caused the establishment of Re- EECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 40I publican organs in all the parishes, and gave them a monopoly of printing the laws and public advertisements. The police control of New Orleans, which had always been in the hands of the people, was taken from them and given over to a com- mission, appointed by the Governor, and consisting of three colored and two white Kepublicans. The Legislature of 1868, started with a Republican ma- jority, which it increased, from time to time, by ousting Democratic members. Of the dominant party, onlv ten were tax-payers. Corruption and bribery reigned supreme, and the knaves, to avoid any possible danger, refused to pass any bribery law, so that it was no crime to bribe a public official. Those of them who did not make money in this way, were rare exceptions. When Mr. S. W. Scott swore before a Con- gressional Committee that he had seen money paid out as bribes to the Lieutenant-Governor, Pinchback, and to the Speaker of the House, Mortimer Carr, neither denied the statement, nor did either cross-examine him. When he charged that it cost more to get the signature of the Governor to his bill (a subsidy for a railroad) than to get the measure through the Legislature, and that it cost eighty thousand dol- lars in all. Governor Warmoth entered no protest or denial. When, later, these eagles fought over their prey, and exer- cised their talons on one another, a series of reciprocal por- traitures appeared, which do full justice to the originals. Warmoth gave some testimony as to the corruption and bribery which prevailed, and the manner in which the spoils were divided. Here are his pictures of the most prominent men in his party. Casey, Collector of Customs, got through the Legislature a bill, incorporating a warehouse company, in which he was interested, and appropriating §1,400,000 of State Bonds as its capital stock. He was also interested in the New Orleans Shed Company, which proposed to monopolize the leve'e front ; and was custodian of the $18,000 corruption fund raised to get this measure through the Legislature. Postmaster Lowell worked for the Ship Island Canal bill, which appropriated all the swam]) lands in the vicinity of New Orleans, for a company in which he was interested. 26 402 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Unital States Marshal Packard was interested in the Nich- olson Pavement bill, which Governor Warmoth was offered §50,000 to sign. George W. Carter, Speaker of the House, on account of his influence, received an interest in the Louisiana Levee Company, which was drawing millions out of the State Treasury annually, was the })aid attorney of nearly all the railroads requiring legislation, although he never performed the slightest service for them beyond pocketing bills which they deemed objectionable. He also worked through an aj)- propriation of $25,000 a mile for a railroad in which he was interested, the Louisiana Transit Company, and secured a subsidy of §1,000,000 in bonds for a favorite steamship com- pany. John Pay, Senator from Ouachita, got §70,000 for revising the statutes, besides |54G,000 in State Bonds in aid of a rail- road, the Yicksburg and Shreveport, in which he was inter- ested. He had, moreover, an interest in the Louisiana Levee Company, of which he subsequently became Pj'csident. To this company he voted an appropriation of $9,000,000, Avith a one per cent, tax for twenty- one years, the company being authorized to issue bonds in anticipation of these taxes, which bonds the state endorsed and guaranteed. Such were the charges made by Warmoth against his asso- ciates, and not denied by them. Corruption was believed by the public to be universal. The men thus accused were equally free in their charges against Warmoth. They pointed to the fact, that whereas he had come to Louisiana poor — so poor, indeed, that he had been com})elled to appeal to the negroes for a charity fund to send him to Washington to claim a seat as delegate — he became rich within a year of taking office ; and they pointed out that he had concentrated in his person, through the registration, election, police and other laws, all the powers of the state. The Governor could keep an act, passed by the Legislature, in his pocket as long as he saw fit, and veto or approve it at any time ; and he did, as a matter of fact, on November 20th, 1872, sign and promulgate a law, which we shall recur to, giving him further power over the elections, which had been KECOXSTKUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 493 passed by the Legislature Avhicli had adjourned eight or nine mouths before. VI. WAKMOTHISM. It is difficult to show the exact amount of spoliation under Warmoth. The annual expenditures give only a faint idea of it. A vast deal was done outside of law, and not recor- ded, but became known — suggesting probabilities of much undiscovered wrong. The following table gives some idea of the profligacy under Warmoth, by comparison with similar expenditures under a Democratic administration : Cost of Collecting Taxes, $493,324 $52,726 Cost of Public Printing, 390,000 25,000 Legislative Expenses, 626,000 37,000 Average Annual ExjDenses, all purposes, 5,278,915 1,092,931. In one year, to collect taxes amounting to §4,136, 118, the state tax collectors receiving $493,324, or 12.3 per cent. Warmoth's perquisites therein were an unknown quantity, but his rapidly increasing wealth seemed to be an index. From their knowledge of his greed, his quickness of apprehension and his genius for contrivance, Louisianians think that all his tax gatherers left with him their blank resignations, and their promise to divide fees ,with him. At all events, while the writer cannot record as history the fact or the share, he deems it good history to say that every thinking man of that plun- dered state believes that Warmoth got a large share of the fees in question. The statements of his co-conspirators, now scattered abroad, would be worth hearing. I In a single year, 1871, the legislative expenses were $626,- 000, and even this was exceeded by an over issue of $200,000 of fraudulent warrants, making the cost to the state of a short session of §6,150 for each legislator. This over issue of legislative vouchers forced these warrants down to 2^ cents ; yet when the funding board met in 1874, these war- rants, bought at two and one-half to five cents on the dollar, were funded at par. The annual expenditure of the Warmoth government dur- 404 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? iiicr the four years and five months it was in power, was as follows, not including the increase made in the state debt : 1868, from July, $3,837,877.74 1869, 4,21)4,677.16 1870, 7,131,202.11 1871, 6,425,831.50 1872, 4,704,983.65 Total for 4 years and 5 months, .... $26,304, 578.25. To this must be added the bonds issued in support of the various measures, in which the governor and other Republican leaders were interested. It was notorious in that de])lorable time that he and they all lobbied on the floor of the Legisla- ture in favor of their pet measures, and that every prominent member was promoting some bill which he hoped would make him rich. Every possible mode of robbing the treasury under the forms of law, seemed to have been devised and started on the Legislative road, with all possible vigor of greed, and with high hopes of success. Soon after coming into office. Governor Warmoth called attention to the state debt, and to the facility with which it could be increased. In his message to the Legislature, Janu- ary 4, 1868, he said : *' The total bonded debt, exclusive of bonds owned bv the state, is §6,771,300, and this sum is further reducible by §871,000. The floating debt is $1,929,- 500 ; and it is expected that enough can be realized from the special one per cent, tax to discharge the entire floating debt, and leave a surplus of §500,000.'' "Our debt is smaller than that of almost any state in the Union,'' continued War- moth, significantly ; ''with a tax roll of $251,000,000, and a bonded debt that can at will be reduced to §6,000,000, there is no reason that our credit should not be at par." Actino- on this suggestion, the Legislature and State officers went to work at once to utilize this good credit to the fullest extent. The census of 1870 showed the debt of the state to have increased to §25,021,734, and that of the parishes and municipalities to §28,065,707. Within a year the state debt was increased four-fold and the local indedtedness had doubled. Louisiana, according to the census, stood, in the matter of debt. EECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 495 at the head of tlie Union. With an indebtedness per capita of §73.03, the next state to it, the rich coniinonwealth of Massachusetts, having a debt of only §47.49 per capita, Louisiana's debt was over 20 per cent, of its assessed weakh. This, however, was only the beginning of Warmoth's regime —i\\Q first year and a half of it. In 1870 bonds to the amount of §7,000,000, were issued to the Louisiana Levee Company, in which so many of the Republican leaders were interested, §500,000 for the state penitentiary, and §474,000 for the Mississippi and Mexican Gulf canal. In 1871 bonds to the amount of $2,500,000 were issued in aid of the Mobile, New Orleans and Texas Railroad. In addition to this the state had made itself responsible for the payment of bonds lent to the various banks, aggregating §6,579,683, with miscellaneous debts of §3,476,269, bringing the total up to §41,733,752.17 (report of State Auditor, January 1st, 1872). In his message to the Legislature, Warmoth, at the same date, estimated dif- feiently, and placed the state debt at $41,194,493.91. A committee of the Legislature, appointed to investigate the matter, found that both the Governor and Auditor were too low in their estimates, and, after itemizing the state debt, placed it for 1872 at $48,029,349.95. Adding to this the parish and municipal obligations, the total indebtedness of Louisiana in 1872 was $76,095,056.78. Under Warmoth the Republicans had added to the state and city indebtedness of Louisiana §54,325,759, with nothing whatever to show for it. The cost of these four years and five months of misrule was, therefore: Money actually expended by state, .... $26,894,578. . By local bodies (partly estimated) 25,300,000. Increase in debt (state and local), 54,325,759. Total cost 4 y'rs and 5 mo's Eepublican misrule, . . $106,020,337. Amounting per year to, §24,040,089. In a little over four years the Republican party had spent nearlv as much in amount as half the wealth of the state. Of the bonds issued, a large part bore interest at eight per cent. Such profligacy necessarily required a heavy rate of taxa- tion. The state tax in 1867, just previous to Warmoth's 406 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? election, was 3f mills: in 1869 it was raised to 5J; in 1870 to 7J; in 1871 to 14^; and in 1872 to 21J mills, at which fig- ure it remained for some years. The taxation in New Orleans which had been 15 mills previous to the election of Warmoth, became 23| mills in 1869; 26 J mills in 1870; 27^ mills in 1871; and finally 30 mills, or 8 percent, in 1873. Some of the country parishes fared even worse, and in one case (that of Natchitoches) the taxation reached 7.9 percent — much more than the average interest on capital invested, or the productive power of property. But, great as is this total of §106,020,337, spent by War- moth and his followers, it does not represent all the depletion Louisiana then suffered. To it must be added the privileges and franchises given away to favorites, and the state property stolen. To one com])any was given all the swamp lands in the vicinity of .New Orleans; to another rights and franchises on the levee, or river front, of New Orleans, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And, as if this were not enough, the school fund of the several parishes, resulting from the appropriations and land donations made by the State and Federal Governments, were plundered. In his report for 1873, State Superintendent of Education W. F. Brown, a Republi- can and a colored man, called attention to some of these thefts, as follows : Stolen in Carroll parish, in 1871, §30,000 ; in East Baton Rouge, $5,032; in St. Landry, §5,700; in St. Martin, §3,786.80; in Plaquemines, §5,855; besides large amounts in St. Tammany, Concordia, INIorehouse, and other parishes. The entire permanent school fund of the ^^arishes disappeared during this period. The state had at the time of Warmoth's inauguration a trust fund of §1,300,500, for the benefit of the free public schools. The bonds which represented this fund — the most sacred in the custody of the state — were sold at public auction in June, 1872, for §1,096,956.25, and the proceeds, instead of being given to the schools, were set aside to pay the warrants which had been issued by Warmoth for purposes foreign to the legitimate public use, and held by a ring of jobbers and brokers who had bought them at a heavy discount. In like manner other property belonging to the state was RECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 407 plundered. Louisiana had, in previous years, subscribed to aid the construction of various railroads, and held their bonds in return therefor. It had §650,000, of the bonds of the New Or- leans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad; 35,800 shares of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad for which it had paid $884,000 ; $298,000 in the Vicksburg^ Shreveport and Pacific Railroad; and stock or bonds in the New Orleans & Nashville, and the Baton Rouge, Grosse Tete & Opelousas Railroads. Under Act 16, of 1870, the $884,000 interest of the state in the Jackson Railroad was sold for $141,000, or $4 })er share; and, under the same act, the interest of New Orleans in the same road, nominally $2,000,000, was sold for $320,- 000. Under Act 81, of 1872, the state's interest in the Ope- lousas Railroad was exchanged for warrants at 65 cents on the dollar. When, however, the autliorities examined these bonds, preparatory to selling them, they found that the treasury had been despoiled of a great many of them by previous wrono-- doers, and it was morev^er, ascertained that interest had been paid regularly on the stolen bonds, although they were known to be stolen, and in the hands of the thieves. The money ob- tained from selling these and other trust funds, was set aside for the payment of warrants or in aid of various projects in which Warmoth and Ids followers were interested. According to a report of a committee of the Legislature, the slate held in 1865, in trust funds, state bonds, collections, etc., $8,244,468.24, and the municipalities, parishes, and school districts, about $4,000,000 more. By the end of Warmoth's regime, all these funds had disappeared, a large portion of them being openly stolen, and the rest squandered or divided among thecons})ira- tors. This brings the spoliation, or embezzlement, or stealage, or whatever it may be called, up to nearly one hundred and twenty millions, or more than half the wealth of the state. By act 49 of 1869, New Orleans was authorized to issue bonds for the retirement of certain notes and indebtedness. The bonds were issued, but only $1,500 of the notes were retired, the money being misappropriated to other purposes, $805,000 going for the support of the Metropolitan Police, or state constabulary, which Warmoth entirely depended on 408 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? for the defense of his government against an oppressed and plundered people. Space can be given to only a few more of the almost innumerable jobs or swindles that marked that regime. In 1864, in the last year of tlie war, a Mr. 'Weil furnished the state with supplies, for which he received certificates of the state government to the amount of §le50,000. These certifi- cates were presented to Warmoth, and he was asked whether he wouid sign an act validating them, if it were passed by the Legislature. He replied that it could not be done, as the Legislature could not constitutionally validate a confederate claim. The Legislature subsequently authorized Mr. Weil to sue the state for tiie money, and Warmoth vetoed the bill ; but when the auditor's report came out, it was found that the W^eil claim had been funded by Warmoth's funding commis- sioners, and that AVarmoth himself had been one of them. It was stated that he as Governor signed the bill making the settlement and ai)propriation before the Speaker of the House had done so. It became a law Saturday night, and the bonds for settlement were handed over on Monday morning early. It w^as this claim that Thomas C. Anderson, of Returning Board fiime, who was then a Senator, had bought for §10,- 000, and had lobbied through the Legislature. How far he and Warmoth may have co-operated and divided it all, can only be surmised. Warmoth received $100,000 worth of stock in the Missis- sippi and Mexican Gulf Canal, for which, according to his own testimony, he did not pay a dollar ; yet he lobbied through the Legislature and signed a bill giving $480,000 of state bonds to this company, of which he was one of the lar- gest stockholders. The public printing of the state, in English and French, had, in previous years, cost about $37,000 a year. During the first two years and a half of Warmoth's regime^ the New Orleans Republican, in which he was the principal stockholder, received $1,140,881.77 for public printing. His gathering the reins of autocratic power, as he did do, through his election, registration and Returning-Board laws, necessitated that concomitant — his standing army. Act No. RECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 499 74 of 1870, known as the constabulary law, gave the power to appoint one chief constable in every parish, he to have the right to appoint as many deputies '^ashe might deem fit." The chief and deputy constables received commissions from the Governor, and were by this Act '^ subject to his orders " ^' to make arrests, quell riots, etc." The Governor could send the constabulary from one parish to another, whenever necessary. Their pay was large — 13 and §4 a day, and the parishes were required to provide it from the parish taxes. By Act 92 of 1869, Warmoth and the Legislature had created another armed force, known as the Metropolitan police. This body was controlled by a commissioner, appointed and removable by the Governor. Originally intended for the city of New Orleans and vicinity, its jurisdiction or field of service was extended to the entire state ; and it was sent to various parishes by order of the Governor. It was armed with rifles and revolvers ; and supplied with Gatling and Napoleon guns ; and a portion of it was mounted on cavalry. After- wards, under Kellogg, this force of infantry, cavalry and artillery was added to by the purchase of vessels, thus pro- viding Louisiana with a navy as well as a standing armv, This army alone cost the state $847,395 for 1869 ; §887,8o0 for 1870, and averaged about that amount thereafter. Having secured the control of the elections, and created a standing army, Warmoth's next step was to obtain possession of the judiciary, so as to prevent any judicial interference with his schemes. The Constitution of 1868 provided for the election of the judges. This trouble was easily circum- vented by the Legislative creation of two new courts, one civil and the other criminal — the two having jurisdiction over all public matters ; and the vesting of the power of appointing the judges in the Governor. Of course he appointed his own creatures, taking their blank resignations, so that he could remove them if they failed to suit him, thus rendering any judicial interference with himself impossible. All cases of a public character, all contests for offices, writs of quo warranto, &c., &c., had to be submitted to his judicial appoin- tees and obedient servants. By these laws he had obtained a complete dictatorship over 410 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? Louisiana. Any state official who resisted hini was removed. The Secretary of State, Geo. E. Bovee, who had been elected on the same ticket with him, and who was a Constitutional officer, was removed by him because of a quarrel. He sent his chief of police to the state-house, who ejected Bovee and installed the new appointee. General Herron. Bovee objected, but Warmoth's police was too strong. He appealed to the courts, but his claim was rejected by Warmoth's judges. It was conceded thenceforth that the Governor could remove whom he pleased, and that there was no appeal against his mandates. Of the other state officials elected with him, the Lieutenant-Governor, Dunn, a negro, died, and the Auditor, J. C. Wickliffi?, was impeached for embezzlement and crimes in office ; and he fled from the state. In 1870, the new election law was tried, and found to effect all that it was designed for. The city of New Orleans was turned over to the mercies of Warmothism. Its popula- 'tion was three white to one colored, and it was overwhelm- ingly Democratic, voting against Warmoth, even in 1868, when more than half its white citizens were disfranchised; yet with the election machinery, he was able to carry the city by a majority of from six to eight thousand. His Supervisors of Kegistration worked nearly a week in private on the votes, and finally returned thirteen of the fifteen wards of the city, all with overwhelming white majorities, as Republican, and counted in among the hundred and odd electees, but four or five Democrats. New Orleans and the State of Louisiana were both now in AYarmoth's hands. The election of 1870 marked the summit of his power. At no time in the history of America, even in the South American States, had any man made himself so complete a dictator. But, over the spoils, arose the inevitable quarrel, and the two factions formed went heartily into their only good work, which was to acquaint Louisiana and the world with their rascalities and infamy, and make manifest the gross wrono; of cono;ressional reconstruction. To the unexampled profligacy and corruption were now added frequent disturbances and riots^ caused by their feud. The two factions kept up their fight from 1871 to 1873. EECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 411 The anti-Warmothites were called the Ciistom-hoiise Repub- licaos, as they were maiDly the federal officials in the Custom House. The Republican Convention of 1871 met in the District Court-room in the Custom House, a large body of deputy Marshals, backed by a company of soldiers, surrounding the court-room, and refusing admittance to Warmoth and his fol- lowers. The fight was renewed when the Legislature assem- bled in extra session to choose a Lieutenant-Governor, in the place of Dunn ; and again at the regular session in January, 1872. Carter, the Speaker, who was anti-Warmoth, was un- seated by the Warmoth Legislators. The Custom-house faction turned the tables by procuring warrants for the arrest of Governor Warmoth, Lieutenant-Governor Pinchback and eighteen members of the House, all friends of Warmoth; and these arrests were made by the United States Deputy Mar- shals in the State Capitol. The Custom-house faction having won this victory, adjourned to Friday. Hardly had the House adjourned, when the Governor issued a proclamation calling the Legislature together in extra session, to meet the same afternoon (Thursday), only the Warmoth men being notified of this. They met, elected a new Speaker, and ex- pelled Carter from the Legislature. The Custom-house faction, which learned of this only the next day, tried to enter the capitol, but were prevented from doing so by a large force of police, armed with rifles, and they proceeded to a bar-room and organized in its hall. This ^'war of the roses'^ caused disquiet and apprehension everywhere, as well as disturbances of the peace aud riots. The Sergeants-at-Arms of the two Legislatures scoured the city with armed assistants, arresting members wherever found. One of the Representatives, Walter Wheyland, was killed while resisting arrest. Large bodies of armed men paraded the streets. A mob from the Custom-house faction, to arm themselves broke into several armories and gun-shops. The situation reached a very critical condition January 22d, when a great battle between the two factions seemed immi- nent. George W. Carter, who claimed to be Speaker of the Custom-house Legislature, issued a proclamation, calling upon 412 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? all citizens "to organize and arm themselves as well as they were able, and report to him, when they would be sworn in as Assistant Sergeants-at-Arms/' Governor Warmoth, on his part, fully equipped and armed his standing army, the Metropolitan Police, stationed them in position in the vicinity of the State House, immediately op- posite Carter's army, and prepared for battle. A great struiTirle seemed imminent, when General Emory, in command of the United States forces, acting under instructions from President Grant, interfered, and informed both Warmoth and Carter that he had received instructions from Washington to suppress all conflicts between armed bodies that might occur. This refusal of the Federal Government to interfere in their behalf, demoralized the Custom-house party, which had been led to expect assistance, and they rapidly dispersed, leaving Warmoth master of the situation. It was a barren victory, however. After the bitterness that had been shown, and the blood that had been shed, it was impossible to bring the factious together again ; and two distinct Republican ])arties thenceforward antagonized each other in Louisiana, the National and Liberal Republicans. The Democrats saw their opportunity, and obtained from Warmoth a pledge that the approaching election of 1872 would be honestly conducted, and the vote counted as cast. This was granted as a si>ecial favor by Warmoth, it being understood by all, tliat had he decreed differently, it lay within his power to declare any persons elected he saw fit. The first contest of the factions was over the control of the Legislature, and therein Warmoth was too shrewd for his enemies. A second was over the election of 1872. Sorely needing help, he sought an alliance with the Democrats, and promised them, among other things, that they should have a fair election, and that the registration and election laws should not be used against them as had been done in 1870. Two full state and legislative tickets were placed in the field — the Fusion ticket, headed by John M'Enery, which depended for its main support upon the Democrats ; but which was also backed by Warmoth ; and the regular Republican EECONSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 413 ticket, headed by W. P. Kellogg, who had represented Louis- iana in the Senate. The election was held November 4, 1872, under the regis- tration and election laws which Waraioth had used with such effect against the Democrats two years before ; the supervisors of registration made returns to AVarmoth and the Secretary of State, and they turned them over to the Returnino- Board which then began to acquire its national prominence. When that Board met, the Secretary of State, Ilerron, wa, suspected, and therefore supplanted, by Warmoth, with Jack Wharton, which made the latter an ex-officio member of the Board. On the legality of this change the result of the elec- tion depended, for the Returning Board consisted of three members, the Governor, Lynch and the Secretary of State — the latter having the deciding vote. The Board soon split into two, Warmoth and Wharton acting as one, and fillino- the vacancies by election ; and Lynch and Herron organizing another. Both Boards went into the Eighth District Court, the political court created by Warmoth to further his own ends ; but the Judge had lately turned against him, and the Lvnch party obtained an injunction in its favor prohibiting the Warmoth Board from counting the votes. The question also went into the United States Circuit Court, on the claim that some ten thousarnd persons had been denied registration, and that some three thousand to five thousand neg-roes had been deprived of their right to vote. This case — Kellogg vs. Warmoth — could not have in- volved the validity of either Board, but Judge Durell chose to usurp jurisdiction, and held that the Lynch Board was the legal one, and issued a number of orders and in- junctions in its favor, notably the remarkable one soon to be presented. He prohibited the other Board from canvassing the vote ; prohibited McEnery from acting, or pretending to act, as Governor; and prohibited the official journal from publisliing any announcement of the election emanating from the War- moth Board. The Governor countervailed this by pulling out of his safe 414 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? an Act passed by the Legislature before it acljourned, many months before, which he had neither signed nor vetoed ; and he now signed and promulgated it, thereby creating an entirely new Returning Board, the members of which lie had the powTr to appoint. These appointments were made ; the new Board met, canvassed the vote, and declared, on December 4th, just one month after the election, that McEnery and the entire Fusion ticket were elected. On the succeeding night came a clap of thunder. At mid- night, on December 5th, Durell, the United States District (acting as Circuit) Judge, in the presence of Kellogg's coun- sel, one of them the United States District Attorney, and one other person, handed out his famous midnight order to Pack- ard, United States ^larshal. It was generally said and believed that the judge was intoxicated, his signature being referred to as one of the evidences. This order or edict was unquestionably the most remarkable ever issued in America. On the })retence that Warmoth had committed contempt of his court, the United States Marshal was ordered to take possession of the state-house and hold it at his (DurelFs) will, and to prevent all unlawful assemblages therein. The Republican party of the country seemed to disavow the judge's action and denounce him, threatening impeach- ment, etc., whereupon he left the bench ; but said party never made any attem])t to right Louisiana's wrong. Of this order, the Republican Senate Committee, which investigated the matter, said : " It is impossible to conceive of a more irregular, illegal and in every way inexcusable act on tlie part of the judge. Conceding the power of the court to make such an order, the judge, out of court, had no more authority to make it than the marshal. It has not even the form of judicial }>rocess. It was not sealed nor was it signed by the clerk, and had no more legal effect than an order issued by any private citizen.'' Let us add to this Republican committee's report, the state- ment of that most eminent and able of Republican senators, Hon. M. H. Carpenter, of Wisconsin : " The testimony shows that he went to his lodgings, and about 11 o'clock at night, he EECOXSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 415 issued this order to seize the state-house. . . . The marslial exe- cuted that order, aud a company of Federal troops garrisoiied fhe state-bouse at midnight, and held it in military custody for more than six weeks, during which time the farce of organizing the Legislature on a mandamus of the same judo-e was enacted. ^^ He says further that while the state-house remained in such custody, this Legislature elected Pinchback United States Senator ; and that it was under such process of this court, and while the state-house was thus federally held, that the Kellogg Legislature was organized on the basis of the Lynch board's count — which we may add was no count, as it had no votes or returns whatever to count. Under Durell's order, however, two companies of United States artillery took possession of the Louisiana State Capitol, ousting the police and state troops, and allowing no one to enter the building except on an order from the United States Marshal. Within a few hours, the Lynch Returning Board promul- gated the alleged returns of the election, although it did not have a single return or ballot or scrap of legal evidence before it, declaring Kellogg elected by 18,861 majority, and the Legislature to be 106- Republicans to 40 Democrats. This result was obtained by pure guessing, as Lynch, the President of the so-called Board explained : *' We took all the evidence we had before us, and our knowledge of the parishes and their political complexion, and then ice decided. I think on the whole we w^re pretty correct. '^ Among the data on which this honest board based its con- jecturing and guessing canvass, were many hundreds of affida- vits which were subsequently proved to be fraudulent and forged by the man who manufactured most of them. The United States troops guarded the State Capitol aud pre- vented the ingress of any person except the Lynch Legislature. That body met, impeached Warmoth inside of five minutes, removed him from office, installed Pinchback as Goveruor and appealed to the Federal Government for more troops. Kellogg and his supporters asked the President for recogni- tion ; and finally the order came commanding the troops to sustain Pinchback as Governor and the Lynch Legislature against all opposition. 416 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? The writer must here say that in a sketch like tliis, not a tithe of the terrible facts can be given nor can proper refer- ence to authorities be made, except in a general way at the conclusion ; but it is well here to refer for important data, to the telegraphic correspondence between New Orleans and Washington, in " McPherson's Handbook of Politics for 1874/' pp. 100 to 108; also /cL pp. 129, 142; and to the report of the Senate Conmiittee on privileges and elections, session 1873-4. Thus Federal power installed the Kellogg Government, which had never been elected, but did not give peace or order thereby. Kellogg, in some sort, served out his term, but his rule was never recognized, except when backed by Federal bayonets; and much friction, controversy, quarreling and even bloody conflicts were rife in all the state, because of rival claims to office. Kellogg seemed disposed to encourage disturbances of this kind, as they justified his calling upon the Federal Govern- ment for troops; and, moreover, diverted the attention of the people from the fact that he had no title to tlie Governorship. The two boards had declared two sets of officers, in the most of the parishes, and Kellogg is said to have issued two sets of commissions in some instances, leaving it to tlie rivals, as he was reported to have said, '' to fight it out." By producing such contentions and conflicts, he "^might hope for a continuance of Federal aid, and keep the Federal power constantly impressed with the two rival governments, and its obligation to vindicate one of them ! It was this policy which brought about the Colfax riot, in which so many lives were lost. In Grant parish, of Avhich Colfax is the seat of justice, two tickets claimed to be elected. Kellogg encouraged both parties, first commissioning the Nash ticket, as shown in the official paper, the Republican, and at the same time, or afterwards, commissioning the Shaw ticket. Nash was in possession of the Court House ; Shaw seized and occupied it in the night time, just as Kellogg had done the State House, and summoned the negroes of the parish to Colfax to act as a posse to protect him in office. For three weeks Colfax was in wild excitement. Some 500 EECOXSTKUCTION IX LOUISIANA. 417 negroes crowded into the town, armed themselves, drilled erected fortifications, and constructed cannon from gas-pipes. Occasionally they raided the surrounding couutry for provi- sions. The whites, alarmed, congregated in the vicinity of the town, all well armed. It w^as quite evident that a serious conflict was threatened. Kellogg was appealed to, and asked to interfere and prevent the riot that was otherwise inevitable. He had ample time, — three weeks — to do this, but declined to interfere. He hoped, indeed, that in the fight the negroes would be victori- ous — such was the view expressed by the official paper, the Republican— and even if they did not prove so, their defeat would affi)rd him an excuse for appealing for Federal protec- tion. ^' The time is past,'' said the Republican, " when a handful of whites can frighten a regiment of colored men." On Easter Sunday, April 1.3th, 1873, Sheriff Xash, with a posse of whites, undertook to recapture the Court House, which was then held by an illegal body of negroes, for Shaw, the other claimant of the Shrievalty, under whose call the negroes had assembled in Colfax, had long since deserted them. The fight over the Court House wa.s a long and bitter one, 63 persons — white and black — losing their lives, and the building itself being destroyed by fire in the battle. VII. WARMOTH-KELLOGGISM. ^ This was but one of a dozen similar, but less bloody, en- counters which occurred in the state, in the contest over the offices, and wdiich were encouraged by the Governor, to win him support in the North and the use of Federal troops. A large majority of the people of the state never recog- nized Kellogg's election, and he found himself constrained to organize a force for a series of expeditions to establish his authority. The Metropolitan Police force was still further strengthened and increased to three thousand men, and nuis- tered into the militia of the state. To aid them in their in- vasions of the country parishes, two steamers were purchased, and became the nucleus of a state navy. Although nomi- nally the police force of New Orleans, and paid out of the 27 418 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? city treasury, this standing army of metropolians was wholly nnder the control of the Governor, and could be ordered by him to any portion of the state on military duty. One of the first expeditions undertaken was to the pai'ish of St. Martin, the property owners of which refused to recognize Kellogg as Governor or to pay their taxes to him. A force of several hundred "metropolitans,'' mounted as cavalry, and armed with Springfield rifles and cannon, were sent on the state steamer " Ozark" to St. Martinsville, to arrest the men who had defied Kellogg's authority. The expedition was a fiiilure, and the ''metropolitans," after remaining several days in the field, and exchanging shots with the natives, ''inarched down again" to New Orleans. The leaders of the tax-resisters were subsequently arrested by a United States IMarshal, on blank warrants, charging them with blank crimes against blank per- sons, and brought to New Orleans before a United States Commissioner; and then discharged, because — to use his own words — "there is no proof to justify the detention of the prisoners." "The affidavits were made without a just cause." But, said Dogberry, consolingly, though "the defendants have been unjustly put to all this trouble and expense, yet this is a sacrifice they must be content to endure for the good of the body politic." He was one of the carpet-baggers, but is now esteemed by Louisiana as one of her "true patriots," for he has "left the country." These refusals to pay the taxes to the Kellogg Government seriously incommoded it, and the Legislature, in consequence, passed a series of tax laws of the most stringent character. The most extraordinary of these contained a provision that any property-holder, failing to pay his taxes within thirty days of the time they fell due, forfeited thereby his right to bring: suit for his own benefit, or to be a witness for or in his own behalf; and every court, having jurisdiction within the state, was ordered to deny and refuse to issue a civil process of any kind or nature for him, until he procured a certificate that all his delinquent taxes and costs had been paid. All the iniquitous legislation of the Warmoth regime, such as the registration and election laws, and the Returning Board, were continued, and even improved on. Kellogg went a RECOXSTKUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 419 step further in the matter of the collection of taxes, and also in the selection of juries. It was deemed especially necessary to monopolize the administration of the criminal law of the state, and the Governor, therefore, secured, through an act of the Legislature, control of the criminal courts by creatino- a new one, with exclusive jurisdiction in certain matters; and was given, at the same time, control of the jury, a Commis- sion, consisting of two members, appointed by him, and serv- ing at his will, having full control of drawjjjg all juries. This was followed by a law making it a crime for any one to claim to be an officer of the state unless declared elected by the Returning Board. Such legislation, the Republicans thought, increased their strength, so that they could henceforward do as they pleased. They could, however, do little more in the way of issuino- bonds, as, owing to the enormous debt, they were worth but twenty-five per cent. Under these circumstances, a happy device was invented by Kellogg, and put in practicable shape, Avhich was to heavily scale the debt, and begin anew. It was, therefore, reduced forty per cent., and, in the funding and exchange for new bonds, which it was provided should be done by the chief officers of the administration, many frauds, and speculations, (almost equally criminal with simple frauds), were proved to have been committed — many being detailed in legislative and official reports not long afterwards. One of them — an enormity — requires a more extended notice, be- cause it shows the possibilities of Congressional reconstruction and political gypsy ism combined; and teaches us an invaluable lesson — unless the gods, aiming to destroy us, have made us mad. This funding board, having discretionary power, funded some $6,000,000 of bonds alleged to have been fraudulent, as a very large amount of them were proved to have been. It was charged, and generally believed, that some of these chief officers combined with brokers and speculators in buy- ing up fraudulent and dishonored securities, and warrants of doubtful validity, at very low rates, and funding and ex- changing them for new bonds ; and it was said and believed that the net profits of the transaction were about, or over, $3,000,000. 420 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? The facts would have come out a year or two later, when the Democrats came into power, but for their finding that George B. Johnson, the Auditor under Kellogg, had taken away or embezzled all the books of the office, containing the evidence of the bonds, &c., funded, thus making it impossible to expose fully the frauds that might have been committed, or to discriminate between the good and the bad debt. A committee of the Legislature, which investigated this fund- ing, found tl^it this important body, though its duty was to fund the many millions of the state debt, and though it was trusted with control and issuance of many millions of dollars of State Bonds, had no office of its own, and no fixed ])lace of business ; but met, from time to time, in different offices in the state-house and elsewhere. On one occasion it met in New York, and did some business in funding fraudulent secu- rities, as afterwards transpired. It kept but a meagre and imperfect journal of its proceedings, and even this was full of interlineations, alterations and corrections in different handwriting, with blank places left here and there, as if for filling up with additional matter. The legislative committee found it impossible to determine what bonds were destroyed, or what new ones had been issued, nor could they feel assured that a large number, or even all of those funded, had not been reissued. The opportunities for fraud can be easily im- agined, while detection and even knowledge of its extent were forefended by the destruction or embezzlement of all the records. The opportunities for spoliation were passing away. The state had been so impoverished that it was impossible to wring as much money from it as before, and the assessment during the last two years of Kellogg's regime reached the lowest limit known since 1830. Despite all his stringent laws, Kellogg never exercised full dominion over Louisiana. Collisions between the metropoli- tans and constabulary and the people, frequently occurred, and severe battles took place in the streets of New Orleans. How weak and hollow the government was, soon became evident. Thanks to the United States troops and the metro- politans, Kellogg had preserved a semblance of power ; but a single defeat annihilated his government in a few hours. EECUNSTRUCTION IN LOUISIANA. 421 In the campaign of 1874 the white people of Lonisiana organized under the name of the White League. In Xew Orleans this League proposed to arm itself. KeHoctr^ ^vho thought himself stronger than he really was, attempted to prevent this preparation, and to seize arms belonging to pri- vate individuals. The crisis was reached September 14tli, 1874, when Kellogg attempted to prevent the landing of arms from the steamer ** Mississippi," and the White League to secure them. He ordered his entire police force to the river front, stationed his cannon on the levee, and stationed cav- alry in the adjacent streets. He had two regiments of me- tropolitans, under Generals Longstreet and Badger, on Canal Street, the principal thoroughfare of the city, besides a regi- ment of militia at the state-house. His police marched on the citizens ; the two forces met on the levee, and a bloody battle ensued, in which forty were killed and one hundred wounded. The hollowness of the Kellogg government became at once conspicuous. In twenty-four hours, and without another drop of bloodshed, the Kellogg state and parish governments were overthrown throughout Louisiana, and the officials elected on the McEnery ticket installed. Nowhere did any one, white or black, attempt to support Kellogg, or make the slis: litest resistance to the chang-e. He himself fled to the custom-house, and his officers dispersed everywhere. This change lasted but a few days. From the custom-house, Kel- logg appealed to the President for assistance. The United States officer in command at New^ Orleans, wos instructed to interfere in his behalf, and to reseat him in the gubernatorial chair. At the head of the Federal troops he captured the State-house, and Kellogg resumed his government surrounded by bayonets. But although reinstated, his government was weaker and more tottering than ever, and without the spirit it had previously shown. In the election of 1874, which followed soon after, the Democrats sw^ept the state, and secured a good majority in the Legislature. Again the Returning Board interfcrGd, and, by throwing out many polls and a number of parisiies, manufactured a Republican Legislature. 422 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? When the Legislature met, the Democrats secured control of the House, whereupon Kellogg adopted his old trick, and called on the Federal officer in command, Gen. DeTrobriand, to interfere. A company of armed soldiers then entered and took possession of the Legislative hall, and, at the dictation of the Governor, a number of Democrats who had been elected, were arrested and marched out of the state -house between squads of armed soldiers. For days it looked as thouirh a serious riot was imminent, for larjxe crowds of ex- cited citizens collected around the state-house. The pres- ence of the United States troops alone prevented a collision and the overthrow of the Kellogg government. When the matter was finallv investi,151 557,821 10,080,253 5,037,891 *188 Maspachusetts . . 45,105,000 12.613,406 3,223,254 73,313,493 39,314,00!) 54 Boston 50,50!t,f)00 10,016,144 2,247,975 113,170,321 70,727,680 CI Hhode Island . . 20,(09,800 3,603, '■52 1,087,086 26,1.31,711 8,908,878 84 Connecticut . . . 25.404,020 6,008,169 1,460,611 39,852,9.'^1 21,146,046 *242 New York State , 32 897,160 7,704,249 4,477,685 67,210,314 59,.339,863 47 New York City . 50,65(',ono 18 185,383 10,390,427 238,495,325 212,044,721 7 Albany, N. Y. . . 1,800,000 1,4' 0.000 192,785 7,388,023 6.110,018 06 New Jersey . . . 12,995,350 3,703,071 1,389,983 20,490,480 24,524,830 *180 Pennsylvania . . 28,945,^^40 7,074,001 2.547,4' 9 47,729,528 45,928,(i77 32 Philadelphia . . 17,358,000 7,654,090 1,825,876 54,418,619 57,918,373 22 Pittsburg .... 9,850,000 3,071,462 618,856 19,665,846 15,714.975 14 Delaware .... 1,763,985 475,794 138,078 3,317,887 3,056,545 1166 $321,905,255 ?88,182,821 f 31,91 1,066 £749,329,642 5611,910,657 * Exclusive of r'.seivc cities. SUNRISE. 433 SOUTH, 1879. ^°- °*" STATE BANKS. ^^^^^• *20 Maryland . 15 Baltimore . *1 Dist. of Columbia 5 Ma-hiiigton . 17 Virginia . . . 17 West Virginia . 15 North Carolina 12 South Carolina 13 Georgia . . 2 Florida . . 9 Alabama . . . Mississippi . . Louisiana . 7 New Orleans 13 Texas . . 2 Arkansas . *41 Kenturky . 8 Louisville 23 Tennessee . , 220 CAPITAL STOCK. i 2,331,700 10,89u,.-i30 2o2,(X)0 1,125,000 2,866,100 1,761,000 2,501,000 2,449,900 2,221,000 100,000 1,518,000 2,875,000 1,300,000 205,000 7,201,0 2,995,300 3,005,500 SURPLUS. 8 690,815 2,4-'9,744 57,(i'X) 272,500 8^2,890 435,882 319,697 368,359 431,803 2,000 221,365 570,009 278,548 40,000 1,142,803 36!l,064 555,939 UNDIVinF.D PKOFITS. 8 216,629 fc87,l('7 35, 265 81,999 319,072 109,873 214,147 307,057 179,564 3,855 143,570 320,310 105,(^38 10,247 347,714 238,257 206, 9o7 LOANS AKD DISCOUNTS. 9 .3,891 ,651 23,8lL','.tS5 24_',J47 l,4'.)3,7ii6 7,446,748 2,945,985 4,187,3.54 4,114,719 3,69-.:,:i06 l2.s,556 2,236,010 7,107,351 2,043,9,s4 247,877 9,4(«»,340 .5,)'87,105 6,341, 1(>5 INPIVinCAL PU0KIT8. $ 3,997,916 17,433,^^6 577,871 l,57tl,72;t (■','.9 ,447 2,< 4^1,126 2,H83,365 2,5Sf>,l76 2,012,457 157,JIJ 1,3 1^,88 'J 6,013,172 2,1 'N 1,993 265,:'.K2 6,112,913 2,397,'; 16 6,58.5, 6.'.,5 $45,597,730 88,990,309 ?3,727,21l io, 280,309 864,730,819 WEST, 1879. *158 Ohio . . . 6 Cincinnati 6 Cleveland 92 Indiana . . *127 Illinois . . 9 Chicago . . *75 Michigan . 4 Detroit . . *32 Wisconsin . 3 Milwaukee 75 Iowa . . . 3t IMinnesota *10 31issouri . 5 St. Louis . 12 Kansas , . 10 Nebraska . 660 76 51 49 *2nl 55 60 84 *265 45 6 88 *255 "41 24 18 1321 Maine . . . . New Hampshire Vermont . . Massachusetts Boston . . . Rhode Island Connecticut New York . New York City Albany . . . New Jersey . Pennsylvania Philacie'phia Pittsburg . . Delaware . . f 18,761, 900 4,100,000 3,700,000 13,202,500 10,714,600 4,250,000 7,235,000 2,100,000 2,400,000 650,0''0 5,867,000 5,150,000 1,400,000 2,«5O,00O 875,000 850,000 $3,711,760 695,000 760,000 3,976,906 3,463,483 2,360,000 1,876,122 715,000 687,872 2^0,000 1,419,101 937,003 321,204 758.037 193,0.50 229,700 $1,602,886 666,099 284,586 l,216,:-i76 1,054,599 819,628 904,209 454,021 369,190 137,755 633,493 452,233 231,462 256,676 100,763 164,478 $34,274,345 12,532,^)29 7,595,258 23,193,224 22,471,899 23,190,590 14,091, 5h7 6,846,403 0,0( -4,498 2,90.5,709 11,373,096 12,201,167 2,311,75.5 8, ,527, 61 1 1,794,360 3,193,1,58 f29,817,294 1<',0()4,733 6,'.i.5l,l;i5 19,871,023 2.5,857,i»4X 2:^,534,594 12,0,39,290 6,•J6,5,8.^^ 6,.542,023 3,216,893 Il,6u7,6l9 8,918,149 3, 127 68-2 5, 20.3, .591 2,.'>47,782 3,723,501 $83,906,0c0 t22,324,238 {9,348,454 $191,506,069 $179,278,252 NORTH, 1889. $10,660,000 6,317,800 7,466,000 45.049,430 51,800,000 20,284,1 50 24, o-.^, 370 34,329,060 48,85' ',000 1,550,000 13,524,640 34,162,580 23,408,1100 lo,43",0O0 2,133,9S5 $ 2,658,509 1,.M5,P.32 1,691,177 14,. 571,. 525 1.3,744,970 4,408,363 6,867,079 11,056,818 33,052,906 l,278,.50O 5,61.5,351 13,:^.21,1I3 11,724,303 6,162 909 883,4.50 $ 1,312,515 606,318 664,600 5,537,831 5, .^45, 267 1,946,724 1,76 ,605 6,.557,680 11,967,798 230,569 2,285.792 3,370,738 2,205,712 931,298 226,428 $ 20,442,270 1< 1, 106, 8' 3 12,744,250 100,988,!i77 147,6.59,370 36,272,H69 46,291,130 101,788,'.».39 309,442,460 ,^,813,f,16 43,!t:i4,984 8C,,451,156 96,453,861 35,029.127 5.:^92,5(;o $11,.5".3,148 7,ol5,t;22 6,84 ',125 62,792, Mil 102.9:j;{ 9."'5 15,S67,3I2 .^i;,. r>4i,.52l 92,.',99,443 2«1,46 ',362 7,647.4' 9 42,04.3,4.'.9 8f,- 66,tl54 90,Hf'7,W>8 30,734.775 4,531,s2'i {333,989,915 $127,582,805 $45,.549,875 $1,061,812,372 $8,52,424,774 * Exclusive of reserve cities. 28 434 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH ? SOUTH, 1889. ^•'- "^ STATE. CAPITAL SURPLUS. UNDIVinED LOAN.S AND INDIVIDUAL BANKS STOCK. PUdFITS. Dl.sfOUNTS. DKPOSITS. *34 I^Iaryland .... $ 2,082,000 $ 1,073,789 $ 2^9,849 $ 8,010,683 $ 7,348,151 17 Baltimure . . . 11,713.260 3,923,600 864,-72 28,^>29,»95 21,41 s393 *l Dist. ot Columbia 2:)2,ouO 6o,000 59,819 321,414 864,065 7 Washington . . 1,575,000 073,000 159,231 5,401,856 8,039,39.{ 30 Vir«iniii . . 4,076,5(.0 1,659,919 372,293 12,156,945 10,6'; 5,152 ]9 West Virginia . . 1,856,000 477,096 90,534 4,311,458 3,470,3,>s7 18 North Carolina . 2,27H,0OJ 5h6,l54 284,414 5,331,796 3,955,276 16 South Carolina . 1,798,000 842,500 811,732 5, 91 '1,898 3,171,3-2 li7 Georj^ia .... 3,661,560 1,127,914 539,980 8.037,631 5,392,124 13 Florida . . . 950,000 130,650 72,077 2,220,063 2,59';,5iG 25 Alabama . . . 3,891,100 9.i7,888 442,486 7,691.009 6,008,817 12 Mississippi . 1,130,000 311,300 72,258 2,5:;9,137 1,849,071 *5 Louisiana . . 5(I(1,0(M) 108,000 .32,271 986,886 937,7*0 9 New Orleans 3,125,000 1,550,125 334,198 11,315,4»7 12,544,317 115 Texas .... 13,-1 OH, 690 3,156,701 90(J,447 25,319,(,42 18,00 •■,037 8 Arkansas . . . l,2lK»,0(tO . 237,000 43,071 2,787,685 2,273,113 45 Tennessee . . 7,905,000 1,742,762 787,529 19,214,970 14,400,829 *(i2 Kentucky . . 10,0u2,9()0 2,3.54, 7(;5 632,465 18,3S'I,361 11,011,161 11,28:5,524 9 Louisville . . 4,151,500 1,003,928 341,653 4,2(58,055 472 $70,451,510 $21,937,991 $7,136,579 $179,787,377 $139,093,232 WEST, 1889. *197 Ohio 824,404,000 $6,095,999 $1,706,281 $55,868,869 $47,431,1.30 13 ( incinnati 8,900,000 2,068,000 f 75,999 23,826,745 18,845,:{<;5 9 Cleveland . . 6,7.50,000 1,064,000 523,881 17.844,736 13,488,317 07 Indiana . . l2,2.S4,.0OO 3,811,589 l,2f-4,735 28,683,(;59 28,581,945 *1()8 Illinois . . 15,204,000 4,997,209 1,970,331 4o,92S,8.53 30,311,620 19 Chicago . . ]5,5.'iO,ooO 5,755,000 1,901,451 70,104,937 54,014,859 *104 Micliigan . 11,244,600 2,591,032 1,212,786 29,9.'.3,< 92 24,186,299 8 Detroit . . 4,400,000 552,000 413,599 13,892,833 9,829,096 *58 Wisconsin . 4,925,000 1,464,834 502,935 15,946,304 15,14:^,163 3 Milwaukee 850,000 390,' 00 221,842 4,40H,915 5,185,933 132 Iowa . . . 10,.-.40,0'.)0 2,^83,803 985,612 2.-), 809, 477 20,(563,814 57 IMinnesota 14,145,'O0 2,641,922 1,431,927 37,273,270 26,k:]7,605 *39 ]yiis8ouri . 2,882,190 625,147 145,722 5,644,919 5,.'S85,445 5 St. liouis . 4,400,(JOO 84o,(M)0 283.. 548 10,410,579 8,493,082 10 Kansas City 1,800,000 846,500 223,286 18,030,415 11,932,978 3 St. Joseph 1,000,000 81,500 l'3,035 2,972,373 2,599,573 162 Kansas . . 13,010,100 1,911,4.53 70 ,983 22,4.54,043 1K,0I2,<59^ *107 Nebraska . . 7,285,000 1,261,109 442,i;80 If,. 11 1,975 11,344,093 7 Omaha . . 3,300,000 457,r.00 143,065 10,143,532 8,493,880 1198 |162,b74,390 $40,338,597 $14,765,089 $4 0,318,506 $3;0,910,925 In order to make still clearer the relative progress of tJie States treated of in this book and the other States comprised in the above tables the former and the latter are gronped below. The figures are so remarkable that attention is here called to the fact that the editor has taken them from the official reports. The term Northern and Western applies to the following States: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, * Exclusive of reserve cities. SUNRISE. 435 Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mich- igan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, and District of Columbia ; and the term Southern applies to the following States: Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, A\'est Vir- ginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and Missouri. Northern and Western Stales, 1879. NO. OF CAPITAL ciinpTTTfl tlNDIVIHED LOANS AND BANKS. STOCK. SURPLUS. pKoFlTS. DISCOUNTS. BErOStTfl. 1895 $436,556,785 $114,390,644 $42,578,353 8974,7b5,259 $8M,Mj4,r.21 Northern and Western States, 1889. 2592 ^^17,468,775 $174,797,337 $61,886,252 $1,546,027,962 $1,249,4.39,202 Percentage of Increase. 37 19 53 45 68 53 Southern States, 1879. 151 $24,852,200 $5,115,724 $2,408,378 $51,331,361 $41,025,137 Southern States, 1889. 399 $55,850,040 $15,062,056 {5,564,881 $144,890,293 $113,889,729 Perce)itage of lucrea e. 104 125 194 131 182 177 This comparison shows that while the percentage of in- crease of banks was, in the North and West, 37 per cent., it was, in the South, 164 ; that in the former the increased per- centage of capital stock was 19 against 125 in the latter; of surplus 53 against 194; undivided profits, 45 against 131; loans and discounts 68 against 182, and deposits 53 against 177 ; the average percentage of increase in all these items being about threefold greater in the South than in the remain- der of the States presented. The facts stated in the preceding portions of this book and those shown by these figures present, it is believed, the most startling contrast between the results of good government and bad that can be found in the history of mankind. Statistics, however, do not always impress tlie mind as vividly as the personal evidence of an intelligent witness. There is no more competent observer than Vice-President IMorton. On his return from a recent trip to the South, he talked to a reporter of the Washington Post. The whole interview may be in- teresting to one who wishes to understand the present condi- tion. 436 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? " It was my first trip along the South Atlantic coast," he said, '^although many years ago I visited New Orleans, and to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the trip would be to very mildly characterize the pleasure I experienced. Although I went among the people who were perfect strangers to me, aud with whose interests I had not beeu closely identified, I met jwith a most cordial greeting everywhere, and, indeed, could not begin to accept all the invitations which were showered upon me. If I had had the time I would hav^e gone to Mobile, Ala., Thomasville, Ga., and other places from which invitations came, but there had to be a limit to travel." '' What feature of this trip most impressed you?" ^' I tliink that the wonderful aud rapid recovery of the South from the devastation of the war is most amazing and must strongly imj)ress every one who knows what the South experienced and realizes what it is to-day. I am frank to say that I do not believe a traveler going through the South, if unaware of the struggle of twenty-five years ago, would notice any signs resulting from that struggle. Of course this recovery is not equal at all points. Some cities are more back- ward than others, and yet I believe that all cities are feeling the general j)rospcrity which is now the happy condition of the South. Atlanta, Savannah, Birmingham, aud Jackson- ville are particularly flourishing. Jacksonville has in four years increased its poi)ulation from 35,000 to 60/JOO. This is marvellous growth." ^^ Do the Southern people still talk of the war?" " I think not, except to refer to it as a basis of comparison by which they emphasize the changes wlii(;h ha.ve been made since it closed, and this comparison is with them a natural matter of pride. Of course, I s])eak only for the cities. I did not go into the country. In the cities, however, the Southern man has his mind on the future rather than on the past." " There is considerable Northern capital invested in the development of the South ? " ^' Beyond a doubt." " And do the Northerners and the Southerners work to- gether without friction ? " SUNRISE. 437 '^ I think they do. Certainly anion«r the business men, so far as I could see, Democrats and Republicans were on ex- cellent terms. There is a common bond," continued Mr. Morton, with a smile, " in making money, and tliat is what the South is now successfully endeavoring to do. Northern people are welcomed in the South, especially if they are dis- posed to place their shoulders to the wheel in helping to develop the material industries of that section. Tiie South- erner may not agree with his Northern visitor politically, and he may have diiferent views on other questions, but he is heart and soul with him on the all-absorbing question of development. Yes, there can be no question but that the Northern man is sure of a cordial welcome to the South." '' Then the Southerners are not letting Northern men do all the work ? " " Not by any manner of means. They are also up and alive and doing." '^ Mr. Morton said that the Florida hotels were now fidl of tourists from the North. Jacksonville is crowded, and all the St. Augustine hotels are full. A new hotel, to accommo date 500 or 600 guests, is now being erected in Tampa, and will be readv next season. In conclusion Mr. Morton a;j:ain referred with the heartiest appreciation to the marked cordi- ality which had been shown him, and expressed the firm belief that the present era of prosperity in the South was not based on a fictitious foundation, but was the result of natural and lasting causes." All these facts cannot be answered by citing and collating isolated cases of wrong. The political earthquake that convulsed the Southern States for years, some of them from 1865 to 1876, of course lefl great fissures, some of which are not yet closed ; but the kindly processes of nature are carrying on the work of resto- ration. It was and is the misfortune of the Southern people to have to deal with the problems arising out of race })rcjudices. The negro had neitlier the will nor the power to resist the forces which arrayed him against his late master, and the solidification of his vote, by those who were to profit by it, 438 WHY THE SOLID SOUPH? meant of course, a black man's party; for its niaioritv senti- ent ,ieter,n,„es tlje con.plexion of every political partv meant inn. lo avert rum white men united: and then came a strugg e, the issue of which was in all the States he same It could not anywhere he doubtful. The race a 'ai t M he negro had allowed himself to be arra^dTas ne ve yet met its master. It could not go down before the A Wean No true fnend of tl-.e colored man wouki, except in i^m- rance, precipitate such a conflict ' ° But victor though the white man was, no one could rec^ret the en orced conflict more than di.l the peo,>le of the Somlf And they set to work at once to make i k ndiy use of t ei^ V ctories. Under the laws passed by Southern whrte men e negroes in every Southern State are far more prosi'erous ft.etL;:- .Tendf '■ '"^ ^'^ "^^ '"^ ^^''^ ''""-"- o? thi'sulr"/" '" '%'/" ■"»"'?^^'" "- So^theniSs ot thi. Union. In everything going to make up a pro<.ner- ous and happy career their conditioif is infinitely betfeiXn that of their brethren in such countries as Ha^, where " se nfotlliid- ?/"'" "'■'•'^rt ^-"^ y^' there ire' those wo seem to think it an especial duty to foment amono- these col- ored peo,,le a spirit of strife and discontent. Th're is none in the sZWrrr "'' TT f "',?• "'''"^ f'^llow-citizeiis in tlie South. They understand well enough that the one condition upon which prosperity can be hoj^ed for is p^^ and not strite between the races. They know full we/to^ that the laborer wull not be valuable eid.er as a citilei or a vorker unless he is contented, and that he will no be con- SonH,"t'h %r''! •'/""■'^ "''''''^- So in every State in the th oidi'ti^^of H ^""^ "''^'=' ""'' successfully: too, to better zensliip ihese States are expending many millions per annum for educational purposes. Following i a table taken from the Report of the U. S. Commissioner'of Edti^Tation fo 1889. It comprises all of the States of the Union which have made separate reports for white and colored sehooir. SUNRISE. 439 PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR THE COLORED RACE. Table 91.-Colored School Population, Enrollment and Avcraje, Attendance for 1S87-88. Alabama Arkaasas Delaware* .... District of Columbia Florida Georgia Indiana Kentucky* . . . . Louisiana Maryland ISIississippi* . • • • Missouri* North Carolina . . . South Carolina . . . Tennessee* . . . • Texas Virginia West Virginia . . . 1887 7-21 1888 G-21 1S86 6-21 1883 6-17 1888 6-21 1888 6-18 1888 6-21 1886 6-20 1887 6-18 1880 5-20 18-^5 5-21 1887 6-20 1888 6-21 1880 6-18 18S7 6-21 1888 8-16 1885 5-21 1888 6-21 212,821 99,784 b5,750 18,20fi 33,596 267,657 17,750 102,617 dl51,?.84 , 6^',409 269,009 47,603 216,837 180,4;i5 161 ,393 135.184 265,249 10,420 485,551 388,165 642,218 51,501) 63,848 560,281 756,989 641,638 335,603 295,215 471, :W2 838,812 580, H19 281,684 640,014 525,110 610,271 256,:}50 098,306 50,57*) b3,5 1 440 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? and ippiied i^ S^i^:::i;z^z;r^,-^ zr are necessary to its solution interested, all these ;"g.i.e4-o'nS„l:f';idVlrs„;u^^^^^^^^ won,d tend t'owanir: Slt'.'.^.^^ .^r^Cr"' ^"^ ^' ins vote aud somrprl if Ti.^ ^oioiea man solid „,asses T dlt pur!! "^^eT '''"' "^ '^,' P""^ "' eael. of tl.e foimer slavv states ^ "■'"^'* ''"""''^^ '" ..anufacturinSesllStuldT^^n^S t'-^'V;' program should be carried out as it ;« !'• i v"-'' ,'{ "''' with the United States arnTv'to enforce '^twJT''' ""'' domination should asain be f.merl T *l a ;,*'"' ""^^o princely fortune would van.d, toair ft f'"""' •'"'"^u " SUNRISE. 441 latioii The Southern people themselves look on with the profoundest concern. They jnclge the futnre by the past They themselves passed through the scenes that are only faintly pictured in the preceding pages Ex,>enonce has demonstrated to them, what reason itself would teach that Federal control over election laws and elecfon metho.ls, ,„- terference by the General Government expressly m favor ot he blacks and against the whites, would tend to arrav one ■ace a'ah St the other in bitter hostility that such hostd, tv n a contest for supremacy in affairs of governmont would engender race conflicts and that race conflicts woul.l furn.sh an excuse for military interference. It w 11 not answe'r to say that conditions have change . There will be Northern adventurers and native whites n Seat plenty to lead the negroes. No mass of vc.ters ul, Ic t frtmrnm power have ever yet lacked for leaders, and i matters not ^hat prejudices the voters have, they will find men to v^ldl to hem, and, how great soCN^r tlie.r cupid- tv mav be their chosen representatives will answer to the rrds'tliat may be made up^ f^ .iSve^^^r s' nTf As to whetner y ^^ ^^^^ ^ , dominion ot the negro a^ai Ipss.m Would the die past may furnish ^''"f "f ';',,' Xitl Carolina, army be used more_ freely t >«"/;?! "esnk now be dit' Mississippi or Louisiana, and would tlie result, ferent? . . „ , ^ ^f o„,. Civil War, There was a t'rNl"f\^*^!',,^ook upon the South as a .vhen Northern capitalists began ^ jooj; 1«^; governments field for investments, bu ''fe' J,^; '^^ ^^;'-^' leir capacity for had had opportunity fully « J ^''"f .^f^t" „to that rcgio.i evil not a single dollar for wje";^;;^ t,,, overthrow .>r for years. Years had elapsed eveu fj^^^_ Southern these governments before ec^fiJenee^^ao^^^^^^^^ ^^ men they were, who, «ith their own ca^ , ^^_,^,^ ,^^^^ the world the resources of the feoutn. 442 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? ceased to doubt either the stability of state governments or the vahies of Southern properties ; and now Northern capital is flowing southward in a steady stream. It is said that to one town in Alabama — now not more than eighteen months old — investors have come from thirty-two of the states of the Union. The flow has only fairly begun. . If not checked by some untoward movement it will steadily increase in volume. There is no finer field for investing the surplus capital of the North. There is no better customer for the Northern mer- chant than the Southerner. There is no more steady demand for the products of the Northwest than comes from the Sou.th ; and no one can deny that the continued prosperity of that section is necessary to the prosperity of the North and West. How shall Southern prosperity be continued except, by continuing the conditions which brought it about? The chiefest of these are honest, economical state governments. These secure to labor its reward, and to capital its profit. Our ancestors believed that local self-government was the greatest of blessings. That was the foundation stone upon which was builded all our institutions of government. The unwisdom and peril of departing from this theory has never had a more convincing illustration than in the reconstruction laws of Congress and the results which followed. Certainly the masses of the people of the distant North, if they had understood the situation at the South as the peo- ple there did, and if they could have foreseen the conse- quences of the reconstruction laws, would not have sanctioned their passage as they did. Intelligent Americans cannot be misled as to facts transpiring in their midst. On these their judgment is always to be trusted; but there is always danger of mistake when voters in any one part of the Union under- take to pass upon questions peculiar to a far-distant section of the country. Herein lies the distinguishing excellence of our complex form of government. Local questions are left to be determined by those most interested in correct conclu- sions and best acquainted with the facts out of which the questions arise. It is sincerely to he hoped that the American people may not need to take another lesson in the school of Reconstruction. Hilary A. Herbert. ? J> APPENDIX A. MARCH 2, 18G7. Whereas no legal state ^---^ts^-^-^^^P-^^^^ or property now exists ^^^ ^^^^ .^^"^if,^^^^^^^^ Alabama, Louisiana, Una, Souih Carolina, ^^^JS^; JX'eas it is necessary that peace Flo ida, Texas and Arkansas and ^^e;^^^^^^,^ until loyal and re- and ^ood order ^^ould be enforced ^^^ ^^^^^^.^^^^.i^ed ; Therefore, publican state governments can be le ay j^ .enfatives of the ^ Be it enacted by the ^'.^f^Zress^^^^^^^^^ United States <^'^^^^^^^^,^:^fScts and made subject to the miii- shallbe divided into military d^^^^^^^^ prescribed and for l^^LTSuU^Carolina^t^^^^ four.h dis- Florida the third district ; ^^^^^^^/PP^ district. ^ ^ , ^, trict- and Louisiana and Texas tiie nun ^^^ duty of the Sec 2. And be it further enacted, Th^^ it sbau district, an assigned. Sec. 3. And officer assigned Sopunirh/oroausetooe puLH^^^^^^ ^^,^,1 eiv.l iri- ^eace a^nd criminals ; /^^nd to this end he m^y^^^^^^ 1 bunals to take urisdiction f ^"^, ^^^rial of ofTenders, he shall ha e power to "'^g'\"''rf g,,ee under color o'/'ff,,?" ' .u":!!!.! vc.i.l. Sercire'oftilitrr authority under th. "|ec!4. ^«'i*.^^/'"f;Siracfi'aU be tri^d without unnecessary tary arrest by virtue of this act sua ^^^ 444 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? 'e!^n::t/':r:^'i^Z^::^^ -dieted, and no affecting the life or UheltyZlTyZr^^^^^^^ IS approved by the officer in comm u d V hi^i^! executed until it and reguhitions for the govern S of rhL^''^ ^'f'^,^' ^°^ the laws by this act, except in so Ikr arthev onn fl . ^.^ '^^^^ "^^ ^^ '-effected vidof, Th^t no sentence of death^nK^rl''^'^^'^P'^^'^^^'^^ ^^--• shall be carried into effect witho, ill '^ Provisions of this act Sec. 5. And be ^ /"Xl^aeW '.lf,fPf'f>^'^^' <>f the President, of said rebel states LIlLy:^^!^^^^^^^^^^ of anyone in conformity with the Constitutioii ofth? T •. To''^ government speeds, framed by a convention of?/!]! . F""^,"^ States in all re- zens of said stafeNwe~ by the xnale citi- race, color, or preWous conditions wh^i, i"^"'^'*^' ^^ whatever siateforoneye^rpreviourto r%voP '^ been resident in said as may be disfranchised ibVpurtic Action !^^^ «"^h ony at common law, and wherf i^ 1 " /i?., n' 't' ^^" ^^ ^^^ ^■^'- the elective franchise shall i^e on nvofln"'" f^'^^^ P^^^'^^e that the qualifications he?e l,tedTrp?p> ^'^'^^ P"'^^"^ ^« ^^'-^ve such constitution shalTbe ra .tied hv ^ .^ '^^ delegates, and when on the question of ra ificat?o who L'^ majority of the persons voting gates, and when such cons itb.hdl T/v ' l'^^ '' 't''''' '''' ^'^' gress for examination and anm^^^^^^^^^^ to Om- provedthe same, and when s sV o K ^'^"-^^ «h^dl have ap- elected under said con tftu ion ih-m' ^^ '^^ legislature to the Constitution of thfunitecS'lir '-^^opted the amendment iiinth Congress, and knovn%s.rfie^ in the state, and approval ot a rnajomy oi * •■ ,i , ■ t„ Congress to be in fon- if 'the 3akl Constitution ^l^^l' ''^^'^^'l''' 'f^.fjeh this issupplemenUry, formity with the proy'^'ons of the act to « mcu i» => complied with, and the other provisions of sa d ^f ^^^„7„ "^"b^'c.mgre, , the stule T^'tti^^^d enUt:d\f rt-enSi:;!tm/sena^.rs and Repre- : , tWef stlTtradmitted tl-refrom^s^l-e,,, p.^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ SEC, 6. An.l ''^Jl /"Itfto pm Ulf ^ l^e Zt ethcient .overn- mentioned in tlie said *f' *^' ^'^, ,'', „ ,u^ operation of said act, be mentofthe rebel ^j*^'''*- "'\* y; ""|^^^^ and bv ballot, and all oihcers » '^'^ "^±„'entcr7.?K .»" the discharge of conducting said elections shall, before entemg^^l^^ ,^^^ , their duties, take and .^«l;'^<="'',f,, 'L°f ',^r,Txu' two, entitled, " An proved July .f«°"'^'7f,'f'':S3ce ""-'«', That if any person shall act to prescribe an oath ot o"*^^- „/ „^ii,„ ',„ oath in this act pre- knowingly and falsely take ^"'^/"^'.'7oin^ hereof dulv convicted, scribed, such person so oiT«''d'n.?.J'"d l^^d 7l sabilitie. which by law t^'^.^Kr^e^TnlMt "tUe^crinie of willful and corrupt ^'^7. A.4 U Ufartyr ™-'f That all e>^P-- •---;,!;>•,'!- several commanding generals o by virtue m .^ ^^^.^ ,et, shall be appointments made by » >«'";""^^, ,7^ 7ot Otherwise appropriate,!. ^ltn."!l«76':";>'"- -"'Titat the convention for each 448 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? state shall prescribe the fee?, salaries and compensation to be paid to all delegates and other officers and agents herein authorized, or neces- sary to carry into effect the purposes of this act not herein otherwise provided for, and shall provide for the levy and collection of such taxes on the property in such state as may be necessary to pay the same. Sec. 9. And be U further enacted, That the word " article,'' in the sixth section of the act to which this is supplementary, shall be con- strued to mean " section." APPENDIX C. ANNOUNCING THAT THE REBELLION HAS ENDED, APRIL 2d, 1866. Whereas by proclamations of the fifteenth and nineteenth of April one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, the President of the United States, in virtue of the power vested in hira by the Constitu- tion and the laws, declared that the laws of the United States were opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed in the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceeding, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law ; And whereas by another proclamation made on the sixteenth day of August, in the same year, in pursuance of an act of Congress approved July thirteenth, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, the inhabitants of the states of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida, (except the inhabitants of that part of the state of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains, and to such other parts of that state and the other states before named as might maintain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or might be from time to time occupied and controlled by forces of the United States engaged in the dispersion of insurgents) were declared to be in a state of insurrection against the United States ; And whereas by another proclamation of the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, issued in pursuance of an act of Congress, approved July seventh, in the same year, the insurrection was declared to be still existing in the states aforesaid, with the ex- ception of certain specified counties in the state of Virginia; And whereas by another proclamation made on the second day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in pursuance of the act of Congress of July thirteenth, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, the exceptions named in the proclamation of August sixteenth, one thousand eiglit hundred and sixty-one, were revoked, and the inhabitants of the states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missis- sippi, Florida and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties of Vir- 29 449 450 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? ginia designated as West Virginia, and the ports of New Orleans, Key West, Port Eoyal, and Beaufort, in South Carolina) were declar- ed to be still in a state of insurrection against the United States. And whereas the House of Representatives, on the twenty-second day of July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, adopted a resolution in the words following, namely ; ^'Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States, now in revolt against the constitutional government, and in arms around the Capital ; that in this national emergency Congress, banishing all feel- ings of passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country ; that this war is not waged on our part in any spirit of op- pression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of" overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institu- tions of those states ; but, to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union, with all the digrlity, equality and rights of the several states unimpaired ; that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease." And whereas the Senate of the United States on the twenty-fifth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, adopted a resolution in the words following, to wit: ^^ Resolved, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern states, now in revolt against the constitutional government, and in arms around the Capital ; that in this national emergency, Congress, banishing all feeling of mere passion or resentment will recollect only its duty to the whole country ; that this war is not prosecuted on our part in any spirit of oppression nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or estab- lished institutions of those states, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance there- of, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality and rights of the several states unimpaired; that as soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought to cease." And whereas these resolutions though not joint or concurrent in form, are substantially identical, and as such may be regarded as having expressed the sense of Congress upon the subject to which they relate ; And whereas by my proclamation of the thirteenth day of June last, the insurrection in the state of Tennessee was declared to have been suppressed, the authority of the United States therein to be un- disputed and such United States officers as had been duly commis- sioned to be in the undisputed exercise of their official functions ; And whereas there now exists no organized armed resistance of misguided citizens or others to the United States in the states of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ala- bama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida, and the laws can be sustained and enforced therein by the proper civil authority. APPENDIX C. 4,-31 state or Federal, and the people of the said states are well and loyally disposed, and have conformed or will conform in their legislation to the condition of affairs growino: out of the amendment to the Consti- tution of the United States prohibiting slavery within the limits and jurisdiction of the United States ; And whereas in view of the before recited premises, it is the mani- fest determination of the American people that no state of its own will, has the right or the power to go out of, or separate itself from, or be separated from the American Union, and that, therefore, each state ought to remain and constitute an integral part of the United States; And whereas the people of the several before mentioned states, have in the manner aforesaid, given satisfactory evidence that they acquiesce in this sovereign and important resolution of national unity : And whereas it is believed to be a fundamental principle of gov- ernment that people who have revolted, and who have been overcome and subdued, must either be dealt with so as to induce them volun- tarily to become friends or else they must be held by the absolute military power, or devastated, so as to prevent them from ever again doing harm as enemies which last named policy is abhorrent to humanity and freedom ; And whereas the Constitution of the United States provides for constituent committees only as states and not as territories, dependen- cies, provinces, or protectorates ; And whereas such constituent States must necessarily be and by the Constitution and laws of the United States are made equals and placed upon a like footing as to political rights, immunities, dignity, and power, with the several states with which they are united ; And whereas the observance of political equality as a principle of right and justice is well calculated to encourage the people of the aforesaid states to be and become more and more constant and perse- vering in their renewed allegiance ; And whereas standing armies, military occupation, martial law, military tribunals, and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus are, in time of peace, dangerous to public liberty, incompatible with the individual rights of the citizen, contrary to the genius and spirit of our free institutions, and exhaustive of the national resources, and ought not therefore, to be sanctioned or allowed, except in cases of actual necessity for repelling invasion or suppressing insurrection or rebellion ; And whereas the policy of the government of the United States, from the beginning of the insurrection to its overflow and final sup- pression, has been in conformity with the principles herein set forth and enumerated : Now, therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the insurrection which hereto- fore existed in the states of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, is at an end, and is henceforth to be so regarded. 452 WHY THE SOLID SOUTH? In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, the second day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninetieth. Andrew Johnson. By the President, Wm. H. Seward* Secretary of State. A $3.00 Book, Beautifully Illustrated, for $2.25. A Work Desired In every Southern Home. LIFE AND REMINISCENCES OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. BY DISTINGUISHED MEN OF HIS TIME. Introductory by Hon. JOHN W. DAMEl, I'. S. Senator from Virginia. A number of distinguished soldiers and statesmen, who were inti- mate with Mr. Davis, have furnished articles specially for this book, among whom are Senator Keagan, of Texas, member of Mr. Davis* Cabinet ; U. S. Senator Vest, of Missouri ; Col. AV. C. P. Breckin- ridge, Member of Congress from Kentucky; Ex-Attorney-General Garland, of Arkansas ; Hon. J. L. M. Curry, Ex-Minister to Spain ; Gov. F. K. Lubbock, of Texas; Gen'l Geo. W. Jones, of Iowa, Ex-U. S. Senator; Hon. Keuben Davis, of Mississippi, who was with Mr. Davis in the Mexican War; Kev. Chas. Minnegerode, D. D., Mr. Davis' pastor during the war; Hon. J. Eandolph TuCker, Vir- ginia; Ex-Postmaster General Jas. Campbell, who was with Mr. Davis in the Cabinet of President Pierce; Gen'l A. R. Lawton, Georgia, Ex-Minister to Eussia; Hon. H. A. Herbert, Member of Congress from Alabama; Gen. Joseph Wheeler, Alabama, Member of Congress; Hon. S. Teackle Wallis, Maryland; Major Thomas Hall, and other prominent and distinguished men. The book is issued in the highest artistic style. It contains some of Mr. Davis' most choice letters, speeches, proclamations, etc., making 546 pages. It is beautifully illustrated with numerous engrav- ings and a steel portrait of Mr. Davis. It is farnislied to subscribers in elegant and durable binding at the following prices : Fine Edition, Cioth, *--2i Fine English Clotli, side and baclt goid stamp, gilt top, untrlmmed edKes, i.io Sheep, sprinkled edges, ^••'* Turkey Morocco, gold edges (Presentation Edition), ♦•00 AGEXTS WANTED EVEKYTN'IIEKE. Address. R ^ WOODWARD & COMPANY, Baltimore, Md. 1 'U I I