The trouble in Greene and Sumter

Title

Source Type

Newspapers.

Author

W.W. Screws

Publisher

The Montgomery Weekly Adviser

Publication Place

Montgomery, AL

Publication Date

09/30/1874

Transcript

Now, put all these facts together. These negroes are Hays' constituents. A part of them live on his land, rent free —his armed retainers. His rival passes the road, and is looked for to return over it. They waylay the first men coming from the direction in which this rivail is expected, and shoot them down. True, Hays is in the North, but he is in constant comcommunication with Threat, whom he brought here from Washington to do his dirty work; and these negroes told the United States Commissioner, who expostulated with them, showing them his seal and commission: " Damn your seal, and damn you and the United States; we have a letter from Frank Threat telling us what to do, and we are going to do it." In view of all these facts, ought not Hon. (?) CHAS. HAYS rise to an explanation? Reverse the case—suppose him passing JONES' land; suppose that these would-be assassins had cursed a U.S. officer, d——d the government and boasted their Instructions from some leading member of the Democratic party as their warrant for what they had done. Then suppose that the man whose authority they boasted had been the feed stipendiary and lackey of some Democratic candidate for office; in that event who can estimate the barrels of printer's ink that would have been wasted In frantic head-lines, or shed in piteous appeals for troops? It is well for the people to know that these riotings, assassinations and outrages are the deliberate work of the infamous Radical leaders in this State, who have deliberately intrigued, according to the confessions of some of their own crew, to have a few negroes killed, that they may howl," Kuklux!" through the North. It is the vilest conspiracy known to the annals of the human race, It is almost too barbarous for belief; but if we believe the confessions of the negroes captured in Demopolis and the deliberate statement of COCKERELl, who was a delegate to the late State Convention of the Radical party, there is no escape from the conclusion that just such a conspiracy was entered into or that Greene and Sumter are now reaping the fruits of it. It is evident that the scheme, wide- spread as it is, was: concocted somewhere and by somebody and we know that no Democrats ever yet conspired to have men of their own faith and blood or indeed or any faith and blood waylaid and murdered on account of their political opinions or party affiliations. We have no earthly doubt that OLIVER. P. MORTON, POWELL CLAYTON and JACKSON McCLURE arranged the conspiracy at the Hot Springs Conference, or that A.B. SLONAKER, of New Orleans, made his late visit to the Radical State Convention to give the managers in this State the cue. It may interest some of our Montgomery readers to know that in possession of SKINNER, the leader of the Forkland rioters, was found a copy of the constitution and by-laws of the National Guard, and that they admitted that they were members of that organization..

Sources for

Granville Bennett