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ATLANTA,«E0E0Li7Ai>KlL28^1870.
THE SOUTH.
Speech of Senator Horton Against
the Bingham Amendment
HISTORY OF THE POLITICAL,
TROUBLES OF GEORGIA.
All the Members of the Ku-Klux
Klan Democrats.
An Organized Conspiracy to Defeat the
i Party hy Force.
with remarkable hospitality, mud the
reating them would aay, “All these
states about rebel outrages are falie; the men
who hare been punished are scalawags;
they am Unarm; but gentlemen like yon,
gentlemen of high position in the
depublican party ooming to the South
aro received as yon an; we hare no ob-
jeettar wtotoolr to n^nhWiwhs as roch; but
tis only the theirea and the scalawags that
hare been riaited with punishment." But, Hr.
President, it turns out thst etery prominent
Republican in Georgia who stands fast by the
GoTenunentiseoramdwiththerilsst Jsndem.
Every invention that devilish ingenuity can
put afloat is started in regard to those men;
and whenever a man is murdered down there
they seek to palliate the orirse by covering his
name with the vilest slanders. I can appeal
to .very Southern Senator hem today far the
troth of what I say; and I am very “
FRANTIC EFFORTS OF THE EX-REBELS
TO CET RID OF COV. BULLOCK.
it Hesitate or Go
Backward When Beeooatrnetlon
Is Almost Completed.
Frau the WaaUoctao Chronicle. 18th.]
As the moment for deciding the fate of
Georgia by the vote to be taken in Ufa Senate
on the bill to admit that State approaches, all
that relates to this vitally important question
will doubtless be mad with intense interest
The debate in the Senate on Thursday and
Friday last developed so much valuable infor
mation in relation to Georgia and the recon
structed States that we have ooncluded to pre
sent it to our readers in a comprehensive farm.
The following speech, by Senator O. P. Mor
ion, of Indiana, delivered in the Senate on
'Atunday, faithfully presents the merits of
this great question, and deserves a careful and
tbonahtfal perusal:
Ur. President, this is the anniversary of the
OMWieinatian of Hr. linooln. Five yearn ago
to-day be fell by the hands of an asnamnn, per
haps the original Kn-klnx, whose evil example
is now being imitated in various States In the
South, producing a condition of things whieh
imperatively demands the consideration of the
Senate and the oountry. But, Hr. President,
there are some preliminary matters which I
must find dispose of before proceeding to the
discussion of the mein subject
The main issue upon the Georgia bill now
ill'what is called Ufa Bingham amendment—
a provision, the principal feature of which is
to require that the election for members of
the Legislature in Georgia shall take place
this coming fitIL The other provisions in the
hill were contained in the bills for the admis
sion of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, end
I had supposed were not racily iu discussion
until the distinguished Senator from Wiscon
sin (Ha Carpenter) tbs other day abase
argue the question all over.
This Bingham amendment requiring an
election next fill], is favored upon several
grounds, which are in direct conflict with each
other. The find ground is that the Georgia
Constitution requires that the election shall
take {dace next taiL Those who support toe
amendment upon that ground seem to be un
conscious that they are advocating a power in
Congress more dangerous to whet are called
State rights than those who claim to support
the other provisions of toe bill under what is
called the guarantee clause. They assume
that Congress has s right in advance to give a
construction to the Constitution of a State,
and to provide in advance that the Legisla
ture of a State, alter it shall have been ad
mitted, after the Stats Government shall be in
full operation, shall not do a particular act
This position assumes, on the part of Con
gress, a supreme judicial character to construe
in advance a Shde Constitution, and to pro
vide by law that the State Government, after
the full admission of the State, shall not give
tluit Constitution a different construction.
I am somewhat surprised that toe leaders of
the Democratic party sustain this constitution
al position. Inasmuch as It IS more destructive
to State rights than any other; but it only
proves that the ultra advocates of State rights
arc willing to tolerate an aggression on the
jwrt of Congress when thst aggression threat
ens to he in favor of the Democratic party in
stead of being in favor of toe Union party.
Now, Mr. Ihesident, there are those who as
sume that under the Georgia Constitution the
Legislature has a right to put off the election
one, two, or three years, and that in conse
quence of that, it is the duty, and Congress
has toe power to interfere to prevent the Leg
islature of Georgia from exercising a power
which the; concede it possesses; but they in
volve themselves in this contradiction; they
insist that Congress has the power to overrule
the Constitution of Goorci* so far as to require
the election to be belu next tail, and thnw
promptly put the State into the hands of the
rebels, but has no power to require an election
to be held two years beoce, to give a loyal
Hfatc Government in the meantime the power
to reorganize and regenerate the Rtate, and
secure protection to toe loyal men of that
State.
I will not, upon this occasion, go over the
argument I have made heretofore on the Geor
gia question. I have argued heretofore that
there was no legal Legislature until the
ent one was organized in toe month of Janua
ry last, and that, consequently, the legislative
term began from the time of the first legal or
ganization, and toe members had two years
from that time. I have signed farther, that
whether this was so or not, Congress in the ex
ercise of its supreme power of reconstruction
had the right, u view of the public necessities,
nr of general convenience, to fix toe time when
the term of the State officers should begin, or,
in other muds, to fix the date when the new
State government should take its start.
I want to say right here that the Bingham
amendment, so-called, (and it bean the name
■■fa distinguished and honored Republican,
hut that does not change its character), is in
the interest of the Democratic party, is against
toe interest of tbs Union party in the Sooth
and throughout toe oountry, and that it is so
universally understood by toe Union men in
Georgia and by toe rebels in Gaoraia. The
Dcmoeratia party in the entire South, and so
far as I know in the entire oountry, support
Bingham unanimously. The
Republican party in Geatwia, otherwise celled
the Union party, the loyal party, oppose the
Bingham amendment unanimously. I be
lieve toe entire Republican party of the South,
who understand Ufa situation better than we
do in the North, oppose the Bingham amend
ment
It may be said this is not a very good argu
ment I think there is something in it I
think it is worth a good many of the fine
drawn, very technical, constitutional scruples
that have been brought forward in this case;
and I most say that those fine constitutional
scruples, somewhat remarkably and unfortu
nately, all result in favor at toe Den
party of toe South,- and against toe Union
men of the Sooth. In a doubtfhl question,
if there were doubts hanging around it, those
doubts ought to be resolved in favor of the
unanimous opinion of toe Union party of toe
South.
Mr. President, there have been two or three
men here from Georgia claiming to be Repub
licans, who have been favoring and engineer
ing what is called the Bingham amendment;
bnt upon investigation I find that no) one of
them » in harmony with the Republican party
of toe South, but every one of them is acting
in conceit with the Democratic party of the
South. Then w» have bad soma letters, and
we have bad some teetimouy referred to by one
Senator on the other side, to the effect that
there was peace sod good fading down there.
Uen. Thomas, in hie dispatch from Tsmwwsn,
explains thst when he says tost some mm
have gone there fines the North who, for the
purpose of purchasing social position, for the
purpose of purchasing peace and quiet, have
consented to surrender their principles, and
have given what may be regarded as tabs testi
mony, and otherwise have abandoned toe en
tire loyal and Union party of the South.
Mr. President, the Union men Of Georgia
have been, as I regard it, grossly slandered
ai|d abased. Every sort of statement has
I teen made against Governor BuBoek and
against Foster Blodgett and against marry
others. I want to slate one thing farther,
that some of our Republicans who have gone
South have been misled by the testimony they
received down there sad the treatment they
received. Pruninet gentlemen of the Repub
lican party hawagone South, and have been
met by toe rabeneadera with their carriage at
the depot, they been dined and wined, and
Union men of Georgia, against toe
have stood up there through danger and
■ ■ mid assault, find Bepubli-
• a • • •
I want to say, in reference to the argument
of toe Senator from Wisconsin, (Mr. Carpen
ter,) sad tost of some others, in inimoAlw
with what was said by toe Senator from Ore-
) yesterday, that if Con-
tha newer to sav that on election
__ placeSoeiagfaSxt fall, it has the
to say that it shall not take plane for
two years. Thera can be and has been no dis
tinction made] and to require it to take piece
next fall is simply to provide for potting the
State promptly into toe hands of the retell.
To provide that it shall take place two years
oe, is to provide for the benefit of the loyal
t of that State, giving the State government
two years' time m which to operate and
she provision far the protection of toe loyal
I am willing, and I think that is toe better
plan, far Coagreae to strike out the Bingham
amendment and stop three. Be silent Leave
to the Ligliilstnre and the courts of Georgia
the construction of their Constitution. But if
gentlemen are not wilting to do that; if they
oast that Congress shall intervene, I beg of
them, I implore them in the name of human
ity, that tots intervention shall be in behalf of
The reconstruction policy of the Radical* win be com-
plctebcfore the next election; the State* *o excluded will
have been admitted, negro suffrage established, and the
MgteMMAdtatlMtrantolabothbtaiichM
SSJSSSSSSS&
mm and ^majority of the
HBUion by Congressional
; the Senate will continue a bar to its repeal,
we submit to it? How can it be overthrown ?
only be overthrown by the authority of the Ex-
C. Who is sworn to maintain tho Constitution,
kho will fail to do his duty if he allows
Iconatitution to perish under a scries of
which are in palpable viola-
rtftlmPresidcntclccSn>y the Democracy enforces
Wk permits others to emfaroe these reconstruction acts,
the Radicals. by the accession of twenty spurious Sen
ators and fifty Representatives, will control both
branches of Congress, and his administration will be
declare these.acts null sad void; compel the army to
— at the South; disperse the carpet-
its; allow the white people to ro
tten of its t
not of disloyally; that it shall be
which will give protection to
the loyal men, end will not deliver them over
bound hand and foot into the bands of their
of God intervene on the rigbtride. Do not
intervene in behalf of your enemies.
Mr. President, we ham.had a great deal of
law preesnted to the issofas of Ibedfaensrion
these various WB*-,- v(e Jt»ve had a greet
deal of nice legal learning; bat what we need
in iljsaOssInas aagntasHstm the aolid
law-in their breadth,
and depth, "and grandeur, . not' the technical
learning of law. Technicalities of the law ore
the mere husks and shells that should be care
fully screened out to all
eminent. The celebrated firm of
mou & Snap, who did such a fine business
upon the technicalities of toe law fifty years
ago, are not doing nearly so well now. The
Courts have been greatly improved in this re
spect, and I trust that that style of learning
will not be introduced into the Congress
of the United States in disenasions of great
questions which albet the Uvea and fortunes
of thousands and hundreds of thousands. A
ease lawyer iu court, instead of reasoning up
on the principles of toe lew is always looking
back, alter an old ease, and it sometimes hap-
in politics tost statesmen instead of con
ing toe situation before them and seeing
what is required ore loooking back for a rusty
precodent to find what somebody else has said
under other circumstances, and in different
times. Mr. President, it is sod, in a time
like this, to be met by a plea in abatement, or
by a apodal demurrer, to be compelled to chop
e and split hairs with our friends,
come now, Hr. President, to the main sub
ject, and I refer here to same remarks mode
by toe Senator from Ohio (Hr. Thurman) a
few days ago. In speaking of this bill he said
that toe charge of murder and violence in toe
South was the regular “ rub-a-dub-dub " of the
party whenever it was about to
commit anything particularly wicked or mean.
The Senator, by his remarks, intended to cast
a doubt upon the truth of these things; to im
ply that they were wicked inventions for polit
ical paiposes.
Ho seemed to deny too existence of the Kn
Klax Klan, or secret organizations in toe
South, and he said that in the city of New
York there was perhaps a murder committed
every day, and that was not in a reconstructed
State. Well. Mr. President, it may be possi
ble that iu a city which gives 50,000 Demo
cratic majority like too city of New York, and
the Kind of majority it gives, there may be a
murder committed every day; but that docs
not meet the grave facts in reference to toe
Southern States as I shall try to present them.
The Senator from Ohio says that our recon
struction policy is a failure. I deny that state
ment. It is not a complete success; but it is
a great success; and I want to say to him and
to toe whole country that if onr reconstruction
policy is a failure it is because the Demo
cratic party have tried to moke it a failure;
everything has been done on their part that
could be done to make it a failure; every ob
stacle lias been cast in it* way from first to
last, and if it is a success it is a success in de
fiance at and in despite of the Democratic
party.
And now, Hr. President, I come to the
question, who are chiefly responsible for the
innumerable murder* and outrages and name-
leas crime* that are continually taking place
in many of the Southern States? Who arc
chiefly responsible? I answer that question
by saying toe Democratic party of toe North.
Through their newspapers, through their con
ventions, through their teachings, through
their influence upon the people of
the South, have contributed more
than all other causes to bring about this state
of things. Why, sir, the platforms of the Dem
ocratic conventions in the various North
ern State* all united in declaring that oar
reconstruction acts were unconstitutional
and void, and by the mast violent and
inflammatory resolutions stimulated the
Southern people to resistance. Not to
back beyond the time of the passage of
first Reconstruction measures, I will present a
specimen of the advice, of the instruction
given to the Southern people by the Demo
cratic party in their State Conventions in the
North. I have some seventeen or eighteen of
them here, but I hare not the time to read
them aO. I will, however, read two or three
as specimens. First, toe Democratic State
Convention at Indiana, in 1868, passed this
twaSea oFm&S^E!m*W at the Pntoa rad <<"de
struction to lh* Unloo itself—a policy that tefdr in-
n*m«efa»»llnw « pdlcy that raunlroi a tarxesUsd-
tae array, which adds marly cae handled millions or
rtone—ansmaBy h> the expenses of the Government,
whfie it hs«ara the people.
I now read a raeolntion passed by toe Dem
ocratic State Convention of Ohio in 1868:
15. Thst the numerous palpable and high-ha
uanroafian* of ths party hi power, their many public
nod private acts of tyranny, trampling under foot the
ctvii law and the fuurantec* of thaCooatKatiou; their
coo analog to deprive sovereign States of represru
tlon in Congress, and to govern said States by milin
rale, show them to be the party of despotism and t
worthy tho confidence and auppret of a free people.
I will next read a resolution passed by the
Democratic State Convention of New Hamp
shire in 1M8; and these ore fair specimen* of
all their resolutions:
the principle* of republican government And the civili
sation of tbs af~ —* * “ A “ * ■"
Representatives.
t»« House of Bcpweatatives will contain a majori
ty of Democrat* from tho North, and they will admit
ntatives elected hy the white people of the
with the co-operation of the President, it
win not bsdfflteatt to comps! the ~ *
more to the c»>u« "
not tie able to
tinetty invoked and dearly ____
mental issue, and It la the sore way to avoid all future
strife to put the issue plainly to tho country.
Hie declared that if then was a Democratic
President elected it would be bis duty to dis
perse these new State governments at the
point of the baronet, to overturn, by force and
violence what had been done, to establish a
revolution, and to restore, as be said, the white
men to power. The canvass of 1868 on the
part of the Democratic party was made upon
revolutionary basis. These documents ore all
incendiary documents. They are all pleas for
revolution. They all sound like Mexican pro-
nunciamentos. They breathe the ferocity of a
Spanish manifesto. The party went into the
canvass upon the strength of that platform—
this letter and all these State platforms—and
now I call your attention to it What was the
result? I call your attention to the practical
results of this teaching upon the port of the
Democratic party. This instruction took root,
it boro fruit sixty and a hundred fold, and it
is now blossoming for a fresh crop of murders
and nameless villainies.
Why, Mr. President, one of the first results
ter the Convention of the 4th of July, 1868,
is the expulsion of the colored men from the
Georgia Legislature. Was the performance of
that revolutionary act in exact accordance
with the plAtfonn adopted in New York? If I
advise a man to go and kill my neighbor, and
he proceeds from my presence and kilh my
neighbor, am I not responsible before God
and man?. And when the Democratic party in
the city of New York advised Southern people
to resistance and to revolution, and the mat
act was to revolutionize the Legislature of
Georgia and expel the colored men from that
body, was not the party in its Convention re
sponsible for the act as if it hail been present
aiding and abetting?
Democratic politicians pretended to be in
credulous about the existence of secret socie
ties in the Northern States daring the war.
We had a vile conspiracy, known as the
Knights of the Golden Circle, in Indiana, es
tablished in 1861, and under various names
sml forms continued until 1864. I was the
Governor of the State at that time, and
watching its progress through the war, and
was denouncing it upon the stump and in
every way, and yet the Democratic newspapers
of Indiana solemnly asserted that my dodara-
tious were false, and they charged from 1861
to 1864 that the whole story of .secret societies
in Indiana and conspiracies was a wicked in
vention for political effect. Again we find the
same thing in regard to the Ku Klnx of the
South. Gentlemen profess to be incredulous;
they do not believe a word of it The Senator
from Delaware (Mr. Saulsbury) the other day
said he hoped to live long enough on this
earth to see a living Ku Klux. Well, Mr.
President, I have here the ritual of the Ku
Klux Order. It was dug up in tho State of
Tennessee during some of the recent troubles
they had down there. I should like to read
oue extract from it I will read the titles of
the officers, which will give the ghostly and di
abolical character of the society:
The officer* of thi* * shall consist of m Grand Wizard
of the Empire and his ten Genii; a Grand Dragon of
the Realm and his eight Hydras; a Grand Titan of the
Dominion and his six Furies; a Grand Giant of the
Providence mad his four Goblins; a Grand Cyclops of
the Den sod his two XighUiawk; a Grand Magi; a
Grand Monk; a Grand Exchequer; a Grand Turk.
These titles are intended to portray and do
pretty well, the murderous and diabolical
character of this organization as I shall show
hereafter.
And now, Mr. President, I call your atten
tion to the fact, that while the war was pro
gressing, and our prisoners were being starvec
and tortured and murdered iu Libby and Sal
faburyimd other prisons iu the South, the
Democratic party of the North were utterly in
credulous upon that subject We could not
make them believe it They professed to be
lieve that these were Radical inventions for the
purpose of having political effect; but when
the war w:ts over and we went down there and
counted the graves alongside of those rebel
S ri sou-pens, we fouud the visible physical evi-
ence of the truth of all we have said and
more.
Now, sir, talking about a living Ku Klnx, I
have laid the fortune or the luLsfortuno to see
one of them since the progress of this Georgia
debate. Oue of them has been in this city,
and I believe is here now, u man of talents and
edneution, who called upon me, to argue
out of my convictions upon the Georgia ques
tion— a man who, iu different places in this
city, declared himself to be a member of the
Ku Klux organization and gloried in it I
presume he called upon many otlior Senators.
This Kn Klux, openly avowed, has named his
child, very properly, “John Wilkes Booth,"
the original kn Klnx.
The Senator from Alaltama (Mr. Warner)
presents me with one of their letters, one of
their warnings, with the inscriptions and out
lines upon.it for the purpose of conveying evi
dence of their bloody intentions.
I now state what I shall attempt to prove,
that there is an organized conspiracy iu all
the Southern States for the purpose of break
ing down the Republican party or the Union
party by deeds of blood and violence, by crea
ting a reign of terror that shall induce Union
men either to abandon the country or to aban
don their principles and purchase their peace
and safety by silence; and that—I say it with
profound regret—there are men of position
and character in the Democratic party in the
South who connive at this conspiracy, conceal
it where they can, palliate its crimes, and in
all coses protect the members of it from pun
ishment Not one of them has been brought to
punishment throughout the South. Notwith
standing they are covered with blood and
crime as no other organization has ever been,
yet their friends are so numerous and strong
that not one of them has been brought to pun
ishment.
The Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Sum
ner) has just presented a letter to me, sent to
him from the other House, with the name cut
out. It would not do to give the name of any
one who writes a letter on this subject. It
would undoubtedly forfeit his life. I should
like to have this letter read, but I have not the
time. I have hundreds of them here, which
have been received within the post four or five
weeks by members of Congress. I can bnt
refer to them.
Mr. EDMUNDS. Cau you give us the name
of the member of the Ku Klux to whom you
refer ? It would be safe to let us havo his
Mr. MQRTOX. I think it is good evidence.
Sir,' this organization is indeed “a league
with hdl and a covenant with the deviL” It
is the fermentation of the very dregs and set
tlings of the war. into a vile miasma to poison
and corrupt the whole moral and political at
mosphere of these Southern States.
Now, Mr. President, I do not say that all
the Southern Democrats are Ku Klux; far
from it; but I do say, from the evidence, that
all the Ku Klux are Democrats; that it is an
organization inside of the Democratic party in
the Southern States; working for its benefit;
its labor accepted, and its members protected
from punishment That is my proposition.
Why, sir, we had the Kn Klax partially justi
fied upon this floor. It was said the other day
that the Ku Klux organization was the natural
result of our reconstruction laws. It was said
the other day, in justification of them, that
human nature could not be crushed without
rising up. Tho declaration was made here in
our hearing, that onr reconstruction laws are
so tyrannical, so unconstitutional and oppress
ive, that they crashed human nature, and that
they result, natur ally, in the rising up of this
most bloody and villainous organization.
Sir, the Democratic politicians of the South
may not enter this order; they know of its ex
istence, and they willing to receive the ben
efit of its operation in driving Republicans
out of the State, in banishing them from their
The Kn Klux organization, as I have reason
to believe, first started in the State of Tennes
see, and I will here refer to a report that was
made by the Freedmen’s Bureau iu 1868:
At the close of the jeer 1867 the organization of the
icret society known as the Ku Klnx Klan took place.
General Carlin, assistant commissioner, early called
the attention of the Governor of the State and the mil
itary authorities to the danger of permitting this so
ciety to continue its operations. The number of out-
— * y this band, or by desperadoes ap-
to it, has been very great. The in-
cdoced people aeemed to be its ob
ject, to effect which colored men are freqently taken
from their beds at night and flogged unmercifully, and
occasionally killed. These outrages, and occasional
efforts ofthe
a colored men to resist them, have givi
several counties the character of lawlessness and dis
orderly communities Since the ■—rmhlinc of the
Legislature the fear that the militia would be called
out to preserve the peace of the State has had a great
effect in restoring quiet, and for a few mouths past the
number of outrages has greatly decreased.
Now, Mr. President, I present, in connec
tion with that, a memorial presented by a joint
committee of the Legislature of Tennessee to
President Johnson, from which I will read an
extract. I refer to it to show the establish
ment of this order in fall force early in 1868:
That there is aach an organization as the “Knklnx
Klan’* is now beyond question or peradveuture. In
rroent publication made by authority, or with the
isent of a general officer of the so-called Confederate
States, it is stated that there are forty thousand mem
bers of this association in Tennessee.
As to the object and purpose of tho organization,
they can only be known by their acta and sayiugn
while in their masks and ghostly nnifonuH. While
thus engaged, they take out citizen* and kill them—
some by hanging, some by shooting, and some by the
slower and more barbarona plan of whipping; while
others are whipped, not until death, but severely aud
disgracefully. In same parts of the Stall they are
traveling at night as often as twice a week, and visit
ing the housed of Union men and Federal soldi era,
some of whom they kill, others they whip and order
from ths oountry on pain of being killed if they do not
leave, while others are ordered away under promise
of violence if they remain after thus being ordered to
depart; this is carrtaToa by greater or less numbers,
according as the objects to be effected on the partienhu
night are of greater or less magnitude. They rarely
appear in their masks and uniforms in daylight. It is
in the night when they mostlytravcl and perpetrate their
acts of violence and bloodshed. The most peaceable,
orderly, quiet, and we may aay even the most exempla
ry members of the Church are nut exempt from their
midnight visits, and are abject* of their personal vio
lence. Instances are known where the most orderly
and pious men of a neighborhood have been waked
from their slumber* and beaten by them, for no other
reason than their political sentiments. Murders are
common, particularly among the colored people, against
whom the Klan seem to havo peculiar and mortal ha
tred. Many colored people have been whipped, some
of them badly, and some until they havo died irorn its
effects, and many of them have been murdered for no
other reason or offense than their political opinions
and sentiments. Many colored people who had hired
for ths year, or engaged to work for a portion of the
have been compelled to leave their homes for
personal safety, and fly for their lives, leaving
their employers or their crops; and unless something
is done for their relief they can not go home, aud will.
Many of them declare that the State Government of
enneaaee is illegal, and they have legally a right to re
sist and even to overturn it This is not confined to
tho masses, but finds advocates in distinguished men,
high in the estimation of those forming the late so
ber Legislature since the war, is, in the opinion of the
committee, as criminal aa to attempt to overthrow or
resist the government and laws of the State of New
York, or any of-? r State of the Union.
I call tlie . rention of tlie Senate to the dec
laration cl the port of this committee that the
Kn Klax oa* Tennessee were taking the ground.
Uiat the State government of Tennessee was
illegal and unauthorized, and they had a right
to overturn it; and that that was the instruc
tion that they received from Democratic Con
ventions in the North.
I will now read an extract from the report
of the joint committee of the Legislature of
Teunessee:
committee regret that the limited time at their
disposal has prevented them from giving to the sub
ject-matter referred to them a more complete and
thorough examination. The murders and outrages
which have been perpetrated in many counties of Mid
dle and West Tennessee, during the past few months,
have been so numerous and of such an aggravated
character as almost baffles investigation. In these
counties a reign of terror exists, which is so absolute
in its nature that the best of citizens are nuable or un
willing to give free expression to their opinions. The
terror inspired by the secret organization known as the
Kn Klux Klan is so great that the officers of the law-
are powerless to execute its provisions, to discharge
their duties, or to bring the guilty perpetrators of these
outrages to the punishment they deserve. Their
stealthy movements are generally made under cover
of night, and tftider masks aud disguises, which ton
dor their identification difficult, if not impossible. To
add to the aecresy which envelops their oxieraiions is
the fyet that no information of their murderous acts
can be obtained without the greatest difficulty and dan
ger in the localities where they are committed. No
one dares to inform upon them or take any measure
to bring them to punishment; because no one can tel
but that he may be the next victim of their hcstilib
or animosity. The members of this organization, with
their frienha. aiders and abettors, take especial pains to
conceal all their operations. The moving priciple by
which they are actuated would appear to be hostility to
the State and national authorities; and in the minds of
these men to have voted for 44 Pro widow ” or the 44 Re
publican ticket,” or to be a •• Radical.” is the greatest
of crimes. Your committee believe that, during the
past six^ months, the murders, to say nothing of
of these cases they have been perpetrated by the
Ku Klux altove referred to; aud a few,
any, have been brought to punishment,
number of the counties of this State are entirely at the
mercy of this organization, and roving bands of night
ly marauders bid defiance to the civil authorities, and
threaten to drive out every man. white or black, who
does not submit to their arbitrary dictation. To add
to the general lawlessness of these communities, bad
men of every description take advantage of the cireitm
stances surrounding them, and perpetrate acts of vio
lence, from personal or pecuniary motives, uuder the
pica of political necessity.
Now, XL:. President, I come down Liter i__
point of time. I desire to read an extract from
the message of Governor Senter, elected Gov-
ernor of Tennessee last foil, this mcesage being
sent to the Legislature of Tennessee in tlie
month of February last:
It is with profound regret I realize the necessity of
directing your attention to the alarmingly frequent
violence to the peace and dignity of the State, in the
maltreatment and even atrocious murders of her citi
zens, by persons generally reported in disgnise or un
known. Many of t e State's citizens have been out
raged in their privileges and persons by cruel indigni
ties; not a few slain outright, without charge of having
in anywise offended the laws, while others, under
criminal charges, have been forcibly wrested from the
custody of the law, and their blood deliberately shed
by bodies of men without the least shadow of authority.
tutional Convention. There were seventy-five
members to be elected. There were 63,630
votes cast The Union men did not vote ex
cept in small numbers; they could not. The
votes were cast chiefly by rebels; and of the
seventy-five men elected to that Convention,
sixty-eight of them had. been rebels.
This is the condition of things brought about
by this organization, by this reign of terror in
the State of Tennessee. If you force an elec
tion iu Georgia next foil—I call my Republi
can friends to bear this in mind—you will*
have just such a result as you bad in Tennes
see lust fall and last winter. Sir, the Union
meq of Tennessee ore to-day virtually dis
franchised by the reign of blood and
terror that lias been inaugurated, while
those who perpetrated these villainies go un-
whipped of justice; and the Governor of the
State, anxioos as he is to enforce the law, is
powerless to do it, and is calling now upon the
l government of the United States for protection
: or his people. I cannot dwell very long on
tho condition of affairs in Tennessee, bnt I
may say that General Forrest himself claims
that there arc 40,000 Ka Klax in the State of
Tennessee; and I noticed a very significant
bit of evidence on the part of Governor Senter,
published in one of' the newspapers here. I
will read an extract from his testimony, given
only a few days ago, before tho Reconstruction
Committee, for it is very significant in one re
spect The following question was asked by
a member of the committee:
By Fernando Wood. What proportion of the entire
population of the State have participated in these Ku
Klux outrages ? Answer. The only statement we have
had that was looked upon as authentic, was made by
General Forrest, that there were 40,000 Ku Klnx in
Tennessee.
Question. General Forrest is not generally looked
upon as a reliable man in his statements, is he? An
swer. He is a si looting man, and I reckon I had better
not say much about that; bnt my conclusion is. reason
ing upon the subject, that there must be a very strin
gent organization, not only well organized, but well
officered, from the fact that they have committed these
outrages, and neither money nor law has been able to
ich them.
There are two points in that to which I call
the attention of the Senate: First, that, ac
cording to General Forrest, there are 40,000 ir
Tennessee ; and then to the jierieet illnstra
tion that is given of the effect of the terror cre
ated there, which has followed Governor Sen
ter to this city in his testimony before the com
mittee, for he says he reckons he had better not
speak very freely iu regard to General Forrest,
because lie is a shooting man. When the
Governor of the State can not speak freely be
cause the terror of this organization follows
him to the capital of the United States, what
skill be said of the people of that State who
■live in the midst of these enemies who are
without official power and protection. They
can not speak freely, aud they dare not testify
to tlie nameless outrages that are committed
from day to day iu tlieir neighborhood and in
their very presence.
* Now, Sir. President, I come to speak very
briefly of the State af Kentucky, and I am
very sorry that I have any ground to speak in
regard to that State at all. I shall refer to the
report of the Freedmeu’s Bureau iu regard to
the State of Kentucky. In the report of the
Freedmen’s Bureau in Kentucky, in 1868—1
read from the oflicial document—it is said:
More than 1,100 colored soldiers iu Kentucky have
ceived their bounty through the bureau duritig. the
year. Ia many cases delay in payment has boeu una
voidable. It has been difficult to reach claimants in
ranote and mountainous districts. Having served iu
e Union army, they have been the especial objects of
persecution, aud in hundreds of instances have been
driven from their homes. The outrages peiqtctrated by
Ue Ku Klnx Klsu have caused a great exodus into oth-
r States.
The report goes on to state that -
The number of outrages reported as committed 1»3'
whites upon colored people iu the State of Keutucky
during the year is; murders. 2G: rapes, shootiugs,
00; otherwise maltreated, Total, Gil.
I can only say that the course pursued to-
ward Union men in Kentucky is one, as I be
lieve of unrelenting proscription; not, perhaps,
bloody, as in some other States, and not ex
tending in this particular over every part of
the State. In the land of Clay and Crittenden,
the Legislature recently distinguished itself by
refusing to let tho people of Cincinnati, with
their own money, bnild a railroad across the
Staie. The stupidity of that operation in a
State where r.ulroads are so much needed can
not have justice done to it by any terms that
are found in the English language.
Now, sir, I come to the State ot Louisiana.
Mr. FOWLER. I should like to make a
word of oxidation before the Senate proceeds
- further.
Mr. MORTON. Certainly.
Mr. FOWLER. It is in reference to the re
marks of Governor Senter before the Com
mittee on Reconstruction, as reported in the
paper from which the Senator read Governor
Senter in going on to say that General Forrest,
being a shooting man, he had better say noth
ing about that, meant simply to say that he
d^tl not want to discuss General Forrest’s char
acter before tho Committee, as he was not
there; not that he was afraid of him or any
thing oi that kind, or tliat there was auy din
ger about it.
Mr. MORTON. Now, Mr. President, I
come to sjieak of the State of Louisiana ; and
this furnishes one of the strongest illnstm-
I of every true American citizen.
This is s foir expression of the action of the
Democratic party of the North from the time
that the reconstruction measnies were first
passed np to this time; and I have only to say
that if the Southern people believe what then:
Northern friends say in regard to the uncah-
stitutioofittty of these acts and the terrible
oppression that they axe laboring under, the
Southern people are bound by every principle,
human arid divine, to resist the Government
oT the United Stst«n.
Mr. President, this whole policy culminated
and waa sinned up in the platform adopted
by the Democratic party in National Conven
tion, in New York, in 1868, and I beg leave
to read from that platform. I will not read
the whole of it, bat I will read so much as
■bows its character. That platform declares,
in its arraignment af the Republican party:
Instead of restoring tb« Union, it has. ao for aa In
its power, dissolved it, sod subjected Wfitatr* la tiw*
of profound peace to military despotism sixl nejpo sn-
•cts (ao-^aUed)
And then further on it ssya:
Oongrat. aa aoch. aa
hosU revolutionary, an
ttomh
This was the declaration of the New York
Convention. I will now refer to the letter
written by General Blair before the Conven
tion met, and which gave him the nomination
for the Yioe Presidency npon the Democratic
ticket In his letter he said:
name.
Mr. MORTON. I can. I will give it to the
Senator. I do not care abont mentioning it
here, bnt I can give the Senator the name ol
the Kn Klux.
Mr. EDMUNDS. I do not doubt your
statement I only wish to now the name.
Mr. MORTON. He Is well knowu to many
gentlemen on this floor.
Mr. EDMUNDS. He ought to be publicly
known.
Mr. MORTON. Perhaps that fa true, bnt I
am not here in the character of an informer.
I state the fact
Mr. CASSERLY. If the Senator from In
diana will allow me, I can not find that this
extraordinary person, of whom he has spoken,
has colled upon a single member of the oppo
sition, and I trust the Senator will mention
Us name if be knows it.
Mr. MORTON. That is perhaps true. When
the Senator mjs he has not c&Ilcd on him, that
establishes the fact with me. He has called,
probably, on Republicans. I know he has
colled upon me, and I know that he bos called
upon others here.
Mr. CASSERLY. If the Senator will allow
me, I do not doubt that a person called on the
Senator who so represented himself.
Mr. MORTON. He did not so represent
himself to me. He would not hare talked to
me for a moment if he had.
Mr. CASSERLY. I am only surprised that
some gentleman of the Republican party
among whom he has railed have not taken
steps to band him over to the proper authori
ties for punishment
Hr. MORTON. The; could prove Urat he
belong* to thi. order by hi* own confession,
bnt toey might not be able to prove hi*
Ur. CASSERLY. If he .late, so that ia
pretty good evidence.
That these enormities can be iu our midst without the
perpetrator*, in * single instance, being even attested
to answer for their lawless and criminal acts, demon
strates the existeoce of organizations on their part, not
only dangerous to the individual citizen and adverse to
the public dignity, hut formidable even to the public
peace and safety,
While the law lately enacted for suppression of these
outrages oust do honor to ths purposes of your hon
orable body, I trust it will not be accepted aa an im
propriety on my part to respectfully suggest doubts of
Its sufficiency to reach and remhdy the evils aimed at,
sa not a single arrest has yet been made for the grossest
violations of already existing laws, although such vio
lations have been frequent; and the largest rewards al
lowed have been often, if not invariably, offered to
bring the offenders to justice, it may be fairly con
cluded that they are protected by organizations ade
quate, by terrorism, the force of numbers, or other
meaua, to effect security against the ordinary civil pro
seas and officers of the law. The public misfortune
seems not so much a want of lawaa lack of power to
enforce that vre have.
The condition of things in Tennessee could
scarcely be worse Qian it fa. There fa a reign
of terror prevailing in almost every county in
that State. A free election coujtl not now be
held in that State, unless perhaps in some por
tions of East Tennessee. I will not refer par
ticularly to the Memphis massacre in 1666,
where some fifty men were killed, some
seventy or eighty wounded, some ninety-one
dwellings destroyed, and twelve school-houses
and a great deal of other property. I am
speaking now of what lias been done under
the Reconstruction laws, and since the Dem
ocratic party have advised them that those
laws are null and void, and that they are not
bound to obey them.
To show the orient of tho revolution that
has been effected in Tennessee since last year,
I refer to the election returns. General Grant
in 18G8 received 56,757 votes, and Seymour
received 26,311. Grant’s majority was over
30,000. That was in November, 1868. In
August, 1869, some nine months afterward,
Senter received 119,835 votes, Stokes 55,196
votes, being within a very few votes of the
number that Grant received in 1868. Here
was an increase of 91,763 votes in nine months,
showing a complete revolution, that the laws
of Tennessee had been broken down, and that
the men disfranchised by the laws of Tennes
see all voted.
Foot months after that, in December, 1869,
an election was held for members of a Consfi-
tions of the effect of Democratic teachings and
instructions, for what I um going to speak of
chiefly occurred after the Democratic Conven
tion in New York and within sixty days before
tlie November election iu 1868. I have here
the report ot tlie committee appointed by
Congress to investigate the riots and murders
aud violence committed in Louisiana prece
ding tho Presidential election of 1868. ft is a
large volume. It contains the testimony of
178 witnesses. An examination of this vol
ume will show that there were 859 murders
committed in the State of Louisiana within
about sixty days before tlie Presidential elec
tion.
Mr. CASSERLY. How many
Mr. MORTON. Eight hundred and fifty-
nine.
Mr, CASSERLY. Within sixty days ?
Mr. MORTON. Just before the electiou,
and it fa generally put within that time, I
will not be certain, however, on that point
They were murders of a political character,
and springing from the organization to which
I have referred. This evidence discloses the
organization of a secret society in the State of
Louisiana, sometimes called by one name and
sometimes by auother. As I before stated,
the whole number of murders was 859; gun
shot wounds in addition, 85; otherwise
whipped and maltreated, 3G5; and I will state
that there fa evidence outside of this volume,
outside of the examination of the -committee,
f oing to show* that the whole number of
filed and wounded there was over 1,800.
The committee state distinctly that their
evidence does not extend to the whole
State, and they do not pretend that they
have gathered up evidence of all the out
rages committed in that State. There
is reason to believe from the report itself that
the number of murders comqiitted in Lou
isiana before the Presidential election in 1868
were at least 2,500. I might read the declara
tion npon the part of this secret society. It
does not call itself the Ku Klnx in Louisiana;
bat the witnesses declare that it was the Ku
Klux—the same society that existed in other
States; that the men killed were Union men,
Republicans, black and white; the murders
were of a political charactether; the society
was of a political character; and wc* all know
what was the result of the election iu Lou
isiana in 1868. Sir, if yon want to hold on
election in Georgia under the same circum
stances, you will have the same results, and it
will be accompanied with the same blood. I
do not speak in this connection of the New
Orleans riot which occulted in 1866, where
there were some three hundred persons killed,
including those who died subsequently of their
wounds.
I come now to the State of Texas. I will
read an extract from the report of the Freed
meu’s Bureau for the State of Texas in 1868:
styling themselves Ku Klux, &c.. have practiced bar
barous cruelties upon the freedmen. Murders by tho
desperadoes who havo long disgraced this State are of
comiunu occurrence. The civil authorities have been
overawed, and, in many cases, even ths bureau and
military forces have been powerless to prevent the
commission of theso crimes. From information ob
the office of the assistant commissioner, it *p-
, - --- - =^ r -treed.
men murdered was 21; of white men, 15; the number
got her Senators and her Representative* in
Congress, there will a development of all these
devilish nnd murderous elements that have
made Texas so famous for the last three or
four years. That society exists all through
Texas. The State is honey-combed with* its
lodges. They are not dead; they are only sus
pended, and they will develop into full and
mnrderoos life unless the Government shall
extend, its protecting power to the Uiiiou men
of that State. I have not the time to dwell
upon the condition of Texas.
I come now to the State of North Carolina,
which has been regarded, X believe, as the
soundest and most reliable of all the Southern
States; and what is the fact there? Why, s
the evidence fa furnished to me, and it
strong and overwhelming, that within tho lost
few weeks the Kn Klux have developed in va
rious counties in North Carolina—I am told in
some twenty counties—and to show that it is a
political organization, for political affect, the
counties in which it appears are the doubtful
counties, which it fa necessary for them to
carry in order to control tho State government
I have the authority of the Senators from
that State for this statement Numer-
murders have been committed;
men are whipped from time to time; and tho
same reign of terror fa now being established
in North Carolina that already exists in other
States. I have not time to dwell upon the
condition of affairs in North Carolina, but I
state the general situation; and if I do not
state it correctly, the two Senators from that
State are amply able to set me right
Now 1 come to Alabama:
Alabama, too, lias had a forge Union major
ity; but, sir, that majority is to be overcome,
it fa to be destroyed in the ramc way that it
was in Georgia. The plan fa to destroy the
Union majority in every State in the Sonth by
this reign of terror, to make men afraid to go
to the polls and express their sentiments, to
make them understand that their lives are at
hazard,and their property is at stake if they dare
to express themselves on tlie side of ilie Govern
ment A small minority can do this. Why,
sir, they paralyze the courts. They officiate
as sheriffs and bailiffs; they enter tho jury-
box; they are the ready witnesses; aud pun
ishment canuot lie administered in the com
mon courts of those States.
How is it now in tlie State of Alabama,
which has hitherto been comparatively peace
able? Within tho last few weeks a number
of most diabolical murders have been com
mitted iu that State. I was this morning vis
ited by Major Hayes, who, I believe, repre
sents the 4th district of that State in the other
end of the Capitol, a native of Alabama, a man
of unquestioned character, and he laid before
me the condition of things in that State. He
says the bloody epidemic is advancing rapidly.
Recently a number of atrocious murders have
lieen committed, aud he submitted a state
ment that made my blood curdle. In the
county of Greene, in which lie lives, he says
there have been nine murders committed in
the last two weeks, in the county of Sumter
there have been three murders committed in
the Lost two weeks, and in the county of Tus
caloosa four murders have been committed in
the last two weeks. Nino murders have been
committed in the county in which he lives in
fourteen days, aud he lias been notified by
this infernal organization that ho must not re
turn to the State. If lie does, it is at tlie
risk of hfa life. He says that a court
officer, known as the circuit clerk, ot his
county lias been notified to leave the State
within fifteen days npon the peril of hfa life;
and within a few days, I believe, the prosecu
ting attorney iu that county was murdered;
aud I think a Judge Charlton was murdered
only a few days ago. I forget tlie name of the
town where he was murdered. Here, sir, iu
this one Congressional district, tlie strongest
Republican district iu the State, for Major
Hayes received 1C,000 majority, fifteen mur
ders have been committed within two weeks
in four counties, and still the bloody work
goes on. The collector of customs at Mobile
has been notified by the Ku Klux that he must
not visit the county of Greene, where he pro
posed to go upon business, as I am informed.
While this has been the number of murders,
the number of whippings, ot outrages of vari
ous kinds fa almost innumerable, showing that
the Ku Klux in Alabama are spreading rapidly.
I have here a report made by a joint com
mittee of the. Legislature of Alabama showing
the existence of Ku Klux outrages in that
Stale, from which 1 will read an extract:
Your committee have examined a large number
witucssaa, from many part* of the State, of iutclligoi
and unquestionable veracity, whose testimony abun
dantly establishes the fact that there exists, at lfiist iu
many portions of Alalisma. a secret organization i
men, who disgnise themselves with masks and oth<
costume for the purpose of committing crimes ar
outrages upon peaceable law-abiding citizens, aud
thereby escape detection and the punishment which
their vUlaiuies so justly merit.
The organization is cotuuiouly known aft the Ku
Klux Klan. They generally make the.ir appearance iu
the still hours or the night, mounted on horses, also
disguised in like manner, and armed and equipped for
their murderous work with guns, revolvers, knives,
and ropes. Under the covert of their hideous dis
guises, and the darkness of the night, they go forth
from their secret haunts to perpetuate the most inhu
man aud brutal outrages upon those whose only fanlt
is that they have ever been true to their country and
loyal to its government. Your committee beg leave to
aay that they have the best cvideuce to believe that this
organization is purely political in its character. None
but those of one particular party are knowu to belong
to it, w hile Union men and Republicans are made the
special objects of their fiendish abuse and violence.
Almost the only charge they bring upon their victims
in that they arc Radicals, or tiiat they liave voted f<
the Republican candidates, or that they hold some oflh
under the reconstructed government of the State. It
is a remarkable fact that no Democrat or Conservative,
so far as it has came to the knowledge of your commit
tee. has ever fallen hy their murderous hands, or been
interfered with in the enjoyment of his rights and lil>er-
ties.
527 votes; Gordon, tho Democratic candiatc,
received 76,356. Bullock’s majority was over
7,000. In the month of November following,
some seven months afterword, Seymour receiv
ed 102,828, and Grant received 56,386. Sey
mour’s majority was over 46,000; making a
change of over 53,000 votes in Georgia in sev
en mouths. How was that change brought
about? Was it a change of opinion'? It was
brought about by the terror that had been in-
iuauguiuted; and I will present you some figures
that go to show it I refer to a document print
ed by the House of Representatives; and this
will show how this great change of 53,000
votes in seven months had been made. I have
a list here in this document of nineteen coun
ties and oue city—the city of Savannah. In
the city of Savannah the number of white votes
registered was 3,000; colored, 3,900. Of that
number Bullock received 2,854, and Grant re
ceived 400. The terror did its work pretty
well in Savannah. I come now to Jones
county. The number of white votes registered
in Jones county was 486; colored, 1,073. Of
that number Bullock received 718; Grant re
ceived not one. The terror did its work pretty
well in that county. I come to Columbia
county. Iu that county the white votes reg
istered was 669; colored, 1,854. Bullock re
ceived 1,122 votes, and General Grant received
one. I conic to Randolph county. The white
vote registered was 954; colored, 1,193. Bul-
fack received 687; General Grant received one.
I come to Baker county, where the wholo num
ber of colored votes was 1,053. Bullock re
ceived 255 of that number. Tho terror did its
work pretty well there, as Grant received only
pear* that in' the month of March the number of fl
men murdered «r*s 21; of white men. 15; the nui
of freedmen assaulted with intent to kill, 11; white
mens 7. Iu July the nuxnt>cr of freedmen murdered
was 32. white men. 7. It has been estimated by relia
ble authority that in August, 18C8, there wore probably
solitary case (that of a freed man who was hung at
Houston.) ban punishment to the full extent of tho law
been awarded.
Mr. President, I have the authority of the
Senator from Texas (Mr. Hamilton)—I did not
speak with the other Senator—for the state
ment, that from the best evidence he lias been
able to collect, there have been since the war
more Ilian three thousand murders committed
in tlie State of Texas. I will stute what I be
lieve to be the condition of Texas. Owing to
the fact that Congress required that before she
should come in she should ratify the fifteenth
amendment both parties in Texas were corn*
pelled to place themselves on that basis. Tho
result was that the rebels in great part took no
part in that election. They wanted Texas to
come in, and they were willing that the Re
publicans should carry tho election for that
purpose; and it was a contest between two
good Republicans for Governor. But when
the next election comes, the State, having now
Now I come to the State of Georgia, the
Staie we liave iu hand, and I call the attention
of the Senate to the terrible condition of things
iu that State. To show how far back the Ku-
Klnx were established in tho State of Georgia,
I will refer to a letter from General Meade to
General Grant in 1868. This letter fa dated
Atlanta, Georgia, April 4, 1868, and it begin
thus;
There are unmistakable signs of disorder in this
State aud AlalMuna from secrcct organizations, such as
Usve dixtnrbed Tennessee. I am about iHsuing a very
stringent order, and shall take very summary meas
ures tu check this evil, if practicable, but the force un
der my commahd is insufficient to control all parts of
tlicue States, and in view of the approaching elections
I wovld be mnch relieved if the forces hero could lie
temporarily increased; say, an additional regiment for
two months.
I refer to that letter to show that as early as
April, 1808, General Meade believed in the ex
istence of the Ku Klux organization in the
State of Georgia, and asked for military force.
I now come to the evidence in regard to what
took place in Georgia iu 1868, after the Demo
cratic convention iu the city of New York,
have already shown that the revolution that
took place in the Legislature of Georgia could
perhaps be directly traced to tho influence and
the teachings of the Democratic convention in
the city of New York. I now refer to a report
made by the Judiciary Committee in 1869. Iu
that report they give a statement from the re
port made by the Freedmen’s Bureau. I have
not been able to find the report, bnt I find an
extract from it in the report of the
Judiciary Committtce. It is as follows:
It certainly furnishes a strong reason why Congress
should not at this time overlook the irregularities iu
the organization of the Legislature of Georgia, aud ad
mit her Senators to representation. And this is not
all. Your committee have examined the official reports
of the various officers connected with the Freedmen'n
Bureau iu Georgia, and find reported 336 cases of mur
ders and assanlts with intent to murder upon colored
persons by tlie whites, from January 1, 18G8, to No
vember 15 of the same year. For all of which there
has been no legal redress, aud scarcely any effort what
ever on ths part of the authorities to punish the crirni-
in&ls. And ft ia stated by these officers that they are
unable to report fully as to the number and character
of these outrages, on account of intimidation of wit
nesses, which is practiced by the perpetrators of crime.
Three hundred and thirty-six murders and
assaults with intent to commit murder in
Georgia, from the 1st of April to the 1st of
November, 1868 ; and, as I am advised, nearly
all of them occurred after the 4th of July,
1868; another item to set down to the credit of
the National Democratic Convention.
Now, Mr. President, I will read an extract
from the report of General Terry, made on the
5th of August, 1869:
In many parts of the State there is practically
government. The worst of crimes aro committed, and
no attempt is made to punish those who commit them.
Murders have been and aro frequent; the abnsc, in va
rious ways, of the Macks is too common to excite no
tice. There can be no doubt of the existence of nu
merous insurrectionary organizations known os Ku
Klux Rians, who, shielded by their disguise, by tho
of their movements, and by the terror which
they inspire, perpetrate crime with impunity. There
is great reasou to believe that in somo cases local mag
istrates are In sympathy with the members of these
orgaatnations. In many places they are overawed by
them, and dare not attempt to punish them. To
punish such offenders by civil proceedings would bo
a difficult task, even were magistrates in all rases dis
posed. and had they the courage to do their duty, for
“ influences which govern them equally affect
juries and witnesses. A conversation which I have
had with a wealthy plauter. a gentleman of intelligence
and education, and a political opponent of the present
national administration, will illustrate this difficulf
While deploring the lamentable condition of affairs
the county in which he lives, he frankly admitted to
me that, were the moot worthless vagabond in the
country to l»c charged with a crime against the person
of a Republican, or a negro, neither he nor any other
person of property within the. county would
kuowledgoof his guilt.
I propose now to present some evidence to
show the progress of terrorism in Georgia from
the 1st of April until the election on the first
Tuesday in November, 1868; and to havo my
statements understood, I will first premise that
the white vote registered in Georgia was 102,-
411; the colored vote registered was 98,507.—
In April, Bullock, as Governor, received 83,-
33.
Then, running down through these uiuctecu
counties and this one city, we find over 22,000
voters who were prevented from going to the
polls, or were compelled to vote the Demo
cratic ticket Here was a revolution brought
about in seven months in the State of Georgia
resulting in a chang of 53,000 votes, our dis
tinguished President, in some counties, not
being permitted to receive oue vote. This will
give you, sir, a foretaste of what are to l>e the re
sults of an election forced in that State next
fall.
Iu the city of Augusta, in 1868, there were
registered 1,867 colored voters. Iu Decem
ber, 1869, some four months ago, they held a
municipal election, and tho whole number of
colored voters registered was 57. All the rest
were deterred from even puttiug down their
names upon the registry.
Sir, the Ku Klux are spreading in :vll the
Southern States, and the idea is not original
There was such a society iu Europe in tho
sixteenth century, to which the death of many
noble and good men is accredited by history;
and I find on looking over tlie ritual of the Ku
Klux Klan that many things are borrowed
from that celebrated assassination society.
And now, Mr. President, for I do not wish
to detain the Senate, allow me to consider very
briefly what should be done. In the first place,
there must be a law of Congress authorizing
the President of the United States to extend
the power and protection of this Government
into all the States, and that law should lie so
framed as to euable him to do it where there
may be a weak or a disloyal Governor who re
fuses to cal! upon him, or where there may be
a disloyal legislature that refuses to act with
the Governor, as in the State of Tennessee.
There must be some such law put upon the
statute l»ook to protect the lives of loyal men in
the late rebel States. I will now stop to discuss
the features of that measure. They will, per
haps, come up for discussion on the amend
ment proposed by the Senator from Mis
souri, (Mr. Drake;) but I state that as lic
ing oue of the measures which must lie
passed by this Congress if it intends to do its
duty toward the loyal men of the South and
the pence of the whole nation.
Ami, sir, I would not now refer Georgia
tack to military authority and keep her iu her
present condition. I do not think that is the
best way. 1 think that she should be admit
ted ; her Senators should Iks allowed to take
their seats, aud she should be authorized to
organize her militia, aud that militia, organ
ized l»y the present zealous, bold aud active
Governor of Georgia, would lie an omnipres
ent force existing in every comity, existing in
every township, while the military force of the
United States uuder the present law would on
ly be established at a few points --would not
have that omnipresent character which fa
necessary to afford complete protection. I
might refer to the result in the State of Arkan
sas, where the militia organized under Gover
nor Clayton has proved most efficient in pro
tecting that State from Ku Klnx outrages.
To remand Georgia to a military' gov
ernment, I think, would not now accom
plish it It would be a repudiation of the
loyal men of that Stub'. All we ask is
that they shall be allowed through
their own action, or, if you please, by tlie ex
press action of Congress, to continue tlie pres
ent loyal State government during the term for
which they were elected. The Legislature
elected for two years was cheated out of the
first two years very nearly. It was revolution
ized. They have but just come into power;
indeed, hardly’ yet, a loyal organization hav
ing even effected for the first time in the month
of January.
What we ask is that they shall bo allowed to
serve out tlie two years for which they were elec
ted, that these men shall not lie allowed to lake
advantage of their own wrong. That is what
they are asking; to be allowed to take advan
tage of their own wrong. First, by usurpa
tion they kept the loyal men in Georgia out of
authority for two years; and now I say they
should not be driven to count that usurpation
npon their term. There fa no justice and
there is no Law in that,
Mr. President, the Union n >4 *u of the South
are everywhere falling silently in most cases -
their fall noted only by their Father in Heaven.
Their bones may yet lie found, like those of
the murdered traveler, but there will be no
epitaph to give their names or to tell by
whose liauds they have fallen. The time
has come to he done with trifling-
Away with all trifling. The time for action
luis come. There Is the smell of blood
in the air; it is sprinkled all along
the pathway through which we are march
ing. Why, sir, the commission of one mur
der by a secret organization will terrify a
whole county, a whole district When men
go to bed at night apprehensive that before
moniing they will l»c aroused by the smell of
tire or be summoned to the door by tho hoarse
voice of the Ku Klnx Klan, all resistance, all
endurance give way; the father trembles for
hfa family; he will abandon hfa principles; he
will surrender his property, perhaps, and fly
T he advantages we enjoy
as the result of a long established
and successful business enables us to
offer inducements that makes this
announcement worthy of
ATTENTION.
Importing our foreign goods di
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No one has been punished yet; no not
ono; not for treason, not for murder, not
for all the nameless crimes committed by the
rebellion—no one punished yet Oh, what
weakness! Can yon find in all history snch
weakness as has been shown in reference to
this matter. Mercy to the criminal hi is l>oen
cruelty and death to the iunoceut If there fa
one duty resting npon this Congress more sa
cred aud more solemn than every other, it is
to protect the Union, the loyal ineu of the
South.
From the Washington Chronicle, 19th.]
Tlie Charge of Bribery.
For acvoral days past we have noticed
tho correspondence from Washington to the
Baltimore Gazette, Richmond Dispatch, and
other papers of similar political proclivities,
loose charges that money, bonds, Jtc., were
being freely distributed among Senators for
the purpose of effecting tho defeat ot what fa
known as the Bingham amendment to the
Georgia bill.
These charges, coming from tho sources to
which we have referred, are not new, and
were, of course, not heeded by Republicans.
Bnt the time for voting on the Georgia bill
hiiviug been fixed for six o’clock to-day, the
supporters of the rebel side of the question
seem not to liave been content to roly upon
the slanders of the Democratic organs, but
must needs attempt to give dignity to the slan
der by having it noticed in tho Senate. To
this end Mr. Edmunds seems to have been
moved, though the purpose to affect the vou.
by this charge fa so apparent that no Senator
can fail to understand it
Why a charge which lias been floating
through the Democratic journals for several
days should now be vitalized by resolutions to
send for persons and papers, and be investi
gated before a^ committee, of whieh the mover
of the resolution is a member, we are unable
to determine, unless it bo to affect a vote which
was fixed to take place at an early honr.
If there was time to investigate and report
upon the resolution before the vote npon the
Bingham amendment fa taken, there would be
stronger reasons for believing that the resolu
tion though moved by an ardent supporter
of that obnoxious amendment—was not in
tended to aid the vote in support of R.
More at the Irrepressible “Dr. J. Morti
mer,” die.
We publish this morning tho story of the
career in Tennessee of a scamp Raiimg from
Brooklyn. If ho is not crazy he deserves to
be put iu the State Prison for twenty years.
His desertion of his amiable and virtuous wife
and her two children, and hfa marriage with a
leader of the Nashville denti-ntonde, exhibit on
hfa part an amount of depravity which reflects
severely upon human nature and upon the
moral lessons taught in the City of Churches.
Ktw York Uerald.
which we supply both ready-made
and to order
Prices uniformly low.
Gentlemen visiting New-York are
requested to call and have their
measures recorded upon our books
System of Self-Measurement, and
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when desired.
Address P. O. Box 2256, N Y
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benefit of the heirs and creditors of said deceased, pe
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aplO-wlm - .
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aplO-wlm J. VT. HOLMES, Adm’r.
