History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880 Volume II Part 71

The Republican policy was to allow the Democrats to lead and do the talking, while they should fall into line and vote when the proper time came. But Fernando Wood at the head of the Republicans as a leader, was a spectacle as strange and startling as Satan leading a prayer-meeting. It was too much for an orthodox, close-communion, hard-sh.e.l.l Republican like Martin I. Townsend!

On Thursday afternoon, the last day of the alarming scenes in Congress, nearly everybody had lost hope. There was no telling at what moment the government would be in anarchy. In the midst of the confusion, excitement, and threatening danger, the Hon. Charles Foster was the most imperturbable man in Congress. On Thursday afternoon Senator h.o.a.r, a member of Congress from Ma.s.sachusetts, saw Mr. Foster seated at his desk writing as quietly and composedly as if in his private office; he seemed perfectly oblivious to the angry storm which was raging about him. The cold-blooded, conservative New England Senator was as greatly amazed at the serenity of the clear-headed Western Congressman as he was distressed at the impending disaster. He went to Mr. Foster and talked very discouragingly respecting the situation. He said that the Senate was growing impatient at the dilatory conduct of the House, and would probably, at the earliest convenience, send a message to the House demanding that the latter open their doors and admit the Senate to complete the count.

Congressman Foster stated to the Senator that the House was not in a temper to be driven; that a resolution of the character of the one proposed would hinder rather than help a peaceful solution of the vexatious count; and that if he would only possess his soul in patience, before the rising of another sun R. B. Hayes would be peaceably and const.i.tutionally declared the President of the United States. And it was even as he said; for before four o'clock the next morning the count was completed, and Hayes declared the President of the United States for the Const.i.tutional term of four years. This is given as one of the many unwritten incidents that occurred during this angry, and, probably, most perilous controversy that ever threatened the life of the American Republic.

A new policy for the South was now inevitable. From October 1876 till March 1877, President Grant had refused to recognize Chamberlain as Governor of South Carolina, or Packard as Governor of Louisiana. He had simply preserved those governments _in statu quo_. He had heard all that could be said in favor of the Republican side of the question, and seemed to believe that it was now beyond his power to hold up the last of the Negro governments with bayonets. He was right.

It would have been as vain to have attempted to galvanize those governments into existence as to have attempted the resuscitation of a dead man by applying a galvanic battery. Governments must have, not only the subjective elements of life, but the powers of self-preservation. The Negro governments at the South died for the want of these elements. It was a pity, too, after the n.o.ble fight the Republican party of Louisiana and South Carolina had made, and after they had secured their electoral votes for Hayes, that their State officers who had been chosen at the same time should have been abandoned to their own frail governmental resources. But this was unavoidable. Their governments could not have existed twenty-four hours without the presence and aid of the United States army. And this could not have been done in the face of the sentiment against such use of the army which had grown to be nearly unanimous throughout the country. If the Republicans could have inaugurated their officers and administered their governments they would have received the applause of the administration at Was.h.i.+ngton and the G.o.d-speed of the Republican party of the North; but the moment the United States troops were withdrawn the Negro governments melted into nothingness.

Every thing had been tried but pacification. The men who best understood the temper of that section knew it was incapable, as a whole, of receiving the olive branch in the spirit in which the North would tender it. But a policy of conciliation was demanded; the Northern journals asked it. An ex-Major-General of the Confederate Army was called to the Cabinet of President Hayes, and was given a portfolio where he could do more for the South than in any other place. Gen. Longstreet, a gallant Confederate soldier during the late war, was made Postmaster at Gainesville, Georgia, and afterward sent as Minister to Turkey. Col. Mosby, another Confederate soldier, or guerilla, was sent to China, and Col. Fitzsimmons was made Marshal of Georgia. It was the policy of the Hon. Charles Foster to have the President recognize young men at the South who had the pluck and ability to divide the Bourbon Democratic party of that section, and hasten the day of better feeling between the sections. But the President, either incapable of comprehending this idea, or jealous of the credit that the country had already bestowed upon him, blundered on in selecting men to represent his policy in the South who had no following, and were, therefore, valueless to his cause. His heart was right, but he put too much confidence in Southern statesmen.

The South showed no signs of improvement. White Republicans were intimidated, persecuted, and driven out. The black Republicans were allowed to vote, but the Democrats counted the votes and secured all the offices. The President was under the influence of Alex. H.

Stephens, of Georgia, and Wade Hampton, of South Carolina. He expected much; but he received nothing. Instead of grat.i.tude he received arrogance. The Southern leaders in Congress sought to deprive the Executive of his const.i.tutional veto; to starve the army; and to protract the session of Congress. The North had invited its "erring brethren" back, and had killed the fatted calf, but were unwilling to allow the fellow to eat all the veal! The conduct of the South was growing more intolerable every day; and the President's barren policy was losing him supporters. He had not tied to any safe advisers. Hon.

Charles Foster, Senator Stanley Matthews, and Gen. James A. Garfield could have piloted him through many dangerous places. But he shut himself up in his own abilities, and left his friends on the outside.

The South had gulped down every thing that had been given it, and was asking for more. Every thing had been given except the honor of the cause that the Union army had fought for. To complete the task of conciliation it was only required that the nation destroy the monuments to its hero dead, and open the treasury to the payment of rebel war claims, and pension the men who were maimed in an attempt to shoot the government to death. To the credit of President Hayes let history record that he did not surrender his veto power to arrogant and disloyal Southern Congressmen. He became convinced at last that the South was incapable of appreciating his kindness, and was willing to change front. His policy was inevitable. It did great good. It united the Republican party against the South; and a splendid cabinet, a clean administration, and the resumption of specie payments wrought wonders for the Republican party.

There was a ripe sentiment in the North in favor of "a change" of policy. The very men who had advocated pacification; who had "flowers and tears for the Gray, and tears and flowers for the Blue"; who wanted the grave of Judas equally honored with the grave of Jesus--the destroyer and the Saviour of the country placed in the same calendar;--were the first men to grow sick of the policy of pacification. But what policy to inaugurate was not clear to them.

In the summer of 1878 the Hon. Charles Foster returned to Ohio from Was.h.i.+ngton City. He had seen State governments in the North slip from the control of Republicans, because of the folly of the Hayes' policy of pacification toward the South. He had the good-sense to take in the situation. He saw that it was madness to attempt any longer to conciliate the South. He saw that the lamb and lion had lain down together, but that the lamb was on the inside of the lion. Brave, intelligent, and far-seeing, on the 1st of August, 1878, he gave the Republican party of the North a battle-cry that died away only amid the shouts of Republican State and National victories in 1880. This was all the North needed. A leader was demanded, and the Hon. Charles Foster sounded the key-note that met with a response in every loyal heart in the country. His idea was that as the South had not kept the faith; had not accorded protection to the Negro voter; had not broken up old Bourbon Democratic organizations, it was the imperative duty of the North to meet that section with a solid front. Hence his battle-cry: "_A Solid North against a Solid South._" The following is his famous speech--pure gold:

"I happened to be one who thought and believed that the President's Southern policy, as far as it related to the use of troops for the support of State governments, was right. I sustained it upon the ground of high principle, nevertheless it could have been sustained on the ground of necessity. The President has extended to the people of the South the hand of conciliation and friends.h.i.+p. He has shown a desire, probably contrary to the wishes of the great ma.s.s of his party, to bring about, by the means of conciliation, better relations between the North and South. In doing this he has alienated from him the great ma.s.s of the leading and influential Republicans of the country. He had lost their sympathy, and to a great degree their support. What has he received in return for these measures of conciliation and kindness? How have these measures been received by the South? What advance can we discover in them, of the recognition of the guarantees of the rights of the Colored men under the Const.i.tutional Amendments? We see Jeff. Davis making speeches as treasonable as those of 1861, and these speeches endorsed and applauded by a great portion of their press and people. We see also the declaration of Mr. Singleton, of Mississippi, in answer to a question of mine on the floor of the House, declaring that his paramount allegiance in peace and war was due to his State.

"No gentleman from the South, or even of the Democratic party, has taken issue with him. We see also, all over the South, a disposition to resist the execution of the United States laws, especially in the matter of the collection of internal revenue.

To-day there are four U. S. officers under arrest by the authorities of the State of South Carolina, in jail and bail refused, for an alleged crime in their State, while in fact these officers were discharging their duty in executing the laws of the United States in that State. Their State courts and their officers refused to obey the writs of the United States courts in the surrender of these men to the United States authorities. No former act of this treasonable State shows a more defiant att.i.tude toward the U. S. Government, or a greater disposition to trample upon its authority. I trust the Administration will, in this case, a.s.sert in the most vigorous manner possible the authority of the United States Government for the rescue and protection of these officers. I have no b.l.o.o.d.y s.h.i.+rt to wave. If there is one man in this country, more than another, who desires peace and quiet between the sections, I believe I am that man.

Gentlemen may philosophize over this question until they are gray, but you cannot escape the discussion of this question so long as a Solid South menaces the peace of the country. A Solid Democratic South means the control of the country by the spirit and the men who sought its destruction.

"My own opinion is that there can be no peace--this question will not down, until the menace of the Solid South is withdrawn. I had hoped that the policy of President Hayes would lead to the a.s.sertion, by a very considerable portion of the South, of their antagonism to Bourbon Democracy.

"I confess to a degree of disappointment in this, though I think I see signs of a breaking up of the Solid South in the independent movement that seemed to be gaining a foothold in all sections of that country. But the effective way to aid these independent movements, this breaking up of the Solid South, is for the North to present itself united against the Solid South. A Solid South under the control of the Democratic party means the control of the party by this element. It means the repeal of the Const.i.tutional Amendments, if not in form, in spirit. It means the payment of hundreds of rebel claims. It means the payment of pensions to rebel soldiers. It means the payment for slaves lost in the Rebellion. It means the abrogation of that provision of the Const.i.tution which declares, that the citizens of one State shall have all the rights, privileges, and immunities of the citizens of other States.

"If my Democratic friends who seem to be anxious to bring about peace and quiet between the sections are sincere and desire to make their expressions effective, they should act with that party that presents a solid front, a United North, so long as we are menaced with the Solid South.

"If it could be understood in the South that they are to be met with a Solid North, I do not believe that the Solid South would exist in that condition a single year. They retain this position because they believe that they can have the support of a fragment of the North; and thus with this fragment rule and control the country. I would have no fear of the control of the country by the Democratic party if it were made up of something like equal proportion from all sections of the country. I discuss this question, first, because I believe it the most important question at issue in the pending canva.s.s. _I repeat that it is the imperative duty of the North to meet the Solid South with a united front._"[133]

This speech was delivered at Upper Sandusky, Wyandotte Co., Ohio. It thrilled the North, and put new life into the Republican party. It gave him the nomination for governor, and from 23,000 Democratic majority he redeemed the State by a Republican majority of 17,000. A wave of enthusiasm swept the country. His battle-cry became the editorial of a thousand journals, and hundreds of orators found ammunition enough in his little speech of a hundred lines to keep up a campaign of two years' duration. It is a fact that history should not omit to record, that from the 1st of August, 1878, until the election of James A. Garfield to the presidency, there was no cessation to the campaign in the North.

But the securing of a Solid North did not restore the Negro governments at the South. The North had rallied to rebuke an insolent South; to show the Democrats of that section that the United States Treasury should be protected, and that the honor of the nation _would_ be maintained unsullied. If the South would not pay its honest debts there was every reason for believing that it would not pay the national debt. It was to be regretted that the Negro had been so unceremoniously removed from Southern politics. But such a result was inevitable. The Government gave him the statute-book when he ought to have had the spelling-book; placed him in the Legislature when he ought to have been in the school-house. In the great revolution that followed the war, the heels were put where the brains ought to have been. An ignorant majority, without competent leaders, could not rule an intelligent Caucasian minority. Ignorance, vice, poverty, and superst.i.tion could not rule intelligence, experience, wealth, and organization. It was here that the "one could chase a thousand, and the two could put ten thousand to flight." The Negro governments were built on the s.h.i.+fting sands of the opinions of the men who reconstructed the South, and when the storm and rains of political contest came they fell because they were not built upon the granite foundation of intelligence and statesmans.h.i.+p.

It was an immutable and inexorable law which demanded the destruction of those governments. It was a law that knows no country, no nationality. Spain, Mexico, France, Turkey, Russia, and Egypt have felt its cruel touch to a greater or less degree. But a lesson was taught the Colored people that is invaluable. Let _them_ rejoice that they are out of politics. Let white men rule. Let them enjoy a political life to the exclusion of business and education, and they too will sooner or later be driven out of their places by the same law that sent the Negro to the plantations and to the schools. And if the Negro is industrious, frugal, saving, diligent in labor, and laborious in study, there is another law that will quietly and peaceably, without a social or political shock, restore him to his normal relations in politics. He will be able to build his governments on a solid foundation, with the tempered mortar of experience and knowledge. This is inevitable. The Negro will return to politics in the South when he is qualified to govern; will return to stay. He will be respected, courted and protected then. Then as a tax-payer, as well as a tax-gatherer, reading his own ballot, and choosing his own candidates, he will be equal to all the exigencies of American citizens.h.i.+p.

FOOTNOTES:

[133] Cincinnati Commercial, Aug. 1, 1878.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE EXODUS--CAUSE AND EFFECT.

THE NEGROES OF THE SOUTH DELIGHT IN THEIR HOME SO LONG AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THEM TO REMAIN.--THE POLICY OF ABRIDGING THEIR RIGHTS DESTRUCTIVE TO THEIR USEFULNESS AS MEMBERS OF SOCIETY.--POLITICAL INTIMIDATION, MURDER, AND OUTRAGE DISTURB THE NEGROES.--THE PLANTATION CREDIT SYSTEM THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.--THE EXODUS NOT INSPIRED BY POLITICIANS, BUT THE NATURAL OUTCOME OF THE BARBAROUS TREATMENT BESTOWED UPON THE NEGROES BY THE WHITES.--THE UNPRECEDENTED SUFFERINGS OF 60,000 NEGROES FLEEING FROM SOUTHERN DEMOCRATIC OPPRESSION.--THEIR PATIENT, CHRISTIAN ENDURANCE.--THEIR INDUSTRY, MORALS, AND FRUGALITY.--THE CORRESPONDENT OF THE "CHICAGO INTER-OCEAN" SENDS INFORMATION TO SENATOR VOORHEES RESPECTING THE REFUGEES IN KANSAS.--THE POSITION OF GOV. ST. JOHN AND THE FAITHFUL LABORS OF MRS. COMSTOCK.--THE RESULTS OF THE EXODUS BENEFICENT.--THE SOUTH MUST TREAT THE NEGRO BETTER OR LOSE HIS LABOR.

The exodus of the Negroes from Southern States forms one of the most interesting pages of the almost romantic history of the race. It required more than ordinary causes to drive the Negro from his home in the sunny South to a different climate and strange country. It was no caprice of his nature, nor even a nomadic feeling. During the entire period of the existence of the Republican governments at the South the Negroes remained there in a state of blissful contentment. And even after the fall of those governments they continued in a state of quiet industry. But there followed the decline of those governments a policy as hurtful to the South as it was cruel to the Negroes.

During the early years of reconstruction quite a number of Negroes began to invest in real estate and secure for themselves pleasant homes. Their possessions increased yearly, as can be seen by a reference to statistical reports. Some of the estates and homesteads of the oldest and most reputable white families, who had put every thing info the scales of Confederate rebellion, fell into the possession of ex-slaves. Such a spectacle was not only unpleasant, it was exasperating, to the whites. But so long as the Republican governments gave promise of success there was but little or no manifestation of displeasure on the part of the whites. Just as soon, however, as they became the masters of the situation, the property of many Negroes was seized, and sold upon the specious plea--"for delinquent taxes"; and the Negroes were driven from eligible places to the outskirts of the larger towns and cities. No Negro was allowed to live in the vicinity of white persons as tenants; and it became a social crime to sell property to Negroes in close proximity to the whites. In the rural districts, where Negroes had begun to secure small farms, this same cruel spirit was "the lion in their way." The spirit that sought to keep the Negro ignorant as a slave, now that he was at least nominally free, endeavored to deprive him of one of the necessary conditions of happy and useful citizens.h.i.+p: the possession of property, the aggregations of the results of honest labor. Nothing could have been more fatal to the growth of the Negro toward the perfect stature of free, intelligent, independent, and self-sustaining manhood and citizens.h.i.+p. The object and result of such a system can easily be judged. It was intended to keep the Negroes the laboring element after as well as before the war. The accomplishment of such a result would have been an argument in favor of the a.s.sertion of the South that the normal condition of the Negro was that of a serf; and that he, did not possess the elements necessary to the life of a freeman. Thus would have perished the hopes, prayers, arguments and claims of the friends of the cause of universal, manhood suffrage.

Among the ma.s.ses of laboring men the iniquitous, outrageous, thieving "_Plantation Credit System_" was a plague and a crime. Deprived of homes and property the Negroes were compelled to "work the crops on the shares." A plantation store was kept where the Negroes' credit was good for any article it contained. He got salt meat, corn meal, sugar, coffee, mola.s.ses, vinegar, tobacco, and coa.r.s.e clothing for himself and family. An account was kept by "a young white man," and at the end of the season "a reckoning" was had. Unable to read or cipher, the poor, credulous, unsuspecting Negroes always found themselves in debt from $50 to $200! This necessitated another year's engagement; and so on for an indefinite period. There was nothing to encourage the Negroes; nothing to inspire them with hope for the future; nothing for their families but a languid, dead-eyed expectation that somehow a change _might_ come. But the crime went on unrebuked by the men who were growing rich from this system of petty robbery of the poor. For the cheapest qualities of brown sugar, for which the laboring cla.s.ses of the North pay 8 cents, the Negroes on the plantations were charged 11 and 13 cents a pound. Corn meal purchased at the North for 4 cents a quart, brought 9 and 10 cents at the plantation store. And thus for every article the Negroes purchased they were charged the most exorbitant prices.

There were two results which flowed from this system, viz.: robbing the families of these Negroes of the barest comforts of life, and destroying the confidence of the Negro in the blessings and benefits of freedom. No man--no race of men--could endure such blighting influences for any length of time.

Moreover the experiences of the Negroes in voting had not been extensive, and a sudden curtailing and abridgment of their rights was a shock to their confidence in the government under which they lived, and in the people by which they were surrounded. It was thought expedient to intimidate or destroy the more intelligent and determined Negroes; while the farm laborers were directed to refrain from voting the Republican ticket, or commanded to vote the Democratic ticket, or starve. There never was a more cruel system of slavery than this.

Writing under date of January 10, 1875, General P. H. Sheridan, then in command at New Orleans, says:

"Since the year 1866 nearly thirty-five hundred persons, a great majority of whom were colored men, have been killed and wounded in this State. In 1868 the official record shows that eighteen hundred and eighty-four were killed and wounded. From 1868 to the present time no official investigation had been made, and the civil authorities in all but a few cases have been unable to arrest, convict, or punish the perpetrators. Consequently there are no correct records to be consulted for information. There is ample evidence, however, to show that more than twelve hundred persons have been killed and wounded during this time on account of their political sentiments. Frightful ma.s.sacres have occurred in the parishes of Bossier, Caddo, Catahoula, Saint Bernard, Grant, and Orleans."

He then proceeded to enumerate the political murders of Colored men in various parishes, and says:

"Human life in this State is held so cheaply that when men are killed on account of political opinions, the murderers are regarded rather as heroes than as criminals in the localities where they reside."

This brief summary is not by a politician, but by a distinguished soldier, who recounts the events which had occurred within his own military jurisdiction. Volumes of testimony have since been taken confirming in all respects General Sheridan's statement, and giving in detail the facts relating to such murders, and the times and circ.u.mstances of their occurrence. The results of the elections which immediately followed them disclose the motives and purposes of their perpetrators. These reports show that in the year 1867 a reign of terror prevailed over almost the entire State. In the parish of St.

Landry there was a ma.s.sacre of Colored people which began on the 28th of September, 1868, and lasted from three to six days, during which time between three and four hundred of them were killed. "Thirteen captives were taken from the jail and shot, and a pile of twenty-five dead bodies were found burned in the woods." The result of this Democratic campaign in the parish was that the registered Republican majority of 1,071 was wholly obliterated, and at the election which followed a few weeks later, not a vote was cast for General Grant, while Seymour and Blair received 4,787.

In the parish of Bossier a similar ma.s.sacre occurred between the 20th and 30th of September, 1868, which lasted from three to four days, during which time two hundred Negroes were killed. By the official registry of that year the Republican voters in Bossier Parish numbered 1,938, but at the ensuing election only _one_ Republican vote was cast.

In the parish of Caddo, during the month of October, 1868, over forty Negroes were killed. The result of that ma.s.sacre was that out of a Republican registered vote of 2,894 only _one_ was cast for General Grant. Similar scenes were enacted throughout the State, varying in extent and atrocity according to the magnitude of the Republican majority to be overcome.

The total summing up of murders, maimings, and whippings which took place for political reasons in the months of September, October, and November, 1868, as shown by official sources, is over one thousand.

The net political results achieved thereby may be succinctly stated as follows: The official registration for that year in twenty-eight parishes contained 47,923 names of Republican voters, but at the presidential election held a few weeks after the occurrence of these events but 5,360 Republican votes were cast, making the net Democratic gain from said transactions 42,563.

In nine of these parishes where the reign of terror was most prevalent, out of 11,604 registered Republican votes only nineteen were cast for General Grant. In seven of said parishes there were 7,253 registered Republican votes, but not one was cast at the ensuing election for the Republican ticket.

In the years succeeding 1868, when some restraint was imposed upon political lawlessness and a comparatively peaceful election was held, these same Republican parishes cast from 33,000 to 37,000 Republican votes, thus demonstrating the purpose and the effects of the reign of murder in 1868.

In 1876 the spirit of violence and persecution which, in parts of the State, had been partially restrained for a time, broke forth again with renewed fury. It was deemed necessary to carry that State for Tilden and Hendricks, and the policy which had proved so successful in 1868 was again invoked, and with like results. On the day of general election in 1876 there were in the State of Louisiana 92,996 registered white voters, and 115,310 Colored, making a Republican majority of the latter of 22,314. The number of white Republicans was far in excess of the number of Colored Democrats. It was, therefore, well known that if a fair election should be held the State would go Republican by from twenty-five to forty thousand majority. The policy adopted this time was to select a few of the largest Republican parishes and by terrorism and violence not only obliterate their Republican majorities, but also intimidate the Negroes in the other parishes. The sworn testimony found in our public doc.u.ments and records at Was.h.i.+ngton shows that the same system of a.s.sa.s.sinations, whippings, burnings, and other acts of political persecution of Colored citizens, which had occurred in 1868, was again repeated in 1876, and with like results.

In fifteen parishes where 17,726 Republicans were registered in 1876 only 5,758 votes were cast for Hayes and Wheeler, and in one of them (East Feliciana) where there were 2,127 Republicans registered, but _one_ Republican vote was cast. By some methods the Republican majority of the State was supposed to have been effectually suppressed and a Democratic victory a.s.sured. And because the legally const.i.tuted authorities of Louisiana, acting in conformity with law and justice, declined to count some of the parishes thus carried by violence and blood, the Democratic party, both North and South, has ever since complained that it was fraudulently deprived of the fruits of the victory thus achieved, and it now proposes to make this grievance the princ.i.p.al plank in the party platform[134] for the future.

The worm trampled upon so persistently at length turned over. There was nothing left to the Negro but to go out from the land of his oppression and task-masters.

The Exodus was not a political movement. It was not inspired from without. It was but the natural operation of a divine law that moved whole communities of Negroes to turn their faces toward the setting sun. When the Israelites went out of Egypt G.o.d commanded their women to borrow the finger-rings and ear-rings of the Egyptians. All had sandals on their feet, staves in their hand, and headed by a matchless leader. G.o.d went before them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. But when the Negroes began their exodus from the Egypt of their bondage they went out empty; without clothing, money, or leaders. They were willing to endure any hards.h.i.+ps short of death to reach a land where, under their own vine and fig-tree, they could enjoy free speech, free schools, the privilege of an honest vote, and receive honest pay for honest work. And how forcibly they told why they left the South.

"Now, old Uncle Joe, what did you come for?"

"Oh, law! Missus, I follers my two boys an' the ole woman an'

then 'pears like I wants a taste of votin' afore I dies, an' the ole man done wants no swamps to wade in afore he votes, 'kase he must be Republican, ye see."

"Well, old Aunty, give us the sympathetic side of the story; or, tell us what you think of leaving your old home."