510 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



State alone, requires nothing of him to entitle him 

 to vote except his bare oath that he is so entitled I 

 The answer to these inquiries is North Carolina." 



On Oct. 18 the Republican postmaster at Wil- 

 mington publicly addressed a letter to United 

 States Senator Pritchard, in which he said : 



"As a matter of fact, there are in this county 36 

 colored magistrates and a colored register of deeds 

 and various other minor officials, besides some presi- 

 dential appointees, and the property owners, tax- 

 payers, and business men seriously object to this 

 state of affairs, and there now exists here the most 

 intense feeling against any sort of negro domina- 

 tion. There is a greater feeling of unrest and un- 

 certainty about the maintenance of order than I 

 have ever seen, and many, even the most conserva- 

 tive, feel that a race conflict is imminent, than 

 which nothing could be more disastrous, not only to 

 this city and county, but to our party in the State, 

 and rather than have riot, arson, and bloodshed pre- 

 vail here, I, Republican though I am, advise giving 

 up the local offices in this county, as there are no 

 national political principles involved in this con- 

 flict." 



In the same month a storehouse in Ashpole, Robe- 

 son County, was robbed and burned. Certain negroes 

 suspected of the crime determined to resist arrest, 

 and were said to have threatened to burn the town 

 and murder the citizens, arms and ammunition hav- 

 ing been stored by them near by. It was reported that 

 while white guards were standing around a fire one 

 night they were fired upon by negroes in ambush, 

 3 white men being seriously wounded. The fire 

 was returned by the whites, and the negroes fled. 

 Bloodhounds were sent for by the whites, the ne- 

 groes were hotly pursued, and 10 of them were cap- 

 tured and lodged in jail. 



A special dispatch to the St. Louis " Globe-Demo- 

 crat," from Wilmington, dated Oct. 23, contained 

 the following: 



" North Carolina is in the throes of the most des- 

 perate campaign since the reconstruction era after 

 the civil war. The People's party came into exist- 

 ence in 1894, and though its strength in Noi'th 

 Carolina was only 32,000, a fusion arrangement 

 with the Republican party, composed of 120,000 

 negroes and 25,000 whites, "led to the capture of the 

 Legislature by the Pusionists, whereupon it was al- 

 leged that the negro had become a controlling ele- 

 ment in politics. In 1896 the Fusionists again 

 elected an overwhelming majority of the Legisla- 

 ture, elected a Republican Governor and Populist 

 and Republican State officers. The negro, realizing 

 his importance, demanded his share of the offices, 

 and the result was that many of the eastern coun- 

 ties of the State, where they are largely in the ma- 

 jority, became ' negroized,' as the Democrats sncer- 

 ingly call the elevation of the colored man to office. 

 The situation may be judged when it is stated that 

 the Wilmington ' Messenger,' the leading paper in 

 the State, boldly declared a few days ago that the 

 Democrats intended to overthrow the present polit- 

 ical conditions peaceably if possible, but by revolu- 

 tion if necessary. This isthe feeling of Democratic 

 leaders throughout the greater part of the State, 

 and they have prepared to carry out their purpose. 

 Rioting between the races in Wilmington has (been 

 narrowly averted several times. The negroes do 

 not propose to be bulldozed, and the white Demo- 

 crats are preparing to back their threats by force. 

 Every house in the city is an arsenal. Winchester 

 rifles and riot guns have been purchased in great 

 quantity, and the white men have gone so far as to 

 purchase a Colt rapid-fire machine gun. The negroes 

 are behaving peaceably, but they are prepared." 



About this time the " North Carolinian " called 

 attention to the fact that in 5 counties of the State 



there were 143 negro magistrates ; that altogether 

 in the State there were nearly 300 negro magistrates ; 

 and that, taking the State at large, nearly 1,000 

 negroes were holding office. On Oct. 26 GoV. Rus- 

 sell (Republican) issued the following proclamation : 



" Whereas, The Constitution of the United States 

 secures to every State in this Union a republican 

 form of government, protection from invasion, and 

 freedom from domestic violence ; and 



" Whereas, The Constitution of North Carolina 

 guarantees to all the people of the State the inher- 

 ent right to fully regulate their own internal gov- 

 ernment ; to peacefully assemble for the purpose of 

 consulting for their common good ; to hold peace- 

 able and quiet elections ; and to discharge and ex- 

 ercise in an orderly and quiet way the manifold 

 duties and privileges of good citizenship ; and 



" Whereas, The Constitution of this State, and the 

 laws made in pursuance thereof, forbid that any 

 citizen shall be deprived or restrained of his liberty 

 but upon indictment for and conviction of crime ; 

 and 



" Whereas, It is ordained in the same Constitution 

 and laws of this State that the writs for the protec- 

 tion of the citizen, and the processes of the courts 

 for the protection of society, shall never be sus- 

 pended, neither by usurping executive nor by tur- 

 bulent mobs using the weapons of intimidation and 

 violence ; and 



" Whereas, It has been made known to me, by 

 the public press, by numerous letters, by the oral 

 statement of divers citizens of the State, and by 

 formal written statements, that the political canvass 

 now going forward has been made the occasion and 

 pretext for bringing about conditions of lawlessness 

 in certain counties in this State, such, for example, 

 as Richmond and Robeson counties; and 



" Whereas, It has been made known to me, in 

 such a direct and reliable way that I can not doubt 

 its truthfulness, that certain counties lying along 

 the southern border of this State have been actually 

 invaded by certain armed and lawless men from 

 another State ; that several political meetings in 

 Richmond and Halifax counties have been broken 

 up and dispersed by armed men, using threats, in- 

 timidation, and, in some cases, actual violence ; 

 that in other cases property has been actually de- 

 stroyed and citizens fired on from ambush; that 

 several citizens have been taken from their homes 

 at night and whipped; that in several counties 

 peaceful citizens have been intimidated and terror- 

 ized by threats of violence to their persons and their 

 property, until they are afraid to register themselves, 

 preparatory to exercising that highest duty of a 

 freeman, the casting of one free vote at the ballot 

 box for the men of their own choice in the coming 

 election : 



" Now, therefore, I, Daniel L. Russell, Governor 

 of the State of North Carolina, in pursuance of the 

 Constitution and laws of said State, and by virtue of 

 authority vested in me by said Constitution and 

 laws, do issue this, my proclamation, commanding 

 all ill-disposed persons, whether of this or that po- 

 litical party, or of no political party, to immediately 

 desist from all unlawful practices and all turbulent 

 conduct, and to use all lawful efforts to preserve 

 the peace, and to secure to all the people the quiet 

 enjoyment of a)l their rights of. free citizenship. 



" And I do further command and enjoin it upon 

 all good and law-abiding citizens not to allow them- 

 selves to become excited by any appeals that may tie 

 made to their passions and prejudices by the repre- 

 sentatives of any political party whatsoever; but 

 to keep cool heads, and use their good offices to 

 preserve the public peace, and to protect every, the 

 humblest citizen, in all his rights, political and per- 

 sonal. 



