512 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



were elected and 2 Republican. In the State Sen- 

 ate of 1897 the Democrats had 7 and the Fusionists 

 43 : this election gave the Democrats 43 and the 

 Fusionists 7, just reversing the figures. In 1897 

 there were 30 Democratic members of the House 

 and 90 Fusionists ; the numbers were changed to 

 94 Democrats and 26 Fusionists. On the day after 

 the election, Nov. 9, a mass meeting, attended by 

 about 1,000 persons, was held in Wilmington, which 

 unanimously expressed itself as follows : 



" Believing that the Constitution of the United 

 States contemplated a government to be carried on 

 by an enlightened people ; believing that its fram- 

 ers did not anticipate the enfranchisement of an 

 ignorant population of African origin, and believ- 

 ing that the men of the State of North Carolina 

 who joined in forming the Union did not contem- 

 plate for their descendants a subjection to an in- 

 ferior race ; 



' We, the undersigned, citizens of the city of Wil- 

 mington and county of New Hanover, do hereby 

 declare that we will no longer be ruled, and will 

 never again be ruled, by men of African origin. 

 This condition we have in part endured because we 

 felt that the consequences of the war of secession 

 were such as to deprive us of the fair consideration 

 of many of our countrymen. 



" We believe that, after more than thirty years, 

 this is no longer the case. 



" The stand we now pledge ourselves to is forced 

 upon us suddenly by a crisis, and our eyes are open 

 to the fact that we must act now or leave our de- 

 scendants to a fate too gloomy to be borne. 



" While we recognize the authority of the United 

 States, and will yield to it if exerted, we would not 

 for a moment believe that it is the purpose of more 

 than 60.000,000 of our own race to subject us per- 

 manently to a fate to which no Anglo-Saxon has 

 ever been forced to submit. 



" We, therefore, believing that we represent un- 

 equivocally the sentiment of the white people of 

 this county and city, hereby for ourselves, and rep- 

 resenting them, proclaim : 



" 1. That the time has passed for the intelligent 

 citizens of this community, owning 95 per cent, of 

 the property and paying taxes in like proportion, to 

 be ruled by negroes. 



" 2. That we will not tolerate the action of un- 

 scrupulous white men in affiliating with the negroes 

 so that by means of their votes they can dominate 

 the intelligent and thrifty element in the com- 

 munity, thus causing business to stagnate and prog- 

 ress to be out of the question. 



" 3. That the negro has demonstrated, by antag- 

 onizing our interest in every way, and especially by 

 his ballot, that he is incapable of realizing that his 

 interests are and should be identical with those of 

 the community. 



"4. That the progressive element in any com- 

 munity is the white population, and that the giving 

 of nearly all of the employment to negro laborers 

 has been against the best interests of this county 

 and city, and is a sufficient reason why the city of 

 Wilmington, with its natural advantages, has not 

 become a city of at least 50,000 inhabitants. 



" 5. That we propose in future to give to white 

 men a large part of the employment heretofore 

 given to negroes, because we realize that white fam- 

 ilies can not thrive here unless there are more oppor- 

 tunities for employment for the different members 

 of said families. 



"6. That the white men expect to live in this 

 community peaceably, to have and provide absolute 

 protection for their families, who shall be safe from 

 insult from all persons whomsoever. We are pre- 

 pared to treat the negroes with justice and consid- 

 eration in all matters which do not involve sacrifices 



of the interest of the intelligent and progressive 

 portion of the community. But we are equally pre- 

 pared now and immediately to enforce what we 

 know to be our rights. 



" 7. That we have been, in our desire for har- 

 mony and peace, blinded both to our best interests 

 and our rights. A climax was reached when the 

 negro paper of this city published an article so vile 

 and slanderous that it would in most communities 

 have resulted in the lynching of the editor. We 

 deprecate lynching, and yet there is no punishment 

 provided by the laws adequate for this offense. Wo 

 therefore owe it to the people of this community 

 and of this city, as a protection against such license 

 in future, that the paper known as the "Record" 

 cease to be published, and that its editor be banished 

 from this community. 



" We demand that he leave this city within twenty- 

 four hours after the issuance of this proclamation ; 

 second, that the printing press from which the 

 " Record " has been issued be packed and shipped 

 from the city without delay ; that we be notified 

 within twelve hours of the acceptance or rejection 

 of this demand. If the demand is agreed to within 

 twelve hours, we counsel forbearance on the part of 

 all white men. If the demand is refused, or if no 

 answer is given within the time mentioned, then 

 the editor, Manly, will be expelled by force." 



The offensive article alluded to 'in the seventh 

 section of the foregoing proclamation, which ap- 

 peared in the daily " Record " of Aug. 18, read as 

 follows : 



" We suggest that the whites guard their women 

 more closely, as Mrs. Felton says, thus giving no 

 opportunity for the human fiend, be he white or 

 black. You leave your goods out of doors, and then 

 complain because they are taken away. Poor white 

 men are careless in the matter of protecting their 

 women, especially on farms. They are careless of 

 their conduct toward them, and our experience 

 among poor white people in the country teaches us 

 that the women of that race are not any more par- 

 ticular in the matter of clandestine meetings with 

 colored men than are the white men with colored 

 women. Meetings of this kind go on for some 

 time, until the woman's infatuation or the man's 

 boldness bring attention to them, and the man is 

 lynched for rape. Every negro lynched is called 

 a ' big, burly, black brute,' when, in fact, many of 

 those who have thus been dealt with had white mm 

 for their fathers, and were not only not black ' and 

 'burly,' but were sufficiently attractive for white 

 girls of culture and refinement to fall in love with 

 them, as is well known to all." 



A committee of 25 citizens was appointed to ex- 

 ecute the provisions of the foregoing resolutions. 

 There was a conference between the committee and 

 a number of influential negroes of the city, at 

 which it was agreed that the negroes should report 

 to the committee at 7 A. M. the next day as to 

 whether or not Editor Manly would comply with 

 the requirements of the resolutions. If he did not, 

 the white men proposed to go in full force at 8 

 A. M., destroy the newspaper plant, and expel tho 

 editor. Their demand appearing not to be accednl 

 to at 8.30 o'clock 600 armed citizens went to tlie 

 offensive newspaper office and proceeded to destroy 

 the material. While the destruction was in progress 

 tho building "took fire "and was burned to the 

 ground. It developed later in the day that the 

 negro committee had used their influence to have 

 the press, etc., removed, although the editor had 

 disappeared and they had no authority in the prom- 

 ises. A letter from them, instead of being deliv- 

 ered to the chairman of the committee of 25 in 

 person, was put into the mail, and did not reaeh 

 him until three hours after the expiration of the 





