|
It is agreed
upon all sides that the condition of the late rebel States is deplorable;
and even the advices of papers unfriendly to the Republican party concede
this fact. The Democratic papers say that it is the natural result of
Republican rule. The more friendly papers think that it is due to
disfranchisement, by which many of the most intelligent people of the
States are excluded from public life; and the indifferent papers declare
that nothing else is to be expected so soon after the war. Certainly very
much such a condition was to be anticipated, and we have never thought
otherwise. The report of the special committee upon the Ku-Klux outrages
tells the story plainly. And the remedy seems to be simple. Removal of
every pretense of complaint, and complete personal security, are now
required. General enfranchisement, and the summary destruction of the
Ku-Klux, should be simultaneous. And for this Mr. Shellabarger’s bill
provides. It empowers the President to protect all citizens—even with
"the bayonet"—when forcible combinations in any State are too
strong for the law, and whether the Governor asks for aid or not. Plainly,
if disabilities are removed, the Ku-Klux may come into possession of the
State governments; and since, whether in or out of authority, the Ku-Klux
is increasing, the United States should try its hand, and ascertain if it
be invincible. The remedy may be disagreeable, but the disease is,
otherwise, mortal. The Ku-Klux terrorism indefinitely postpones the
tranquility which is indispensable to the Southern States. |
|
