USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina since 1860, Volume III > Part 24
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On October 24th, a committee of prominent citizens wrote Governor Russell, warning him that there was serious danger of an outbreak and urging him to use his influence with the local republicans to persuade them not to run any county ticket in order to prevent trouble. The candidates of the dem- ocrats had already been replaced by those selected by the busi- ness men of the city. The governor publicly declined to inter- fere, but after a visit from several prominent men who laid the case before him, at his suggestion no ticket was run.
On October 26th, Governor Russell issued a proclamation calling attention to the prevailing excitement and to instances of disorder and warning the people against acts of violence. Two days later there was a great white mass meeting held in Goldsboro. William A. Guthrie presided and in attendance were many populists including a former state chairman and even a few republicans who had rallied to the democratic party on the negro issue. A preamble in the form of statements bearing upon conditions in the state, and a series of resolu- tions were adopted. Among them these were characteristic:
It is not claimed, even by his white leaders, that the negro is capable of administering a government. On the contrary, the man who is the present Republican Governor of the State has declared, in the most emphatic language, that he is wholly unfitted for it.
That counting the offices of register of deeds, deputy registers, deputy sheriffs, constables, justices of the peace, school committeemen, town commissioners, policemen, postmasters, collectors, storekeepers, gaugers, and the like, there are now in office in counties and towns of eastern North Carolina nearly 1,000 negroes, there being nearly 300 negro magistrates alone.
That as a consequence of turning these local offices over to the negroes, bad government has followed, homes have been invaded, and the sanctity of woman endangered. Business has been paralyzed and property rendered less valuable. The majesty of the law has been disregarded and lawlessness encouraged. In many localities men no longer rely upon the officers of the law for protection, for they are known to be incompetent or corrupt. Conditions have become so in- tolerable in these communities that they can be no longer tolerated or endured.
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In view of these things, it is resolved :
That the Republican leaders have a second time clearly demon- strated their inability and their unfitness to govern North Carolina.
That the time has come when those who have followed these leaders should no longer do so, and that all men who love their State and their homes should unite in one supreme effort to redeem the State, and to place honest, capable white men in office in State, county, city, and town.
That our appeal has been, is now, and shall continue to be to the ballot box and to honest white men. We have contemplated no vio- lence, but we are determined to use all proper means- to free our- selves of this negro domination, which is paralyzing our business, and which hangs like a dark cloud over our homes.
That we declare it is not our purpose to do the negro any harm. It is better for him, as well as for us, that the white man shall govern ; that while we propose to protect and encourage him in all his rights and duties of citizenship, we affirm that North Carolina shall not be negroized. It is, of all the States of the Union, peculiarly the home of the Anglo-Saxon, and the Anglo-Saxon shall govern it.
In the campaign the fusionists were driven as it were from their feet and found themselves in the East unable to do any- thing but threaten and complain. Everywhere in the state they were on the defensive from the beginning. The populists, under the lead of Senator Butler, argued for a special form of government for the eastern counties, a thing clearly made possible by a decision of the Supreme Court in relation to the charter of Wilmington as amended by the legislature of 1897. Few listened to this. The issue was a general one. Populist strength was apparently dwindling and their claim that they were in a peculiar sense a white man's party lost weight before the fact of their fusion with the republicans and its visible results.
So far as the negroes were concerned, a large part of them had suddenly become convinced that political activity was unwise and that voting possibly would be a grave mistake. The campaign of intimidation had begun to turn the scale and many negroes were unregistered and a greater number prob- ably did not vote. Nor was their action unnatural. The press was full to the end of the campaign of threatening in- timations, which grew worse before they reached the ignorant masses of the race, and a large number of reckless and hys- terical speakers used the kind of argument which appears in a
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speech which, according to a newspaper correspondent, was made by Alfred M. Waddell, in a speech in Wilmington the night before the election: "You are Anglo-Saxons. You are armed and prepared, and you will do your duty. Be ready at a mo- ment's notice. Go to the polls tomorrow, and if you find the negro out voting, tell him to leave the polls and if he refuses, kill him, shoot him down in his tracks. We shall win tomorrow if we have to do it with guns."
REMEMBER THE
These degenerate sons of the white race who control the republican ma- chine in this county, or those whose positions made them influential in putting negro rule on the whites, will suffer the penalty of their responsibility for any disturbance consequent on the determination of the white men of this county to carry the election at any cost.
REMEMBER THE
A WILMINGTON CAMPAIGN WARNING, 1898
No such condition of affairs could pass unnoticed and the campaign excited much interest outside the state and there were a number of staff correspondents of newspapers and mag- azines who furnished daily to the world their interpretation of what was going on. Much of the press comment was of course bitterly hostile and there was general deprecation of vio- lence, but the majority of correspondents from outside found themselves, regardless of former ideas, in sympathy with the demand for white supremacy. The Washington Post was notably sympathetic with the democrats and said that the struggle was one between anarchy and organized society, in-
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volving the preservation of enlightened institutions and hon- est government, of law, and of order.
The election was quiet and, generally speaking, there was little fraud. With the election machinery in the hands of fusionists there was but little chance of any. One box in a negro precinct in Wilmington was "stuffed" after the close of the polls in the presence of all the election officials so effective- ly as greatly to embarrass the democrats by a majority as large as the total registered vote, but such cases were rare. All day long, according to a correspondent of the Outlook, the same precinct was surrounded openly by five hundred Red Shirts, armed with Winchester rifles, who ignored the fact that concealed in a wider circle outside of them were fifteen hundred negroes armed with old muskets, army rifles, shot guns, and pistols. Democrats elected a large majority of both houses of the legislature and seven of the nine members of Congress. Their majority was estimated to be nearly 20,000. In the black district the negro, George H. White, was re- elected.
The day after election, when the news of democratic suc- cess had come, a mass meeting, attended by about 1,000 white citizens, was held in Wilmington. A series of resolutions amounting to a declaration of independence from negro rule was unanimously adopted :
Believing that the Constitution of the United States contemplated a government to be carried on by an enlightened people; believing that its framers did not anticipate the enfranchisement of an ignorant population of African origin, and believing that the men of the State of North Carolina who joined in forming the Union . did not con- template for their descendants a subjection to an inferior race ;
We, the undersigned, citizens of the city of Wilmington and county of New Hanover, do hereby declare that we will no longer be ยท ruled, and will never again be ruled, by men of African origin. This condition we have in part endured because we felt that the conse- quences 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 descendants 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
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purpose of more than 60,000,000 of our own race to subject us perma- nently to a fate to which no Anglo-Saxon has ever been forced to submit.
We, therefore, believing that we represent unequivocally the senti- ment of the white people of this eounty and city, hereby for our- selves, and representing 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 unscrupulous white men in affiliating with the negroes so that by means of their votes they can dominate the intelligent and thrifty element in the community, thus causing business to stagnate and progress to be out of the question.
3. That the negro has demonstrated, by antagonizing 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 community 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 in- habitants.
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 families can not thrive here unless there are more opportunities 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 prepared to treat the negroes with justice and consideration in all matters which do not involve sacrifices of the interest of the intelligent and progres- sive portion of the community. But we are equally prepared now and immediately to enforce what we know to be our rights.
7. That we have been, in our desire for harmony 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. We 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
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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.
Still another resolution demanded the resignation of the mayor and alderman, and a committee of twenty-five repre- sentative men of the town was appointed to execute these demands. They were James Ellis, Rev. J. W. Kramer, Frank Maunder, F. P. Skipper, C. L. Spencer, Hugh MacRae, J. Allen Taylor, E. S. Lathrop, F. H. Fechtig, W. H. Northrop, Sr., A. B. Skelding, F. A. Montgomery, B. F. King, Rev. J. W. S. Harvey, Joseph R. Davis, Dr. W. C. Galloway, Joseph D. Smith, John E. Crow, F. H. Stedman, Gabriel Holmes, Junius Davis, Iredell Meares, P. L. Bridgers, W. F. Robertson and C. W. Worth. They at once organized and summoned a group of thirty or more of the more prominent negroes before whom they laid the ultimatum and demanded their influence in secur- ing a peaceful execution of it. They were instructed to deliver their reply to Alfred M. Waddell at his residence at half past seven the following morning and it was arranged that he would report the result to the committee at the armory at 8 o'clock.
The negroes after conference secured from Manly a prom- ise to leave and drew up a reply promising to use their influ- ence, but, instead of delivering it as arranged, mailed it. At 8 o'clock on the morning of November 11th, Waddell reported to the assembled body of armed men that nothing had been heard from the negro committee. He then placed himself at the head of the men who marched to the Record office and de- stroyed the whole outfit. During the disturbance the building was found to be on fire and it was completely destroyed, the origin of the fire never being discovered.
After the wrecking of the newspaper office the crowd began to disperse. In the meantime the negroes all over Wilmington had heard of the affair and had begun to assemble in many parts of the city, many of them armed. Finally in an outlying quarter the negroes, after refusing to disperse, fired on a party of armed white men who at once returned the fire. Fighting began resulting in the death of a number of negroes during the forenoon. Occasional outbreaks occurred during the after-
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noon and twelve negroes were stated to have been killed during the day. Three white men were seriously wounded.
As soon as the fighting began the Wilmington Light In- fantry and a battalion of naval reserves were ordered out and at once began to disarm the negroes. Patrols of citizens, estab- lished on every block, also guarded the city and disarmed all passing negroes and furnished protection to those of them who were afraid. The white women and children were placed in the houses already selected for use in such a contingency and the guard was maintained all night. Militia hurried in from Fayetteville, Maxton, Kinston, Clinton, and other neighbor- ing towns while hundreds of offers of assistance from the state and from South Carolina and Virginia poured in over the wires. The situation among a large part of the negro population was pathetic. They had been so filled with wild stories of what would happen to them in the event of demo- cratic victory, that they did not stop to notice that no negro . was harmed who was not associated with armed aggression, but, seized by panic, thousands of them, including men, women and children, fled out of the city during the following two days. Many of them stayed away for days, afraid to return and suf- fering in the meantime from cold, hunger, and exposure. It was the same story that had often been the case before. The ignorant negroes had been led by bad white men who had deserted them when trouble came leaving them to bear the brunt.
On the same day as the uprising, W. H. Chadbourn offered to secure the resignation of the city officials in favor of those selected by the business men. This was announced to the com- mittee of twenty-five who then called upon the mayor and chief of police and demanded their resignation. The former objected to obedience during the disturbance; the latter, more philosophical, made the payment of his arrears of salary his sole condition. A meeting of the board of aldermen was held at which, one by one, the aldermen resigned and elected new ones chosen by the committee in their stead. The mayor then resigned and was replaced by Alfred M. Waddell who imme- diately announced his intention of suppressing all disorder and a little later personally cooperated in preventing a lynch-
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ing. During all this time a number of white and colored repub- lican leaders were in jail for their own protection.
The same night the expulsion of objectionable characters began. G. Z. French was taken by a squad of militia to the station where he narrowly escaped hanging, a noose having already been placed about his neck and the rope drawn taut, when intervention in his behalf saved him. R. H. Bunting, the former trial justice, John R. Melton, the former chief of police and several other white men were sent away as were six negro leaders who were regarded as particularly danger- ous. All of them, black and white, were warned never to re- turn. There was of course much public excitement for several days but no disorder and the town soon settled to quiet.
Democratic victory in the election was due to the abuses in government, supplemented by a wonderful activity of the press, excellent management of the campaign, and the enthu- siasm of the individual voters. The party was once more united and was also able to draw some strength from the pop- ulists though possibly not as much as had been expected. In the campaign the party had found a leader in the person of Charles B. Aycock, of Goldsboro. Before the democratic con- vention he and Locke Craig, of Asheville, in a great meeting in Laurinburg had sounded the keynote of the campaign and he was active throughout its course, emerging as the outstanding figure in the new democratic party.
For the campaign methods employed in many quarters of the state, the better element had in the abstract little sympathy, but they were in no apologetic mood as concerned the practice in this particular case. To the majority the end had justified the means. Good government had been once more secured as in the seventies and in much the same way. It was felt to be deplorable that necessity forced the employment of such meth- ods, but it was also felt that the necessity was there which justified even recourse to violence. The experiment of gov- ernment by a party owing its elevation to power to a solid and ignorant negro vote had been tried a second and last time in North Carolina and had failed. The victors, many of them terribly alarmed at the menace to the state involved in the nec-
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essary method of victory, now determined to make a third trial an impossibility.
In spite of race antagonism the feeling was fairly general that after all the negro was not to blame. It was the old story of Reconstruction-the ignorant and inferior race politically deluded and exploited for the benefit of the white men who rose to place and power by means of the indivisible negro vote. Un- doubtedly many of the negroes behaved badly; it was hardly to be expected that they would not since both encouragement and example were furnished by evil white men. The great cause for wonder is that they did not behave worse and that a larger proportion of the race was not guilty of misbeliavior. For after all, the mass of negroes in the state were quiet and on the whole, well-behaved.
The course of action of the populists and republicans in relation to the negro would be more excusable if there had been among either group any wide-spread devotion to the ideal of manhood suffrage or to an abstract theory of the rights of man. There was nothing of the sort. Friendly to negro suf- frage solely because it was a political asset of the party, they were, as a rule, in private as entirely contemptuous of the race in politics as the democrats. It was this fact which made the offence against good government and political morals of which they had been guilty the more heinous and in the minds of many well-nigh unforgivable.
Whatever may have been the previous ideas of the demo- crats, they now began to turn rapidly towards disfranchise- ment as a remedy for the ills of the state. By the time the legislature met it was regarded as a certainty that some form of disfranchisement would be adopted to settle a problem otherwise incapable of solution.
Henry Litchfield West, who was present in the state dur- ing a part of the campaign and had watched the progress of the affair in Wilmington, saw this at the time and said:
No one who has witnessed the condition of affairs in the South can believe that the Negro is, at the present time, capable of govern- ing. All his efforts in this direction have been lamentable, direful failures. On the other hand, no one acquainted with the spirit and temper of the Southern people believes that the Negro, whatever his future capacity may be, will be allowed to govern the white race.
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These two assertions-that the Negro cannot govern, and that the white man will not let him govern-are axioms. While the Negro continues shiftless, ignorant, superstitious, and incompetent, there is a justification for the refusal to give him absolute control over in- vested capital, commercial interests, and municipal matters. At the same time, the casting and the counting of his ballot are his constitu- tional rights; and so long as these are denied him, there is a confes- sion that our vaunted scheme of universal suffrage is a failure and a farce. They will be denied him, however, even at the muzzle of the rifle ; and as long as he threatens to exercise his rights, just so long will the South remain solid.
The legislature was of the following political complexion :
Senate
House
Democrats
40
94
Republicans
7
23
Populists
3
3
Judge Henry G. Connor was chosen speaker of the House over Lee S. Overman and Locke Craig. The legislature was an unusually serious body, full of a sense of responsibility and exceptionally hard-working. By the time it met dis- franchisement had been virtually determined upon and that was felt to be the chief obligation to the state. The out- standing difficulty was the necessity of devising some plan which would disfranchise the negroes without at the same time depriving white men of the right to vote.
On January 6th, Francis D. Winston introduced a resolu- tion for a constitutional amendment restricting suffrage, based upon the Louisiana plan of an educational test and the "grand- father clause." This was referred and the committee went at once to work upon it. It was perfected during January, sub- mitted to the democratic caucus for approval, after which it came before the houses for consideration. An attempt was made to amend it so as to make the operation of the grand- father clause without limit, but fortunately that failed. The Senate passed it by a vote of forty-two to six and the House eighty-one to twenty-seven. Only one populist voted against it, for several democrats in the House opposed it. The repub- licans voted solidly against it.
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As submitted the important clause was this :
Sec. 4. Every person presenting himself for registration shall be able to read and write any section of the Constitution in the English language; and before he shall be entitled to vote he shall have paid, on or before the first day of May, of the year in which he proposes to vote, his poll tax for the previous year as prescribed by Article V, Sec. 1, of the Constitution. But no male person who was on January 1, 1867, or at any time prior thereto, entitled to vote under the laws of any state in the United States wherein he then resided, and no lineal descendant of any such person, shall be denied the right to register and vote at any election in this state by reason of his failure to possess the educational qualifications herein prescribed : Provided, he shall have registered in accordance with the terms of this section prior to December 1, 1908. The Gen- eral Assembly shall provide for the registration of all persons entitled to vote without the educational qualifications herein pre- scribed, and shall, on or before November 1, 1908, provide for the making of a permanent record of such registration, and all persons so registered shall forever thereafter have the right to vote in all elections by the people in this state, unless disqualified under sec- tion 2 of this article: Provided, such person shall have paid his poll tax as above required.
In framing the amendment the committee was confronted immediately by three difficulties. One of these-the determi- nation not to disfranchise any white man who had the right to vote-was overcome by the adoption of the grandfather clause. A second-the fifteenth amendment-was more diffi- cult, but the amendment as finally adopted seemed to the com- mittee to avoid conflict with it. A third was the clause in the act of June 25, 1868, readmitting North Carolina and five other states to representation, which provided "that the con- stitutions of the said States shall never be so amended or changed as to deprive any citizen or class of citizens of the United States of the right to vote in said States." This pre- sented a pretty question, but the committee decided on sound grounds that the clause was not operative since Congress had no right to impose conditions or obligations upon certain of the states which were not binding upon the others.
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