The hatred between white men and negroes in parts of
the United. States is clearly deepening, and if the negroes were better armed might produce a civil war. On Monday, at Norfolk, in Virginia, a negro of character and means named Blount, who during a quarrel had struck a white man in the face, was murdered in a rising of the whites. He had been immediately arrested and taken to prison, and there was no fear of rescue ; but the white citizens on hearing of the event broke into the prison and beat him to death. They probably bore him some personal enmity, as he had formerly been a Republican leader, and may still have retained influence among the coloured population. The negroes, furious at the outrage, threatened insurrection, and as they were in a majority locally, the Governor of Virginia ordered troops into the town to preserve order. Would they have been ordered if the negroes had been the threatened party ? It is fortunate for the peace of the Southern States that the negroes still remain incapable of large combinations, and though they have educated men among them, apparently produce no leader of high political ability.
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