Even General Granger's report on the South, which is obviously
written as strongly as possible in the interest of the new Govern- ment policy, and by a vehement adherent of Mr. Johnson's, is obliged to admit the prevalence of violence 'towards the negro. Thus says General Granger :—" Then there is another class, an utterly irresponsible class, composed mainly of young men who were the ' bucks ' of Southern society before the war, and chiefly spent their time lounging round the court-rooms and bars, in chicken- fighting and gambling. These have been greatly broken up by the war;, many of them have been killed ; but those who remain are still disturbing elements in the community, and are doing much mischief. It is this class of men and a number of the poorer whites who have formed gangs for horse-stealing. It is they who, in some instances, have made attacks on officers of the Freedmen's Bureau, and have ill-treated the freedmen. It is they who afford the main pretext for saying that there is among the people of the South a feeling of hostility towards the United States Government." That is a pretty strong admission for a confessed adherent of Government, whose report is published as the justification of the course it is taking. When we take with this General Sheridan's strong condemnation of the judiciary of New Orleans as utterly unworthy of trust, there is some difficulty in understanding how any man who calls himself a Unionist and Republican, can dare to recommend State rights as a sufficient guarantee for the safety of the loyalists and freedmen of the South.
Previous page
