heard them on the stump advise the negroes never to follow
their old masters in politics, but to watch them and be sure
to take a different course, and they would certainly be right. ¹
They were told that the Southern white man was their enemy,
and that Democratic success meant the reinslavement of the
colored race. This was the most effective argument of the
Republicans -- it was a scarecrow that had not entirely disap-
peared as late as the presidential election of 1884. The
negroes were also made to believe that the defeat of the Re-
publican party would insure the disestablishment of the pub-
lic school system, or the denial of its benefits to the colored
race. They were told that General Grant wanted them to
vote the Republican ticket. These, and many other repre-
sentations of a similar character, were made by those inter-
ested in securing the negro vote. Upon the advice of the
state committee, the whites organized themselves into clubs,
generally of a semi-military character, had parades, barbe-
cues, mammoth torchlight processions with banners and
transparencies, fired anvils and even used cannons in their
demonstrations. ² Many of their organizations were furnished
with military equipments, for which purpose extensive impor-
tations of arms were made, almost every town receiving a
consignment. A Vicksburg hardware merchant testified that
his business was larger in 1875 than at any time in its history,
except the first year after the war. A well-known Mississip-
pian who occupied a judicial position in Washington told the
New York Times correspondent, October 22, that both parties
in Mississippi were arming, each determined to carry the elec-
tion, that 500 Spencer rifles had been brought to the small
town in which he had formerly resided, and upward of
10,000 had been brought into the state at large. Another
judge testified that $4000 had been spent for arms in his
county. ³ These preparations were the subject of much edi-

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