ae mest —_ — OO wt we Oa ~ a . ~ 0 ent TE LR A A I —_ . a SL RE A EO tO NR RRR I hop os (endetieatatndedseemieaeeetine RIO GPO Mea open! a aE OO A A REO TIRE ie Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer THE REVOLUTION OF 1898.1 “The year 1898 marked an epoch in the history of North Carolina, and especially of the city of Wilmington. Long con- tinued evils, borne by the community with a patience that seems incredible, and which it is no part of my purpose to describe, culminated, on the 10th day of November, in a radical revolu- tion, accompanied by bloodshed and a thorough reorganization of social and political conditions. It is commonly referred to as the Wilmington Riot, and legally and technically it may be properly so termed, but not in the usual sense of disorderly mob violence, for, as was said by an army officer who was present and witnessed it, it was the quietest and most orderly riot he had ever seen or heard of. A negro printing office was destroyed by a procession of perfectly sober men, but no person was injured until a negro deliberately and without provocation shot a white man, while others, armed and defiant, occupied the streets, and the result was that about twenty of them were killed and the rest seattered. It constituted an interesting chapter in the public history of the country, and therefore I will not enlarge upon it further than to say that it was the spontaneous and unani- mous act of all the white people, and was prompted solely by an overwhelming sense of its absolute necessity in behalf of civilization and decency.” Conditions in Wilmington were somewhat similar to those | described by Woodrow Wilson in his History of the American People as existing in the South in Reconstruction days: “Ad- venturers swarmed out of the North, as much the enemies of one race as of the other, to cozen, beguile, and use the negro. The white men were aroused by a mere instinct of self-preserva- tion.” The city government had long been controlled by parti- zans dependent upon the negro vote and was not at all responsive to enlightened opinion. The ills attending that deplorable con-: dition had operated to check enterprise, arrest development, and produce stagnation. The city had ceased to make industrial and commercial progress. Whatever increase there was in the num- ber of inhabitants was mainly due to the influx of indolent and undesirable negroes, whose attitude towards the whites had be- come unbearable. Hope of better days had almost faded away when a vile publication in a negro newspaper aroused the whites 1Based in part on Colonel Waddell’s Memories. Peace Restored 555 to action and determined them to rid the city of the pests that had been a menace to its peace and an incubus on its prosperity. It was resolved to purge the city and to displace the inefficient government. At 11 o’clock on Wednesday, November 9, a remarkable meeting of the leading citizens was held at the courthouse, at which Col. A. M. Waddell, chairman of the meeting, under resolutions adopted, appointed a committee composed of twenty- five of the prominent business men of the city to adopt meas- ures to carry out the purposes of the meeting. It was demanded that the offending negro editor leave the city within twenty-four hours, never to return, and that the press on which his paper was published be shipped away. A number of negro ministers and other reputable members of the Trace were asked to use their influence to see that these demands were met peaceably and to respond within a given time. Owing to the failure on the part of a negro to deliver the reply within the specified time, the white citizens, after waiting far beyond the appointed hour, marched to the office of the paper and destroyed the printing press and other equipment. By acci- dent and not by intention, fire resulted, and the building was Soatrayed, to the regret of the white people. Bloodshed, as : acne Waddell stated in the foregoing quotation from his : mories, was begun by the negroes, it being the purpose of € white people to avoid all bloodshed and needless violence. “iss = evening of the day of this revolution, the mayor and — : aldermen then in charge of the city of Wilmington Sea and their successors were nominated and elected. “pase ae ye an entire change in the city government, and SAR er of things then instituted has continued uninterrupted te ‘ince. The effect of the change upon the prosperity of mington was most happy, and the city then took a start in Progress which has never ceased. rad only under stern necessity that the action of the white ts : ae taken, and while some of the incidents were de- ae — the whites generally, yet when we consider the peace- ren amicable relations that have since existed, the good 5 nment established and maintained, and the prosperous, Ppy conditions that have marked the succeeding years, we = that the results of the Revolution of 1898 have indeed een a blessing to the community.