us to come in and quell this riot, but a few of us who
were more prudent, a few of the leading planters of the
county, got together, sent these different companies word
not to come there, that we did not want them in the county;
some of the companies were already on their way to Chicot
County, thinking the people there were going to be
massacred. A great many of our people had to run away from
their homes for several days; but we took the ground that we
would let the thing take its natural course. As soon as
things quieted down, which they did so partially in three or
four days, some of our gentlemen who had gone off with their
families returned, and it resulted in our arresting a few of
the ringleaders in the county. The courts and the
administration were all at that time in the hands of persons
not identified with the interests of the county, and it was
impossible for us to get justice meted out. We saved a
massacre of the negroes of the county, but we never could
bring those men to any kind of punishment before the courts,
and finally we came to a compromise with them, that if they
would leave the county we would withdraw the suit against
them, and that was the way the thing was ended. Now, I do
not believe you could get up a riot in Chicot County because
I think there are many intelligent negroes there who would
not permit it. Those are the kind of race issues that I
referred to. Relieve us of that sort of thing, and leave our
government to ourselves and our people, and give to the
negro the same protection the white man has, but do not give
him any more. Do not let him feel that he has the United
States Government standing behind him, and that he is the
child of the United States Government to be taken care of,
but that he must rely on his own resources and energy for
his living, and time will solve the question, and the demand
for his labor will protect him.

Q. Do you find that the feeling among the negroes which
resulted in the exodus of a few years ago has been allayed
and perhaps has disappeared?
--A. I will tell you something that is rather amusing about
that. The first that I heard of a negro exodus in my section
of the country--it was to Kansas--was my manager coming into
my room one morning and saying that the n