Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1867-10-29
IRON the Ne~ York Herald. oe.obcr an
The Significance of the Vote on Negro
Suffrage in Ohio.


didate for the Presidency, has emphaticaliv
refused to give the negroes the suffrage. No
amount OF ingenuity on the part Of the parti-
san press of Radical orators can explain avav
the significance of this fact There is a clear
majority Of sixty to a hundred thousand votes
| against giving the suffrage to negroes in the
State- The returns are not all reported but
the Republicans eOneede a nsiority of sixty-
hEe thousand while the Democrats claim near
hundred thousand. Take it at seventy or
eighty thousand. which is probably near tho
marx or even what the Republicans admit.
sixty>Eve thousand, II is surprising maiori-
| ty and undeniable evidence that the negro
suffrage policy of the Republican party is MT
! terly secuted by the people.
But to understand how remarkable emr,ha-
tic this vote of Ohio is We must consider the
manner in which the question was nut and
the status of the negro in that State It was
mixed up with other queStiOns-with party
| questions and the election of State officers
1t was supposed, doubtless, by the political
managers that by thus bringing the question
before the people, mixed up with party issuss
IN an election, the people generally would
vote with their party, and no. discriminate
between one question and another Mr. Chase
went home to vote for negro suffrage and to
| give an example TO the Republican VOTERS
Other Radical leaders were equally as earnest
In their efforts to carry the State on this is
sue. But the people did discriminate in n
very remarkable manner for vast number
who voted for the party ticket voted at same
time against negro suffrage. Taking the
Republican majority in the elections last year
and the majority now nGairst negro suffrage,
there is 4 change of at least n hundred thou
sand Republican votes, and probably change
of hundred and thirty thousand. Nor was
there any apathy or Indifference on the Tucs-
ton, for the vote of the State was larger than
ever before. The people turned ont, as they
never did before, PurPOsely to express their
dIsapprobatiOn of negro suffrage, just as Mr..
Chase went home expressly. to tote for tt
! Never was the policy of party leaders in and
out of Congress so sigually denounced as this
has been by the mass of the party itself Bat
this is more surprising still when ne hook at
the status and insignificant nUnbcy Of the ne.
groes in Ohio. Civil rights are not denied
to them there, nor is there any disposition to
refuse them all the protection afforded by the
laws of the whites. Giving them the privi-
lege Of voting would have have had hrtle or
no effect upon political issues in the State,
because they are comparatively few ia nHAa-
/ Der. There was Do fear of negro supremacy
or negro bnlance of power, as in the South.
The white vote would always be ovcrwhelmin.
there What, then X the Meaning of such
an emphatic refusal 10 give the negro sufTraree
1t means that the superior white race-tlt.
Anglo American and all the other branches
( OF the European race which constitute the
body of American etizcns-WiH not degrade
the country and Government by admitting an
inferior race to equality with themsclvcs.-
That and that alone, is the meaning of the
vote in Ohio.
In California the people refused to give the
Monaghan race (the Chincse) the privilege OF
voting from the same TepUgnance TO putting an
inferior race on an equality with themselves
ct the Mongulian is far superior 10 the negro
Is 1t surprising, then, that the American
people should be Disguised with the efforts To-
make the ncGrOcs-the lowest race Of MAN.
kind-their equals. The consciousness pS
superiority and the sentiments and pride
sprlnging from it have determined irrcvocably
the relative position Of these races to each
other. But the negro question has assumed
just now the greatest proportions in another
point of TicT. II is no; merely whether "a
| few negroes scattered throughout the pcpuuus
! States Of the North shall lie placed on an
equality with the whites, where they must
always remain comparatively harmless Us :.
| political element, but it is the effort ur Inc
| Radicals to make them a power in the
! Republic through their votes in the Southern
States that gives the greatest importance to the
| question. They form large portion IF the
! pOPClati97 Of Ihe SeVih, aAd in some States
the largest. Under the operation Of the re-
! construction acts of Congress, which disGrun-
! chise great many whites, they actually hold
the political powers, of that vast and valuable
section Of Ou- country But that is not ALL
Our pe4uieal system is such that they would
probably hold the balapce Of power in tbs
Republic The President and members o1
COmgress-enouSh to give balance Of power
-nlay be elected by the negro vote OF the
South. The President, probably, would owe
his election TO that whenever parties were
pretty equally divided. The organs Of the
Radicals unblushingly confess they are now
aiming at this object. They have the hardi-
bcod to avow this infamous purpose. This
great Republic to be under negro gOrfrRnsBt,
What spectacle to contemplate Ignorance
aud brutality to rule thirty million of white
. American citizens We must recolIe:t that
1t is the balance Of power that governs here,
! though 1t may be secured only by few thoU-
; sand votes. The Southern States in the hands
: Of the negroes, as they will be if the recon-
/ siTuction acts of Congress be carried out, will
surely give these benighied people Of the
lowest race that power. What then, IS to
! prevent them, incapable as they are, from
reaching the highest offices And would
not the politicians pander to the prejudices
anu GeHlanus OF these people Tor the sake OF
. party and the officers Of government 4 war
Of races, ruined South, vast military cs-
Enlistment, and, perhaps, a consolidated des-
potism over the whole country would follow.
We should sink into the condition Of the South
and Central American Republics, or = worse
one Such Is the alarming prospect which
the infamous legislation of Radical Congress
has brought before US. And it is this, together
with an ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS rOBeSrO equ ality,
that has caused the revuIsiCn Of public OpiB-
ion in Ohio. Since the significant vote in