The New York herald., 1867-04-23

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ridiculous and enjoys his pointed though
hearty laugh wherever he goes
| Tho Greatest Wonder Of tho Agc-Tho heve-
| Iution In the South.
The Southern political tour Of Senator Will
son, of Massachusetts,, inaugurated ct Orange
Court House, Virginia, on Saturday last, In bis
opening speech there to the blacks In behalf
of the republican church, and continued In bis
speech last evening to six thousand Ameri-
cans OF African descent, marks . new chap
ter in the history Of our political parties. The
republican leaders are becoming somewhat
| anxious a. to the DRIFT Of the Southern negro
vote they have created ~ . political balance
| Of power, and Senator Wilson Is but the pio-
neer Of host of republican orators who will
soon enter the Southern field as reapes of this
inviting harvest But it is evident, from the
letters Of our attentive correspondents in all
the Southern States, that the republicans will
| not gain this Southern black vote without
struggle-thas the sagacious le aders Of the rul-
ing Southern white class will make vigorous
| Aght to bring about fusion ofSouthsrn whites
| and blacks, landowners and laborers, a. In 0
common cause, and that to this end the late
| Southern white master will not hesitate to meet
his black fellow citizens, lately his slaves, on
the platform laid down by Congress-the
political equality Of whites and blacks.
OF all the wonders of the nineteenth century
the most astounding and the most gratifying is
this wonderful revolution universally inaugu-
rated in the South under the decisive recon-
struction laws of Congress. A mighty revolu-
| ton was effected by the late war for the
Union in the total abolition Of African slavery;
for this was the removal Of the foundations
upon which the whole superstructure of the
social, religious and political institutions Of the
late slave States rested. Reconstruction, upon
the basis of universal liberty and civil and
political equality, thus became inevitable; but
from the beginning to the end Of President
Johnson's hallway experiments it was made
manifest that even for generations to come, so
long as there were any reservations of discre-
ton left to the ruling white class Of the rebel
States, those States would be held back under
the hope OF restoration of the old order Of
things-at least to the extent of reconstruc-
ton on the old civil and political distinctions of
race and color.
But Congress has solved the problem.
From Virginia to Texas there is an active,
earnest movement among the Southern whites
in recognition Of the civil and political equality
of the blacks. 1t is revolution casting out those
fixed ideas of two hundred years growth
those ideas resulting from negro bondage upon
which the federal constitution was founded,
aad upon which the government has been
administered for three quarters of . century.
Is not this great revolution in Southern ideas
the most remarkable of all the revolutions in
the history of mankinds In the Oriental nations,
and in Greece and Rome, the transition from the
restraints of slavery to the equalities OF free
dom was easy, because slavery was not
marked by the enduring badge of color. The
same may be said Of tho emancipation of the
serfs of Russia. But American slavery, limited
to the negro, and resting upon the religious
belief of the negro's divinely appointed sub
lection as slave to the white man, is a totally
different thing. Still with us, even yet, in
nearly all the Northern States, political dis
tinctions against the negro, resulting from
negro slavery in the South, more or less pre-
vail.
All these things considered, we can hardly
believe the reports Of our correspondents or
the evidence OF our senses touching this
wonderful revolution in Southern ideas.
Thus, for example, stands General Wade
Hampton, Of South Carolina, q dis
franchised leader of the rebellion, pleading
the old abolition plea of liberty, equality and
fraternity to meeting Of blacks, who only
the other day were his absolute slaves, and re-
garded by himself as divinely placed under
and master. Neither suffering nor policy
could work such change single-handed but
where helplcssness, necessity and sound policy
combine, even those old Southern inborn ideas,
inherited with thousand negro slaves-ideas
which have survived four years. disastrous
war for the sovereign rights Of slavery, are
vanquished and dismissed.
Gen. Wade Hampton represents the interests
Of the Southern landholders against Senator
Wilson and the interests OF the republican
party. As the contest goes on the lines divid-
ing the future political parties Of the South
will begin to appear, and the tendencies Of the
negro vote. AT present il seems to be drifting
to the republican camp, and under some
vague notion that confscation is to crown the
work Of emancipation but when this fallacy
is dispelled, as 1t must be, the Southern negro
will take q clearer view of his political policy,
and will shape his course accordingly. Mean
time II will be intensely interesting to watch
the developments of this new political era in
the South, and its reaction upon our political
parties in the North
The War Between Brasil and Paraguay.
We learn from our South American corres-
rondanca that the war hatwann Rra auil and