The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1867-07-11
THE DEaiOCRAEIG ADVOCATE.
THURSDAY, July II, 1867,


b".sN ~ '~l'ei~"@.9 NtA'N.es - - II 49,
ry Of wiad audwaue people sho gov
cru Themselves though the ballot must
have eou6deSce in those who are per-
miliod 10 use il, clse they viii noe be
willing 70 abide by or respect the result
Of an election in our couatry the
right Of suffrage La. been usually conf
ded to every white male citizen, of
sound mind and Of legal age--a rule
which has heretofore given general sat
isfactiou. Il is true that CORRUPTION
aud fraud have sometimes prevailed at
elections but these were regarded rs
temporary evils Which could be speedi-
y avoided, aad let the sauctity Of che
ballot, aud It's efficiency as the arbiter
oe all political questions, still unim-
paired in The public mind. The ,l5Me
rule was 50 comprehensive that many
believed il would wosk badly, aud de-
sired TO SEQ the right Of suffrage much
more restricted; but nothing loss would
suit the genius Of our system, and We
were getting along very well under ii.
Some Of tho visionary sehemcrs of
the present dry desire 70 extend the
right Of suffrage to the female sex; aud
the State Of Wisconsin,, VIC believe, has
already concluded to try the expert
meut. It Is not our purpose to argue
that question 50 We dismiss It with the
simple remark that the exclusion of the
female sex has been SO generally ac-
guessed 10 By them, and now sought
for by so few Of them. that We regard it
as evidence Of the wisdom Of our pre-
decessors, and dangerous to Ic departed
FROM, because II is liable to breed
discomfort between the sexes and to
render tho ballot less sacred in the es-
timation Of all.
The most astonishing innovation,
however, is the attempt to confer the
right on the negro race Of this country
This is one Of the most dangerous pro-
positions ever made in this land. 1t
required a terrible war aud great po-
liiical ccnvulsioa to procure the free
dom Of the negroes. a few years ago
the man would have been thought mad
who predicted general emancipation by
this time; and yet it has taken place,
and mon have gone so far beyond it
that they aro determined 70 have the
negro admitted 10 all the political rights
Of the white man. Freedom is not
enough; his rote.is desired By the par.
~ Of white men now in power in Con-
gress, for the most selfish ends. They
have taken advantage Of the result of
the late war, and the necessity Of the
South, TO strike down by force the right
fsclf-goyernment Of the whites, and
to bestow Suffrage indiscriminately on
the blacks. The North now rules the
country aud, what is worse, Radicals
rule the North, where the negro eie-
ment is too small to interfere with the
white ballot, and where people eau be
easily persuaded that negro suffrage
down South is ouly just punishment
far rebellion. They have not all sense
enough to see that the Generalization
of thc ballo, at The Sonfh must react
some time on themselves, and that the
conversion Of the South into black
paudemouium will forever blast the
half Of our country
The effect Of this general admixtnre
Of white and black elements at the ball
10. box Is calculated TO corrupt its puri-
~ and destroy its value, just as the adj
ditieu Of . large proportion ofwater to
the best brady renders it Of less worth.
That this is It's direct tendency none
need doubt Ia the District Of Colum-
! bia, where the negroes were not only
freed By act Of Congress bat admitted
to the right Of suffrage, the white PEG
pie would gladly surrender 10 desposic
Congress the right Of self government