The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-02-26
From Alexander Marion Melhorne.
BEING HIS PAPERS ON THE ISSUES OF
THE DAY.

try anu also In Europe ElInlTa anu uie
could never harmonic our sentiments
on the absorbing topic of niger suf'
frage-a fact which has no doubt seri.
ously impaired both of our respective
usefulnesses. If it wasn't for this, ]
think the measure might be defeated
both in this and all the other States
except Massachusetts,, where it is well
known the African is not only para
mount to the Constitution and the gos'
pei, but reverenced on par with wood
en- nutmegs and the divine principle Of
'New England Protection"
Her position is as follows to wit: she
SAYS the Democratic party may as well
be beat by niger suffrage, as by aboii'
ton SUFFRAGE, (referring to the aboll
tion custom of voting a whole lot Of
loyal tickets on the evening before the
election,) and she says further that its
about as cheap mode of finishing VI
the ruin of the country as she can think
of. She argues with great plausibility
that if the word white is once expungeo
from the Constitution, that the Su
preme Court of the State will imme'
diately decide that no person not hay'
ing a preponderance of African blood is
an African, and therefore not entitled
to participate in the festivities of cleo
tions. The millennium will then be
ushered in. She says that after it was
found that white soldiers couldn't sup
press the rebellion, the African was
brought to the rescue, and the work
was done. Having therefore been first
in war, he is entitled to be first IN
peace, and first in the hearts OF his
countrymen.
Upon being interrogated recently BY
the undersigned, las to how she would
like to vote for Africans for office, sim
liar to the scenes which are now being
enacted in Massachusetts,, she replied
with much warmth, substantially Us
follows:
Twill answer your question, says she
but at the same time l see you don't
comprehend the full import of my po'
sition. Caligula, says she, some years
ago, elected horse to the Roman leg,
islature, and a Massachusetts, district
has lust elected Beast Butler to Con
gress! The African has the advantage
in comparison with these cases from
the fact that he is human being-sc
called.
I responded thereto with marked abil'
ity stating that what she had just Oh
served was too true.
She then continued to elucidate heI
position, which her penetrating per-
ceptions advised her did not fully I'M
derstand.
Says she, voting, in this country, af'
ter the niggers once get at it, Will be
good deal like restoring the Union has
proved, since it was saved by brute
force; it will be sorry business. am
in favor of giving suffrage to the mig,
gers now, upon the same principle that
I would give spoiled meat to the dogs
Suffrage, said she, with an emphasis
and an air that none who heard it can
ever forget, Suffrage is played out! II
the niggers will accept of it now, it is
probably the last opportunity we Will
have to dispose of it, and L am therefore
in favor of letting them have it on
pretty near any sort of terms.
The undersigned was lost i'll admira'
ton and surprise. m
Elmira continued, says she, "the time
has come for decent white men to quit
voting, and for niggers to begin. Let
the High Daddy be introduced, and LET
the entertainment be wound up IN the
most appropriate manner:
Then strike up de fiddle,
And sound de tambOrin,
Join in de chorus!
So merrly well sing
She was evidently considerably excl
ted. After moments reflection, during
which the whole scene passed IN rapid
review before my well matured intel
lect, responded with singular ability
as follows, to-wit: Says /, all the worlds
q stage. The tragedy of the war has
been succeeded by farce, and another
tragedy is in rehearsal. 1t will be a big
thing. But sufficient unto the day Ii
the evil thereof.
/ have memorialized the white popu'
lation of the District of Columbia, sta
ting that if they wish to emigrate to
free country, they can't do better than
to settle on the banks of the hitherto
classic Buckongehaly. Elmira having
formerly repulsed the Provost Mar
shall. and compelled him to retire with
great slaughter, the country is compar
atively unsubjugated. The Kingdom
of Dahomey can't be extended over thi:
region, without the expense OF sup
pressing another rebellion.
Bill Kinkey, who is tirst-class abo
litionist, come over to our honse th'
other night, and him and Elmira got
into a discussion which l expect vii
lead to q whole lot of serious conse
quences.
Saws he, amt you in favor of pro
tecting the manufacturers of New En-
gland, by allowing them two prices fol
their goods, thereby rebuking the pau
per labor of the crumbling dynasties o
the old world.
No, SAYS Elmira, | amt. Says sh'
an Old Englishman is as good as New
Englishman, and so is his goods. I'm
cosmopolitan, says she, and the Who'll,
worlds my country. claim that al
legislation to protect the few, and en-
rich them, ut the expense of the homes
toiling masses is sin. What do yol
mean by requiring the poor man wht
has to support himself and his famil!
by his labor, to gire tro days labor ont q.
erery reek to project a fe,c Ner England
arisfocrats' Eli! Here Kinkey pulle(
out notebook and made entry there
in Elmira continued, stating tha
she had nothing against the New En-
clanders, but that, rather than to con
tinue to protect them in the manner re
ferred to, she would send them "-unt'
that school"
Where they no longer need our poor protec
ton"
Which was from some poet.
Perhaps, says Kinkey, you think th'
bond holder, who lent money to TIT
government, ought to pay taxes on
par with poor folks who hadn't any II
iendi can't see, retorted Elmira, tha
the man who lent his money to th'
government at heavy per cent, is an!
be tier than the man who fought for thu
government, or the man who lost a soI
fighting for it. The whole thing, say
she, was fraud upon the country, ant
ought to be repudiated. Here Kinke!
made another note in his memoran
dunn. You may write it down as muci
as you please, observed Elmira, but th'
whole thing was bloody and ruinoui
swindle. Look at the Freedmen's Blu
reau, and the Runp Congress, th'
mountain of debt, and the mountain
of crime, and then ask yourself where
>. - .un1r- has haen hAnefiSted