American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1868-10-31

"Blair | know; Colfax | know
Seymour / don't know. They are
all very clever, good fellows. Blair
and Colfax | served in Congress
with, and personally [ have no ob-
jecton to any of them. Blair is
man Of ability, integrity, and char.
acter; so is Seymour, as far as |
know, and Cofax may be placed in
the same category. But it Is not
the men; it is not Grant and ColfaX;
it is not Seymour and Blair that are
to be regarded in thea@@Ht election
1t is the principles they represent
that are at issue. The fight is not
against Grant aua Colfax, but
against the iniqnitv of the dominant
patty shat has brought the country
to the verge of ruin, and threatens
finally to destroy it. The erection of
negro governments aC the South, the
diSiranchiSement of whites, aud the
expenditure and corruption Of the
present government are the issues
to be fought. Look at the whisky
bill. Why,~sir, | never saw nor
heard of Il more OdiOuS or ab0mlna-
ble document, and it is but II sample
Of the legislation Of the party. The
election of Seymour and Blair would,
| think, restore harmony, abolish
corruption, give the States the right
to regulate their own domestic at-'
fairs, and by an economical adm MS
tration of the government reduce
taxation and lessen the national
debt to an extent that in genera
tion it would sea! cely be felt. I'M
agine Il yea ly expenditure OF SiOo,-
600, 900 and the country groanlng
under excessive taxation TO pay the
interts st on Il debt of -, 800, 100000,
that was contracted TO keep the
Southern States in the Union, which.
after the loss of u million men and
the lapse OF three years since the
close Of the war, is yet undone.-
What the South left the U1iou for
the North is now doing. The form
er wanted additional constitutional
guarantees to remain III the Union:
the latter enacts and adopts uncon.
stitutinnal guarantees in the shap"
OF amendments TO The Cousritutlnn
before they will admit the Sonth
again. All this is wrong, and is but,
as said before, an advance towards
dtSpotiSm and an empire"
"How would the Southern people
act with regard to universal suffrage
in tue event OF the success Of Sey-
mour and Blair"
They would abide by judicial
decisions, and there is Ii tie doubt
that all this party legislation to Sc.
cure power would be overthrown.-
Conventions would be called, and
the people wOuld regulate suffrage
AS best they thought proper | he
lieve system Of qualified Sutliage
on an educational basis would be
generally adopted in Tia" Sout- i'll
such an event"
"Do you anticipate any trouble
during the Presidential election be
tween the races in the newly recon
structcd States y
"No except when it is provoked
by the unprincipled whites who have
associated til mSeivrS with the ne.
groes to get Office. The whites will
remain, as they have been, peace
lblc aud quiet, relying mainly on
the Non tn tor delivrrance from the
lrighttul condition in which they are
placed. The CRY Of the Radicals,
Let us have peace, means let us
have war. They desire it, and to
make political capital, inaugurate
riot and blood she'd, if not thwarted
by tue forhearance OF the whItes.-
They raise the cry that the South
wants war. They lie when they say
it. The Southern people have no
means to make war, no disposition
to fight, no enemy tO meet. Peace Is
all they wish for, and the civil llber.
Is which AS citizens of this republic
they are entitled to"
Would the negroes resort to
arms in case they were deprived OF
suffrage :"
"If they would and did and fought
for it they should then certainly bC
entitled to il, but as body cr a people
they would not do it An occasional
instance there might I've among them
of men who would, under the inSpi-
ration and guidance of whites, clam
or for the right Of suffrage, hnt 81
rare as to be scarcely noticeable =
Asa race, people, they do not ap.
preciate liberty. 1t is not then
nature. They are simply children
of the sun, with none of the genuine
aspirations of the whites tn br free
But if an evidence of what | say
were wanted, | can point to Tennes
, see, where $4,000 win es-Angio
Saxons-have been dlslranchi ed
and they do not resort to arms. Ii
Georgia there are $1,000, aud
throughout the South in the same
- proportiou, but we hear OF no inSur
, rrction or rebellion on this account
, Therefore it is clear the negro will
, scarcely fight underline same rlrcnm
stances, notwithstanding that 1t may
, he said, And the culored troops
t fought nohly."
r "How do you regard tine finances
| of the country, and are the Southern
people in favor of pay ing the naiion
t al debt -
81 am precisely of the same orin