The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1868-10-08


rs assume the power to regulate suffrage
c. enfranchise the negroes, disfranchis
le the whites and impose upon theI
II Constitutions virtually of our ow
s making. Fearing there might b
is some resistance to our plan for secur
n lngTt to our party the votes of the Sout
l. by disfranchising the whites and sub
n jecting them to. the government o
IS their late slaves, we thought it neces
is sary to suspend the writ of ha6ea
= corpus and put them all under MARTA
N law. The President was in our way
Ii and we stripped him of his legitimat
: powers as far as we could by legisla
a ton, and not satisfied with that, w,
n would have removed him from Office
: but for treason in our own ranks.
= was rumored that the Supreme Cour
g would set aside all legislation "out
: side of the Constitution and to pre-
l vent that we restricted its jurisdiction
e and reduced its number. Sad tc
l relate, our new fedged voters of the
f South most ungratefully showed signs
unmistakable. of disposition to 90
? over to the enemy; so, to make sure
, of the voice OF the reconstructed
States for our candidates next fall we
have advised our Legislatures, COM
: posed chiefly of our ,minions, to take
the. appointment of electors into their
own hands; and as Virginia, if recon-
structed, would Immediately follow
the example of the adjoining States
Maryland and Kentucky-and go; for
the Democratic ticket by an over
Whelming majority, we determined to
prevent that catastrophe, and have de-
creed by act of Congress, though out
side of the Constitution it may be, that
she, as well as Mississippi and Texas,
shall have no vote at all. We remove
the disabilities of every red-handed
rebel who will vote our ticket, and
enfore them upon every man who
seems inclined to vote against us. In
short, the political power of the ma
ton, we, are determined to retain by
any and all necessary means, whether
"inside or outside the Constitution"
e.. Such is the practical language of the
radical leaders. And if you ask them
how they expect to induce the people
of the North to sustain them in these
open outrages upon the Constitution
and every principle of republican lib
erty they virtually answer: We have
a apopular Union soldier as our candi-
date for the Presidency, and we expect
the people to lose sight of the princi-
Piles involved in their admiration of
the man. In addition to this, we have
powerful arguments in ringing the
changes, through our organs and ora
tors upon the words rebel copperhead,
sympathizer, traitor to the party, &C.,
sc. What but these are the. means
employed to secure the ascendancy of
the radical party in the fall elections?
And now, having subjected the white
men of the South by military coercion
to the domination of their recently
emancipated slaves, less fitted to exer-
else the right of suffrage than the wo-
man and half grown children of the
North, and led on by adventures who
seek to use them as instruments to Sc
cure Offices and riches, the radical
leaders fill the country with the cry,
Let us have peace" Yes, with their
feet on the necks and their bayonets,
at the breasts of the white people of
the South, they cry, "Let us have
peace Let us have tame submission
to all the measures of our party to
secure their own ascendency, however
unconstitutional, unjust and oppres-
sive. And if any of their victims
eyince a disposition to resist their
usurpations and expressions and seek
relief even by peaceful means, they
denounce them as unrepentant rebels,
seeking a renewal of the civil war.
Has any man, worthy to be trusted
in public life, read SO little of history
OF studied human nature SO unprofita-
bly, as to believe that the white people
of the South are to be pacified by be- I
ing thrust out of the pale of the Con-
stitution and subject to the absolute
power of their lately .emancipated {
slaves? Has ages of oppression made
Ireland love England? Has oppres- !
p;oJ, oD5 mo cooo,.o <,d ~, U<>ioo
to the domination of Russia2 HUI
man nature is the same everywhere. =
Reduced to despair by oppression, the /
oppressed will resort to desperate :
Nay, where all hope is lost, 1
they will sooner rush upon death it 4
self than live degraded and dishon- .
Ored lives. If there be any people in i
the world who will not submit to /
hopeless oppression it is those who q
have been raised under the free insti- 4
5utions of the United States. Let each I
voter of the North ask himself now \
ne would feel, and what he would do, n
# an usurpating Congress were to de- b
orive him of the rights of a freeman, f
md subject him in life, liberty. and n
to the absolute control of ig- n
lorant and penniless negroes. AS he d
would answer that question, SO let him o
lct. Let. him not wonder that notes .
such as he himself might utter under d
ike circumstances reach his ears occa- 81
'ionally from the South; and let him Il
Isk himself whether he is prepared by Il
lis vote to reproduce upon this conti- G.
lent the conduct of England toward Il
and of Russi atowsrds Poland. O
No man of sense and intelligence can {,
expect peace in the South 80 long as o
| large portion of the white population 4
IRE excluded from all participation in v
heir own government, and exposed Il
o be plundered and oppressed by Il
heir late slayes led on hv advanfii II