The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-10-15
.COLIJMBIA. !. S, @.
Friday Morning e., oetobef Is, 1859.

and 1t necessary, ultimately. to tretrace
IDS steps--.to revise. It's measures upon the
all Important subject OF suffrage. The
Republican party prides itself upon its
cry of suffrage To- aaf, without regard to
fitness: For party purposes: Hepnbli::
oanism tfoRnd Se necessary to 4sksvetsrs
OF the freedmen Of the South. Now, it
sSgl3 faias 70. the 6eni5y Of "a great
principle. the oHspring OF partly trickery
and expediency. Now, that the negroes
Of the South are absolutely free. we ad-
NIT that color alone ought not to regulate
suffrage. and that for the future, the
tame restrictions that attach to the black
voter. Jshould attach to the white voter.
That suffrage should be hedged in by
someI Ifeasooablea and impartial condition,
we Tsg2td jSoroposition that few reflect
ingminds will dispute. The matter is
begihhing ta attract attention Men,
outside of party prejudices, are begin
9 ming to see the impor ttunce OF regulating
this suffrage business. The New York
.EVsruag RepudliO--a journni, Tindepen-
dent i'm politics having suggested the
dangers, that are connected with the pre-
yalssp9fe 9f universal suffrage. CORES
pondent replies as follows: '1
7 'tSIH;- 7 haze read with much interest,
IN the sJghtsenth number Of your jour
nalp an able editorial entitled, Justice,
Safety and Sense in Suffrage This bold
contributing, of q serious and unwelcome
fact which your contemporaries Of the
press have ignored, or, at best have
looked at over the shoulder, I must con-
fess, has given me little surprise as
well as more than little pleasure, not
withstanding the confidence I had in
your intelligence and moral courage. 1
knew the Republic would make its arm felt
when 1t entered the arena; but hardly
expected at the outset to witness so Incl
sive a blow. Thousands of thoughtful
and patriotic minds have long been pain
fully agitated by the conviction, daily
deepening, that the expansion of the
franchise, embracing tho whole mass of
ignorance and vice which forms the lower
strata of, the community, repelling at the
polls by On instructive and unconquera-
BILE antipathy the better classes, thus
throwing the governmental powers into
hands which can only destroy what they
CoucliI uocS, III your OWL ouI-Spoheu liin-
guage, invite and justify the gravest ap-
pre6ensions of our national continn-
ance, and warrants your assertion that,
'the pHriication of the ballot is the Sc
curity OF, the futnre.' What mnltitudes
of your readers will thank you for this
open expression and endorsement Of their
private convictions Keep this chord
vibrating! Make it your keynote, and
it will find responsive chord in millions
of hearts. Bring your numerous readers
up to. and keep them up to, the mo-
mentous questions which, if disregarded
now, may be met by the next generation
and answered amid anarchy and ruin.
The Eoening Republic pursues the
subject, and gives some good suggestions
on the, subject of education and the
ballot" 1t takes the ground that the
voters hereafter should be gauged by an
easy but decisive educational test. AS
reason for this reform, it points to "the
magnitude of the evils of uncomfortable
suffrage" to "the identity of ignorance
with corruption and brutality in our
practical politics, to "the predominance
OF the worst elements in onr citizenship, I"
and ms consequence OF this, the crowd
ing ''into obscurity and apathy" of
''our best class of voters" The cure for
all this. the Republic finds in ''such a
government of the ballot as will restrain
it from soilure and sacrilegc." And this
government it would place on an educa-
tional qualification. This is the remedy
proposed. The Republic says:
'.The straight path out of our Difficult
ties lies through an enactment of two
simple yet grand reforms:
"First. the attendance of Children upon
schools should be compulsory.
.s'Second, having made elementary
education possible to and obligatory
upon all, an amendment to the Constitu-
tion should be adopted, extending the
elective franchise from the date Of the
ratification of that amendment only to
those who can read and write the Ian
guage of the country.
''The party cries on the suffrage ques-
tion hitherto have been singularly mar
row, and the success of any of them
xyon1I oNlua nnna ~ or7r ,,roE1ap,c oo,,,,o