The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1869-12-22
The Mississippi Election,

We take the following article from that able journal
the Memphis Avalanche. While admitting that tht
line Of argument is good must express the opinion
that the attempt Of the Avalanche editor any othe
editor to make his contemporaries Of the Appeal ant
Ledger, even in part, responsible for the result i
rather farfetched, 1t is in judgement, the yer
ries to talk about the press influencing one
way Or another, the negro element in elections As
well tell us that leader in the London Times would
shape the politics, so-called, of the naked Inhabitants
| of Dahomey. There may be one negro in thousanc
| who can read and the nine hundred and nnety-nin'
| could never know whether their wouldoe informant
were reading to them out of newspaper Or out Of
his head. They can only be manipulated for good o.
evil by personal appeals, and these appeals must be
directly to their pockets their paunches. We do
not approve Of acting in bad faith with them, po.
caly otherwise but satisfied that kind treatment
fair wages and honest settlements will tell with them
in the loEg run, and this is really about all they would
for uninhuenced by scaawags and carpetbaggers.
But to the article:
We deeply sympathse with our Conservative friends
in Mississippi in their recent defeat The result
unexpected, we predicted it before the election
General Ames early in the canvass declared that ht
would secure the success of the Radical ticket if he
had to march his soldiers from election poll to
the other to do it; and the result indicates that be ha
carried his threat into execution. He has go doub
been aided in bis abors by the of races that brok.
out in two counties of the State but few DAYS
before the election. The colored people, in Other
counties, who were unable to read for themselves
were told that is was assault Of Dents white sup
porters upon the colored supporters of Acorn. Be
sides this the polls held open for two days in
order to aid the of fraudulent voting, and We
think that it will be found that many colored voters
were induced to "vote early and ofenn at differenr
polls, and that this was done with the full knowledge
and acquiescence of the election boards. Indeed, the
whole election in Mississippi mockery and
fraud. But we bid our friends to be of good cheer
They are passing through the same ordeal to whic
Tennessee was subjected In 1867 the Loyal Leagues
were in full blast. The negroes were organised the.
in this State as they in Mississippi and were
domineering insoent and defiant and the result was
Brownlow defeated Etheridge by so, 900 majority
But two years have worked tremendous re voution
The loyal leagues all disbanded the negroes have
abandoned politics, and docile and tractable Rad.
casm has been routed and those who labored TO per,
petuae strife by DISTINGUISHING the tax payng people
are living in gnomny and covering beneath the seorn
which their intolerance has provoked. The thing
will occur in Mississippi Alcorn's success will be a
ephemeral as the mushroom. He has gone up like
rocket but he will come down like stick He cannot
keep alive the fires which have lighted up his pathway
to power. He is even now like man who has wild
beast in his house which he constantly feed or it
will feed upon him. Alcorn must feed the passions by
which he assembled to power, the passions will feed
upon him. This he cannot do, and when reason re
sumes her sway, and the coored people Of Mississippi
are no ger arrayed against the whites on account u
the folly OF Tennessee newspapers, then will Alcor4
feel that detestation which has been visited upoS3
Stokes and Wells and Davis of Texas, who sought 10
gain power by strife and war of races. The result
in Mississippi is not at all surprising II was simply
contest between races-the whites and the blacks
Ames manipulated the ballot box Alcorn fred the pas
sions, and the war of the Memphis Appeal and LED /
ger against universal suffrage lost the Conservatives
thousands Of votes. Last year, when the egro be
lieved that he would be disturbed in his right t.
vote, be cast his ballot with the whites and enabled
them to defend the Constitution. But the course OF
the papers alluded to, since the trsmphef the whites
in Tennessee, very naturally induced Tho negro to be
eve that the same policy would bessdopted in Ten
eaaee and hepGesa solid colored cast for Al
corn. We arsRo surprised that the course of thest
papers should Re bitterly assailed by our Coaser,a
i've friends in Mississippi.