Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-08-26

Inc publication of it would be gratifying to
me, it you have space in your columns.
am, very respectfully yours, etc,
JAMES l.. ORR.
MIR. EDITOR: In response to inquiries a..
dressed to me by friends in letters, aud other.
wise, | shall proceed very briefly to state nv
opinions on the political issues presented to
| the people in the canvass now progressing in
| this State:
l. shall vote for Scott and Ransier, Re.
publican nominees for Governor and Lcutcn-
ant. Governor.
2. | canuot vote for the nominees of the
Union Reform party because, in my judg.
mcnt, the purpose which they propose to ac
complish is entirely impracticable, and the
nominations made by their convention will
not only accomplish no good results, but the
consequences OF the nomination and canvass
mast be perncous. The ayowcd purpose of
the convention was to effect reforms in the
administration of the State government In
some OF its departments rctrenchmcnt and re-
form is doubtless greatly nceded-somc Of its
Offices are filled by incompetent and corrupt
mcn-who should be driven from the places
they occupy More economy in the appropri.
ations and disbursements of public money
snoulu DC prlcticeu.
How are these objects to be attained p
The only reforms in the State government
that can be successfully accomplished--at
least for many years to comc-must be by
and through the Republican party and its or.
ganizations. They have control of all the dc.
partmcnts of the State government, and have
majority more than 3 600 voters to pro.
serve and perpctuate that control. SO long
us an opposing party, disavowing Republican
ism, is organized in tile State to defeat and
displacc them, SO long will party machinery
and appeals to party appliances preserve its
unity aud supremacy If we want an illus.
tration of the strength and coustancy of party
organization IN securing self-pcrpetuation,
look to tho Ftate Of Vermont, fur tliriy years
its IS, coy o. meso s;s.sty s iot tic hisH Wig 'i
party, desnte all the efforts Of tho Democra-
cy, aided most Of the timc by Federal inhu.
encc aud patronage When you attempt to
reform party by destroying it-whch is the
present mode Of reform adopted the first
law of nature, self preservation, appeals to
to each member Of that party to resist the
new movement and avert its destruction.
Such an uutugonism has another most balcful
Influence. The most active, and oftcntimcs,
the most tnscrapulous, partisans cxaggcrate
! the Importance of maintaining party usage
| and discipline, and the great mass of the hon
est portion of the party are thus diverted
from a careful examination into the ttncss Of
those seeking to represent them and from
abuses and corruptions existing in the party.
An antasonistic party may be organized
with great effect, when there is remote
prospect of success in driving the party in
power, or it's leaders who arc guilty of misrule,
from their supremacy, but is there such a
prospect in the present canvass The color.
ed vote is, and has been from 1885, nearly a
unit for tho Republican party, and, have
they acted unwiscly or alphabetically in their
ardent devotion to the Republican party
! Suppose our conditions, the white race, were
reversed {; that we and our ancestors had been
slaves for 200 ycars-that q party had
made war to give us frccdom-that it had
ucceeded-that the same party had pcriled
its own supremacy by guaranteeing to US our
civil rights, and above ALL the ballot-thc eff.
fectual weapon of preserving those rights
had been secnrcd to us by solemn constitu
tonal Enactment by the same patty and We
we're, in the face of all this, appealed to by
those who had opposed all these great boons
to join With them IN oterthrowing the party OF
our dcliycfanco and redemption, would any
white man for a moment tolerate with patience
any such proposition? Would it not be
most ungratctul for the colorcd man to re
nouncc such party, when its very existence
is now threatened? Some OF his leaders
white and colored, may be incompetent, cur
rupt, treacherous but he would exhibit
strange obliviousness if he would consent tt
join an antagonistic organization to destroy
his own party, even before he had attempted
to rci iorm it,
The relative population of white and color.
ed are as three to four, aud the vote may bt
assumed to be the same. The colored ma iori
ty is more than 25,0D0. Assuming that thu
great mass of the colorcd voters will sustain
the Republican party and tho foregoing views
confirmed by the experience of the last fvt
years, does it not concusivcly show, that i
there is dishonesty and pcculation in depart
ments of the State government, that it can
not bo reformed bya Reform partyY Don
) the figures show that the votes arc too numcr
Gus on tho other side2 This Wow of rs, ,0O(
majority is on tho assumption that ever,
white man in the State votes the Reform
ticket but whom tho ballots come to be cast
it will be found that many white Republicans
in South Carolina, many moro whites wht
will vote tho Republican than blacks who vii
vote the Reform ticket.
IF I have shown that reform. cannot be 40
:, complshed through the ReforD party, it de
wolves on mo to show how not only reform i
to be accomplished but how a large infusio,
3 nf the intelligence andvirtuo of the white rae
oao exercise its just and legitimate influence