The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-04-23
Tho Negro Vote.

j, nor,bcrn contemporary, famous 'or tue
o,.,,,, of blather il dispenses, in calculating
,ho chances of General GRANT for reelection
..urts confidently upon "seven hundred
,bousaud colored votes in the United States"
We can hardly sec how the very act of wr-
ting this down could fail to suggest to the
writer that this negro vote was point OF
weakness in GRANTS prospects. When we
remember that the authority Of the Admin
tration and the whole power OF the Govern
ment have been seven years employed IN the
work of securing this negro vote TO the neg
Iect Of nearly all things else, how can we
suppose it possible that That great "hiee pup.
lie. which numbers millions to the negroes
hundreds Of thousands. could fail to be in a
ore,t de,,ree alenated from the GRANT adj
ministration
Tn the country, where the negroes are most
numerous, the inevitable consequence has
been the banding together ofthe whites against
the negroes and the party sustaining them.
No matter how the banding of the negroes
was occasioned, upon the face of it there was
hostility unmistakable. Naturally and incvl-
tably there would he countcr-action. But III
the case Of the cnliSting of the whole negro
population against the southern whites there
was cruel interference Of the National Gov
eminent in the attempt to eNalt the negroes
to conditions entirely above their capacities,
and to h,imiiate the white race down to a
level below the negro. What crlngln%.
low-bred, and craven race would be the
whites that failed to stand as one man closely
and firmly together and resist with the means
lawfully in their power the adverse force
which, under such agencies rs the Admins
frgtion brought to bear, threatened the hope
less degradation of the public character and
the ruin of the physical prosperity of the
land.
1t is true that the northern people have
been in great degree separated from the
South by the Government policy Of distrust
and persecution Of the southern people.
Nevertheless, ii is impossible to destroy all
commerce and sympathy between them.
There are abundant channels of intercourse
that have never ceased to be available in re-
minding the northern people of the proper
relations that should exist between all the
States and between them and the Federal
Government. The admonitions through these
channels may have been communicated gently
and in still small voice. but they have never
theless been persistent and pcrtinaciouS. They
have stimulated the :" sober second thought
and the North has been for some time learn
ing That equality amongst the States is indi>-
pensable to the preservation of their rights
the rights of northern States rs well us south |
ern; and that the power that destroys the
local authority of one may destroy the author
ity of any other or of all. But there is 4 SELL |
timent that has been conveyed through these
channels of intercourse that is even more
important to present issues; it is the Scnti- |
ment of sympathy with race-a scnti-
ment at once natural and irresistible.
The Government Investigations with the
view Of convcting the southern people |
and calling down the Indignation of the
North upon them have, on the contrary, |
brought to the knowledge of the northern
people the crueltieS and frauds practiccd by
the Government itself through its agents in
the South. And people who had discreditcd
information through other means were conf
PEELED to yield to the truth of official docli-
ments. These, with the statements of tic |
hundreds of honest northern travellers who |
have painted pictures of southern sut1erinys
and disagreement, have excited feelings Of
sympathy with southern people, and horror
Of the impolicy of the Government, which
nothing that the South could say could have
elected.
Truth cannot be suppressed in country |
like this, nor can human nature be stifed |
Sympathy of race will have its effect; self |
preservation must prompt men to disapprove |
of expressions of their own government, |
which may in turn be brought to bear upon
them. And so it will be found to the credit |
of the northern people that GRANTS policy
to secure the negro vote for himself has been
fatal mistake. 1t has been impolitic and
Injurious to the country, and is and will be
still more revolving to the civilized md hui
name sentiments Of this great Union.