The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-06-15
THE coLoRRD VOTE.


IN. v. r." the regular correspondent
OF the Cincinnati Commercial, writing
from Montgomery, does not afford much
comfort to the anxious Greeleyltes Of the
North with regardto the colored vote Of
Alabama. We quote from his letter:
THE NEGROES SOLID FOR GRANT.
The negroes Of Alabama present o sol.
Id line for Grant. Greeley will not get
three per cent Of the colored vote in the
entire Slate, and what few he does receive
will be In the northern interior counties,
where the Republicans have no organiza.
ton. Here, through the "cotton belt"
he will not get toexceed one per cent.
In this city he will not get that. Mont.
gomery contains very many more negroes
than whites, but In oil the city Horace
Greeley will not receive five colored
votes.
Yesterday called upon James T. Ra.
pier, the leading colored man in this
State. No man in the. State possesses
more influence with his race than he, or
more extensive acquaintance. He was
born In this State, has Q good education,
was,a delegate TO the New Orleans Con.
vention, has been in all the counties Of
the cotton belt, and Is the head and front
OF the negro Republican party Of Ala.
bama.
In conversation Mr.. Rapier expressed
the belief that Alabama would 20 for
Grant by five thousand majority.
as there no division among the colored
peopleI" l asked.
"Not in the least" he replied "the
nomination Of Horace Greeley at CincIn.
natl will catch no more colored votes in
Alabama than would the nomination Of
jeff Davis" -
"Do they not know that Greeley Is their
Oldest and truest friendH"
mo, the mass Of them don't know any.
thing about It; and Il they did, they
would not supporta man, no matter who,
that the Democrats support. They are
afraid to go in that direction or in that
crowd. They cannot be bought, bribed,
or caught by the nomination OF an old
trined Of freedom. Theysee the Demo.
Gratis supporting Greeley, and that is all
they want to know"
mentioned Mr.. Greeley's long service
for negro freedom in the Tribune, and as
one OF the founders Of the Republican
party.
1.-THE Tribune! What do the negroes
of Alabama know about the IibuneS"
queried Mr.. Rspier. II will wager that,
up TO the time of the surrender, not
twenty colored men in Alabama ever saw
q copy of the New York Tribune. TWAS
not allowed to circulate through the
mails; it was very rarely seen in the State,
even by a few whites, and the negroes
knew no more Of its existence or the ex-
istence Of its editor than they did OF the
man in the moon. l only speak for Ala.
bama, for l was born and raised here, and
| know what l state to be true. No col.
ored man in the State has more extern
sive acquaintance with colored men than
myself. l have Travelled in all the coun.
ties Of the cotton belt on business, and my
office is headquarters for Republicans
from all quarters"
"Do you know Of any colored men in
this county who will support Greeley"
mo; Horace Greeley will not get four
co.0red votes in Montgomery. Mark that;
wait till November, and you will see that
1 am correct. know of just one colored
man in the city who is for Greeley, and
he has acted with theDemocrats all the
time, and has not particle Of influence.
he ran for the Legislature as an indepen-
dent candidate, hoping to catch votes be.
cause he was colored, and got only four.
The negroes cannot be got out Iof the
regular Republican organization, no mat.
ter who is nominated, who runs, or any.
thing about it. They 60 in body, and
with the organization"
allow about the northern counties Of
the State, where Seymour got a number
oil colored votes in 1852" asked.
"Well, up there in some ol-the back.
woods counties, where the Republicans
have got nos show, he will get few
colored votes, just as any Democrat
would. But he will not get as many as
Seymour did, for the Ku.Klux have been
pretty well smashed up by the Federal
courts since then, and they will be more
free to vote for whom they please. For
this reason Greeley will not get as many
colored votes as Seymour did, or as Gov.
ernor Lindsey did at the last election.
But what few votes he does get will be
confined to those Counties where the Ku.
Klux influence rules, and where the Re-
publicans are without organization. The
three per cent of the col0red votes which
the Democrats always carry, and which
comes from those upper counties, I think
they will fail on this year, as the Ku- Klux
are about smashed, and nearly every man
will vote as he pleases."
"Greelcy's name, then, carries no weigh
with itP"
mot in the least, sir; not in the least.
In the entire State of Alabama he will not
get fifty more colored votes than would
any Democrat that might be nominated.
The idea that his name will carry any
weight with it among the colored people
Is absurd. They only know two names
Lincoln and Grant. People who think
that the mass OF the negroes OF Alabama
know anything about Horace Greeley fool
themselves, They never heard of him till
nominated, and now to see the Democrats
supporting him Is q poor recommends.
ton, and they will 60 solid for Grant, He
will get all the colored votes of Alabama,
except what few the Democrats can man.
age to carry in the back counties"
How about the white Republican
vote?"
UOh that ia for Grant with ,,o-,, ,o,,,