National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1873-04-21
THE SOUTHERN QUESTION.

THE bbbThhhN tthNhhoN
The Richmond Enquirer takes US severely
to task for some recent paragraphs that apr
peared iu these columns In regard to South
ern matters, and more especially about Vir.
ginia. II also requests US to answer certain
questions; questions that have been answered
thousaud times, ard that 1t seems q merc
waste Of time aud words to refer to at this
late day.
The nrst foolish assertion Of the En-
quirer Is that one Of the effects Of Radicallsm
(meaning Republicanism,) il to place the
negro above the white man." and adds, ''il
may tell Us that Ia simply the result Of the
general laws Of the country, granting eQual
rights to the two races" To this we answer
that II In any State In the South the negro l.
above the white man, that condition Of af-
fairs does not exist as one OF the effects OF
Radicalism," but as one Of the effects oi
Southern stupidity, intolerance and hatred OF
the colored race. II the blacks OF the soutL
are to-day banded together; H. as in South
Carolina, they neutrallEe and oyerwhelm tht
white vote at the polls, the cause Is to b,
found In the action and antecedents Of the
white party In that State alone. Before thc
blacks united as man against them they had
united against the blacks. At the close OF
the war, when the most generous terms ever
offered to people conquered In war were
offered to the Southern people, ITO go home
and obey the laws" what did they do In North
Carolina, for instance1 Why they went home
and fought the laws In every way they dared
to aght them. They proclaimed relentless
war against the negroes; they marshaled the
regiments Of the disbanded COME derate army
Into Ku-Klux lodges and Knights Of the
White Brotherhood and inaugurated reign
Of terror in four or FIVE Of the Southern
States. In other States the whites refused TO
have any participation In the Government
1t all, and II we mistake not the Enquirer
distinguished Itself In Virginia In counte-
nancing and advocating that exceedingly
ridiculous policy.
The Enquirer tells US that conservatism
means the safety Of the State and radlcalism
Its destruction, and points to Virginia and
South Carolina in support of Its position.
We cannot see It In that light. At the same
time our contemporary must not misundcr
stand our position. We will not deny or at
tempt to palliate the corruption that obtainet
In that State. We denounced II at tn,
time As severely as we could; 81
severely that Il was attempted I,
seek redress In our courts. The case Of Soutl
Carolina sprecisely analogous to that Of New
York In South Carolina aunscrupulous Repub
llcan politicians used an ignorant black vot
and obtained power. In New York unscrupu
lous and unprinclpled white Democrats used a
ignorant white vote In the same way an
plundered that State OF millions and million
~ Alt T.. Al. -
classes were Indifferent; In South Carolln
they rendered possible tho very condition O
affairs Of which they arc now complaining.
The Enquirer asks US to answer this propo
sltion; ''If in Pennsylvania or New Yor
there was u majority Of negro voters VIII
were banded together on the basis Of thei
race against the white race, would our Wash
ington cotemporary contend that the intel
ests and rights OF the whites ought to b
made TO yield TO tho passions and prejudice
OF the blacks on account Of the suporiorit
In numbers Of the negroesl This Is plal
proposition, and tho theory Of the Radlca
party is brought to 4 test In answering II
IN other words, do our political opponent
mean TO maintain that wherever the negros
are In q majority they should sxel
else the power bestowed upon thei
by their popular strength In legi
latlng against tho prosperity Of whit
men, II they choose to exercise it2" We al
not authorized to speak for the Republics
party, but 1t Is the easiest and simplest thir
In the world to answer our cotemporar
The material interests Of the blacks and whit
In the South are identical, and II there n
distinctions on account Of color, II parti
are formed upon the basis Of race, It is e
tlrely, as we said before, the fault Of Il
whites, who should have known better thu
10 bring about such q state Of affairs.
the white South Carollnians had only actt
fairly by the blacks, they could have diyid,
the black vote long ago; but they did no
and now, like a parcel Of women, whine an
complain Of oppression and tyranny and
the evils Of radical rule. II we understar
the process Of reasoning Of these gentlem,
In the South just now, they desire the r
publican party to violate the law mere
to aid them. Ifthe Republican party wou
tomorrow override the Constitution and he
them Into power they would applaud 1t as d
greatest and best party the world ever saw.