The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1874-10-29

answered by any one whose nllno Was NOT
diseased and warped by party prejudice.
That very great and fatal errors were CON-
mitted, cannot be denied. The whole
scheme was in opposition to the Constitu-
tion Of the United States and the spirit OF
our institutions. It was an attempt to
bring order to the States by destroying or
neutralizing the power and influence of the
intelligent and prominent citizens. Men
of property, who were reported to be worth
500, 900, were prescribed in addition
to long list of gentlemen who had held
United States Offices before the war, as well
as State and county, and also certain leaders
and officers Of the Confederacy. The cable
and patriotic men who grappled with grave
questions of governmental economy" were
only actuated by the one object, and that
was to devise every plausible pretext for
preventing prominent citizens of the
South from voting or holding Office. And
the article of the Chronicle, as we will pres
emily show, reveals this fact, not, however,
for the purpose of exposing the hollow
declarations of the author. In the very
outset the plan was to enfranchise the
blacks, place their control in the hands of
traitors to the South and carpet-bag
gers from the North; keep intelligent
and worthy citizens out of Office, and fOist
the ignorant and deprayed into them, so
as to secure for all time to come the votes
of the Southern States. For time this
policy promised stormy success, but grad
ually the white people became aroused to
action by the outrages of the dominant
party, and finally concluded to make efforts
to secure once more good, honest govern
ments for the States. Still, great many
were deprived of the privilege of holding
office, and some of voting. Then it was
that the real issue was made, and the spa
triotic men, ;" who had labored so hard to
bind the South, found out that they had
made lamentable mistake in supposing
that the poor white people would SO far de-
yrade their blood and standing as to hound
IN the rabble, and unite heart and hand
with the thieves and vagabonds who were
plundering and expressing the people. To
show this mistake, we again extract from
the Chronicle, as follows;
"But this is not the only weak place in
the plan. The theories of reconstruction,
while they were only theories, presupposed
the speedy elevation of the so-called poor
white element, and calculated with great
confidence upon its active participation in
the control of reconstructed States, under
true republican constitutions and codes. 1t
was hoped that the poorer classes OF whites
emancipated from the blighting effects of
the degradation of labor which was the inn
mediate and necessary result of slavery,
would at once recognize the possibilities of
their position, and endeavor to prepare
themselves for the serious business of found
ing schools, restoring industries, and bring
ing about reign of peace and comfort over
the South. Their former habits and occu-
pations under the domain of slavery had
not been calculated to prepare them at once
for the higher duties of citizenship, but it
was hoped that they would at least keep
pace with the negroes in their intellectual
efforts. This theory has proven an utter
falIacy."
Here is an acknowledgment that there
was a deliberate purpose to array the preju
dices of the ''poor whites" against the
shareholders and use them for building up
governments which would always stand by
and vote for Radical domination and negro
elevation. But the "poor whites, 4" true to
their race and section, scorned the degrad-
ing process, and refused to associate with
the enemies of intelligence and honest gov
ernment. This admission of the Chronicle
proves too much for its subsequent arralgn-
ment of certain Southern men, as we viii
now show. We again extract from that
paper:
''To any man of average intelligence, who
has watched the progress of events in the
Southern States for the past nine years, it
is as clear as MONDAY that the white men of
intelligence, wealth and social position are
principally responsible for the unhappy con-
dition of things we have alluded to-"
Now, read this extract and contrast it
with the second, and it viii be apparent
that the Chronicle has committed blunder
from which it cannot escape. First, the
intelligent and wealthy white men we're
prescribed and forbidden to accept or
hold Office upons severe pains and
penalties, while the negroes, led
by the carpet-baggers and renegades,
were pressed into Office. But so soon as it
was found out that they could not govern
the South, and had committed unnumbered
crimes and outrages which were crushing the
authors of the foul scheme, the same men
and papers who had urged the policy be-
came offended, and had the audacity to
charge the results to men who had been de-
prived of all participation in the direction Of
political affairs!
The Chronicle wants reconstruction of
reconstruction. We again extract from that
paper:
1.-THE appeals that come to US from all
portions of the South are such as to move
the Northern people to demand that the
next Congress shall seriously undertake
anew the work Of reconstruction, nor cease
its efforts until the entire nation shall be
not only nominally, but really at peace.
With the history of the workings Of the
reconstruction policy during the past eight
years, and the development Of It's failures
WNN-AA-~~-~1f
more intelhgently than before, and with q
reasonable hope OF accomplishing more sat
isfactory results eGfa
The Chronicle is mistaken. When the
above was written the author Thought that
Ohio and Indiana had gone Radical. But
thank God, they turned away, siek and dis
gusted, from the Radical lies and cast their
votes in favor Of justice, honesty and Dem
ocratic government. Congress win be so
constituted that Representatives and sena-
tors win take steps to remove the stumbling
blocks in the way Of peaceful and prosper
Gus States and leave the people free to
work out their own destiny subject only to
the Constitution and laws Of the United
States. The darkness has passed away;
the day dawns. The heavens are once more
Ia. fe.-t.a