The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1874-06-19
THE NEGRO AS 4 RULER.

asked the price of land i'll the State he
represented, he said: Gland in South
Carolina is cheap. We like to put on
the taxes, SO AS to make it che;,p!'
This has been the philosophy of negro
rule throughout the South. The i'm
poverishmcnt of the white man cor the
benefit of the negro.
Those who read the lesson of the day,
without pausing to trace existing causes
to their ultimate consequences, lose all
hope for such States as Louisiana and
South Carolina. They think that negro
rule will be ma ntainetl, and that negro
rule means perpetual corruption and
extravaganza. On this point we are
inclined to take issue with our doubling
Thomases. We believe that negro rule
is not destined to be perpetuated in any
one of the States of the Union. They
have succeeded thus far, because, as
wards of the nation, they were on trial,
as it were, and the war prejudices of
the great majority of the white people
of the North were unto them as Il shield
and buckler. But Il great reaction is;
now i'll process of being accomplished.
The Northern white men now find that
negro rule in the South has been u
blunder, if not q crime. Under this
conviction sectional prejudices are
giving way before the strong sympa
thies of blood and race. The white
men Of the nation arc now pretty firmly
determined that the oppression of the
white men of the South shall cease, and
being thirty-siX millions against four,
what they determine will surely be
carried out.
This significant change of opinion is
shown as to a powerful and influential
body Of Republicans, by the extracts
we have given from the German press.
1t is shown by the bill which has just
passed the Federal House of Represen-
tatives, providing that no person who
cannot read and write the English lam
guage shall serve as juror in any Of
the United States courts, and which in
Indirectly carries as severe q common
tary against the negro as {; voter as
against the negro as juror. It is
shown in the comments of such papers
as the Chicago Tribune-once approx
ing, but now condemning, the Govern
ment policy of reconstruction, which
runs thus:
eft (re@OnStructiOn) has reduced Lou
isianst to Il worse condition than if she
We're still a province of Spain. :: = x
1t has well-nigh destroyed American
craftsmanship. The logic of facts shows
the danger of granting the ballot to
everybody. Decentralization is the inc
vitable result. We cannot take the
franchise away from its present posses
sors, but we can shut the gate through
| which the future victims of ignorance
and crime will hurry to the polls. The
suffrage should be the prize OF l1nowl-
edge, and should be forfeited for crime,
ana education should be made COMPUTE
sorry. Insone such ways we must purify
| mi of last If
the Republic, or even make it worth
| S:vinG.'
Indeed, the change Of opinion above
noted is shown by the Congressional re-
port in references to the condition OF
affairs in South Carolina ,whcl, is to the
effect that no remedy can be devised for
the evils suffered by that State, except
the adoption of u qualified educational
suffrage bill.
lfignorancc and superstition render
men unfit to I've jurors, it certainly rem
dcrs them unfit to rule over intelligence,
and worth, or even to make Il choice OF
rulers for such, or for themselves.
We clearly perceive the forcsha,low-
ingS Of Il sober, second thought among
the American people which will pre-
vent the direct or Indirect oppression
of the Southern whites by the Southern
blacks. Nor is it likely that the South
crn blacks themselves will long retain
their faith in carpet-bag inspirations
In this country they must work in order
to cat. Climatic eNactiOnS will prevent
the domOralizationS and rctrogradC
movements so conspicuous in the his
tory of San Domingo and jamaica
for neither the food nor clothing which
are here essential to life, can be obtain
ed as they can there without industrial
efforts.
Our conclusion, therefore, is, that
both negro rule and negro dclusions
are drawing to Il close. Politics will nc
longer be the profitable employment
that it has been to so many of them in
the past. Icnccforth white men, even
in Louisiana and South Carolina, will
be admitted to have rights which the
moral and political sense of the nation
will compel tho negroes to respect.
ss~>r~-H1-ls-=r~~x.a
THE EELTON JAIL MASSACRE.