National Republican., 1874-05-08
THE ,sOUTH AST rs.

THE SOUTH As IT rs. ---
A notable debate occurred In the Senate
a few days ago, In which Senators Alcorn,
of Mississippi, and Oonkling. of New York,
participated as the most prominent dispu-
tants. The subject-matter of discussion
was the report submitted by Mr., Nor rill, Of
Maine, for the relief of sufferers from the
overflow of the Mississippi river. The de-
bate which followed took wide range and
Mr.. Alcorn, native of the South, was fool
ish enough to declare that the central or
General Government is responsible for
many, If not ALL of the real or imaginary
evils Of which certain portion of the citi-
zens of the reconstructed States complain.
This is the old and very inconsistent cry of
the political malcontents of the southern Sec
ton Of the country. In one breath they make
the foolish declaration Of which Mr.. Alcorn
was guilty, and in the next they proclaim
their desire that the Federal" Government
shall assume further authority to the de-
struction Of the rights and the sovereignty
of States by way of regulating the affairs Of
that section. In Louisiana, in Texas and
In Arkansas the questions thus involved
have been forced into public notice as sub.
jects requiring immediate action at the
hands Of the Government, but behind them
all we find something of personal charac-
ter which serves to illustrate the real motive
at stake. The truth is. that in Mississippi
a struggle has been carried on for some
time between rival factions, with Mr..
Alcorn as the leader of one and Governor
Ames as the leader of the other Ames
having been elected Governor, despite of
Alcorn's earnest opposition, has been able
to carry into effect many reforms. including
the defeat Of certain pernicious railroad en-
terprises, and to establish a new condition
of affairs, entirely at variance with the cal
culations Of his opponents. His success, as
might be supposed. has aroused no little
opposition to him, and, as an exponent of
that opposition, Senator Alcorn has been
weak enough to state that the colored peo-
pie who have been thrown out of employ
ment by the floods rely upon suppositious
promises of support from the Government
and refuse to work on any terms. No
one but man who has been soured by the
most serious political disappointment would
venture such an assertion. 1t recalls in
stantly the ''forty acres and mule" story,
so rife at the close of the war, and leads us
to believe that Mr.. Alcorn sacrificed his
sober judgment to his personal prejudice
when he uttered the statement. Fortu-
nately Mr.. Conkling was on the alert, and
with characteristic and vigorous tcrseness
put few questions to the Mississippi Sena-
tor developing the fact that his (Alcorn's)
son is an official whose connection with tho
levees is one Of such supervisory response
bilityas to make him in part responsible for
any absence of precaution against the mis-
fortune which has resulted in the overflow
Of the submerged region. If Alcorn had
succeeded in defeating Ames in the late
election, we have no doubt that his answers
to Mr.. Conkling would have been in diff
fcrent vein; but we do not hesitate to as
cribc to Ames' success in that election the
discouraging view of the situation now en-
tertained by his opponent.
But Mr.. Conkling took occasion to ex-
plain, truthfully, that no human wisdom,
not even that possessed by Senator Alcorn's
son, could have averted the calamity. In
common with the people of the North gen.
orally, he expressed most earnest and heart
felt sympathy for the victims of the over
flow, and in common with the unprejudiced |
voice Of humanity, he denounced the insin- |
uations of Mr.. Alcorn that the affiiction was |
due to political influences, as untrue. when
'the problem" he said, "in South Carolina,
''in Mississippi, and in other States comes to
''be solved, apprehend that large share
''of the political evils prevailing in those
''Staes will be laid to the door of men who,
'having the power and the privilege to
shape and influence public affairs, refused
Ito act-sulked and rallied, and are now
punished for ignoring the truth that
% 'Who would be free, himself must strike the
blow"
Subsequently explaining why he took
such a direct interest in the subject, he
remarked: 81 was unwilling to
'remain silent again, as l have done so
"often before, in the presence of these gen.
"eral promiscuous charges that the General
Government, the national Administra-
'tion, somebody, anybody except the peo-
'ple themselves. is responsible for all the
omissions and sins which occur in many
"of the Southern States"
In this brief way one of the most promi-
nent leaders of public opinion in the coun-
try characterized the condition of the South
as it is, and demonstrated beyond the pos
sibility of a doubt that the evils of which
the Southern people complain are, as we
have repeatedly asserted, the result of their
own mismanagement and their own mat
tention to their duties as citizens.