The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1874-12-10

1t is an Illogical and unwarrantable infer
ence from the bad effects OF negro suffrage
IN the Federal District to argue, as some b
eur cotempOraries are doing, that It's fall
ure there proves its inexpediency in the
Southern States. And yet the argument
has AN air Of superficial plausibility. The
negroes OF Washington are probably more
intelligent than the average of their race.
Most of them were bred in Maryland and
| Virginia, where slavery was least oppres-
siye. They were the earliest of the negroes
to come into possession of civil and political
rights, and are presumed to have had supe-
rior guidance from fnendly whites inter
ested in their welfare But the Washington
local government founded oil their suffrage
proved to be one Of the most corrupt and
scondalOus that ever existed, and Congress
was compelled to abolish it and substitut g
government from which the will of the peo-
pie as expressed in elections is excluded. Il
the comparatively intelligent negroes of
Washington cannot be trusted with the
elective franchise, the argument is specious
and plausible which infers the necessity OF
also taking it away from the negroes Of the
Gulf States.
But the argument is only specious and
not sound. 1t is really as absurd as an ar
gument against universal suffrage founded
on Tweed's late control of certain classes Of
voters in the city of New York. The ne
groes Of Washington were subject to infu-
ences which operate in few other places.
They were dependent for employment on
the local public works, managed by the no
torIous Washington ring, whose control
over their means of subsistence operated as
a bribe for their votes. In the greater part
of the South they are exposed to no such
temptation, and as soon as Federal coercion
is withdrawn from that section negro voting
will be Just as safe as that of the illiterate
whites of the South, who have always exer-
cised the right of suffrage. "Boss" Shep-
herds bribes in Washington prove just as
little as &C Boss" Tweed's bribes in New
York as to the safety or expediency of uni
versal suffrage. -Nsso York Herald
The above remarkable article from the
Herald demands a critical notice. Usually
that paper reasons from cause to effect with
clearness and certainty, having premises
from which legitimate conclusions are de-
d1ced. But in the above there seems to
be no attempt to do so. An assertion is
made, and then facts cited which conclu-
siveIy prove the negative of the position.
The Herald admits that ''the negroes of
Washington are probably more intelligent
than the average of their race but that
''the Washington local government founded
on their suffrage proved to be one of the
most corrupt ana scandalous that ever ex-
listed, and Congress was compelled to abol-
ish it and substitute a government from
which the will of the people as expressed
in elections is excludedllr" Here is
an admission of the utter failure Of
negro suffrage in the choice Of. com
peteht and suitable mon for the gov
ernment of the District of Columbia /;
and the amazing fact that the high priests
of Radicalism found it necessary to pluck
the government from their hands and substi-
tute one in which the will of the people was
excluded. Was there ever such inconsis-
tency9 such an abandonment of people
for whom the whole country had been made
to suffer untold sorrow and humiliation9 1t
almost staggers belief. The very men who
were loud and persistent in declaring that
the negro must be raised up to the level of
the white man; must have the same political
and social privileges; and that he was
equally competent with the poor whites of
tae South to select officers and establish
government, execute the laws and maintain
law and orderTnow abandon them to their
fate, wrest the ballot out of their hands,
aud deny them the right to votelfOr the
men who are placed over them as their
rulers! What confession of the failure of
negro suffragel an 5- , eW e
What can't the Radicals now longer say in
defense of their policy of reconstruction,
in which the Southern States were turned
over to this same ignorant people, who, the
Herald admits, were not as well qualified to
govern as those in Washington, who, new
ertheless, founded government so corrupt
and scandalous that the particular and pecu-
liar friends of the negroes took it away
from them as matter of absolute neces-
sity. And yet, in the face of this admis-
sion, the Herald says that sit is an illogical
and unwarrantable inference from the bad
effects of negro suffrage in the Federal
District to argue, as some Of our cotempora-
ries are doing, that its failure there
proves its inexpedisncy in the Southern
States. Why, such an argument is
unworthy of the Herald; it is absurd
and ridiculous. If they were not
capable of government when surrounded
by the great lumlnaries of Radicalism, who
knew and felt that the eyes of the world
were upon them, and that the problem was
being demonstrated, how can it be expected
or even hoped for that they can or ever will
show greater capacity, in remote regions Of
the country where they are only the tools
and dupes of the most abandoned wretches
who ever allied themselves to any political
partyG But the Herald tries to escape from
this most palpable fact by saying that
"they were dependent for employment on
the local public works managed by the
notorious Washington ring, whose control
over. their means Of subsistence operated as
a bribe for their votes. That paper then
asserts that they VIII not be exposed to
such temptation in the South, and that
"negro-voting viii be just as safe as that
Of the illiterate whites, - all Of which Is un-
true. As we have already stated, they
have been usually controlled by the
most corrupt men, who made politics
a business and used the negroes as tools to
accomplish their plunder Of the treasures Of
the States for selfish gain. 1t is true that.
in the late elections, they voted largely
with the Southern whites; but there is no
certainty that they viii continue to do 50.
But il is SANDER on the ilIiterate whites Of
the South to say that the negroes are As
capable Of selecting good and competent
men for Office as they are As general
r1Ies No nennle are better or.1if,ad n indCe