, 1875-02-11

we hayo already expressed The o1'Inlun tint
tho slrest solution Of tho political coml'lca-
tions at tho South will bo found in II division
Of tho colored vote between existing pnrtics.
There is no rcason why there should not he a
diversion Of political sentiment among colorctt
voters rs we'll NJ among white voters. There
would be now if tho negroes at the South
were not afraid tott1lst the whites, If they were
not, they would range themselves OH differ
cntsifles Of National issues, State Government,
mud municipal affairs. Some would conceive
it to be for their best interest to
vote tho Conservative ticket others to
vote tho Republican ticket. The colorcd
rroperty-holders and tnx-pnycrs in Louisiana
would probably roto agaiust tho extortions Of
tho KELLOGG Government, while the colorcd
offce-lloldcrs md their non-tax-paying con-
sttuency would probably vote to sustain the
KEI1.oou Government. There is not coutl-
ty, city, or township in the South where the
interests Of all the negroes are tho san1e, md
collectively opposed 10 tho interests Of all tile
restrained from combining with each other
for political advantages or local Improvement
| by tho "color limo Which has been arbitrari.
ly and foolshly tlrnwn between them. It WIS
instituted originally by tho natural antar-
onism felt by the blacks against the raco who
| had formerly held them i'll slavery, and the
| contempt Of the whites for former serFH
but, slavcry having been abolished for
all time, this natural antagonism would
lave disappeared before this. hour If it Ind
not been fostered and encouraged by design
fn{f firn fnro f1s1 la cfr
hag politicians on the other. Had tho negro
voto been distributed between tho two par
ties, tho Southern whites would long since
have been disunited politically They would
no longer hive had the common purpose Of
combating the combined supremacy Of the
negroes and carpct-baggers. They would
have divided ~ On the old nnte-War Difficult
ties of tho Southern people, which were rali-
chi n1ad fundamental, aud which have already
begun to crop out again aud e. on the new
issues Of local government which cannot
fail to arise in a populous and progressive
community.
The anomalous position Of tho colored
voter at tho South is almost I'LL exact counter
part Of the foreigners plnce in politics
| twenty-five years ago. The two grent parties
Of the country at TINT time were the Wing
mud tho Democratic. The Democrats were
loud in their dissemination of JeGersonian
professions Of equality, and claimcd to be the
spcc1ai friends and protectors of the foreign
born population. They also made practice
Of naturalizing the foreigners as soon MS they
iandcd in the largo cities to which they
locked. The very name Of the party
ant
ignorant eEnigrant; it embodied III one word
all the principles md hopes which led
him to abandon the land Of his birth
and seek political freedom aud fraternity
in America The other great political organ
ization was the Wing party. What did
"Whig" mean? It had no specific sig
nif1cance for the foreigners: it gave M prom
ise of whet they sought. They could only
constrno 1t to mean IN opposition to the DEM
ocrntio purity. In fact the Wings, in tho eyes
OF the foreign-born, came to be regarded as
aristocratio and exclnsivo, The result was
that the great mass OF foreigners, the Irish,
German, French, Scotch, English, cast their
political fortunes with tho Democrats. The
allegiance Of such foreign element to this
party WIS, In addition to the other at
fractions, ready inducement for every
newcomer to join Ills fe1low-couutry-
men The result was that the for
e'gners became the controlling element Of the
De'nocratIc party md Of tho politics Of tho
North. In somo Of the large cities they wero
In an actual najorisyi in nearly oil co1nmuni-
ties they held tho balance of power. Their
political supremacy soon made their lenders
aggressive and obnoxious. They assumed to
dictate, and ignored tho claims and rights Of
the nativo-bora Democrats. They seized q
large share Of tho offices and could enforce
thoir own terms, as they have recently done
IN simiiar combination for running the
City Government in Chicago. There mt
urally came reaction. There was strong
nat've'born element in the Democratic party
which resented the li1h-hnndetl anil insn1ant