, 1875-02-09


markab!e progress TINT has beon made toward
supplnnting lawlcs: 'ss with nil appeal to cs-
tabtisicd tribunals of Justice. With tlio strong
influence Of habit, md the constant provoea-
ton III Tho relations of tho ticsr,sed race to
tho whites, tho natural tendency would have
bcou to increase the practice Of killing whero
there was any ofTonEo, real or imaginary, The
faot Is, that this tendency, as compared with
Tho antc.War condition, is s1owly but surely
being suppressed. There ARC various REASONS
for it. Tho introduction Of Northern people
into lilo South, though sometimes vicious in
political sense, has Ind tho effect of dis
conntenancins tho o1d.timo appeal to deadly
weapons. Murder IL moro frequently pun
islcd, or Mt least leas frequently justified;
mud, instoad Of being cllivntro'ls, 1t Is now
brought into certain contempt md con-
tingent danger. Formerly 1t wns accom-
panicd by neither, unless it was committed
with purpose Of gain.
Another reason il, that What il regarded as
common intiignity lns united tho whites
againat tho negroes in those States where tho
Inter aro in political supremacy. Tho dan
gero,,s l,nbit Of tho whites to resort to arms
against each other is thus broken up. III
those States where tho whites hnyo regnincl
political control, the negroes have ceased to
bo a naturally antagonistic race, They no
longer occupy supremacy hateful to tho
whites, and have coase1 to be the targcts for
pistol practice or tho subjects Of anatomical dis
sectiun for the bowie-knifo Oh account Of their
politics. In these States-tho two Virginins,
Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ten.
nessce, Kentucky, Missouri, Georgia, Texas
there is More peaceablo condition md great
or security for hrrnan life, white anl black,
than there was before the Civil Wnr. Tllcro
arc but thrco or four Of the Southern StateE
-notabIy Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,
mud South Carolina---where the transition
process is still disturbed with outrages.
There has been progress oven in these Status
toward n peaceful condition, though it is not
60 marked rs in tho others. This progress il
ovinccd in tho more liberal character of tho
Legislation affecting the negroes and the nlan-
ner in which the latter are treated.
The Legislatures Of North Carolina, Missis-
sippi, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolinn,
Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, and
Louisiana, convened Immediately after tue
close Of the Rebellion, enacted laws, under
the sanction Of ANDY JOHNSON, calculated to
opprcss the colored race in a degree only Sec
onl to that of actual slavery. They made
negroes incompetent as witnesses declared
marriage between blaclsa and whites illegal,
and aflxed penalty on those who solcmnizcd
these marriages diseriminated against the
blucks by attaching more severe punishments
for tho snmo olcnses established cruel mp
prentice laws instituted vagrant acts Of the
greatest hardship to tho blacks prohibited
the blacks from renting or Leasing lnnds out
side Of incorporated cities; forbade them car
rying concealed weapons, though giving
whites this privilege !; and, in various 9TH
or unjust and malignant ways, sought
to perpetuato the spirit and restore
the substance Of slavery, though the
form had disappeared. Progress at the South
is indicated by the repeal of all those laws,
and tho general disappearance Of the senti.
| mont TINT prompted them.
With these retrospective facts before lis,
| the future prospects for the South are by nc
means gloomy. Tho whole country is to be
congratulated upon the great progress to-
wards peace and conoiliation which has al
ready been made in spite Of tho many serious
and seemingly insurmountable obstacles
This progress is promise for better things
in the future. The murderous propensity oi
the Southern people is losing its force as
habit, The hostility to tho blacks Is disap
| poaring MS rnpidly as they are permitted tc
resume the position to which their proper
tionate numbers and comparative intelligence
entitle them. The population Of tho South
is, in round numbers, 100000 Of white!
md 5000, 600 of blacks, with the Inter pre-
dominating in three States. As long as til,
F." color-lino" exists as long as there is
white man's party and b1ack mani
party, the whites nre entitled, unde,
the rulo OF the majority, to TIL
political CONTROL As o race, the whites or
comparatively intelligent and educated, Of
account Of their superior advantages in th
past, and the blacks aro ignorant and poor
The whites are thus entitled to the social su
premacy, as long as tho issue Of color IN,
the political divisions Of race prevail. n
believe, however, that tho true solution O
tho troubles at tho South will be the division
Of the blacks between the various parties
The whites are ready and eager to divid
Whenever tho race-issue or color-line shal
disappear. OF this wo shall take occasion Il
soy something moro in mother article. "
only point to it now as the natural course b,
which the blacks may obtain speedy ant
eifectual recognition of their political value