New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-01-21
THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.

property, the marriage relation, the order
of inheritance and even the enjoyment OF
religious privileges, are entirely depend
ent upon the sovereign power which may
at any time change, modify or abolish any
| or all of them. 1t has, therefore, been
wisely ordained by law that any forcible
interference with the free choice. of an
elector is grave crime, and even the
exercise of undue influences, such as
bribery, or promises Of future rewards and
punishments, is an offense reprobated by
law, and such as will subject the guilty
liable to severe pains and penal
ties. All other rights Of citizenship
being subordinate, it follows that
the dogma that man may do as he
pieases with his own must be necessarily
limited by the great law to which we
have referred. 1t makes no difference in
morals, for instance, whether one prom
lses a voter a reward in money for
his vote, or threatens linn with pecuni-
airy loss in case he refuses to be dictated
to. Capital, for instance, possesses many
natural advantages over labor, which
enables the wealthy to dominate over the
poor in hundred ways which the law
can not prevent. But it does not give its
owner any legal rights over poor man.
He can not be permitted to dictate to a
voter who may Happen to be in his en-
ploy, and threaten him with dismissal for
noncompliance. This would be a species
of bribery, as the implied promise of con-
tinued employment, of steady work at
good wages, rarely fails to have great
weight with poor man with a large
family on his hands.
Congress saw that to leave the Southern
planters free to threaten the negroes in
advance with dismissal in case they voted
contrary to the wishes of the landed pro-
rietors would defeat the object of the
fifteenth amendment, since it would not
be difficult for employers to control the
entire vote of the enfranchised, thus
adding political power in proportion to
the number of acres man owned. The
wisdom Of prohibiting this species of
bribery by penal statute is obvious to
everybody, and the policy is approved by
every true Democratic citizen who prefers
the rule of an Honest manhood to that of
a wealthy alistocracy. 1t is false and
mischievous proposition to say that
man can regulate the disposal of his
capital in any manner that will endanger
the freedom of choice on the part of |
voters. Such practice is not only con-
trary to good policy, but it is specially |
by law. The claim that capital |
can not be thus restricted is too absurd for |
serious discussion. The right to hold |
at all is merely conventional,
protected by law. without which protec-
ton it would exist only in the strong, and
subject to such restraints and modifica-
ions as the law imposes. If a man COM
nit any offense. however small, which has
oeen defined by law, he is liable to be
deprived of portion of .his property by
way OF fine. This establishes principle
which has no other limit as to amount,
kept the magnitude OF the otfense, and
he penalty affixed.
But while the rights of capital and its
Citations to labor are trite subjects, which
ave been discussed until they are thread
are, certain parties in Louisiana set up
he preposterous claim that a capitalist
nay use his money, or the power it gives
i'm, to bride or intimidate negro voter
ecause he is poor and ignorant. They
ave been putting it in practice in North ,
louisiana, where two thousand people
ave been thrown out of employment for
aving voted the Republican ticket in No
ember. The act is falsely attributed to
lie planters. The policy of this class of
ur population has always been to in
rease the productive force at their dis
osal, the only contest being about the {
rice Of slaves before emancipation and
lie rates of wages since. But number E
pestilential politicians in Shreveport
the idea that they could control :,
lie whole colorCd vote Of their section j.,
trough the merchants and planters. An =
legal and immoral pledge was prepared =
I'd presented to the merchants, with a .
smand for signatures, under pain of be- +
g spotted" We have been told by some q
the merchants Of Shreveport that they /
5ned this precious document without :,
aiding it. They saw the names of two :,
three big firms at the top, and pre- ,,
med it was all right. When the 7
eat was discovered and the dan
r of arrest became imminent they
ire prevented from openly expos y
6 the fraud by artful appeals to 6,
cir honor "What," said the ward bum ;,
ers 'are you going back on your pledge .,
escape arrest? That will be an igno- -
nious surrender to the Yankee, and, be- :.
les, You will run the risk of losing ::
ste in this community" So they braved +,
out, and permitted circulars to be issued
their names to all the planters, threat :,
ing them with loss of favor in case they ..
rmitted their hands to vote the Repub- :,
an ticket.
Other skllltul means were resorted to .
lich succeeded in turning large num- \;
rs of Republicans away from the polls !,
changing their votes for the opposi- =,
N. 1t is the custom in the country for
e colored people to go TO church pretty