The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-06-17
The Negro in the Presidential CAM
paign.

The Negro in the Presidential Cam
paign.
As n factor in the coming contest for the
Presidency, the blacks. as a race, will not
play the part they have hitherto done for
the Republicans. After being used and
abused since the close of the civil war, aud
while released from one form Of slavery
remanded to other evils, they at last
have had their eyes opened, and will
no longer obey the orders of their late po-
litcal masters.
The thievery of the carpet-baggers, who
stole from white and black promiscuously,
aud the plumber of The Freedman's Bank
by GRANTS Washington Ring and their
pious confederates, have alienated this
confidiug people from their accustomed
leaders. and brought them TO IA sense of
the frauds and villainy of which they have
so long been the victims. They have come
to see that the policy of the Republicans in
exciting prejudice against their old mas
tiers, and inspiring them with distrust OF
their best friends, was only part of the
system for capturing their votes while
stealing their earnings and labor Couse-
quently there has been great reaction
all over the South, and at no time since the
rebellion closed have the relations be-
tween the two races been rs good rs they
now are.
The day that the army was withdrawn
from the South as ruling element by the
loud demand ofNorthern opinion, the car
pet-baggers, scalawags, and adventures,
who held theirpower by the support of the
military alone, were crushed out beyond
any hope of recovery. So long as they
could call for troops from Washington.
aud hold them subject TO the orders of
partisan marshals and managers, the ne
grocs supposed naturally enough that they
represented the Government, ms they were
backed by 1t. When that symbol of au-
thority was removed, the whole fabric of
knavery and violence fell to pieces. The
blacks are tiinid, gregarious, aud super
stitious, and it required nothing more
than this sudden change OF circumstances
TO emancipate them from their political
bondage, aud to open up to their limited
horizon new and better prospects for the
future.
This is the true explanation of the re-
markable revolution in parties in Missis
sippi and other Southern States. The col
ored people rushed over to the Demo-
cratic side by tens of thousands when they
saw that AMEs aud his crew were no lon
ger able to control the army, and had
really lost their grip at Washington.
| PINCHBACK and various leaders who have
heretofore welded large influence among
| the negroes, aud especially while the Adj
| mnistration courted them, are now seek
| ing TO accommodate themselves TO the
new departure. and make no secret of
| their hostility to GRANT, CASEY. PACKARD,
KELLOGG, and others of that stamp. PINCH
BACKS speech at Cincinnati served notice
| on them that their former connections
were severed, aud that hereafter his race
meant TO look after its own interests.
The South is lost iTretrlevably TO the Re-
publican party, aud even South Carolina
cannot be counted with any certainty, for
| the causes which swept Mississippi away
| from the clutches Of rogIes and public
| plunderers are now operating vigorously
IN South Carolina. The frauds, broken
| promises receptions, cheating aud rascal
| tiles OF the Republican leaders in Congress,
and their emissarles in the South, together
WIN the tfeuchefy OF the ADMINISTRATION,
have Disguised the race and forced it to
seek fellowship elsewhere.
| The old ties between the whites and
| blacks will, before long, be stronger than
| ever. Reciprocal and permanent interests
must be felt in the long run, and the land
owneraud the lahorer will come together by
| natural law. which makes them mutually
| dependent. In few years the South Will
| be more prosperous than at any former
| time in its history, and this prosperity Will
| be one OF its chief elements of strength aud
unity.
| While the war was apparently the great
est calamity that ever befe the South, il is
destined to be its greatest blessing, materi-
| ally and morally. Adversely has made
labor honorable among what was once the
| governing class. Emancipation has raised
the negro to "A higher plane. Between the
| two the salvation Of the South is rendered
sure. Already manufactures have sprung
| up in various States, and when the present
financial strain has passed away, they will
be multiplied by abundant capital, eager to
embark III these profitable enterprises.