Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-02-02


In late letter to the Herald, in which
he speaks very plainly, as Methodist, of
Bishop Haven and his recent speech, Mr..
Charles NordhoF says, abiding to the
State Of Georgia: II have the word OF
United States officers, strong Republicans,
that there is no political crime in that
State; have the word Of Northern mis-
sionaries, laboring entirely among the col
ore6 people, that the period OF violence Is
past and that public opinion, even in the
backwoods counties, is now against it."
Mr.. Nordhoff, as we have hitherto re-
marked, Is one 81 the most valuable wit
nesses as to the Southern situation that
We have had, for he adds to genuine
sympathy with the colored population an
unusual faculty Of observation and great
candor OF judgment Yet the remark that
we have quoted shows how very difficult
it is to know precisely the situation in
those States. Republican officers and
Northern missionaries think that the era
OF violence is past in Georgia; but not, as
we shall show, that OF injustice and out
rageous oppression. 1t is conceded that
in the Mississippi election, into which
Mr.. Morton proposes to inquire, there
was "mild intimidation l hat is eu-
phemistic for preventing colored voters
from voting, and the method of producing
the same result in Georgia is worth at
tention.
In speaking last summer of Mr.. Nord-
hotf's account of Georgia, we called at
tention to two facts as showing the actual
situation: the practical exclusion of col
ored citizens from juries, and the i'm
mense exodus Of the same class from the
State Georgia is constantly cited as the
proof of the success of Democratic rule
in the Southern States. But two such
facts show that for one part of the popu-
laton, at least, it is no Paradise. Order
reigned in Warsaw, but the Poles were
oppressed Notwithstanding. Violence
may be passive as we'll as active. A
voter shot or harried by the ku-Klux Is
treated with violence But voter inten-
tionally prevented by quiet crowd from
voting is also violently restrained, In
the county of Chatham, in Georgia which
includes the city of Savannah, there are
Al, 219 inhabitants, and more than $500
voters In order that they may vote
quietly, and that, so far as practicable, ev-
cry chance of trouble may be removed,
there should be several voting precincts.
In Baltimore there are eighty polling
places, an average of one to $50 voters.
In Augusta, Ga, there are four, or one
poling-place to every $50 voters. In
Philadelphia there is one TO every 300
voters, and in New York the proportion
is about the same But in Savannah, in
the county of Chatham, in Georgia, where
there are 1000 more colored voters than
white, Democratic ordinance requires
that more than 10000 votes shall be de-
posted at one place within the voting
hours of the day
The purpose Of such plan is evident.
The country vote OF the county is chiefly
colored. In order to vote, large numbers
of colored voters must lose their days
work and come from one TO fifteen miles
to the polling place, which is the Court
House in Savannah. 1t is simply impos.
sible, with such an arrangement, that the
whole vote, or any considerable portion OF
it, can be polled; and the arrangement is
designed to reduce the colored vote. This
is not the violence of the Ku- Klux or of
the White League, but 1t is practically
violence, and virtual disfranchisement
Of citizens. And this is, OF course, the
work OF Democrats. Such also is the ex.
clusion Of the colored citizens from the
jury lists. Both facts reveal the feeling
from which, inevitably, constant and in.
Vulnerable expressions spring. One
thing, and one only, holds this spirit in
check. That is the national supremacy
OF the Republicans. With Democratic
restoration the "mild intimidation"
would tend to become as absolute as the
patrlarchal" authority OF slavery
Harpers Weekly.