Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-01-28
0Miid intimidation"

In a late letter to the Herald, In which
he speaks very plainly, as q Methodist, OF
Bishop Haven and his recent speech, Mr..
Charles Nordhoff says, alluding 10 the
State of Georgia: al have tho 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
orcd 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 of the most valuable wit
nesses as to the Southern situation that
we have had, for he adds To a genuine
sympathy with the colored population au
Unusual faculty Of observation and great
candor Of judgment. Yet the remark that
we have quoted shows how very difficult
II 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. II is conceded that
in the Mississippi election, into which
Mr.. Morton proposes to inquire, there
was "mild intimidation" That is eu-
phemistic for preventing colored voters
from voting, and the method Of producing
hat result in Georgia Is worth attention.
In speaking last summer Of MIR. Nord-
hOff's account of Georgia, we called at.
tention TO two facts as showing the actual
sahalion the practical exclusion of col;
orcd citizens from juries, and the i'm
mcnse 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.
lation, at least, II is no Paradise. Order
reigned in Warsaw, but the Poles were
oppressed Notwithstanding. "Violence"
may he passive rs we'll as active. A
voter shot or harricd by the KuKlux is
treated with violence. But voter intcn-
tipnally 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 ,279 inhabitants, and more than 10000
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 100 voters.
In Augusta, Ga, there arc four, or one
polling-place to every $50 voters. In
Philadelphia there is one TO every 300
voters, and in New York the proportion
| is about the saihe 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; AMI the arrangement is
| designed to reduce the culored vote: This
is not the violence of the Ku-Klut or OF
the White League, but it is practically
violence, and virtual dislranchisement
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. Ono
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 "patri-
archal' authority of slavery.