National Republican., 1876-10-04
WHAT REFORM MEANS.
Tcen,inved from First Pass.i

remedy, and the electioE must be abandoned.
Tie Government has some able and patriotic
legal officers in the Southern States, but they
are enyironed with difficulties. In view of the
extraordinary condition Of political affairs in
the South,
TIRE QUESTION IS NOW GRAvELY PRESENTED
whether the negroes shall be allowed to share
| in the election of the officers who are to ad-
minister the Government or not; or rather
| whether the dominant class, with property and
| with superior intelligence, in the South shall
| be allowed to deprive them and US Of their
right to vote. Shall we give It up, or shall We
| insist upon their right There are other poor
people, both North and South, who are also
ignorant. Shall they, 100, be deprived OF their
sufragea If we give 1t up in the South, we
create at once an aristocracy worse than that
which we had hoped was destroyed; for the
shareholders will have more political power
than they had when they owned the negroes.
Five slaves were counted in the scale of politi-
cal power as three freeman. Now they count
as five, SO that these masters will WELD two
fifths more power in the Federal Government
on account of the negroes now than they did
before the war.
The question for the people of the United
States to determine at the coming election is,
shall the fifteenth amendment be given up,
yielded to intimidation and fraud If yes, then
the instructions to the marshals of the United
GEdIeb 10 pIestIN6 Luc pcdCc VI JHt OulJOu
States at the polls were wrong. II you think
that poor men, If citizens, shall be allowed to
vote irrespective of race, color or previous con-
dition of servitude, and that 1t is
THE DUTY OF THE OFFICERS OF THE UNITED
STATES
to enforce the law in that behalf when posi-
BILE, then the circular to the marshals was
right, and was not untimely.
Gentlemen, we may fail to secure free vote
to the colorcd citizens. Intimidation may
have gone too far. The colored men may
have become demoralized. They may have
seen or heard of too many murders which
have gone uDnoticed and unpunished, to
be willing to risk their lives by going to the
polls and attempting to vote the Republican
ticket. We may not succeed in preventing
fraud and intimidation. Fellow citizens, the
safety and prosperity of the country requires
that the citizens of the United States should
be free to vote, according to the provisions of
the Constitution, whether they be of high or
low estate. The motives of the Southern
Democrats to make the South solid for the
Democracy are great. They desire, not with
out hope, to have the claims for rebel losses
of property by the late war, some time in the
future, allowed and paid. They desire to have
provision made for the rebel debt, and also for
their loss of slaves. If any of these things are
to be accomplished at all, they well know that
it must be through the agency of the Demo-
cratic party. They know that if the election
is carried by a solid South they will be ma
jority Of the Democratic party, and can
control it.
That same desperate purpose to prevent the
colored men from voting at The present elec-
tion extends to the permanent control or ex-
clusion of voters in the future. With the
Democratic party in power they might hope for
some or all of these things with the Repub.
lican party in power they have no such hope.
The stake they have in the result is great.
They will not hesitate to resort to desperate
measures to whit.
Fellow. citizens, are you ready to intrust the
government of this great county to such a
combination! Are you willing that minority,
by intimidation and fraud, shall make the
South solid for the Democracy against q di-
vided North, thereby enabling that minority Of
the South to rule both the North and South
and shape the destinies of the countryl This
is the great question we are to decide at the
coming election.