Litchfield enquirer., 1876-12-14

The ahse spPeal to candid Republicans sa azr er<A pee ss one that everyone de- ssruns of forming a candid judgment sAuzsa ruma- lk expresses the feeling of mxzT eazssezkzO9s Republicans relative Sa kae euz1zek of Southern Republican Rxe=r=Eax Boards. especially that of Lou HzsmnA No intelligent observer of affairs n shzA SkzAe for the pas. four years has Srur asuheed that, whatever the honest vske uSxAk be. the politicians who have euzkraa of the Republican party there wuua sec that majority was returned fs< aH the Repablican candidates provid- @a shey eoaH be reasonably certain their axEssa woz1 nOt be rep1diated by the su- P@rSs< @or@l1sy of the Republican party NaxtA I kas heretofore been the habit q Noxshexz Republican journalist and sszseaz4a to say very hard things of the LgzMSA1A brother. A Republican Sen ase rsfzsed to allow Pinchback a seat 1zsag then. and the Northern Republi- ezz Pxsss has given utterance to the kaxxhezs truths about the Kellogg govern menk Even the New York Times. now oa tAe opposite tack, once spoke of it as fuE1gw<-
 The government of William Pitt Kel- Eaww in Ls0aisl9na is one which we have u<xEx been able to defend Durelrs de- csaSaa. whseh aided ID establishing it, was a ozGrge The conduct of the returning haarl which declared it elected was dis kn1ezk- The taxztion since 1872 has been aRA1kr@xy and oppressive. Legislation hzs In hundreds of cases been a shameful EnreH. Districts have been represented hy wea who never saw them The small rSwxnze gIezned from the impoverished p~0pAe has been diverted to improper ussA
 The setiOn of the present returning beard ln 1874 was repudiated by House es1n1ktee of which Mir. Wheeler, our prssent candidate for the Vice Presidency waa member; and, till recently, the LssaExzAnA Republican was the undeniable hAaek sheep of a party that did not quite un1nf1Ozsly acknowledge the guilt of CaatAx. of Shepherd. or BabcOck. Now, car dlz-~patabls Southern brother comes ts gs OGeging the Presidency of the Uni ted States. provided we will accept his 1eehoa of carrying elections. Can we aEaud to do fhiss To answer this ques- ten IateIIigently we must glance at the history and results of Southern Recon ssxuckion-
 We have no space for a sketch of the Q4axreAs be4Ween Andrew Johnson and . Republican Congress. They resulted In the adoption of Reconstruction by Uni vsx<Al SaGzge. unrestricted by property Oe SaacaslOOAl qualifications. We still believe that this was the best of all avail able methods of immediate RecoEstruc- ts0a- Its prime evil lay in the ignorance and poverty of the newly enfranch;sed freSa@ea- Their ignorance led to their giving their votes to unprincipied dema- g0gass. and their poverty made them careless of the financial ruin and burden some taxation that have characterized tAs Fegsne of the carpet-bagger. Where ever the white vote had a numerical ma IorSty. universal suffrage has event. 1@flT FssAt~a Ste own --~-o-. -l,nt S1 three of these states in which the negro vOae is m a clear majority over the whlte. these terrible evils have been per- Pet1Ated through years of misgovernment sach as would have shocked the Northern sense of justice into attempting some rem- say, had it not been deadened by the hos. tSls feelings engepdered by the recent war. and by the political advantages the Republican party derived from the SUD- port of their Southern partisans.
 In truth the worst tyranny under the sun Is the tyranny of a majority that has neither property nor intelligence over a minority that has both. It is vastly more destructive than the counter tyranny of tle wealthy and intelligent minority, be- cause the latter certainly does afford that protection to life and property which the former refuses. True statemanship, recog. nlzing the utter failure of universal suf- frsge to give good government in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi, would have thrown those states into tel |. ritorial form till such time as the spread of intelligence and the acquisition of prop- erty among the black majority should war rant the experiment of self government. 4 few statesmen like Charles Sumner saw this necessity. but the Republican politi- clans of Grants first term neglected to ap- ply tas remedy when it could have been safely done.
 We at the North have little idea of the awful destruction Carpet Baggery has wrought in the''prostrate South" The ex- ecutiOn of a thousand of her principal clt- izens for treason would not have injured Louisiana to the extent that she has suffer- cred from local misgovernment since the war. There can be no revival of pros- perity in New Orleans while the @yranny of Carpet Baggery continues to impov- erish its people. The white minority would have gladly accepted military government instead. No such relief was allowed them. They struggled ferociously with their tormeutors, and slaughtered thousands Of blacks, but to no purpose. The nation al government put down the Ku Klux and forced the men of property and intel. ligence into subiection to a government O. their former slaves. oficered by carpet baggerss It was as complete social rev. Olntionas that of France in 1793. Find- ing that force would not avail them against tyranny supported by superio, force. the white minority tried fraud. They corrupted Yarmouth. and seemed on the point of success when Durell's il. legal injunction, and Grants soldiers. in. terferel to keep the carpet bagger in power.
 So far wA hava u,aralv raooo;t-I1ol