The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1876-06-25
THE NEGRO IN THE PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN
LIN. Y. Exchanged

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, and
while released from one form of slavery re-
| manded to other evils, they at Last have
had their eyes opened, and will DO longer
obey the orders of their late POLITICAL mas
| terra.
The thievery of the carpet baggers, who
| stoe from white and black promIscuousiy,
and the plumber of the Freedman's Bank
by Grants W ashington Ring and their pious
confederatee, have alienated THE conf1d1Dg
people from their accustomed leaders,
| and brought them to q sense of the frauds
and vilainy of which they have 80
| long been the victims. They have come to
see that the policy Of the Republicans in ex-
citing prejudice against their old masters,
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. Consequently
there has been a great reaction all over the
South, aud at no time since the rebellion
closed have the relations between the two
races been as good as they now are.
The day that the army was withdrawn
from the South as a ruling element by the
roud demand of Northern oprion, the car
pet baggers, scalawags, and adventnrers,
who held their power by the support of the
military alOne, were crushed out boy opo
any hope of recovery. So long as they
could call for troops from Washington, and
hold them subject to the orders of partisan
marshals and managers, the negroes sup
posed naturally enough thatthey represen-
ted the Government, as they were backed
by it. When that ymboi Of authority wac
removed, the whole fabric of knavery aod
violence fell to pieces. The blacks are tim:d,
gregarious, and supersttious, and iG re-
CURED nothing more than this sudden
change of circumstances to emancipate
them from their political bondage, and to
open up TO their limited horiz IN new and
better prospects for the future.
This is the true explanation of the re-
markable revolution in parties il Missis-
sippi and other Southern States. The col
ored people rushed over to the Democratic
side by tens of thousands when they saw
that Ames and his crew were no longer
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 ne
groes, and especially while the Admins
tra:ion courted them, are now seeking to
accom- % odate themselves to the new de-
parture, and make no secret of their hOstll-
ity to Grant, Casey, Packard, Kellogg, and
others of that stamp. Pinchback's speech
at Cincinnati served notice on them that
their former connections were severed,
and that hereafter bic race meant to look
after it's own interests.
The South is lost irretrievably to the Re-
publican party, anO even oouLn C6TOilDh
cannot be cou ted with any certainty, for
the causes which swept Mississippi away
from the clutches of TOgues and pubic
plunderers are now operating vigorously
in South Carolina. The fraude, broken
promises, receptions, cheating and rascAh
tiee of the Repub iican leaders 10 Congress,
and their emissaries in the Sontb, together
with the treachery of the Administration,
have diegusted the race and forced 1t 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
owner and the laborer will come together
| by a natural law, which makes them mu-
| tually dependent. In few years the South
| will be more prosperous than at any for
mer time in it's history, and this prosper
| ity will be one of its chief elements OF
strength and unity.
| While the war was apparently the great
est calamity that ever befel the South, it ia
destined to be its greatest blessing, mater
tally aud morally. Adversely has made la
Dor honorable among what wac once the
governing class. Emancipation has raised
the negro to higher plane. Between the
| two the salvation of the South is rendered
sure. Already manufactures have sprung
| np in various States, and when the present
| financial strain has passed away, they will
be multiplied by abundant capital, eager
| to embark in these profitable enterprises.