Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1877-09-28

HEnALD favors the restriction Of sal-
irage 10 the white race, and is even
willing that sha South should i0reg0
the increased representation 10 Con.
gresB which she achieved by the negro
being made q citizen. The C0ustitu-
liOnal Amendments stand an INSOFAR.
able barrier 10 the sec mpliahment Of
such q design, and we say let them
stand, aud stand forever.-fMemphis
Appeal.
The Appeal iS wrong in suppOsIng
that We wish the Acknowledgement of
the negroes, because they r negroes.
The vast majority Of the negroes are
extremely ignorant, and utterly inca
pable. therefore, Of 8 wise and judlcious
exercise Of the right Of suffrage. There
are some. few whites In the same fix;
we would make no distinction between
them. We think q person who has the
privilege given him by the State to fit
himself to capably exercise the right
Of suffrage, and who neglects to do II,
ought 10 be disfranchised. In other
words, we would be delighted to see
Mississippi adopt an educational quail.
iicAtion as g requisite to the vote.
While 1t Is certainly uuconsti-
tullonal to d~isfranchise q person
because he lie black and
smells badly, 1t is net u~ucOnstitu.
tional 10 ~dlsfranchise him IL be is 9
fool, no matter whether he 10 a black
fool or q white fool. HOrdes Of igno.
ramuses invested with the right to rule
over other peoples property lie not a
pleasant spectacle, Jet that 10 the con.
dltiOn Of Mississippi and several other
Of the cotton States at this very day.
It is not because they have used their
ballots wisely that the State 10 to-day
tolerably well governed It is because
by supsrhumsn efforts the intelligent
people have prevented these hordes
from destroying the public interests.
But these efforts cannot he kept up, be.
cause those capable Of voting will
sooner or later differ on political ques.
tiOns. When that happens the igno.
ramusss will hold the balance OF power.
For these reasons we believe the i'm
mense power of The ballot ought not
to be inlrusted 10 unsAfe hands. We
are in favor Of preventing all who
cannot read aud write, regardless Of
race, color, or previous condition Of
servitude, from voting. This could be
done by Mississippi without her VIC
lating any of the amendments 10 the
Constitution, and we hope she will do
It.
All Of our prominent thinkers agree
that the right Of suffrage 10 dangerous
ly extended In the Cotton StateP, but
too many Of them argue that these
States cannot afford TO abridge the
right, because II would cut down our
representation In Congress. This, In
our opinion, is a shallow, uusOuud ar
gument. II the dangerous voters are
never 10 have any Influence in the af-
fairs OF State, 1t would Dc, but
this will not be the case, aud
when they do have influence, that
influence will divide u representation
In Congress, II is far better, therefore,
to have a smaller representation
that will be reliable and not divided
against itself, than II is 10 have a large
one, a portion Of which will not be re-
liable. There Is a good deal of clap
trap aud demagOgism about this cry
for the South TO hold on to her in
creased representation. The cry is
born of a spirit Of sectionallsm, just as
If 1t would always be the best policy
for the South TO nurse this sectional
feeling, and array her representation
in Congress against the Northern rep
r~eseutation. We have suffered untold
evils from ignorant suffrage, and If we
can partially remedy the wrong, we
will not act wisely II we fail 10 do 1t.