St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-05-11
Ruled by Unintelligence.

The article following from the able
pen of DR.. d. ID. Whed0n relates to
the Southern Intimidation" of cOlored
voters:
When our Southern brethren exclaim
"We are Overslaughed with mass OF
unintelligent voters We are a pros
trate state calling for mercy" we ap-
preciate and deeply sympathize with
their case.
But let us turn the table. We are
here in New York Overslaughed with as
terrible mass of enfranchised ignor-
ance and depravity as any state in the
South. We would gladly swap our
Northern Irish for the Southern Negro
dom. We would gladly say, for the
city of New York, to the city of Charles
ton, '"Take our Irishmen and give us
your negroes" Reverse twenty thou
sand ignorant, foreign, papistical Irish
votes in these cities, and Tilden would
not have had the ghost of chance. 1t
would then be, GAS go these votes, so
goes New York State, and so goes the
nation.n Here let us unite our hearts,
brethren of the South and North, and
say this is terrible danger and wrong
ing to us of the North is the knowledge
that. this arbitrative vote is directed by
foreign power, with no interest in the
real good of the country. The demo
cratic party of our state is governed by
the Irishry, the Irishry by the priest
and the priest by the pope; and when
the state is governed by the democracy
it is, in an unknown degree, governed
by a foreign power, directing the vote
not for the cOuntry's interest, but fOl
that foreign interest. More than one
entire half of the democratic State Con,
vention of our empire State" was Irisl
Catholics. And to this foreign vote, us
opposed to the sO-called ''republicaI
party" must he added the organized
''liquOr interest," which holds that party
as temperance party. And thus al
the present moment it is popery anG
whisky, Rome and rum, which over
slaughs the temperate, intelligent Ma,
tive population of the great state OF
New York.
To a democratic friend who was
bOasting that there would be "a solid
South" we replied, ''If we should shoot
down Irishmen as faciIely as the South
| cTDeTS CdIl SIOOt uOWn 'nlSBefS we
could have a solid NOrth.n But that
we are not likely ever to do. We have
another remedy more becoming repub-
licans and Christians. Our purpose is
not to fight it, nor violently disiranchise
it, but to educate it. Our remedy is
not ''rifle companies" but schools and
churches and temperance societies. Let
us renOunce this policy of violent dis
franchisement. Drop the ''shot gum
and take up the spelling book.
The South says to the North, You are
trying to rule as through oar uninteH-
gence. The North replies, You haa e long
ruled as through our uninteIHgence
What is the remedy? A union between
the intelligence of North and South, by
which, with oppression to none, intelli-
gence shall maintain it's ascendency.
We call for a parley. Let the good
people of the North and South under
stand each other. With our native,
educated, temperate, Christian national
people, is the power to control, if, for
getting sectional fights, they will unite.
Back of our present cohOrt of politicians
there is people that can rule in the
interest of advancing civilization, if
they can only attain unanimity. Let
the churches lead in this path of
peace. Let interchange and intercourse,
courtesy and kindness, take place. Let
the fatal antithesis between North and
South be abolished.