Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-11-30

~. v.snting some Of thoes troublesome iDdl-
viduals-men of political convictions, who
wished to know how its adoption was TO sf-
feet the status Of the republican party in
the cotton States. The oft repeated assur-
snoes that an era Of peace and prosperity
Of universal good feeling would follow were
not quite satisfactory. They had been Re
publicans from the dawn Of manhood
They had fought, suffered and hazzarded
their lives for the cause Of liberty, for lne
preservation Of the Union and the oontinu.
suee and dominance of the principles ol
the nartv with which they were conhec'eu'
and very naturally, they wanted some as
.,,,.,,oa that all their efforts and sacrInces
were not to be lost. Some OF our Poiitleal
friends like Stanley Mathews Tor instance,
raoogpizipg the fairness Of this petition,
,ndertook the work of paeifcation. They
,-otssted that the Inauguration Of ''the pol
;cvv was the great political movement of
the age. The rights Of citizenship we're to
be secured to the weak and friendless, and
hat the backbone of southern democracy,
would be virtually broken, and the old
wings where to see the day so long looked
for when they could turn their backs upon
the old Bourbons and JOIN hands with their
struggling Republican friends, in the eff
fort to crush out the last-ditch rebel ele-
ment. The promises to the Republican
straight-outs are not fully borne out, and
they doubt now as they did in the begin
ming, yet they have tried to be patient.
Weeks and months have gone by and still
we see no signs of that disintegrstion OF
the southern democracy. The compromise
on the speakership, has not honored the ex-
pectstions and prediction. and as to ad-
ministration Democrats in the house, they
have not come forward, and in the senate
menace and persecution has secured one
vote to the minority side, and a promise oil
immunity from criminal punishment mas
added the second producing either tie
in that bodv. or transferring the majority
from the Republican tothe Demoeratic slde
of the chamber. The leaders Of the domi-
naut party in the cotton States have simply
accepted as a right every concession made
by the Republican President, They have
given nothing in return. The old Wings
have not made their appearance, the Dem
ocrats are more united than ever before,
'the solid south" is no longer what it was
called political bugbear, it is stern polit-
ical reality. In Georgia and Mississippi
the Republican Party has been officially
buried; in South Carolina it exists no long
er, even in name; in Louisiana its disorgan-
ication is complete. 1t withstOod all the
terrors of the White League, the bullets of
the Rife Clubs, and the whips of the bull
dozer; in spite of Hamburg. Coushatta,
Victsburg, &c. Its members went to the
polls and voted for the principles they loved
so well, but at last they we're obliged to
yield to a power greater than any they had
faced before, They suecumbed to ''the re-
Cancellation policy" and they are heard of
no more in the field of politics.
In the face of this years elections it
would be useless to attempt to conceal the
fact that the Republican Party of the South
has been snnihilated. As a political force
it ceased to exist some months since. AT
the last election it ceased to be even polit-
ical factor. One year ago the Republican
sentiment of the Southern States-and we
do not include Maryland, Kentucky, or Mis-
souri-was represented byupward of nine
hundred thousand votes for Rutherford B.
Hayes. At the recent elections the party
placed no candidates in the field, and as an
organization deposited no votes in the bal
lot-boxes. The much abused "carpet-bag-
gers" was not heard Of, and ''the political
niggers" wisely declined to go to the polls.
In the Mississippi and Virginia State cleo
tions, the Republican Party did not appear.
In the former State there are at least So, 900
men who profess Republican principles, but
in tho election referred to they did not, as
an organization, cast one vote for State of
fcers. The Democrats carried the State by
majority of about one hundred thousand.
Mississippi's next Legislature will be a har-
monious body. The Senate, consisting of
thirty-six members, is unanimously Demo
cratic, and of the one hundred and twenty
members of the lower house, one hundred
and eighteen are Democrats and two are
Republicans. The seats of the latter are
contested, however, and they will probably
have to wait some time for their pay and
mileage,
1t viii be remembered that there was an
Independent movement in Mississippi,
which originated some time before the last
election, and which was pointed to at the
time as direct outgrowth of ''the new pol
icy" 1t was controlled, as we are told, by
lifelong Democrats, gentlemen Of high
standing, native of the State, who approved
the course of the President, and desired to
support him. They were to unite with the
Republicans, protect the freedmen in their
political rights, and break up the Democ-
racy. How they succeeded may be inferred
from the vote, and from the fact that after
they announced their purpose they were re-
garded as little better than the negroes, and
treated with about the same consideration.
Two Of then were murdered in the good
old Kuklux fashion, snumber were obliged
to seek safety in fight, and in nearly every
instance their candidates were forced to
withdraw before the day of election. 1t is
only just to add that the canvass in Virgin
ia was remarkably peaceable one. The |
negroes did not go near the polls and no
riots are reported. OF course, the election |
was perfectly free and fair. There were
seven Republican votes cast in Petersburg
and thraa in Richmond