Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-05-12
WAKING UP TO THE TRUTH.

a ONC1 NAlIil ItiC MOOl HIS DcCH lIlO,
0 successfully pulled by the carpe
: baggers we can only wish that tn
editor of the Herald had extende
. his illustration to this State, wher
| the people under Democratic rule
2 have deliberately assumed as a deb
the school fund which was stole
under Republican auspices, and ar
. now paying interest upon it, tn
: proceeds being impartially devote'
to the education of black and white
The negro under Democratic rul
is better offsimply because he is bet
ter employed than he was under tn,
Radicals, who used him simply a
a voting machine without references
to his own prosperity or that of the
State.
THEUNEAsINESSA ABOUTTHESOUTH
Nothing is more remarkable in
the political thought and prejudice
of the country than the real uneasi-
ness with which the Presidents
Southern policy is regarded by q
considerable number of honest and
sincere members Of the Republican
party. We do not now allude to
fanatics like Mr.. Wendell Phillips
or self-seeking politicians of the type
of Mr.. Blaine, but to men who are
not in political life, who vote, and
! TubO ho,,a-,fIx, xxyiCI1 vuoIl 4Othn an,,x,
try. We do not mean to over esti-
mate the extent Of the uneasiness of
which we speak, and we do not be-
! lieve it is very yfar-reaching; but it is
remarkable that it should eXista at all,
because the whole history Of what
is called theSOuthern question shows
that the policy which President
Hayes has carried out in regard to
South Carolina and Louisiana has
worked well inall the other States in
which it was before applied. 1t
seems to be entirely forgotten by
the public that Mr.. Hayes has not
really begun a new policy: he' has
only completed in regard to two
States what in the course of years
has been done by his predecessor or
by Congress in relation to all the
other Southern States, and has
everywhere been followed by peace,
order and a revival of industry.
A survey of the whole South shows
this to be absolutely true. OF the
cotton States Georgia was earliest
emancipated from carpet-bag rule
and federal military interference.
Georgia was always a strong Demo-
cratic State, and since its people
were relegated to local self-gOvern-
ment the Democratic party has con-
trolled all branches of the State gov
ernment. What has been the prac-
tical result upon the cOlored people?
The negroes of Georgia to-day own
and pay taxes on more real estate
than is owned by all the blacks of
all the other cotton States together.
That certainly is not a bad sign.
Again, the Democratic majority in
the Georgia Legislature has every
year appropriated as large a sum to
the colOred university at Atlanta as
they gave to the old and honored
State University at Milleageville.
Georgia before the war had no free
school system the Democrats have
fostered the free schools since they
resumed control of the State, and
have taken care that the cOlOred peO-
pie should have their full and fair
share of the schools; and this, be it
remembered, although very much
the greater part OF the school tax is
paid by the whites. All this surely
does not look bad.
But it is sometimes urged that the
negro vote does not appear in nearly
its full strength In Georgia; henceit
Is said there must be intimidation.
Those who argue thus hold, wrong
ly, that negro will always vote the
Republican ticket if he is allowed.
But not only is this notoriOusly false,
but it would be a serious calamity
if it were true. 1t would be to de
clare that the negro has developed
no political judgment since he was
made voter; that he remains only
a willing and blind machine in the
hands of a set of political leaders
who would be sure to be corrupted
by having such tools at their cons
mand. There are Democratic ne
groeS in Georgia as well as other
Southern States where military in
reference has ceased, but their num-
berS do not account for the actual
absence of large negro vote in
many counties. This is caused in a
different way. The Republicans,
directly after the war while they
controlled the State, gave it a con-
stitutiOn some of whose features are
excellent, Among Qthers they pro-
Vided that every Voter shall pay
poll tax and that he shall not vote
unless it Is paid, Now, the cOlOred
people have not become accustom-
ed to paying taxes. They evade
this one by keeping their names off
the poll lists, and naturally the
Democrats take care to exact tho
tax if any one Wishes to vote. The
Republican politicians, while they
held the State, used TO provide a
fund from which the negro voters
poll tax was paid ; but they can no
longer affnrd to do this, Hence the
disappearance Of large negro vote,
the white Republicans of Georgia
being a demQralized minority, not
at peace among themselves and
numbering not much more than five
TnOuSSNlQ.
We have spoken at some length
of Georgia, because what is true of
that State is true of others. There
has been doubtless in Georgia in
other years more or less hash treat
ment of negroes by whites but the
result of this was a negro emigra-
| tion 10 other States, which presently
reached such dimensions as to make
| labor scarce, whereupon the blacks
who remained found themselves
more pleasantly situated. Thesame
/ is true of Alabama; and surely
while the black man has In any
State equal justice, equal school priv
eleges, the ability to acquire and
hold property, and the undisputed
and constantly exercised right to
emigratc if he finds himself uncOm-
Portable, the sensible part Of the
Northern people will ask no more
for him.
The most remarkable fact in the
recent history of the Southern States
is the instant and complete cessation
of political disturbances, murder,
! and lawlessness which has followed
upon the stoppage of federal milf
tary interference. Arkansas, for in
stance, was so given over to lawless-
ness under the carpet-bag rule that
Republicans declared constantly
that they would not dare remain in
that State if Congress did not Oust
/ 4I,o nanooarafio CpxrarupP Ctariapd