The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-11-28
WHO is REYIYING THE
SOUTHERN QUESTION:

without sectional appeals. The argu
ment throughout was confined al
most exclusively to the financial ques
ton. There was no disposition Il
wave the bloody shirt, nor in am
way TO revive issues that were assum
ed to be settled. Indeed, it was Thu
attitude of the Republican party
that secured the great victory. Many
Democrats either staid at home O.
voted the Republican ticket because
they saw and believed that the South.
ern question was at last eliminated
from practical politics. If it has re.
appeared, therefore, those Democrats
will agree that it is not by any fault
of Republicans; and they will beat
least they ought to be-willing to
look at the matter fairly, and decide
whether the re appearance is not due
TO the conduct of their fellcw-parti-
sans in the Southern States. Upon
pledges" and promises" which may
or may not have been made by Gov
errors or any body else, there is no
need of wasting a thought. No ac-
ton of the Administration has been
founded upon such ~pretenses, because
any such action would have been a
mere bargain, and d~lsgraceful to all
concerned. There seem to be some
persons who really believe that the
Administration took certain steps
upon somebody's assurance hat he
would try to make somebody else do
his duty. The fact is that the Ad-
mipistration did in tile Southern
States only what the Constitution re-
re~guired-no more and no less. 1t
hoped, of course, in common with all
good citizens, that the conduct of the
of those States would
show a sincere Willingness to respect
equal rights, and avoid all just cause
of sectional difference. 1t has been
derided for its Cancellation" as if it
were its especial duty TO foster dis
sension; and there are those who ap-
parently suppose that if the Admins
tration had not ordered the troops to
their barracks in 1877, the elections
Of 1873 would have been perfectly
harmonious and honest, n~otwithstand-
ing the fact that in 1876, before this
Administration existed, murders,
beHdoBing, and terror at the polls
were indisputable.
II is undeniable, we repeat, that
the strictly constitutional action Of
the Administration and the Republi-
can conduct of the late political cam
paign had persuaded many persons
that the southern question was foru-
at an end. But in a union of
States like ours it will not be denied
Ilso, that free and honest elections in
every State are the concern of all the
and that any class or party
which destroys that freedom is Justly
obnoxious to honest citizens of every
party every where in the country.
The reasons Of this ale obvious. It is
a Democratic tradition and it is a Re-
publican principle, confirmed by the
Congressional approval of the decis
on of the ELECTORAL Commission,
hat disputes about the ELECTORAL vote
S State must be settled by the
State itself. But if the result should
depend upon the vote of a single
State, and if in that State there had
oeen an open, hagant, notorious sup
preston of the freedom of election by
error or fraud, the experience of the
asst election shows how critical the
satioual situation might become.
This is precisely the situation which
he Democratic action in the late
,ampaign in some of the Southern
States is preparing. This is the re
opening Of the Southern question by
Democrats, and which hon
st Northern Democrats are bound
see is not the work of "carpet- bag
,ers," "scalawags," or "scoundrels"
# the Republican party. Such hon.
st Democrats know that if their par
y associates in those Southern
States had allowed q fair vote at the
ate elections, the Southern question
yonld have disappeared. If it has
lot disappeared, but on the contrary,
revived, it is because Southern
Democrats have prevented a fair
in Louisiana, according to q cor
espondent of the Tribune, the Cad
Parish has a registered eolored
majority of 1000. 1t gave 900 Re-
publican majority in 1876. II now
ives 1000 Democratic majority.
Parish has 300 registered
White voters, and in 1876 it gave
700 Republican majority. 1t now
ives a Democratic majority. Red
River Parish is the scene of the Cous-
massacre, and has been con-
Republican since 1870. This
ear there were practically no Repub-
ican votes cast. O~uacbita, which
gave q smaller Republican ma
than sou, cast exactly - Re-
'ublican votes at the late election, In
not a single Republican
,as cast. In other parishes
ublican vote was practical$$
ED. No intelligent man WI
hat this a mere political trid
trick was never heard of ID
+ is merely a desperate
,hen the fact of systematic
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