Daily Republican., 1878-12-13
FIRST EDITION.
seUTMEaH shLLpOsINS.

Hos. y. Blame In tne senate q
the Uaited Ntstos. December lish
1878.
Mr.. President The pending resolu
ton was offered BY me with two-fol'
purpose in view: .
Pirst, To place on record, In def
mite and authentic form, the frauds snt
outrages by which some recent election
we're carried by the Democratic party II
the Southern States.
Second, To find II there be any meth
cd by which repetition Of thes,
crimes against q free ballot may be pre-
vented.
The newspaper Is the channe
through which the people ofthe United
States are informed Of current events
and the accounts given in the press
represent the elections in some OF tht
southern States to have been accomps
MED by violence; in net few cases
reaching the destruction Of life; to have
been controlled by threats that awed
and intimidated = large class Of voters;
to have been manipulated by fraud Of
the most shameless and shameful de.
scrption.
Indeed In South Carolina there seems
to have been no election at all In any
proper sense Of the term. There was,
instead, . series Of skirmishes over the
State, in which the polling places wer,
regarded as forts, to bs captured by one
party and held against the other, an
where this could not be done with con,
Venience, frauds in the count and It's
.us.ballot devices were resorted to, in
order to effectually destroy the voice of
the majority. These. in brief, are the
accounts given in the non partisan press
Of the disgrac-ful outrages that attend
ed the recent elections, and, SO far as
have seen, these statements are without
serious contradiction. 1t is but Just and
fair to all partiesf however, that an
impartial investigation Of the facts shall
be made by committee Of the Senate,
proceeding under the authority OF law
representing the power Of the nation.
Hence my resolution.
The issue thus raised before the coun.
uy, Mr.. President, Is not one OF mere
sentiment for the rights Of the negro
though far distant be the day when
the rights ofany American citizen, how
ever black or however poor, shall form
The mere dust Of the balance In any
Nor is the issue one that
involves the waving OF the "bloody
shirt" to quote the elegant vernacular
of Democratic vituperation; nor still
llrther il the issue, as now presented,
only question Of the equality Of the
black voter Of the South with the Whit
roter Of the South. The issue, Mr.. re-
,Iient, has taken a far wider range
,ue Of portentous magnitude-snd that
h, whether the white voter of the North
shall be equal to the white voter Of the
south in shaping the policy and fixing
he destiny Of this country, or wheth.
II, to put II still NOR ttl1ly, the
shits man who fought IN IT," ranks OF
he Union army shall hav" a.. weighty
md influential a vote ~ 'h. Govern
asnt Of the Republi. -'u, white man
rho fought in the ranR, Of the rebel
rmy. The one fought to uphold, the
thsr to destroy, the Union OF the
tat.s, and to-day he who fought to de-
troy is far mere important factor in
10 Government Of the nation than he
no fought to uphold II.
Let me illustrate my meaning by com.
airing groups Of States Of the same re-
strength North and South.
AXE tue States of South Carolina, Mis-
ssppi, and Louisiana. They send
.ventesn Representatives to Congress.
heir aggregate population Is composed
ten hundred and thirty five thous- !.
I'd whites, and twelve hundred and
renty four thousand colOred; the col !
'rd being nearly two hundred thous
nd in excess Of the whites. OF the
'venteen Represe natives, then, it is .
'ident that nine were apportioned to
lese States by reason Of their colored
,pulation and only eight by reason v
their white population; and yet in f
e choice Of the entire seventeen Rep 5
the cOlored voters had no "
ore voice or power than their Remote h
Adred on the shores of Seneg rmbia II
On the Gold Coast. .
The ten hundred and thirty-five q
onsand white people had the sole p
ID absolute choice Of the entire seven
an Representatives. In contrast, take IL
. States in the North, Iowa and II
Isconsin, with seventeen Representa- /. II
es. They have a white population " y,
two million two hundred and forty u
zen thousand--considerably more
an double the entire white population Of
the three Southern States / have ID
med. In Iowa and Wisconsin, there 70
e, it takes one hundred and thirty 81
thousand white population to send 10
to Congress, but in IN
nth Carolina, Mississippi and Lou hi
ana every sixty thousand white peo- 81
send representative. In other hi
rds, sixty thousand white people in to
sc Southern States have precisely tn
same political power in the govern te
ut of the country that one hundred la
thirty-two thousand white people of
We in Iowa and Wisconsin. m,
AXE another group of seventeen Re- ol
from the South and from 30
North. Georgia and Alabama have ie'
'hte population of eleven hundred Ve
fifty eight thousand and colored N. ~.
'nIation of ten hundred and twenty tM
lsand. They send seventeen re- ae'
to Congress, ofwhom nine
e apportioned on account of the
te population and eight on account
he colored population. But the col.
voters are not able to choose a sin ,,a