Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1878-12-19

THE LAST PoLITIcAL SENSATION
The political sensation Of the past week
was the promised speech of Senator
Blaine on The Southera outrage question
which had been described by admiring
friends rs a thunderbeIt about to strike
the "tiick rolundity OF the earth" and
shake the Southern Cross from its orbit.
Such miserable affairs as democracy
and solid South were TO be broken by
the fell stroke into very little pieces
and scattered 10 the four winds. Well,
the lhunderbolt has been launched. and
Astonishing as il may seem, earth and
cross and sold South are still 10 be found
in their old places and even democracy
70 as rampant as ever. II is the old,
old story--lolty pronuncIamento and
miserable performance. Indeed, IL the
whole truth must out, Mr.. Blaine is not
asuccess in launching thunderl OTIS
Some of his bolts don't strike at all.
while others, though well aimed, RI
ciockei and strike back with terrible eff
feet. Our present concern is chiefly
with the latter. His proposition that
The Southern negro votes under duress
he fails TO prove by any thing entitled
to be called evidence. lie asserts il,
indeed, but assertion is not proof and,
even if il were, an assertion by Blaine
is not entitled 10 count. He is OF bad
reputation for veracity as bis friend Null
ligan will testify TO at any moment
II, therefore. the Southern negro votes
under duress, the fact. il il be TACT,
cannot be proved by mere assertion,
much less by the assertion Of a man
like Blaine. But Blaine's figures, which
60 TO prove the inequality Of represen-
taiive strength North and South are
unworthy Of consideration for the reas-
on that they show no anomalies IN the
political organization ofthe South which
are not just as strongly marked in the
case ofStales at the North. In Ala
bama, North Carolina and Mississippi,
for instance, says the N. Y. World, the
Democratic legislatures have so run the
lines that every district but one is Dem
Ocratic by small but sufficient major
ity. while the Republicans are packed
into one district, which they do not sl-
ways carry. Last month, for example,
they ran two negroes in the Second
North Carolina and were beaten. OF
course this increases the unrepresented
element. which is always large under
the system Of majority representation,
but il will be interesting to see the
Democrats OF the South attacked on this
head by members of that party which
in New York has for years refused 10
perform q duty peremptorily prescribed
by the constitution, and which in In
diana has SO arranged the districts that
the Republicans carried nine out of
thirteen, though they were in q very
considerable minority of the popular
vote. Gerrymandering at least is not
Southern invention. Mr.. Blaine com
plains that South Carolina, Mississippi
aud Louisiana, with population which
he coOlly assumes to be Republican"
because in the matter of races il stands
at 81 per cent. colored TO 46 white, re-
turn seventeen Democratic Congress-
men. Bless the mans soul, Massa-
ehusetts and Michigan return nineteen
Republican Congressman and but one
Democrat, though the figures show
there are no assumptions here-that
81 per cent. ol The voters in those States
are anti-RepubIicanl in New York it
takes something over 1900 Repub-
licans to elect Congressmanandsome-
thing over 81 800 voters OF other polit-
zeal beliefs to DO The same thingi Ev-
cry Republican voter in New York has
three and half times as mach power
end influence as every snti-Repubhcan
voter. II is an axiom in politics that
under the majority system the minori-
~ sanishes utterly--is ieft unrepresen-
ted--and in any country or assembly
the corrective Is found IN the accidents
Of distribution. Where hundreds OF
thousands of democrats, constituting