Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-12-13
Force and Fraud at the Sonth

THERE is friendly contest between
two counties of South Carolina for the
honor of carrying the Democratic ban
ner. Abbeville is rightfully Repub-
lican county; two-thirds of its inhabi-
tants are colored; it gave Republican
majority of 1900 in 1874; and two years
later, even under the pressure of the rifle
clubs and the Grading" arrangement
between some of the friends of Hamp-
ton and the supporters of Mr.. HAYES,
it could not be made to record Dem
ocratic majority of more than 200 on
the State ticket, This year only three
Radicals ventured to vote in the
whole county-or, to be more exact.
only three Radical votes were counted,
Fairfield County is still more decidedly
Republican than Abbeville. Three
fOurths of the inhabitants are colored.
The Republican voters in 1874 were.two
to one of the Democrats and HAYES
majority in the county in 1876 was be-
tween 800 and 900, the Republican vote
for many years past falling but little
below 5000. This month Fairfield
County returns not one Republican vote.
These facts speak for themselves.
Common sense tells us that there is alb
solutely only one way of accounting for
them, and it is an affront to our intelli-
gence to ask us to believe that results
so extraordinary could be brought
about by lawful means. Great and
sudden changes in the relative strength
of parties are sometimes wrought in
the fever of a popular uprising; but not
even in times of passion and excitement
is whole party instantly obliterated;
and these are quiet days. What has
been done with so much braga-
docio in Abbeville and Fairfield
has been done with less swag-
ger but equal effectiveness all
over the South. An arrogant minority
has seized possession of the Govern
ment and practically disfranchised the
greater part of the population, either
by driving them away from the polls,
or by grasping all the machinery of
election and declaring the result to suit
itself. Thus the Bourbon Democracy
has secured Solid South" at last, by
an operation which does not differ es-
| sentially from the method of revolu-
tionizing the Government pursued from
time immemorial in the South Ameri-
can republics.
This condition of things brings us
face to face with serious political
problem. For the present republican
form of government does not exist in
the Southern States. The principle OF
equal suffrage, upon which our whole
representative and federal system is
founded, has been set aside in favor OF
an oligarch of rifle-clubs, intimidators,
and ballot-box suffers, who calmly re-
fer to their lawless triumph as an 90 evi-
dence that the colored people, even
where they have the numerical ma
jority, cannot hold their own against
the superior intelligence, means and
courage of the whites" They pledge
themselves to retain the power they
have thus secured; and distinct notice
has been served upon the freed people
that their brief day of political inde.
pendence is over. They are to vote nc
more, unless they vote as their masters
bid them. Of course this usurpatior
must be fought down. 1t is not only an
invasion of the rights of the negro,
whom we are bound, by every consid
Grafton of humanity, gratitude anc
prudence, to protect, but it is a subver.
sion of the just balance of powers be-
tween the States, an intolerable in
fringement of the rights of the North
and menace to the stability of tn,
Union itself. The United States O
America will not be ruled by Wad,
Hampton's "Hunkadori Clubs. IN
Y. Tribune.