The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-11-19
A Familiar Flguro.

That once familiar figure in American pol
tics, the Northern Dough.Face, has re-
appeared in force. For long time he was not
to be seen, and rumor spread round about
that he was dead. Apparently he was only
sleeping or retired for space from the cares
public life. But the prospect of official
patronage and plunder has brought him to
the front again. He believes that the bad
old times are about to return-the times when
the South governed the country, and literally
pensioned her Northern allies and apologists,
and he promptly puts in an appearance and
makes his claims known. His duty and de-
light are to defend all the bad deeds by the
South that are capable of defense, and fur
ther than that to take the role assigned to
the transcendental philosophers by one of
their bittetest critics, that of denying what
exists and explaining that which does not
exist. In this role he is happy and perfectly
at home. The Dough- Face is himself again.
The outrages practiced upon the Rspubli-
cans in Louisiana and South Carolina at the
November elections afford fine opportunity
for the display of his peculiar abilities. an op-
portunity he eagerly seizes upor-for will not
the solid South when it comes into power re-
ward him with lucrative positions in the
public service? When the killing of negroes
In Louisiana is brought to his attention he
either denies the killing or says the number
of the dead has been grossly exaggerated
only six negroes or some such trifing number
were murdered, instead Of ninety. as the
radical organs lyingly state. Besides it was
the fault of the negroes; they got themselves
killed in order to arouse bitter sectional
feeling in the North. 1t matters not that the
report of the United States District Attorney
shows that the whites were aggrsssors, that
several Louisiana parishes were dragooned by
armed bodies of white riders, that in Caddo
parish seventy-fve negroes were killed, and
in Tensas parish twelve, that the State was
terrorized in order to elect solid Democratic
delegation. Evidence, however good, has no
effect upon the Dough-Face. With the Eng
lish philosopher he says, $50 much the worse
for the facts" and goes on with his denias,
When the notorious ballot-box stuffing in
South Carolina is brought to his notice he re-
sorts to an explanation by assuming a state
of affairs that does not exist. He accounts
for the tissue-paper tickets by the assertion
that the negroes wished to secretly vote the
Democratic ticket-the fact being they were
all anxious to throw Republican ballots if
they could do SO with safety. When his at
tention is called to the fact that Oconee coun-
ty, which had but 1869 voters in 1870, gives
1000 Democratic majority this year, he says
the negroes stuffed the ballot boxes. But he
does not tell us how that could be done with
Democratic officials controlling the boxes, or
what became of the fraudulent ballots.
The Dough-Faee is pursuing his old tactics,
forgetful of the distress into which his prac-
tices have formerly led him. He will have
his memory refreshed presently, for the North
will turn upon him and cast him out as it has
done before. The spectacle Of solid South
produced by violence and fraud and defended
by Northern sycophants, will produce North
made well-nigh solid by the force of educated
public opinion and respect for law and Justice
Those who are now apologizing for negro
shooting and ballot-box stufing are commit
ting an old mistake and will suffer the penalty
of a loss of public confidence and relegation
to private station. The political party that
puts itself in the attitude of apologist is
doomed to defeat.