The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-12-15
THE SOUTH.
BLAINE DELIVERS HIS LONG PROM
IsED SPEECH AGAINST THE SOUTH.
Thurman's Reply to BlRines Attempt to
Organize u solid North Against
the south.

inc HUuIu.
WASHINGTON. Dec lion motion OF Mr.
Hamn the Senate proceeded to the consid-
Grafton OF the resolution submitted by Mr.
Blaine, in regard to the inquiry as to wheth-
or, at the recent election, the constitutional
rights OF American citizens were violated, etc
MIR. Blaine said.
Mr.. President The pending resolution was
offered by me with n two-fold purpose In
view:
First, TO place on record In definite and
authentic form, tho frauds and outrages by
which some recent elections were carried by
the Democratic party In the Southern States ,
Second, 10 find II there be any method by
which a repetition Of these crimes against "A
free ballot may be prevented.
The newspaper Ia the channel through which
the people OF the United States are informed
of current events, and the accounts given In
the press represent the elections In some Of
the Southern States TO have been accompanied
by violence In not n few cases reaching the
destruction Of life; to have been controlled by
threats that awed and inundated large
class OF voters; to have been manipulated by
fraud of tke most shameless and shameful de-
Scription. Indeed, in South Carolina there
seems to have been no election at all, in any
proper sense OF the term There was instead
n series Of skirmishes over the State In which
the polling places were regarded as forts to
be captured by one party and held against the
other and where this could not be done with
convenience frauds In the count and tissue
ballot devices were resOrtcd to In order to
efectually destroy the voice Of the maiority.
These, In brief, are tho accounts given In tho
non-partisan press OF the dsgraceful out
RACES that attended the recent elections, and
50 far as | have seen, these statements are
without serious contradiction. 1t Is but just
and fair to all parties. however. that an inn
partial investigation of the facts shall be
made by committee Of the Senate, proceed
ing under the authority Of law, and repre-
senting the power OF the nation. Hence my
resolution.
But we do not need Investigation to estab-
lish certain facts already of official record.
We know that log Representatives in Con
gress We're recently chosen In the States re-
Gently slave-holding, and that the Democrats
elected l01 or possibly l02, and the Repub |
iicans four or possibly five. We know that
thirty-iive of these Representatives were as
signed to the Southern States by reason of the |
colored population, and that the entire polit |
ical power thus founded on the numbers of the |
colored people has been seized and appropri- |
ated to the aggrandizemento Of Its own strength |
by the Democratic party OF the South
THE ISSUE THUS RAISED
before the country, Mr.. President, Is not one |
of mere sentiment for the rights Of the ne |
gro-though far distant be the day when the |
rights Of any American citizen, however black |
or however poor, shall form the mere dust OF |
the balance In any controversy; nor Is the |
Issue one that involves the waving of the |
''bloody shirt, to note the elegant vernacular |
OF Democratic vituperation; nor still further |
Is the issue, as now presented, only question |
of the equality Of the black voter Of the South |
with the white voter Of the South; the issue, |
Mr.. President, has taken far wider range, |
one OF portentous magnitude, and that -, |
whether the white voter of the North shall be |
equal to the white voter of the South in shap- |
ing the policy and fixing the destiny of this |
country; or whether, TO put 1t still more
BADLY, the white man who fought in the ranks |
Of the Union army shall have as weighty and
influential q vote in the government Of the |
ranks OF the Rebel army. The one fought to |
uphold the other to destroy the Union of the |
States, and to-day he who fought to destroy |
Is far more important factor in the govern |
ment Of the nation than he who fought to up |
hold 1t.
Let me illustrate my meaning by compar-
ing groups OF States of the same representa-
tive strength North and South. Take the
States OF South Carolina, Mississippi and
Louisiana. They send II Representatives to
Congress- Their aggregate population Is |
composed Of 1,03500O whites and l,22i,0O0 col |
ored, the colored being nearly 100000 in eX |
cess Of the whites. OF the II Representatives, |
then, 1t Is evident that We're appOrtioned to
these States by reason OF their colored popu |
latlon; and only by reason of their white |
population; and yet in the choice of the entire
IL Representatives the colored voters had no
more voice or power than their remote kim
dred on the shores of Senegambla or on the
Gold Coast. The 1,o35 900 white people had
the sole and absolute choice OF the entire II
representatives. In contrast, take Two States
In the North, Iowa and Wisconsin, with II
Representative They have II white popua-
ton OF 2241 900 - considerably more than
double the entire white population Of the
three Southern States | have named. In
Iowa and Wisconsin, therefore, it takes 1872.
600 white population to send Representative
to Congress, but In South Carolina, Missis-
sippi and Louisiana every 10000 white people
send Representative. In other words ca GOO
white people in those Southern States have
precisely the same political power in the gov
ernment OF the country that 1920 white
people have in Iowa and Wisconsin.
Take another group OF seventeen Repre-
sentatiyes from the South and from the
North. Georgia and Alabama have n white
population of l,15S000 and colored popula-
ton OF 1020 900. They send seventeen Rep
rpsentatlves to Congress, Of whom nine We're
apportioned on account of the white popula-
tion and eight on account OF the colored popu-
lation. But the coored voters are not able to
choose q single Representatives, the white
Democrats choosing the whole seventeen
The four Northern States-Michigan, Min
nesota, Nebraska and California have seven
teen Representatives, based on white popu-
Iation Oh 1850, 900, or almost double the white
population of Georgia and Alabama, so that
in these relative groups OF States we lind the
white man South exercises by his vote double
the political power of the white man North.