The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-11-26


tic wrong, they are obliged to keep up pre-
tence OF respect for the sacredness of the ballot
1t is not unusual to hear asseverations from the
lips OF Southern leaders that the privileges Of
suffrage are not withheld from any class among
them. They know that such statements are
untrue; they know that every man Of average
Intelligence in the country knows Just as well
as they do that they are wholly msndAcious.
They are merely quoted as excuses by their Do
litcal accomplices for the liberation of . course
OF conduct which Is absolutely subye,sivs of
Republican government, and fsgrantly VIOLA
tive of the prerogatives of citizenship.
Now the question to be determined Is, to what
extent these enemies of the peace of the Rspub.
lie can obtain support among the Inhabitants
of the free States. Sectionaism is bad thing
but II fraud and lawlessness are EMPLOYED To
render the South solid as political power, the
only feasible way of curbing its propensities to
do mischief is by confronting it with q united
North. The time seems to have arrived when
the people must choose between Dough-faces
and Republicans. We see clearly enough that
the Democratic Representatives in Congress
bow down to the Confederate oligarchy with
quite as much submissiveness as they were wont
to do in the olden time. There is not q man
among them who possesses Independence
enough to protest against, or even to disclalm
sympathy With, the outrsges that have changed
the political complexion of South Carolns,
Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida, which are
all Republican States when access to the polls
is unobstructed. The elections there are q
mockery of the forms of justice. The patient
endurance OF such iniquities Is the very quint-
essence Of pusillanimity, and if they are suf-
fered to 60 unrebuked and unavenged the hon.
or OF the nation will be hopelessly tarnished.
The exercise Of forbsarance has already been
carried to the EXTREMIST possible limit; there is
no longer any alternative between submitting
to and repelling the most intolsrable arrogance
of an unscrupulous minority.
1t is refreshing to discover that the people
are showing signs of bsing reused to q con-
sciousness of their obligation to their oppressed
brethren OF the South. 1t is not pleasant
thing to be ruled by Congress in watch the
balance of power is held by persons who have
no moral right whatever to the seats they oc-
cupy. The shot gun as an elsctioneering in
ssrumentality is in certain sense tremendously
convincing, but 1t cannot be truthfally said to
be promotive of the exercise Of the perfect free
dom of thought and action that every
government fit to exist at all is bound
to guarantee to the humbIest of its citi-
zens. Ballot box stufing has been car
ried on this Fall with an effrontery and
. daring which csuld only have bsen generated
through confidence that the conscience Of the
North had fallen asleep that the manhood
which eighteen years ago stirred up millions of
patriotic hearts into red flame of resentment
against an indignity to the American flag had
sunk into torpor from which it could not be
re-animated. If the Southerners were at all
acute in interpreting the signs Of the times
they would take alarm at the manifest indica-
tions that they have been mistaken in the tenn
per of the North and had better be careful how
they exasperate it, The administration policy
OF pacifcation has no Republican supporters;
even the President himself appears to be weak
ening on it. The masses never had much
faith in it, and the few who thought 1t expedi-
ent to try the experiment are sat isffsd that the
ex-rebels so far from appreciating con cessions
made in spirit of fraternity grow more i'm
Fortunate in their demands whenev er there Is
the slightest manifestation of yielding to them.
Reasoning from the experiences Of the past
the conclusion is well nigh inevitable that
nothing short of an absolute surrender By
Northern citizens Of their cherished opinions
will mollify the minority who are seeking BY
force to reduce several States Of the Union to
practical vassalage. The greater the efforts to
appease them the more aggressive they become,
until at last the patience of the most forgiying
is utterly worn out, and self respect compels
the assumption of an attitude of antagonism.
There is certainly sublimity of impudence in
the whines we hear in depreciation of the
'bioody shirt when they proceed from men
who are resorting to revolving barbarities In
order to deprive their unoffending fellow citi-
zens OF their constitutional rights. They only
try this sort of thing on for effect, and must
laugh derisively when any body shows the
appearance of having been duped by ii.
II Northern sympathizers with Southern
ruffianism could only realize how contemptu-
ously they are regarded by the olgarchy whose
bidding they do 50. obsequiously it can hardly
be supposed they would continue to be as
spaniel-like as is necessary to meet the require
ments OF their political masters. Chivalry
accepts no faltering nor hesitating service. Its
devotees must be humble, alert, uuq uestoning
and supple. Ninety and nine acts of obedi-
ence will not atone for single lapse into inde-
pendence and self-assertion. They will crowd
the North so fast and so far, forcing il into
fresh humilations hour By hour, that finally
every human being In whose nature the slight
est trace of manhood can be found, will revolt,
and the recoil will bods no good to the tyrants
who provoked it nor to their dependents who
will share in the retribution that must follow.
1t looks very much as II Northern patriotism
was gathering itself up for mighty encounter
with the fell spirit of caste, that is poisoning
the fountains that nourish our free institutions,
and whenever the struggle does begin, be 1t
soon or late, there can bs no doubt about the
issue. The principle of equal rights under the
law to every man over whom the flag waves
will finally and perfectly triumph, and that i'm
plies the success of Republicanism, which has
made this country free and will keep it so.
YARMOUTH.