New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-11-30

strange that the Southern WHITE people,
forgetting that they had assumed this
with other risks when they began
their caamitous enterprise should under such
yoke become FESTIVE and inpatient. Ihey
did not claim, however, that the negro should
be deprived of the ballot. They said the
negroes were under the influence oil
dishonest white men from the North,
and that the Federal Government sus-
tanned them by the bayOnets OF the army ana
the countenence and aid of Federal officials.
They asked the withdrawal of the troops and
Federal non-interference, in order that they
might enjoy the right of self government Ii
was granted. For nearly two years they have
been left to themselves and their right OF
self-gOyenmcnt.
The result is the actual Acknowledgement or
thousands of legal voters by violence ana IN
tin.idatiOn, and the virtual disfranchlsement
of thousands more by the most baTeiaced
and unbushing frauds. And this is what Is
called the right of self-government. And Mr.
Lamar thinks that the instinct of seif-preser-
walton will and ought to, unite the Southern
people against anybody or any party TIA
questions the wisdom or the justice or
the righteousness of tins method of conducting
affairs TO question it is to alm blow at
the right of sclf-Eovcrnment in support OF
which there will be q Solid South. Now,
what does Mr.. Lamar mean by sclf-gOv-
crnmcntq We know what Southern states
men used to mean when they talked in
this strain about their rights. They meant
the rights of minority of Southern slave
holders not merely TO own slaves and carry
IL. tIst. f,lnp
and compel Northern citizens to act as
,lavc-catchcrs; but also the right, with
the assistance of Northern Democrats, to
hold Absolute control of the Government
and the country. Il was because tins kind of
right of sclt-gOycrnmcnt was disputed aud
denied that they undertook to break up the
Union. Does Mr.. Lamar mean the same thing
now when he talks abOut Scli-gOvCrnmentY Is
it the right of ii minority of white Dem
ocrats in South Carolina, for instance, to ut
tcrly Ohiitcrate 10y fraud and violence the
votes Of majority? And is THE TRIBUNE
making the right OF scf-gOvcrnmcnt an is
sue in National politics when It sends an
intelligent and truthful correspondent to
South Carolina to gather and lay before the
public the facts This seems 10 be the view
Oi Mr.. Lamar.
II is a dcusion. The South Carolina Demo-
Gratis make a mistake if they suppose they
are indicating the right of self-gOycrn
mcnt when they put down the opposition
10 them by fraud and violence and they are
wrong in supposing that riglt is intcrtcred
with or inflngcd by careful and conscen-
tious investigation Of the circumstances I'M
der which their election was conducted.
During the period in which the Southern
people complained, and not without rca-
son, of Federal interference The TRIBUNE,
at some sacrifice and cost 10 itself constantly
urged the Justice of their cause, and called
upon the Administration to abandon its
policy and return To constitutional methods.
The right Of sclC-govcrnment to which We
wished to see the South restored WAS
not by any means that which has lately
been cxcmplifcd in South Carolina, to be
sure. but we do not believe that even
under the provOcation which these out
RACES offer there ia any disposition on
the part of Northern Republicans to return
10 the policy Of the Grant Administration.
Mr.. Lamar aud his people may rest easy.
There will bc no interference with even
their notion Of sclf-governmcnt. But
TIE TRIBUNE will take care that the
people of the North understand per-
fectly the Southern Democratic conception
Of the right of self-govcrnment to wit, that
1t Ii the right of the white men who were
lately in rebellion TO annlhllatc the votes and
silence the voices of hundreds of thousands of
legal voters, while they take the power
thus stolen and, with the aid Of another
minority ut the North, secure control of the
Government which they lately undertook to
destroy. And we cannot doubt that the peO-
pie of the North, with this issue fairly pre-
scented, will cilectually cOntravene any such
scheme of self government by minority rule.