Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-12-05

tinued bestowal, during the last year,
Of countless blessings upon our country.
We are at peace with all other na-I
tiOns. Our public credit has greatly
improved, and ia, perhaps, now strOns-
er than ever before. Abundant har-
vests have rewarded the labors of those
who till the soil, our manufacturing
industries are reviving, and it Is be-
lieved that general prosperity, which
has been so long looked for, is at last
within our reach.
THE YELLOW FEVER.
The enjoyment of health by our peo~
pie generally has, however, been in
,errupted, during the past season, by
the prevalence of fatal pestilence, The
yellow fever, in some portions of the
southern States, creating an emergen
" which called for prompt and extra
ordinary measures of relief. The dis
Ease appeared as an epidemic at New
Orleans and at other places on the low
er Mississippi, soon after midsummer.
II was rapidly spread Dy fugitives from
he infected cities and towns. and did
not disappear until early in November.
rhe States of Louisiana, Mississippi,
md I ennessee have suffered severely.
About one hundred thousand cases are
believed to have occurred, Of which
| about twenty THOUSAND, according to
Intelligent estimates, proved fatal. II
is impossible to estimate with any ap
proach to accuracy the loss to the cOun'
Try occasioned by this epidemic. 1t is
20 be reckoned by the hundred millions
If dollars. The suffering and destitu'
ZION that resulted, excited the deepest
ympathy in all parts OF the Union
Physicians and nurses fastened from
9very quarter to the assistance of the
afflicted communities. Voluntary con.
Eributions of money and supplies, in
every needed form, were speedily and
generously furnished. The GJvern'
meat was able to respond ia some
measure to the call for help, By prOyi'
ling tents, medicines, and food for the
iiek and destitute, the requisite dircc'
tiOn5 for the purpose being given, in
The confident expectation that this ac'
lion of the Executive would receiv7'
the sanction of Congress. About 1900
tents, and rations of the value of about
So, 900, were sent to the cities aad
Gowns which applied for them, full de-
| tails of which will be furnished to Q q
gress by the proper Department.
The fearful spread of this pestilence,
das awakened a very general public
sentiment In favor of national sanitary
administration, which shall not only
control quarantine, but have the sani'
| ;ary supervision OF internal commerce
in times of epidemics, and hold an ad'
visory relation to the State and muni'
.ipal health authorities, with power TO
teal with whatever endanger5 the pub
lie health, and which the municipal
md State authorities are uunable to
regulate. The national quarantine act
approved April 90, 1878, which wss
passed too late in the last session Of
Congress TO provide the means for car
rying it into practical operation during
the past season, is a step in the direc'
ton here indicated. In view of the
necessity for the most effective meas
ures, By quarantine and otherwise, for
the protection of our seapUrt5, and the
country generally, from this and other
epidemics, it is recommended that
Congress give to the whole subject ear
y and careful consideration.
ELECTIONS IN THE SOUTH.
The permanent pacification and the
complete protection of all citizens in
every civil and polite al right Continues
to be of paramount interest with the
great body Of our people. Every step
in this direction is welcomed with pub
lie approval, and every interruption of
steady and uniform progress to the de-
sired consummation awaken5 general
uneasiness and widespread condemna
ton. The recent Congressional cleo
tions have furnished direct and trust
worthy test OF the advance thus far
made in the practical establishment OF
the right of suffrage, secured by the
Constitution to the liberated race in the
southern States. All disturbing influ' |
ences, real or imaginary, bad been re-
moved from all of these States.
The three constitutional amend |
merits, which conferred freedom and
equality of civil and political rights
upon the colored people of the South,
were adopted by the concurrent action |
of the great body of good citizens who
maintained the authority of the Ma
tional Government and the integrity
and perpetuity of the Union at such q
cost of treasure and life, as wise and
and necessary embodiment in the
organic law of the just results of the
war. The people of the former slave
hOldiHg States accepted these results,
and gave, in every practicable form,
that the thirteenth, four
teenth, and fifteeeth amendments, and
laws passed in pursuance thereof,
should, in good faith, be enforced,
rigidly and impartially, in letter and
spirit, to the end that the humble5t
citizen, without distinction of race or
color, should, under them, receive full
and equal protection in person and
and in political rights and
By the constitutional
amendments, the Southern section OF
the Union obtained Il large increase of
political power in Congress and in the
Electoral College, and the country
Justly expected that elections would
proceed, as to the enfranchiSed race,
upon the same circumstances of legal
and constitutional freedom and protec.
ton which obtained in all the other ,
States of the Union. The friends of
aW and order looked forward to tie |
conduct of these elections, as offering 10 {
The general judgment of the country |
IN important opportunity to measure {
the degree in which the right of suff. {
age could be exercised by the colored I
people, and would be respected by their |
ellOW'citizens; but more general en-. {
oyment of freedom of suffrage by the
,oIored people, and more just and c
generous protection of that freedom by :
he communities of which they form )
part, were generally anticipated than
he record of the elections disclOses. In Y
ome of those States in which the color. /
ID people have been unable to make i
heir opinions felt in the elections, the 8
esult is mainly due toi Influences not !
'asily measured or remedied by legal I
but in the States of IIouisi.
ma and South Carolina at large, and b
q some particular Congressional dis t
riots outside of those States, the records
i the elections seems to compel the n
that the rights of the color. v
d voters have been overriden, and d