The daily gazette., 1878-12-24
Disi hfsementO of the North,
ern Democracy.
FROM Senator Wdiiaces Ans,cer 10
Blaine.


paper rumor, that elections in the South
ern States have been controlled nv vio
lence, threats and intimidations tina
they have been manipulated by fraud
anu lhat IN one State "theTe was no elec
tioil at all, In any sense of the term" Il
these statements be true it is surprisn.
that out of the whole number of Con
gressmen elected from that section, 10,
IN NUMBER not more than six member,
have been notified of contest for th,
seats they hold, and the thirty days al.
lowed by law for that purpose have ex.
pred. This in itself is complete and
perfect answer TO those broad charges OF
fraud and violence as applied to the
whole section. The laws provide the
remedy. 1t is largely unsought. The
wrong, II II exists, is local, and canno'
alieet general results. Why raise inyes-
tlga ing committees? Why arouse sec
tlohal bitterness Why refuse to seek
the remedy the law provides? The
practical sense OF our business people
VIII have no more Of this useless and
senseless agitation Their answer will
be, let the laws rule give It's rest from
political turmoil. 1t is conceded that
practical results cannot come from il nm
less we can overthrow the constitutional
amendment and the decisions of the Su-
prcme Court, and this ought to be sufl-
cient to end the strife.
IL is not correct that thirtv-Gvc of the
representatives allotted to the Southern
States wert given them since the war By
reason of the negro population. Uneer
the consll ution, rs originally framed,
three-fifths thereof were represented, and
this representation of the then live popu-
lation was attacked with vigor in the
hea ed contest that preceded the war;
After the war, and when reconstruction
came, the policy of the Republican party
was reversed, and s'manhood suffrage"
became the shibboleth of party with
them. Under this doctrine the Republi
can Congress of 1872 added not thirty
hve but twenty members to the represent
tation of the Southern States in the
House of Representatives. The right,
the power and the expediency to do This,
and to fix unalterably the equality Of the
black voter Of the South and the North
with the white voter everywhere was the
leading feature of the reconstruction
PpiINg VI lldlllt anu
those with whom he acted. The fatal
error into which they fell was failing to
qualify the right TO the enfranchised
slave by fastening upon ii an educa ienal
test. This would not serve their politi-
cal ends, and reconstruction, as they con-
s'ructed it, has proved their own poiti-
cal destruction. The absolute equality
in fitness of self-government of the un-
educated negro Of the South with the
trained and educated white man every
where was the basis of the plan. 1t was
and false, and has returned to
plague its authors. The Senator from
Maine impales himself by his arguments.
Negro suffrage as political policy, is a
failure in the South, and he helped to Gre
ate it. His arguments are logically an
of the vicious methods of
those who acted with him in placing the
political power in the hands of an unfit
agent. The work has been done by you,
and its results do not please you. What |
Is your remedy? To overthrow the |
nulify the decisions of the |
courts, and agita'e until you succeed |
Ours is to obey the amendments in their |
letter, to sus' ain the decisions of the SUI
preme court, and to protect by law, en-
by fair treatment, educate and |
elevate the black man until his capacity |
Is fully tested. Yours is to take from
him representation, disfranchise and de-
grade him. Such, at least, is the logical
result of your efierts and your arguments.
The issue is not whether the white voter
)f the North shall be equal to the white
voter of the South in shaping the policy
)f the country. Tkey have always been
md are now the equals and peers of each
1ther. The legi innate and awful influ-
.nce that each can WELD is as much his
light as is his life. Whe her North or
south, the brave, intelligent and upright
nan is justly powerful, and he who seeks
o lessen his power or weaken his influ-
nee stabs his country.
1t is not correct in point of fact that the
White voter of the South yields greater
influence than the white vO'er of the
Iorth. The senator from Maine gathers
ogether whole masses of population in
he North and argues fIom population
md not from voters. | quote his words:
Take the Sta es of South Carolina, MIS-
issippi and Louisiana. They send sew
nteen Representatives to Co;g gress. Their
ggregate population is comp sed of ten
hundred and thirty-five thousand whites
nd twelve huudrrd and twenty four
thousand co'ored; the colored being near
Y two hundred tn usaud in excess Of the
whites. OF the seventeen Representa-
ives, then, it is eviden that nine were
.pportioned to these States by reason of
heir colored population, and only eight
~ reason of their white populat on /; and
iet in the choice of the entire seventeen
Rep esentatives the colored voters had no
more voice or power than their remote
,indred On the shorts of Senegambia or
IN the gold coast. TIE ten hundred and
hilty-five thousand white people had the
ole and absolute choice of the entire sew
,nteen Representatives. In contrast, take
wo States in the North, Iowa and Wis
,onsin, with seventeen Representatives..
They have white population "i two mil
ion two hundred and forty-seven thous-
more than double the
,ntire white population of the three
southern States have named. In Iowa
md Wisconsin, therefore it takes one
hundred and thirSy-two thousand white
population to send Representative to
Congress, but in South Carolina, Missis
iippi and Louisiana every sixty thousand
white people send Representative.
The first fallacy this proposition is the
Al. 10 |