The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-03-05
The Nigritian Problem
LAMAR,S REPLY TO BLAINE.
Mississippi Gets the Better Of Maine
on the Negro Question.
North 4 n,rr;c0n RcriCtU.

North american RcricW.
The precision with which Mr. lHhlne STATS
his premises and the unimplssloncu spirit
in which lie he draws his cohcluSionS reIiuti
bic and profitable, His statement ltSeil uc.
prives tic issue OF nearly all Its difficulty
and danger. He lays down with force
and clcarhcsS his propositions:
|. That the Acknowledgement OF the negro
Is n p%clitical imposSibllity under any circuln-
stances short OF revolution.
> That the ballot in the hands OF inc ne
gro. however It's exercise may have been en-
barraSSed and diminished by what nc conSlu-
ers. enormously, Il general southern policy,
has been to that race Il means OF defense ana
an element of progress.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES INEVITABLE, n DIS.
REIMBURSEMENT IMPOSSIBLE.
agree to both propositions. In all my eS-
of Southern opinion | know no
man Of influence or consideration
who believes that the diSlrAnchiScmcnt of the
negro on account OF race, color, or former CON
dition of scrritudc, Is n. political poSsiDlii-
tv. am not now discussing the prOprlctS or
wisdom of universal suffrage. or whether IN
the interest of wise, safe and orderly govern
ment all suffrage ought not 10 DE quaiineu.
What mean to say Is, that universal suffrage
being given us tho condition OF our political
life, the negro once Inadea citizen cannot pc
placed under any other condition. Ana IN
this connection 1t may surprise some OF the
readers Of this discussion to learn
lllhI III A'"' Nv 'iff'
Sippi unanimously voted ut the polls In ihF0r
of ratilving the acknowledgements amend
mcnt for which Mr.. Blaine voted In Congress
believing as they did. that when once the
negro WAS made n free man, a prOpcrty-hold
er and Il taxpayer, he could not be excluded
from the remaining privilege and duty OF Il
citizen, the right and obligation to vote.
And | think can safely say for that people
what Mr.. Blaine says for himself, that il the
question were again submitted to their judg-
Incnt, they would vote for negro suffrage In
the light Of experience with more confluence
than they voted for it Ill thelight OF an OK
pcrilncnt.'
THE BALLOT AS AN ~DUCAT
ncu also in the second proposition, that
the ballot has been IN the hands OF the negro
both Il defense and an education; ana l am
glad 20 find this important truth recognized
SO fully by Mr.; bia,nt we mlgh wb ncSS' thy
defense. was needed, or as to the progress
whicl, has been made In the education. But
enough would remain for substantial agree
mcut. There can be no doubt that in!the I'M
accustomed relation into which the white
and colored people OF the South were sudden
Is forced, there would have been q natural
tendency on the part of the former masters,
still in possession Of the land and OF the IN
tive power, 10 use an almost absolute autnor-
ty and todevelop the new freedman according
to their Own idea of what was good Tor MN.
This would have resulted in a distinction,
with such incidents of the old system as
would have disconnected the negro and dissat-
isfied the general opinion and sentiment OF
the country. II slavery was to be abolished
IT must, | think, be admitted that there could
he nothing short of complete abolition, free
from any OF the atNnitics Of slavery anu
this would not have been effected so long as
there existed any inequality before the law.
The ballot was therefore,, Il protection OF the
negro against any such condition, and ena-
blcd him to force his interests upon the lCgls-
lativ We consideration of the South.
What | DO not think Mr.. Blaine fully reall-
zcs, or makes due allowance for, Is that this
Sudden transformation, social and political,
would necessarily produce some jar In lts
practical operation, and that It's succcsslui
working could be effected only by cH!crienc-
cd and conscientious men acting on both
sides with good sense and good temper. Con-
quest Oh either side only complicated the
problem. Its only solution was n SaGacious
and kindly cooperation OF all the social lot
ces. The vote In the hands of the negro
should have been genuinely "a defense" and
not Il weapon Of attack.
AT SCHOOL F. YEARS.
The proper use of his defensive power and
its growth into II means Of wholesome and
and positive influence upon the character ana
Interests of the country, could only DC attalh-
agree fully with Mr.. Blaine that his practical
use of the ballot was an important part or
that education. lam willing to accept inc
present condition Of the South as the result OF
that CuucslllOn. Whine. l say llltlt ~ Nv
gro has been using this defence for ten years,
that in this time hundreds Of thousands OF
of negroes, BON free have grown
to manhood under the experience OF q politi-
cal life rs open to them as to the DID,, Wnltc
governing race: and MIR Blaine himself asserts
That education has been more generally dii-
fused among the youth OF the c0lored race
than among the poorer classes OF the WHITES
truly or enormously we Will not
here discuss-and the result is, that, through.
out the South the races vote togcthcr; tint
they have learned where their mutual inter-
est lies; and that, whom God has Jolneu, all
the politicians have iallcd 10 keep asuh-
der.
1T MAKE a DIFFERENCE wHosE OK is
GoRED.
have his essay before me. He denies that
this Is n legitimate result. lie insists that
the negro vote has been cheated , : ny 1r' n"nd or
ton of Southern politics Is an unnatural re-
suit. am willing to meet this issue on his
own principles. | will indulgcin nclther.in-
the late government OF South Carolina or OF
Louisiana, or Of other States under similar
rule and describe It in language that mr.;
Blaine himself may select. When he has told
its history / will ask him whether ne wo"id
willingly, as q patriotic American, desire to
see his own State, or amy other oi the Tree
States. reduced to such Il level?
am not afraid of his answer or that Of any
man who has Deen Dreu ullucT tuc uuuit'oiiH
of a viriuous civilization. Then I will say to
him: this, it is true, lisa painful result; put
when YOU put the ballot In the hands or an
ignorant negro majority us a means OF cducl-
tion and progress, you must he patient Whlic
they learn their lesson. We of the South
have borne all this; because we knew that
the reaction must come. 1t has come. The
results which you sec to be so bad the negro
has seen also: lie has come back TO US Win
the same blind impulse with which 4 rev
years ago he fled from us. He may be as ig-
Democrat as he was an ignorant le-
publican; but years must yet pass before me
ballot will have educated nm lully INTO sell
reliant, temperate citizenship: and ,ntdt ne
OF the South haze borne, orr friends Of me Norm
must Jctu. Uih as. until He negro has become
,rhat nc both udnt TO make him. This Is part or
his education. ~ Il system, NOT one Whlt
less n system of force or of frauG than that
alleged to exist now, he was taken away from
his natural leaders at the South, and held TO
Il compact Republican vote. Granting
which | do not grant-that the present meth
DDS are as bad as those then applied, the fault
lies in the character Of the vote. 1t Is not
to free action, and we must educate
1t to what it ought to be. Take the history OF
the race, as stated by Mr.. Blaine himself. ana
is there not progress, astonishing progress,
when the material with which we are deal
ing Is considered ? Force and fraud have
been freely charged. suppose IL granted.
that such n tremendous political and social
changc-the sudden clothing of four million
slaves with suffrage and with Ovcrruling pO-
pOwpr-cOuld be made without violent
disturbance and disorder? Had any such
change ever been made in any free state with
CONFUSION? Was 1t to be expected that.
when the capital and character OF Il STATE
were placed at the mercy of q numerical ma
jority of ignorant and poverty-stricken Ho-
ters, it would present model Of peace and
order But all this while the ballot has been
the negro. He has learned mat he
was a power between Republican and Demo-
crat.
HE is NOW LEARNING RAPIDLY AT THE
SOUTH THAT
Is a power between Democrat and Demo-
crut. and in the late election he made that
power felt in the result. | would have pre-
fcrred q much less costly tuition; but, such as
1t Is, it has been paid for, and, II Mr.. BLAZING
will patiently trust his own theory, he Will
find the ballot in the hands of the negro the
best defense and the best educator. But, as
the South has been patient, so must he be pa
tient. lis the South has chdJcd .ttcgecfunHy
,DiH he chdfe Intellectually ~hcn II Is noD largely
for them.
In his perplexity over the sudden change
in the vote of the negro, Mr.. Blaine has for
that, at this stage of its progress, the
negro vote can intelligcntly direct Itself. 1t
must and will follow some leader. Now, UP
to 1876. the Republican party, armed with all
the authority of the Federal Government,
supplied those leaders,. They were strangers
in the States they governed. The moment
that the compact vote upon which their pow
err rested was divided they abandoned their
places, and In almost every case left the state
L. Lt,h tl,A, l"l ,,,InI Thn rrcnt rnnSs nf