Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-03-15

Guiding Indians not taxed. Tn
> fourteenth amendment repealed s.
much of said section of article / a
:, established the basis of representa-
tion and declared that in any Stat,
wherein voters were excluded fo
: any cause except crime or rebellion
: the representation should bereduceC
e and prescribed rule for this reduc
/, ton. But this amendment recog
r nized the full power of the State tC
determine who should and who
! should not vote.
. fifteenth amendment repealed
so much of section 2, article /, as
reserved to the State the right to
exclude negroes from voting and
repealed the fourteenth amendment,
at least so far as any reduction OF
representation can be predicated on
the exclusion of negro voters, be-
cause the two are repugnant to each
other.
The fourteenth amendment adj
mits the power of a State to exclude
negroes from voting and prescribes
a rule for reducing its representation
in proportion to the exclusion of
voters that may be made. The fif-
teenth amendment takes from the
State this power to exclude negroes
from voting, and this power being
taken away the reduction of repre-
sentation which was to follow the
exercise of that power is necessarily
prevented. And yet the Republican
party, planting themselves upon
the fourteenth amendment which
they repealed, or at least rendered
nugatOry for their present purposes,
are preparing to investigate South
i Carolina in order to reduce her rep
resentation on the plea that negroes
there are excluded from voting. If
South Carolina or any other State
has denied or abridged the right of
the negro to vote it's act was uncOn-
stitutiOnal and void, and those who
propose to base congressional laws
on such action propose to sanction
an Illegal proceeding. And yet the |
gentleman from California Mr.. |
Page has introduced a bill which |
recognizes the power of South Caro- |
lima to disfranchise negroes, which |
ratifies the illegal action by an act |
of Congress and proceeds to reduce |
the representation of the State ac- /
cordingly. Here we see the clOven |
foot of the Republican party, ready |
to crush the right of the negro when
he is no longer of use to them. They /
not only abandon him to the tender |
mercieS of the bulldozers, but they /
rush in to complete his disfranchise-
ment and attempt to make party
profit out of the transaction. Sir,
after all the professions of love by
the Republican party for the negro
the trade of body-snatchers is scarce
ly more disgracefuI. The aspirant
from Maine well said "the issue
presented is not one of mere senti-
ment for the negro" and he might
have said the issue is the success of
the Republican party. Every we'll
Informed negro understands that
fully, He knows the negro was
not received as a soldier until neces-
sity compelled it; that the black
soldier was not paid the same as the
white until shame required it f; that
the negro was not enfranchised I'M
til carpet-bag greed suggested it
and that the fabulous accounts of
his wrongs and outrages were never
published until Republican success
demanded. Thenegroes of my dis
trict at least understand it. They
know too that before the fifteenth
amendment was adopted, before in
other words the Republican party
would trust The negro with the full
power of the ballot, an experiment
of negro suffrage was made in Lou
isiana and Mississippi under the
reconstruction laws to see if the
xrvn.,lI fhn A~t1tNIfnov, !
ticket. The experiment was salts
factory and the fifteenth amend
ment was adopted, 1t was then
expected and believed that about
five hundred carpet-baggers and
in Mississippi, for In
stance, would cast the votes of about
ninety thousand negroes, and for a
time they did. No master was ever /
more implicitly obeyed in the days
of slavery than were the carpet-bag [
leaders of county politics. 1t was
all lovely then, and we heard no !
about white men casting {
the votes Of the negroes. But soon
the negroes claimed q division of .
the offices and became candidates
before conventions. The carpet
baggers by bribery and corruption
cheated the negro leaders out of the [
for prominent offices
and then the trouble began.
James Lynch, one Secretary of [
State of Mississippi, and said to
have been one of the most eloquent j
speakers, white or colored, who ever
lived in the State, was beaten by q (
carpet-bagger out Of the nomination
for Congress, to the great disgust of {
his friends. Davis, afterward Lieu s
Governor, was beaten in the {
same way in his district and in the
second district, at one time, negro |
was being cOmplimented with votes {
and actually received the requisite |
number for nomination when a
changed his vote and ,
defeated him. These nominations !
were all controlled by money, and
created great disaffection in the i
minds of the leading negroes. But ;
the crisis came when the present ,
United States Senator Bruce, of ,
Mississippi, was a candidate for
He was one of the
most Intelligent, deserving aud
popular men of his race in the State.
AS a Sheriff of Bolivar county he /,
gave satisfaction to all parties, and
the Democrats sustained him In his !
last race and made his official bond !
for him in very large amount. He :
held this lucrative office for four :
years: and when the contest for :
United States Senator came on he
had both friends and money, and ,
they could not swindle him. He !
was nominated over number of :
aspiring carpet-baggers, with the J
aid and assistance of Governor !
Ames, and then the party in Missis- !
sippi became completely demoral- :
ized, The disaRectlon OF Alcorn
and Bowers had previously created
some dissensions in the ranks, hut !
now the mutiny became general,
Some of the most intimate friends !
Of Governor Ame5 turned against !
him and told of his celebrated eau !
Gus speech in which he encouraged !
the riot at Vicksburg, and Of his Z
declaration that "the blood of ,
twenty-five negroes would strength
en- the Republican party" One
who had been his most active sup
porter and the chief opponent of !
nr,,ao ,,affol NTH fha