Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1880-08-26


necessary to elect Hancock, the "Solid
South" is to furnish 1873; the North
are required to furnish but At. IF
that programme succeeds, the South
will be master of the situation. She
will be the real power. She will die
tate the measures that shall character
ize democratic" rule and for the
sake of the spoils of Office, and the
establishments Of power" the north
ern wing Of the party, in the future
as in the past, will walloW in the mire
Of any infamy which party necessity
requires, or party managers command.
Those Democrats who stood by the
government and believed the South
wrong in the rebellion left the Demo
cratic party in fact. Some of them con
tinued to call themselves Democrats,
but they did not vote or act with that
party. They were compelled to act
with the Republicans or do violence to
their principles. So it will be in all
similar emergencies. Northern Dem
ocrats were warned of the reasonable
purposes Of the slave power long be-
fore secession was actually attempted.
They could not believe their s'Southern
brethern' meant treason to the Gov
eminent, in case they could not rule
it. The result showed their confidence
was undeserved, and the country paid
the penalty of their indulgent faith BY
four years of trial by fire and sword.
As new dangers menace the peace of
the country the undoubted indications
of which now "cast their shadow be-
fore, - let the people of all parties take
warming in time.
The evidences Of southern conspir-
acy to regain and continue control of
the Government, as well in the inter
est of plumber as of its peculiar ideas
Of popular government, continue to
multiply as the whole field is brought
more fully under view. The two hun
dred millions Of dollars of claims
already fled are but an Introduction
to what are to follow when the Dem
ocracy shall succeed to full power
Having once obtained full power, the
South is preparing indefinitely to per-
petuate it. 1t has been with good
reason believed that the census of 1880
would lay the foundations Of perma-
nent peace. That census is being taken
or is about completed Tt was bcllev-
ed that the unprecedented growth in
population Of the great West and
Northwest, added 30 the steady growth
Of the northern and middle States
would render harmless in the future
the standing menace Of "Soid
South. We know that for years the
action Of the ex rebels in the respects
heretofore described has been such as
to drive from the South many whites
who had located there. and to dis
curage others from locating there
Immigrants almost universally locate
in the North and West. Within the
past year thousands Of native negroes,
even, have left the South by reason Of
their treatment there, seeking homes
Of peace in Kansas and elsewhere in
the North and West. The receipts
by the government from internal rev.
enue have greatly fallen off throughout
the South during the last few years,
thus indicating decline, rather than
an advance, in the growth and pros
perity Of that section. On the other
hand, in the North and West the
receipts Of the government from the
same source, and from the mail service
are largely on the increase, keeping
pace with and marking their well known
growth in population. In face of these
facts, and in defiance of all truth, the
census returns in most, and perhaps all,
Of the southern States shows an in
crease of population in those States
during the past ten years, by a per
centage tv5ce us great as the increase
an the northeastern States, a0ih all
their advantages Of immigration !
South Carolina is represented to have
grown in population t1ojce as fast as
Njnnesota! Every person Of ordinary
intelligence knows that this result
must have been obtained by false
enumeration. The purpose to be scrv-
ed by it is to enable the South to
increase, by gross fraud, its number of
votes in Congress and in the electoral
college to be apportioned for ten years
more upon the census Of 1880, and
thus increase her power in the gov