New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-12-03
sonable measure to secure, in all parts Of the
| land, n fair vote and an honest count.
THE Y.LyORITY NUsT RULE.

Themselves in power, and fortified themselves
with the means to perpetuate their control IN
the Southern States, find ont that this Gov
errmcnt is really democracy, and that IN
the long run the majority must rule,
the better it vii! be for them and
the sooner they will reach the soii-
ton of what they are disposed TO call a
political problem The trouble with these
Southern statesmen is they are forever Ieav-
ing out some of the essential factors i'll their
problem, and forever rising up IN mutlny
against demonstrated conclusions. They are
quick enough to lay down propositions. bnt
mighty slow to accept their lnexoraDle
logic No people IN the world are 50 ready to
act upon impulse, none 80 unwilling to accept
the consequences. They have apparently yet
to learn that the law of compensation Is
rigorous and absolute ; that the wrong doing
or mistake of yesterday entailcd the ill-con-
dition of to-day I; and that a wise
philosophy which takes into account
the immutable laws of cause and effect VIII
hardly cry out against even the Intolerable.
but patiently submit; waiting aud suiferin g
aud learning wisdom.
When Governor Hagood, of South Carolina.
talks IA he does i'm his late message, OF
the God-given right of self-preservatlon ="
which "inheres communities as well as IN
Individuals and appeals to that in justlfi-
cation of the peculiar methods by when was
accomplished what he calls Z" the resumption
"of the chief control of our local affairs by
that portion of our citizens In whom inc
"capacity of self-gOvernment is an inheritance
{" derived from a thousand years OF free an
"cestry.r we understand him to be justify
ing the open and confessed violations OF law
by which the majority in that State Is sup
pressed and the minority placed III control
That as is well underst ,od, is the long and the
short of it. Briefly stated, the riOtOus mis-
rule as he calls 1t, of the lately enlranchlsed
freedmen was so grievOus and int0lerable
that the minority of white Democrats
were justified in appealing to the higher
law of self-preservation and effectlng
q change by trampling under foot the very
first principle of free popular government
And he states it as though it were political
axiom: as though, the conditions being what
thev were there was but one thing to be
considered, to wit: cape from them by the
shortest process. even through revolution.
Suppose, now. it be granted that the
period In which the legal majority of South
Carolina citizens. the lately enfranchised
freedmen, had control, was one OF "rot0us
"ruisrule." ard that the white citizens. who
derived the capacity of sef-g0vernment from
thousand years of a free ancestry, were
overburdened with taxation and dls-
craced by the scandals OF lnc0mpe-
tent and dishonest administration. Ii was
of course heavy burden to an impoverished
community and a sore disgrace to proud
people. But before Jumping to the conclusion
that there was no way ont except by such
cutting Of the Gordian knot; no escape except
nv 4 course of procedure which If generally
resorted to would end IN the over
throw Cf popular government and the es-
Enlistment of anarchy. would 1t not
have been well to have considered little
the processes by winch this state of aifllrs
had brcn brought about; the train OF causes
which led TO it; and by whose fault South
Carolina Law PROSTATE before incompetent and
dishonest rulersl And would 1t not have
been more philosophical and more statesman
Ike TO have considered, before embarkinS
upon lawicss methods, whether redemption
could not be reached by legitimate and legal
methods!
Tins reriod of "riOt0us misrulen was the
,ooicoI fruit Of such seed az the white rulers
of South Carolina had been long planting. Ii
was their fault that these freedmen were igno-
rapt and dishonest and incapable; their
fault that they had dslranchised them
selves by rebellion their fault that
these slaves had been freed as n war meas
urc their fault that it was necessary to
clothe them with the franchise to protect
Them in their freedom; their fault that they
aid not recognize and accept tie lrevltaOe,
and assist the freedmen and work with
them in the task OF reconstruction in
stead of remaining in sullen opposition; their
foult from the beginning and at every stage
of the proceedings. Wise men would have
given some consideration to this view of the mat
ter. and have enGeavored, while accepting as
extraordinarily as they might the consequences
of their own acts. to have adjusted emselves to
tbc new order Of things. and worked their way
ont. painfully but patiently, without resort
inr to violent or illegal measures. But these
in,natient statesmen have stricken down free
speech and free ballot, and have, in violation
of law, established minority rule. And their
effort now Is to justify themselves by an appeal
do. The consequences of wrong-doing for
centuries cannot be done away with by re-
sort TO new crimes. South Carolina and the
other Southern States that have pursued the
same policy must sooner or later recognize the
rule of the majority, and the sooner the better,
for them and for everybody.
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THE COLLAPSE OF NIHILISM.
n hn 70 Of