American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1880-10-09
In paper of remarkable ability and inter.

the RriitcadS OF the United states, and their
EHee12 on Farming and Production i'll that
Coul and Great Britain" Mr.. Edward
| Atkinrt,n of Massachusetts, after careful
and extended personal inspection of the con-
dition of The southern States and u ma .tcrly
Arrangement of the statistics of some of their
productive industries, makes incidentally the
following remarks:
The total production of gold and silver by
the mines, mountains and rivers of the whole
world according to Cernurchfs latest state
meme for twenty seven years has been 81 400,
/ 1900, and the American cotton crop for the
last ten years has amounted to from
s.3ooooo;ooo to 9sc 5000 100000 in gold val
t Hes h s,nce 1863 an industrial du revolt
free by the war. such never before occur
red; on the surface there has appeared to be
mfsgoyernment, fraud, political disturbance,
want of stability, sometimes violence; but
underlying this surface, apparently so deeply
agltded, great industrial forces have been
! quietly and surely working to the end 1ndi-
Gated by the great crops of cotton, the ten last
| crops by nearly 6 SOC, 600 bales, while the crop
now being marketed will be far the largest
And then he remarks. with logic whose
force iliIresistible to candid minds, and which
( cons-a,utcs n complete AND CRUSHING answer
! to the political slanderers and assailants OF
our fellow citizens of the South:
the rule in a section hat has produced greater
crops for sale, and has Mt the same tune been
more self sustaining than ever before in its
| history"
THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE NEGRO.
The speaker also referred to the production
| of tobacco, rice and sugar in tine South, and
!
| to the present industrial condition of the
South he said But a fortnight ago paid a
terest in the welfare of the people OF that
| State, and 1 wish every man in the North
/ could have witnessed the assemblages that
did. and heard not merely the addresses made
| to the people, but the manner in which every
allnsion to the union of the South and the
duty of UNFOLDING the honor and credit of
the general Governments was responded to.
could not misunderstood. In the professions
and meetings We're large numbers of mounted
members of the "red- shirt clubs"-they OF
whom such blood curtiliny accounts
| given in Republican newspapers. They all
looked to me like plain. hearty, home spun
| FARMERS; resembling in every respect the yeo-
manry of the State OF Delaware or of New
| York.
But had seen it often stated that the chief
| occupation of the red-shirted riders to
| shoot and intimidate the colored voters, and
as / $ AIMED the ranks of the long procession,
/ l discovered scores upon scores of these
dusky victims of imaginary massacre riding
| upon well fed horses ana mules and cheering
| for Hancock and the whole Democratic ticket,
with an ardor that was unlniStakaDle. had
nred men and ,;Sscrtaned theX x -, fsn,ri
| ly the owners of the animals they were riding,
| and had come some as far as forty miles 10
| swell the assembage and hear the speeches.
They listened attentively; and to the state
ments OF Mr. Hagood. the candidate for Gov
| ernor, OF the relative expenditures in the gov
ernment of the state, they were especially at
tentive.
| forty acres of land under cultivation; thirty
acres in cotton, ten in corn; the whole labor
| The product was about twenty bales of cotton
ana corn enough tor the mule and the bread
for the family. House rent was nothing; fuel
nothing, cl thing, in that climate, very little.
But twenty bales of cotton worth 81 900,
and could not help thinking how many me.
chanics and lahoring men in the North would
be glad to exchange the net proceeds of their
wears toll with some of these colored men in
Carolina
Fellow citizens, would like to say much to
you on this subject, and endeavor to let You
feel, As did, how unjust and untrue are the
charges we hear made of the oppression of The
colored people of the South by the whites.
And sure am L if any man, who was
willing the truth. had been at my side
during my visit to south Carolina, he would
the rule among the peple, and that the rela-
tions of the races were quietly and happily
regulating themselves, and but for the devils
work of selfish and INSCRIPTIONS politicians
of the Radical party, there never would be
any serious difficulty among the people
there.
THE FINANCIAL QUESTION.
The speaker reviewed at much length the
financial history of the country during the
past eleven years, in the course of which he
said:
country, favored by Providence with weather
that permitted full crops at the time He Wis
tied the British Islands with deluges, and be-
slowed unfavorable seasons upon the agricul-
ture of the continent. Redemption of Treas
nry notes has been made possible by what
Iioratio seymour APPLY calls " the statesman
ship of the plow-"
Let me put the plain question to candid and
intelligent men. Is not the cotton crop of the
Southern States to- day and has it not for years
past been, chief item OF export which NJ
ables to maintain the balance foreign
trade in our favorl do not omit our vast
shipments of breadstufTs in the calculation,
but do aver that but for the industry of the
Southern people and the production of their
staples the balance of trade would have been
against us steadily, and be so to day, and that
resumption would have been impossible.
And yet Northern audiences, and here in
lieve the Southern States are inimical to
Northern prosperity, and that II policy which
discourages their industry and alienates their
5. is
and patriotic one to be followed.
THE ELECTORAL FRAUD.
After referring also Mt much length to the
toward Capitalization; to the infamies of the
ports theft of naturalization certificates from
thousands of voters ana his imprisonment
hypocrisy OF the Hayes Administrations
pretension of civil service reform" Swivel
eminent Republican Senator term it-and to
the great danger to Republican institutions of
of oificehoIders as active Instruments in aid
ing to perpetuat ate, that power. Mr. Bayard
last Presidential election:
In the fall of 1876 the American people, by a
large majority OF both the popular vote and
dent of the United States. But the Admins |
tration at Washington, swayed by the intern |
perate will and inscriptions leadership of
Secretary Chandler, who was the Chairman of
the Campaign Committee, aided and sustain |
ed a fraudulent perversion of the elections in |
Florida and Louisiana by the Boards of Can |
vass and Returns, and succeeded in defeating |
the popular will. This refus n to sur |
renderp power and it must never be forgotten
that james A. Garfield active and |
guilty participant in this great wrong.
He assisted 10 put the peace of the country !
in great jeopardy, and the time for his signal !
rebuke has now arrived. For ninety years the |
people of the several States of this Union held |
their elections under their own agencies, and |
without Federal interference If there was |
fraud or violence overthrowing fair election, |
the House of Representatives was the sole |
judge of the elections and returns of its own |
md hn in h4 r.
ed and decided there.
Now. under one pretext or another, al |
though all inspectors and judges OF elections |
are appointed solely by State authority, and |
find the measure of their powers under State |
laws only, yet existing acts of Congress
sumo to control them by deputy marshals,
whose power is unmeasurcd.
1t Is also a fact which disclOses the aniInus !
of this Whole assumption of control over cleo
tions, that every appointment is of n partisan
character, and every arrest and prosecution
has been of members of the party in opposition
to the Administration. 1t has not been JUS |
tice, but party success, which has been
sought.
Fellow citizens, one of the inevitable |
suits of n long continuance of power in the |
hands of one man or IA set of men, is that they |
come to believe and to act on the belief that
they constitute the body polite, and that the |
powers delegated to them for public use and
safety are virtually given them for their own |
perpetuatiOn in power
THE CANDIDATES.
And now of the representative men who |
have been chosen to lead the party organizn-
tions. OF Gen. Garfield, the Republican can
didate, wish to speak justly, but will not,
in spirit OF false courtesy, aScribe to him |
virtues do no. believe him to possess.
He was Chain man of the Committee on APP
preparations when corruption and extrava-
Shepherd and his crew were drawing tens of
millions to lay rotten pavementS in those
streets. with false measurements and double
prices. Ana IN all the carnival of roguery from
1863 until 1873, when Democratic majority