National Republican., 1880-11-05
CONFESSION.

The charleston NeUS ana courier recently
urged its democratic re adcrs 10 vigorous
aud uusclfsh effort" in the then pending
canvass. The necessity FOR vigorous" demo-
cratic methods is given in the following
specimen Of cynical frankness:
The radicals need no special organization.
In the absence OF personal Inducements the
colored people vote the radical ticket. Nor.
mally they are republicans, because tho
whites are democrats. There is 10 reason in
It, The brute instinct of sell-prcsorvatiou, rs
they understand 1t, governs their action. They
know that there arc happy families, as in
South Carolina, where political animals OF
every sort live and prosper together, the owl
carcssing the sparrow, the mouse daliying
with the cat, the hawk coquetting with the
chicken. But they are not sure that this will
last, and unless pains are taken to reassure
| them they arc apt to return TO tho radical
meuagerie,
The "yigor" OF South Carolina demo-
cratic methods will not generally be
doubted, and yet the rifle clubs and red
shirts have confessedly failed to make any
impression upon the black men of the
state They succeed in breaking up re-
publican meetings under the pretense oi
dividing time"; they succeed in driving
voters from the polls and in stuitlng ballot
boxes with tissue ballots but they have
utterly failed to convince the colored voter
that they are doing it for his good
Strange, is it not, that the "brute instinct
of self-preseryationn teaches him not tc
| trust in those who maltreat him? This con
fession of the democratic organ conyicts it:
party Of all that has been charged against
it in regard to the illegal suppression o.
republican maiorites by which it ha'
stolen in that state alone five seats in th'
house of representatives., two seats in thu
senate, beside every state and nearly ever.
county office
The census bureau reports that the pop
ulation Of South Carolina is divided rs be
tween whites and blacks MS follows
Whites, 3Ol OIL; blacks, G0i,235 Taking
one in five as the voting population thi
would give 1924 white voters TO 12O,sl
colored voters, "normal" republica,
majority of 42,G33. We do not conside
this majority TO he greater than would b
shown for republican electoral tickle
upon free vote and a fair count. TIL
number of colored men who would frOr
choice vote the democratic ticket would b
fully offset by the number of whites VIII
would vote the republican ticket coul
they do SO without social and business os
tracism.
And yet HAMPTON had the audacity t
claim the state for HANCOCK by a majort.
of 10000, and the red shirts, rifle clubs an
counters of the democratic party have rat
fed and redeemed the pledge.
1t is to be hoped that q republican hous
will refuse to accept members elected unde
such circumstances. The way to correc
these electoral abuses is to keep district
unrepresented until fair and free electio
is possible in them. The house shoul
send back at least three members in Sout
Carolina and rs many as twenty in tn
south. The suppression Of large republ
can majorities is a troublesome and eXpel
r siye business in many southern district
If they had TO go through with it frC
quenly they would come to the concusio
after two or three trials in one term thg
the game did not pay for the candle.
A republican majority in congress cannC
correct the frauds which affect the stat
= governments These may safely be left
p work out their own destruction, but 1t ce
tainly can refuse to ratify the method
used to overcome normal" republican mi
iorities in such districts rs the second Sout
p Carolina and the sixth Mississippi, and W
evnect IL TO be done.