The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-06-02
Bourbonism VS.. Malone.


Tribune who has lately interviewed an
intimate personal and political friend of
Senator Malone, lets out some of the
secrets which have called down upon the
devoted heard of that Senator such an
avalanche of Bourbon spite and malice.
The beginning of the disagreement ap-
pears to date back as far as 1876, when
Mr.. Malone took it upon himself to OPP
pose the Virginia Constitutional amend
ment disfranchising at any election any
citizen who has not within the year
been assessed, and who has not paid
poll-tax. Mr.. Malone believed the
amendment to be in contravention of
sound Democratic doctrine, because he
foresaw that it would result in the prac-
tical disfranchisement of large class
of honest voters, and be made use of by
| unscrupulous politicians to manufacture
fraudulent majorities. In spite of his
| opposition, the amendment was adopted
and has been used precisely in the way
| he predicted it would be used. 1t put
in the hands of the Democratic assess
ors of the State piece of machinery
in the manipulation of which the col
ored vote could be suppressed, when
ever the exigencies of the par
| ty required that to be done. 1t is
| the duty of the Assessors to send
out assessment lists to individuals,
and have each fill out and return
his own list. An omission to send out
these lists to the colored voters was n
very easy thing, and one which would
not be likely To become known to the
public. When each Assessor made up
and transmitted his returns to the
proper officers, they would show only
those who had returned their assess
ment lists to the Assessors. When the
| colored men who had not paid their
capitation tax came to apply to the
Treasurer to pay their tax and take a
receipt in order that they might vote,
they were quietly informed that their
names were not on the assessment
rolls, and that no tax had been assessed
against them. Their only remedy,
then, was to appear personally before
the State Auditor, at Richmond, pay
the tax to him and get receipt. To
most of them this would be utterly i'm
practicable, and thus, though they
were abundantly able to pay their
taxes, they were disfranchised. Thus,
without recourse to violence or intimi-
dation, the Virginia Bourbons have
been enabled to suppress thousands of
Republican votes, ever since the
| duODIlOu VI lulS anu In6lI
| justification of such procedure is the
avowal of their belief that a negro
| ought not to vote; it is a convenient
way of multiplying the Constitutional
amendments.
Opposition to measures so liable to
be misused was the beginning of the
schism which MIR. Malone has been
one of the instruments to open. and he
made so extensive a breach in the party
as to attract the attention, last spring,
of Chairman Barnum. who at that time
was trying to effect the nomination at
Cincinnati of Samuel j. Tilden.
Barnum, in great nervousness had been
anxiously watching movements in Vir-
| ginia, and finally procured an inter-
view with General Malone. He asked
the General if Tilden would not carry
Virginia, if nominated. Malone re-
piled that he would, although he was
very unpopular in the State. Then Bar
mum proposed that Malone should try
to capture the Funder Convention and
send set of Tilden delegates to
the Cincinnati Convention, and offered
to furnish funds for that purpose.
Malone refused to make the attempt
or to have anything whatever to do
with the Bourbon Funders. Barnum
than asked if the Readjusters
would not send delegates to the Cin-
cnnati Convention. Malone asked il
they would be admitted. Barnum re-
piled in the negative and said that the
Bourbon delegates would have to be
recognized. Malone then told him
that the Readjusters would never send
delegates to the Cincinnati Convention
for the purpose of having them snubbed;
and he warned Barnum that the Ma
tional Committee would do better to
keep its hands of Virginia altogether.
Malone returned to Virginia thorough
ly disgusted with Barnum, whom he
stigmatized as being only commercial
man and no true Democrat When the
Bourbon Convention, which called fol-
| ], 400 delegates, assembled. less than
$50 delegates could be mustered, and
these had been chosen by primaries in
which not more than 5000 voters alto
gether had participated. This was De-
mocracy with vengeance.
The Readjuster State Convention as
sembled with over six hundred dele
gates, but in no way affiliated with the
Democratic party except to instruct its
Presidential Electors to vote for Han
cock and English. The Readjusters re-
iected all the overtures, and declared
they would have nothing to do with the
National Democratic party.
Chairman Barnum's attempt to buy
up Malone having failed, Speaker Ran
dali tried his hand at it, and opened a
correspondence with him; he promised
to raise money in Pennsylvania to aid
Malone in his fight against the Bour-
bons, with the understanding that Ma
hone was to effect fusion between the
Bourbons and Readiusters upon the
| Electoral vote. Malone was intracta-
BILE, and replied that he would do nc
such thing; that the National Commit
tee had no business to meddle with the
Virginia affair, and that it would dc
better to keep its hands off. Randall
then said that he would telegraph for
Mr.. Hewitt to come to Philadelphia.
Malone replied that if he did so he must
do it on his own responsibility.
Mr.. Hewitt, on his part, undertook
the mission of raising 5000, 600, with
which to carry New York, New Jersey
and Connecticut, declaring that unless
those States could be secured, it would
make no difference as to which faction
in Virginia was recognized. But he in
formed Malone that if this result could
not be effected the Committee would
recognize the Bourbons, because they
had always been their friends and stood
by them. Malone then warned Hewitt
against this course, telling him in sub
stance that it would forever prevent any
future recognition of the National
Democratic party by the Readjusters
except as an enemy to be fought by
them, whenever and wherever they
might meet; whether in Virginia, in
Congress or elsewhere. Malone inn
mediately hastened back to Richmond
and issued his address.
These are some of the antecedents
which have brought on the bitter fight
upon Malone which Hill and Beck and
Morgan and Butler and Lamar and the
whole tribe of Bourbons are waging
upon him, and they exhibit the native
rorruptions of the old party of which
these gentlemen are the exponents and