Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-03-03

ssa- Reps2k 3ieanisns~in ssthez Senthv~sssss.
quoted some DAYS since recent
remark Of General. Lopgstreet to. the
efsat that ah@ Re p1blid an party tdla
meyer b pefaaaneHtR established in the
s Ssrse q lS II; cog
tically ignored altogether. The New
II ork 1iWes. in an editorial elaboration,
OF Longsffests idea, has these sensible
words: 81 u
ut seemsto have been largelSth notion
ice in the Soutn that a kepublioan party con-
sist1ng alFosENholly of colored v0ters lconId
this ps %s kh ssss ee sw ss
held, necessary that the negro should have
his rights in the South as elsewhere. but it has
where has MISUNDERSTANDING, cit. to build up i Re-
Hs Pm pa tlylargely composed of whites.
eral officials are of different character from
many OF those heretofore appointed They
IN be sG ya the @
eiples of equal Suffrage: but, this obtained,
Iasness lhterests slEh the s. seetisn toy which
THE TIMES might have>stfengthened
its argument by inquiring why it has
thus far been impracticable .'to build
up Republican party in the South
largely composed of ewhtes?p The,
character of Federal officials il that see
ton has comparatively little TO do with
this confessed failure. We must go
back 70 reconstruction TO find gthe~true
cause. The policy known by that name
was based on the1assumption chat the
blacks were the only portion of the pop
ulation whose loyalty could be depended
upon; that the whites, no matter what
they pEofessedi and pronlised must
| necessarily always be disloyal; and con-
sequently thatspolitical poweramust as
far as.pdssible be confined to the blacks,
with the privilege of using itRas they
pleased. regardless of the interests or
the rights of the whites. 1t is unneces-
ksary to describe the result. Enough to
say THAT reconstruc tionrotted itself out,
by diving every respectable white citi-
zen into an opposition which was his
| only means of self protection. The
Southern whitesr who represented and
sHn represent the capital and business
enterprise-went over to the Democrat
ic party in solid body, not 50 much be-
cause they were specially partial TO it, as
because the Republican party was sys-
tematically expressing and piundering.
LhCIA.@ 1AAll AOilCN 4IOkDStAoCI IbUS GO-dsiJ
because, although reconstruction has
rotted out, the Republican party de-
tends the iniquities of 1861, and, if
we may believe the declarations made
during the late campaign, win bring in
second gedition of them at the first
convenient opportunity. Southern Re-
pubiicahism will remain in. the HELPLESS
condition it now = is until the Southern
whites are convinced, by acts as well as
words. that they have nothing to fear
from party from which they have sut-
fered so much in the past. just so
long as the stalWarts, are the dominant
Republican faction, just so long will the
dominant race in the South reject all
proposals foraiiiliation with the Repub-
lican party. x 4 = . -
The Times may see how little the
character of Federal officials has to do
with the status OF its party in the South,
by referring to the case of Longstreet
himself. Here was Southern man of
unimpeachahle public and private repu-
tation, Southern soldier, inferior only
to Lee and jackson in popular estima-
ton, branded as traitor to his people
for no other reason than his conversion
to RepubIicanism.S Men who would
have shared their last cent and their
! last crust with him turned from him
with contempt and hatred the mo-
ment he identified himself with a party
from which they had received nothing
but evil, and that continually. They
could not see how a Southerner could
| honestly and honorably act with those
| who had, inflicted upon the South a.
hworse curse than unsuccessful war.
This feeling still exists, and naturally
| prevents extensive imitation of Long
streets example. If Mr.. Garfield is
disposed to adoptlthe suggestion of the
Times and bestow his Southern appoint
ments only on '.men of high character,
! acknowledged ability. = identified in
property and business interests with
| their section where could he find
suchp Not in the Republican ranks
| certainly, and the stalwarts insist That
none but Republicans must hold Office
in the South. The fact is that Re-
publican Administration cannot possibly
| fill Southern offices with the right kind
of men until the Republican party
adopts such q policy toward them as
will make it possible for. the right kind
OF men to accept Office underit. And
whenever such policy is adopted.
not asa temporary .expedent. but as
permanency, the Republican party in
the South viii have something to stand
upon and something to grow upon
| That to- day it should be composed of
nine parts blacks and one part whites,
the latter. with few exceptions, utterly
destitute of influence among the better
classes-is just what might have been
expected. Under similar provocation
! it would be the same in the North.
| Human nature is very much of piece
everywhere, and those who when SIN item
on the one cheek turn the other to the
smiterare no more abundant in the North
than in the South. Louis Republican.
"A New York machine man says
that Hayes is an awkward man to fight,
! because he has no feeling. .'You ham
mer him on one side, he just turns over
on the other. and he never strikes
back Weshould say, if this be true,
that Hayes is not an awkward, or any
other kind of man, to fight. he is
evidently true Christian, who being