Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-11-24
Mahoneism in South Carolina.

MahOneism In South Carolina.
T. J. Mackey, IN former times 8 ram
pant Radical, but who professed De
mocracy, and was elected Judge of the
Commonwealth by Democratic Legis-
lature, delivered speech at Georgetown,
South Carolina, few days ago, in which
he evinced his readiness to play the role
of Mahone in the Palmetto State, if he
were assured of q following. He dwelt
upon the poverty of the State, professed
great zeal for her welfare, and attributed
the lack of prosperity to intolerance of
free speech and divided sentiments He
thought the time had come for the colored
element to be fairly represented in the
Legislature, and that they could be given
larger representation without affecting
the control Of affairs now enjoyed by the
whites.
Whether the picture Judge Mackey
draws of the economic condition OF
South Carolina be correct in the main or
not, it is certain that there are sections
of the State that are as prosperous
as any in the Union, and there are others
in which the outlook is far from encour-
aging. The State has certainly grown
in population to a remarkable extent,
and though the major part of the growth
was from natural increase, it is undenia-
BILE that a fair share of immigration has
come to her within the past four years.
Prior to that time, when Judge MAckey's
associates held their carnival of waste and
villainy the State was a region to be
summed by outsiders and abandoned by
its people, who were PROSTATE under the
sway of wretches whose infamy has rarely
been equalled and never surpassed
When one recalls it all the wonder is
that she preserved the semblance of a
State, much more that she makes the
showing that she does to day. When one
remembers that she was dragged lower
and held down longer by scoundrels and
bayOnets, he is willing to take hopeful
view of her future when he observes
that she is not so wofully behind her
more fortunate sisters, who were more
speedily delivered from the yoke of
tyranny and spoliation. The question
of material prosperity will be solved,
though it will take longer time than in
other States Commendable efforts are
now making to this end, and it would
become Judge Mackey, if he has any
real pride in his heroic but unfortunate
State, to encourage those efforts, and
leave the logic Of the trickster to those
who can employ it more skillfully than
he.
As to intolerance of opinion however
summarily the people of South Carolina
may have acted when the issue was ex
istence or chaos, there is no reason for
complaint on the score of free suffrage to-
day. The negroes of South Carolina are
as well represented on the whole as are the
Democrats of Massachusetts and other
New England communities, and have a
voice in legislation, State and local, that
is denied the negroes of Pennsylvania,
Ohio and Indiana. While the intelligent
negro will vote his sentiments, the aver
age field hand will be swsyed by other
considerations, and, if he IS to be used,
he had better serve those who have the
real stake in society than those who strive
merely for the spoils Of Office. When
there is a white Republican element in
the South, or an intelligent quota of
negroes, who desire to support Radical
ism, there can fairly be a question as to
representation.
What is true of South Carolina is true
of the whole South in this respect. Let
Northern men come in with their families
and capital, and if they are not converted
after a brief sojOurn to the Southern
way of thinking, they will be, as they
would be now, free to vote as they
please. Judge Mackey uttered a truth,
which he did not intend, when he said
that $50 long as the race issue was in
jected into political campaigns, just so
long would capital and immigration shun
the soil of South Carolina" Here is the
meat of the whole question. When the
Radical press and stump orators shall
cease to mourn over the fate of
the negroes, many of whom
are better off than the same
number of their subscribers and follow
ers, the South will receive her full share
of settlers from other States and abroad.
1t suits the Radical party to misrepre-
sent the South, and as long as its mis-
representations are credited she will
suffer. The spell is breaking, however,
and year by year the South is becoming
better known. Her only danger is that
dependent prOletariat, clothed with
suffrage, may be made to serve the ends
of such men as MackeY and Malone, and
that their success may lead others,
shrewder and ADLER. to bring greater ills
upon her in their struggle for self.ad-
vancement.