New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-07-18

| THE SOUTH CAROLINA GERRYMANDEH.
| States have been gerrymandeIed for partisan
| nurnoses before this Both parties have laiu
| themselves open to the charge, and eacn mas
! nreferred II against the other The manner IN
| which the charge usually has been made on one
side and met on the other indicates that 1T is con-
sidered by both gross offence against public JUS
tice and public morals for which there isneither
justification nor excuse in the forum of public
| opinion. Whenever heretofore any pohuca
party has carved State into districts id sucl'
| wav as 70 give the appearance of an attempt to
gain for itself an undue advantage, some plaus-
lille nretext has been found for it other than
the desire to secure partisan advantage 90
much regard as this at least was shown Tor
appearances; so much tribute paid to the love
of Justice and fair play. Never until now have
we SET n a State districted i'll open and shame
less disregard of every consideration except par
tisan advantage never a case in which such a
division was openly and brazenly justified upon
| the bald simple ground that it was necessary
| in order to stile the influence of legitimate
| majority of the voters in the State.
| 1t was reserved for Mr.. Dibble, of South Car
DINA, to carve up State in such manner as to
leave not the slightest shadow OF pretext Tor II
other than that it suppresses the majority and
rerpetuates minority rule, and 1t was reserved
| for the Democratic party of that State to openly
and shamelessy avow that partisan purpose,
and publicly defend it. BY the census returns
of 1880, the voters of South Carolina are CLASH
| fed thus: white $4,000, colOred 1883 ;
giving the colored voters majority of 31,9
in the State. In this position of affairs no hon
| l. Al ~ .cn no mol
| a Democratic majority as upon IA fair poll and
| honest count will give that party control OF tho
| State offices and Legislature and six OF the
| seven Congressman. The assertion that the
| blacks in large numbers vote the Democratic
| ticket is too childish and absurd to be dis
cussed. Every sensible person knows better.
| IL a few negroes vote the Democratic ticket
their number is greatly overbalanced by the
| number of whites who vote the Republican
| ticket. Nor will it be believed by anyone who
| knows anything of the negro character that
| they voluntarily stay away from the polls and
refrain from voting-having Il lost their interest
| in politics Yin such large numbers as to leave
the Democrats in the ascendant. We are not
now discussing the question whether the
| u.s. 600 are as competent to legislate for and
administer the affairs of the State and assist IN
| Federal legislation rs the $4,000. 1t is siren
uously insisted by the latter that they are not,
and this is the ground upon which their prac-
teal disfranchisement is justified
The essential fact with which we have to deal
is that these IL 900 are voters and haze equal
poltical rights, each one of them, with each enc
of the $4,000. Except by the perpet alton OF
| a crime upon them they cannot be deprived OIL
those rights This will hardly be denied, even
| nv the South CaI DINA Bourbons who drive them
from the polls by violence or defraud them OF
their votes in the count Admitting that theil
methods are criminal, they justify their crimes
upon the plea that there is no other way OF
escape from a domination that would be in
tolerable. Hence in redstricting the State
they have perpetrated the most garing anC
audacious outrage upon tho principle of ma
iority rule ever known in the history OF the
country. Even under this plan they can only
upon an honest vote carry two of the sever
districts, the colored voters being in msjoritie'
ranging from %, 900 to 900 in the other five
in one of them the majority is 4,S37 In the
face of these figures the Bourbons make NJ
secret of their purpose of carrying six OF tn.
seven districts. and no one who looks at the
census tables of voters in four of them car
must be by dishonest means. Nor does 1T an
swer to say that this is matter which concerni
only the South Carolina people themselves anC
is of no interest to anyone else. 1t does
concern the people of the whole country t.
know whether minority is not merely to gov
ern the State of South Carolina but is to exer-
else a largely disproportioDate influence in the
two Houses of Congress, and possibly change
the result of Presidential election and the
political character of the administra ton OF
the Government. And above all it concerns the
whole people to know whether South Carolina
or any other State is to be exempted from the
principle of majority rule. This is no more q
@local issue" than the tariff. The funda-
mental principle of republican government
is involved in it, and every voter in the country
| is interested in its settlement.
South Carolina Democrats say they will not
tolerate the rule of the majority, and openly
proclaim their purpose to defeat it even by
the commission of the most outrageous crimes
upon free suffrage and the rights OF citizens
What says the rest of the country 10 that prop
|