The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-05-12
INTELLIGENCE AND WEALTH
MUST RULE.o
TFrom the Chicaoo Tribune.

llC0u III D0ualI OF Cnalm6rS on the
/ ground that intelligence and wealth
must rule and not the majority of
legal voters. The Vicksburg district
contains about 10000 Bourbons, all
white, and nearly half of them can
neither read nor write, and about Is, :
900 Republican voters mostly colored,
and large number of them illiterate
These 10000 Bourbons. by fraud, force
and ballot-box stufing, returned Chal-
pers as elected by 5000 majority,
Ihereas on a fair count he was defeated
/ by 10, 600. In the contest for the seat
IN the House, Chalmers frankly admit
ted that the Lynch votes had not been
counted, that Lynch had been cheated
out of his election, that vast majority
OF the district were for Lynch and
against Chalmers, and had so voted. A
large number OF Northern Democrats
refused to ilibuster In defense of this out
rage. To them the dishonest election
return was too fragrant to defend by rev.
/! dictionary proceedings. It was some
thing which they could not defend be-
| fore their constituents. The Northern
Democrats, unlike those from the South,
dare not exclude Lynch by breaking up
q quorum upon the only theory by
which it could be justified, and that
theory was stated by Chalmers immedi-
ately after the election took place. He
thus explained it:
81 think about 5000 votes for Lynch were
Out II
AS self-preservation is the first law of nature,
am in favor Of using every means short of vio-
| lence to preserve the intelligent white people
of Mississippi in control of political affairs.
They are justified in using every means that wit
Or money, short of open bribery, can procure
Ii this is Chalmerism," he concluded, II am
proud of it,
This doctrine of wealth and respect
ability" however satisfactory as o justi-
fication to Southern minds for any ac-
ton necessary to preserve the s'solid
South, could not be accepted by the
Northern Democrats. Chalmerism :"
may be an all sufficient defense for de-
claring that the man who gets 5000
votes is elected over the man who gets
$4,000, but in other parts of the country,
where the law and the custom is that
the man who gets the most votes must
be declared elected, Chalmerism cam
not be accepted, and hence Gen. Chal-
mers could not induce the Democrats
| OF Congress to attempt a revolution to
keep HIM in an office to which he had
not been elected. There cannot be any
safety when elections are to be deter
mined not by the number of votes, but
by the wit, money, wealth and superior
intelligence and cultivation of those who
vote. Themost wealthy and best-educat-
ed class may present the most refined or
talented candidate, and the one who
would make the ablest representative,
! buff the candidate of the "wealth and
intelligence only gets one vote out of
every four polIed the superiority of
those who vote for him must not be
counted as electing him, in the absence
of votes.
This Tory doctrine, that the social
and pecuniary superiority of voters shall
determine elections instead of majorities
of legal votes, is peculiarly the doc
trine of that wing Of the Democratic
party which holds the entire industrial
and labo1ing class of the Northern peo-
pie in contempt. According to Gen.
Chalmers theory, the "self-preserva-
ton" of the idle people of the South
justi6es them in denying to the men of
toll, the laboring masses, the farm hands
and the men of trade any voice in polit-
ical affairs, in opposition to the " supe-
/ rior classes. The white farmers, the
field-hands of the Northwest, the
miners, the men engaged in factories
and shops and on lines Of transportation,
whether white or black, are, according
to Southern Democracy, dangerous to
society and vested rights, and the " self
preservation of the superior. non-in-
dustrial classes justifies the exclusion of
these dangerous working-people from
any political voice in public affairs.
In olden times this aristocratic theory
was considered as belonging exclusively
to portion of the old Wing party, and
was terrible heresy in the estimation
of the Democratic party. Now it is the
general doctrine of the ruling half of
the Democratic party, and doctrine
| which is enforced upon every possible
occasion. It is the cornerstone of the
"Solid South"
preservation with them means
an exclusive political supremacy of the
idle, non-working class, who alone are,
it is contended, fitted to rule. The law,
however, is that elections must be de-
cided by the majority of votes; that is
the law at the North, and Chalmers was
compelled to submit to that law, the
submission being more Illuminating that
he had to surrender his seat to negro.
But il happens that negro is his superior
in brains and education, eloquence and
reasoning powers.
If the Chalmers and Bourbon Doctrine
4 that wealth and intelligence" should
| rule at elections instead Of a majority of
] the legal votes, how many cities north
! of Mason and Dixon's line would be car.
I ried on that test? Not one. If major.
ity of the wealth and intelligence Of
each district were to prevail the Repub-
! licans would carry every Congressional
district in the twenty-five Northern
! States.
In concluding his speech, Mr.. Lynch
/ thus expressed his notions of political
right and justice, which will contrast
fayorably with the higher-law doctrines
/ of Chalmers. Mr.. Lynch said:
"In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I regret
to be compelled to say that it seems to
be the settled determination Of the
| Bourbon party at the South that we
must either have a centralized Govern
ment or no Government at all. They
seem to be determined that if they can
not destroy the Government IN one way
they will in another for it is an neon
trovertible and indisputable fact that the
sanctity and the purity of the ballot is
the chief pillar in our governmental
structure. Destroy that pillar, and the
structure must necessarily fall. speak
to-day not in behalf Of my party, but IN
behalf of my country. I hope that I
speak not as a partisan, but as patriot.
If the party to which I belong, and to
which I feel that owe allegiance, can
not commend itself to the appreciation
and support of majority OF the Arneri-
can people upon its merits, then it does
not deserve success. Political parties
under our system of Government are
supposed to be organized for the purpose
of advocating certain political principles
and to carry into effect certain public
! policies Upon all such questions we