The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-07-06


chosen agent of all that was vln-
dictive or revengeful under Repub-
lIcan regime in Texas. We do
not propose at present to reopen the
dark and bloody record of that Pc
riod. We do not propose to re-
capitulate the events of the darkest
political and social age of Texas, for
the facts touching it still linger fresh
upon the minds of the men and wO-
men and the youths of that period.
Mr.. Davis was placed, in violation
of the expressed will of the people of
Texas, in charge of the administra-
! tion of Republican ideas in Texas,
and right bravely did he execute
every behest. Yet this man tells US
now, as chairman OF the state commit
tee, that the affiliation of himself and
those like him with the Washington
power was the result of decision
between two evils, and he goes on
to say the decision was made that
they would be Republicans, because
it placed them in alliance with the
party controlling the general govern
ment. In this Mr.. Davis comes near
making the same remark that was
honestly made by Web. Flanagan
at Chicago. Web. stated in thunder
ing tones that Texas Republicans
were there for the offices, and Mr..
Davis admits, with sinister design,
that he and his political friends in
Texas would not have become Re-
publicans had it not been for the
power derived thereby. But Mr..
Davis purpose is to make the
unsophisticated believe he became
a Republican, when, really had it
not been tor the recognition
derived thereby, he would have
been something, more like a south
ern man would naturally have been.
He says:
Some of the disadvantages we la
Dor under now, the result of that de-
termination, were not then anticipat-
ed. While the Republicans of the
south and Texas have been, by their
local neighbors, held responsible as
co-workers for the management and
policy of the national party, they
really have had no control or direc-
ton of its councils, the whole ma
tional government being as COM
pletely at distance and apart from
us as if we were another people. 1t
is curious, on this point, to note the
progress OF the Republican party to-
wards nationalizing itself.
One reason why it did not
"natlonalize" itself in Texas was
that Mr.. Davis, who was trusted as
the agent for this purpose, became
even more of Heroj than the great
ruler at Washington, and out of the
excuses which he practiced came a
greater hatred of Republicanisrh
than otherwise there would have
been. Who ever heard before of
Mr.. Davis going reluctantly into
the Republican party, and remain
ing there with reluctance. 1t
has been the ambition of his life
to stand in with the powers at
Washington, and now, after years of
effort to hold up and then to re-
establish Republicanism in Texas,
he is directed to ambush Republi-
eanism behind a new movement.
and thus to secure, If possible, some
recognition from the white people
of Texas. "Gradually," Mr.. Davis
says, "the party has withdrawn
itself north of Mason and Dixon's
line, and even the appointments to
our local federal offices have been
too frequently made to suit the
wishes of persons living at a dis
tance from u.s." Gradually, he
should have said, the party
has had to retire, because of its
iniquities, beyond Mason and Dix
on's line. Most of the party that
retired did so in the interest of indi-
vidual safety. Moses, of South Car
olina, is in the penitentiary in New
York, and some of Mr.. Davis great
est pets hide in unknown quarters
of the world. Villainy is what sig
nalized Republicanism in Texas,
and this is why Mr.. Davis is di-
rected to refer to il in un-
complimentary style, just as though
all do not know that he directed Re-
publicanism in Texas. He wants
the sentimentalizing Democrats,
and those poor fellows who would
sell their lives, almost, for any fed
eral position, to join Lands with him,
and march ON to glory under the In-
dependent banner. He admits that
the whites of the south, no matter
where they may be raised, "take
their political coloring from sur
roundings," and therefore this feint
is adopted with the hope that
il may catch votes for the
candidates that the Republican
leaders at Washington decide to
help. A good deal of money is to
be spent in Texas, probably, in aid
of congressional candidates, who
may be used, if elected, by the Re
publicans, and Mr.. Davis will be
trusted with its distribution. This
is good thing for him, but the de-
claration he makes is as thin
as cause, so thin that
the most unobserving see at
the first glance what is meant by it
He says the movement for the new
party ought to begin in Texas. OF
course it ought and E j. Davis
ought to be at the head of it, and it
ought to revolutionize the country,