Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-03-28
The ADMINISTRATION and the South.

indication. His predecessors for twenty
years past had, each and all, felt it in
cumbent upon them to dwell at more or
less length upon the "still rebellious
South, for the sole purpose Of keeping
up sectional hate and making political
capital for the Republican party. When
Mr. Arthur, therefore, made such vide
departure from the numerous precedents
which had been established for him, 1t
was welcomed throughout the land as
good omen, and a sign that he intended
to know no sectional lines, but be the
President of the whole United States.
But in a great many ways Mr. Arthur
has disappointed public expectation IN
this respect. He has plainly shown that
he IS body and soul committed to stall
wartism, and every now and then IN
mistakable evidences of his intention to
radicalize the country, if he can, are
presented. His nomination of Conkling
to the Supreme Bench his own declara'
ton that it would be one Of the chief
ends and aims Of his administration to
strengthen his party in the South his
continuing not only to confer office upon
the old political hacks of his party in
this section, but to select for Federal
Offices the most Objectionable Of the So
called Southern Republicans and
last. but not least, the
evident influence which General
Grant exerts over him, all combine to
show that in the bottom of his heart
President Arthur possesses no affection
for the South, and that our section has
nothing TO hope for from his administra-
ton. While he keeps silence he goes on
acting steadily against the wishes and in
terests Of the vast majority of the wealth
aud intelligence of our people, and his
luminosity is all the more noticea-
be because, while he carefully
abstains from villifcation and malig-
nant abuse Of the South, he permits no
opportunity to pass to practically demon
strate the fact that he is actuated towards
her by no spirit Of friendliness or good
will. He shows, in a word, that he is
as much the stalwart partisan in the
White House that he was in the New
York Custom House, and that when the
interests Of the country clash with those
of his party, the former must yield.
The latest evidence of this spirit which
the present administration has developed
was given to the public on Friday morn
ing last, when the pronunciamento Of
United States Attorney General Brew
ster to Dallas Sanders, United States Dis
trict Attorney at Charleston, was pub
lished. In his letter the Attorney Gen
eral clearly foreshadowed the purposes
and plans of the administration towards
our people, and that 1t is the evident de
termination, slowly and cautiously per-
hsps, but none the less surely, to revive,
if possible, the horrors of Grantism. He
writes to Mr.. Sanders that as a result Of
the Congressional contest between
Smalls and Tillman, of South Carolina,
it has been shown that abuses of the
right of suffrage have been INDUCED in
in our sister State, and that he desires
these matters to be fully investigated
And the tenor of his entire communica
ton may be readily understood from one
expression therein as follows: 81 say the
highest and most responsible people are
those whom l desire to be first prose
cuted and first pursued. There will be
no examples if merely Insignificant per-
sons are taken hold Of.
Now, what does this mean? Simply
that old, stale, WORKOUT Radical stories
regarding South Carolina are to be re-
vamped, so that her citizens may be arrest
ed, dragged before Federal courts, and
tried on trumped up charges, all in the
hope that sectional feeling may be re-
vived against the South. 1t is simply
carrying into execution Mr.. Arthur's an
nounced determination to leave no means
untried for capturing the South for his
party in 1884, and South Carolina seems
to be the most promising State upon
which to begin operations. According
to our Charleston contemporary, the
election laws of the State have not
been violated. The election officers,
who it is proposed to have arrested,
and brought to trial before Federal
courts, were appointed under the laws
of the State, and they have performed
their duty to the satisfaction Of the com
monwealth The Federal courts have
therefore nothing whatever to do with
them; but that they may be arrested
and brought before those courts
for the benefit of Mr.. Arthur's party,
they are to be accused of having violated
some United States law. Our Charles
ton contemporary is perfectly correct
when it says that the object Of the stall
wart wing of the Republican
party, as revealed in the letter
of Attorney General Brewster, is
'To Africanize South Carolina" and
deprive the people of that State of tran
| guilty, security and justice, so that it's
electoral vote may possibly be captured
in 1884
This Radical conspiracy against good
government in our sister State is really
a matter Of as much concern to the whole
country as it is to the South. Under the
conservative influences of Garfeld's adj
ministration, the country was at peace
and prospecting, sectional hate was fast
beginning to disappear, and the benef
cent effect thereof was making itself felt
throughout the length and breadth of the
land. Now Guitesu's shot threatens to
effectually change this desirable condition
of affairs, and partisan malice is once
more coming to the fore to incite and
foment internal dissension. That this
spirit on the part of the admins
tration can only affect the whole
country injuriously is undeniable. The
North and South together, for their
mutual interests, should unite in repro
batting the course Of the administration,
and so show to MIR. Arthur that a return