The Portland daily press., 1883-12-17

zen's rights to all men. Because an oligarcby
OF Democrats was not perpetuated in the
South the Democratic party was ineonsola-
ble;and from the establishment of State gov
ernments on the broad basis of equal rights,
| where equal rights were before unknown,
the Democratic party has steadily and bru-
| tally labored to secure the ascendancy of
the minority in every State where the
majority was against it. To this end the
whole South from Virginia to Texas was
made place of peril to Republicans white
| or black. The records of massacres of Re-
puolicans by Southern Democrats, confessed
| and authenticated is one which matches in
Christians in Turkey or the prosecutions of
| Jews in Russian provinces Whatever may
be said about the exaggerations Of The hour,
the remainder of proved and undeniable
crime, done TO subjugate a majority and ex-
alt minority, is appalling, and it is as vain
| 20 attempt to contradict il as it is to contra
dict the barbarities of neglo slavery As
| long as the printed page preserves
the slave codes of the Southern States
so long the apologists for the human
ity OF slavery will be easily COMPOUNDED.
When the power and vigor of the national
government made open and wholesale mas
sacres unsafe; or, more infuentially per-
haps, when the knowledge of these iniuui-
ties in the South was seen to solidify the
North for the party which believed in genu-
Inc Democracy, another method was resort
| ed to, which became known as the "Missis-
sissippi plan" This was simply an organ
lied scheme of terrorizing which proposed to
| accomplish by threatenings, if possible, what
the Kuklux had aimed to accomplished. 1t
did not abandon whipping, burning, shoot
ing and hanging, but these were resorted to
only sufficiently to make the policy of intim-
idation effectual in keeping citizens who did
not vote the Democratic ticket from the
polls. "The Mississippi plan" was as freely
discussed in the Southern Democratic
papers as any political tactics are dis
cussed in the North, and there was no
| concealment of the fact that its object
was to enable the Democratic minority to
get possession of the government of States
in which Republicans had majority of the
voters. There is no reasonable doubt if
all the people of Mississippi aud South Car
DINA could vote as they would, in safety, that
these States would have Republican govern
ments and Republican representation in
Congress. The Democratic party there is
an oligarchy, which has achieved power
by violent and oppressive means, repugnant
to freedom, to law, and to humanity.
Only short time before we made the
statement to which the Argus objected, oc.
Cured the murder of Matthews at the polls
in Copiah county, Mississippi, he having
been warned not to vote. Previous to that
armed bands had paraded the county night
and day, one Republican negro had been
shot in presence of his family, and others
maltreated, on the mississippi plan.'' Last
Friday there was bloody election riot in
New Orleans, in which the victims, to be
sure, were not Republicans but Democrats.
who were opposed to the Democrats in office
1t was only an application to independent
Democrats of the same means of suppress
sing free political action that heretofore has
been practiced with SO much success against
Republicans.