The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-05-14
White Men Turning tho Hrind>toRe for
Negroes to Sharpen Their Knives
70 Cat 0nr Thrnats.

10 IaP I-iSU OF tFP .NC"S VTN tTrlrS T.
There - one bee::uH OF n" education OF tn
negro lhal t" many presents no l;tilo dini
Guilty, va, the Necessary connection between
negro cdErUlicf and the E.:-hi.lox Elcrtiu,
law. Perhaps you can remove this difficulty
The :o!lowInc $, en- 10 b. settled Inct>:
Oar State must b" ruled by the white per
ilc: p"arcahlS ii We ran. fnr; IDLY if we must
Sell. representation Is the tlr.t law OF nature
End We can re"t: again sHbm;t 10 the 0o.ni,
i'm Of the negroes. We too well wha
ttis means.
arc Sufficiently numerous In many counties
"ad p~fuhuh!y in tne State, 10 CONTROL the clcc
lions: This can he prevented, either ~iIle.nIl.
ty violence or f'aul. or legally by propert!
and educational qualifications.
Now the Eight box law is Sncl an rduca
tonas qualification, and Il successful one 81
FAR AZ The majority OF the negroes Is concern
el. Therefore,, o. result o: the cuuc,if:n -
tri> st;r@uard, anil finally force us 10 resort t.
inui or violence If VIC mr." tn maintain on
supremacy. This is not SO muc., y uaeStiOl
OF p'liilcS rs OF race.
Is sucl, II policy anything less than on
turning the grinlstonc> for the n"g:ocs t.
%itt their knives 10 cut OUR ihHDitS? Arr
we not with \ r"nG auce owing The Wind (
reap the whir,winu"
II tie above are facts, are not politician,
who advocate such i course advocating
Suicidal policy? Are they not facts?
Respectfully. J. II. W.
Columbia, =. G.. May e. 1854.
In answer, to which the Ntws anl Coz
ricr, says:
"Thc object OF clu 'ation is to improve
the coiorcd pcop,caud qualify them to TX
erci>e wisely their privileges as voters
Voters they are. and voters they will re-
main. Where they are in the majority Il:
qualified voters they will freely vote, an,
their votes he counted rs east. Publ,
opinion and public Inv will not tolerate
f.,,,l 80. ,;t,,, so, ,l,,t,,, I-;l,.<
r:nnrt be rcSorted to in this State. anC
f:and is demoraliziny and c%orrupting tt
the white PEG ,,le. They who begin bl
~deiraudiny the negro usually end hI
Clio Niny each other. There is no resort
10 refuge, therefore, save popular caura'
ton. 1t Is y slow remedy, bnt j; is al
that is left u.s."
II our me nnry serves ns correctly on,
Charleston friend urged the adoption o
the Registration law and the Eight Box
system expressly to put an edncationa
qualification on the voter, and now thu
above paragraph would indicate tho anx
ietv of the News md Courier to comic
that qualification on the negro at the OK
pcnse Of the white man. "Whcre they
care in the majority as qualified voters
'they will freely vote, and their vote
Twill be counte,. rs cast When tina
time comes the white han will have moth
ing to do with the government of SoIt'
Carolina. If it Ire the object n the New'
ami C0nricr to transfer this g0vernlnon
u the negroes we know of no more SIr'
way Of doing 50. than Ivy contisrating tho
white mans property to educate him. sc
that he can vote against us. If the -Ncu:
uad Courier could carry ont its wish al
once, the government of the city o.
Charleston would be transferred ut the
next election, from tho proper oTncrs al
the city to a hand Of aliens and Negro
thieves. 1t is all idle, and nobody knows
it better than the .Ncws ana Courier to
talk about removing the difficulty whicl
ilIiteracy now nleets at the polls. The
negroes Of this State are largely in the
majority, and as soon as they can do so
they will again take possession of tho
State.
"fhe Elght-hox law. it IS urged, cstab.
fishes indirectly an educational Gnaliiica
ton. by the requirement that each ha: LOT
must he put in 4 designated box, appro-
priateiv labelled, and in no other. In
course of time the colored people will hc
able to read the labels. and the number OF
hnyes will he no disadvantage. But al
ready something will have been gained
when the cplnr"d voters shall he able to
r:ad their ballots, and know for whom
they are voting.
"The profess Of education is not rapid.
There will be oppr rtunity for the ednra-
ton of the colorel people in other modes
than the education given in schools. By
ard iair-dcaling the rolnrcd people ran be
made to see and feel that their interests
are coincidrnt with those Of the ~rospecta-
bic white renpicnf the State. This cam
not he effected lv thruSting the colored
people down, and jumping on them; il
must he done Ivy convincing them that
thy will always he dealt with honestly.
and he regarded not us enemies, hut a.
friends.
"1he State 'ilust he ruled hv the white
people, as our correspondent says. hut ii
nreh not hc rnlen. aud is not ruled. by
tl.e white people alone. There were white
men. two Years agn. who voted the Green
Iark-Raliral ticket, and there were col
WV pt'I'lC, N'lttl lhe VI
tirket. There will 10 more serious aivis-
ions, perhaps, hcrcaitcr.'
In 1875 thousands of negroes voted with
lis. and helped Us to overturn the wicked
government Of the car~pct-haggrr. AL
enough the State Of Sonth Carolina has
spen: u quarter of a million dollars an
ruaily to educate the negro we have gain
Cd no favor with him, and every election
Stree 10, the number of negroes whirh
taro voted with us, has grown smaller at
zach succeeding esertirn. While it is true
that about n thousand negroes voted
with us in Ahhcvillc county in 1876. it is
aise true tn t not o"e dozen voted with
na In 1882. So mnch for the expenditure
OF eight thousand dollars annually in
this county for negro education.
at il evident that those who oppose nc.
gro cGurltiun lGSe sight of the fact that
tho negro vote is dangerous in proportion
TO its lcroranre, as in THAI proportion it is
q lure, 4 bait. to needy or ambitious pOli-
ticinnS. Whenever there is Il serious
break i9 the white ranks. the demaguYues
and revo!utinniStS will strike for the ne.
XIV" ''S INV" Hill't Al nv -
from winning and commanding 1t? On
~ by snrh 4 policy as the State purSues
to-day-0nIy by constant efforts to lift ul
the colored man by education of every
kind, and by satisfying him that it j:
wisc>t and best for him To place himscl
in political accord with the respectable
and responsible white people Of the State
"ln o'der that the whites shall continue
to rule, there is no need that the politica
division shall be strictly on the color line
The real danger of the Subversion %
white influences in the State government
is through a consolidation of the col0reC
vote, by just Sirh opposition to popular
education, such hostility to the coloreC
people. as is indicated in III correspond
ent's letter. 1t is not. NC are sure, the
dominant sentiment in the State. Thu
opponents of popular education will bt
routed. if they shall force the questio,
upon the people; but. In the meanwhile
the wedge will lave been driven into thu
Democratic: party, and tho soltcning ant
healing effect of the policy pursued fol
the last six or eight years will he lessen
ed, ii not %dissipated altogctler.'
If the Nevs and Courier wanted t,
make al appeal to us, while trying e
dupe a people who know the negro a
well as does that paper, what better o
more delusire arguments could it bring
forth? To educate the negro is to trans
fer this government from its rightru
owners. or to bring on a wal OF races ant
to foster discomfort. To talk abou
educating the negro at our expense wit
the idea of his becoming true to us, is lit
t,e less than OtTerinran insult to the com
mon sense OF our people. What educated
negro has cvor voted with MS, or hccn tru
to US in any sense? We would like t
hear the name Of q single II
The Neus and Courier knows perfect.
well, If tho sentiments which it has eX
pressed in tie above paragraphs wer
nunl,.nnna nnl ,lnutnl La, tln nntnlnrrnfi