The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1884-02-22

Smith was not success, at least not In
San Antonio, where he had n splendid
chance to display his skill and he will
not "pan out" any better as a volunteer
witness before the grand jury.
TIE Galveston Print, judging from its
comments upon an article in the LIGHT
concerning the missionary labors of Mr..
Richard Nelson, is not blessed with very
high powers of augmentation, nor with
any great art in concealing its purposes.
The Print does not care n silver for the
negroes, but II is extremely anxious to
detach them from the Republican party
and toll them into the Democratic trap.
II has not denied, nor can IL deny, the
truth of our assertion that Southern
Democrats were bitterly hostile to ne
all the trouble and excitement in the
South has grown out of this very hostil-
| ity. The following extract from the
| Danville Times, of Virginia. full
blooded Bourbon sheet-shows oonclu-
| sively what was the primary cause OF
the riot in that city, negroes holding
offices, and precisely the same hostility
permeated the entire South, with far
greater rancor and intensity from 1868
to 1880, as all intelligent Republicans
fully comprehended; "Danville was
under negro rule the convention which
nominated all our officers was composed
of "a negroes and only 10 whites; we
had four negro policemen. Including the
clerk of the market and sanitary police
man; a negro Magistrate and four ne
groes in the Council. Nearly every
officer in the whole city government was
q Mahoneite, and many, as we have
above stated, were negroes. So many
negroes In office made the whole race
impudent, and being put up to it by
white followers of Malone, who were
constantly telling them they were as
| good as white people, it was almost i'm
possible to get along with them" Per-
haps in 1868 much Of this prejudice and
| hostility were, under the circumstances,
natural, and for that reason, so long as
| II did not take shape in overt acts of
violence. fraud and intimidation,
was to be left TO the sottening influences
Of time and circumstances. The South
ern whites had been educated to con-
slider the negroes as belonging to an in
ferior race and had known them only as
slaves and property, and, moreover, they
knew them to be without even the rudi-
IN #
under such circumstances, it was quite
| natural that they should be opposed to
their voting and holding office. Even
| Oliver p. Morton, one of the best of Re-
publican statesmen, deprecated and OPP
posed negro suffrage, though he had none
of the prejudices of the Southern slave
holder to warp his judgment in the mat
ter. Being aware of the existence of
this prejudice and hostility as well as of
| the excited state of mind into which the
Southern whites were thrown by the
war, sensible and discerning Republi-
cans desired to avoid adding fuel to the
flame, by running negroes for office, and
to leave time TO soften, or remove this
l
and discretion prescribed this course. 1t
was but too plain to men of any sagacity,
that by putting negroes forward for of
flee before they had acquired the requi-
| site qualifications and while the minds
of the Southern whites were in a ferment
OF mingled excitement, prejudice and
evaporation, which silenced the voice
Of reason and paralyzed conscience.
| would draw down upon the negroes the
| wrath and vindictiveness of the class of
roughs and desperadoes as well as defeat
the success of the Republican party in
the South. 1t would also give Demo-
cratic demagogues a pretext for impas-
stoned declamations about "negro SUI
premacy," NEGRO domination" pro-
scribing the intelligence and ex-
| perience Of the country, and
placing ignorance at the helm to
steer the "ship of State" through the
dangerous strait of transition through
which 1t was necessary to pass. Upon
the whole the negroes have behaved re-
markably well, and have made credit
able progress in acquiring education and
property, and the softening influences of
time have modified the excitement and
prejudice Of Southern Democrats. Pru-
dence and mutual forbearance will pre-
vent any clash between the races in the
future. The Print must know that no
party, which is not bereft of its senses.
ever willfully risks defeat by running a
candidate against whom there exists n
strong and invincible prejudice. If it
was known that the Irish element were
utterly hostile to Mr.. Mcdonald, or Mr..
Morrison, we are certain the Democrats
never would nominate him for Presi-
dent. The same reasoning and motive
led the LIGHT to say that the itch of the
| negroes for 0ffina had oon,o1.l. =,