The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-09-11

palsy the arms of these Republicans who
have hitherto striven to check the feroci.
ty and curb the rapacity of the political
freebooters Who have chosen MIR. Blaine
as their chief. Thoughtful and high.
minded Republicans, in every State. now
pledged their votes to Cleveland, because
he is the embodiment of the idea and
fact of governmental purity and eficien.
cy. Failure in November will deprive
them of political influence for many
wears to come. The Federal Offices, big
and little, are counted by tens Of thou.
sands; but there is not scope and room
enough for the profitable employment of
the gentry who; as they "will not be
dead. heads in the enterprise" and "see
various channels in which they can be
useful" will clamor for participation in
the profits. They will demand, in case
of Blaine's election, the opportunity for
more stealing, more rapine and robbery,
in the South. The pretext for new
crusade is outlined in the Republican
report on the Copiah affair, and is hinted
at in the letters of Mr. Blaine and
General Logan accepting the nomination
for President and Vice President.
The Democratic party, the white people
of the State and their colored allies, have
conducted The government of South
Carolina, for seven years. In every
department of the State Government, in
every walk of life, are the marks and
symbols of intelligent and upright rule.
The chief executive officer of the State
has guarded vigilantly the rights of the
people, taking care that the laws are
faithfully executed, in mercy. The
Judges on the bench, in their ability,
conscientiousness, and their high concep-
tion of their duties, are worthy of the
day when tae decisions of South Carolina
judges were respected throughout the
land. The public expenditures have
been diminished; the interest on the
public debt is regularly and promptly
met. The school debts, contracted by
the Republicans and left unpaid, have
been lifted from the shoulders of the
educational system; the number OF
pupils in the public schools grows rapid
iy !; the length Of the. school session is
extended; the pay of teachers is increas,
ed. On all sides there are evidences OF
that steady and healthy growth which
was impossible during the agoniElng
wears of Radical dominion. So vast has
been the improvement in the condition
of the State that it is estimated that the
whole income of the people of South
Carolina in 1883 was considerably greater
than their whole income from every
source in 1860. Of all this-of the
tranquility, the security, the comfort, the
self respect, the progress, the pride in
your State and in yourselves which
Democratic rule gives and secures--the
defeat of Cleveland and the triumph of
Blaine will. threaten to deprive you.
Naturally, your first thought is of the
State Government. You control that
government in all its departments. In
its effect upon your fortunes, in what it
assures and what it promises, the value
of that control is incalculable. With
the election of Blaine the old difficulties
will return. The defeat of the Demo.
cratic candidates for President and Vice.
President in Nov. .mber will weaken that
control. Nay! you may lose it altogeth-
er.
Fellow citizens: Lack of success in a
campaign so auspiciously begun, and
under circumstances so extraordinarily
will inevitably loosen the ties
which bind the Democratic party togeth'
er. Yet another catastrophe at the polls
w;ll render Il difficult in the extreme to
maintain the Democratic organization in
its present breadth and vigor. Faint
hearted Democrats will be tempted to
abandon the losing side and seek new
alliances. Opposition to the Democratic
party in this State will, indeed, be
alarming, wien IL strong body of white
Democrats, Gseeking political indepen-
dence, shall give cohesion and energy to
the colored masses. From such an
alliance naught but evil can come. Then
your choice would lie between submission
and revolution. Even if you can, two
years hence and two years afterward, elect
such Democratic government as that
which the State now possesses, you will
still. in the event of defeat in the national
arena, be confronted with trials and
dangers from which you now are free.
It is evident that there cannot
be any thorough harmony between the
races, any general co operation for the
advantage of the State, any absolute
assurance of the permanence of Honest
Home Rule while horde of office.
holders, scattered through South Carolina,
use the power and authority of the
United States as cloak and shield in
their plotting against the tranquility and
welfare of this Commonwealth. They
distort facts ;, they circulate falsehoods; ;
they warp the public service to partisan
ends. Such conduct is mischievous
enough in States where the voters, as a
class. are thoughtful and intelligent. 1t
is criminal in a State W here the majority
of the voters are ignorant, credulous and
The freedman is only too
ready to yield blind obedience to the
partisan behests of Federal officials. To
his untutored mind they represent the
United States on the hustings in the
same sense that they representthe Gov.
erpment in any department of the public
service. And the professional banditti
who pervert to the uses of a political
party the agencies which we're created
for the general good, run no risk of
immediate punishment or loss. Upheld
aud rewarded, in any event, by the party
in power at Washington, defeat in this
State does not dismay them. The custom
houses, the postof fices, the bureau of
internal revenue, the court rooms of the
United States Commissioners are their
entertainments, their hospitals, their
camps Of refuge. They sally forth like
the freebooters of old when there is any
hope of pluuder. When they meet with
sturdy resistance they retire in haste to
their s,rongholds. There they repair
damages at the public expense. There
they plaster their wounds with govern
ment notes paid out to them for suppo.
sitious services. There they live and
thrive, growing sleek and fat whoever
else may suffer. The flag Of the United
States, waving over them, renders the
den ofthieves as inviolable as the Temple
of Liberty itself. These knaves, these
ro;daro thosa rohhera must he hanish I'd