Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1884-11-29

all pOnllCAl power. II luc outia
stopped there it would be bad enough;
but it does not stop there, for not only
is the negro population disfranchised.
hut the power Which righttully and
constitutionally belongs TO them is
transferred to the white population, en-
nbling the white population OF the south
TO exert all electoral influence far be-
yond that cxerted by the same number
Of white people in the north.
SPECIMEN LOGIC.
To illustrate just how it works to the
destruction of all fair elections, let me
present to you five states III the late
conf.deracy and five loyal states OF the
north, possessing in each section the
same number of electoral votes. In the
south the states of Louisiana, Missis-
sippi, Alabama, Georgia and South
Carolina have in the aggregate FORTY
eight electoral votes. They have 2 .sO0,-
900 white people and over 100000
cplored people. In the north the states
of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, kan-
sas and California have likewise in the
aggregate forty-eight electoral votes,
and they have u white population Of
5 800 400, or Just double the five south
ern states which have named. These
northern states have practically no col
Ored population. 1t is therefore evil
dent that the white men in thoae south
EN- states, by usurping and absoi bing
the rights of the colored men, are ex-
erting just double the political power
Of the white men in the northern states.
| submit, my friends, that such COLI
dition of affairs Is extraordinary, un-
inst and derogatory to the manhood of
the north. Even those who are vim
dictively opposed to negro suffrage will
not deny that if presidential electors
are assigned to tue south by reason OF
the negro population, that population
ought 10 be permitted free suffrage in
the election. To deny that clear prop
oSiti0M is to affirm that southern
white man in the Gulf states is entitled
to double the political power of q
northern white man in the Lake states
it is to affirm that confederate SOL
dier shall WELD twice the influence i'll
the nation that Union soldier can,
and that perpetual and constantly in-
crcasing superiority shall be conceded
to the southern white man in the gov
ernment of the Union. If that be
quietly conceded in this generation 1t
will harden into custom until the badge
of inferiority will attach to the north
ern white man as odiOusly as ever Nor
man noble stamped it upon Saxon
churl.
FEARS FOR THE WORKING MEN.
This subject is of deep interest to the
labOring men of the north. With the
southern democracy triumphantin in their
states and in the nation the negro will
kn oNn,ro1IoI IN vunrk for SfYa gnNh
| wages as the whites may decree, wages
which will amount, as did the supplies
| of the slaves, to a bare subsistence.
equal i'll cash, perhaps, to thirty.five
! cents per day, if averaged over the en-
tire south. The white laborer in the
north will soon feel the distinctive eff
feet Of this upon his own wages. The
republicans have clearly seen from the
earliest days of reconstruction that
wages in the south must be raised to q
just rccompense of the laborer or wages
in the north ruinously lowered, and the
party have steadily worked for the
former result. The reverse influence
will now be set in motion and that con-
dition of affairs produced which years
ago Mr.. Lincoln warned the tree labor
ing men of. The north will prove hos
tile to their independence, and will in-
eviiably lead to ruinOus reduction OF
wages. A mere difference in the color
OF The skin will not suffice to maintain
an entirely different standard of wages
in contiguous and adjacent states, aud
the voluntary will be compelled to yield
TO the involuntary.
THOSE DREADFUL REBELS.
So completely have the colored men
in the south been already deprived by
the democratic party of their constitu-
tional and legal right as citizens Of the
United States that they regard the adj
vent of that party to national power as
the signal of their re-enslavement. and
are affrighted because they think oil
legal protection for them is gone. Few
persons in the moth realize how COM
p'etely the chiefs of the rebellion WELD
the political power which has triumph
ed in the late election. 1t is porten,-
ous fact that the democratic senator's
who come from the states of the ate
coniederacy, all-and / mean all with
out single exception personally par
ticipatcd in the rebellion against the
national government. 1t is a still mole
significant fact that il those states no
man who was loyal to the Union, no
matter how strong n democrat he may
be tot day, has the slightest chance of
political promotion. The one great
avenue to honor in that section is the
record of jealous service in the war
against the government. 1t is certainly
an astounding fact that the section i'm
which friendship for the Union i'll the
day of its trial and agony is still a pol
iiical disqualification, should be called
now to rule over the Union.
All this takes place during the life
time of the generation that fought the
war and elevates into practical COM
mand of the American government the
identical men who organized for its
destruction and plunged us into the
bloodiest contest of modern times.
have spoken Of the south as placed
by the late election in possession of the
government, and mean all that my
words imply. The south furnished
nearly three-fourths of the electoral
votes that defeated the republican par
ty, and they will step TO the command
of the democrats as unchallenged and
as unrestrained as they held the
same position for thirty years before
the civil war.
A FEW PLATITCDEs.
Gentlemen, there cannot be political
inequality among the citizens Of free
republic; there cannot be minority of
white men in the south ruling a ma
jority of white men in the north. Pa.
triotisln, self-respect, pride, protection
for person and safety for country all
cry out against it. The very thought
of it stirs the blood Of men who in
herit equality from the pilgrims who
first stood on Plymouth Rock, and
from liberty loving patriots who came
to the Delaware with William Penn. 1t
becomes the primal question of Ameri.
can manhood. 1t demands hearing
and settlement, and that settlement
will vindicate the equality of American
citizens in all personal and civil rights.
1t will at least establish the equality Of
white men under the national govern
ment, and will give to the northern man
who fought to preserve the Union as
large voice in its government as may
be exercised by the southern man who
fought to destroy the Union. The con-
/. test just closed utterly dwarfs the for
tunes and tate of candidates, whether
successful or unsuccessful,