Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-10-04
A Danger-Signal.

OF sectionallsm, start the outrage mill
and lave the way to Federal inter
ference in elections at the South
should such interference be necessary &c
elect their candidates. have had Just the
contrary effect from what was expected
Instead Of infam.ng the northern mind il
has set il to thinking. Instead OF touching
n responsive chord in The northern heart il
has awakened it TO a sense Of truth and JUS
tice. As an evidence OF this we quote from
speech delivered by Colonel I. W. HIG-
GJNsON st a grand mass-meeting OF hide
PENDENT Republicans held In Boston We'd
ncsday night. Colonel HIGGINsoN said:
You who read the newspapers do not
fully understand how the Republican cam
paign is carried on as we do who 90 up
and down the field after the Republican
speakers. This campaign is being carried
on in all the small towns Of the nation not
rs a civiI-seryice-reiorm campaign. not even
rs n tariff campaign, but first and chiefly as
a bloOdy-shirt campaign, ringing the old
changes on the southern outrages. Again
and again in the towns ] visit ! am told
ltlai WAS tue NltIlt VI tUN VI dtOiN.
and here the instinct, let ne tell you. Of
every man under thirty Years Of age tells
him that the Republican orators are making
mistake and losing their hold.
The war is ended. and the issues Of the
war are ended. The Republican party Of
to-day lost the power TO directly interfere
in the southern question when 1t returned
o, to f,l snah
they had before the war.
Colonel HIGGINsON then proceeded to vim
dictate his right to the claim that he was a
friend OF the negro, and added:
The worst enemy TO that race is that party
that is finding new ground for keeping up
the old hostility in every southern State,
and finding a new outrage for every cleo
ton. which makes il for the interest OF the
politicians of that patty to have one good
outrage. if possible, fol every electl0n-day.
fCheers.l know that the young men Of
the country see this and feel it, and know
that the issues of the war are closed.
and that our a1delity TO the colored race
demands that they should be treated not
90 merchandise OF the Government. but as
independent free agents, who shall be able
TO cone and 90 from one state TO another
as they like. That is the remedy for the
southern question. and not any talking
about national interference which those
who talk about ii know to be impossible.
After the southern States were made indie
pendent States. nothing can be done 10 rule
them from Washington that you would not
advocate for yourselves in Massachusetts
md New Hampshire. [Applause.l
What says Mr.. LOGAN to this? Could
there be more singing rebuke TO his
threat that the Administration must 90
- beyond declarations and resolutions?
Again, as bearing upon the charge OF north
prn Democratic disloyalty, the speaker
said
The southern States came back with
freedom, and we have no right TO complain
Of them now they are here, although
we hear orators say that so long as there
are soldiers graves at Mt. Auburn they
will not vote for Democrat for President.
l,utsthey have not taken the census TO see
how many OF these graves are the graves OF
Democrats. loud applause.l They don't
know how many Of these are the graves
of graduates OF lIaryard-men who were
born Democrats. the sons OF Democrats,
and who died Democrats. (Renewed APP
plause.l | remember. when was in WOr-
cester IN my first captalrcy OF the Fifty
first regiment, there was young officer
so Young that he seemed hardly old
enough to enlist as private. and so shat
tered with wounds that it seemed impOssi-
bic TO retain life rs a man. He was such
wreck that he had to d1ll his regiment
from buggy which he drove, driving a
furious horse as though 1t seemed he wish
ed TO make lIp for the excitement OF riding.
But that boy rose to be general from colo
mel, more and more wrecked by public SER
vice, till. If there was ever man whose
life went ont by slow inches i: was his
Major-Gencral Bartlett, OF Chelsea. Tire
mendous applause.]
II YOU visit the Roman Catholic cenete-
ries near Boston, which are not rs rule
broken up by the graves OF Republicans,
YOU will find graves decorated the same.
and when l hear an lrishman spoken OF
as opposed to good government wonder
II that was the way we recruiting officers
talked in 1861. Loud applause.l
Asa commentary upon the campaign poll
CIV Of Mr.. BLANE's followers as set forth in
the New York Tribune, the Providence
journal, and other prominent organs. Col
onel HIGGINsoN's language speaks for itself
Yet il has another and broader significance
II indicates an awakening on the part OF
leading thinkers in the North TO the fact
that the country has long been drifting from
constitutional moorlngs. BY implication il
tells the nation that what has been in the
South in the way OF bayonet influence at
the ballot.boX may be in the North IL
the people do not now call halt. 1t shows
that but narrow gap lies between the
Republican party as at present consti-
tuted and Capitalization, and that that
party only needs the encouragement OF the
masses TO cross it. Colonel HIGGISsOS
waves danger-signal which throws light
on both the present and the future, and
which no man--whether Republican,
Democrat, or what not-who cheer
lshes individual freedom can afford
10 disregard. In his reference to ma
,ional interference in State affairs he
enuncates the only doctrine that guaran.
tees the pcrpetuity OF free institutions.
Coming from man OF Colonel HIGGIx-
SONS type--a representative Republican
such a speech is indeed an encouraging sign.
1t points more clearly to return TO first
principles and TO the death OF sectionalism
than anything we have seen for years.