Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-13
The Race Issue.

III General M&hone does not attempt
to rally his colored forces in the cam
paign which is now almost upon us, it
is not at all likely that the Democrats
will raise any race issue. There is no
disposition on their part, so far as we
know or believe, to give the negroes
any excuse for not dividing as the white
voters divide. We shall see, as the
campaign progresses, how General Ma
hone proposes to treat this matter
Dispoteh.
The II, in this case, may well be
omitted. That Malone will attempt to
rally s. his colored forces in the cam
paign which is now almost upon us " is a
question that admits Of no doubt.
From the day that he unfurled his
black and-tan banner in Mozart Hall to
the present time his chief reliance for
votes has been upon the colored peo-
pie. ant
In the first canvass Of the Boss, be-
fore he made known to the public his
intention to betray Virginia, quite a
number Of white voters followed his
deceptive lead. As soon, however, as
they understood his tactics they re-
turned to the Democratic fold, and now
in Tidewater his white followers are
few and far between, while in the VAL
ley, the Southwest, and other sections
of the State his adherents have dwin-
died down TO insignificance compared
with their former strength.
Where, then, can Malone get his
Falstaffian recruits, unless from the
colored people? They are the only
class Of voters he has ever been able to
hold firmly since he commenced his
crusade against what he terms the
"Bourbons," but really the tax-paying,
progressive white people of the State.
We do not mean to say that no white
man will vote Mahone's ticket. On
the contrary, one fourth of his faction
will be made up of that class; but we
do assert, without the fear of contra
diction, that the hopes Of the Boss for
making even a show of success in the
fall must come from the blacks.
As for "thc race ISSUE" we are dis
posed to treat it in the future as we
have in the past. Let the negroes have
free and unobstructed vote. The
sensible men of that race can readily
understand that it is to their interest to
vote for the candidates and with the
party from whom they receive employ
ment, and who are willing to pay them
for their labor. But if, understanding
these facts, they are unwilling to unite
in upholding those who favor honest and
economical government. let them vote as
they please.
Malone is. in our OPINION, more re-
sponsible for the i'll feeling shown by
the blacks to the Democracy than any
member Of his party or even the Re-
publicaDs, who were his immediate
predecessors. From the day that he
allowed his teoters to put his name
forward as a candidate for Governor,
he has never been able to bring to his
support anything like majority of
the white voters Of Virginia, and each
contest has diminished his followers.
Mahone's old tactics will be used
again in the ensuing contest, and the
blacks will be appealed to, as Of yore,
to vote unitedly against the Democratic
candidates. For the negroes, who are
thus used by the Boss and his leaders,
we feel only pity, but for the willy dem
agogues, who use their victims to strike
at better and nobler men than ever they
were, we show no quarters and ask
none for ourselves.
Without the aid Of the negroes Ma
hone is political cipher. With them
he is defeated, if the white Democrats
do their duty.--Daarille Register.