The Red Cloud chief., 1885-11-06
COVERED THE o u
Senator MiiI-r's Able Effort Before th'
New York Convention.

New 1Ofk aonNeHtfo"'
The speech delivered by Hon. War
ner Miller on assuming the duties
Of temporary chairman Of the Republic
an State Convention was wise AMI tenn
pera;e. touching briefly upon each i'm
portant issue pending between the great
polit cal parties of the period Mr.. NIL
Ter ,ook strong ground in favor Of the
principles upon which the Republican
organization j. based. and after briefly
shetching the history Of their appl.c2-
ton in the practical conduct of govern
ment, and the results accomplished.
proceeded to arraign Democracy for rs
numerous d~elinquencies in general and
in detail, including its suppression OF
free elections IN the South. by means OF
which minority rule has been imposed
upon the Nation. This feature of the
situation was dwelt upon with an earn
estneSs which shows that Mr.. Miller is
in full sympathy with his fcllow-Sena-
tOr trom Ohio. John Sherman. He
waved 10 bloody shirt" neither did
lie seek TO int'amc sectional an ;mosities
or fight over again the battles Of the
civil war. He contented himself with
q protest against the in ust:ce done 10
States in which the elective franchise Is
carefully guarded and maintained in
respect Of all who are ent tied To It's ey-
erci,e. adding a warning to the South
that perseverance in debauchihg the
suffrage must necessarily result in n
dermining public virtue. Wrong-doing
in respec, Of a fair ballot and an honest
count is certain to involve crim'nality
in other matters relating TO the man
agcment of governmental affairs. and
finally end in utter decadence Of moral
sense among the offenders who W
their advancement to ii.
The question. as Mr.. Miller pointed
ont. is not one of loyalty to the
Union. Nobody imagines that the bull
dozers and fraudulent m%anipulators Of
the South contemplate another attempt
10 overthrow National authority. in
name at least. Nothin. of that sort is
or has been imputed to them. They
do. however, by means OF force and
chicane, risurp powers not rightfullv be-
longing to them, and 50 long rs that
continue, the Republican party is bound
To protest and resist the outrage with
all the energy of which it is capable. in
the TRUE interest of Justice and demo
cratic institutions. There is no flavor
Of sectional SIN in this, unless L shall be
held that the North and the South are
at variance in regard to the subject of
honest elections. the North cOntending
for them and the South opposing. Are
the Democrats prepare TO accept that
rs the ground of contention? In order
to do this they must first conccde that
elections are not free III the south. and
say that the North has 70 right to COM
plain of the disadvantages 10 which it
is subjected in consequence.
Ii can not be- successfully denied that
intimidation. violence and fraud are the
factors BY which the South has been
made and is kept solid for Democ-
racy. because Southern Democrats con-
feSs these To be their reliance in sew
eral States, and seek to justify the
wrongs pcrpetratcd by setting up the
plea of necessity. They say they can
not otherwise protect Themselves from
negro rule. But that affords no reason
why the vote Of n white man in the
South should count for as much in de-
iermining the political complexion and
policy of the National executive and of
Congress rs the votes If two or three
white men in the North. The point
raised now is not that the cclorcd voters
of the South are unlawfuily deprived
of rights guaranteed to them 10y the
Constitution of the United States, |
though this feature is worthy of grave
consideration. For the moment, the
issue is narrowed down to the right
white voters in the North possess
exercising equal influence with white
voters in the South. so far as the con
duct OF National affairs is concerned.
the agitation of this question j. sec
the Southern Democrats can east
~ put an end to it.. either by allowing
citizens to vote and have their
counted rs east. or surrendcring
portion OF the representation now
enjoyed 10y the South in the Electoral
College and in Congress as is ascd
upon the suppressed franchise. That
Is the position taken BY Mcssrs. Miller
and Sherman. and its fairness is IN
Troy (.N. ~ Times.