The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-04-15

even III any nOrtnern community, the
writer makes up case, which though
familiar in the general discussions of
the subject, is nevertheless very strongly
stated. Human nature at the North is
doubtless about the same as at the
South, and there are few men who, If
they are candid, will deny the truthful
ness, whatever they may say of the
morality, of the line of action marked
out in the following illustrations:
"Suppose that there had been unexpect-
eddy distributed over the state OF Massachu-
sets, on a certain day sixteen years ago, a
new body Of voters, of an alien race, so i'm
mense that it outnumbered the previous
wielders of the ballot in the proportion Of
seven to five, so ignorant that it possessed
no conception of its trust, and so inexpe-
rienced that it readily followed any dema-
gogue who bid for its support by cultivating
the distrust which it naturally felt of the
former ruling element. Suppose that the
constitution and laws of the state had never
required either an educational or property
qualification for the suffrage, so that there
was no legal way of preventing this horde
of illiterates from casting ballots which
they could not read. Suppose that the men
who had made the Bay State rich and pros
porous discovered all at once that the con-
troll of the legislature, the administration Of
justice, the fixing of the tax-rate, the appro-
priation of the public money, the whole
government of the commonwealth, had
fallen into the hands of this vast aggrega-
ton OF ignorance. Suppose that there had
emerged from this mob and had been at
tracted from distant section of the coun-
try the worst set of leaders that ever brought
disgrace upon representative government.
Suppose that corruption and misrule had
run riot until the well-being, and even the
very existence, Of society was threatened.
In other words, suppose that Massachusetts
had been put in South Carolina's place.
Does any intelligent and candid man, born
and bred in Massachusetts, doubt that the
former residents-the property-holders and
ax-payers--would speedily have forgotten
old differences, struck hands in defence Of
their threatened interests, and, minority
though they were, have contrived some way
to put the majority under their feet?'
The states of the South, especially
those with large negro population,
were political unit because they had to
be. The colored voters were republic
cans. Repugnance to negro suffrage,
supplemented by the influence of politi-
cal heredity, by a feeling of sympathy
in states having only small negro
population, banded the whites together
under the democratic banner in all the
southern states. This is how the South
became solid. We have only epito-
mized Mr.. Clark's explanation. He
does not discuss the question of the
sufficiency or insufficiency, the mo-
rality or immortality of the reasons.
They are, however, quite reasonable,
and consistent with history and the
springs of human action.
The query, Chow can the solidity of
the South be broken?" is discussed.
"Obviously," the answer is, "only by
removing the cause which produced it.
That cause was the massing of the
negroes in one party" To spread di-
vision among the whites, and widen it
where this division already exists, they
must be relieved from the fear of negro
rule in case they divide. This fear
maintains democratic supremacy in the
black belt" and has been terrible
enough to maintain it where there is no
danger that few white voters, CO.
operating with the negroes, will give
the latter the power. Through the
past decade, when the democrats have
controlled every southern state, certain
congressional districts have either re-
NAMED republican or have been con-
tested by the two parties on nearly
equal terms. Investigation, Mr.. Clark
declares, will show that these republic
can or doubtful districts contained
scarcely any blacks, and adds:
"That is to say, republican representa-
tives have been elected by white southern
ers, without any help from black republi-
cans. Kentucky has always been cOnsid-
cred typical southern democratic state
yet in the mountain region which includes
its southeastern counties lies district which
has more often sent republican than a
democrat to the national Capital since the
war. In this district the white preponder-
ance is so pronounced that the negroes con-
stitute but fourteenth of the whole popula-
ton, which shows that the whites have
divided almost equally between the two
|
of a large negro element to unite the whites
in the party opposed to the blacks may be
seen in the same state of Kentucky. Nearer
| the heart of the commonwealth Is con-
gressional district where the negroes num-
| Der nearly half as many souls as the whites
80 that anything like such an even division
| of the whites as exists in the mountains
would give the republicans an overwhelm-
| ing majority of the voters. But, in point OF
fact, this district is always strongly demo
cratic, the presence of the negroes having
driven the whites together, and the proper.
| ton Of the republican vote to the total poll
does not much exceed the proportion of the
negro inhabitants to the whole population
Moreover, if the analysis be carried stage
farther, the surprising discovery is made
that the only two counties in the noun
tain district which contain many blacks lin
each case little over third of the whole
! population) are both democratic, although II
would take but bare fourth of the whites
to constitute with the blacks majority Of
| their voters. So strong is the influence o.
race feeling, even in a section where, for the
most part, that issue is not raised"
Tennessee and Georgia present SINH
lar isolated instances, and in the state
of West Virginia, containing about the
same proportion of blacks as New Ter
sey, the whites divide with little more
regard to the blacks than in the north
ern state, because there is no fear o.
negro rule. This fear exists, and, Mr.
Clark maintains:
$50 long 40 tho yyhitaa in South Carol;p.