The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1885-04-23

can be. Each union b abn0rmal, but tks sO0e
forces the other. Disintegration Of the hieher
stratum cannot be expected until the lower has
begun to split apart A division of the snegro
vote Is therefore the prerequisite TO anything
like O general division OF the white vote.
Two motives have hitherto conspired tosuaaks
the negroes Republicans-the two strongest mo
tives which could influence an ignorant aE1 i'm.
pecasible race-gratitude and Tear. 0gatstAde,
not only In the shape Of thankfdlness 10 the par
ty which had freed and enfranchlsed tAens but
IS " that lively sense Of favon to come" wksch
the traditional promise Of " forty acres enn .
mule had aroused. Fear, lest the race u Aich
had formerly held them In bondage still p!5t.ed
for their reduction TO servitude. aud lest the hlc
vstion Of the Democracy to power in the tation
might mean their reenslavement.
Time dulls the edge of gratitude. Young col
ored men are now coming on the stage OF s:tion
wAo were born in freedom, and who fecogAize
no Indebtedness 10 any party for their hsefty.
The "favors 10 come" from Republican! rule
have largely proved Elusive. A Republicans sd
minstrati0n at Washington has practically aen
the negro In the South to shin for himself On
the other hand, the Democratic State gos4in-
ments have pleasantly disappointed him The
appropriations Tor schools have. almost witbput
exception, been steadily increased above shc
amount provided by Republican Legislatures,
and his children now have better teachers snd
longer terms than ten years ago. A dissincs I'D :.
white man Is already so perceptible as TO have
favorably affected the negroes sentiment toward
him.
The fear ofharm from Federal administration
controlled by Democrats has survived. Nstnsal
enough in its origin, it has been sedulously cnl-
tivated by the leaders of their party as the s4si-
est device for keeping the blacks solid for ahe
Republicans. The support Of the party by the:
negroes has never represented any intelligent
acceptance of it's principles; it has been Only
50 tar as 1t was not an expression OF gratitude,
an attempt tn secure periodical renewal OF; An
insurance policy against apprehended evil TIE
election OF Democratic President will emaA Aci-
pate the blacks from this nightmare of apbse-
hension. The absurdity of their dread lest they
might be put back into slavery by the Den,-
Gratis will be demonstrated by the one couvitc-
ing test of experience. A few months will SAT-
fee to prove its folly, even TO the most tinior-
Gus.
Freed from this overmas,ering fear, relieved
from the sway OF leaders who were for the mtsst
part Republicans "for revenue only" the ae-
groes will, for the first time, be governed in
casting their ballots by the same motives good
and bad, which sway voters elsewhere Instd&d
OF bindly following some alien Federal ofic,s-
holder against the whites among whom they
live, they will. more or less quickly come to ac-
cept the lead of their white neish6ors The ar.
gro already often seeks and follows the advice
of his old master as to his material interests
Only the deep seated fear of his masters parry
has kept him from needing the white mans saf-
gestions as to his political course. Convince hisn
that the white man means him no harm In his
relations as citizen, and he will soon be ready
to accept his leadership in public affairs, as b.,
already often does in private
Once divide the negro vote, and the Solid
South Is broken The whites have only been
held together by the union of the blacks The
elements of division among the whites already
= IL L. u
parts OF several other Southern States. Even noes
leaders OF rival parties, or leaders of rival fact
ions in the same party, divide the votes of tne
whites in the mountain districts, where negroes
are scarce; they will do the same thing in tine
cotton, rice and sugar sections, where the re.
groes most abound as soon rs the latter escape
from their bondage 10 a superstition, and are
ready to divide their votes also
Thus at last, for the first time, we shall see
parties at the South separated by something else
than the race line. This is BY no means Tie
same thing saying that the South is at ouee
going to become Republican. On the contrarr.
in most of the cotton States at least there may
be, probably will be, at first temporary deprea-
sion OF the Republican party below even its pre$-
ent weak condition. The Republican Feder1l
office holders, who have looked after its machc-
cry, will disappear, and the machinery, with NO.
body paid to keep it in running order, will rust
aud decay. The blacks, convinced that they
can vote the Democratic ticket safely as the
Republican, will be much more likely 10 do se,
as their employers will make it seem for their ia
terest to do so, precisely as Northern employers
Of white laborers do with their workmen Il
will not be strange If next year. and perhaps the
year after, the elections in some Southern Statos
are carried by the Democrats almost without
opposition. But such a development will cal!
for no tears from any friend of honest politics
and good government Indeed, the more rapid
and complete the disntegration OF the old r.
publican party of the South, with its rank and
file composed almost exclusively of ignoraat
blacks, the sooner will come about the divisioa
of the Democratic whites in that section When
such a division occurs the "Sohd South" Il
broken never to be reunited
BROOKLYN, N. Y. EDWARD P. CLARK.