The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-10-27
BLAINE ON THE SUUHH.

THE LABOR QUESTION LOOMING UP WITH
THE PROSPECT OF AG1TATING THE
WHOLE COUNTRY.
Ten Thousand Persons Turn Out to
Hear Speech OH the BIOOd.' Shirt
.--Diain~'s Edea Of the Effect of Low
Wages in the South-.-Other PoIiti-
caI News Neted.
PITTsBuRG, Oct. 2O.--Mr. James &. Blaine
addressed n crowd Of l0,W0 persons here to-day
on the subject of the bloody shirt. He said:
Coored men are now. and have been for ten
years, enering tar0 IaS %, ihs in rhatia
nCoga Tenn, and in various paris of Virginia
they are making pisiron at wages OF from SIX
to seventy cents per day. The, product of their
labor hus.haS far been SO small that the impor-
tant fact am now stating has attracted COM
parntivcly no attention; butt II the quantity
wifich they manufacture attain large propor-
Lions 1t will necessarily compete III the mar
kctS Of this country with pisirOn made IN
Pennsylvania and Ohio, and they, themselves.
will compete with men here who are paid Sl;O
prr day. What response IS to be made to that
by our working men who receive the better
wnges? The answer will be just this: That
either the great body OF wOriingmen In the
South must have justice done them and be
IHirly compensated for What they earn by the
sweat of their faces, or else the northern la
boring men must be injuriOusly affected.
This statement, when first made by me, was
met with ridicule and derlsOn, but when that
great organization OF the knights OF Labor
met in the national convention In Richmond,
Va, the other day under their Chief, Powder
", whom take to be man of extraordinary
ability and perception, prolonged checrs] the
rst thing they ran against was absolute un-
willingness on the part of the dominant white
race Of the south to allow cOlored laborefs OF
that region TO have any benefit from the
Knights of Labor or from any other or
gunization that could protect them in their
right to be paid tEc wages they earned. BY Al
strange coincidence l received this very
morning letter from the south on that sub
jeci. My correspondent gives me an appall
ing picture OF the south, and In one portion Of
his letter says: "But after all, we are ahead of
you in the north in respect OF labor, for in u
great many parts of the south We have e>tab-
iished the eight hour law for the coloreu man
--cight hours IL the forenoon and eight hours
In the afternoon" Universal and long con-
tinued merrmcnt.
You often hear from democrats in Allegha-
nv county perhaps elsewhere, that the repub-
licnns were served just right because they put
negro suffrage on the south and that 1t has re.
turned to plague them; Well, 1 deny it
deny, and want to make that denial as In
t.. lligi6le and forcible as l can. | deny that
che republican party, In ITS system Of re-con-
giruction, started ont with the idea of forcing
he south to take negro snifraEei Hh, l had t,,a a
was this: We said 10 the South:
.'rhcrc is the lIth amendment to the constl-
tuition. That amendment Is of 1neNtimnDle
advantage. That amendment makes the citi-
zenship of the United States national. It
ronserres and preserves the national credit.
II consrrvcs and preserves the pension of the
soldier. II prevents men whose hanus nave
been made bloody ON fields OF battle, against
uniOn men, from taking part in the Govern
mcnt until Congress, by a two-lhirdS ma Jorl-
=. shall release th:Iu from trclr disability"
I'VE said to them: "Asrec to this amend
ment and come in but you VIII hnd In That
amendment this provision: q am giving yon
the popular meaning, not taking the exact
words of the law.) If you exclude the negro
from voting he must be excluded from The ba-
SIS Of reprcsch tatlon, put II you VIII give MIN
The basis Of repreScfl tation." That was per-
icctly fair ard square proposition. A repre-.
sentative Ii bascd upon constituency; ana
Guided within the constituency then those
men ought TO be reckoned within the basis oi
representation to increase the number Of rep
will do ono, we will do the olher. You infran-
| chise the colored mtn we Will increase your
tennessee, alone of all the Southern States,
accepted that condition AID came IN at once
and the other ten rejected it in their lesisla'
lures; scorniuly, pi omptly, absolutely, by I'm
overwhelming MINORITY; not one.tenth OF inc
votes In any Legislature being In fav0r Oi IL.
What was the United States 10 do? 90 over
this because have seen In one metropOlian an
Journal what purporLed 10 be correction OF u
Statement which l had made, as though l
had made mistake ana hau onllted an es-
sential part. When these States rejected the
fourteenth amendment, whet was the United
States guvernm. mt to do? That form or re-
construction had failed. 1t was dead. Was
the United states Congress 10 sit down Win
their fingers In their mouths and say:
Gentlemen, our soldiers, our gallant COM
manders, like your candidate for Governor in
PENNSYLVANIA, [cleerSl have whipped yours
| III .,e,f,,< IN hi
off the field OF battle; We sto0u up & 70 nSni 5
now Is the Congress OF The Uulted States to
nck now ledge itself absolutely unable to recon-
Irucl those States on a basis OF loyalty.
Wrsnid "If you will not come In on q ba-
sis of Tire fourteenth amendment, which gives
yOu your time and Your judgment 10 deter.
mine when the negro shall come to suffrage
and shall increase your represe entatlon, "nen
you do bring him to suffrage; II you reject
that, shall we let you In, as you demand TO be
let in. without condition, without qualthc;i'
tiOn TO come in ~ our lnaSlcrS!' No under
The lead OF that great conimoner or Pennsyl'
vunia, ThaddcuS stephens, (rheers]-honnr to
his M mory and peace to his aShes-we Saiu
"If YOU will not reconstruct those States we
will empower the culorcd men 70 JON with
few loyal white men, ana we VIII nave recon
structIon by the use Of co,orcd votes, If til"
white men do not enforce 1t. lAppiauSe.
Then we passed the fifteenth amendment,
which gave suffrage TO every man IN the Unit
cd States who was duly natuia!lzeu or was was
| a Qualification. don't stand here to justify
the form of reconstruction merely by the
fourteenth amendment, leaving to the South
The right to determine when the negro should
come TO suffrage. thirk that in the prOvi-
druce of God, through the stifi-neckcd and re-
belllous conduct of the southern men, who
would not accept reconstruction on those con-
ditions VIC were brought TO u betcrjudgmcnt,
and that partly through their obstinate ana
unreasonable spirit, and through the insplra-
ton of Gods justice, by which tho Repuhi-
can party were innucEccd, we were driven to
on fran chise Tie cOlorcd man and do justice
: for him. (Chcers.) But want you clenrly to
knep your minds on the fact that we otd not
force negro suffrage on the South until they
| themselves had made 1t an Indispensable
measure Of reconstruction. we nave llvea 10
see negro suffrage in the South absolutely de.
stroycIi. Where he is in majority of five to
ono The negro cannot elect ~ representative.
The south takes 90 10 81 representatives In
! Congress and the same number or PfeSirn-
| tiaI electors In the United States; takes them
! by force fraud and violence, ana counts them
| In the Democratic column.
! Thnt Is what they do cNaclly. IL reminds
me of 81 story very pertinent 10 the case. !
! heard it not long since III New YORK. n
southerncr said To northern man:
81, ,rL us play Il game Of billiards for the ncN
| presidential election two years hence-lUl
! roints" Just the number OF electors that Is.
/ 10 iIcy went down 10 the Fifth avenue hotel
| to settle the election two years III advance.
The souihrrner took up y cue and said:
! those nrc mine without playing for thcln.'
| He added: "You see then that have got to
| rct only is while you have to get POI % con-
! frss gentlemen, that AIN utterly ut loss 10
dcn0unce fraud and the wrong when IS SO
we'll illustrated by this story. southern cleo
| lions are worse In point Of political morals
Liam is the gambler who invites Il youth into
! MS den and plays against him with loaded