The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-10-22
THE soLIp SOUTH,
blaine on Reconstruction, Apd the Vote
That Is silsHCbd.

1t wss found impossible to give in yes
terday's ISTELLIaENcER the whole Of Mr.,
Blaine's splendid speech delivered in
Pittsburgh. The concluding portion APP
pears below;
Now let me correct another thing, even
II l be repeating what said elsewhere,
repeat It because | regard II as Of extra
ordinary Importance 70 correct Q popular
misCouception on the part OF q vast num-
Der OF young men whom have had the
pleasure OF meeting in Pennsylvania. l
am not lmputing to them ignorance
but | merely mean that they have been !
born and grown up since the events that |
going 10 sllude to took place. Now
you often hear from Democrats in allie
gheny county, perhaps, that the Republi-
caus were served just right because they
put negro suffrage on the South, and It
has returned to plague them.
Well, deny II. deny
that the Republican party ever
said to the Southern Stales-l want
10 make that denial as ineligible % ! can
and as ioICiblc As l Can-l deny that the
Republican party In it's system Of recon,
stTlCtion ever started out with the Idea OF
forcing the South to take negro suffrage,
What we did, and | had o small part in
the legislation, what VIC did was this:
We said to the South, here Ia the four
teenth amendment to the constitutions
that estimate Is Of ipestimable advantage;
that advantage makes citizenship OF the
United States national; 1t Conserves and
preserves the national credit; II GonserVes
and preserves the pension OF
the soldier; it prevents the
men whose hands have been made bloody
on fields Of battle against Union men from
taking possession Of the Government until
Congress by q tWo,thirds majority should
release them from that disability, We
said to them agree to this amendment
and come iI-Rnd you will find in
that amendment this proviston-It you
will excluded am giving. II the popular
Interpretation and not taking the exact
language Of the law-if you exclude
the negro from voting he must be *
Guided from the bssls Of representation
But II you will give him the right to vote
he shall st once be put Into the basls
OF representation, That was perfectly
fair; that was q perfectly fair and
square thing. A representative is based
upon a constituency, and II they didn't
allow these Colored men to bs included
in the constituency, they ought not TO
he reCkoned IN the oasis OF represents
lives among their enemies. But II you
will do tho one, we will do tho other,
You e~nfrancniSB the colored man, and we
will increase your representation. Ten
nesee, OF all the Southern States, alone
accepted that condition and came in ut
once, and the other tan rejected IL scorn'
fully, positively and absolutely in their
Legislatures by overwhelming msjorItiesi
not one.tenth Of tho votes in any LeEiHla'
turs being in favor oil 1t.
TnR SOUTH WANTED To lie II MASTER.
Well, now, what was the United States
to do2 l 90 over this, because | SEQ In
some metropolitan journals an important
statement as though l had made 8 mis-
take in my statements heretofore and had
left out IN essential part. What was the
United States TO doP That form OF re.
construction had failed; 1t was dead.
Was the Unitsd States Congress TO cit
down with their fingers in their mouths
and say, Gentlemen, our soldiers, our
gallant commanders like your candidate
for Governor Of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
our gallant soldiers have whipped yours
off the field OF battle; VIC stood up to the
fight until the last rebel soldier had sur
rendered, and now 10 the Congress Of the
United States to acknowledge its absolute
inability 10 reconstruct those states on the
basis Of loyalty2 Why, we said, II you
will not come in on the basis Of tho Four
teenth amendment, that gives you your
time and your judgment to determine
when the negro shall cOme TO suffrage,
and increases your representation when
you do bring him to suffrage; II you 70.
jeCt that, shall We let you In as you de.
mand to be let In, without condition,
without qualification, to come In as our
mastels2 No, sir. Under tho lead Of
that great c5mmoner OF Pennsylvania,
Thaddsus StevenP, LGpplauBe honor TO
his memory, we SAID II yen won't recon
struct those States, wo will empower the
Colored men to join with the few
loyal white men. and we'll
have reconstruction by the
colored men II the white men won't make
1t, Applause, and cries OF GOOD, good"l
aud then wO passed the fifteenth amend-
ment, which gave suffrage to every man
within the United States that was duly
naturalized or was born on our coil. Now
l do not stand here-andI want 10 make
that qualification do not stand hero to
Justify the form Of reconstruction merely
by tho fourteenth amendment leaving 10
the South the right 10 determine When
the negroes should come 10 suffrage. /
think that in the providence Of God, un-
der the Btifl:necked conduct OF the South
ern men who would not take those con.
ditions, We were brought 10 a better judg.
menl, and that partly through their re.
bellious spirit and through the inspiration
OF Gods Justice that all the Republican
party should partake Of It, that We were
driven to %eniranChise the Colored man and
do him justice, but still | want you TO
keepyour mind on the fact that we did
not enforce negro auHrage on the South
until they themselves had made II the in.
dlspensi6le point Of reconstruction.
THE WRONG AGAINST THE NORTH.
Now, wo have lived to see negro SUI.
irage in the South absolutely destroyed
absolutely destroyed. Where he Is In the
majority fvo 10 one, no cannot elect a
representative; and they take thirty.fve
10 tbirty.eight reprCsentatives-take them
by violence, take them by frRud-they
take thirty.ive TO thirty. eight Representa-,
tiyes in Congress and Electors Of the
United States and count them in the Dem.
oCratic column.
A voiCe--"That's 3d."
Mr.. Blsine-It ia exactly as tho story,
very pertinent to the case. A night or
two ago l. heard 1t in New York. A
SOuthprner said 10 q Northern man;
"Let's play agame Of billiards for the next
Presidential election two years hence, 4Ol
points, Just the number Of electors"
And SO they went down to tho Fifth
Avenue Hotel to settle this thing two
years In advance by q game OF billiards.
Tho Southern man took up a Cue-1 20
upon the presumption that you have seen
this gamo-and he said, swell, l will
count OIL 1853. Laughter and applause