The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-02-01
Important Admissions.

Important Admissions.
There is some difference in views
among republicans in regard to the best
method of dealing with the southern
question the present year-some hold
ing that Senator Chambers proposed
legislation is impracticable and that
the white vote in the South can be
divided by pressing the tariff issue in
that section. Although there is no
possibility of the adoption of Senator
Chandler's plans to regulate elections
in the South, because of the democratic
majority in the house, yet they serve
good purpose in keeping the fact before
the country that the republican vote in
the South is suppressed by fraud, in
timidation and violence.
The democratic suppression of a free
vote and fair count" in several of the
Southern States is often denied, but
oftener ignored, by the democratic press
of the North, and the efforts of repub
Leans to find remedy are denounced
as waving of the bloody shirt"
This vague denunciation is regarded in
some quarters as in the nature of an
eXtinguisher; and it is too often con-
sidered even by republicans as term
of reproach, signifying that they seek
without reasonable or just cause to keep
alive the antagonisms and resentments
of the war. Of late, however, we have
gathered some important admissions
from the opposition press that the re-
publican complaints of the southern
political situation are not without JUS
tification. For instance the Boston
Herald, in referring to one of Senator
Chandler's bills, remarks that if South
Carolina conducted her elections fairly
there would be no excuse for his
demonstrations, and that they call the at
tention of the public to state of affairs
that is not creditabe to that state. 1t
will be remembered that in 1881 the
legislature of South Carolina so ger
rymandered the congressional districts
as to return democrats from six of them
and get large share of the negro popu-
lation into the seventh district. This
district contains about 6,300 white
voters to 81 900 colored, and yet in
1856 democrat was returned by vote
of 6,493 to 1861 for the republican
candidate. The evidence of fraud in
this election is so clear that few demo-
Gratis have ventured to dispute it, and
one of the South Carolina democratic
papers felt constrained to denounce the
result on the ground that disclosure
of the facts would be damaging to its
party.
Then there is the more recent in
stance at Jackson, Mississippi, where
the democrats, including several federal
officials, issued circular, printed in
red ink and Ornamented with a shot
gun and brace of revolvers, warning all
colored voters that they must not at
tempt to defeat the democratic ticket.
Under the circumstances, the colored
voters decided that the wiser course for
them was to stay away from the polls,
and so the democrats carried the cleo
ton. But the affair has made such a
stir in congress that the Memphis
Appeal (democratic) is forced to ac-
knowledge that it is ga bad blunder
for the democracy" The Greenville
(Miss.) Times, also democratic paper,
is moved TO say: " No single event has
so truly laid bare the southern situa-
ton, has so effectually dragged the
negro question from the silence of the
covered furrow.'" These papers do
not thus speak of the affair because they
regret it as a fragrant violation of law
and justice, but because they fear the
effect will be damaging to the demo-
cratic party. 1t is worth something,
however, to have admissions from
democratic sources that the southern
democrats carry elections by violent
and unlawful methods.