The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-12-06

By q word into violence. It i. purchase.
BILE, having the incentive of poverty and
cupidity, and the restraint of neither
pride or convictions. It can never be
merged through logical or orderly cur.
rents into either of the two parties>if
two should present themselves. We
cannot rid of it. There it is, a vast mass
Of irpulsive, ignorant and purchasable
votes. With no factions between which
to sWing.it has no play or dislocltion.
But thrown from.one faction to another
il is the loosed cannon on the storm. tossed
ship. There is no community that would
deliberately tempt this danger. No
social or political fabric that could stand
its strain. The Tweed ring, backed by
smaller and less Irresponsible following
than shrewd clique could rally and
control in every Southern State, and dar-
ing less of plumber and Incidence than
that following would sanction or support,
blotted out. party lines in New York, and
made its intelligence and integrity as
solid as the South ever was. Party lines
were promptly re cast; because New York
had to deal with the vicious who once
punished may be trusted to sulk in quiet
while their wounds heal. We deal With
the ignorant, that scourged from power
today, may be deluded tomorrow in
sssaultipg the very position from which
they have been lashed. Never did rob.
.bers find followers more to their mind
than the emancipated slaves of recon.
struction days. Ignorant and confdiDg,
they could be committed to any excess,
led to any outrage. Deep as was the
degradation, to which these sovereign
States were carried, and heavy as is the
burden they left on this impoverished
people, it was only when the white race,
,rallying from the graves of its dead, and
the ashes Of its homes, closed its decima.
ted ranks, and fronting Federal bayolets,
and defying Federal power, stood like q
stone wall before the uttermost temples
ofits liberty and credit, that the drama
closed, and the miserable assault was
checked. &
Shall these ranks be broken while the
danger still threatens? ssss q.
3.' Let the. whites divide, what happens?
Here is this dangerous and alien influence
that holds the balance of power. It can.
not be- won By argument, for it is without
information, understanding or traditions,
hence without convictions. It must be
bought by race privileges granted as
such or by money paid outright. Let
! us follow this-in its twofold aspect. One
! faction gives the negro certain, privileges
and wins. The other offers more. The
! first bids under, and 80 the sickening
work goes on until the barriers that now
protect the social integrity and peace Of
both races are swept away. The negro
gains nothing, for he secures these spoila
and privileges not by deserving them, OF
qualifying himself for them, but as the
plunder of an Irritating struggle in which
he loses that largeness of sympathy and
tolerance that is at last essential to his
we'll being and advancement. The other
aspect is as bad. One side puts up five
thousand dollars fer the purchase of the
negro vote and wins. The other, de.
:cliniDg atfirst to corrupt the suffrage, but
realizing at last that the administration
ON which its life and properly depends is
at stake, doubles this, and 80 the de.
sbauching deepens until at last such
enormous sums are spent that they must
be- grecouped from the public treasuries
Good men, disguised, go to the rear;
The shrewd and inscriptions are put to
the front, and the negro, carrying with
him the balance OF; power falls at last into
the grasp of the faction which is most
cunning aud conscientious. National
parties, finding here their cheapest mar.
ket and widest fields, will pour millions
into the South, adding to the corruption
funds :of municipal and State factions
until the ballot. box will be hopelessly
debauched, all the approaches thereto
corrupt and all the results .therefrom
tainted. -" s..
The remedy suggested by Mr.. Grady
was that the political integrity Of the
whites in the South must be maintained
Let us, he said, develop our industries
invite immigration aud invite capital, fol
every dollar Of Northern capital invested
in the South gains us one friend in the
North. Let US impress upon the negro
that the best friends he has are the people
among whom he lives. Let US educate
him and make him our friend. Let US be
.steadfast ia our devotion to our glorious
flag, the flag Of the Union, and let us
appeal to and await patiently the judg.
ment Of the world, and especially Of oul
brothers and kindred Of the North.