Nevada County picayune., 1889-05-08
Harrison'S Southern Policy.

Much has been said as to what the u policy of President Harrison in re-
 gard to the South will be. Below | we give his views as reported by q
 St. Louis Republic correspondent, e taken from a conversation between | Mir. Harrison and q Western Sena- c tor, which shows to some extent his l feeling toward the Southern political boomers who are working the negro : for what he is worth. as well as his
 opinion of the race question:
 He said that he was convinced that there was thorough understanding between few men and few negroes for the disposal of the offices, but
 beyond that they have no regard for each other. He said he was thor
 oughly disgusted with the Southern : politicians that came in contact with him, and that under no consideration could he consent to put the Federal offices in the South in their keeping. He said that he felt kindly toward
 the South; that he was of Southern
 extraction himself, and many of his warmest friends were of the South
 or of Southern leaning. He said he
 was convinced that it was for the best interests of the country that
 sectionalism should be wiped out,
 and that scctionalism could not be
 wiped out until the parties were
 divided on some prepondcrating
 principle, and not on a race question.
 So long, he said. as the parties
 were divided on the race question
 the country would he divided by
 sections, because the great mass of
 the negroes resided in the South, and
 the Northern people did not under stand the peculiar condition in which a white property owner found himself in community where ignorant negroes were in an overwhelming majority. He said that his mission
 would be to make the economic ques- tion the dividing line between parties Tn the South instead of the race question. He said it was his intcn- ton to appoint to office in the South only such men as enjoyed the entire confidence and respect of the con-
 munities in which they resided. ire spective of party. He thought that the protectionists naturally belonged to the Republican party and that he
 would do all he could to make their
 entrance to the party easy. He felt convinced that by appointing to office in the South protectionists, irrespect-
 i've of the question whether they
 voted the Democratic or the Repub-
 llcan ticket heretofore, that he could
 build up new Republican party in
 the South national in character with
 the race question eliminated. He
 said that all that was necessary to
 divide the negro vote in the South
 was to divide the white vote in the South. He thought that the young
 men of the South, and the moneyed
 men of the South, and the influence of the banks and business interests of the South would favor party pledged to high protective tariff.
 He intimated strongly that it was his intention at least to try the experi-
 ment That he would make his Southern appointments slowly and carefully; that he would appoint to office only men of excellent charac-
 ter who were known to be protec-
 tionists; that he would not inquire
 whether they voted for Harrison or
 Cleveland at the last election, or
 whether at the next local election
 they would support Democratic or Republican candidates. He felt
 quite sure that there were 200, ,000
 voters in the Southern States who were acting with the Democratic party sympathetlcally and not from any governing principle, and that if he recognized the progressive element
 that believed in protection he would divide the white vote, and that as a
 natural consequence the colored vote would also divide. Then he thought politics would assume a more . elevated tone; that parties would divide on principle; that the South , ern question would be eliminated
 from national politics; the race p question also eliminated, and that a real union of the sections would nec- T essarlly follow,
 ' lie said he was convinced that il