The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-03-20


o Plsce the control 81 Affairs III the
!. q the intelligence and ability Of
tnax .erfson- n h broadly given ont
tnaf this condition must continue. and
tlIat = a essential the white man shall
cNQgr0l and that the negro shall not
ens 1ay important figure in the poiSfi-
CA affairs OF the South. Ii Is con-
sldered --E1nce the election Of General
hzrr1zofl-deSirabIe that there should
De something done 70 eliminate the
negro from politics. just what, is the
question. A number ct nee spzpers.
and gentlemen through the news
papers. have lamenfet the existing
SITUATION, and some have bewailed the
condifioH Ut the white man in the
soufh, claiming that he il not free 10
vote as he pieases, but Ia forced By
circumstances 10 ally hiuaelf with the
Democratic party IA order TO prevent
negro supremacy.
II mar be noted that these fameFs-
fafIctas have arisen since the election
Of General Harrison. Before that
event there was serene satisfaction
tnAE - now lacking. There vas not
that widespread longing for the doing
q something that now pervades the
eoufheTn atmosphere There was
rather the iupndent air OF what are
you gong 10 do about Itg Whereas.
Al present, there - the greatest anx-
iefy That something should be done
sp5Rf u provided that something
Keeps affairs IN the hands OF the
whites. The negro problem i burn
ing question The Southern whites
insist that the solving OF this problem
shall be left 10 them, that they are
better able 20 cope with IL than any
one else, and that they understand the
situation. This Is true. They are bet
ter able to solve the problem and fully
understand the sItuafiod: not the sit
uati0n as given 1sft 10 the general pub
lie, but es il really exists. without the
romance aud coioring with which il
has been the custom 20 adorn IL The
Republican party, having obtained
control in fluff, IL ii inconlpresensibie
10 the South that ID will take every
advantage of this control. In their own
affair.". politically, they are so
accustomed TO taking everything that
victory makes ii possible 10 obtain.
they naturally feel assured that the
Republican party viii do likewise. and
the South viii be shorn OF its political
strength Instead OF the old tales of
the negro voting the Democratic
ticket, you nov hear that they are
practically, solidir Republican. The
solemn denial that the negro vote was
suppressed il replaced by the lament
thai the stability OF affairs requires
that suppression But the story OF
how the disappearance of the negro
Republican vote was accomplished and
maintained il discreetiy not related,
Ii Is long story and sad one. 1t
Is story of outrage and fraud; out
rage OF necessity, for fraud alone
could not succeed. The negro has
plenty of sense, especially OF political
sense. In the South he loves politics
as he loves life, and where he don 4
take 4 hand In politics IL IL simply
from fear. That he has good grounds
for his fear is shown in the history OF
the transition OF the Southern states
from the Republican to the Demo
cratic column.
.sThe mere suppression of the negro
vote was sufficient. In many sections
of the South the negroes greatly out
numbered the whites and the repre-
sentaiion that such a section would
have i'm a state or district convention
would be so small as to be oil no inn
portance. Hence ii became necessary
not only to see that no Republican
votes were lost but that all the votes
possible were cast for the Democrats
and so il eame TO pass that well up 10
the full vote of a precinct was returned
as having been cast for the Democrats.
The matter eliminated in Louisiana
last April bv the preposterous major
ity for the Democratic state ticket al
s3 COO In many parishes. rs counties
are called in Louisiana. the Repabli.
can candidate for governor. III. G..
Warmoth, was not allowed a solitary
vote. So wholesale was the fraud II
was perfectly plain to eyeryone that
the election was burlesoue, vet the
Democratic candidate for governor
Francis r. Nichols, calmly accepted
the result and was duly installed rs
governor.
Occasionally a white man becomes
dissatisfied to such an extent
~ to revolt. He becomes in
that case an independent usu-
ally. Rarely does he 60
over to the Republicans. That in
wolves too much. He can, as an indie.
pendent. get back into the fold later.
As a Republican, he cannot. BY be-
coming a Republican he loses all