San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-07-31
THE IRREPREssIsLE CONFLICT.

Inc new orleans Item Is one or the
broad minded journals, against whose
ingram democracy there cannot be
anything urged, that antagonize:
alike the spirit and the methods o.
procedure advocated by the Atlanta
Constitution. The Item reviews the
whole'situation calmly and dispas.
sionately; quotes freely from the lead.
ing democratic journals of the north,
and while not freely endorsing all
that is said arrives at its own inde-
pendent conclusions. This conclu-
sion, as set forth in q late leader, is:
"The suggestion of the Atlanta
Constitution, endorsed by Gov. Cor
don, to put social embargo on
northern goods and capital, in case of
the passage Of the force bill, does not
seem to be received with favor any
where outside of Atlanta and the
Picayune office. Even in Atlanta the
sordid suggestion is accepted as re-
minder of the loss sustained by the
death of the level-headed and broad
minded Grady. The people of the
south are not much pleased at the
thought that they are expected to be-
come mere imitators by adop5ing q
policy, barren of honor, which has
failed wherever it has been tried"
The New York Herald goes farther
than any other democratic journal in
Its denunciation of the boycott
scheme and predicts the speedy
passage of the bill in its most
obnoxious form as the result of the
should it continue, and the
of New York state by $4,000
votes should the boycott
be attempted. The. entire drift of
democratic opinion is to this conclu.
sion, that the attempt to boycott the
north as result of the:passage.of q
federal elections bill would only
react to the disadvantage of the
south and make bad matter worse.
All this may be accepted as show
ing that no vert acts Of retaliation
will be made against the north for
passing federal elections bill, but
every attempt to enforce it will De
met with all opposition that will
drive the colored voters away from
the polls. This will be done by
such continued system of persecu-
ton, and by so constantly discrimin-
ating against colored republicans in
matters of trade and labor, that the
colored voter will find himself under
the ban and forced. morally if not
to keep away from the
polls. The intention to do this is
plainly perceivable in many things,
more implied than expressed, in the
democratic journals of the day
and in the questions propounded
as to who will protect the COL
ored voters during the other days
of the year. 1t is asserted that as the
white democratic voters care for the
colored man during all the rest of the
year they are entitled to his vote
when the election comes. The white
southern democrat had a two-third
lien on every colored man as a slave
and he was worth just-two thirds of a
vote to him. Since the war the color
ed man has counted one in the enum-
erations on which congressional rep
sentation is based, but he has never
been given the benefit of that vote.
He is detrauded of his vote, and his
democratic defrauder benefits byssthe
fraud. There is no doubt OF the right
eousness of the law proposed, by which
the colored voter of the south will
be protected in the.exercise of his fran
chlse, as granted him by constitu-
tional provision; but, how about
protecting him during the rest of the
year, when he is not under the imme-
diate care of the federal authority.
Congress can pass federal election
law. 1t will be a just law and equit-
able. Without it, the southern DEM
ocracy hold more than a score OF seats
in congress by the authority of fraud,
and yet to attempt remedy will in
evitably expose the colored man to
hardships and disabilities such as had
no parallel save in the old Ku Kiux
times, and scarcely then. Is the ire
pressible conflict never to come to an
end, or can it only end in the practi-
cal Acknowledgement of southern re
Dublicans2