The morning call., 1890-05-25
THE SECTIONAL ISSUE.

Hon. Stephen NJ. White, in q dispatch to
the Democratic County Convention of
Fresno, openly av0ws himself a candidate
for tile Senate in case the Democrats carry
the State this fall. Unless the State Con-
vention should see fit to sit down upon Mr..
White he must be regarded as the probable
choice Of the party, as no one else has taken
the field and the question is thus presented
10 the people of the State at large whether
they want to be in part represented in the
Senate by gentleman whose opinions on
the vital question of State unity are I'M
known and suspected of being unsound.
We observe that a contemporary, the
Chronicle, which claims to be Republican,
is disposed to smooth Mr.. Whites path to
the Senate much in the same way that it
smoothed the way to the election of Mr..
Hearst to the Senate by defeating the cleo
ton Of Mr.. Sargent. The Chronicle says:
The absurdty OF declaring that any one who
has expressed himself In favor of State division
should be bOycotted politically and net receive
the support OF northern delegates In the State
conventions is worse than nonsense, for it is apt
10 create bitter feelings and bad blood. The
people OF Southern California, being freemen,
have constitutional right to express themselves
as they please AMI to take any legitimate steps
10 carry out any project which they may con-
celve. To oppose man for having expressed
himself in favor Of State division would be about
as senseless proceeding as it would for the
Southern California delegates to array them
selves against man because he was opposed to
cutting the State in two The whole subject
should be dropped.
This way of looking at the case may suit
the Chronicle, but it will not commend it
self to the people of Northern and Central
California. 1t is not true that the people
- I'll
any legitimate steps TO carry out any pro-
ject they may conceive if that project con-
templates the destruction of the common
wealth of which they are members. And it
is the right and duty of the north and CEN
trail portions of the State to stamp out any
such projects by ostraciZing candidates who
are striving to be elected on such an issue
secretly manipulated. The slave-owners
thirty years ago claimed that they had
right to try to carry out their project to di-
vide the country just as the southern
demagogues claim the right to try and
divide the State, but the North thought
differently and put them down, though
they had back log in the shape of State
sovereignty, which the Los Angeles seces-
sionistS have not.
1t is not believed that any considerable
number of the citizens of that portion of
the State which lies south of Tehachapi are
in favor of State division; but majority
of the inhabitants Of Los Angeles are
There is not any probability that the
people of the north and center OF the State,
If they realize the annoyance of the effect
of Mr.. Whites possible election to the Sem
ate. will help him on his way by electing a
Legislature that would choose him. Still it
is dangerous 20 indulge in political proph-
ecy, for Mr.. White may impose himself on
his party as forced conclusion. If so, it
will be well for Democrats to remember
that the campaign this fall will be fought
with the eyes of the people open to a posi-
bic sectional issue-the partisans of seces-
sion on one side, and those who insist that
California shall remain one and indivisible
on the other.