Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-05-15
A Plain Lesson for Speaker Reed.

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Speaker Reed delivered a carefully
prepared address at an imposing meet
ing of the Americus Club of Pittsburp
ON Saturday evening, in which speak.
ing of Southern elections, he said:
What, then, is the remedy: Speaking fol
myself ii seems TO me that the only wise
course is to take into Federal hands the Fed
era elections. Let as cnt loose from The
Otrn counting and our otcR certifcdtlOn.
Then the nation will be satisfied.
The foregoing is the first frank dec
laration of the policy the party now in
power will be forced to adopt if the
revolutionary theories of Speaker Reed
and Senator Hoar shall dominate In
party action. 1t means q Federal elec-
ton law that must employ fully 200,-
600 Federal officials, appointed solely
to obey partisan orders and serve par
tisan ends, and at cost of not less
than $40 900 900 for each Congressional
or Presidential election. In other
words, it means that the party in pow-
er shall employ this colossal election
machinery to return party Congress,
party Senators and party President,
whether elected or not; aud that must
mean the mastery of political despot-
ism, broken tranquility i'm every sec
ton, universal distrust in finance, COM
merce. industry and trade, and end in
violent political revolution.
The plain lesson OH this subject that
Speaker Reed has obviously forgotten,
Is that what he now proposes has al
ready been fully and eXhaustively
tried by his own party, differing only
in agencies and not in methods, and
resulted in the deepest stain upon the
history of the republic that has ever
blotted its annals, and in the utter and
unlamented overthrow of both the
party and its revolutionary methods in
imperishable Infamy.
The Congress that met in Decent Der,
1869, the first year OF complete Repub-
liGan power after Johnson's RECONSTRUCT
ton plans were overthrown, witnessed
the ! ertection of the absolute control
of Southern elections by Federal
orders from Washington, supported
by Federal laws. The Senate of that
session contained 62 Republicans. 10
Democrats and (Georgia) vacancies,
and the Southern States were repre-
whom were carpet-bag adventures,
and nearly all of them despised by
their political friends as utterly char
The Southern States were represent
ed in the House by SO Republicans,
largely OF the same character as the
Senators, and l6 Democrats. The
leaders of that day, like Speaker Reed
now, assumed that with the power OF
might the party supremacy could be
maintained indefinitely, but within
five years the people. in spite Of feder-
al force and carpet-bag fraud, elected
an Overwhelmingly ov Democratic House,
and only few years later changed
the Senate from 50 Republican ma
ority to a Democratic body. Does
not Speaker Reed recall this plain
esson?
The control of Southern elections
lnder reconstruction laws was even
more absolute than it could be made
by Speaker Reeds proposition now.
Fhe Federal Government furnish ed
United States Marshals for every dis
.rict whenever called for, and federal
0ayorets were in every State with Of
lers to aid the Faderal and State au-
.horlties in their force elections. Ev-
cry Southern State had Governor
and Leg gislature in hearty accord with
he Federal orders from Washington
% give victory only 20 the party OF
power. Every State had State ma
,hinery in harmony with Federal laws
md orders to control every election.
Party Registers registered the voters
md only such as were registered could
vote; party election officers received
he votes and computed aud certified
hem, and party constab abulary' was
within call at every poll to assure pard
Nfnr h s<~lf
o this machinery that arbitrarily de-
ided who should vote, and then re-
eived, computed and certified the
'otes, there were State Returning
Boards composed of unscrupulous par
isans who passed finally upon the re-
urns and always declared their party
andidates elected. In five years Of
his Federal control of elections in the
south, every reconstructed State, ex-
eptiDg only Virginia, was desolated
ven beyond the desolation of war:
he State credit utterly destroyed, mil
ions of debt created and chiefly stolen,
nd poverty and despair of black and
white finally hurled the thieving ad-
of party from power and
ent them out marked like Cain of old,
0 be hissed and Stunned by every
lonest citizen. Such method of
orce elections logically eliminated in
he unexampled theft of the Presiden-
y 10y the defeated party that had cre-
ted this Federal control of elections,
nd the voluntary surrender of every
southern State to honest home rule as
he price of retaining the Presidency
tolen from the people. Has Speaker
Reed forgotten this plain lesson?
In 1872, when Grant feared political
evolution in the South, his party
eaders conceived the Force Bill to
trengthen the power of the party in
)rce elections. Reconstruction was
hen not cordially accepted as it is now,
nd there was some plausible excuse
or violent partisan election measures.
here were plenty Of Reeds and Hoars
hen to demand force elections, but
he names Of Blaine and Kelley are
re gratefully remembered by all par
les for their heroic rescue of the party
rom its revolutionary leaders by the
efeat of the Force Bill. Thus is CIV
n. line upon line, percept upon per
ept, from the history of the Repuoll-
an party as to the peril of force cleo
ions, and they sum up plain lesson
D Speaker Reed that only the fool or
be knave would disrsgard.-Phitadet-
hia Times.
/ wish to inform the public that we are