The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-04-29
Speaker Reeds Pittsburz Speech.

The speech which Mr.. Reed delivered at
the anniversary dinner of the Allegheny
Republican Club of Pittsburg on Saturday
night, the full text of which was published
in the MORNING News on Sunday, is ex-
actly in line with his course as speaker. He
is an aggressive, domineering and overbear-
ing kind Of a man, who is ready to usurp
power to any extent to accomplish his pur-
poses, and whose chief object IS to keep his
party in power. Mr.. Reed is not a states
man is any sense of the word. He is poll
tician. The welfare of the people and the
good Of the country are secondary matters
with him. Indeed, it is doubtful if he cares
about them at all, except in so far as he
may feel it necessary to do so to advance
the interests of his party.
The point which Dir. Reed makes in his
speech is that there are million OF so of
black republican voters in the south from
which the Republican party receives no
benefit. and that that party wants, and in
tends to have, the benefit of those votes.
1t is unnecessary to call attention to his
charge that southern democrats now sup
press these votes by violence, intimidation
and false counting. This charge has been
often made but has not been proven,
and Mr. Reed does not attempt to prove
it. He contents himself with the
assertion that when the southern peopl
deny that the black vote Is suppressed they
know that they are uttering falsehood. A
man occupying the position he does, who
had reasonable amount of self respect and
a proper regard for what is decent and
proper, would not bring charge of that kind
against whole people, unless he supported
it with strong proof.
Mr.. Reed says. in effect, that his party
does not care anything about the moral,
intellectual or material condition of the
blacks; that it doesn't intend to assist them
in any way, and doesn't care what their
future may be. 1t simply seeks their votes.
Its object is political power, and it wants
the black votes to help it obtain that object.
Was ever selfshness more boldly revealed 2
After reading this speech of Mr.. Reed no
intelligent black man can have the least
doubt that his race has nothing to expect
from the Republican party, except what it
can force from it.
Mr.. Reed advises that congressional and
national elections be separated from state
elections, and that federal agents be ap-
pointed to count the votes in congressional
and national elections. By this he means,
of course, that republicans be appointed in
the south to count the black vote for the
Republican party whether the vote is cast
or not The republican returning boards
which Mr.. Reed wants would assume that
the black vote. if not found in the ballot
boxes, was intimidated, and should there
fore be counted for the Republican party,
just as if it had been cast for that party.
Mr.. Reed pretends to think that a pro-
ceeding Of that kind would not cause trou-
bic.
He knows that it would. but perhaps he
relies upon such troubles 20 arouse feeling
in the north against the south that would
help to strengthen his party in that section.
While Mr.. Reed virtually admits that if
| he were in the south he would not submit to
| black domination, and that black rule in any
southern state would be followed speedily
| by the ruin of that state, he says that the
| United States would suffer no harm
from thirty or forty black congressman.
The whole country might not suffer any
immediate harm, but portion of 1.-THE
| south-would. Black congressman could
not represent the south as she ought to be
represented, and she would lose, therefore,
her influence in national affairs. Her in
terests would be overlooked and her welfare
| neglected, and, BESIDES the black congress
men would be continually demanding legis-
lation which would tend to create hatred
between the races.
AS long as no harm would come to the
United States MIR. Reed would not care ap-
parently how greatly the prosperity of the
south was injured. Indeed, fair inference
| from his speech is that he would willingly
| give up the south to black rule and ruin, if
| by SO doing he could insure the permanent
| success of the Republican party.
Mr.. Reed says that he has never before
| talked about southern outrages stories.
That may be true, but in his Pittsburg
speech he goes further in partisan direc-
ton than any republican leader has pre-
viously gone in dealing with the race ques-
ton, because he makes it clear that justice
to the southern people and the prosperity of
the south are matters of little importance in
| his opinion in comparison with the keeping
of the Republican party in control of the
| government.