The Washington bee. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922, 1891-01-24

Milton and Dante are ransacked for sugges-
: uons. and having made the picture lurid and
sulphurouS as a scene from the inferno, they
hold that up as negro rule - then turning
on the lights, clearing the sky, pOising the
sun on the horizon. while birds, flowers.
worth, greatness, and glory, Paradise re
gained' and Baxter's Saints rest ele-
quently interviewer, they sketch another pic
ture and call that the " New SOUTH rising
PhOenix-llke from the blood and ashes OF
her other self l wish To God it were So
No one has greater reason 10 dread the Old
south. to long for the New south than thc
black man, but / am sorry TO say neither of
these pictures are real The negro did com
nit blunders. and sometimes crimes, but he
was patriotic he made a constantly tm-
proving effort 10 secure good government,
he brought the rebelliouS states back into
the Union. He saved them from martial
law. No pen can ever describes he terrible
ordeal the black man had to undergo. ON
one side stood the southern whites. bitter
and revengeiul, holding alOOf, eager for the
black man 20 fail, armed and waiting tO
drive him from power as soon as he began
TO succeed . on the other side was the fOuleSt
gang of demagOgues that ever miSled an
honest people. Coming from the North,
they walked into the black mans conf
dence Making the fairest explanations and
pledges. they Sllenced his questioning Be
tween these two desperate alternatives the
negro had to make choice. and, I'm my iudg
ment. he chose the better At the point of
the bayOnet these governments were over
thrown. The nation has a right TO ask If
the governments since established have been
more Just, mOlr economical, more cOnStttu-
tiOna and pat TiOtic than the ones the ariS-
tOcratS rode through blood TO overthrow
The reconstruction governments voted
high taxes these reform governments have
been plundered by no less than eight state
tFeaSurerS, and, so far aS | know not one
dollar of this money has ever been rcOv-
cred from their bOndSmen southern state
treaSureTS became such frequent passengers
on fhp linda rFuH Poll f..a1 hat fuH
To get new eXtraditiOn treaty with Canada.
How times change. Who ever thought fifty
years ago that a southern gentleman would
ever be passenger On this Subterraneau
trunk line by their fruits you shall know
them Are mObS. maSSaCreS, Illicit distil-
ling, prize fighting. States subs dized BY lot
terry companies, cOnytetS leased To United
States Senators, longer sentences for ne
gTues as crime becomes less frequent, judges
driven from the bench. candidates driven
out of a canvass COnStableS shot on duty,
prisoners hanged in Jail without trial, meu
whipped and sold for VagfanCy, muulerers
escaping by aCquittal, chicken thieves sell
fenced for twenty years, men riddled and
roasted, ballot boxes hcdgcd with bayOnets-
constitutions ON the Mississippi plan. free
action punished with Ostrac ism, free speech
met with the duel or assassination, whole
sections given up to the eXtermHating wars
of class and faction. the results of that ef
fort for pure and honest government l.
ii upon a record like this the south depends
action of certain Senators I'm advocating an
elections bill now a. warmly a. they Op-
posed II IN 1874 has been severely crit
cised. In my Judgment IL IS the most
crushing condemnation the south could
have. They were anxious To find a ray uf
hope TO Justify their action.
These men riSked their whole political
future To give the South a chance To settle
this problem of honest elections. She has
had twenty years I'm that time she has dis
appointed all who hoped in her She has de
ceived all who trusted her, and now. inS t..ah
of repenfing of her crimesi instead of even
denying them. She sends men To COngreS,
who boldly declare that the same old rulers
Will continue To rule at any cost who,
though sworn to support the Constitution.
audacOuSly announce their intention Of dis
ranchlstng the negro. Could any man with
a conscience, knowing that $4,000 defense
less voters have been shot brcduSe Of hi
refusal To- give them protection once. hest
tate when the second opportunity presents
Itself: Nay. would he not do what senator
HOar has been doing with such unhagging
zeal and splendid management To do
otherwise would indeed have verified the
prediction of Bob TOOmbS, that he would yet
call the IOH of his slaves under the shadow
of Bunker Hill Monument,
According To Southern State Congressman
this bill l. full of danger to the states IL
-sends sifthef an sirfr fa,Se' '5t 70
ated But when the Government arms men
and empowers them TO go into certain
and kill any one who IeSlstS them, not a
word il said, not a protest Is made. these
bands who destroy mOOnShine whiSkey are
not aliens.t all this IS constitutional; because
IL Is to the interest OF the wealthy whiskey
ring that It's humble and Illicit competition
be destroyed. Is the collection of revenue
on few gallons of whiSkey Of greater i'm
pOrtance than the collection of ballots By
which the Government Is sustained Some
men who admit thOt an election bill ought
10 have been passed in lS12 say IL + too late
now. II the evil could cure itself. il would
have been wrong 10 have passed a force bill
al any time. But there j. just the trouble
the evil j. increasing, the greater the I'm
crease in wealth, the larger Outrages are
permitted to continue; the fiercer will be
the opposition to any effort to check them
ard the more diSaSf rOus will such an effort
Prove to the investments of these financial
patriots.
Moreover, the negro vote Is constantly
increasing. VIII the North sin submit 10
It's being suppressed when it, gives one man
in the South the power tenfOld greater than
one man in the North VIII the negro him
self. who seems 10 be overlooked as a factor
in estimating the gravity of this problem
continue patient when he finds thai he ha-
no legal remedy nor any hope Of any Pc? Sub
lime, indeed. has been his patience. but Is
II the part of craftsmanship 10 calculate on
an exhaust StlesS supply of patience And
when an oppressed people, meek and long
submissive though they be lose patience
then comes the deuge
| wonder senator StewOrt l. not con
WINGED by his own logic. " that II Is the duty
of the statesman 10 avert the necessity of
the public falling back on their lnalienabIc
right of self preservation No experience
can tell when the last particle of PATIENCE
j. gOne-after II comes the deIuge. II crimt,
does not cease with laws, IL won't without
them. IL this struggle. of which this l.
simply the opening -kirmi-h, meant any.
thing less IN the end than the complete dis
franc hlsement of the negro. and all the uu-
tOh terrible cruelty and oppression result.
ing If we peaceably submitted all the uu-
utteiaDic horrors II we resisted, if il meant
for the south anything but greater disaster
than she has suffered. greater dangers than
c1nfIOnt her, NO true friend Of either the
black man or the South could advocate H.
II this conflict did not gD down 10 shaking
and threatening the very foundations OF this
Government. If II were not an irrrpre~-ible
inevitable conflict bet wecn irrccOucfIable
ideas. between historic forces that meet on
every great question and clash whenever
they meet , II II We're not a war between rf
val principles Of government that can give
each other no quarter-betwecn the Democ-
racy Of the North, where every man votes
and the ari~tOcIacy Of the south where
every man who votes for Mr. SO-and- So7
FOte~ II this ia III last analyst, were not
the issue. IL would be a crime 20 have ere.
at'f 80 much bitterness by proposing such
measure an intOlerable wrong against the
south To recall all her forgiven sins. time
would have been worse than wasted and the
country would call fhe Republican party 10
acCOuht for IT,
Rat knowing this, your duty IS plain
You had 10 save the south from slavery. YOU
VIII have 10 preserve IL from serflOm II
would be- thousand pitieS to leave those
people OF both races. who have suffered sO
much. alone 10 stumble Oh in the darkness.
misunderstanding. menacing, numbering each
other, when you see where the danger IIc-
and a Fgn IN