Birmingham age-herald., 1895-06-12

them of the reproach. The sentiment of
 emancipation was crystalzed by these tand made a law only in response to pup
 lie demand.
 But immediately following this there came a succession of mistakes on the part of the north that fell but little short of crime. Forgetting the peculiarly Of our government, blind to the welfare of
 the country, seeking to humiliate con quered section and to perpetuate the pow CT of dominant party northern politl-
 clans enfranchised a vast horde of igno-
 rant ex-slaves who did not know the
 meaning. much less the sanctity. of the
 ballot, and in SO doing they placed bur- den upon these United States that as-
 tonished the world and which grinds to the quick every chick and child among
 us, from Maine to Texas. It is but little satisfaction for Us to know that this piece of stupendous folly has proved to be a boomerang, bringing to grief the re- publican party and that the men who
 were responsible for it now lament their sin The fact is here-here to stay! Af fecting Massachusetts as we'll as MiSss sippi. menacing both honor and liberty, it is a serious question whether pop
 ular government is possible under such conditions.
 By the way, it seems to me that we will | repeat this almost crime in the future. | Many worthy women well able 10 use it l seek the ballot. We may well trust our l fortunes in the hands of southern virtue 1 and beauty but we must question the | ability of the south. which already groans l under the enfranchsed negro man, to | bear the blow of another law which 1 would put the ballot in the hands of the | negro women. True, many intelligent | white women could then vote, but they l would be so far outnumbered in some l sections that no stretch of clemency l could induce us to forgive such step l Inv xkbn n hoxra ,Vhqt affppt tho 1 first mistake has produced among us 1 Hoping to reap the benefit of the newly l enfranchised vote the national legisla- l ture proceeded to still further settle mat l ters by beginning it's course of recon l struction in the south. lot of men, i known to every child in the invaded sec 1 ton as carpet-baggers, came down to l administer the semblance of law that 1 was left us. They were set of Scoundrels 1 as unjust as they were infamous. They l were as infamous as they were hungry, 1 and they were as hungry as the grave 1 No Vulture ever pursued a stricken deer l more relentlessly than they, with hearts l like stone and cruel as hell, pursued the l fainting people, whom they robbed of
 what little had been left by the desola- l ton of war Need I stop to show how
 this piece of politics aggravated the evil
 it prOfessed to cure? Pardon me if 1 | decline, for I fear that old thoughts, l long buried, will rise from the tomb to
 
 | lesson of forgiveness and love.
 1 4. Once more Legislation essayed to re- l Heve the trouble. Stung by the con- | tempt of unconquered southern pride that relegated them to the society of
 their colored victims, these carpet-bag-
 gers, with others, poured such won | drous tale of woe into the credulous ears
 of our well meaning brethren at the | north, that even so clear an intellect as 1 Summers became muddled and he
 sought to relieve the social condition of | the negro by his famous or infamous | civil rights bill, a measure at which all | men might laugh but for the trouble it | caused.
 As any man might have known, this | piece of wisdom only served to irritate
 the white race, and fell dead upon the
 blacks. who really did not want it. eX-
 cept some poor creatures, who, misled | by their new masters thrust themselves | upon the Anglo-SaXons and suffered for | their folly. Men will learn after a while | that you cannot by a sweep of the pen | abrogate the laws of nature and set up l in their stead the arbitrary statutes of | men. I will not stop here to discuss all | that legislation has done or attempted.
 1 am willing to believe that for the most | part it was believed to be best. but it
 has all been a sickening failure from the | first down to the force bill of Lodge,
 Reed and Harrison. The author of that
 bill, himself a historian of no mean rep | utation, seems utterly ignorant of the | lessons of history, however well acquaint-
 ed with it's facts. If his desire was to
 gain a permanent foothold for bis party | in the south he could have pursued no
 surer way to defeat. With the south | white supremacy dominates every other | issue, and it was not until the force bill
 helped to precipitate the landslide of 1 1890 and '92 that thinking at last such
 stuff was dead. the people dared to di- | vide on any other issue whatsoever | But let us return to the south, where
 men are under conditions to study the | question better and where we may hope for better results.
 Southern statesmanship has been beset | by peculiar difficulties. and that which l was possible has been done. But so far | they have been able only to pass mega | tive legislation. l cannot here enter into | details, but in the national legislature | tide of mischief set a going by other poli- l ticians. In the states they have done l much in the passage of educational laws, | but their dealings with election laws only
 show that the utmost of their hopes was
 to avert temporary disaster until some 1 other eXpedient might arise.
 As for the mana cement of political | parties they have been so controlled as
 to hopelessly divide the white people | and put the balance of power into dan | gerous hands
 (a) It Is curious fact that the north. | claiming that a divided white vote was | the only solution to our trouble, has al- | ways acted in such a way as to solidify 1 that vote, and that southern leaders l claiming that our only safety lay in a 1 white vote, have led their party so to | split it wide open the moment the fear | of federal interference Twas removed.
 Who was responsible. and how did it | come about?
 l (b) I have reached a dangerous spot. | am about to critcse the action of men 1 still living. and whose fortunes must 1 stand or fall by the action l propose to l discuss Let me soften my words and | Tighten the blows that must fall upon | my defenseless head by declaring my | friendship for these gentlemen and the