The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-09-16
New York Post On Senator Georpe.
We take the following from the col.
umns of the Vicksburg Herald:

NOW 1OTA FoSt Ou oenutOf UeOfRe.
We take the following from the col.
umns of the Vicksburg Herald:
LEADERSHIP AND COURAGE.
The late Senator James z. George of
Mississippi, while not so generally,
known to the people of the natiop as
some other southerners in congress was
perhaps on the whole the strongcs'. lead
er, as regards the people of bis own
state, in the whole list of snch members
in recent years. Certainly no other
man has left so enduring rlark of his
influence in the Fundamental al law of his
state, for the new constitution of Mis-
sissippi may almost be said to have been
his work. This is literally true of its
most distinctive featu.e-the scheme for
eliminating ignorant suffrage: and the
success Of this sch me is leading to it's
imitation througho 1T the south wher-
ever this grave problem comes up for
solution.
Mr.. Georges career was of the sort
which used to be called typical of
American statesmen before the days
when senatorships We're captured by
professional wire-pullers, or by rich
men who found membership of the body
entertaining enough to be worth paying
high price for,
Senator George was leader in that
mississippi plan" by which, ten years
after the close of the war, the white mi
norty of the state overthrow the black
majority of voters. With "a free ballot
and fair count" the negroes, who out
numbered the whites in the ratio of FIVE
to three, could always carry the elec.
tions, and impose the rule of ignorance
and poverty upon intelligence and prop
erty. The whites at last resolved to
frighten as many negroes as possible 10
that they would keep away from the
polls, and to count out" those who in
sisted on voting. An intolerable situa.
ton was ended by the only means which
seemed then-or which seems now--ca
pable Of accomplishing the result.
But Senator George saw that policy
of fraud and force, whatever defense
might be urged for it in a supreme
emergency, could not be made the rule
Of any community without sapping its
morality He insisted that constitu.
tion must be framed under which intel.
ligence would be given legal control Of
the state
The quality which gave Senator
George his strongest hold upon the peo.
pie of Mississippi was his courage. He
took what seemed to him the right po-
sition, and then showed that he was /
ready to surrender Office rather than
abandon this position. He might be
wrong--he was utterly wrong in the
matter Of free coinage; but he was al
ways honest, and willing to sacrifice po.
sition rather than conviction.
In this respect Mr.. George was a wor
thy successor of that other great leader
in his state. Mr.. L. G. C. Lamar When |
the first silver craze swept over the coun-
Try 20 years ago, Mr. Lamar had just |
taken his seat in the senate, to which he !
had been promoted from the house. The
legislature of Mississippi, representing |
what seemed to be the almost universal
sentiment of the state, passed resolu
tion instructing its senators to vote for
the then pending bills to demonetize sill
yer and repea the resumption act. Mr..
Lamar refused to obey, because he did
not believe that the bills ought to be-
come laws He delivered an eloquent
speech, stating the reasons for his
course; announced that he should return |
to Mississippi, explain his position to
his constituents, submit the question Of
his continuance in Office, and accept
their verdict; and when the test was
made, they reelected him without op.
position.
A dozen years later, Mr.. George also I
look his political life in his hands.
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