The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1898-08-18
THE HYPOCRITES.


processes as what it practices that is
of concern to the people, because it is
the practice rather than the preach
that affects their interests.
The Republican party in this State
raises a great hue and cry about
"the purity of the ballot" ga fair
count" etc, and yet it passes an
election law whereby ex penitentiary
convicts and perjured minors and
periured non-residents may vote and
in many instances override and
turning a minority into a majority
and thus securing the triumph OF
men and measures distasteful and
antagonist: to the larger number
entitled to exercise the right OF
suffrage. So we see there is vast
difference between Republican pIo-
fession and Republican practice in the
matter of "the purity of the ballot"
We find the same wide difference
, when we consider the Republican clap
trap about ''local self-government.'
In his address to the County Execu-
tive Committees, State Chairman
Holton expatiates repeatedly upon
this subject. He says every voter
should have the Fright to choose his
local officers that there should be
"local self government, etc. We
have a fair sample of how the Re-
publicans practice 'gocal self-govern-
| ment'' in the towns in the Eastern
| part of the State.
| Let us take the home of eXGOv.
Jarvis, the town of Greenville, Pitt
county, whose experience along this
line the Ex-Governor recited in his
speech at Madison. Greenville has a
population of about three thousand
people and majority of its voters
are white men. The Legislature OF
1895 divided the town into four
wards, zigzagged so as to put a
majority of negro voters in two
wards, and gave the negro wards
two commissioners each and the
white wards one commissioner each,
the result being that the negro wards
elected four negro commissioners and
the white wards two white commits
sioners, making the Board tour
negroes and two whites. This Board
elected a white Republican Mayor, a
white chief of police, two negro
assistant policemen and negro
clerk to the Board. subsequently
the mayor and chief of police were
indicted for gambling and confessed
their guilt in open court, and yet at
the end of their term these men were
re elected to the same office. Here is
town with majority of white
voters under control of the negroes
Ard yet Republican politicians have
the audacity to pretend to favor
focal self-government'' and to use
their hypocrisy in their efforts tc
arouse the prejudices of the POpu-
lists, without whose aid, the Repub
lican party would suffer terrible
defeat, despite the Infamous election
law that has been placed upon the
statute Books of North Carolina.
To show how little material inter
est the officials of Greenville have il
the town, Ex-Governor Jarvis quoted
from the record the amount of tow
taxes paid by them. The nine mel
who control the town, levy it's taxes
and spend the money, paid $7.75 il
taxes, and So So of this was paid by
one, SO that the taxes of the Other
eight aggregated 50 20. And yet
these men, elected by a minority o
the voters, control Il town whos'
taxable property is nearly three
quarters of million of dollars, anC
all through the base manipulation
OF party that is raising a hullaba
loo about "a pure ballot and fai
count" and "local self government.
Let the decent white people al
over North Carolina unite and hur
from power the demagogues an'
hypocrites that insult and oppres
the sturdy citizenship of the State
If they fail to do this it may not b
long before some of the towns in tn
| Western part of the State will b
drinking from the bitter cup that i
now being pressed to the lips 0
citizens of Greenville and other East
ern towns.