The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-05-10

AGAIN BIVG Lue uehAotS GSutiSi u III
south. Day by day. even the spectre OF
such contention disappears before th9
Industrial growth of the south.
Restriction of Suffrage.
let US appeal to the figures. The
three states of the south in which the
negro element is in greatest strength
are South Carolina, Mississippi and
Louisiana. II the suffrage were re-
strlcted to those owning their farms or
their homes, the whites Of the south
would oatnumber the colored two to
one, Of Mississippi nearly four to one,
and OF Louisiana three and one-half u
one. II the suffrage be restricted to the
llterate, the whites of South Carolina
would outnumbar the colored two to
one. those of Mississippi moro than two
to one, and thoze of Louisiana more
than three to one.
In this day of Industrial and inan-
clal change. the south. in the adjust
ment OF the commercial affairs in the
next twenty-five years, will be the chief
factor. We can no longer deAote our
selves to the one and sole idea OF hold
Ing ourselves solid on the negro qucs-
ton. Believing in the southern leaders
and trusting to their guidance in the
past. still with the most absolute earn
estness l believe that the time for
change is upon us. The south has other
things to occupy Its attention. The
great objection to the present system
Is that 1t demands our absolute atten-
ton ana effectiveness to the exclusion
Of all else.
How can we proceed on the grand
march of Industrial progress when our
whole attention is absorbed with our
Inherent political complexities? The
tyranny Of the solid vote to be main
taIned on the one question is the mos.
burdansome and exhausting which ever
afflicted a people. Let us now cast it
off. Delay viii not affect the final re-
suit.
Another Reason for Haste.
Again. there is another reason why
you should hurry the settlement of this
franchise system and convert the negro
vote into an Intelligent one as quickly
as possible. With the exlgencIes Of ma
tIonal life We, Of the south, will shortly
need the negro vote. look for the
south 10 BE- as anxious to have the ne
gro vote counted as is the north to-day.
The negro vote has heretofore been al
lied TO a political organization, the bulk
OF whose existence is the north and
west. He has been generally opposed
to the people among whom he lives.
This has arisen for several reasons that
the southern people were the people to
whom he belonged as a slave, and for
the further reason that he fell into the
hands, during reconstruction days, Of
those who preyed upon his creduiity AMI
ignorance and made him believe that
the southern people were his enemies.
These Impressions are rapidly losing
their force and newer and more intel
llgent class of negroes is taking the
place Of the old. 1t is to me as plain Is
the open day that when the negro IS
Impressed with the idea that the white
man Of the south will treat him fairly
In politics as he does in business, that
he will gradually and surely incline to
the support of the southern people.
when a question arises Of sectional
difference in the way Of local policy in
this country, as they are sure to arise
In the republics life, you will need the
negro vote and most surely you will get
1t. This condition is arising 1t is rap
idly coming. The south Is no longer .
great agricultural section, but 1t is Dc
coming a great competitor with the
north in all the commercial affairs of
our national life You will need every
vote you can get TO sustain your great
commercial politics. The north viii
surely experience, as we have already
experienced, the effects Of the solid me-
gro waite. The south. most certainly,
will be ultimately insistent that the ne
gro vote be counted. Then let the vote
be an intelligent vote and let the ques-
tion be settled and out of the way, and
the negro will be on the way to give us
the assistance we shall certainly need.
Premium Placed on Ignorance.
There is another and higher aspect
Of this question to be considered. by
the ancestral clause in many states you
Will pull the white man down, and with
an educational franchise you push the
negro to the highest educational exer-
else. You place premium upon the
ignorance of the white man of Inc
south.
"The franchise system, as 1t is ut
present constituted in many of the
states Of the south, is to say the least
practically the policy Of repression, RE
preston has been tried at every stage
Of the worlds history and always with
the same unvarying result, utter and
tremendous failure. 1t leads nowhere.
It raises no man, 1t demands no edu-
cation. 1t holds ignorance as dense as
ever. 1t drives away intel
lIgance. 1t breeds discomfort.
II represses any rising inspiration Of the
heart. 1t leaves the land at the end OF
the cycle just as 1t found 1t ut the be.