The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-06-01

such determine ton; the one PRACTICAL the
other of sentiment.
The first of these is the ever .rsSs sz
necessity of securing a white man sov-
eminent a subject familiar to the oupiiC
and just now commanding renewed atfa
sympathetic attention. The second one VI
sentiment and feeling only, YET
fully operative and persistent mas
ceived but little attention Iro-n sto usti.'
of political conditions; it is an antasofastn
to and a distrust of the Republican party,
ana simply and solely because 1t IS 'lis
Republican party. This feeling IS 6aseo Oh
the history of that party from Rhe ody
Of its inception down to TOUR years aSo'
q period of forty years.
10 a Southern man the Republican party
during all this time has seemed to owe us
origin its continued existence, us animal
ing strength, to a spirit Of hostility To-
wards his section and people. Inc anti
slavery and war policies of the Re2ubil-
cans he thinks little Of at this day; for he
remembers that he was an equal ID me
nation in those times, and ne mas received
in a proper spirit the blows dealt him
during that give and take fight though he
came out of it badly worsted land we'll
nigh ruined. But when ne Is asked to
vote the Republican ticket the acts and
measures of the Republican party from
tbs close OF the civil war to the second
election of Cleveland rankle in his mind.
1 L
feelings by reviewing What he and his
section have endured within the last
generation.
The abuses in the admnistra ton Of the
Freedman's Bureau; the denial for years
to representation in Congress to his State;
the military governments He was de-
pr;ved OF MS courts of justice, whereby
his legal rights Were denied his liberty
and property subject to the decree OF an
army officer. The most honored men OF
the community, perhaps he himself. were
disfranchised, denied the right 10 hold
! public Office, while the negro was given the
! ballot and placed in official station From
this Acknowledgement Of the best men ana
! the enfranchis5ment Of his former slave,
his State was subjected to government the
most corrupt and extravagant, that de-
graded the Commonwealth and lrumiliated
| him: under which he had TO endure the
J caprice of the ignorant and the rapacity
3; OF the dishonest. That he might free nm
self from this condition OF affairs, pre-
/ serve mis- civilization he was compelled 10
. use violence and fraud; to prevent d Re
{ currence to the same condition ne mas
/! been forced to rely largely on the same
| means. The control OF his elections has
| been more than once taken away from
| him, and when once again in his hands 1t
/ has been attempted to re-estabilsn me
| supervision of the military. He was at one
| and the same time, in order to harmonize
/ legal argument with party purpose, the
| citizen Of an indestructibie State and the
! rebellious inhabitant of conquered terri
tory In addition to these public wrongs.
| this new order of things and new laws
| were the instruments Of private hurnilla-
| ton and injustice ali over the land. The
! Southern man remembers that while all
+. these measures were adopted and these
! conditions brought about in the name OF
| union and harmony, yet their efect-ln-
! deed it was openly claimed such would
| be the case-was to benefit the Republican
| party and maintain its supremacy. lie re-
! members as was boosted by Mr.. Garfield
| in discussing these measures, that they
/ took the very breath of life out OF his
government and put a "bayonet at the
/ breast Of every rebel.
/ The subsection, the ignonliny, the mis-
chief, the ruin wrought by this political
and social upheaval were too real. harsh
and lasting for the sufferers to soon forget
and become allies OF the authors. Even
the coercive power OF selt-interest IS not
sufficient, as political possibilities no"
are, to overcome this feeling of ennity to
the Republican party. This arimoslty
is not felt against the North; only against
the party responsible for terrible past
/ 1t Is not proposed to discuss the consti-
tutionality Of these measures; to say
I whether or not they were necessary 10
+
whether they proceeded from wise
craftsmanship, striving to do right. or
I, were born of wish to punish. an ampl-
! ton to rule. 1t is sufficient here to men
ton them as historical facts and to state
/ their effect upon the Southern mind.
Moreover, apprehension exists that leg!sla-
! ton directed against the political interests
/, Of the South may again be attempted.
(! In order that this sentiment-so let 1t
be called for watlt of a better Word-shall
pass away, the Republican party must
j rid itself Of sectionalism; 1t must abandon
I its interference with the peculiar Southern
J problem The matter cannot be settled
/ at Washington
! When the Republican party does this;
! when it permits the South to settle the
question of race and suffrage, it will lose
J for a time a portion OF its nominal
strength, for it will no longer have solid
! mass of blacks always voting for its
i candidates and always being bea ten But
within short time the whites of the
! South will divide Cmen there differing in
I their views as elsewhere in the world,
: and, as before the war there were Wings
in the South. numerous strenuous, often
] triumphant. SO in the future there will
! be Republicans having like character
isticS, meeting with like fortune Then
will the Republican party have adherents
whom it can respect, who will fight for
the Republican party, instead of having
to have the Republican party fight for
them. NJ. x.
! May 2S, 1900.