Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-07-30
The South as Political Factor.

At a recent meeting of the Tennessee
Bar association, at Knoxville, n somewhat
remarkable address was delivered by Mr..
Jordan Stokes, q prominent lawyer of
that State. 1t WAS an argument for the
Acknowledgement of the negro and
embodied facts and figures which exhibit
In a striking way the docadonce of the
South as political factor in the life Of
the nation. Time was when the South
was the controlling section. From 1854 to
1856 she furnished twelve of the eighteen
Presidents, seventeen of the thirty secre-
taries Of State, fifteen Of the twenty
three speakers of the House and twenty
one of the thirty-one members Of the SUI
preme court, and half of the cabinet posi-
tions at Washington.
How has it been since 1sj6? In that
period of nearly half a century the South
ern States have not furnished even q can
didate for President Out of the 1l9
members of the cabnent from 1860 to 1890
only six came from the South. She has
furnished only two speakers OF the House
out of eleven and only five of the twenty
three judges OF the supreme court.
While the prairies of the West and
Northwest have been transformed into
rich farming regions and nourishing
cities, the South with it fertile lands
rich mines and cheap labor has remained
comparatively undeveloped.
There is virtually but one party
in the South. The whites with few
exceptions arc democrats. Mutitudes
of them do not vote and are not inter
ested in voting. They know that their
votes would only serve to make an as
sured majority larger The only break
in the solid South in any federal election
since 1876 was when Kentucky went re-
publican in 1896 by a majority Of two
hundred and eighty-one votes. AS one
result of political Indifference patriotism
comes to be regarded as negligible
quality. The South is not bringing forth
statesmen. 1t has few leaders in Con-
gress. Its political representatives are
politicians turned out by their respective
machines.
MI Stokes did not hesitate TO state the
causes for this condition OF affairs. The
South, he said, has been determined that
the white race should rule. and has put
every other issue aside as Of minor i'm
portance. For d time the negro was
imposed on by the tissue ballot ant
made to vote the ticket which he sup
posed he was trying to defeat When ht
became sufficiently educated to detec
this fraud, the whites stuffed the ballo
boxes. When these and other milde
measures did not avail. the whites intimi
dated. wounded and murdered negroes
TO keep them from the polls. The politi
cal trickster and the tough came to b,
leaders in politics
A worse result, says Mr., Stokes, fol
lowed the habit deliberately adopted b,
the ruling class Of violating the law
of the United States and the statute
they had themselves enacted. The
taught their children, as well as the ne
proes. to have little respect for humal
life. Leading citizens conspring to XII
negroes on election day have stirred u
white men to lawlessness in executn
vengeance on negroes, have infame
the passions of white and black, an
have spread lynchng lawlessness int
northern states. The South has earne
for itself a reputation for lawlessnes
and hostility to capital, with the 70
suit that immigration largely avoids tn
South. and capital seeks investmer
where law and order prevail
These are not the statements OF
northorn man and hatcr of the South bu
4, off, mil mo-
and of obvious intelligence and courage