Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1903-08-06

AdQ t0ey DeeH open 10 IedSOH. WHICH
they were not, stiil the South could
not yield the principle for which 1t al
ways stood, that negro suffrage was
wrong: nor did 1t dare, by encouraging
political to invite ultimate social
equality. For, if the white people of
the South were divided politically and
the negroes were likewise divided
and voted, then 1t would be apparent
to all that the negro vote would de
eide nearly all political tests and that
the races would be brought closer to-
gether, to the utter ruin and confu-
sion OF both. The cajolery, fattery
and baseness OF designing men under
these conditions would actually have
accomplished what the fifteenth
amendment sought to accomplish, and
which the white people of the South
have decfeed; under the providence
of God, shall never be.
Supremacy Of White People.
Who shall, in justice, censure the
white man for the persistent and in
~creasing purpose to preserve the land
of his birth and the institutions of his
fathers? Who shall deny the right
or gainsay the duty to protect his
home, his family and his State? That
right he has exercised; that duty he
has done well. The sacrifice has
been great, but freely made, because
the demand and the situation were
inexorable.
political conditions in the South
growing out of negro suffrage are
unique and deserving of the thoughtful
and patriotic consideration of the
whole country.
Anterior to the civil war there was
no section of the country where there
was a higher standard of civil and
political honor than in the South.
Contests between the old Wing and
Democratic parties were fierce and
waged with all the intellectual activ-
ity of honest difference of opinion as
to men and measures. Then Randolph
might differ with Clay and Calhoun
with Jackson. This was the normal
and ideal condition which tended to a
full and free discussion of public at.
fairs so desirable in a representative
republic and which developed the fin
est qualities of individuality and com.
handing craftsmanship. Then coer.
cion and fraud at the polls were
unknown. The ballot was free and
the count was honest, Then the as
pirations of Southern statesmen were
neither stifed nor baff1ed with the
unmeaning and unreasonable cry OF
sectionalism. Nor were the South
ern people attendants or dependents,
ready to vote for any policy whether
they believed in it or not, in order to
save the home and the fireside.
Then the Southern man was a free
political agent, and the Southern
statesman was of full stature, with
reason left free to act, and merit
alone was the true standard of his
country's regard.
Brought Fraud in Elections.
Since the day of universal suf-
frage, all this has changed. We have
been compelled to resort to question
able measures, often to force and fraud
at the polls, as the only remedies and
as the only e of escape from the
greater evils of negro rule.
"Our political independence Is gone.
No matter how divergent our views on
public questions may be, howmuchso-
ever we may wish to play our part
unhampered in the field Of national
politics, we cannot, because we dare
not.
IF the character and quality Of our
craftsmanship has diminished, it is not
because we have lost the capacity,
but because we cannot exercise or de
velop that capacity under free and IA
vorable conditions.
I'VE may be free traders or pro-
t%ectionists, expansionists or opposed
to expansion, for or against measures
of national concern, but on election
day our votes must go for he white
man int civilization against the black
man and ruin.
THE result has been that polit.
ical contests since the war have been
personal for the mere Office among
men of the same party where public
questions have rarely been discussed,
except from the same point OF view.
The fear of negro rule has shackled
the political Independence OF the
South.
THE Northern man coming South
soon realizes this, not because he
must, but because he recognizes the
truth and justice of the situation.
Must Stand Redeemed.
"If the doctrine of mans right to
hold another in bondage was repug-
nant to civilization and re%pellant to
conscience no matter how mildly the
authority might have been exercised,
which all may now admit, yet full po-
litical equality founded upon the ruins
of slavery is no less repugnant to the
enlightened Judgment of all mankind.
''The ~unspeakable dread and hor.
ror of the time when political equality
would obliterate the lines which
marked the boundaries of the races
has nerved and sustained the South
ern mar through every vicissitude OF
fortune and carried him safely through
every ordeal which vexed the temper
and tried the souls of men.
1.-The Southern man can stand to-
day in the sunlight and behold his be-
loved land redeemed from the terrors
of negro domination, and he intends
that it shall always stand so redeemed.
HE is thankful, too, that the light
has broken upon his accusers. He
looks with hope and expectation upon
the clear sky as the mists of misrep-
resentation are rolling rapidly away.
IF the voice of calumny is some
times yet raised, he no longer heeds
it or despairs. He knows he has been
and is right, and, conscious of his rec
titude, waits in patience for the day
that all mankind may know it. He be-
lieyes the time will soon come when
the impartial historian, in recounting
the struggle of the white man for
| self-preservation all through the
dark night of reconstruction, to the
day of final redemption, will write OF
this as the browning act and the NJ
blest in a drama so full of pathos, so
set with high courage. sc rich in i'm
perishable honor.
"At Appomattox the Confederate sol
dier surrendered his arms and re-
newed his vows to the Union which
he and his sons will give their lives
and all they have to preserve forever.
| without aid of bounty. in proud and
in~corruptible poverty, true to himself
and false to none, he has lived and
will die. He is now hurrying to the
silence of eternal shadows which lay
heavy and thick across the river. and
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