The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-18
southern Representation.
Knnsaa Citv Ionrr

Returns received from the South i'm dicate that, as usual, only one party really made its appearance in the field, and that the vote was ridiculously small in proportion to the population. There are Congressman in the South who regularly come to Congress with a less vote in their districts than is cast in some of the country counties of the North. It means that the people of the South are not taking the slightest interest in the problems before the country. It means that the region is possessed of prejudices and hatreds which are placed ahead of all the duties of citizenship. It is a part of the country which is not really a part of our scheme of government. It regu- larly violates it's own conceptions of wise economic and financial policy. It endangers the prosperity of the coun- try Ky sullenly supporting what it be- lives to be wrong.
 It will be remembered that the Re- publican national platform contained a plank on this Southern question. This plank declared that i've favor such Congressional action as shall determine whether by special determinations the elective franchise in any State has been unconstitutionally limited, and, if such is the case, we demand that rep resentation in Congress and in the electoral college shall be proportionate- ly reduced as directed by the Congress of the United States"
 It is doubtful how much of this plank expressed the sincere intention of the Republican party. and how much of it must be regarded as merely a gallery play by the politicians. The delegates to the Republican convention knew as we'll as any human thing can be known that the black men of the South have been disfranchised because they are black men. No Congressional investi- gation can establish this fact any more fhnrnncrhlNg ho to al fah lished. The demand for an investiga- tion, therefore, looks very much like a movement to delay the settlement of the question. or to dodge 1t entirely.
 We believe we speak the common sentiment of the North in saying that it was a mistake to give the ballot to the masses of the negroes of the South It probably would be a bigger mistake to attempt a force measure for the restoration of negro suffrage. The country is willing to accept as the best thing for the South the constitutional inhibitions which remove the colored man as a political factor. But, In granting this much to the South, North ern sentiment rebels against the in- justice of having a Southern vote count Northern vote in the halls of legisla- tion and the electoral college.
 It would not be so bad if the South ern people used their special privilege III d iudnHSE not threatening 10 the welfare of the nation. If the South ern people divided up politically as do the people of the North-if they went to Congress and the electoral college voting thenr real sentiments on the policies which may make or break the countryside situation would not be so ! dangerous and so exasperating. The South is admittedly guilty of the na- tional crime of voting against the measures which 1t believes to be wise and necessary. If the rest of the country practiced the same system of voting against its best Judgment, this republic would go to pot so quick that it's dissolution would be a matter of less than a generation. The nation owes to itself the duty of curtailing this misused power up to the limit permitted by the constitution. And we believe that if the Southern repre- sentation should be reduced until a Southern vote counted no more than Northern vote, the sectional differ ences would gradually disappear with disappearing power and the South would come at last into full fellowship with the Union.