Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1908-09-17
AMAZED AND DAZED.

The Democratic press at the South
seems to have been dazed into silence
by the manifest effort OF Mr.. Bryan TO
gather to his support the negro vote in
the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.
New York and even throughout the
country. The Richmond Evening Jour
nal was first dazed and then amazed.
Recently it expressed its amazement as
follows:
at is with mingled amazement and
regret that we learn of the extraordi-
nary advice relative to the negro vote.
given by Colonel Henry Watterson, one
OF the foremost men in the South-that
is to say, in the country-a man imbued
IN every fiber of his being with all that
Is highest and best in Southern feeling.
Southern tradition, Southern sentiment
and Southern pride of race. That
such man, born under the shadow of
Virginia's hills and in sight of the home
Of Lee, should deliberately counsel the
leaders of his party to bid for the negro
vote in the presidential contest. and
thus give them the balance of power be-
tween the contending factions of his
own race, can scarcely be credited. Is
1t possible that Colonel Watterson fail.
to realize what this would mean?"
Is it possible that the Richmond Jour
nal believes that Colonel Watterson has
acted solely upon his own judgment ard
initiative, or that he is the originator Of
this movement which is so shocking to
the sensibilities of the Southern Democ-
racy and to the Richmond Journal in
particular?
The Journal ought to know that the
scheme originated in the fertile but i'm
practical mind of Mr.. Bryan. There
are several striking incidents that point
irresistably to this conclusion.
Why did Mr.. Bryan refuse to express
an honest, decided opinion about the
discharge of the negro soldiers after the
Brownsville affair, when requested to
do so, shortly after his nomination?
Why did he receive a negro delegation
at Fairview few days after he was
made the candidate of his party, and
urge the members of that delegation to
go forth and organize the men of their
race and rally them to his standard?
Why did ne, about the same time.
specially select and commission man
from Chicago to organize the negroes of
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with the evil
dent intention of using the Brownsville
incident to secure the negro votes in
those States? Why is it that Mr.. BRYAN
becomes a sphynx when Brownsville is
mentioned, and is as silent as the grave
when the Fifthteenth Amendment ia re-
ferred to?
The Richmond Journal is SO young in
Virginia politics that it, perhaps, NAV
not know that Mr.. Bryan, or even Col
onel Watterson, has been furnished by
the Virginia Democracy with ample
warrant for trying to utilize the negro
vote when it seemed available, or to
give it the balance of power between
the contending factions of the white
race. In 1879 the Democrats of Virgin
ia sought the support of the negro
voters with an unblushing energy that
would have shocked the sensitive feel
ings of the Richmond Journal had it
then been in existence. The highly
honored and Honorable John W. Daniel
did not scruple at that time to address
negro meetings from the same stand
with negro speakers, and to give those
negro speakers the cordial hand of DO
itical fellowship. Democratic barbe-
;ues were held in certain parts of East
I'm Virginia where whites and negroes
mingled and ate together. Then, in
SS1, when John w. Daniel was the
Democratic candidate for Governor, the
anne earnest plea was made by the