Evening star., 1950-07-08
The Political Min @~s~a4 :,
South Unable to Escape
Democratic Party Rule
New Listing of Negro Voters
Unlikely to Upset Control
By Gould Lincoln

AO1lONQ04At .. ~, o-xOA ulO10
than so years-since the close Of the
reconstruction period after the Civil
War-the II Southern States which Sc
ceded in 1861 have had a one-party
political system-and the one party has
been the Democratic Party.
The Populist Party, in the 90s. gained
considerable headway, but 1t faded out.
In 1928, five States of the Solid South
voted for the Republican candidate for
President, because of the Catholic and
the liquor issues. Twenty years later
four of these States voted against Presi-
mond Of South Carolina, under States
rights Democratic label.
The South did not start turning Re-
publican after the Hoover victory in
1928-and 1t appears quite certain it will
continue Democratic in spite of the jolt
it gave Mr.. Truman two years ago, even
though 1t may feel constrained to vote
against Mr.. Truman again in 1852.
Practical Reason for 1t.
There's practical, almost mechanical,
reason for this. AL the officeholders in
the South are Democrats, town, county.
State. and Federal. All the men and
women who aspire to Office are Demo-
SAN - eA1Cy QlCA Y, bklCIC 10 k1U way 1OI
them to be nominated and elected. Since
ofhceholders like to be reelected, few II
any OF these people will fly the Demo-
cratic coop.
Yet there are many intelligent and
thoughtful people in the South who do
not hesitate to say that a two-party
system makes for better Government
and would be good thing for their
section nf the g.
written and said along these lines-but
+ nobody does anything about establishing
a strong second party. The South, be-
cause OF the Civil War, reconstruction
days, and the race issue is not willing to
take the Republican Party. And there is
no other political organization In the
country with which to start opposing the
Democratic Party in the South.
Here in South Carolina, demonstration
OF the one-party system has been going
on for several weeks, as Democratic
factions and individuals fight almost with
tooth and claw for political preference.
The results of these intra-party struggles
are completely binding although they
still have to be ratified in the general
election next November. The Republican
Party polled only 5,386 votes for Presi-
dent here in 1949, and only 5008 votes
for Senator. Because of this situation, the
people of South Carolina have no choice,
no opportunity to vote for possibly better
candidates standing for principles and
ideas different from those of the Demo-
cratic Party.
New Element In Picture.
A new element, however, has entered
the picture in South Carolina. For the
first time the Negroes are registered as
voters in large numbers and are entitled
to vote in primary elections-which in,
this case means the Demoratic primaries.
Negroes constitute nearly 40 per cent Of
the States population, and eventually
Negro registered voters will constitute q
very large percentage of the total voting
population.
For the present, the Negroes are going
into Democratic primaries and joining
the Democratic Party. This is not
strange. Negroes throughout the North
and West. who have been permitted and
encouraged to vote in large numbers,
have been voting the Democratic ticket
for 16 years, having forgotten Abraham
Lincoln. who gave them freedom, re.
membering only Franklin D. Roosevelt.
who gave them handouts, and Harry
- NAAAoAAB WAiO AAdo P4OkIlloCQ W 40 AWAY
with segregation.
The effect Of this great influx of Ne
gro voters into the Democratic Party OF
the South is still to be determined. It
is possible. of course, that it might tend
to bring new political alignments. But
the best guess at present is that it will
just continue the one-party system (al-
though that has been built in the South
on race prejudice) with opposing fac
tions OF the Democratic Party eventually
struggling for Negro support.
1t may. however, turn out to be just
another manifestation of what has been
going on for some years in the rest OF
the country growing one-party sys-
tenn. based on big. centralized Govern
ment. and ever-bigger Government hand
outs and controls.