Year: 1876

AS matter of military necessity
the emancipation of the slaves may be
regarded by those who consider the
act from that standpoint alone, as a
justifiable procedure on the part of the
Radical Administration. At the
time this occurred our Govern
ment and our Courts held that
the slaves were chattels just
as much as horse, an OK or an ass;
and if in the conduct of military
campaign one of the contestants can
weaken the other by depriving the en-
emy of one of its main sources of sup
port, such an act has always been con-
ceded as perfectly justifiable, accord
ing to the rules of war. But our Gov
ernment did not discreetly stop there.
When the war closed an extreme
measure was adopted, the evil conse-
quences of which are just beginning
to present themselves. The election
franchise should never have been con-
ferred upon the present generation of
blacks. 1t has brought into close
proximity elements that the law of
God has prevented from assimilation;
and this effort on the part of the Re-
publican Administration to legislate
as fact what Deity has decreed an
impossibility, has already in many
portions of the South begun to pro-
duce chaos in politics. In the late
Republican Convention in Georgia
we learn from the brief telegram re-
ceived, that there was boisterous
contest between the whites and the
blacks as to the supremacy. This is
but the beginning of the trou-
BILE. Our forefathers appreciated
the distinctions of color, and in
the days of JEFFERSON this ques-
tion was discussed to certain degree.
Mr.. JEFFERSON in debate once drew
the comparison between the races in
regard to comparative mental capac-
ity and capability of cultivation, and
as to the commingling of the two
classes on a social equality, pronounced
such proposition physical impossi-
bility, and remarked that an attempt
at such an unnatural effort would be
productive of harm to both races. He
remarked that so long as there was a
distinction between light and dark
ness, fact established by the laws of
nature, the same principle would ap-
ply to the black and the white races.
Certain it is that great blunder has
been committed, and the error perpe-
trated under the influence of some-
what bigoted fanaticism is rebounding
upon the Republican party with con-
sequences the magnitude of which in
the coming disaster we cannot foresee.
A wind has been sown and it will be
difficult matter to prevent the coming
of whirlwind. For years to come
our political and social systems will
be totally demoralized in the Southern
States, while If the solution of the
problem be left to natural means in
the inevitably long delay, the commu-
mites now suffering under a severe
burden will be placed under CALLING
hardships. 1t has already been DEM
onstrated that the Southern States
will never prosper under the present
state of affairs as they did under the
old system, in financial point of
view, and social discomfort will nee
essarily prevail. No effort at a
remedy can be expected from the
Republican party. Its leaders are
now quarreling overlthe possession of
the influence of the black element to
gain strength for their factions, and
it appears most emphatically certain
that in view of these facts the burden
now imposedupon the Democracy in
this coming season is peculiarly oner-
Gus. Success is an imperative duty,
and the material interests of the entire
country demand it.