Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 April 1887 — SHERMAN ON THE SOUTH. [ARTICLE]

SHERMAN ON THE SOUTH.

Tho Poor Negro Still at the Mercy of tho Uomocrkfo—Vote* Counted an Hest Suit tho Purpose of tlie . \ Bourbon. i r ... \ [Pittoburg cor. Chicago Tribune. 1 Senator Sherman in the course of an interview here was asked what he thought of tho Southern people, and said: “Well, in order to work for their own good, the colored vote ought to be reoognizod. There iWno disputing it, tho great mass of the negro vote of the South is either not counted or counted to suit the tastes of the Democratic bosses. Yon may think that where the negroes predominate they would force their rights; bat, strange ns it may seem, such places are the most tyrannical sections in the country. The talk that the negro votes voluntarily for the Democracy is buncombe; the negro vote is naturally solidly Republican." “How were you struck by the Birmingham incident?” “Forcibly, indeed, yon may say, bnt not injuriously. When Proprietor Cowan, of the hotel, refused to admit a committee of colored men who called, he was guilty of a bigotry which is not shared by the more refined white people of the South. The committee consisted of two c>ergymen, two barristers and a real-estato agent, all intelligent men. As an instance of the fact that Cowan’s conduct was not approved by the better element of whites, I will cite you the conduct of Governor Aiken, He was conversing with me when a colored dele gation called to pay me their respects, and he turned, greeted them cordially, and warmly shook their hands. ” “What are the prospects of the Republican party in the South?” “ Tho party is growing just as fast as the South grows. You will find that the growth of the country, the development of its resources, must go baud in hand with the increase of our party. I find that the free-trade policy of the Democratic party is weakening it. The whites are joining the Republicans, rapidly recognizihg the Republicans ns the champions of the tariff issue. The Southern people are as anxious to subserve their interests as we are to subserve ours, and they are not slow in falling to the fact in manufacturing districts that the defeat of the free-trade party is their salvation.” He thought, from extended observation, that the business boom in the South has come to stay.