DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND DISCUSSION OF THE PROBLEMS INCIDENT Edited by CHARLES H. KERR Associate Editors: MAX S. HAYES, ROBERT RIVES LA MONTE, JOHN SPARGO, ERNEST UNTERMANN. Contributions from both European and American writers are solicited, and while editorially the Review stands for the principles of Marxian Socialism and the tactics of the Socialist Party of America, it offers a free forum for writers of all shades of thought. The editor reserves the right to criticise the views of contributors, but the absence of criticism is not necessarily to be taken as an endorsement. The Review is copyrighted for the benefit of authors who may wish subsequently to use their articles in book form. Editors of newspapers are welcome to reprint with proper credit any article or paragraph in this issue of the Review, with the single exception of "The Economic Aspects of the Negro Problem". 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What the Socialists Would Do If They Won in This 25. The Folly of Being "Good," Kerr. 26. Intemperance and Poverty, Twining. [City, Simons. 27. The Relation of Religion to Social Ethics, Brown. 28. Socialism and the Home, May Walden. 29. Trusts and Imperialism, Wilshire. 30. A Sketch of Social Evolution, Mackay. 31. Socialism vs. Anarchy, A. M. Simons. 32. Industrial Democracy, J. W. Kelly. 33. The Socialist Party of America, Platform, etc. 34. The Pride of Intellect, Wentworth. 35. The Philosophy of Socialism, Simons. 36. An Appeal to the Young, Kropotkin. 37. The Kingdom of God and Socialism, Webster. 38. Easy Lessons in Socialism, Leffingwell. 39. Socialism and the Organized Labor Movement, May 41. Socialist Catechism, Charles E. Cline. 42. Civic Evils, Dr. C. H. Reed. 43. Our Bourgeois Literature, Upton Sinclair. 45. Confessions of a Drone, Patterson. 58. Shoes, Pigs and Problems, Evelyn Gladys, 59. Why a Workingman Should be a Socialist, Wilshire. 60. Forces That Make for Socialism in America, Spargo. Price Five Cents each. The 60 books in a strong box will be mailed for $1.00, and with them we will send a credit slip for 40 cents which will be received the same as cash toward the purchase of a share of stock. Our Stockholders buy books at cost. Catalogue tree. CHARLES H. KERR & COMPANY, Publishers 153 Kinzie Street, Chicago The Reestablishment of White Supremacy. HEN THE PROMISE was given by the South that the rights of the negroes would be safeguarded, the federal troops were recalled. It is difficult to say how sincere the southerners were in giving that promise, but it is undoubtedly true, that the north expected tolerable relations to establish themselves between the white and the black after the elimination of the disturbing elements. "As soon as the negroes will begin to show confidence in the local white people, what reason will the latter have to deprive the black folks of their right to vote?" reasoned a northern journalist. "Many different candidates will appear; what will interfere with their contending for their election before the mass of the black citizens?" No less sure was this journalist that the civil rights of the negroes would be safeguarded. For the south needs labor. Negro labor is the only existing labor. Even if there were a supply of white labor, the south nevertheless would need its negro labor. What reason then has the south to drive out its labor supply by means of unjust legislation? But before three years have passed, the political status of the negro has already become a matter of public discussion. The revolution of 1876 has given to the United States the Solid south, which has since voted for the democratic party. "The south has united not for democracy, but against the negroes," says a southern writer. This however is only half the truth. For with equal truth it was asserted, by Henry Watterson in 1879, that the south united not against the negroes but against the republican party. Be this as it may, in 1879 it could already truly be said, that "the present political supremacy of the white race in at least five of the Southern States is the result of the violent exclusion or fraudulent suppression of the colored vote." Nevertheless, at that time both northerners and southerners agreed that the negro franchise could not altogether be destroyed, in view of the existence of the 14th and 15th amendments to the constitution. But the South has succeeded in accomplishing the impossible, and the story of the gradual abolition of the negro's right to vote is very instructive indeed. In this process two methods must be distinguished. Firstly, the method of direct force and deception, and secondly, the method of special legislation. A combination of both factors was often used. As was shown in a preceding chapter, the very liberation of the South from negro domination or negro influence was accomplished by means of the first method, when "armed committees" interfered with the negro getting to the voter's booth. To guarantee its victory, the white south continued to make use of these methods for many years after that, and even now this method is extensively used, and in some states, as for instance in Texas, almost exclusively relied upon. The uninitiated might ask: How can the system of government in a civilized country be built upon the foundation of brute force and fraud? But the only answer to this query is the fact that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. But direct physical force and intimidation is an awkward and inconvenient method, which demands a constant expenditure of considerable nervous force. Having acquired the political power, the white men of the south were enabled to achieve the same ends by means of legal enactments. It is true that the inconvenient 15th amendment stood in the way, the amendment which had been passed for this very purpose. And for a long time this amendment did in fact force the white south to make use of various legal subterfuges, more or less unsatisfactory. Thus South Carolina made use of the methods of centralizing the administrative functions, so that the state functions were extended at the expense of the local selfgovernment, and thus the counties which did have a majority of negroes, were governed more from the state capital than from the county seat. More popular was the |