t that one of those who was known to be fully
identified with the political persecutors of southern Republicans was to
be recognized,--thus placing the stamp of approval upon their work by an
administration that was supposed to be Republican and therefore opposed
to such methods,--it was time for southern white men, who had been
acting with the Republican party and for those who may have such action
in contemplation, to stop and seriously consider the situation. It was
now in order for each one of them to ask himself the question: "Can I
afford to do this?"

The appointment of a southern Democrat to a seat in the Cabinet of a
Republican President, especially at that particular time, was a crushing
blow to southern Republicans. It was the straw that broke the camel's
back. Senator Alcorn was a man suitable in every way for the office of
Postmaster-General. He had a commanding presence, he was an eloquent
speaker, and an able debater,--by nature a leader and not a follower. He
had taken an active part in the politics of his state before and after
the War. After he identified himself with the Republican party he was
ambitious to be chiefly instrumental in building up a strong party in
his State and throughout the South which would not only recognize merit
in the colored people and accord absolute justice and fair play to them,
but which would include in its membership a large percentage, if not a
majority, of the best and most substantial white men of that section.

That he had made splendid progress along those lines cannot be denied.
The announced southern policy of the Hayes administration not only
completed the destruction of what had been thus accomplished, but it
made any further progress in that direction absolutely impossible. The
selection of ex-Senator Key was, however, not the only Cabinet
appointment which clearly indicated the southern policy of the
administration. There were two others,--those of William M. Evarts and
Carl Schurz. Those men had been prominent in their bitter opposition to
the southern policy of President Grant. Mr. Schurz had been one of the
leaders in the Greeley movement against President Grant and the
Republican party in 1872, while Mr. Evarts was later the principal
speaker at a public indignation meeting that was held at New York to
denounce the southern policy of the Grant administration. In fact, John
Sherman was the only one of the Cabinet ministers that had a positive
national stand