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-T 0 t a I s o p p i c"e. j
: VOLUME 20.
WILSON. NORTH -.CAROLINA, FEBRUARY. 13. 1890
NUMBER 4
' ; f
ely
t'.fi
Si)
THE BACE PROBLEM.
SEyjTOK VANCE'S MASTER
Jj X -A. It W .
.. niAch lie Oppo$ea Senator
liutlers BUI and Pour the Cold
n .iter of Fact Over Ingalls
rolechnical IHsptay. -Jiator
Vance said : "Mr
' vrat-faent one: of the earliest
rerordeJ utterances of inspira
(jlHi it that the sins of the fath
er are visited upon the . chil
dren. That is another way of
raying that the mistakes of one
feneration endure to plague
another. j ' , ;
Several hundred years ago
tViid fair land of ours,, wfiich
it would seem Godhad special
ly intended for the chosen seat
f liberty and fhe noblest de
H
velopment of manwksjpi&7Watfmovea;
ed by thejintrodactionot human
slavery. The serpeat thus en
tered into our political Eden.
.The great forests which cover
ed the face of the earth called
for labor to remove them, for
more labor than the slowly
coming immigration of the
free races afforded. The
unrals of the ase justified the
'holding barbarous races in
boudage. The favorite places
for obtaining bondsmen was
the African coast. So desirable
did Misapplying of the newly
liricovered island and conti
nents of the West with cheap
labor appear, that old John
HawKins . was knighted by
Queen Elizabeth, as much for
Jiis successful introduction of
a cargo of slaves Into the West
Indies as for his exploits
against the Spaniards. Even
so great and good a man as Las
Casas, the Spanish apostle to.
the Indians, once "advocated
. the introduction of . African
slavery.
First and foremost- in this
calamitous and iniquitous traf
fic was New England. In fact,
so anxious were the good peo
ple of those colonies for slaves
that they reduced, to bondage
the native Indians whom they
captured in warj ana not un-
fseijuently, these wicked peo
ple of their own race and blood
who' were 'guilty of differing
from them in religious opin
ion?. '
The tobacco growing colonies
of tho South soon followed
suit in the importation of At
rican slaves, and early found
how profitable this cheap and!
iuvoluntary labor was in the
raising of their great staple.
The introduction of thf- culti
vation and uses of cottou soon
gave a further impetus to slave-holding-,
and made the chief
. prosperity of all the South
ern regions to depend mainly
upon this enforced labor
Whilst the want of profitable
returns gradually lessened the
hold of the North upon slavery
its great profits constantly in
creased - that hold upon the
South.
The stony and sterile fields
of New England called for
manufactures and commerce
i hat commerce consisted very
largely in purchasing slaves
on the African coast, and sell
ing them to Southern planters.
Thus their interests constantly
.drifted the Northern and
Southern people arjart in regard
- to African slavery. Alter a
time it ceased to exist altogeth
er in the North, by reason of
emancipation laws made to
take effect at fixed periods, and
by their sales to their South
ern neighbors "By this time
tiie wrongfulness of holding
slaves fully dawned upon the
conscience-of therNorthernJpeo
ple. Its prickings became so
active that they not bniydeenv
ed it a sin to hold slaves them
pelves, but to permit anybody
else to hold one, even though
there : was no responsibility
whatever upon them for the
transgression.
I hey even went so far jn
obeying the dictates of con
science, that they did not hssi-:
a tate to stand up boldly in the
ight of God, with the purchase
money in their pockets, and
denounce the vengeance of
heaven against their Southern
. . , , : V I jr 1 t J i A il
uciuuuru ior uuiuiuk vu iu me
V negro which they themselves
J had. sold them. ?
ual working of a good con
science was present. Slave-
holding was not only unprofi
table, as has been said, upon
their soil and in their climate
1.-.. 1 1 . A- J m
uui me lucrative iraae or sup
plying the Southern planters
was abolished by the Censtttu-
t'ou. In addition to this their
sense of rectitude was unpard-
onably offended by the con
1 teuiplation of the well-doing of
their neighbors. Of course;
men who burnt witches, banish
ed or enslaved Quakers, and
had made'fortunes by the hor
rors of "the middle passage,1
- could not be expected to toler
ate any longer the ungodly
thing which brought fortunes
to Virginia and Carolina plan
ters. With' ever increasing
bitterness - this ; conscientious
vrusaae was jcepi up witn an
extravagance of language which
scrupled not to denounce the
Constitution itself; which re
spected the slaveholders' rights
under the State laws, s "a lea
gue witnaeatn and a covenant
with neii." j. ne inevitable
suit is fresh in our recollection.
it ultimately led to civil war
in which more than a million
Jives were lost and more than
three billion of property de
stroyed, and as much of in
debtedness incurred. The slaves
were set free.
Those of us in the South
who had deprecated the war
and deplored the agitation
which led to it, as we sat in
the ashes of oar own homes
and scraped ourselves with the
potsherds of desolation, yet
consoled ourselves for - the
slaughter of our kindred and
the devastation of our fields
by the reflection that this, at
least, was the end; that the
great original, wrong commit
ted by our fathers had at last
beea atoned for; that the Union
having been declared indissoln
fble, and slavery forever abol
ished, the one great stumbling
block and stone of offense was
jrtd 'the people cf
these American States, hence
forth homogeneona, could pur
sue their great destiny har
moniously and fraternally.
How little we knew the tem
per of the victors in that great
struggle. We made no calcula
ticn for the fact that the
necessities of party supremacy
would lead men as far as even
the prickings of conscience for
an unprofitable sin had done.
No sooner had we fairly wit
nessed the end of hostilities be
fore acts of Congress were pass
ed directing the subversion of
all law and civil goveronment
in the States of the South,
under cover of which they
were divided into military dis
tricts, over eah of which was
placed a general of the Army,
Supported by sufficient troops.
To these generals, and their
bayonets was committed the
task of forming governments
for the people of these over
thrown States. This they did
,by holding elections under
mimaly control, by suppress
ing the vote cf every fre
white man in those Statea.who
(having at any time taken an
oath to support the Constitu
tion of the United States, had
afterwards done any act in aid
of the rebellion,?and by thrust
ing with military force upon
the ballot-box the entire mass
of emancipated slaves, to whom
the right to vote had been
given by no law, hu
man or divine, known to our
.federative system. By the
p constitution thus forced upon
the Southern people the ne
groes were made voters and
invested with the like privi
leges in all respects as the
white people.
The Constitution of the Uni
ted States had in like manner
been so amended as to forbid
the States from making any
discrimination against the
negro race, or in any manner
impairing the rights which had
thus been conferred upon them
Again, we in the South though
we had arrived at the end of
our troubles connected: with
the negro question. Surely, we
reasoned, as the colored man is
now free, as he is made by law
State and Federal, equal with
the white man. in all respects
and has been given the ballot
to protects himself in these
rights, surely the matter will
now be at rest. We can close
the chasm which the agitation
about him has created between
us and our Northern neighbors.
Again,were we sadly mistaken.
'After fortv years of bitter
agitation, four years of bloody
war. ana near a quarter or cen
tury more of trial under the
order ot things, the negro again
"bobs up serenely," and for his
sake we are to-day threatened
not only with a political
agitation sufficiently disastrous
within itself, but with a servile
was" whose weapons shall be the
midnight torch and the assas
sin's dagger, and whose victims
shall be sleeping women and
children.
This agitation and this theat
ened war is to arise from one
of two facts: Either the
friends of the negro in the
Noith are disappointed because
their well-laid echemes of recon
struction failed to secura the
Republican party any aid from
the Southern States or because
their expectations and hopes
as to the colored man's capaci
ty for helping himself and for
governing others have been
grievously wrecked.
The Senator from Kansas, in
his speech a few days ago, Jn
dignmtly denied the former
assertion, r and put 'the action
of his friends altogether upon
the high ground of benevolent
patriotism. He was. 'so candid
in admitting the fault of his
people forthe Introduction of
slavery.into this country, and
for its retention in the North
until it ceased to be profitable
that I was in hopes to hear
hinv admit wiah equal candor
that the whole scheme of re
construction was intended for
partisan Republtcanipurposes.
I concede this to him however,
and candidly admit that he
does so believe and that, per
haps, he is the only sane man
in Europe or America who is
of this opinion. Taking it,
then, upon his ground, is it any
wonder that the truth compel!
ed him to say:
"But it can no longer be de
nied that suffrage and ctiiien
ship have hitherto not justified
the anticipations of those by
wnom tney were conferred
lhey nave not been effective
in the hands of tho freed man
either for attack or defense."
In other words, here is a
frank admission that twenty-
five years of freedom and near
ly as much of citizenship has
proved a lamentable failure.
It is - true that he says the
whites in the South are to
bio me for it ; that they have
employed force, violence, and
fraud, of which I willfsay more
hereafter, I will only make
this suggestion: If it be true
that in States where they large
ly out numbered the whites
they are either Hntimldi
ed from voting or are de
frauded in the counting of
their votes, is not that a strong
argument against their suppos
ed capacity for self-government?
Are a people fit to gov
ern themselves and others who
suffer themselves thus to.be
treated? Is any man worthy
of freedom -who requires con
stantly to be tutored and pro
tected in its exercise? Is a
man fitted to run - a lace who
has to be held up in order that
he may walk? I have, indeed,
heard of a beef which had to
be held up in order to be
knocked down to fill an ;army
contract, but I have not known
men lit for freedom who would
be Deterred from its exercise in
the face of inferior numbers.
Is there anything in the '.senti
ment of the poet who says:
Hereditary hondsmen. know ye not, .
W ho wou Id be free t hemsel v a s.
Must strike the blow?
The Senator says:
"That no other people on the
face of this earth have ever
submitted to the wrongs, the
injustice which have been for
twenty- five years heaped upon
the colored men of the Soufh,
without revolution and blood."
More than once this is repeat
ed, It constitutes the burden
of his speech, around which is
clustered the brightest display
of rhetorical pyrotechnics
ever employed to conceal a
paucity of ideas by the gener-
onsness of phraseology. This
rhetorical ' display acrosa the
forensic heavens reminded me
forcibily of an astronomers
description of the remarkable
tenuity of the tail of a certain
comet. He said that its length
was a hundred million miles
as it stretched across the skies
that its breadth was 50,000
miles and yet the solid matter
which it contained could be
condensed and transported in
a one horse cart. I listened
and listened with the greatest
entertainment to that speech
and searched and wondered
where the remedy for the evil,
and when it would be announc
ed; Suddenly, before the light
expired and we were left in
darkness, be announced that
the solution was justice, which,
however sententious it might
be. was about as definite and
real as the twinklings which
remainjuuder the closed eyelids
after the withdrawal of a fierce
light
Justice, as he explains it.
means our suDimssion 10 ne
gro rule. Having submitted
to this for so long a time as he
thinks would be fair, should it
prove a failure he graciously
promises that he win men
consult with us about some
other ' solution of the problem
What are the r facts which
support this grandiose slander
of an entire people ? hat
wrongs and injustice havs been
done by the Southern people
to these negroes that call for
the Unse of the torch and the
dagger?" They , have been
eiven the right of suffrage, not
by the free action of the South
era whites, I admit, but at
least by their reluctant assent.
Since their admission to citi
zenship they have been elected
to both branches Of Congress
and have occupied almost
every: position under State
authority. They have controll
ed entire States, counties and
municipalities, and in every
instance their rule was markbd
by failure and ruin. It was a
war against property,; intelli
gence and respectability. The
few years Of their misrule in
the South will be forever re
membered in our history for
their corruption and retrogres
sion and will constitute adam
nable blot on the memory of
those who authorized it, and
who looked on with complacen
cy so long as the thieves were
Republican and the victims
were Democrats..
- Whilst ever they could hold
the throttled State in the
Republican .ranks, and send
mongrels to the Senate and
House of Representatives to
strengthen Republican hands
against "the cowardly and 'de
graded element in the North
that : sympathized with trea
son," not a word oi protest was
hoard from that entire party of
justice and. modest righteous
nestf. Bat as soon as this cor
rupt and incompetent rule had
wrought its inevitable results
and had been overthrown by
the union of all the, best ele
ments in the South, aided by
the superior knowledge . of
the superior race, then began
the complaints of Southern
outrages, ancTin justice. It Is
very well to deny now that the
whole object of reconstruction
was partism advantage, and to
claim that the motive was pa
triotic. It is but the natural
verification of the Baying . of
old Samuel Johnston, that
"patriotism is the last refuge of
a scoundrel." All the world
knows why citizenship was giv
en to the negro and the reason
of the bitter disappointment
which is everywhere confessed
at its results. -
There is surely here no out-i
rage against the negro that calls
for revolution and blood. The
wrong was against ' the white
man, and was redressed by him
without revolution. In obed
ience to the Constitution the
Southern States admitted the
colored citizens to a full partic
ipation in pll the legal rights
enjoyed by white citizens.
They were placed in- the jury-
box commissioned as magistra
tes, permitted to form compa
nies in the volunteer militia
duly commissioned and armed.
School houses were built for
them and normal school es
tablished for their teachers,
whilst the school fund of the
States was apportioned to their
schools, in proportion to their
numbers, with all possible
fairness. Asylnms were built
for the care of. heir insane,
deaf, dumb, and blind, wherein
they receive the same treat
ment as the whites, lhe taxes
for all this were levied by the
white legislators oh their white
constituents who paid at least
95 per cent of the total out of
the little which the negroes
and carpet baggers had left
them. If there be any wrong,
injustice, in all this it can
surely be seen only by that in
tellectual vision which,
"reaching far as angels ken,"
beholds no motive for the pres
ervation of Republican supremi
aqy in ; reconstruction, dui
only patriotic benevolence.
Since the restoration of the
South to the control of Its own
people the progress and pros
perity of the negroes have been
as great as, if not greater than,
in any other country where
his raw exists. His increase
in numbers has been phenome
nal, and furnishes ample proof
that .he is fed, clothed and
sheltered. The decrease of the
death rate, of criminal convic
tions, and of illiteracy, taken
with the gradual and unfailing
Increase of his wealth, which is
abundantly proven by the
statistics, & give the lie flatly
to the oft-repeated story oi op
pression and wrong under
which he suffered or is said to
suffer. The truth is, he began
to prosper when the whites
took control. : Progress for him
would have been as impossible
under his own rule as it was
for the whites. Ten years
more of such government as
reconstruction fixed upon the
South would have made that
fairest pof tion of the American
continent a howling wilderness
Iii short, it would have been
Africanized, a fate which even
the Senator from Kansas says is
"net desirable;" which, taken
into connection with his open
ing remaks on the - danger of
"blood-poisoning" by the adult
eration of races, means much
more than appears on the
surface. The best thing, then,
that could have been done for
the negro was that which was
done when the management of
public affairs was taken from
inexperienced ; and incapable
hands and placed with the
natural and competent rulers
of the land. '
I Where, then, I ask again.does
the outrage on the colored man
come in ?
The senator makes no com
plaint of the causes which led
to the overthrow of reconstruc
tion. He says :
j "Until 1877 the unstable
fabric erected by the architects
of reconstruction was upheld by
the militia of the United states
and when this was withdrawn
the incongruous edifice toppled
headlong and vauished away as
the baseless fabric of a vision
It disappeared in cruel and
ferocious convulsions which
form one of the most shamefu
and shocking of all bloody
tragedies of history. The t
tempt to re-organgize society
upon the basis of numbers
failed."
Perhaps the Senator alludes
to the stealing of the Presi
dency by his party, which hap
pened in that year and which
though both shameful and
shocking, and in which the at
tempt to recognize society on
the basis of unmbers did to
certain extent fail, I did not
know was properly character
zed at a bloody tragedy.
I .it is, however, an unequivo
cal admission that the recon
struction edifice was unstable
and incongruous mild terms
indeed for this most infernal
episode in onr history that it
was upheld alone by military
power, and disappeared when
that power was withdrawn. No
wrong upon the negro appears
there. It seems that these
intolerable outrages, to which
no other people on earth have
submitted so long, are supposed
somehow to exist in the fact
that the overthrow of this in
congruous structure the crea
ture of military force h as
been followed by the maintain
ing on the part of the whites of
the advantage , ' which : they
gained by its downfall. In
that struggle he says that edu
cation, wealth, political ex
perience, land-ownership in the
South, all conspired against the
Constitution and laws of, the
United States, and that they
emerged from that dreadful
conflict in full possession ot all
the powers of the States, and
no serious effort has been made
to deprive them of their se
rious acquisition. I beg to re
mind the Senator,however,that
many serious efforts have been
made to deprive them ot 1 their
guilty acquisition.
But, inasmuch as the powers
of the States are recognized by
the Constitution, it is strange
that the possession of them by
their citizens shold be held to
be a violation of the Constitu
tion. But the taking and keeping
possession of the powers of the
States seems to be the wrong
u flic ted upon the colored man.
The gravamen of that wrong
s that the negro can no longer
send here Republican Senators
and representatives from the
South and the votes of the Re
publican electoral colleges to
aid in the manufacture of
Republican presidents. There
are many errors of assumption
required to make up this sup
posed wrong. v In the first place,
it is assumed that the vote is
suppressed on the ground that
every colored taan is a Re-
publican. Noxt, it is assumed
mat every coiorea nepuDiican
necessarily incapable of
being infiuencrd or beguiled by
the arts of the electioneered
and will always cast his ballot
tor the Kepublican nominees.
hey who reason thus go to the
census tables and ascertain the
number of negro' voters of
qualified age, the number of
white voters likewise, and then
estimate what their majorities
ought to be. 1
The discovery of a colored
Democratic vote in the ballot
box is .accepted as. prima facie
evidence of fraud. If those
majorities are not forthcoming,
hey conclude that the vote of
heir friends has been suppress-'
ed. They forget what influ
ences even one portion of our
own people can exert over an
other; much less do they , re
member how much more easily
the united, superior race, with
all its intelligence, wealth and
power, can influence the ac
tion of a race so far inferior
and still in the shadow of the
bondage from which they have
been withdrawn
Neither has it entered into
the consideration of the people
of the North to place any stress
upon the fact that there did
exist, and still exists; be
tween the former owner and
the present freedman many of
those kindly controlling rela
tions which existed tbetween
master and slave. It mr.st be
remembered that, in addition
to his ignorance and inexperi
ence of affairs, the j colored
man still leans upon and looks
to his former master for direc
tion and advice universally
so in all matters except politics;
that he lis almost always either
the tenant or the employee of
the white man, aid that white
man beloDgs to a race which
the senator from Kansas says
is the
Most arrogant and rapacious,
the most exclusive and indomi
table in history. It is the con
quering and unconquerable
race, through which alone has
taken possession of the physi
cal and moral world. lo our
race humanity is . indebted for
leligion, for literature, for
civilization. It has a genius
for conquest for politics for
jurisprudence, and for admin
istration. All oUier
races have been its enemies or
victims. j
Is it possible that! sum a
race of men as this cannot
without brutal violence or de
testable fraud maintain its su
premacy over such a raco as the
neuro ? Is it statesmanlike to
assume that it can legitimately
have no influence, exert no
force over the weaker and more
ignorant ? Are there bo undis
puted facts sufficient to justify
reasoning men everywhere in
doubting the truth of these
stories of outrage and! wrong ?
For example, I am glajl to say
that North Carolina . fs one of
the States in the South where
there is little complaiut of
infringement, of the! colored
man's rights, either j at the I
ballot-box or In the courts of
justice.
The State of Mississippi is
one of the States of the South
where the complaints on behalf
of the colored men are loudest
and most vehement, yet for six
months past tbe negroes in
Eastern North Carolina have
been moving at the rate per
haps of three or four thousand
per month to this very State of
Mississippi. They are not go
ing. to Kansas or any. other
Northern State, but to Mis-
sippi, presumably for !the pur
pose of having their votes sup
pressed and of being 'slaughter
ed to Arkansas and to Texas,
The fact is, they are influenced,
like all other people,! by the
great economic law of supply
aud demand. For two or three
years past Eastern North Caro
lina has suffered from! a failure
of the crops; and tbe planters of
Mississippi are offering the ne
groes better; wages than the
Carolina planters can afford to
pay, and the chief agents em
ployed by the Mississlppians
for effecting their contracts are
intelligent educated negro men,
many of them preachers.
Evidently they do! not be
lieve these stones l that are
served up, for campaign, poll
www, puryuHBB nere, i ao not
wish to be misunderstood in
this matter. That there are
instances of mistreatment and
occasionally cruelty to the ne
groe now and then . occurring
in the South I candidly admit
and regret. The millennium
has ikot yet arrived in the land
of reconstruction; the reign of
perfect righteousness, of abso
lute justice, has not yet been
established South of Mason and
Dixon's lin$, though of course
t ia in full operation just North
of that imaginary division.
There is no suppression of the
popular vote by gerrymander
or otherwise ; there is no pur
chasejofthe floating vote in
blocks of five, no ejectment of
colored children from white
schools or colored men f rnm
theatres and barber-chairs, and
wherjj we may hope that, in
process of time and in the
spread of intelligence and
increased appreciation of the
TJ 1116 negroes, one
black! man may soon be sent to
Congress from the North; that
oume r.iiroaa- attornav nr
millionaire will make room in
the Senate of th TTnitfl st-ta
for the colored brother; that
one colored postmaster f orj a
white town may , be appointed
in the North; that the State of
Kansas, the soil so prolific in
friendship for the colored man,
a respectable nbirro. dnlv
nominated on the Republican
ticket, may receive the full
vote of his party, and not be
scratched almost to the point
of defeat by those who love
him, jas he was in Topeka; that
one accomplished colored man
may be sent abroad to represent
his country in some other
land than Hay ti or Liberia.
tieq as boo e even that the gre
Republican - party of tbe North
may find tbe colored man fit to
serve his country In some other
region than the South and this
great domping-gron .il of political
dead-leafs, the Dibirict of Colum
bia, apon whotttt helpless people
has heretofore been billeted, in all
the offices from the judiciary down,
every worn-oat partisan for whom
his people at home had no more
use. ijn ay, unaer t d appeals
agaiDSt the injustice ot buppressing
the colored vote when we daily
hear, t would.be a rapture of hope
to ei press the belief that these
great apostles of justice would re
store right of suffrage to the 225,-
000 people of this District, from
bom it was taken on tbe well
known ground that tbe negro vote
was abont to prove here au incon
venience, it migoE oe repueo,
technically, JthaC the Injustice of
suppressing votes depended upon
tbe color of tbe vote, and cnac it
was not au outrrge to suppress
white votes; or, again, than it was
no i ) justice to the franchise to
Buppreea toe vote oy law on ac
count! of ignorance, nativity, or
poverty, as so long prevailed in
Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
But I positively deny tbat there is
anv systematic, authorized, or of-
flcial interference with the guaran
teed rights of the colored man in
the South ! .
I positively aver that these con-
stitutjional obligations concerning
the colored Deople are observed
in good faith and that all individu
al infringements upon them are as
mucb deprecated by the majority ot
our ueoole aa similar violations of
law are deprecated m the JNortb,
ami tWir perpetrators are puuisb-
ed by our courts wira much more
good faith and promptitnde than
tbe violators of the fugitive slave
laws were punished in tb Nortb, or
than
lection bribery is punished
. It was but yesterday tbat
to-daj
we w
ber tt
le told in tbe Senate Cham
e storv of how a great crimi
nal
u benait oi roe i&epaoucan
party
had bean abielded lrom jus
lice
y tbe connivance oi nis party
friends, for tbe offense of debauch
ing tnd attempting to debauch tbe
purity ot tbe bauot-oox. a. is yet
at large and defiant. The condi
tion of the Southern people with
regard to ciiuie is ample proof of
tbis.l In criminal statistics we do
not fear to compare records with
ahv DeoDle. In the calezory of
Dersonal violence I admit tbat
some ot our communities are open
to severe criticism. I contend that
the records will show that iu the
more! odious, baser, and less manly
crimes many of the Mortbren
States are far ahead of anything
Known in tne somu
Be that as it may, however, tbe
negro question has again come
forward to vex the people of tbe
South; and has to be met. Whether
or nbP.thev are treated with m-
justipd aud oppression, it doea not
macior to iuubu men ur mat. parity
who expected to. profit by tbe agi
tatioh; nor does it matter whether
tbe weal of the negro or the public
generally is to be advanced there
b; tbat ia not their object. .
The real motive is mat some
men may have a horse to ride who
would otherwise perhaps have to
walk. The negro and his wrongs
and rights will never be quiet so
long as there is a white man to
ride him. It has often been as
serted that a superior and au infe
nor race which will not amalgamate
cannot live together under the
samegovernment with eqnal rights
and laws. This may or may not
be true. ;
It is natural to sappoee, if they
can not . agree, that the stronger
will pave its way and'dominate the
weasel, uui . mere 10 uuo proposi
tion J Nr. President, of which you
may ret asaared,thete is no kind of
doubt: the stronger will never sub
mit Ito .tbe domination of the
weaker. This might as well be eet
down as resftdjudeicata.
lbere ia anotner iacc mac may
be noted now in connection with it.
The Senator from Kansas let fall
an expression which ,1 regretted
exceedingly to hear. Prefacing
hi utterance that he bad never
known a people to endnre such
wrongs .without revolution and
blood, be eald :
"The South, Mr; President, la
standing upon a volcano, tbe South
ia sitting upon a safety-valve.
They are breeding ionamerable
Johu Browns an Nat Turners. Al
ready, mutterings of discontent by
hostile organizations are heard.
Tbe use of the torch and tha dag
ger is advised."
This is reasonably construed aa
an iocitation to the work -of mur
der and arson, and although he
says he "deplores it,? yet as the
excuse and justification for euch a
course immediately follows, it la
open to tbe construction that It ia
an indirect invitation to these peo
ple to lay our homes in ashes while
we sleep, and murder unsuspecting
people. . .r's""'
The 8uppo88ition tbat J they are
capable of such atrocities, it seems
to me, is proof positive of their
incapacity for civilized government
and tha extraordinary Idea of
justice aDd humanity of him who
suggests it. He surely does not
know anything of the inflammable
nature oi tbe negro of the South or
he would not have ventured oa tbe
expression of such a threat. He
furthermore told ur in this connec
tion that in case such a calamity
came upon the Southern people as
a severe war, attended with what- j
ever horrors it might be waged,
we need look for no help from the
people of our blood in the North;
that we most "tread the wine press
alone."
If he speaks truly in this,he pass
es the,blacke8t and vilest judg
ment upon his own "people that
ever politician dared utter.
But, Mr. President, I do not be
lieve one word of it. As the negro
race that was born and reared
amongus dio not raise up abd do
us barm in the hour of our extrem
est adversity, even for the great
boon of freedom and amidst the
most tempting excitement, but con
tinued faithful to their masters and
their families even within hearing
ofthegnns tbat were roaring to
set them free, so I do not believe
that they can be thus incited to
attempt it now.
xney nave more state ana sec
tional pride and of neighborly
affection for the people among
whom they live than the Senator
is willing to give them credit -for.
Nor do I believe tbat wbat he has
said about tbe feeling of tbe North
is true; on tbe contrary, J believe
aa firmly as I believe in . the gal
lantry, tbe courage, and all of tbe
noble qualities of tbe great race to
which I belong, tbat hundreds of
thousands of stout hearta would
come to our assistance on the
wings of steam preceded by the
messenger of lightning, should we
unhappily need snch help.
It might be that lhey would
mostly be composed of wbat he
calls the "cowardly and degraded
elements' the same elements that
filled your armies for the defence
of the Union and which fills the
ranks of tbe defenders ot the
Constitution after the Union was
saved ; but, for the sake of oar com
mon kindred and common glory, I
believe that there would be no
such feeling and no party division
in such a crisis. But, Mr. Presi
dent,! we shall not need to call lor
help; we could manage Buch a war
without assistance. Had the
Senator been a participant in or a
critical observer of the last one, he
would know that tbe eleven south
ern states, wnicn, tbough much
divided among themseHes, unaid
ed and alone kept the whole power
of tbe Union, with its unlimited
forces and untold treasure, at bay
or lour long years, could easily.
with tbe aid of the great border
States, overcome seven milliona
of negroes. Then there would be
a aolutioo of , the negro problem
tbat would stay solved.
But a great mistake is made oy
those who assume that tbe whites
excfcisi no influence over the ne
groes except by force or fraud.
Tbe blaek man ia attached to tbe
South and to the great body of its
people. I be behavior of the blacks
since their freedom has in tbe
main; been good and gentle. All
things considered, it has been
wonderful. I believe I can lay
with truth that,! have no personal
knowledge of the occurrence of
any riot or publip disturbance any
where in the , South between the
races that was not at the instiga
tion of some white scoundrel, and
iu every case tbe blacks have got
the worst of the fray, being de
serted invariably by their cowardly
white allies when the bullets be
gan to fly.
The negroes .know this, and are
well aware that the interference
of outside friends haa always inu
red to their disatvantage. They
kuow, too, that however arbitrary
and determine! to rule; hia own
country the white mau has been to
them, thaf, he has yet never deceiv
ed them by lyyig to them and mak
ing promises wh:ch he neither
could, perform nor intended to per
form, whilst from the days of re
construction they have been the
victims alike of Northern scoun
drels for their personal profit, and
political demagogues for their
aggrandizement; from tbe selling
of. Yankee unquents to make,, their
ha ia straight,, or painted ' pegs
with which to secure land, as was
said tbey did in our Peedee count
ry, where some of tbe finest bottom
lands were staked off at a dollar
a peg, guaranteed by the United
States Government to hold forty
acres for every four pegs against
any rebel : in . the Sontb; to the
passage of civil right bills for the
purpose of hoisting them into posi
tions of social equality .with tbe
whites. They know, too, tbat when
thev are in any kind of trouble tbey
do not. good North to a professional
friend or philanthropist for help,
but they search at once for old
master and mistrees. or some of old
master'a children. There. I thank
God, in nineteen cases out of
twenty they find tbe help they ask.
An among the white people there
are good and bad, it ia ao among
tbe colored . Naturally the pro
portion of bad among the latter
is greater than in the former, bat
still there id a very .-large percent
age indeed who would scorn to
wage a. barbarous warfare against
their "white -friends, even should
the white man get off of the
safety-valve. I venture the pro
phecy that Bhouldthe Southevor be
engaged in anothar war her color
ed citizens wsold crowd luto the
tbe ranks of her armies in numbers
fully proportioned to the black
popolation. I think our Northern
friends who so glibly undertake
to settle the negro question have
yet to make the acquaintance of
the negro himself. Their judg
ment of him is formed manifestly
by the clasa that swarm. around
this capital city, and whose incon
venient presence caused the sup
pression or tne.-sunrage of this
District. Yon listen, to thefewrbo
come here to make traffic of,, theirf
JUOgSiHrd in turn you endeavor
to make profit for your part by
legislation directed towards those
supposed wrongs.
, You acknowledge yourselves
mistaken as to the results of re
construction. Many of our people
now favor the withdrawal ot the?
representation in Congress which
their numbers have given the
Sooth. Is it' not possible that
you are again mistaken as to
tbe nature of the evils which af
fect them and what would be beat
for tbemf When you assume that
because they mostly profess your
politcs Andvote your tickets that,
therefore, they are in a state of
discontent that threatens at any
moment to break forth in a
bloody uprising, may you not be
mistaken in tbe extent of your
iuflaence over tbemt Are you
not aware of the difficulty, the
constant tutelage, and the vast
amount of money you are
compelled to employ to keep them
in. subjection to a party whose
active aud respectable corporation
is as far distant from them as its
promises are from its performance;
whilst the Democroatic party, com
posed of the white men of the
South, are their neighbors, land
lords, aad employers.
Mr. President, what is tbe so
called negro pioblemf As I un
derstand it, it is one that can not
be solved by speculation or iegia
latiou; but it is a question that
will be settled by nature herself
if her laws are not interfered with
by the folly and passion of men.
Nature will solve it as she does
waste, destruction, and all incon
gruities. It may be thus stated;
Give a highspirited, liberty-lovlug
cultivated abd dominating race,
occupying a Iree state of their
own establishment under institu-J
tiona ot their own creation, full
of activity, energy and progress;
with them, the same laws, possess
ed of absolute legal equality, dwells
an inferior raoe, manumitted slaves
of recently barbaric origin, with
no race tradition, with no history
of progress, but lately iuveted
with these unaccustomed and un-i
earned franchises how shall the
two be made to dwell together in
fraternity and progress f
This is the' question. It is a
principle of our law, fundamental
in its nature, that the majority of
those to whom the franchise is
committed shall rule within limits
is it a principle ot natural law,
as old aa man himself, tbat the
strongest shall rule wlthout,limit T
What is strength in a state! Other
things being equal, numbers give
atengtb; but in the JStates of tbe
South, whose conduct is complains
ed of, other things are tar from
eqnal. The whites where not
actually in superior nnnrVrs are
yet possessed of fa. superior
knowledge,: courage, skill in the
use of weapons and ttls, race
pride, traditions, experience of
affairs, and i selfscontrol. Placing
these two aide "by side, is it not as
sure as certainty can be made that
one will outstrip the other and
control it T ; Nature would reverse
all her own decision a if it were not
so. . I
If the weaker be in the way of
he stronger tbe lormer will be; je
moved, li two men start on a
journey tbe pace is regulated; by
the slower, if tbey be compelled to
keep together, and, however great
tbe powers of tbe swifter, if corns
pelled to wait for his feebler broth
er, his powers are or no more .nse
than if be bad them not. Natur
ally he will drop his brother be
bind and stride forward. Tbe at
tempt to restrain him by Iegisla
tion is unnatural and be will
resent it. To say that the superior
race shall not by its superior
knowledge and virtue rale tbe
inferior, is to say tbat weakness
shall control strength, that igaor
ance ana vice snail control kuowis
edge and virtue. To attempt by
legislation to place ignorance and
vice in control of knowledge and
virtue because of tho superior
lumbers of tbe ignorant would be
to enact that the civilization of the
great race shall nottenjoy the pow
er and influence with which God
has endowed them ; tbat three weak
men, however ignorant and de
based, shall forever control two
white men, howover wise and
virtuous.
The mere statement of the pro
position shows tbat it is hostile to
the highest natural and moral
laws which have been impressed
upon man and constitute the basis
of his civilization.
Mr. President, 1 know the negro
well. I was born and reared
among them, and have all my life
lived iu close association with
them. 1 affirm to you, not tbat
he is incapableof civilization, but
that he is incapable of attaining to
and keeping up with the civiliza
tion of tbe race to which we belong.
At the very beat, his refinement
must be or a low order compared
to ours. Any attempt, therefore,
to force him to any equality with
us in tbe c race of progress can
result in nothing ele . bat the
retarding of the advancement; of
tbe southern whites. Those who
have determined to subject, at all
hazards, to negro rule those States
of the Sooth where tbey are in su
perior numbers, have simply de
termined tbat the white man'
progress shall be measured by tbe
negro's, if, indeed, it does not
result in explosirn a id mutnal
destruction. ' Fair-minded men
everywhere may accept this aa
troth. The sons of Ham have had
tbe (same opportunities tbat the
sons of Shem and . Japhetn bare
had
No Whern liarAthavin...- ,
edtheru. ,v
I know
not wneiner I hni
give credence to
the olWepeated.
thev -am fn..-
allegation th
feeling the tj
flVct of their ance$tora
lis. 1 do know.'" hn.
curse, bat th
tbey have
ueen in c.lnsn aat..
with every civilization of Which we
have nv kDowiedge; with
oldest Egyptian, tbe AssyiosBabv
Ionian, the Grecian, the RomaV
aud the modern; in each of them
we read or his presence, in. everv
utnCT3 ue was a slave.- .'.3 A
Hle trued "OtaiftgtiDTthVlpne
wW: Ta.c his wvilized'
mocicra ill ail meso apeS. .TTa haa
uiade more progress in one bun
dred year as a Southern slave than
he made in all the five thousand
years intervening from " hia Crea
tion until, his landing on these
shores.
ixv naa uo type now living on
m ? emiu equal to those of tho
present tjet.eiation who were bora
and raised in ae Slave 1 States of
America. All of which should, be
considered, by those who hava
pWlosophy and fairneaa enough to
look at the matter in some other
light than the necessities of the
Kepublrcan party in the next cam
paign.
The fact dwelt upon by the
"t" jvttusas concerning
their bahavior towania ti,tt,--. .-
ters during tbe war-is fully admit
ted. It is a strong argument to"
prove either that they were 'Unfit
ted for the great boon-of liberty or
that the horrid storiea of inhuman
treatment by their masters were
lies. I am not only willing-bat
anxious to have justice done them
in everything, ad to do all that
may oe required of me to aid them
in ioe u:mcuitie8 of their
position:
out . 1 am not;
willing that tho w
should rule me or mv people. IS is
my riride that tuy State- haa heeit
just to them and eeneroua 'and
that Sn the adiustine of thanw
order of things after their nnfran.
chisemeut I had nt inconsiderable
hand iu providing those laws and
institutions ' whieh have made
them comparatively well content in
North Carolina.'.
I believe them irucapable for
many reasons, of nropety control
ling public affairs, but I do ne
lieve them capable of making vala
able citizens uuder the wiser con
trol of the whites. My solution to
the proble.o is 8lmoly,"IIandsoff." .
Let no man he afraid tbat if the
Northern people ceases their in
terference the negroes will be
driven to the wall. On the con
trary, it is your, interference that
causes or aggravates whatever of
trouble is iLiiicted upon t liem.
Such is the nature of man. jWe
prefer to do things of our own
volition that we would refuse to do
at the dictation, of thnse who
have no right to order. Within
my memory as a child there was a
strong and growing anti-slavery
party in North Carolina, beaded by
many of Our greatest , and moat
honored cilizens,somejof whom sat
in theso seats before me. Orations
against slavery -and its conae-
Jin these-seats before me,
quences were freely delivered, and
with applause, before the classes of
our university,. .This cause, under
me innuencesft its great advocates,
would soon have claimed a maioritv
of the voters of North Carolina,but
tuose nrey zealots of t North,
who, as Carlyle says, v ire, ao
anxious to serve God s-x, ,they
took the devil inp.p- iership
with them, be gap thur inu i n-rence.
A ,jcrnsade against slavery and
slave-holding,' iu detiance of legal
rights, was begun and kept up,
until so far was the cause of
emancipation " overthrown , that
fweutyfive years after, these same
great and honored North Caro
linians would have suffered insult
and violence for repeating their ?
orations. Men will not be bullied
into doing right. Know, there
fore, that-every speech you make,
every law you enact denunciatory
of or punitive against the Southern
people, with a view to subject 'them
to the rule of their emancipated
slave?, defers indefinitely tbat
state of cordial harmony between
whites and blacks which is- ao
necessary to botb.
There is another way by whiob
in. niy opinioD, you also do tbe
negroes a great damage by your
constant interference. You do
nothing to increase the cordiality
between them and their white
neighbors. You I now that thetr
well-being depends upon their
being on good tefms.with their
landlords and employers more
than upon .any thing else; yet JOU
are constantly endeavoring, to
drive the wedge between them to
push them futher. apyt.' You en
deavor to make tbeiu altogether
to you for help. You have cod
died them so long and made them
so many promises tbat they have
ceased to rely urfon their exertions
and have come bo" believe that It
is the duty of others to provide for
them. No greater injury could be
done to any people. ! . -.
xne historian, of the Spanish
conqoescs in America, Arthur
llelps, remarks that tbe considerate
and geutle regulations provided
for the Indians of the Pearl coast
by tbe benevolent Las Casaa 'pro
ved a sad restraint upon the ener
gies of the race, as no man leans
long on any person or thing with
out lowing some of his original pow
er and energy." You have legis
lated and amended constitutions
for him, denounced your neighbors,
and glorified the negro, and offici
ally wept over his condition until
you have to a very great extent
made him a "dodder," a parasitic
animal wi'.houc support in self re
spect or eelf reliance, a class of men
which of all others is least desira
ble in a progressive community. ;
Any newgot of conditions V
Says Kay Lank ester
oecurnnir to an animal which render lt food
and safety vcrr easily attained seem to lead, aa
a rule, to degeneration.. . V
Applying this principle in nature
to the moral world, ilenry Dram
mond says . . . .
Any principle which secures this safety of
tbe individual without fx.-ronal effort or the
vital exercUt of faculty i Umaatroua to moral
character. . .. ,
suppose you trust the Southern
people for a while f You can not
believe that any considerable num
ber of them desire to do wrong or
CoaUnul unithpag-e
?. - - .
i.