f p-k -r " 'TBH.-MTi 3W u --. f.jT TBTe JOBIIKAL OF FHEED0KI: PUBLISHED XTKRT SATUBDAT, AT KALEIOH, N. C., J. Q. lAX CEANE;; . . - .- . EDWARD P. DRGOKG, EDITOR. Devoted to the interest! of the FREEDMEN OF THE 1 SOUTH and the establishment and maintenance of EQUAL BIGHTS FOR ALL MEN, legardless of class or color. Alabama on the Negro. It is useless to affpct any surprise at the ordinance of the Alabama Cdnvemtion ex cluding negro testimony from , the courts. The proceedings of the Convention through all its sessions have pointed to such a con clusion. There has not been one word ut tered showing a purpose to accept cor dially or even intelligently the altered condition of affairs. Every voice heard in the Convention ha9 been for a recognition of emancipation as compulsory ; and un welcome. Every speaker has indicated his purpose to make freedom mean as lit tle as possible to the negro. Such a con vention fitly crownsits labors with a reso lution denying to, the freedman everY civil right except the right not to be sold on the auction block. Erskine,' raised to the peerage, painttd over his doors the le gend, "Trial by Jury," to signify his sense of its inestimable value to the free English man. What words would his indignant lips have found strong enough to de nounce an act that denies to the half-freed negro not merely trial by his peers, but the right to be heard in any case that can arise in any court of law. Under this Alabama ordinance the only spot a negro has a right to occupy in the. ceurt-room is the prisoner's dock. When he is there, charged it may be with a capital, crime, the word of a perjured white man, who never saw him may convict him and send him to the gallows, though twenty blacks stand ready to prove his perfect innocence. Such law and such legislation as that is an outrage against civilization, but one degree less brutal than slavery itself. It ont strips even the barbarity of the slave code, for that permitted the negro to testify in cases where negroes only were parties ; this excludes him in every case. In judging of the loyalty of Alabama and ot her disposition to concede manhood to the negro whom she did not : emanci pate, this last ordinance controls' all other testimony were there any testimony any where that the State is inspired by tne spirit of freedom instead of slavery. This, and not the so-called ordinance of aboli tion, stereotypes the opinion of the Con vention. This is the . . shape which 6uch speeches as that we quoted from last week- llUdliy lane. xuaii opcctu- jui( uuiicd might be deemed the utterance of but one man. It was in fact the opinion of the Convention. In all its proceedings we have not discovered one speech pitched in a truer key than that. The opponents of Mr. White talk on this subject exactly as Mr. White talks. In the last report that comes to us, we find an address by Mr. Langdon of Mobile, in opposition to the substitute offered by Mr. White, making the recognition of emancipatian contin gent on the decision of the Supreme Court, i'et the former speech was milk-and-water to this. Mr. Langdon makes no sort of concealment of the fact that the present convention is to do just so much as is ne cessary to get back into tho Union, and no more. Therefore he deems it inevita ble to admit that slavery is abolished. He would not admit that if he could help it. Neither he or any other speaker parts willingly with the institution. "Most gladlv," exclaims Mr. Langdon, "would 1 vote lor the substitute, if the. institution could thereby be saved." Of all acts looking toward emancipation, he says, "I agree that those acts are all unconstitu? tional, illegal." and atrocious. ; . We are not responsible for the act. '. . I glory in the Tact that we yielded no princi ple till we were compelled to. . . The Proclamation of the President and acts of Congress wejre unmitigated inhumanities. ... I denounced it as an atrocity, and I Btlll believe that the Confederate Govern ment did not adopt as severe measures as it shouldliave done. I say this to let men know that 'I for one don't yield slavery willingly. I believe that setting the slaves free in these States will be put down as the blackest act ever performed." There is any quantity more of . the same venomous outpourings. Now- who believes that a convention of which Mr. White and Mr. Langdon are leaders can "mean to do justice to the freedmen, whose emancipation, in ' their eyes, is a crime of the blackest dye ? Who believes that the State, left under the guidance of such men, will allow any real freedom for the blacks to exist within its limits? Nor is this feeling of exasperation against the negro and against the authors of his freedom the sole motive which con trols the policy of the Convention. Mr: Lansrdon. bitterly hatinsr emancipation as he does, yet tells the Convention they must admit it formally otherwise no chance of readmissien and no other means toward mat political supremacy wmcn tlie pro slavery leaders expect to establish over the North. "The -gentleman is mistaken in thinking that we are 'conciliating the radicals. We are acting not.oniy for our selves, but also for our friends in the North, to enable them to destroy the-radi- cai party." We are oblieed to Mr. Lancrdon for let ting that particularly large cat out of the f.S. Words could not declare more ex plicitly that the Democratic leaders at the iiorth have notified their old allies that they must agree to some show of emanci pation to conciliate Northern. ' prejudice to get back into Concress. Once IT M - till ,Min m 1: It Eqnal Rights Before the Law for .all MenSocial Coiiditi . j c T Oacmota.....l. , ' 777 2 60 60 VOL T. lohs will Regulate Themselves. RALEIGH, N. C., SATURDAY- OCT. 14, JL865. NO. 3. thero, the two will again strike hands, and will effectually obstruct any Congression al legislation looking to the security of the freedmen against such .oppression as this Alabama ordinance of exclusion from the courts contemplates. Mr. Langdon, how ever, proposes to crack the old plantation whip in the same lively style as before. "We have not been disgraced,"- he. de clares, "and I want our Congressmen when they go to Washington to go with a bold front and a high head, as honest men, and not as criminals supplicating mercy. Is Mr. Langdon's petition for pardan on file ? but independent, as guilty of no crime,and to fearlessly demand our rights in the name of the.ConstitutionV 1 ;.: v i -. If the policy then to be. pursued be still doubtful in anybody's mind, listea to this : "We must get control of these negroes, . . We cannot endure what is now going on. I will not particularize, for you afl know to what I refer. We know how to manage the negro better than anybody else, but we cannot get control of him without first getting back into the IJnion." . Needless to continue the quotations.- What Alabama cannot endure is simply the Freedmen's Bureau, or any other 'ef fort toward justice and protection by law for the negro. Abolish that Bureau,with draw the United States troops as seems to be the ttfesent policy at Washington open the doors of Congress to the ' Ala bama delegation, is to remit the negro to such an unchecked despotism as this ordi nance imposes upon him, and to announce our acqniescence in a policy that will not stop short of the extermination of the black race. New York Tribune. . Gov. Marvin's Address Gospel for Copper heads. The most sensible Southern speech we have read for many a day is that of Pro visional Governor Marvin of Florida, on th 5th. of September, at Quincy. His ideas on the war, on the present condi tion of. his State, on her duty to the Union, and even on her colortd citizens, are far in advance of those propounded by any of the other Provisional Gover nors any, at least, whose addresses-we have had the fortune to meet with. Take; for instance, this eminently prac tical statement of the results of secession. Beginning with the remark that it is im possible for a State to secede, he yet says : "Florida has been a State in rebellion, and, by her acts; has destroyed her State government and particularly the institu tion of slavery, which was nursed in jt bosom and defended by it. She is now held by martial law in a 'state of tute lage, with her political rights in abey ance, and will be kept there until she organizes for herself, on a new basis, a new government." What endless mazes of cobwebs that brushes away I No matter whether a State can theoretically get out of the Union or not ; she. can at least rebel, and by her own aet suspend her State gov ernment, and reduce herself to such a condition as that she shall have no law but martial law, no political rights but such as are granted her, and no power to release herself from that condition of tu telage and subjection except by the favor of her conqueror. Gov. Marvin is clear headed enough to see that his own ap pointment and authority, emanating not from the State but from the Federal gov ernment, is the best answer to such theo- nsts as assert that the rights ot the ibtates, under the. constitution are not to be med dled with in rebellion or in reconstructs. Slavery, Gov. Marvin of course agrees, 1 1 ! 1 J 1 1 i 1 ' is to oe aDOiisnea, dui ne agrees in a hearty way very unlike the formal re commendations in some other quarters. "The tuture constitution oi n loriaa muss guarantee freedom alike to all it must not be black or white, but free' That is scarcely the language of a man who hates the blacks, etui less is inis most unexpected statement : . , "And I am free to confess, that in view of the disorganized state of our society, it is well, in my judgment, that - slavery has passed away forever. Supposing the institution , remained and the 150,000 colored troops, who have been thorough ly drilled in the ,use of arms, and in structed in the rights of freemen, and who have exhibited on many a battle field, and in the storming of batteries a steadiness and a courage .equal to that of the white man, were turned loose among us, how long would that institution last, or whose life or property would be s'ecure ? In that case slavery would disappear in carnacro and in; rivers of blood. Thank God, the thing is out of the way, and we are sate I The luture or jc loriaa, in tnis resnect, is that of every other State in the Union, except Kentucky and Dela ware, and ahortlv these States must be free. ; As citizens, before the law, the freedmen must be in all resnects our requals'. : v : ; Such, testimony and such opinions are manlv. honorable' to Gov. Marvin, and a stinging reproach to Northern Copper headswho still strive to belittle the val or and destroy the citizenship of the ne groes. We are not even sure that the" Governor does not believe in negro suff rage. He- does not advocate it, but he does not oppose it, contenting himself with the remark that, it is a political right, arid does not necessarily accompa ny oivil rights. Perhaps a word of en couragement from Washington might open the way for Gov. Marvin to show himself "an advoeate off equal justice to all, even at the ballot box. - On the question of negro testimony in court, he is perfectly explicit, and de serves quoting in full : "Furthermore the constitation, must declare that persons of color shall be ad- mitted as witnesses itf all our courts of civil jurisprudence. The law, in this re spect, knows no distinction of color. yi am aware that this is a hard doc trine to many, but is not, and nerea was such to me. Seme think the negro con 8titutionally . a liar that falsehood is marrow in his bones, and that it circu lates in hi a blood. Now that is not true, iu whole or in part, and the statement is" a slander upfln both God and man. An experience of thirty years in the South has satisfied me that the slave has often told the truth, while the master has lied. For some years I occupied the bench, any many are the instances in which I have known guilty parties to go un whipped of justice because colored peo ple could not come into the court and testify. The admission of such witness es would have given the State prison or the gallows its due, and relieved society of bad and dangerous characters. I have much feeling upon this subject, because the impressive and painful lessons of years crowd in upon my memory. You know that the menial classes of all na tions are permitted to appear in court and testify, and that in some instances lords and nobles have been sent to the gallows' om the evidence of house serv ants Our colored population are as well qualified to to testify as they. You keep the negro- out of court, and what chance has he for justice? Just none at all. The government and the word are aware of this, and I do not think Con gress will: regard the constitution you may frame as republican in form, or cal culated to. secure the ends of justice to all citizens, unless the negro is permitted to come into court as a witness.. I mav be mistaken, but should Jhat wrong be perpetrated, arid your constitution reject d on that account, for one I shall ac quiesce in the justice of the decision. The fact is, we have no other course left us but to make a clean breast of this whole business, dq full justice to the ne gro, though he is of an inferior race, arid remove the whole subject growing out of his slavery emancipation and status from the theatre of politics." Is seems a pity that a man of Gover nor Marvin's calibre should not have a wider scope for his good sense and abili ties. Why not mke him Governor where he is more needed than in Florida, flay in ooutn uaronna or Connecticut r The Wisconsin Republicans. The Radical Republicans of Wisconsin held a convention at Janesville last week, for the purpose ot expressing their views on national affairs and ratifying the nominations of the Union party. Judging from the large number of . eminent men there present,from the unflinching plain ness of the resolutions, and from the great ability and courage of the speeches, no convention ever held in the State has exercised so direct and general an in fluence as this will upon the people of " Wisconsin. -' The leading idea of the convention as expressed in its resolutions was Impar tial Suffrage, as an essential condition of a safe Reconstruction .and the 'security of the Union in the future. It was unani mously resolved : ' ' "That in our opinion it is incompati ble with the honor of the nation, after having called in the negro to aid us, to abandon him in the hour of that victory which his efforts helped to secure ; that to brand him as unworthy the right of suffrage is to deliver him disarmed and helpless into the lhands of his enemies ; and that, therefore, it is competent and right, and in 'accordance with that na tional faith which is virtually pledged to him for- his.protection, to impose on the SUU's recently engaged in rebellion as a frther condition. of their; return to full fellowship in the Union, thatf hr fixing the qualifications for the exercise. ot the elective franchise in their several con stituencies, they make no discrimination against any person on account of race or color." ' - The Convention proceeded to declare that whatever theories about the impos ihilitv of secession mieht prevail, the States were practically under control of the Federal Government, as was soown by- the appointment of Provisional Governors, by prescribing the qualifica tions of electors, andlby anajsting on Emancipation as the. condition precedent to their return. They resolve that Con gress in conjunction with the President, and .not the President alone,' is the proper authority to fix on the conditions of reconstruction," and. that all the loyal people of the South, not repentant rebels alone, are entitled to vote.; , - The main speech to the Convention was made by the Hon. T. O. Howe,Unir ted States Senator from f Wisconsin, He indorsed the resolutions 'without reserve. He .fur ther called the attention of the Convention to : the fact " that- the last Legislature of the State; had passed a law abolishing the exclusion of I the ne groes from the ballot-box, a law. which required the ratification' of the' people, arid whM'hebesbughr-the people to agree to. There are but 353 colored men in Wisconsin ; the question,- there fort, might seem of little practical im portance, but Senator Howe reminded his fellow citizens that "it is of immense ly more importance to you, white- men, and -to your, characters as citizens and Republicans, that you shall do this, than it is to any interest that these 353 llack men have."- The Senator . urged it as one step toward securing suffrage for the negroes of the South, and that without suffrage emancipation is a sham. "These people, tho negroes, they live down in certain communities vhich have been waging war against the people of the United States. They wre owned almost entirely by the men who made that war. and carried it to the bitter end. As we knew, these men have been eman cipated simply because they have ceased to be the property of their former own ers. I will wait for official information on that point. If you mean by emanci pation that they have simply ceased to be property, 1 must be allowed to say that does not come up to -my notion of emancipation. In the States, somebody has got to wield .the powers of the Gov ernment, and that power has tube wielded by the white population, by the men who formerly owned these colored people, and by them exclusively, or by the colored. . . . Whenever the authority and prerogative of States are given to these Southern countries, it is your duty to see that the colored people have a share in such authority, so that they may be able to protect themselves in the enjoyment of their rights." This speech of Senator Howe was pre ceded by one from Gen. Paine,, of the same tenor, and ' followed by no from the Union candidate for Attorney-General of Wisconsin, who avows his unhesi tating conviction that "the question, of negro suffrage is one of the deepest ne cessity in the preservation of this Union, and to sa ve what we hare gained by our vast struggle." He sees that "this question of negro suffrage is the great one now before the American people. It will be the great one before Congress when these rebels are applying to come back, and the terms on which they are to come back have to be decided upon, and as .it is decided, will itbe determined whether we shall hereafter have in the South, free States, based upon freedom and justice, or the slave tyranny of the past. It is therefore the duty of the peo ple to interest themselves deeply in this subject, and while we refuse to restore to power the Democratic party of the North, also refuse to restore power to the Demo cratic party of the South. If the States are reorganized on a rebel basis, treason arid copper headism will be made respectr able, and patriotism and liberty made odious, and if on the basis of loyalty ,the reverse will be true." On the whole, weiudge the Wisconsin Rpniihlioans have verv clear ideas of their, own, and don't hesitate to express them. ' l ; . ' Tne Free Press In the South. ' A Tact which ought to make us the more patient with the political . and so- cial evils left by slavery, is the absolute freedom of the . press to discuss every public concern. Such a freedom "exists, and.is practically exercised, in every Southern State. It is not military au thority that secures it, but public opin- ion. JNoooay calls ix in ouesii n. xuo assimilation to the North in this respect is universally recognized to be one of the natural and necessary results of the war. This in itself is of more real consequence than anything which has bees done, or left undone, by the tonventions. Under the regime of slavery, the press was as closely chained as under any ty rannv in Europe. The omission of an innflnrliarv -nnhlication ' was by , law a penitentiary offence ; and every publica tion was deemed incendiary which, in anvwise exposed the evils or questioned the Ranctitv of slavery. The slave power with its three thousand millions of what it called property at stasre, suDjeciea Averv ten. every tongue within its limits, to an absoiate'powerlessness of discussion aminat if. nr a o-ainst any of its adjuncts Tift1 . The wonder : is that auu 4uwiu"" . . - ti not trron. under this system, Vo Tinrrih1 arid detestable than it actuallv was There is- nothing ot which human selfishness is not capable, when, for any prolonged period, ; p held by la w, and exem ptea irom u uuut ion or rebuke. This success in Jocking - '-"-VACUW 1 One-fourth coluW, On9 1 I oo Ana nVH4V i j KM tt - 15 OO A iir percenttsM win v. J, . . - w other oontrtcu. quoted fb 7earl7 tnd AU buiineM communictt me puoiuher. top aU comment in the South ripen the domestic institution, was t.W . m . -i , , 1 -.w VUG bUlli lr 1 which brought despondency to all patriot!- X r . 91 7 . lmiJ contemplated the future. ; It is morally impossible for tho mind of any people to be long kept under such an incubus without bein paralyzed outright, or else monstrously perverted. -The aetual result was the most transcendent piece of infatuation to be tound in modern history. . Air this has passed. ; The slave powjer has fallen, and with it all tyranny over the Southern mind.. .The freedom of speech and of the, press, which naturally belongs to ; the republican . system, of government; has begun to assert? itself in all its rightful scope. Its power to rectify and regenerate will be equal to any de mand, if we will but give it time. Free discussion insures that the South will henceforth be ubjeGt to the laws of pro gress. Wje ought to trust in large measure to these, and not to insist, fur ther than is absolutely necessary, upon forcing on the South our own sentiments and systems: We should make ample allowance for the crude notions that still prevail in many parts of the South con cerning the just relations of the races. They are the necessary results of the in stitution now perished, that demented men's minds so completely, and will soon give way 'to the collision of free' opinion. This liberty of free discussion will, of itself, make the re-establishment of slavery impossible ; and it will also be an inseparable barrier to any modified system of servitude which many in the South fear will follow the restoration of the Southern tates to their full civil power. The true interests of the South require absolute freedom of industry. This truth is demonstrated by the laws of human nature, the principles of politi cal economy, the results of experience in all other parts of the civilized world. Is it not possible that a truth capable of so many kinds of proof should not be'accept ed in every part of this practical land, if left to free discussion. There is no danger that free discussion, once firmly established as it now is throughout the South, will be subverted. It will main tain itself against every opposing in fluence. . Slavery, to be sure, , had the power to put it down. But slavery was an institution of most terrible strength. It had the almost incredible force to cope with, the nation itself, in deadliest grap ple, for four years. We shall never again see the like of any such power as that in this republic. The foothold which the freedom of the press has gain edupon the grave of slavery, it will keep against all comers. Let the Northern people hare faith in it, and trust largely to its fmture work. Such a trust would save us from much obtrusive and mis chievous legislation in Washington, and would be justified in the end by all ' the results we can reasonably desire.. Y. Times. ' Negro Suffrage Proposition of Radicals. Washington. Sent. 25. -The radical Republicans are now preparing a compro mise on the negro-suffrace question. In stead of insisting upon the adoption of unqualified negro suffrage in the boutn- ern States, they otter now to admit tne Southern Representatives to their seats in Congress, and to pass a law loaning to the Southern States from one to three millions of dollarsto"be distributed for agricultural purposes, if the bout tier n States will adopt laws giving the right of suffrage to all adults, without distinc tion of color, who can read and write. It . is argued that this . will satisfy the Radicals of the North, and secmre the nttded pecuniary aid for he restoration of. prosperity in the' South. The above is taken' from a telegraphic dispatch to the Cincinnati Enquirer. - We have seen ,rio intimations of the al leged proposition of a compromise in any other quarter.' If it is true that theradi cal extremists are making such a propo sition, what becomes of their solemn as severations that the welfare of the nation demands that the recently rebellious States shall be kept under territorial pu pilage, for; some years to come? VYoma this compromise change the character and purposes of the people whose return to the IJnion is now so much needed f We have been taught by one ot the ablest Southern leaders that compromise , is the chief element of true statesman ship. By accepting this doctrince and actfng upon it in 1861, the Soutb t might have Avoided war, and been secured in the possession of her slaves. But sue rejecLl it, struck for. independence, and now lies at the mercyof the Tictor AU of her States will recognize the situation and abandon all hope of reviving thein stitution of slavery. They will gofi ther and provide by law for theprotoc tion of tho person and property ot the toen Sutmorejiasbeendemanded to Btlll to yield further, and agree to ion thooU -jj . . w "rwa 19 1 tne comnrnm lea Tnnni.' m m Z T" seriously proposed ? - 1 18 niMiately.into rotcrs would be .,mi M00 ,mU t0 add o weight to such ''l?'. wuld j m ii a ill I I I I i t n... A. " 1. 1 . -m dot S IT re?0?e' and the door forever agaihst -a?itationa iniurion. of L ! f 0t eventing all sections ? "ntry together iu bonds more fraterna than any which have yetexist- il S8e aro considerations which bught to have great weight in settling the question.,Van7?e (Tenn.) Union? The Colored People's view, o sial Equal ity and Political Equality 'u1- The Nashville Colored Tennessean con cludes a long and.sensible article as fol io wa: "Thus far we have endeavored to show why political equality should be accord ed to us as a natural right. In regard to social equality we ask nothing. It is characteristic of every'raco of people to prefer -heir kindred and kind as associ ates We affirm that this is pre-eminently the case with the negro. Moreover, we do thiuk it sound n. lir.tl ln.li.... here in the South, to- hear arguments against- political equality based on tho presumption that social equality follows, as a necessary ciutnce. Social equal ity Has nothing, strictly speaking, to do with political equality. The tact is, we have had almost too much social equality with the whites in times past. Social equality with them has stolen from us the complexion of our fathers. We are the one who of right should complain of too much familiarity and undue encroach ments on our social prerogatives. But society fs not the creature of legislative. enactment. The naturalized Irishman and the Wall Street banker both go in thQ morning to the same polls, each de positing his vote alike, that of the one t being of no more significance than, tho other. Yet, at the splendid entertain ment at the banker's in the evening, you will search in vain for the 'ilegant bro gausmd sprig o' shillaly' of the gentle man from the Emerald Isle. Nor would Patrick dream of making a proposition for the hand oi the fair Miss Dulcina, the banker's daughter, unless sadly mis used by that seduclive fluid, very popu lar" in the Empire city, called election whisky. "Our aim has been to show that politi cal equality; in justice, should bo extend ed to us at once, and that social equality is another thing entirely. What we want is, law to protect our homes, our fami lies, and all that is dear to us. When brutal ruffiians stalk into our peaceful dwelling, insulting our wives and daugh ters, we want law to bring those ruffians to justice, and the right to call black men to the witness stand to testify against them. When insult or violence is offered to persons of white men or their fami lies, we want the right to take our place on ths witness stand and give our testi mony against the perpetrators of theso outrages.- When we have these rights, and not till then, will justice have been vindicated." A Voice from Abkansis. Three things aro absolutely and indispensably necessary to the es tablishment of a permanent peaco' and the safe ty of our Democratic institutions. ? The exten 6ion of suffrage to all loyal meu respective cf race or colpr the destruction of the landed aru tocracy in the South by confiscating the landa i cf leading rebels, and a healthy 3mtm?ra'ou to the South of tho free-soil and loyal element of tho North and other countries. ,m ' To work for these three objects is the duty or everv true loyal American citizen, and until ac complished it is useless t. talk of 'l8810rT Better, far better to remain as we are, aa tcrn S and under marrtal lawman to allow du. w. . . M?n flf ffovcrnment !T3,?n u anew into the vortex of sectional strife Kew Era. and even dioousucu. y - . Mlowirg ordered from J" Low held tff abaodoned and coofi-cated u .to 'T&oit the the commlssiooers of the burj WW South with P'SJiSlp thereof.- tle of the Same and the V : The circular ubj ,iw d 5 o their - portaofabandoBedorwnB--;ucb t.nd in eh ffe names of former owocrs .if county, district or pan- , utei wlll n,a ume u'J v . The nnmucr M tt;e garoe can ,oa always """J r-turoi. prF7 l0 arded -u v f.,rdel fJ lias v.' . farmer owc-r? with spcMal i.,troc- as iwnefl, in r0A od lh pJFr. m 8UCU ,tw" , i 'I Col til1 lit ment was hclJ, on SaturdAj m rooms at the State Hoaso.