Iowa territorial gazette and advertiser. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa Territory [Iowa]) 1840-1846, 1844-11-02

80 s.8 4gfr Report gA ha aa8
The Select Conmlatse 70 whom was n,
fsrred = petition of sandry citixens pray.
ing for the sdnissioa Of people Of colo,
sn he same footing = white citisens. Al.
% resolution instructing them to rspor,
thsir opinion upon the propsisty Of mAkina
constitutional provision prohibiting them
from settling within The State, &C., Be-
leave to report. 49,
That al men are created equal, and are
endowed by their Creator with equal un.
slienable rights, your committee are free
to admit: That so far q nature is concern-
ed those rights are - sacred to the black
man as the white man, and should b q
regarded. This however 10 q mere d.
stract proposition, and although true, when
applied to man in q state Of nature; yet il
becomes very much modified when man ID
considered in the artificial state in which
government and society places him. Thu.
the infant is not entitled to liberty or the
pursuits Of happiness until he arrives Il
the age Of twenty-one years. Females By
the arbitrary rules Of society are exclu-
ded and debared from many things which
males consider rights and high privilege
such as the elective franchise, holding Of
fce, &c. Now in these cases the female
and infant are denied what we abstractly
term unaliensble rights, and they submit
without complaint or murmur. No one
thinks Of sympathising with them in their
deprivations. The philanthropist has new
er had occasion to comniserate their fate,
still it IS in those respects the came Is the
cstissns Of color. The negro is surely no
better than our wives and children, and
should not excite sympathy when they de-
sire the political rights which they are de-
prived Of.
The great error that exists in the minds
Of our citizens who reason in favor Of Ne
gro suffrage and citizenship, arise from
their minglihg the national and artificial
rights Of man, and treating the artificial liz
situations Of government as sacred and az
undeniable to man as the abstract rights Of
nature; position which is untrue in point
Of fact, and in opposition to the experience
Of the whole world. Governments are
strictly conventional, and although based
upon the laws ofnature, they are necessa.
rily limited and circumscribed in their OPP
Grafton. 1t is made for those who are to |
be benefited by it, and il not bound to UNI
bar its doors and receive every vagrant
who may take refuge in It.
Government - an institution or an asso-
citation entered into BY man, the very con-
Of which changes or modifies to . |
greater or less extent his natural rights
Some are surrendered others modified
The compensation for these sacrifices, is
ound in the greater security in those rights !,
and cheapning Of the expense
If protecting them. 1t is means sought |
~ man to make more available, secure, t
Ind certain, his unalienable rights of life, /
liberty and the pursuits of happiness.- !
Thus the citizen acquires species Of
in his government, which he has |
! right to enjoy without molestation and |
without disturbance. In forming or MAIN
aiming government it is the privilege and
luty Of those who have or are about to as
'ociate together for that purpose to modify
md limit the rights or wholly exclude from
he association, any and every species Of
persons wqo would endanger, lessen Or in
he least impair the enjoyment Of these
lights. We have seen that the applica-
ion Of this principle limits the rights Of
,ur sons, modifes the privileges Of our
Wives and Daughters, and would not be
unjust if it excluded the Negro altogether
IT'S the party to the compact that should
complain. not the stranger. Even hospi-
atty does not sanction complaint under
,uch circumstances. True, these persons
nay be unfortunate, but the Government is
lot unjust.
If your committee are correct in their
riews, the question presented for consid-
Grafton is plainly this. Would the admis-
lion Of the Negro as citizen tend in the
east to lessen, endanger or impair the en-
oyment Of our governmental institutions
lin other words would the accession of
,egro population produce any Of these con-
sequences. If it would we should be un-
wise to admit them, if it would not, then it
would be wanton add wrong to exclude
hem. The whole subject should be prop
,rly treated as question Of policy or con-
ract where self interest is Just as properly
- in the promotion Of COM
nercial treaty Or private contract. It's
he chite population who are about to form
government for themselves--no Negro il
in this convention, and no one
to become member Of the COM
pact. IT'S the white population Of this
Territory who petition for the admission Of
he negro. They necessarily believe that |
The introduction Of such : population Is
citizens would not interfere with the enjoy
nents Of the white citizens, or they place |
his admission on the ground that the Ne
gro has the arbitrary claim, based as a nat
nral right. The proposition would stand |
thus: lst, That Negroes are ! desirable |
Or at least harmless population: End, |
That the Negro has n0tural right 70 Be
admitted az IN equal citizen. The former
proposition begs, the latter commands.
Can the Negro be admitted to those
privileges and not impair the rights Of the
whites? your committee think not. The
Government thehi would b unjust o. ad-
NIT them. The Negro not being : party
to the government has no right to partake
Of it, privileges. 81 n ssa
Howevss, your committee ,ecmmiserate
with the degraded condition Of the Ne
1Yoes. And fed for hio ste. Vt thew en-