The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-09-04
WORTH CONSIDERING.

The people Of Indiana, at their lstA election
have by special vote ratified the following, anC
made il a part and parcel Of their new Canstitu
ton
"SEc. l. No negro or mulstto shall come int
or settle in this State after the adoption Of thi
| Constitution.
"SEc. 2 All contracts made with any negrt
or mulatto coming into this State contrary 10 the
foregoing section shall be void and all person
who shall employ, or otherwise encourage sucl
negro or mulstto to remain in the State, shall b.
fined in any sum of not less than ten dollars no
more than five hundred dollars.
"SEc. 3. All fines which may be collected fol
violation of the provisions Of this article, or any
law which may hereafter be passed for the pur
pose of carrying the same into execution, shall b'
set apart and appropriated for the colonization o.
such negroes and mulattoes, and their descend
ants. as may be in the State at the adoption OIL
this Constitution, and may be willing to emigrate
"SEc. 4. The General Assembly shall pass
laws to carry out the provisions Of this article"
Our readers need not be told that we abhor
| and oppose all such enactments as tyrannics, I'M
just, and in pslpable violation Of the fundament-
| al basis of our Declaration Of independence. Had
our lot been cast in Indiana, we should have Civ
| en- this restriction all the resistance in our pow
| er.
| But the fact of it's passage is none the less a
| fact because we don't like it. The immense ma
jority forbids the presumption that any resist
ance could have been effected. And, although
there are said to be peculiar reasons for the mag
nitude of this vote in Indiana, we cannot doubt
that the same proposition, in like manner sub
mitted to direct and naked popular vote, would
prevail in nearly every free State of the Union
If, then, it be the fact that great majority Of
the white freemen Of this country regard the
mingling of whites and blacks in the same COM
munity as perncious and to be 0bviated what is
the duty of the friends Of equal rights What
is the true interest Of the coored race? Ii may
be easy to show that the colonization of the blacks
is despotc and unjust; but what good comes Of
that? 1t is easy for the blacks to say, 1--WE
won't be colonized-we won't 60 to Africa, nor
anywhere else, but will remain where We were
born, and die here0 But won't is weak word
when used by The few, the poor the feeble, to in
dictate their resistance to the determined will Of
the many, the wealthy, the powerful-New York
Tribune.
1t would have been more in accordance with
the general spirit ana phiIescphy'or the Tribune
to make this inhuman act of the People O
Indiana the ground Of an appeal for justice to tn,
colored people in other sections rather of an ar
gument for their expulsion from the country |
one act Of injustice is to be used as plea fo
the commission Of another, we may as well aban
don all hope of redressing the wrongs nfictec
upon the weak.
The provision of the Indiana Constitution, re
ferred to, declares that no black or mulatto shal
come into the State TO settle there but no penal
ty is affixed for its violation A free colored mai
may settle there to-day, and the Constitution
makes no provision for removing him or punish
ing him. But his exclusion is aimed at indirect
ly Contracts with him are to be regarded a
void, and no citizen can give him employment o.
encourage him to remain In the State, withou
mourning 6ne of not less than ten or more thar
five hundred dollars.
The exclusion is not then, absolute. A color
ed man may buy portion of the public lands Ii
Indiana, or rent q portion from Nonresident
become a cultivator, and support himself ant
these provisions Of the new Constitution will no
reach his case.
True, the General Assembly is to pass laws t,
carry into effect "these provisions" but it viii
hardly 90 beyond the Constitution itself Ia
laws will not directly exclude the colored man
but attempt his exclusion, by penalties visited
upon those who employ him.
The Tribune says that similar provisions, in
like manner submitted to direct and naked pop
ular vote, would prevail in nearly every fire.,
State in the Union" On what does the Tri5,n
rest this opinions The legislation Of the New
England States in relation to colored people ha
certainly been Moderated within the last few
years, and public opinion In New York is not al
unjust to this class Of population as it was ter
years ago. Last winter the laws of Ohio 70
speeding colored people, some Of them almost pre-
cisey similar to these provisions Of the Constitu
ton Of Indiana, were repealed at one act and il
the new Constitution, although the Convention
contained several active negro haters, no attemp
to renew these disquali6cations, or to deprive tn
colored people Of any right except that Of suffrage
received any eountsnsnss.
IL we except Iowa. Illinois, Indiana, and Mich
gan, States which, though advancing, are still
behind the other free States in general intelli
gence and civilization, we do not believe there i
single free State in which these provisions o
the Indiana Constitution, II submitted to popu
lar vote, would be adopted
The action Of the People of Indiana, discredit
able Us it is does not make the case of the coore,
people desperate. That State will find not NOR
than two or three imitators. Besides, such en-
sctments in the long run will prove to be deat
letter The laws of Ohio, prohibiting the settle
ment Of colored people in that State, and impOs
ing enormous fines on citizens employing them
were On the statute book from 1904 to is50-bu
they could never be generally enforced. ColoreC
people settled In the State - white people EN-
ployed them-and ouly in certain localities, a
| certain times, when some miscreant wished Il
wreak his spite upon neighbor, was any seriou
| attempt made to execute them.
We are among those who would encourage tn
spirit Of enterprise and colonization among fire.
colored people. We should like to see them ad
and coloniring any country, freely, Of their owl
accord, by their own means, where there was
prospect of lettering their condition But, vi
do not forget that they are Americans, born OF
our soil, and entitled to homes here equally with
ourselves-and whenever any attempt is made Il
expel them from our borders, We tell them tha
the very best answer they can give 10 we nom
20, under compulsion" That little word, "wOn'f
is sometimes the only refuge that Is lsft to TIA
poor and weak against the strong and wealthy
Let the Tibms, II IL choose, do sill II can to per
suade oolored people TO coloni,e Jamaica, or Mex