The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1860-11-01


Another Roorback Nailed.
The pro-slavery locofocos in this
County, headed by Asa Kingsbury,
have been busy for week or two past,
in circulating the report that G. C.
Jones, Esq, signed a petition to the
Legislature of 1859, to have the word
,chite struck out of the Constitution.
The charge that Mr.. Jones signed any
such petition is falsehood. The Pc
ton was never presented to Mr.. Jones;
and in fact he knew nothing of it I'M
til he learned of the report that was cir
culated through the county. Mr.. Mar
tin, the gentleman who drew up and
the petition, has sent-us the
following letter, proving beyond doubt
that Mr.. Jones never even saw the Pc
tition:
DowAGIAc, Oct. goth, 1860.
EDITOR REPUBLICAN, SIR: AS Is
has been stated over and over again
that Gilman C. Jones, Esq, signed q
petition to our last Legislature to strike
the word white ont of the Constitution
in order that negroes might vote, 1
deem it my duty to to state to the pub
lie by this medium, that Mr.. G. G..
Jones did not sign that petition. Icir-
culated it myself and / never presented
it to him, not happening to meet him
at the time of its circulation. The pc
tition in question has as many demo-
cratic names as Republican, and it is
SO with all of the petitions on this sub
ject that was presented to the legisla-
ture of 1858 and 1859. There was one
from Ann Arbor with over three hun
dred democratic names to it.
The editor of the Douglas democrat
ic sheet must know that the colored
people ask the people of Michigan, and
not any particular party for this right,
and that our petitions are presented ir-
respective of party. We ask the peo-
pie of Michigan and get their sigma
lures; and not the Democratic party or
Republican party. This has never been
party question, and heretofore there
has been as many democrats to sanction
and grant the right of suffrage to the
colored citizen as of any other party,
and the regular democrat will do the
same thing. In fact wherever the col
ored citizens have the right of suffrage
it has been granted by the democratic
legislature and it cannot be denied
with truth.
1t never injured the democracy of
Gen. Andrew Jackson by bis sanction
ing the free negro vote of Tennessee.
Mr.. A. Kingsbury when / presented
my petition, merely said to me that he
did not think the petition to the legis-
lature would amount to anything, SO he
did not sign it, and 1 felt somewhat
encouraged by this for at the time
left his Office with favorable impress
sion that if he thought our chance good
he would sign the petition.
This giving liberties to colored citi-
zens never was considered party ques-
ton until theinauguration of this horse
dry goods box-and whisky democ.
racy of Stephen A. Douglas, who says
he can put but one Construction on
property and therefore they make no
difference between barrel of whisky
and negro.
The regular democratic party has
never claimed anything more than the
labor of the negro when they had paid
for it, in states where local law protec-
ted him in the purchase of such labor.
and there is not a slave State in the
Union that does not protect the life and
limb of the slave more than Illinois
does, and the democratic party says
they are men too, but this Douglas
party have lately discovered they arc
not men SO says the Douglas horn
blowers. In conclusion I will again
say, Mr.. Jones did not sign that petit
ton, / also thank Mr.. Kingsbury for
acknowledging that the negro has some
rights which white men are bound to
respect. s
T. JEFFERSON MARTIN.