Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1863-10-20
Colonization Is it a Solution of the Negr,
Question


Colonization it Solution of the Nsg,,
Question ?
The Negro, what shall we do with him,
question which has long been agltated. and
which now demands imperatiyey an answer
That It would ultimately become question If
immediate and pressing Importance as it is i,
day has long been ioreseeu, and there were M
wanting those who sought earnestly for the b.,
answer TO this question while h lud the answer
was deemed matter OF cxred lncy raider than
Of urgent nee ssity. The Colonization scAen.
was deliberate attempt 10 present practca.
bic aud practical answer. Has it done this
Has 1t given promise that i vii do Il, Of dem.
onstrutcd lhat the scheme il sound one nor
embracing errors that arr fundamental, IN IL
theory Alter forty ycus Of irlal what Is tb.
result, what mut Be tha ytldiet} So lar asts,
prime object OF tie orignators OF the scheme !,
concerned, ltis enurally conceded to have Teen
a failure
The march Of events % ylr hes world can.
not ArTy lot the working d pan, at al,e
forty years, has reuee.nc1 bat one-i1itlelh p4n
Of those whom j. was d,sisb,l 10 Mlag out u
the house Of bunaage.
Why then We ark has DE- coou1lt On scaen.
failed to answer the expectations 1T It's orIei1A
tor,l |, seems beautiful aud eihoieat 40 theory.
and tie reason % iis comparative uelhciency ia
practice, does not he no near toe surface as to be
apparent at glance. That race suffering
from eruc! oppression should VISA to leave the
land Of their degradation and wrongs, aud a.
md our Pilgrim Fathers seek an ASYLUM. in
distant and, seems - natural aud proper. thai
We are apt to assume that that they will 10 s,
as logical and necessary consequence When
We add TO the force OF our reasoning toe thought
that the African, 10 leaving America, is fleeing
from IA persecution aud prejudice ten-Iod moreln-
tollerable than that winch made the Puritan an
exile, and that he goes u coloni1e not barren
and unacceptable coast, but returns to the homeo
his ancestors and has race, We are likely to be
overwhelmed With the conviction that we have
found beyond peradyenture, the true solution
Of the negio problem Hit were not for the
stubborn facts 10 some Of which We have al.
iuded, and which must he accounted f5r, our
raas0nng would seem neoudosermble
An error in The above reasoning whoa practi-
cally applied to the case IN hand, may te stated
thus ltsa~h mans reasoning, founded
upon white man aspirations and feelings and
logic, but applied to the solution OF a problem
IN which only the African, and not tie Angs,-
Saxon nature, sentiments, will and capabilities,
can be counted on. 1t is applying the aetho.s
OF civilization, in reasoning, 10 a natisa uot yts
civilized. The uncutiyated African ought 70
DO sensitive, bgh-tonec firm and resolu,e. II.
should be heroic, and value liberty more than
life. lie ought TO be all tins. but unfortunate
ly, alter centuries OF oppression, hr is none Of
these. Here and there Prof Freeman, edu.
Gated, and refined by rare culture, awakes to
sense OF these truths and is inspired by senti-
ments to which most OF his race are strangsr.
They may feel the crushing weight Of oEgrs-
sion, but have not the hcroism that prompts to
leave home and friends and iatherlani 10 escape
from IT. They hack that broad FhiAnIapPy
which seeks the welfare Of race rather than
present individual case OF cnjoj meat. Local as
socation', the uuidity bred by ignorance and
a life oi setyltude, bind them Tor the most part
with chains which the feeble w,ll cannot break.
Let 1t be granted that they ought to be daring,
but still the fact romains that they are not LET
It be granted that they should be heroic, but
still the higher sentiment which sacrifices pres.
ent ease or pleasure to noble aim is not theirs.
Let It be granted thet they should prefer to 90
to Liberia, and still the fact remains that they
do not and will not SO prefer. Here we reach
the centre Of the difficulty. The African IS not
an Angl0.SaxOn, The white mans plans ar
not his plan, nor the Shlte mans preferences
his, II, therefore, he ever aecomplishes an eI
odus rpm this land OF his oppression, we be-
lieve It will bo ON his own plan and in his own
time and way While the Colonization Scheme
may do muco Tor the negro, it cannot solve Tor
us the problem presented The future oil
Liberia and fiaal issue Of the scheme TO which
1t owes its existence, depend so much upon other
issues now pending, that any prophecies win
regard to them must rest upon an exceedingly
uncertain basis. Colonization is now matter
so much on one side and comparatively unlmpor'
tant that it cannot be reckoned Ms having very
important bearing upon the main question F"
which it relates. Many times more freedmen
have begun the process Of making themselves
homes On American soil since the beginning Oh
the present war, than have made Liberia thef
chosen home since its existence as republic
Weare brought then TO the conclusion tha'
the Colonization scheme does not solve the ne
gro question 1t may be said without contra
dcnon that 1t no longer pretends to do So lna'
solution Is now looked for In the events when
Tor the last two years have crowded so last onS
upon another as 10 set to flight theories ana cur
culations. These events are so rapidly WORKING
out solution, that they leave little room III
prophecy, scarcely for conjecture. But upon
this part Of the discussion we do not propose
now to enter, reserving for that, what We may
cay at another time.