The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-06-17
gortage o., gen1otrat,
RAvENNA, OHIO.
Wednesday, June II. 1858
JUSTICE TO THE BLACKS THE IN
TEREST OF THE NATION.I

At the present time the great question for,
this nation to solve is not whether the Union
shall be preserved, for the Union is indissolu-
Bile; not when the war is to be finished, for
the war will end when rebellion ceases; nor
is it any question about constitutional rights
or natural liberties,-but it is the DID, the tire
some, the heretofore Unanswered question of
the position and treatment of the black race.
The answer given to this question will be the
touchstone of American principles, and the.
prophecy of national prosperity or decline
We have tried one way of treating them,-
that of slavery, which has plainly been a
wrong one, and has resulted in national cor
ruption. dishonor, and suffering. Slavery is
very near its end. The Proclamation of the
first of January, 1863 is not dead letter.
1t is working like yeast to leaven the whole
lump of the Southern social system. Al
ready as we learn, upon unquestonable au-
thorty, in the heart of the blackest States of
Mississippi. Alabama and Georgia,-the slaves
are no longer coerced to work. Nor is the
Proclamation lie,-"" to keep the word of
1t is to be maintained according to its spirit,
and to its full intention, with the whole force
of the government and the entire support of
the nation. The new policy that it inaugu-
rated commends itself daily more and more,
no less to the intelligence than to the con-
science of the people. The enlisting of ne
groes in North and South Carolina, in Louisi-
ana, and in the Western Slave States. the en-.
rollment of black volunteers in Massachusetts,
Kansas, and other free States; the employ
ment of freed men on abandoned or eonfsca-f
ted plantations under governmental authority
and inspection, are evidences of the practical
operation of emancipation, and of the SINGER
ity of the administration and of the people
| in the work of freedom. f.g. ....-..f.,
! But although all these and other facts afford
evidence of the destruction of slavery, and of
the establishment of a new policy toward the
black race, there is yet need of something
more. The treatment of the blacks in the
long run must be based not on the necessities
of war, or any emergency of transient circum-
stances, but should be founded on principles
of universal application, and of eternal force.
The nation,-that is, the individuals who
compose the nation,-must learn to treat the
blacks on the simplest principle of even JUS
tice. They are to be treated neither with
harshness nor with softness,; not as a servile
class, not as natural interiors, not as degrad-
ed race,-but simply as men. The nation, if
it would secure its own prosperity and happi-
ness, must conquer the prejudice, which has
led, and, if INDUCED, will lead to outrageous
and calamitous injustice We put in no plea
for compassion and kindness to a long suffer-
ing, deeply wronged, and blameless race. 1t
is not on any ground of pity or of compensa-
ton that we rest our claim for the blacks, but
we claim Justice for them as their right and
i therefore as the only rule of treatment which
will not endanger and enfeeble the life of the
nation itself, and EXP ose it to inevitable pen
alties. Self-interest on our part, on the part
of the white race, requires justice to the
blacks. Their work is to be paid for like the
work of other men, if they do a full days
4 work,-fnll wages, not half wages are their
due If they are idle let them suffer the con-
sequences. The system of apprenticeship,
or of forced labor, is to be applied to them,
: no more than to white men,-that is, it is to
be applied only when there is danger of their
becoming burden on the community, and
then they deserve pay for their forced labor in
the same proportion as white men would re-
ceive it.
! There is no binding ourselves to the fact
that whether we like it or not the blacks are
= part of this nation for veal or for woe. II
z they are treated fairly, like men, with equal,