Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Iowa) 1861-1864, 1863-06-18
JUSTICE TO THE BLACKS.

JUSIlCE III TdE bLACAS.
At the present time the great ques
tion for this nation to solve is no,
whether the Union shall be preserved
for the Union is indissoluble not when
the war is to be finished, for the wal
will end when rebellion ceases nor
is it any question about constitution
al rights or natural liberties,-but il
is the old, the tiresome, 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 prosper.
ity or decline. We have tried one
way Of treating them,-that ofslavery
which has plainly been a wrong one
aud has resulted in national corruption
dishonor, and suffering. Slavery is
very near its end. The Proclamation
Of the first of January, 1868, is not a
dead letter. 1t is working like a
yeast to leaven the whole lump Of the
Southern social system.
Already as we learn, upon unques-
tionable authority, in the heart of the
blacklist States, Of Mississippi, Ala
bama, Georgia, the slaves are no lon
ger coerced to work. Nor is the Proc
lamation lie" to keep the word of
promise to the ear, and break it to our
hope" 1t is to be maintained accord
ing to it's spirit, and to its full inten-
ton, with the whole force of the gov
ernment, and the entire support of the
nation. The new policy that itinaug-
urated commends itself daily more and
more, no less to the intelligence than
to the conscience of the people. The
enlisting Of. negroes in North and
South Carolina, in Louisiana, and the
Western Slave States, the. enrollment
of black volunteers in Massachusetts,
Kansas, and other free States the
employment Of freed men on abandon
ed or confiscated plantations under
governmental authority and inspcc.
tion, are evidences of the practical
operation Of emancipation, and of the
sincerity Of the administration and of
the people in the work Of freedom.
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 ne.
cessities Of war, or any emergency OF
transient circumstances, but should be
founded on principles of universal ap-
plication, and of eternal force. The
nation, that is the individuals who
compose the nation,-must learn to
treat the blacks on the simplest prin.
ciple of even justice. They are to be
treated neither with harshness nor
with softness not as servile class,
not as natural interiors, not as de-
graded race.-but simply as men.
The nation, If it would secure its own
prosperity and happiness, must con-
9uer the prejudice, which has led, and,
if indulged. will lead to outrageous
and calamitous injustice. li
We put IN no plea for compassion and
kindness to hong suffering, deeply
wronged, and blameless race. 1t ia
not on any ground ofpity or ofcompen-
sation that we rest our claim for the
blacks, but we claim justice for them
as their right and therefore as the only
rule Of treatment which will not en-.
danger and enfeeble the life of the ma.
lion itself, and expose it to inevitable
penalties. Self interest ON our part
on the part of the white race, requires
Justice to the blacks. Their work il
to he paid for like the work of Other
men, if they do full days work, ,-ful
wages, not half wages are their due
If they are idle let them suffer the con
sequences. The system Of apprentice
ship, or forced labor, is to be applied
to them, no more than to white men