Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1864-04-07

nority, the period of which minority Is liked by
the law. insomuch that AL the white male youth OF
the country below the age OF twenty one years are
not permitted to vote, though there are undoubt-
edly very many young men between the ages OF
twelve and twenty-one years who, If regard be bad
to their individual qualifications, are better fitted
to participate ntegently in the elective franchise
than many of maturer years who are legally invest
ed with this right but who, from the infellcty OF
their material or intellectual condition, do not pos
sess the qualities Of intelligence and independence
which are indispensable to its proper enjoyment.
In dealing with concrete questions OF this kind We
oan establish no general rules which will not i'm
pinge ON individual GASES, as we'll BY what such
rules include As by what they exclude; and hence,
under the inrmity attaching to all human arrange
ments, We are compelled to adopt that which, on
the whole, promises best to promote the general
welfare Therefore, oil white male citizens OF less
than twentyone years Of age are excluded from the
privilege Of suffrage, because, though there are
many individual exceptions to the rule it's judged
that most minors, before attaining this age, have
not reached the period when they can enter on the
endowment Of the elective franchise with advantage
to the State 1t is purely after OF convention
and Of practical adjustment, not at all matter OF
natural right.
In the light of this principle it is obvious that
if negroes as class are excluded from the pri-
vilege Of voting in any community, it is DONE II
done consistently and properly not, as some igno-
ranty allege because they are black, but because,
taken as class, they have not generally the quail
6oations which fit them to be intelligent and indie
pendent voters (any more than white male chill
dren) on questions. concerning the welfare OF the
country. In States like Massachusetts,, where the
negroes are very few in number, their exclusion
from this privilege may not be worth Legislative
enactment to that effect, because, their influence
being inappreciable, the question of their excu-
sion ceases to be one of practical moment But In
communities where their number is large the ques-
ton is one of practical rather than theoretical po-
litics, and even in respect of the latter there Is
no sound theory of government which can lay down
abstract rules of natural right in the premises Ii
the moral, intellectual, and material condition
of the negro race in this country is such that
its members are generally qualified for the intell
gent discharge Of voters privilege, this privilege
may be properly conferred on them; if otherwise,
not 1t is practical question Of general political
qualification and not at all of universal or natural
right The question of color has nothing what
ever to do with the matter, any more than it has
with the disfranchisement of women and white
male minors It is not the color that excludes but
the general political disability that lies behind it.
If we were citizens of California should be un-
aterably opposed to comforting the privilege Of suf
frsge on the ignorant Pagan immigrants from
China, not forsooth because they are yellow or
have almond shaped eyes, but because they lack
a class the elements of character which would
make them the safe depostares of the elective fran
ohise When they, or their descendants, shall pos
sess those Elements equally with the average Of our
native population, they may consistently and pro-
perly be placed on an equality with the latter in
this respect, bit not before.
1t is very easy to sophisticate this subject BY re-
presenting the exclusion of the negro from The
privilege of voting to be purely the result Of
"senseless prejudice against his color. If there
be any who ignoranty base their opposition to ne
gro suffrage on his ground, we are not of their
number. We must have something better than
prejudice to justify to our minds any view of public
right or duty. We would not, from considerations
of prejudice against the negro, deny him any po-
ltical or social privilege for the enjoyment of
which we deem him qualified with advantage to
himself or to the State. But just as little would
we, from considerations of prejudice an has faUOr
invest him with political franchises beyond hi, po
litical right to receive or his capacity to enjoy
them We cannot approve the one of these pre-
udices any more than the other, for they are both
equally unphilosophical in theory and they equally
lead to political anomalies in practice.
NAMES OF THE TERRITORIES
While the bill for the organization of the Ter