The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-09-21
AporrrroNrsrs.

There are those who would De aislA
in the course Of. better things, the nee 0ou'n
should make dozen revolutions q PROCESS
while Northern Democrats and Dehocratie
platforms are standing stln. we cannot pre-
d;ct sucb change in the political seasons;
lint some day the party Rip Van Wrinkles may
wake ND to the cogitation OF similar phenome-
no slavery dead, sensible Southerners will
~ rause to bewail it; for with slavery must
aor;ab its mourners. What remains. then. for
The emancipated intellect of the South to do?
Out of the social wilderness, which the war on
both sides has done the the pioneer work Of
clearing-out Of the worse than Serbonian
bog, in which so many brave men persisted lg-
nobly-the free South must devote It's ms liSeu
talents to reform. Put the same Vlgor INTO /
peace and progress as that which urged on
war of unexampIed difficulty, and we may
make New York and Massacnusetts out OF
v;roin;a and South Carolina. Progress is the
vavv necessity of the Southern Standardization
oross;on 10 so far forbidden by the abolition of
Slavery. that Southern statesmen viii find it
hard TO lead their followers backward by plac-
inc any new sort of letters upon the negro
there is but one path which the active brain of
the South can take vigorously, and that is to-
ward the good. The cause of the negro, who
earns wages, is now bound up with that of the
planter, who makes a profit; education for the
one is necessary for the security Of the other;
and the harmony and prosperity of the State
are dependent upon the intelligence Of all
classes of its inhabitants. Two classes espe-
cially must be satisfied, and must satisfy each
other-the poor blacks and the poor whites.
Justice can reach the wants of all. 1t is not
too much to ask that the rising men of the
South-those who are to handle the new Or
der-will advocate two things chiefly necessa-
nv to internal improvement, namely: Educa-
ton and Negro Suffrage. Either this Or mani
ton is the alternative. r
This view has some probability, or Gen.
| Henry A. Wise would not have taken pains to
make the remarkable declaration which we APP
pend. Wise, though very poor soldier, has
been one of the most candid and philosophic
leaders of the South, and one of the very few
who could in any way comprehend the. moral
meaning of John Browns raid, though ma
lignly earnest to see that misunderstood patri-
OF executed. He says; ssui|
"SG far from my being opposed to
the name freedmen as indicating the condi-
ton of slaves freed by the war, the chief CON
ISOLATION / have in the result of the war is that
slavery is forever abolished; that not only the
slaves are, in fact, at last freed from bondage,
but that I am at last freed from them. Long
before the war ended, / had definitely made up
my mind actively to advocate emancipation
throughout the South | had determined, if
i could help it, that my descendants should
never be subjected to by the weakness, if not
the wickedness, of slavery; and while | cam
not recognize as lawful and humane the vio-
lent and shocking mode in which it has been
abolished yet accept the fact most heartily
as an accomplished one, and am determined
not only to abide by it and acquiesce in it, but
to strive by all the means in my power to make
it benefcent in both races and a blessing es-
pecially to our country. unfeignedly rejoice
at the fact, and am reconciled to many of the
worst calamities of the war, because am now
convinced that the war was the special provi.
dence of God, unavoidable by the nation at
either extreme, to tear loose from us black
idol from which we could never have been
separated by any other means than those of
fire and blood, sword and sacrifice"
These are good words and good tactics-bet-
ter than any the General employed during the,
war. Not questioning on what grounds such
stubborn States-rights man as Wise fought
for slavery, knowing all the time that he so
fought, while believing in abolition (which
Deauregard so furiously mathematical in Off
cial ordersD-it is enough to hope that he win
make the best of the faith which is in him.
II did not trouble Gen. Wise to emancipate the
negro, but he rejoices in the fact. 1t may
trouble him to help the freedman to become a
freeman; but those who think with Gen. Wise
must gauge their faith in this way. Who bet
ter know what Virginia has suffered in all her
interests and wealth from the blight of bond
age? Who more consciously know the relation
which franchised and intelligent labor must
bear to the material advancement of Virginia,
now that oligarchs are growing null, State
Sovereignties are stunned, slavery sslain, and
the patriarchal idea has taken roost in the
dark centuries? A
A lawyer in Richmond lately published an
able pamphlet, in which-only wanting the
vigor with which Gen. Wise might do the same
thing-he argued for general franchise based
on intelligence: c 4
Let us recognize the fact that the time
may come when, on principles acceptable to
ourselves, the freedmen or their descendants
may be admitted to this last right of citizen
ship. Let us, in proof of the sincerity of this
recognition, show at once a spirit of conces-
sion more liberal than that of the most Of the
original Free States"
We welcome any show of fairness which the
South, for its own sake, seems bound to offer:
and there is frankness in what we have quot
ed which shames the pro-slavery platforms of
the North. Henry S. Foote, of Mississippi,
shrewd opponent of Jefferson Davis, is even
more decided to take time by the forelock-
We make no comment upon the following:
@For these reasons heretofore given, and
which viii not now repeat, / prefer to end
our trouble at once by granting the right of
suffrage, Whatever plausible objections may
be presented to this measure, for one, prefer
it to the longer continuance of the present
distressing condition of affairs. desire the
early disbanding of the armies now occupying
Southern territory. / desire the perfect and
speedy restoration of civil authority eyery-
where. / desire the immediate representa-
ton of all the States of the South in the Ma
tional Legislature; and, having good reasons
to believe that these benefits will not be accord
ed to us until African suffrage is consented
to, am prepared to make the experiment at
once. Should it fail, after a fair trial, we wi l
be able to withdraw the right, with the full
consent of the civilized world.'
Judge James A. Butler of Helena, Arkan-
sas, who, we are told has been "a bold and
dauntless advocate of the inalienable rights of
mankind" gave the following advice to col
ored friend: ~ov
81 do not think that politicians are quite
ready to debate in favor of your franchise /;
they think it is Gibraltar rock, and that their
little political bark may strand ON it. You
should pray God daily to remove by death
these politicians, and give us honest statesmen
in their place. You must watch these men