The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-08-08
The plea of Ignorance.

When the opponents OF negro suffrage
fer 5 moment forget their sntipsthy to The
blacks on the score of color, snd argue The
question of suffrage as a question Of politics
aud not Of skin, their -t-ong~sss-rnnaent is
predicated upon the negro's ignorance
THIS argument proceeds upon the supposi-
ton that q test Of intelligence should be re-
quired for the suffrage. BOW much sin
eerily there may be underlying this argu-
ment, we shall no. stop to consider but
proceed upon the hypothesis that it is hon.
estly urged.
The most able c~ultivators of political
science have insisted with great emphasis
that an educational test for the suffrage
shall be required-s. g., the ability to read
iuteligently and write legibly. They re-
gard That as q sine qua non and we think
if it could be made an universal rule, such
as these writers imply, its application
would be attended with benefit. We do,
however, protest against its being made q
test In one case and not In another. If
this rule is to be applied, let it strike Irish.
man and African alike. We are not aware
that 8 mans ignorance partakss Of the
color of his skin. We do not remember to
have cen the words white and black sp-
piled to lack Of knowledge.
But so long SIS We see no prospect of the
principles being universally applied, and
90 long as we zee imminent danger or
being forced back INTO the position We &C.
cRpied before the war, unless the disioysl
Southern white vote Is eountsracted
by the loyal black, we must insist
upon the extension of the sufFlsge
TO the negro despite his Ignorance.
And SO soon as this conclusion is arrived
st several consequences, not TO be over
looked nor despised, present themselves.
There can be no question thst the negro
win'quslfy himself for the sufffsge sooner
viiA thsn sVith0ut it. This is true OF the
negro because il is true of man. Respon
sibiity DEVELOPS character. Thousands
Of soldiers hsve returned from the war
better men than they ever would have
bean had they not carried the muskets of
the Republic, The mere fact that the ces-
TIMES of the nstion we're in their hands
called out tho latent manhood that other
wise might have remained latent. The
average msn-snd sim more the man be.
low the sversge-is not not given to fitting
himself for stations which he does not ST.
ready I'll, or that he does not sometime ex-
pect to fiji. Probably there is not s more
striking disparity between the knowledge
of the sversge man and that of his wife
than on the subject of politics. Should the
wife be- enfranchised a score of years
would not elapsa Before this disparity
would be vastly diminished. aPoliical
discussions" ssys J. S. MI, sly over the
heads of those who have no vote and are
not e~ndeavOring to acquire them. Their
position in comparison with the electors is
that of the audience of = court of Justice
compared with the twelve men in the Jury.
box
No n viii deny thst the incorporation
of 8 clause in our State constitution re-
curing an educational test for the suffrage
would give q powerful impulse to the cause
of popular education. Every man in this
country who values the elective franchise
and no others ought to have it-would in a
few years time quality himself to exercise
{, Cato, after i~nvoighing sgsinst it ali
he frstOf his life, learned Greek after he
vas hiay years of sge,thst he might not be
brown Q ut of cultivated Roman society.
When KosAnth was advocating the Hun
cause a an editor, before the resort
o arms, old. Hun g%srisns, it is said, learned
. read their own. language that they
resd his journal
COnferfing the bsllo,+ upon she blscks
fail to exert 3 sim liar quickening
iaaence. We do not hesitaNa to say, the