Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1865-09-06


ted States - The first naval nud nii,tsr'
power of the world he would an-wrr e.
once, the United Statc-. If vnu Ne.r ty
al; F~nrchman whether England ui
the United States is the first naval and
military power, hewOuid also answer. she
United States. If You were tu put th"
question To Russian. whether ENGLAND
or France or the United States l. the
chief military and naval power Of the
wur'G. he would at once answer. the Uui
ted States. - Themistocies acguired the
reputation Of being the first general oi
Greece 10y the circumstance that all hl.
rivals recognized him as the second IA
merit, each claiming To be the FIRST him
self, 81 We, by the judgment of the Peo-
ule OF al those nations, are to-day ac-
corded the first rank among the naval
and military powers Of the earth.
Before proceeding | wish 4" stale NV
views of the policy now pursued " tine al
miniStration in reference To the gIett sub 0
To reconstruction, because it Is quite like
~ there may be some present who viii
draw inierencas from wha; | shall offer.
r. / understand President johnson, he
does not object to negro suffrage. IL Is.
however. his desire that the right should
uc cXtenaed'tO the negroes Of Tia, once
existing eleven States. recently in rcueA
;on. by the white people of those States.
who were authoiZed to vote when the ie-
0ellion commenced. if no suffrage can
6e secured in that way, ! shall, for one
readily accept the result without any m
Quiry IS to the means. But if, on the
other hand, as expect, the attempt To-
Int
people of the eleven rebei States, small
fail, then expect that President john
son and those who are cooperating Ui,h
him. viii accept the judgment Of the
couRtry,-if it shall prove to be the iude-
ment OF the countIy,-thatnegro suffrage
must b. secured by some other means
Therefore. while ! am content that these
efforts should be made, and while ] shall
welcome the result, if 1t be favorable, /
look upon the efforts as experiments. not
binding upon President johnson or upon
his administration or on the country /:
and rs was the fact in 1861 and 20. IL
reference TO the eXpediency of emancipa-
ton. and the enrolment of cOlored sol
diers in the army of the republic, / now
expect that the people will take this mat
ter into their own hands. believe, with
reference to President johnson. as IN 1861
and '62 / believed in reference to PreSi-
dent Lincoln, that he will accept the
Judgment of the country, if, upon the
whole, the public opinion shall be that
negro suffrage Is essential 10 the security
of the Union as we'll rs the protection Of
the negroes themselves. Therefore /
counsel discussion, argument ON the part
of those who believe in negro suffrage :
patience, that those in authority may
nave an opportunity to make this effort
TO secure the construction of the gov
ernment according to the ideas that have
first presented themselves to them; that
no one be committed TO any particular
line of policy, but all look TO the grand
result-the reconstruction of thr govern
ment upon the principle of the equality
of men.
But such is my confidence in the jus
tice of the policy which we maintain.
such my conviction of its necessity, that
] am assured it does not need the support
which We now attempt To render. but
that its success is not even depenent up
on the power of Office or the wisdom of
leaders.
There Was divine policy in our affairs
which made emancipation a necessity;
and VIC are now so subject TO circumStan-
ces that all plans Tor the reconstruction
of tine government which do not recOg-
nize the political rights of the negro are
sure to fail the white men of the North
must recognize the EulItical rights oi
the black men oi the South or surrender
their own equality in the government cI
the country. They must decree poiitI-
cal freedom for The blacks or accept po
litical inieriority for themselves. Hence
| well know in the beginning what then
conduct will be. Nor do | underesli
mate he apparent difficulties in our way.
There Is first. the wide spread and plausI-
bic error. which ] shall attempt now 10
reiute, thai if We deny the existence ol
the eleven States as States. we admit the
heresy of secession. There Is next the
prejudice against the negro race coupled
with the sad m:sapprehension as To his
to take care Of himself and to
serve the country; and finally, there J.
the difficulty amounting TO m obstlci, In
the estimation OF some, that certain OI
the loyal States do even now deny To the
negro the right of franchise. But all
these are errors, mistOrtunes and wrongs.
rather than serious difficulties in our y:ay.
When slavery existed citizenship was Of
course denyed to the slave class in all the
slave States 1t was also natural in States
where slavery did not exist, but where
lis ideas were carried by immigrants or
where its social and business influences
prevailed, or, possibly, by mere comfy in
some cases, that the public policy should
be fashioned upon the theory that siav
erv, or at least condition of political in
ieriority. was the proper fortune OF the
black man. 1t is likely that the over
throw OF slavery viii be followed by
revision OF this policy; but in any event,
the argument in favor Of negro suffrage
in the rebellious districts is as valid when
addressed to Illinois or Indiana rs when
addressed to New York OF Massachu-
sets.
The war for freedom and the Union
has been CARRIED on by the whites and
negroes born on this continent. by the
Irish and Germans. and indeed by repre-
sentatives of every European race
With this fresh experience we ought TO
make it a part of the organic govern
ment that no State shall make any dis
tinction in the enjoyment of the elective
franchise on account of race or color.
Asking you to bear with me while /
proceed further in the discussion of this
subject. desire to call your attention in
the outset to the question of the power
of the national government ov-r the
eleven States that have been engaged in
this rebellion, to the question of power
with reference to the result we seek, the
right of the negro TO vote III the State
where he happens TO be. There are those
who believe that tine eleven States are
States in the Union precisely As they
were in 1860; or rather there are tho-e
who use language which VOuld lead us
to believe that they are of opinion that
the eleven rebellious States are still States
in the Union. The fact, however, is.
that the government, during these four
years, has proceeded upon the idea that
they were not States President johnson
in the declaration he makes to
the provisional governors whom be Is
Just now appointing, says, that in order
that the representatives of those States
may be recognized by the Senate and
House, they must abolish the institution
of slavery and ratify the amendment to
the Constitution prohibiting slavery in
the United States. Would he address