Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1865-09-14
EMANCIPATION AND NEGRO SUFFRAGE:

EMANCIPATION AND NEGRO SUFFRAGE.
Tue sudden emancipation OF the ilegto
involving as it does an entire change lin
our labor system. and in the industrial rela
tions Of the two grea: CLASSES of our pop.
1nIationi is daily aaording evidence of the
evils Of sudden and rash innovation. A
servile race unacoustomcd : to .alf-goy-
ernment have suddenly been introduced
INTO state Of ,frealom. The: old iucen-
tives TO labor have been withdrawn, and
the considerations which, an intelligent ap-
probation Of their true condition would
furnish are wanting. The emancpatcl nc
gro looks upon freedom. as, guaranteeing
an exemption from work, and is operated
upon by none Of those high impulses which
impel the intelligent white man to bcttcr
his condition. u>nee,:: the complaint is
universal that THO: freedmen will not work,
and the apprehension is general that idle
ness must produce its appropriate fruits,
want and crime, and that the great body of
the slave population will constitute an in
cubus'upon the Industrial re ources tf the;
country. Already there is a demand for
free LABOR, and practical men have already
come to the conclusion that voluntary ne
grolabor is failure. Another year will
decide the question. In the he.meantime the
radicals of tho North are endeavoring to
add to the difficulties of our position by
agitating the question of negro suffrage
and threatening to make It test before
admitting us into the fraternity of States.
The true position of the South and the,
doctrine even now maintained by. the
Democratic party of the North is, that the
question Of suffrage-the qualification of
the voter-isa matter coming within the
exclusive control. Of the States. The quail.
ificatious Of the voter, and the principles of
exclusion are to be. e.determined by consid
s'ations of State policy, which vary with
the peculiar circumstances of each. Ne.
gFo suffrage at the North is a very different
question to Negro suffrage AT the South, and
especially ip Our own State where universal
suffrage would give the blacks the control
Of the ballot box. Yet, eren in a number
Of the Northern States. the blacks are ex>
c'uded from the electoral franchise, and in
others the privilege is rstricted, as in New
York, by property qualification. Any,
Interference in the matter by Congress
would be unprecedented, and tepd, to- con-.
found the boundaries which separate the,
jurisdiction l's Of the States anstsaeta' Gov
With regard TO the question of light
and expediency, the exclusion of: the negro
from lbe franchise may. Be justified upon
the sameprinciple that we exclude. aliens,
minors, famales, and o,Lera. These equal.
y form part of The governed from whose
consent lthe just powers Of government
are denied-snd every principle whicl,
would exclude them applies WITH tenfold
greater force 10 the negro Heefacks ::the
education, the intelligences! HE ;sxpesieSce
and the training which could ~tqne qualify
him for the proper exercise of. Ire franchise.
Fhia .incapacity of the: :negrois itself recog,.
mixed by the present. Goyernue0t requir-
ing tho approval Or hisecontracts. Apar.
from these, considerations the fact that Tie.
negroes form SO, large a portion of our
population, that they are "a distipct race
having common sympathies, and interests,
that they are nohtproperty holders, and
shesefore, revolutionary 10. sentiment are
additional eensiaerM!e6s for tlsir exclu>
sion: -. s: f..S. $ ( {. - : s.,
So controlling are these; consideralobs
that we do rot suppose z.batss there are "a
) dozsntnen iuthe' State who wonld: aasor
tbesextension 'of: the sufreg egeto tho. negro
even with 8 property qualiacalisn. = a 10
Mississippi Convention made sns Feoness.
sion, no eha1gejo the existing Law, and
swe trust that tie South will be 4 Iiiit on
the question: FLs right 70 give -testimapps
.fu;iha Courts. presents i daiifasnt question.
and may Raefit a a'diRercut consideration. s
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