Journal of freedom. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1865-186?, 1865-10-14
RALEIGH, N G., SATURDAY, OCT. Il 1865.

gress in conjunction with the President.
and not the President alone, is the
proper authority to fix on the conditions
OF reconstruction, and that all the loyal
people of the South, not repsntant rebels
alone, are entitled to vote.
The main speech to the Convention
was made by the Hon. T. O. Howe Uni
ted States Senator from Wisconsin. He
indorsed the resolutions without reserve.
He further called the attention of the
Convention to the fact that the last
Legislature of the State had passed g
law abolishing the exclusion of the ne
groes from the ballot-box, a law which
required the ratification Of the people,
and which he besought the people to
agree to. There are but 353 colored
men IN Wisconsin the question, there
fore, might seem Of little practical inn
portance, but Senator Howe reminded
his fellow citizens that cit is Of immense
ly more Importance to ysu, white men,
and to your characters as citizens and
Republicans, that you shall do this, than
it is to any interest that these 353 black
men have The Senator urged it as
one step toward securing suffrage for the
negroes of the South, and that without
suffrage emancipation is sham.
''These people, the negroes, they live
down In certain communities which have
been waging war against the people of
the United States. They were owned
almost entirely by the men who made
that war and carried it to the bitter end.
AS we knew, these men have been eman-
eipated simply because they have ceased
to be the property Of their former own
ers. | will wait for official information
on that point. If you mean by emanci-
patton that they have simply ceased to
be property, must be allowed to say
that does not come up to my notion of
emancipation In the States, somebody
has got to WELD the powers Of the Gov
ernment, and that power has to be
welded by the white population, by the
men who formerly owned these colorsd
people, and by them exclusively, or by
the colored. Whenever the
authority and prerogative of States are
given to these Southern countries, it is
your duty to see that the colored people
they may be able to protect themselves
in the enjoyment of their rights.
This speech of Senator Howe was pre-
ceded by one from Gen. Paine, of the
same tenor, and followed by one from
the Union candidate for Attorney Gener-
al of Wisconsin, who avows his unhssi-
tating conviction that ''the question of
negro suffrage is one Of the deepest ne
cessity in the preservation of this Union,
and to save what we have gained by our
vast struggle" He sees that "Fthis
question of negro suffrage is the great
one now before the American people. 1t
will be the great one before Congress
when these rebels are applying to come
back and the terms on which they are
to come back have to be decided upon,
and as it is decided, will itbe determined
whether we shall hereafter have in the
South, free States, based upon freedom
and Justice, or the slave tyranny OF the
past. It is therefore the duty of the peo-
pie to interest themselves deeply in this
subject, and while we refuse to restore to
power the Democratic party Of the North,
also refuse to restore power to the Demo
cratic party of the South. If the States
are reorganized on a rebel basis, treason
and copperheadism will be made respect
able, and patriotism and liberty made
odious, and if on the basis of loyalty the
reverse will be true"
On the whole, we Judge the Wisconsin
Republicans have very clear ideas OF
their own, and don't hesitate to express
them.