Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1865-12-13

the State Legislature after the forma-
ton of the Constitutions it remained, as
before. the uniform usage for each State
to enlarge the body of it's electors. accord
ing to its own judgment; and, under ibis
system, one State after another has pro-
Iceedcd TO increase the number of Its cleo
tors, until now universal suffrage, or some
thing very near it Is the general rule
/ So fixed wns this reservation Of power in
the habits of the people, and so unques-
toned has been the Interpretation OF the
/ Constitution. that during the civil war the
! late President never harbored the pur-
/ NOse-certainlv never avowed the pur-
| pose---of disreearding it; and IN she acts
/ Of Congress, during that period, nothing
can be found which, during sire cCrtInu-
ance OF hostilites, much less after their
close, would have sanctioned any depart
ure by the Executive from policy which
has so uniformly obtained Moreover, a
concession Of the elective franchise to the
freedmen, by the act OF the President of
the United States, must have been extend
ed to all coloreQ men. wherever found,
and so must have established n change Of
suffrage in the Northern, Middle, and
Western States. not less than in the South
ern and Southwestern. Such an act
would have created n new class of voters
and would have been an assumption of
power by the President which nothing in
the Consultation or laws of the United
States would have warranted.
On the other hand every danger of
conflict is avoided when the settlement of
the question is referred to the several
States. They can, each for itself, decide
on the measure, and whether it is to be
i I II. t,fr- Ir,trD
dnced gradually am, with conditions. In
my Judgment, the freedmen, if they show
patience and manly virtues, will sooner
obtain participation in the elective fran
chise through the States than through the
General Government, even If it had power
to intervene. When the tnmult Of emo
ti0ns that have been raised by the sud-
denness of the social change shall have
subsided, it may prove that they will re
receive the kndIiest usage from some Of
those on whom they have heretofore most
closely depended.
Bat while | have no doubt that now,
after the close of the war, it is not eompe
tent for the General Government to eX-
tend the elective franchise in the several
States, it is equally clear that good faith
requires the security of the freedmen IL
their liberty and their property, their
right to labor, and their right to claim the
| Just return Of their labor. | cannot too
strongly urge dispassionat5 treatment of
this subject, which should be carefully
kept aloof from all party strife. We must
equally avoid hasty assumptions Of any
natural impossibiiity for the two races to
! live side by side, in n state of mutual ben
eft and good will. The experiment in
/ wolves us in no inconsistency let us then
90 on and make that experiment in good
faith, and not be too easily dishcartened
The county is in need Of labor, and freed
men are in need Of employment, Gu ture
and protection. While their right Of VOL
untary migration and eXpatUiatiuu is not
to be questioned, | would not advise their
! forced removal and colonization. Let rs
rather encourage them to honorable and
useful industry, where &C may he beneficial
to themselves and to the country: and in
/ stead Of hasty anticipatious Of the ccrtnin-
ty Of failure, let there be nothing wanting
to the fair trial OF the experiment The
change in their condition IS the suhstitu-
ton Of labor by contract for the status Of
slavery. The freedmen cannot fairly be
accused &c unwilIin@ness to work so long
rs Il doubt remains about his freedom Of
choice in his pursuits, and the certainty
t ttf HIS IhcbftFlflL his StlDui3teu WAGES
+ I'm this the interests of the employer and
employed coincide The employer desires
in his workInen spirit and alacTitv. and
/ these can be permanently secured in no
other way And if the one ought 10 be
able to enforce contracts. so ought the
other The public interest will be best
promoted. If the several States will pro-
vide adequate protection and remedies for
the freedmen Until this is IN some way
accomplished. there is no chance for the
advantageous use of their labor and the
blame Of IL success viii not rest on them.
I know that sincere philanthropy is
earnest for the Immediate realization Of
. its remOtest aims but time !; always an
element in reform. 1t is one Of the great
! est acts on record to have brought four
/ millions Of people into freedom. The ca
+ recr Of free industry must be fairly open-
ed to them and then their future pros
peritv and condition must. after all, rest
mainly on themselves If they fail. and
50 perish. let us he careful that the failure
+ shall not be attributable 10 any denial Of
! Justice In all that relates 10 the destiny
/ of the freedmen, we need not he toe *nxi-
Gus to read the future ,smanv Incidents
which, froEa n speculative point of view,
might raise alarm, viii quietly settle them
selves
+ Now that slavery IS at an end, or near
/ It's end. the greatness Of its evil, in the
point cc view Of public economy, becomes
more and moro apparent. Slavery was
essentially monopoly OF labor, and as
such locked the States where It prevailed
against the incoming Of free industry -
/ Where labor was the property Of the capi-
laIist, the7Nhite man was excluded from
/ emp oyment. or had but the second best
+ chance of finding i; and the foreign emf
grant turned away from the region whore
his condition would be so precarious.-
With the destruction Of tie monopoly
. free labor VIII hastcn from all parts ofthe
civilized VOID to assizt in Developing va
rious and immcasurable resources which
have hitherto lain dormant The eight or
nine States nearest the Gulf Of Mexico
haze n soil Of cxGberant fertility, elm
ate friendly to long life, and can sustain
a denser population than IS found as yet
in anv part of our country. And the iu-
ture influx Jf population q them viii be
mainly fsOm the North OF from the most
cultivated nations in Europe From the
suiferiles that have atten led them dur
ing our late struggle, let Us look away tc
the future. whi~h Is sure to be laden for