The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1865-11-03
TN. President ON Negro Suffrage.

son. The President is said to haNeceT-
titled to the correctness of the state
inent:
/ remarked that the people of the
North were anxious that the process OF
reconstruction should be thorough, and
they wished to support him in the ar
duous work, but their ideas were con-
fused by the conflicting reports con-
stantly circulated, and especially blythe
present position of the Democratic par
ty. 1t is industriously circulated in the
Democratic clubs that he was going over
10 them. He laughingly replied: I" Ma
iOr, have you ever known a man who
after many years had differed from your
views, because you were in advance Of
him, claim them as his own when he
came up to your standpoint?
replied, | have often. He said so
have |. and went on: the Democratic
party finds its old position untenable,
and is coming TO ours; it has come up
to our position; / am glad of it. You
and | need no preparation for this con-
versation; we can talk freely on this
subject, for the thoughts are familiar to
us we can be perfectly frank with say
ing that the States are in the Union,
which is whole and indivisible. lndi-
viduals tried to carry them out, but did
| not succeed, as man may try TO cut
his throat, and be prevented by the BY
ISLANDERS; and youcannot say he cut his
| throat because he tried to Go it.
individuals may commit treason and
+ be punished, and large number Of in
| diViauals may constitute a rebellion
/ and be punished as traitors. Some States
| tried to get out Of the Union, and we
| opposed it, honestly, because we believ-
| ed il to be Wrcng, and we have succeed
! ed in puttingdoWn the Rebellion. The
! power of those persons who made the
, ATTEMPT has been crushed, and now we
| want to reconstruct the State govern
ments, and have the power TO do il.
| The State institutions are prOstrated,
! laid out on the ground, and they must
/ be taken upand adapted to the progress
/ of events. This cannot be done III a
! moment. Weare making very rapid
! progress, so rapid | sometimes cannot
| realize it: it appears like q dream.
Wemust not be ih too much Of & hur-
ry; it is better to let them recon-
/ struct themselves than to force them to
| 1t; for if they 90 wrong the power Is
! in our hands and we can check them at
any stage to the end, and oblige them
10 correct their errors; we must be pa
tient with them. ! did not expect 10
keep out all who were excluded from
the amnesty, or even large number
Of them, but l intended they should
sue Tor pardon, and So realize the enor-
| nifty of The crime they had committed,
| You could rot have brdacned the sub
ject Of equal suffrage at the North seven
years ago, and we must remember that
The changes at the South have been
more rapid, and they have been obi.
ged to accept more unpalatable truths
than the North has; wemust giVethem
| time to digest u part, for we cannot eX'
pect such large affairs will be compre'
hended and digested at once. We must
! give them time 70 understand then
new position.
| have nothing TO conceal In these
matters, and have no desire or willing
ness to lake indirect courses TO obtain
what we want. Our Government is 6
grand and lofty structure; IL searching
for its foundation we find itresgs cntht
broad basis of popular rights. The 9
lecTiVe fraT chise is not a natural right
! but a political right. ! am opposed L
giving the States too much power, &nC
also to great cOnsC iluation of tgWel
. in the Central Government. II / in
terfcred with the ote in the Rebe
States. tC dictate that the negro shal
vote, ! might do the same thing fol
my own purposes in Pennsylvania
our only safety lies in allowing each
Sta 70 control the right of voting by
! Is own laws, and we have the power
. control the Rebel States if the &C
wrong, If they rctel, We have the ar
my, and can control them by it, il nee
cSsary, by legislation also. If the Gen
eral Government controls the right t
vote in the States. il may establish sucI
! ru,ls IS will restrict the vote to 3 small
number of persons, and thus create ;
cen raj deSpotism.
Ny position here is different from
what it would be if l was in Tennes
see: There I should try to introduce
negro suffrage gradually; first th0st
who had served in the army: thost
who could read and write, and perhap.
a property qualification dor the others
say $500 or $3.50. IT will not do to le
the negroes have universal suffrage
now; it would breed a war of raGtS
There was time in the Southern State,
when the slaves Of large owners ionkeC
down upon n0n-slave owners bacaiist
they did not own slaves; the large
thenumber Of slaves their masters own
ed the prouder they were, and this ha
produced hostility between the white
and negroes. The outragcs are mo6tl,
from non-slaveh0lding whites a@ainS
the negro, and from The negro upon tn
non--laveholdiug whites. The negr
will vote with thelate master whom h
does not hate, rather than with the non
slaVehOlding white, whom he doe
hate. Universal suffrage would Great
another war, not against lie, but Wa
Of races.
Another thing. This Government
the treest and best in the world, and
feel sure is destined to last; but to sc
cure this we must elevate and purif,
the ballot, for many years contende'
ut the South that slavery was pOlitica
weakness, but others said it was a Do
litical strength they thought we gain
ed tSree-tifths representation by it:
contended that we lost tWO-fifths.
we had no slaves, we should have ha,
twelve representatives more, accOrdin
to the then ratio Of representation
Congress apportions representation b,
States, not districts, and the State ap
portions by districts.
Many wears ago ! moved in the Leg
islature that the apportionment of Rep
reeentativeS TO Congress in Tennessee
shoulf be by qualified voters The ap
:. | YNorfj ~ T1oapf &c now 6raJ until $40