The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1865-07-20
The Views or a Lifelong DemoCrat-.An
Honest Convert. - -

The Views or a Lifelong Democrat-..An
Honest Convert.
NOBLE, Ala, June q, 1865.
have come down to this part Of the
country with the intention Of casting my
lot with il for the future, and feel impell.
ed to send you line to tell of my impress
sions of the people. l have been, for
| some six weeks, in daily contact with
southern people of all political shades,
good listener, and not very bad hand
at forming conclusions from a great deal
Of hearing. came to the Gulf States
full OF very fac theories about the ne.
cessity of educating the negro before we
could extend to him the privilege of suf-
frage. He was ignorant; BIO was bisoted;
he was prejudieed; he could not be trust
ed with the privileges of a voter until he
had attained certain standard of e3uca.
ton. Well, sir, was never farther away
from the truth In my life. have lis
tened by the hour to the familiar. social,
unressrained talk of Southern people; an d
l have been sorry to conclude, from all
that have heard, that the damnable
heresy of the States light doctrine, upon
which, with imagined evils threatened
to the institution of slavery, they based
their acts Of secession and rebellion, is az
deeply rooted in their convictions as it
| over was. They have failed 10 establish
the success of their principles at the
bayopct's point and the cannon's mouth,
| but those principles lilo as near to tie
hearts Of the great mass of them ss ever,
| and true loyalty to the Government, as
constituting principle with the mass Of
the people at the North, is entirely for
eign to the breasts of the masses n the
South. The same hostility that was
openly displayed in arms exists secretly
in the breasts Of the Southern people,
and is ready at any time to exert itself,
no longer in overt acts, but in every pos
sible pacific way to thwart the unity and
the progress of the Republic On the
other hand the negro has but one princi-
pie and one affection. His principle is
devotion to the Union; his affection heart.
whole for the cause that has restored him
to manhood. No doubts Of the Justice
of the cause cross his mind. No clouds
of casuists' raising obscure his vision.
His instincts alone point out to him the
path he is to tread as a free man, and
point it out unerringly. Who so safe to
trust with the ballot Of freeman as he?
Can demagogues lead him astray with
arts and sophistries? I trow cot. He
may not know so much Of book learning
as his paler skinned brother, but he is
less likely to be deceived in what pertains
to the advancement of all members of the
human family, himself included. And if
you could see, as have seen, the ooored
people Of these Southern cities, sitting at
their door steps, in the moonlight, on hot
evenings; teaching each other to spell
aud to count, regardless of the comments
of those who passed by, you would not
be slow in coming to the belief that even
the supposed amount of education neces
sary to enable them to vote inteligen.ly
will not be long wanting. I, for one,
contrary to all my previous expectations,
am fully convinced that the only safety
for the South is in tho extension Of free
suffrage to the people Of all colors, and I
mean to throw myself into the advocacy
OF this cause with al! my energy. Far
better is the instinct tia. teaches loyalty