The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-06-07
The NsW Cry Of wendell Phlnips.

Wendell Phillips, in speech at the
Cooper Institute, last December, said
that he would rather accept the bal
lot for the negro from the hands Of
jefferson Davis, than serfdon from
Abraham Lincoln That meant, if it
meant anything, that he would rather
have the rebellion succeed if IL brought
the ballot 70 the negro, than to have
the Union succeed with the negro still
left IN an inferior condition, He has
now delivered q speech in Boston, IN
which he says that If the negro is not
allowed to vote in the Southern States,
the var viii be proved to have been a
giganio robbery of property and life,
that "party which would 80 for re-
pudistion OF the war debt would have
bis voice and vote until God called him
home" His CRY, last December, was
NEGRO suffrage or no Union; now il is
negro suffrage or Reputation" He
changes his cry, we suppose, because
disunion is no longer q possibility, and
therefore can no longer be made al a.
ternetive.
Now, il is an open question whether
the government should or should net
attempt to secure suffrage TO the South
ern blacks The best men may differ
about IL
On the one hsnd the strong srgu-
ments that the blacks have entitled
themselves to the ballot by having done
all that they could do for the national
cause, when their matters were all rec
reant-that their voting would secure
the national authority in the South,
while it is uncertain whether the loyal
Il Of the whites Can be depended upon
--and thaJ their voting Is needfal Tor
their own protection, it being probable
that withOut il they would b. the VIC
I mes Of unequal laws which would
make their condition little. If any bet
ter than their former bondage
On the other hand it Is strongly
maintsined that the black millions Of
the South do not possess, aud in this
generation, at least cannot acquire the
intelligence necessary to the right use
OF the franchise, and that the admis
sion Of such an enormous amoant Of
animal ignorance into our body polite
might produce. evil immeasUrable and
irrsmediable. The still more formida-
able objection is urged that negro suf
frage cannot be forced upon the South
ern States against their will, except by
military authority. aud on the sssump~
ton that their State rights no longer
exist. which implies that the secession
ordinances were not nulhties, but had
q legal effect, and that the South was
foreign territory, now made ours by
conquest, or by an amendment of the
Federal Constitution, conterring upon
the Federal Government the right 20
prescribe the qualifications Of voters,
which amendment the requisite three
fourths of the state never would adopt,
and hich they never could adopt
without suicidally putting an end to
their State life, and Transforming our
whole civil system from a Union into ap
absolute c0as0tiaatior1
Whatever Is the true and wise side of
this question, it il certain that no poo
sition OF Wendell Phillips Is false and
foolish It's alike ridiculous aud wick
ed 70 undertake to propagate an opin-
ion by the threat of 3 crime When
Mr.. Phillips ssys that if the government
and the people do not accept MS doc
trine he will turn scoundrel and join
party Of scoundrels, he does his doc
trine the very worst ioJury possible.
I The odium Of his menace attaches, by
an inevitable law of association, to the
I object for which il Is made. Men turn
away with disgust and derisiOu. Bat
I the threat is worse than 8 blunder; il
sacrime Il violates not simply COM
mon sense, but the moral sense. When
/ Mr Phillips gave out the word, Negro
I suffrage or 10 Union, We we're not at
/ all surprised, for he has already been
40 ouJspoken disunionist for twenty
years Of his life. Il was SIMPLY a mod
ideation OF his old cry, 30 slavery
oruo Union. Ii was a-fnoustrous pO-
lHcal error, bat yet vas in keeping
with al Of Bis old theories Of civil ale.
/ glance, and might exist with earnest
moral convictions
But Ie know not bow 70 reconcile re-
/. pudiatiOn with any kind Of pnor.I min
eiple liquidation IS the obeating o,
4 public oreditorS 81 Of their Just dues
Isis violatioD Of bond contracted
under the most solemn faith Of q pa-
ton The governments which commits
it makes ilself guilty Of robbery aud
perhdy. Nothing can Justify il Nor
can anything justly the man who shall
try 10 force the government into Il. on
any Pretence, or in any contingency.
Ihe obligation OF the government TO
its creditors Is absolute The obligs-
ton Of the citizen to hold the govern.
ment 70 its duty is Just az absolute. L
is extraordinary that such man as
I Wendell Phillips should forget this or
discard T. We are loth 70 imputs
tbs 70 wlilful moral perversity. Our
only explanation i, hat il comes from
that dianess Of the general perceptions
which 81 intense and unceasing attsu.
tlon % asinsle idea Is apt 70 induce
However this vagary Is to be accounted
f0T, 10 Is certain 70 be secuted. The
4 American people will never make their
goger1ment infamous, or ne moved 70
accept sny dogma or party By any
threats 70 the end.-N r Tfnss