The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1865-08-14
To White soldiers,

We ask those brave men who have ven
tured their lives In defense of the starry flag.
to read and remember the two extracts be-
low.
The FIRST occurs in the recent speech of
Wendell Phillips:
ssW-hat as the negro We'll, say, in the face of
all prejudice, that amid the gqlantry the patience
the heroism Of this trar the negro bears the palm
IApplause.]
The second, somewhat milder in tone, ap-
pears In u small country newspaper, a very
weak disciple of Mr.. Phillips
| ssWhen called upon by the ,par dspartm,ut IN
rally an defense of tae old flag they (the neproesl
volunteered by the thousands, andno brarer more
Efficient or daring soldiers toere to be found an the
| army ts'H
We beg the white soldiers now in our
midst to notice the point of these words and
appreciate them accordingly. You are not
only thought TO be no better and drawer men
! than these blacks, but told that throu ghout
the whole war. from Fort Sumter to the sur
| render OF Lee, the negro has been your su
perior In ',gallantry, patience and patriot
ism, and in all these qualities ''bears the
palm This is one OF the rewards PREPARED
for you by that noble body of stay-at-home
heroes who have lived well and made money
while you were al the front fighting the enc
my. They tell you that the African has
done more to rescue the country from the
grasp of traitors than have white Americans.
and that you ought to consider yourselves
very fortunate TO be considered their EQUALS.
We nope you enjoy the compliment, for it
comes, not from "rebels and coppsrheads. %
but from ''strictly loyal men" who never
smelied powder or saw q hostile bayonet and
never will. But they intend TO ''do Justice
TO the negro" aud use your shoulder as a
stepping stone upon which the colored broth
er can climb TO the ballot box.
Allow US, white soldiers of the Union
army, to ask few questions.
Do you not think the south could have
been conquered had there never been a single
negro in uniform I?
Do you not believe you have better aud
drawer blsed in your veins than the negro
crush the rebeliion?
Do you know of single battle won by ne
gro troops?
Do you know Of a single defeat turned into
victory BY the assistance of negro troops
Did negro troops ever succeed where white
troops failed
Did negro troops win the day at Fort Dom
,lson ?-did they carry the ramparts of Vicks-
burg ?-did they conquer at Shiloh, Chatta-
looga, at Nashville. at Atlanta, at Savan.
lah, or at Richmond sh.'5
onfess your inferiority to the negro 2-Aiton
t.- -
!. The "loyal' editor of the Rock Island
Union confesses his inferiority. He was a
olonel. in the United States service. and was
ismissed in Disgrace. He is now the organ
the republican negro suffrage party in
lock Island county, and he now says: Il
'slt only after two years Of unsuccessful
ar had been waged and the government began
despair of its ability to itself that the me-
roes were called in to help us. . When we
ime to the conclusion we could not save our q
,lves without freeing and arming them, we freed
lem and put them into armies, an 4
In palmer words-the war was failure
ntil the negroes were CALLED in the white
'ldiers could not whip the rebels; the negro
'idiers did the work they are superior to
he white eoldiers; they are the heroes of !
Ne war; amid the gallantry, the patience,
he heroism of this war, the negro bears the
aim from the white soldiers. That is the
'ctrine of the republican negro suffrage !.
arty, in Rock Island county, and every
here else. aeas ~ 6 ssi 7e Z