The mountain Democrat., 1865-08-05
Negro Suffrage.

Convention, as reported in your paper Of
the 22d inst, and the Mirror Of the 2lst,
! was amused at the ingenious manner in
WHICH they 6Odge6 the only issue before
the people at the present time; not daring
to come out and say that they we're in
favor Of negro suffrage, nor yet willing to
go before the people and say that they
were opposed 10 it. They referred the
subject to the Committee on Resolutions,
knowing that il would never be reported
to the Convention; and now they have the
brazen impudencc TO come before the peo-
pie and say that it is no issue For the
enlightenment Of your readers | desire to
make . few extracts from late Eastern
Republican papers, and let them decide
whether it Is an issue. Leslie's Illustrat.
ed Newspaper, . paper Of very wide cir
culation, and one calculated to exert con.
siderable influence in forming the opinion
Of the day, for it reaches every town and
village in our country, starts an article in
the No. Of June Gath, az follows: " The
question Of Negro Suffrage is the next
which the Nation will be called upon to
decide"
The Bangor (Me.) Wing & Courier. Of
June 9th, (the leading Republican paper
Of Eastern Maine) closes an article on the
suffrage question as follows:
And that Congress may understand the
will Of the people, it is requisite that the
members should hear unequivocally and
emphatically from their constituents upon
the subject and TO this end the summer
and fall conventions Of the great Union
party should speak out.
What a rebuke the above is to the late
convention. The Boston Journal, an old
and influential paper, says: The ques
tion Of negro suffrage is undoubtedly to
cOnstitute the chief political topic of the
era Of reconstruction, which. now that
the rebellion is crushed, must be the pres
ent time. In the same article, speaking
Of the state Of society South and the, as
they call it, prejudice against the negro,
it says:
Our Southern brethren cannot help get.
ting right upon it. sooner or later. We
wish they might see it now az we do, that
nothing is clearer than the right. the wis
dom and the expedIency Of allowing the
cUlOre,i men to vote, with precisely such
qualifications A. may be prescribed for
white men.
The Wing 4 Courier quotes the above
article and comments upon it thus:
The remarks Of the Journal are in the
main judicious. We believe, however,
that the friends of true repubicanism =
that is Of equal political rights for all men
o( whatever race or color-shOuld not per.
init the question Of negro sutfiage to he
passed by in political discussions, under
the impression that time will make every.
thing right. There needs the pressure Of
a strong, determined, public sentiment in
this matter las was absolutely required in
the cWe of slavery before success will
attend the just and necessary reform.
After speaking of the position Of Presi-
dent johnson and his opposition to taking
the responsibility Of forcing it upon the
South, the article continues:
IL the great Union party throughout
the country, should With general unanim
ity, express their sense Of the justice, tx
pedicncy and necessity of investing the
freedmen with the ballot, Congress would
take heed OF the matter, and institute some
measures to secure the right deci>ion.-
And We have no doubt that President
JnhnsOn would be content
In the same article the editor expresses
his opinion as follows:
We think Congress, when it meets in
December next, HAY properly require Tor
all the former rebel States to be admitted
a rule that all loyal men at least shall have
the rightto vote. whatever their race, pro-
(essiOn or color.
The Journal of later date Dune 9th)
in en- article headed "The Government
and the South" after speaking Of the Va
rious powers exercised BY government in
reconstruction, says;
Again, If It means-aS who doubts it
does !-that perfect equality before the
law Is to be the rule at the South as well
as the North that free speech is TO pre-.
vail wherever the flag flies; that political
rights are to BE- placed above all such ab.
Surd distinctions as color and physical
attributes, why. then. it must avail itself
Of suitable occasions TO manifest its de-
termination beyond al doubt or question.
The following, from the Washington
Chronicle, strongly rebukes the late con
vention and the Bangor Wing & Courier
indorses the article, and says: at fore
shadows the action which Congress will
probably take upon the matter, provided
the South fooI$hly and willfnlly refuse to
extend the right Of suffrage to every free
citizen"
1t is no time for standing still and Of
fering simply a negative policy. Some.
thing has to be done, either in one direc.
ton or the other. Either the sanction of
the people has to be given to the practical
fact of the overthrow of slavery, by en-
grating the principle Of universal liberty
upon the remodelej State Constitutions,
or that sanction is to be withheld or only
half given. In the first case the States
will resume their functions as members Of
the Union. In the other, nothing is more
certain than that they will be excluded.
The wise Convention at Placerville did
not dare to take their position, but simply
chose to stand still and offer the negative
nronosition that Il is no issue. The above