Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Indiana) 1864-1865, 1865-07-20

~ lltalI, III dll 4llS pal NiCuldIS. tut
- wayfasiag man. though fool,
would not fail to see it, before h
, ever breathes the word "supplant
again. p. HIATT.
ROBERT DALE OWEN ON NEGR;
: SUFFRAGE.
This gentleman, who has hereto
fore been prominent Democrat O
Indiana, has written n long letter t,
The President. advocating tie on
franchisement Of negroes. lie says
There is an aspect Of the negrC
suffrage question which has. | think
arrested less attention than il merits
not the aspect Of right. not til,
/ question whe;hor, in restoring to ;
lOwlv and humble race, down trod
den for ages, their outraged liberty
we ought to give them the ballot tC
defend it: but question more self
( ish, relating 10 our own race-onC
not Of sentiment but OF calculation
essentially practical and Of imminent
importance. BY the Constitution,
the representative population is to
consist Of MI free persons and three
iifths Of ell other persons. If, by
next winter, slavery shall have dis
appeared, there will be no "other
persons in the South. Her actual
population will then coincide with
her representative population. She
will have gained, rs 70 Federal rep
resentation, l.G00, 600 persons. She
viii he entitled. not as now to 81
members. nut to 81; and her votes
for President will be in proportion.
Congress, if it intends that the Con
stitutional rule shall prevail, will
have TO alter the apportionmcnt SO
as TO correspond to the new order of
things.
Now, if the negro is admitted to
vote, the Constitutional rule will op-
crate justly. For then each voter in
the South will have precisely the
same political influence rs a voter in
the North The unjust three fifth
principle will have disappeared for
ever.
On the other hand, if color be
deemed cause Of exclusion, then all
the political power which is withheld
from the emancipatcd slaves is gain
ed by the Southern white.
For though, by law, we may deny
suffrage to the freedman, we can
not prevent his being rcckoned
among those free persons who con.
stitute the basis OF representation
His presence, whether DISTINGUISHED
or not, adds, in spite Of all we can
do, to the political influence of the
State; for it increases the number OF
its votes for President and the mum
her Of its representatives in Con
gress. Now, somebody must gain
by this. The gain is shared equally
by every actual voter in the State.
If, in any State, blacks are excluded
from voting, thcn every white voter
will so TO the polls armed with twice
the political power enjoyed by Il
white voter in any Northern State.
But, again, this is on the supposi.
ton that every white adult in the
State is loyal, and therefore entitled
TO vote.
Are half Of all '1l southern male
adults at this time, OF will they be
for years TO come, more than lip-loy-
al II even that? l think you will
not say that they are. 1t would
be an extravagant calculation. If
more than half the whites in cx-in.
States shall actually
qualify themselves rs voters, will
you not find yourself compelled to
the government, in the
late secession portion of the Union.
through the agency Of its enemiosf
One third would he full estimate,
in my judgment, FOR the truly loyal.
But let us assume that two thirds
OF all the white male adults of the
South become voters, and that they
exclude from suffrage, by law or by
Constitutional provision. all persons
of color, what would be the political
under such q state Of
things? If (as we may roughly esti
mate,) by destruction through war
and by depletion of population
through emigration 10 Mexico. to
Europe and elsewhere, the number
OF whites throughout tie late rebel
States shall have been reduced until
blacks and whites exist there in
nearly equal numbers, then, in tie
case above supposed, each voter in
these States, when lie approached
the ballot box during a Congress
sioual or Presidentia! election, would
10 so Welding three times as much
political Influence rs n voter in a
Northern State. This vast advau-
tAcc once gained ~ Southern whites,
is it kkely that they VIII ever reIin-
quish it:
Nor. if We disfranchise the negro.
is there any escape from some such
except By roofing out
from the Constitution the principle
that the whole number of free persons
shall be the basis Of representation.
But that principle lies at the base Of
all free government. We abandon
republicanisln itself when We dis
card it.
Thus it appears that tie present
experiment in reconstruction, ii sui
81 - .-..,. -. cor.rsn nrd ,f in.n-