American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-03-21
NUMBER l5

y .H
every individual by the same Just pripci.
pies as those BY which it belongs to auy,
On no other ground can the theory Of
popular government, as against govern.
ments by prescription or force, be main.
tanned On no other ground can anv
man consistently stand who wears the name
OF Democrat" There are other theories
OF government, but they are not Ameri.
can or Democratic There is a theorv
that the fountain of authority is ia one
man and all privileges of citizenship are
franchises conferred by him--which is
the theory of absolute monarchy, whose
fundamental dogma is that athe kino
rules sy divine right" There is the the,
ory that this divine right of governing is
lodged in favored few-the mobiles, va
rlously designated an oligarchy or aristoc,
racy. Besides which, there is the dogma
that "right makes might" or that power
belongs to those who can achieve it. bold
ly and consistently maintained by those
VINO entertain IT, and developed in mill
tary despotlsm. The theory that the will
OF the majority is the source Of Justice
and right, is essentially the same. A ma.
Jority have no right to deprive men of
that which is inalienable any more than
kings, or armies. Within their lust linn.
Its, majorities may and should rule: but
there are rights that are sacred against
even the will of majorities, and this right
is one of them. The poet Wadsworth
describes the opposite:
"The good old rule
| Sufficeth them-the plan,
That he should take who has the pswer.
And he should keep who can"
Any departure from the principle that
the power of government iphercs in the
| people, and, if in one, then all, is simply
an approximation to military despotism,
or oiigarchical or kingly rule, the doctrine
OF us arn'oram or of the divine right Of
mobiles or kings, which is isabhorrent to the
fundamental American principle. Ac-
cording to that principle, suffrage resides
in every individual of the people, who
has not forfeited it by crimes, including
the crime of seeking to overthrow the
Government by treason or rebellion. 1t
cannot but be SO. If otherwise, let it be
shown where this power resides
This is the American Democratic prin.
ciple. When our forefathers ruptured
the tie that bound them to the govern
ment OF Great Britain, they planted them
selves on this great fundamental doctrine
as the true foundation of their incipient
institutions. They assumed this princi-
pie to be inconvertible In the immor-
tai declaration of Independence they de-
clare this and its Kindred trushs to be
axioms-truths which no logic is needed
to establish and which cannot be disap-
proved, becal Sc they are self-evident -
""e hold these truths" they say, "self-
evident, that all men are created free and
equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inaIienable rights
that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit Of happiness. That to secure
these rights gocernmeats are Instituted, de-
riring their just Povers from the consent
! of The goOerned" "From the consent of
the governed" Is notthe negro Of them
in this land? If that was sound and pat
riotic doctrine in l776, is it less or differ
ent in 1866? That position gentlemen
cannot controyert, especially if they as
sume to be Democrats. Sir, amid allthe
fallacies of these later times the shifting
Of events, the wanderings of parties, the
immortal declaration bessing the inscrip-
ton of these grand truths, looms up like
a tall pillar to guide us to peace and secu-
rity, because it points in the way Of JUS
tice and right.
| Now, sir. Iargue that this government,
above all the governments in the world,
can trust its interests to the suffrage of
all its loving sons, l do not see the per-
/ lis that are said to menace US if we sh all
introduce the colored man Of the District
of Columbia to the right Of suffrage
by their taxes, they help to sustain the
municipal governments of the District
and the schools. The children are ex-
| cluded from the latter, and they have no
voice in either | would arm them With
the ballot, that their vote may compel
justice in these particulars. Nor have [
any fears in the contemplation of the
| question Immediately before US. 1t would
be just and wise to apply this principle
to every State lately in rebellion. Gen
! eral Grant is reported to have said that
if we do not give the negroes in the South
d the right of suffrage, it will require an
4 arpps of eng hundred Thousand men, and
an annual expenditure of ones hundred