Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1866-11-17

| Of five years in the United States No mat
ter how Infamous may be the character Of
negro, as liar, rogue and Il murderer he
becomes an American citizen by this amend
mcnt, aud entitled to all the rights and privi
| lcgcs of citizenship. But the lrish,nan. Ger
man and Englishnan must first satisfy the
court that he is a man o! good moral charac
ter, aud well attached to the principles Of our
Government, before lie can be invested with
such rights aud rrivil ycs Why this prefer
encc should be given to the black man, in his
! ignorance and vice, over the virtuous aud in
tc:!igcnt white man who comes here from
foreign land, is hard to conceive
| Already South Carolina has declared. by
! legislative enactment, that negroes shall have
oil tho rights aud privileges Of white men in
person and property. They may sue and be
sued, purchase and dispose ot property, iuherit
! and DC tried, as white ncn are Tlcy arc
subject to no greater penalties or punishment
, for crime than white mrn. In I'll Of the South
crn states the same enactment has been or will
he malr. 1t would seem that this ought to
| satisfy the Northern peop!c Of our purpose to
protect t;c negro and do ample Justice to him
III all of his rights Of person and property
The right 10 hold Office and vote is poit-
lcal right which belongs exclusively to every
, community, and to be regulated as to them
shall seem proper, without interference, in
any way, by any other power. There is not a
civilized community in the world where re.
strcions have pot been imposed on the right
Of holding office, votin" aud exercising poiti-
cal power. The Northern States have done
so from their earliest history up to the present
day. 10 deprive Tie Southern States Of the
same right, would be Tie crosses, injustice and
tyranny. And to consent to it, on their part,
voluntarily, would be SELF degradation and in
fanny.
The second section Of the proposed consti-
tutionai amendment declares that representa-
tnn shall be in proportion to the number Of
voters IN each State, and that il any male in
hahiantS over tie age or twenty Que arc ex-
cluird from voting for any cause whatever,
they shall not be enumerated ia tue basis Of
| representation. This makes it imperative on
The Southern States to give Up their rcprcscn-
t"'on tD' .,rgc portion Of their population,
~ permit the ncgrors, to vote. The injustice
of this constitutional provision to the Southern
States must be manifest to every unprcjudiccd
mind
In all Of the Souhcrn States, large propor
tion OF their population consists of ncg'oes,
who are utterly incnpahlo of holding Office,
voting or exercising any political riyhS At
the same time they exclude, by their labor,
white persons, who would otherwise take their
places, occupy the country and cultivate its
lands. In the Northern States. they have
very few pc9rocs, and thcr exclusion from
voting woall not seriously affect their repre-
Sontation in Congress. ] he consequence would
| be that one section of the Amcrran Union,
with great wealth and large population,
would have Il most inadequate influence in ma
torul legislation.
The proposed amendment of the Federal
Constitution forces the Southern States to
choose between giving up their equal repre-
sent tlon III Congress, or permitting their ne
yrors to vote. Between these alternatives no
Southern State could hesitate for a moment
to choose when the issue is forced on thcm-
| Equal representation in the national councils
must be given up. You very properly say,
that already the Southern States arc in MI
nority in both houses of Congress, aud full
representation for their negroes would not give
them Il majority of the House Of Representa-
! tivcs
In South Carolina We have largely over q
| hundred thousand more negroes than white
porsons. If universal suffrage prevailed, the
entire political power of the State would be
in the hands of the negroes They could
elect to every Office in the State one Of their
own caste, and scud Senators and Representa-.
tivcs to Congress. The same State Of affairs.
drplorable rs it would be, must likewise take
place in Mississippi. And in all of the South
crn States there would be many counties in a
similar conaition-ncgrocs elected to the Leg
isl,turc and filling all county Offices.
10 suppose that any Southern State would
voluntarily adopt such a provision in the Ma
tional Constitution, is to presume that she is
insensible to her own honor. aud reckless OF
her own safety. 1t may be said that Tcnnes-
sec has already done so Never was there n
greater mistake. If the constitutional amend
mcnt hnd been submitted to the people OF
Tennessee, it would have bccn rejected BY