Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1866-12-20
suffrage for Every Loyal Man.

We rejoice to he able To announce thai
Congress has had the moral courage and
the consistency 10 commence the work OF
District OF Columbia, by the passage of the
District suffrage bill by the decisive vote
of 81 yeas against l3 nays in the Senate.
and III yeas against IS nays IN the House
This measure should be immediately fol-
lowed by the introduction and passage of
bills requirin. the adoption OF this prlnci-
pie in the constitutions of all new States
asking admission into the Union and max
ing its recognition condition precedent TO
the admission of the seeded States. On
the final vote in the House several MEM
bers. among them Mr.. Raymond of New
York. who gained at the last session an I'M
enviable notoriety on account of the weak
ness of their backs. faced the music Ike
men and voted for the bill.
Tie question. so far as ii concerns the
Southern States has been fully and amply
discussed. and it may be said that the gen
eral desire among the people to recognize
She eminent services rendered to our cause
b7 the black Unionists of the South, and
the equally prevalent determination that
every vestige of the slave power shall be
driven from the land, viii fully justify con-
gress in the adoption of the most advanced
ideas on this subject. Sooner or later
however. the question will arise. why
should we longer deny TO the colored PEG
pie of the LOYAL States the rights OF man
hood:" We are free to say that there can
be no sufficient argument adducedt that VIII
Justify the further exclusion of the colored
people of Indiana from the ballot-boX,
whatever may be said OF the race elsewhere
We believe it would be the testimony OF
every diSpassionate man, especially OF those
who know them best, if called to the stand
and questioned a to the fitness of colored
Indianians to exercise all the rights of free
men. that a. class they are law abiding.
intelligent and patriotic. anil so far as they
have been trusted, have shown their
capacity for the faithful discharge of the
duties of citizenship.
1t is very fine to say that the ballot is
weapon that can only be safely entrusted
in the hands of the virtuous and the educa-
ted, and that an accession 10 our voting
population of such vast body of ignorant
men would be- detrimental to- our cOuntry's
interests. We deny that such an objection
applies to the colored people OF this State,
and when we come to compare our fine
spun theories with facts, and find that we
have no laws to disfraEcifise the drunken
beast and his vicious tempier. that il is i'm
possible to exclude the Son Of Liberty who
plotted a supplementary rebellion in the
Northwest. the miserable draft sneak who
ran away from his duty, and the recreant
who deserted his comrades and cOl0rs in
the field. and the bounty-iumper who spec
ulatcd in blood, we should be careful what
we say about the virtuous hands that now
WELD the ballot. Moreover. we find these
men combined together and allied with the
Democratic party to oppose good princi-
pies and so nearly equalling US in numbers
that but little apathy among the friends
of the right would be sufficient TO insure
defeat. On the other hand is large body
ofmen more virtuous, thousand times
more patriotic, and fully as intelligent as
those, who are even now forming in ranks.
and are waiting for the word from Us that
will cause them to more in column closed
in mass into the thickest of the fray Shall
the Grand Army of Freedom refuse this
magnificent and decisive reinforcement?