The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-04-10
Tho Negro Questton.

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found men of the anti-slavery school,
has written long letter inthe North
aocste'w Presbyterian, from which we
make the subjoined extract. His po-
sition is that all possible amelioration
IN favor of negroes must rest on the
basis of distinction of race and color ::
There has been for some years q
party III this country which was un-
derstood to demand the absolute en-
franchisement of the black race, and
its political and social equality with
the white race among ourselves. I
have pointed out the great mistake of
supposing it was the teaching of this
party which produced the national
attempt to abolish slavery by an
amendment of the Constitution. The
present endeavor on their part is to
realize the equality originally dc
manded for the black race, by Sc
curing it rs condition of restoration
in each of the revolted States; in par
ticular, that the right of suffrage
shall be given to the liberated slaves
by the President, as preliminary in
the reconstruction of society in the
sublugated States, and shall be Sc.
cured in the State Constitutions, rs
condition. without which they shall
not be recognized as States or ad-
| mitted into the Union It is to be
remembered that nothing of this sort
is contained in the proposed amend
ment to the Constitution. Nothing
like it is found in the platform of the
party which elected Mr.. Lincoln for
the first time, or that which elected
him the second time. Nothing in any
Act of Congress. Nothing in any one
OF the numerous proclamations lately
issued by Mr.. johnson, for the Gre
alton of Provisional alGovernments, and
the formation of Republican Constitu-
tlons and Governments under then n
the subjugated States. Tie power
assumed i'll the de...nd, as existing
III the President, and which he wisely
ref':sed to exercise, does not belong
to his office, nor to any Office whatev-
er; nor to the Congress of the United
States, unless these States be first
despotically reduced to mere terrific
ries; nor to the whole people of the
United States, until they shall be first
considered competent to make for
themselves Il despotism-and shall
actually make it-in which both the
States and the existing form of the
nation would be extinguished, and all
suffrage become q farce The power
to make n local Constitution fora free
State--much more the power to amend
a n a
free State-is by our system, and by
the Federal Constitution, power To-
cally sovereign-paramount and un-
comfortable, except by the Constitu-
ton of the United States And it is
only under the provisions and guar
antees of that national Constitution
that a citizen of one State has the
rights that he possesses in another
State, and that the President can in
terfere, either in war or peace, with
the common affairs, much less with
the reserved rights, and least of all
with those great rights of every State,
without which liberty is impossible
The claims am controverting do, in
effect, subvert both of our grand
principles Of double Governments and
popular sovereignty, without which
, our whole systom of freedom and
greatness is futile and impossible.
Moreover, if the power claimed be-
longed to the President, he could
hardly perform an act more ruin. us
to the emancipated slaves than to cx-
act it, rs has been demanded of him:
nor one more fatal to all hopes of
cordial union among the American
people, or more destructive to any
party that should sustain him ils it.
Its political effects would be incalcu-
liable, both upon local and national
parties, by the sudden creation of
400, 600 or 10000 new voters of n
different race, the great mass of
whom are wholly unfit for such n
trust, and would be certain to consti-
tute an element of vital and perpetual
disturbance, and to fall under the ha-
bltual direction of whatever party
was most interested. most active. and
most unscrupulous. When it is con
sldered that the shareholders have
everywhere controlled the non slave
holding white vote, many times more
numerous than their own, the notion
that the local white vote cannot con
troll 4 black vote, over the whole
South, not equal to itself in numbers.
may turn out to be as futile as the
control of that vote by a nonresident
party of extreme opinions would be
disastrous. In white communities.