Delaware State journal and statesman., 1866-02-13

amounts to but very little. While say that
/ am = friend of the colored man, 1 do
not want to adopt a policy l believe will
end in a contest between the races, which,
If persisted in, will result in the extermina-
tion of one or the other. God forbid that l
should be engaged in such work now. II
is always best to talk practically and IN a
common sense way. Yes, have said, and
repeat It here, that if the colored man in
the United States could find no other Moses,
OF any Moses that would be more able and
efficient than myself 1 would be his Moses
to lead him from bondage to freedom; that
would pass him from q land where he had
lived in slavery to land (if 1t were in our
reach) Of freedom. Yes, would be willing
to pass with him through the Red Sea to the
land of promise, to the land of liberty; but
lam not willing, under either circumstances,
to adopt policy which I believe will only
result in the sacrifice of his life and the
shedding of his blood. I think know what
I say; I feel what I say, and I feel assured
that if the policy urged by some be persisted
in, it will result in great injury to the white
as well as TO the colored man. There is a
great deal of talk about the sword in one
hand accomplishing one end, and the ballot
accomplishing another at the ballot-box.
These things all dovery well, and sometimes
have forcible application.
We talk about justlce--we talk about right
We say that the white man has been in the
wrong in keeping the black man in slavery
as long as he has That is all true. Again.
we talk about the Declaration of Indepen-
dence and equality before the law. You
understand all that and know how to appre-
ciate it, But now let us look each other in
the face. Let rs 60 to the great mass of
colored men throughout the slave States.
Let US take the condition in which they are
at the present time (and it is bad enough we
all know,) and suppose by some magic you
could say to every one, "You shall vote, to-
morrow" how much would that ameliorate
their condition at this time? Now, let us
get closer up to this subject and talk about
it, What relation has the colored man and
the white man heretofore occupied in the
SouthY Iopposed slavery two grounds.
First, it was great monopoly, enabling
those who controlled and owned it to consti-
tute an aristooracy, enabling the few to
derive great profits and rule the many with
an iron rod, as 1t were; and that is one great
objection to it in argument, its being n
monopoly. was opposed to it, secondly,
upon the abstract principle of slavery
Hence in getting clear of monopoly we
were getting clear of slavery at the same
time. So, you see, there were two right
ends accomplished in the accomplishment of
the one.
Mr.. Douglass = Mr. President--Do you
wish
The President-I am not quite through
yet Slavery has been abolished. A great
national guarantee has been given--one that
cannot be revoked. l was getting at the
relation that subsisted between the white
man and the colored man. A very small
proportion of white persons, compared with
the whole number of such, owned the col.
ored people of the South. I might instance
the State of Tennessee in illustration. There
were twenty y.seven non shareholders to one
STAKEHOLDER, and yet the slave power con
trolled that State Let US talk about the
matter as it is.
Although the colored man was in slavery
there, and owned as property in the sense
and in the language of that locality and oil
that community, yet in comparing his con-
dition and his position there with the non
slaveholder, he usually estimated his impor.
tance just In proportion to the number oi
slaves that his master owned with the non.
stakeholder. Have you never lived upon a
plantationP
Mr.. Douglass-I have, your Excellency
The President When you could lool
, over and see a man, who had large family
struggling hard upon poor piece of land,
, you thought great deal less of him thar
| you did of your own master.
4 Mr.. Douglass-Not I.
The President-Well 1 know such wal
the case with large majority of you il
those sections where such is the case. W.
, know there is an enmity; we know there il
hate. The poor white man, on the othel
D hand, was opposed to the slave and hi
r master, for the colored man and his maste
5 combined kept him in slavery by deprivinl
, him of a fair participation in the labor an(
Q production of the rich lands Of the country
G Don't you know that colored man in goinl
b to hunt master Gas they call IT'D for tn
next year, preferred hiring to man VIII,
@ owned slaves rather than one who did not
I know the fact, at all events.
$ Mr.. Douglass-Because they treated hin
? better,
i The President-They did not consider
7 quite as respectable to hire TO man VIII
Y did not own negroes, as to hire to one VIII
s did
: Mr.. Dougass-Because he wouldn't b
e treated as well.
5 The President-Then that is another al
d gument in favor of what am going to say
} 1t shows that the colored man appreciate
S the slave-owner more highly than he did til
d man who didn't own slaves Hence tn
= enmity between the colored man and tn
It non-slaveholders. The white man was per
y mitted to vote before government was deriv
n ed from him. He is part and parcel of th
e political machinery, not by rebellion o
/ revolution.
o And when you come back to the object
!, of this war, you find that the abolition {
p slavery was not one Of the objects. Con
l gress, and the President himself, declare
g that 1t was waged on our part in order I
d suppress the rebellion. The abolition c
e slavery has come as On incident to the sur
l preston OF a great rebellion-and as a
n | fnnfdarf obOr1d ntx I,o