American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-04-25
Civil Rights.

sNDsoND
ident Johnson-from the Baltimore
iniericnn aud Commercial .1drert,scr.---
1t is sensible and to the point, and illus
trates very plainly the necessity and JUS
tice Of the bill.
If We were to believe one-half Of what
we hear aud read we should be forced to
rcgaid the civil rights bill as perfect
monster, rival to the cruel edicts of
Nero, or the laws Of Draco, which were
written in blood as an outrageous usurp-
atiun which threatens to deniolish the
executive departments to destroy the cen
trfugal fafce in the Federal system and
hurl the States in chaotic disorder to the
common centre, and to build up the pow
er of a rash, blind aud fanatical junto
over the ruins of law aud order Let US
stop for moment and look at this horri-
bic creature. Perhaps the terrors that
hang aroutfd itare only the illusions of a
disordercd imagination, the phautoms
conjured up by diseased mind. What
doesit propose odo 7 To give the black
man the same privileges in court of
justice as white man; simply this, and
nothing more Here is tho whole effect
of the bill As many persons are not &C.
quainted with the facts which make il
necessary, We propose to give few, which
we can youch for, all of which have oc-
CURED IN this State. During. the excite
ment in relation to negro caulkers in this
city white man mcetinga black man in
an alley, said: g You are a id caulker,
are you," and accompanied the words
with blow. The black man picked up
brick to defend himself and walked on
quietly. Then the white man pulled out
revolver and shot him. The black
sought an attorney and asked if there
was any redress. He was told that there
was none. The law had put seal upon
his lips, and there was no white evidence.
He belonged to the unfortunate class who
''have no rights which the white man is
bound to respect" A black man, having
large family to support, hires out his
two oldest boys for $3.50 year, white
man goes to the Orphans Court and has
these boys bound to him, to serve with
out compensation till they are twenty-oue.
OF course this was not robbery it was
all according to law. Ought there to be
any surprise if some Of that mans chill
drca should be found in the poor house ?
They, however, shave no rights which a
white man is bound to respect" A black
woman in one of our counties had a child
of tender years A tropical sun, It's
true, had darkcnod her skin; nature,
perhaps, had not given her the brightest
intellect education had not unfolded her
mind she had not the power to pene-
trate the secrets Of nature aud soar in
thought beyond the milky way but she
did have a mothers heart She loved
that child deeply and devotedly the de-
light mother only knows would light up
her swarthy face and kindle her eye as
she watched over its infantile sports /;
willingly and gladly would she have tram
ed it up to useful womanhood, but the
white man, clothed with the power ofthe
law, stepped in and took her child from
her. She "had no rights which white
man was bound to respect" Some black
men associated together to establish a
school. They did not suppose they were
going to make their children philosophers,
or orators, or statesmen. They did, how
ever, think that little education-even
the little that the obtuse minds of black
children could rcceive--would make them
better citizens, and be perhaps barrier
between them and the Jail or poor house.
ln, steps some white men, aud lay their
humble and unpretending school house
in ashes. They know who did it, but
clanot speak in court of law. They,
too, shave no rights which white man
rs bound to respect, Let any one attend
our courts for some time and he will see
that villainy often goes unpunished be-
cause silence is imposed upon the black
man, who could supply the lacking link
in the chain of evidence. Yet we arc
told that the negroes have all the protec-
tion which ''the requirements of Tie so.
cidf order demand" What social order !?
That which holds that the world was
made especially for white men; that for
them alone the sun shines and the stars
give their light? That which is found
ed upon oppression and maintained by
prejudice and sclfshness For that sys-
tenn, and those who believed in it, the
protection may be ample. But it is not
sufficient for those who love justice for
itself; who can hate wrong in every shape;
who wish to see it punished whether it
be done to rich man or poor man, to a
white man or black man. Justice sim
pie justice is all we serk. All we ask is
that the white man shall let the black
man alone. 1t is for this reason that we
regard the Civil Rights bill as the wisest
measure of the times 1t is the compile
mcnt of the Proclamation of Emancipa-
patton. One broke the iron shackles of
the slave /; the other, the legal shackles.
One made him freedman the other, a
frcemen. The principle involved in it is
one that, sooner or later, must be accept
ed by the whole community
"Man is unjust God is just.
Aud justice finally triumphsn