The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1866-06-22
THE NEW TRICK TO FORCE NEGRO
SUFFRAGE Upon THE PEOPLE
OF THE UNITED STATES.

tory have at last agreed upon their plan
of Reconstruction. 1t consists of an
amendmentto the Federal Constitution
the principal object of which is to es-
tablish Negro Suffrage. We publish
the amendment entire in another COZ
umn. Let us examine it for a moment.
! Section first declares that
"All persons born or naturalized in
the United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the State wherein
they reside. No State Shdilmdke OreIi-
force u7ly tar lCHjch shat 0bridge the pFir-
Heges or iDlHllalities Of citizens 0tthe Uni
ted States; nor shall any State deprire 01ly
person Of life, liberty, or property, aCith-
out due process Of Tar, or deny to dny
person lcithiH its jurisdiction the eq,tai
protection Of the iaWS."
Observe; "AU persons born, or natur-
allied in the United States" are made
"citizeas of the United States and Of the
State wherein they reside" Certainly
and indisputably this means that Ne
groes, Mulattoes, and every body else
tall perSonS) shall be citizens. Now,
the leading Disunionists in Congress
argue that citizenship embraces every
right that can be enjoyed under our
form of Government. They tell lis
that one citizen is as good Is another,
and, therefore, that white citizen can
haven privileges which do not equal
~ attach to the black. Thus they in
tend to compel the people to accept Ne
gro Suffrage. First, by this amend
ment to the Constitution, they propose
to make "aN persons" including Ne
groes, citizens. Next, the Negro be-
inga citizen, they will demand for him
the same rights as are exercised by 9TH
er citizens. Should any State attempt
to interfere against their scheme by
legislation, they will say, "You dare
not deny to any person within your
jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws" To carryout their programme,
should they have a majority in Con-
gress, theywill pass such laws as will
suit their purposes. In order to enable
them to do this they have added a sec
ton to the amendment under consider
alton, which reads as follows:
Section }. The Congress shall have
power to enforce, by appropriate leg
islation, the provisions of this article y
Again, Section second declares that
whenever the right to vote is denied to
any of the male inhabitants of a State,
being twenty one years of age and cit
liens of the United States, the basis,
of representation shall be reduced in
proportion TO the member of such male
inhabitants excluded from the right Of
suffrage. For instance, Pennsylvania
has a Negro population sufficient to
give her one member of Con-re--- Had
not the Negro inhabitants been count
ed in the last appOrtionment, Pennsyl-
vania would have had but twenty three
instead of twenty four members Of Con
gress. Now, if this amendment be a
dopted, Pennsylvania must either give
the Negroes the right to vote, or lose
one member of Congress. This rule
would operate still more severely upon
the Southern States. They would be
compelled to lose one third, at least, OF
their present representation i'll Con-
gresS, if they declined to confer the
right Of suffrage upon their Negroes.
/ On the other hand, if they choose to
give the Negroes theright tovote, they
would gain largely in representation,
as but three-ifJhs of the late slaves were
counted in the last Congressional APP
/ portionment. Hence, this section of
the Amendment compels, on the one
hand, and bribes, on the other. Its
whole purpose Is to induce the States,
/ North and South, to gire the Negroes
the right Of Suffrage. This, even she
who runs may read.
Such, then, is the plan Of "recon-
struction" presented by the Stevens
and Sumner Disunionists of the social
ed 'Republican" party. 1t is NEGRO
/ SUFFRAGE, or it is nothing. The
people must choose between it and the
unconditional Union policy of Presi-
dent Johnson, advocated and supported
/ by the Democratic party.
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