Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1867-04-02
The Colored People of Virginia.

There must be something radically wrong il
the head or heart Of any man who could view
without much admiration, the general demeano
of the colored people of this Commonwealth
during and since the war. We merely expires
the feeling of every fair-minded man, when W.
pay willing tribute to the fidelity, honesty anC
diligence with which they discharged their dutie
as slaves, while their masters were absent in tn,
field, and to the extreme moderation with which
when let alone, they conducted themselves, il
the change from their servile condition to thei
present state of freedom
When we remember these facts, we gather
confidence that, in the discharge of the new
duties thrust upon them by the late action o.
Congress, they will disappoint the hopes of those
who are now desirous to see that conflict Of race.
begun which the war failed to excite The gooc
conduct, to which we have alluded, entities tht
colored people of Virginia to expect, at thu
hands of the whites, 1air-more than fair-treat
ment in the new civil relation. Itjustifes then
IN expecting generous and friendly confidence
frank and open dealing, and the best and mos
disinterested counsel.
! To that end, it behooves both races to recall
| some facts which will go far to show how each
stands to the other:
l.. The colored people should remember thai
| the late war was not waged by the North to sci
them free. This is capable of the clearest proof
MIR: WADE, the present president of the Senate
| and the man relied on to take Mr.. JoHNsoN's
place, IN the event of impeachment, said, on the
18th OF December, 1860, after South Carolina
had seeded:
81 do not blame the people of the South, be.
| cause think they have been led to believe that
We, to-day, the dominant party, are their mortal
foes, and stand ready to trample their institu-
tions under foot
Mr.. LINCOLN, in his inaugural address, on
| the 4th of March, 1861, said
Il have no purpose, directly OR indirectly, to
interfere with the Institution of slavery in the
States where it exists. [ believe | have nc
lawful right to do so; and l haze no INCLINATION
to do so"
Immediately after the first battle of Manassas,
Congress passed, almost unanimously, the fol
lowing resolution:
Resolued, That the war is waged by the Gov
| ernment Of the United States, not in the spirit
OF conquest or subjugation, nor for the purpose
OF Overtlroaoang or Interfering aoih the rights on
institutions of the States"
These extracts might be largely multiplied,
but they suffice to prove that the North did not
enter this war to free the slaves It is historical
ly true, that no attempt was made at general
emancipation until it was discovered that the
whites could not be enslaved without freeing the
blacks.
The Yankees simply made use Of the South
ern negro to help them out of a difficulty that
they had not the skill to deliver themselves from.
The North, therefore, deserves no credit for the
act, nor does Mr.. LINCOLN, who reluctantly,
and only after much protest, agreed to issue the
Emancipation Proclamation.
2. The colored people should remember that,
In majority of those Northern States in
which the Republican party controls the gov
ernment, the blacks are denied the rights oi
citizenship to-day. And they should remember
that four Northern States have recently resolv-
ed, by large votes not to extend suffrage to the
colored people-to keep them out of the pale Of
citizenship, although their numbers are so few
that they could have no influence in the elections
and although the negroes thus disfranchiseo
have long been free and educated, and in some
cases wealthy This shows the hollowness and
hypocrisy of the pretended friendship of the
Republican party.
3. The colored people of the South should
remember that for generations to come, probably
forever, the great majority of their brethren
must be dependent for employment on their ole
masters snd hirers, the resident white people Of
the South; that these will be their neighbors
and friends, as for many years they have been,
when the few soldiers that are here shall be
withdrawn, and the reign of law shall be resum
ed. The strangers that may come among you
endeavorlng. to excite hostility between you and
the whites, have no interest in you, or in the
State Of which the act of Congress declares you
voters. They come to ask your help to main
tain in power party which imposes in one yeal
more taxes on you, than your true friends levied
in the past fifty. When they have used you
they will turn their backs on you-like these
Freedmen's bureau officers, who tempted yor
to work on their plantations and cheated you
out OF your wages.
And the whites will do we'll to remember that
for all the infamies of existing legislation, the
negroes are as little accountable as they are fol
their freedom that the blacks are now, anc
must long continue to be, the fixed laborine
population of the State that if the good people
of Virginia do not instruct them in their rights
inform them as to their duties, and convey tC
them such intelligence as to current question:
as they are capable ofreceiving, the incendiarie
who thirsted so eagerly, during the war, to SCI
a war of determination waged by the blacks Oh
the whites, will fill their minds with their fata
poison, in the hope that their taste for oul
blood not yet satiated, may be gratifed abun
dainty.
Both parties can easily see that nothing bu
mischief, the suspension of employment, tht
decay ofagriculture especially, poverty, distress
and the ultimate destruction of one party or th'
other, can follow fixed resolution to substitute
enmity for harmony between them.
He who counsels this, is no friend to eithe
race.-Rich Examiner
ADvICE.-In these times, public men, ant
some OF the newspapers, are volunteering
1opS j. IL