The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-10-01

Al governments arc intcndo'l TO produce the
greatest amount Of gpod to their citizens, then
The government Of tho United States unrler tho
rais OF thu now dominant party hns entirely
failed: eight millions of whites are o-,lay ell
shaved. 0ne-fourtL of the white population of
the country to-day bows down before military
master.
The plea for this is that four millions Of
blacks must not be ."serfs aud outcasis" If
this statement were true, il would be difficult
TO answer, though even then the question might
be asked if the gain Of liberty OF four mil
lions OF blacks Is worth the loss Of the liberty
Of eight times that number of white men. The
statement however is entirely false, as those
who make il, know. There is not and cannot
be single slave in the South There are no
persons today in nny Southern State who are
deprived of appeRling 10 tho Courts Of the
country. No man in the land being deprived of
tho privilege Of suing for Tho recovery Of his
rights; oil men arc to-day equally free to
1.-Two in comfort orto starve as they may prefer
| either to work or 10 remain idle If The Con-
stitution wore observed there could be no up-
preston. and consequently no slaves, serfs or
| outcnsis.
IL must not, however. be forgotten TINT civil
| liberty does not necessarily imply u right in
| all persons 10 vote. In no political society ,lo
| women or children vote, and yet the women
and children are surely not considered either
| scrfs or outcasts. In England, to-day, in spite
| of tho recent sweeping Reform, u large part of
| the population do not vote at NIL. anu yet il
cannot he pretended that The hun,blesl English
| man is not in tho enjoyment Of the highest pos
| slble liberty, heing safe nnd fully protected in
| the enjoyment of life, liberty aud prosperity
In the Southern States to-dny, eight millions
| Of whites arc IN the name Of liberty mnde
"scrfs in tho land of their birth" In the
name of liberty, the effort is hciug made To turn
oTor ten Stfqis to negro rule. This may he
disguised as much as possible by the Radical
| leaders. They may cry out that labor is
| always the servant Of capital, aud that brnin
will always be the master Of brute force This
| is far from being always true. Labor and
| capital have olnshod before now, aud the
| contest has been bitter and bloody, and in that
| contest capital und intellect have mol always
| succeeded.
Men who but yesterday were slaves igno-
them. separating them from the other races of
the world, are to,dny given tho ballot. The
| question is never asked if this will produce
liberty or license. No two races of nearly
equal numbers, enjoying tho samc political
! rights, ever havo lived side by side iu har-
| mony, without amalgamation. Races as oppo-
site as are the white and black race, cannot
amalgamnte, but if they havo equal political
| rights, constant conflict must be carried on
| for supremacy, ending in the humiliation Of
| the one or the other, or in war of races,
| stopped by some strong hand seizing the reins
| of government.
II is vain for us to speak Of conciliation. The
black man and the white man to-day may both
desire il. but the law is fix ed that members Of
the snmo rnco will and must cling together.
| Tho line of demarkation may not Jet he made,
though there are dcmagogues who are striving
10 effect this purpose, and how nearly it may
be effected, it is impossible to say. Past i'm
pressions cling to the negro as we'll as to the
white man, but with political ambition deyel-
oped, each race will endeavor to drive the
| other from power. The question must eventn-
| oily bo one Of tho control of State Governments
| In this State, the negroes registered compared
| to the while men, are Us two to one. Among
| tho white men excluded from political position,
are both the ablest and tho most experienced
| in the State. Viii not tho negro sooner or
! later attempt to take that mastery TO which he
is entitled, if the doctrines OF tho ruling partv
are truc? Will no, this attempt be as danger
Gus TO tho liberty OF the whito man ms il must
surely be to the liberty of Tho negro. Is il not
| the first and the inevitable step towards
troubles which may affect this country for
generations 10 come, which may destroy its
prosperity, and deprive il permanently of its
liberty2
There is another result which must uecrsss-
rily follow negro suffrage" in the South, if il
| is insisted on by tho North. The acts of Con-
| gress by which it i. being forced on this Sec
tion, are clearly unconstitutional. The Radi-
cal leaders who have any honesty, all admit
his If tho Radical programme is successful
precedent is established which mus, result in
the overthrow Of constitutional liberty through
the whois country. The party in power justify
their course, on tho ground that il is favorable
to liberty. If liberty means the overthrow of
ait coustitutiouui cnSCkS, tnSn Ii tncir action
| In favor of liberty. If liberty means shame
| less violation of constitutional obligations,
then is it the party Of liberty. If, however,
| liberty means the production of the greatest
amount Of happiness, then the party which
would violate the rights of thirty-two millions
of people, is certainly the party of iespotisn,
Tho party which would degrade States for the
purpose Of obtaining and retaining political
! power, cannot certainly bo called the party
either of liberty or ofprogrcss. Josiah Qurx-
| oY, who ought to be good authority, in New
England, declared long ago in Congress,
| that two limits exist to the power of The
| national legislature" Nature and the Con-
stituion." In the same speech he also said,
| "Lct legislators beware lest by the very
nature of thoir laws, they weaken that senti-
ment Of respect for them so necessary to be
| inspired, and SO difficult to be reinstated when
| il has once been driven from the mind"
The Radical party will and, if possible, i'll
| tend to violate both nature and the Constitu
| tioh Nature, in throwing Two races into
Political and social antagonism, and the Con-
| stitntion, in forcing first the South and after
wards the North, 10 adopt such system of koy-
ernment as may suit tho whim, will or passion