The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1867-04-11
Now is the Accepted Time.

will state that our notion Of abstract
rights is yielded to the logic Of events
which has forced the conviction upon
the minds of many that We must bow
to the imperial mandate of a tyrannical
congress anda worse State Govern
ment, and under all the circumstances
make the best we can of TIN situation.
There is much in the following article
which will strike the readers of the
Home Journal as powerful fact forced
upon us by unavoidable necessity
Says the Picayune:
We have urged our people to no
longer indulge in any false squcamisI,
ness about accepting the negro as with
themselves a voter, and to indulge in
no hesiiancy as to his competency or
qualifications. Whether we vote or
not, he will; and those who refuse,
from the most false Of all species of
pride, to vote also, will deserve, if they
do not have it visited upon them, the
execrations ofall those who, being os
tracised by Congress, are dependent
upon the resolute promptness Of their
fellow citizens for salvation from fur
ther dcpri sation of their natural rights.
The man who would refuse to plow
his land with u mule, because he pre-.
ferred horse and could not get one,
or TO permit 4 carpenter to mend his
broken table when there was no cabinet
maker near, or to walk the same street
which u black man uses, may we'll com
nit such folly. Such man ought,
perhaps, to have no vote, for he has
no discretion. But man who is in
different whether = white hand or o
black one has dug the ground which
grows his vegetables, or white or
black cook prepared his meal, ought
to have no weakness of the stomach
because when he puts in his vote, II
black mans ballot has gone in before
his or another one puts in oIe just
after.
1t is ridiculous for any one to pre-.
tend that he is lowered or dis 5raced by
going to the polls with q negro when
he crowds in at the general delivery
with him to get letter at the Post or
fee. Is it because the negro is cxer-
cising political influence and control by
his vote? You will surrender this
altogether to him and to those who re-
main at the South only to dcspoil you,
and to work him as means to Zurich
themselves, if you do not vote. You
must either give up this control of all
your affairs to the negro and the Rad
ical, or exercise jointly with him the
duty of suffrage. There is no time
lett you for reflective judgment. 1t is
now or never. II you do not step up
now to the polls and secure share in
the government of the State, it can be
so organized that you never will.
If the negro has prcjudices which
leads him to Radical camps, it is very
much your fault that this is the CASE
You might have prevented this easily
by putting him in congressional seats
when emancipation was forced upon
you, and by yourself then giving him
the right of suffrage in anticipation Of
the effort to force it on you as an I'M
pleasant dose. Had you done so, the
North would have been ready to wage
another war to prevent him from going
there, and you from placing him on an
with the men who come thence
to live among us.
This prejudice is also much increased
by the persistant undertaking of the
negro in some respects. The negro
has very quick wit, and can soon dis.
cover who are and who are not his
friends, if they will approach him. If
you keep aloof from him, and expect
him to find this ont intutively, his wit
may not be equal to it We do not ask
you to PROSTATE yourself before him as
the Radicals do, for that ought to in
sure both them. and such as act like
them, his contempt. But you can
show him that you mean to deal fairly
by him and you can do this in no more
suitable way than by promptly register
ing and voting at the first election held
under the law of Congress.
We have no reason to be afraid that
he will not give his adhesion to the in
tcres IS of the South. They are as much
his interests as ours. He cannot learn
what they are unless we show them to
him and invite and encourage him to
unite with in support Of them. He is
rs much Interested, for instance, in the
removal of the tax on sugar and cottol
as we are for his wages will be higher
if they are untaXed. So Of everything
else.
In our opinion, the action OF thu
North in giving the negro q vote nnt
political influence will do more to unite
the South in all matters of public ant
general interest than any other whicl
could have been devised. They hav'
done this in the hope Of dividing us ant
preserving present power; but the.
will find in the end that they have in
troduced into their fortress Trojal
horse, from whose bowels a myriad o
opponents to Northern policy an,
Northern power will emerge, which will
drive all vestiges Of it over the bleal
cliffs of New England. The irrepres'
ible conflict hss just begun.