Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1867-09-25
From the Round Table (Rp)
Can we Educate tho Negr

Education is the only legitimate basis TOR
the suffrage. 1t is the haiti of men Sno
strain for notoriety by advocating extremes
to obscure by clouds of rhetoric tho simple
fundamental truths which ought, for the, sake
of good government, to be kept clearly IN
view. Americans are said to be habitually
dazzled by success and to despise histery, but
they cannot avert by ignoring the cQnse-
quences that reason and experience ensure as
results of a given line of policy. Nothing is
more Certain than that the lower the average
Intelligence of its electors, the lower will be
the character of representative assembly.
The character of our national government
has been sinkirg.for a quarter of century
in obedience to this law. The Congressional
standards of morality, intellect and culture
have deprecated in about the same relative
degree. Ignorant immigration, the corruption
of cities, the universal and debasing pursuit
of more wealth-in the absence of other at
tainable objects of anbition-aye among the
causes Of degeneracy which.intelllgent Peo-
pie cannot fail to see,. and which, il candid,
they freely admit. At this ,juncture, when
the weakness and dangers which substraet
from the benefits of our system are already
augmented to an alarming ,degree-a degree
which leads many of our wisest thinkers to
despair of the permanent success OF thai
system-it is deliberately proposed to take a
step which, by vastly increasing the collective
ignorance of constituencies, promises to ag-
grayate in similar ratio the evils thus de-
plored. tits proposed to admit to the frar-
chisc something like million Of colored men,
most of them emancipated slaves, and to leaV-
en- our already detcriorating national Assem-
bly, with the elements such q measure is cal
culated TO produce. That this can be done
and the national edifice still hold together fer
some time longer, may be possible. enough.
The discomfort that comes of conscious de-
gradation is, perhaps, an essential precursor
Of revolution, and community which ac-
cepts with complacency-or with cynical
apaghy--the presence in Congress of thieves,
gamblers, and pugilists, may assent to their
association with new members quite proba
bly, their superiors in morality il not in color.
of their skins. But tie Indifference which
might tolerate such condition Of thing
would be unlikely to last. Those WHO wish
to retain power seldom weigh or take heed Of
the ultimate consequences to others Of the
measures they adopt for the purpose. Til;
ignorance Of the great mass of American E2p
-trrs; prcu.ir ~, claim for them superiority
over tie commonalty of other nati9ns, on
subjects Of ctnology and historical analogy
i, almost as great as their ignorance Of polil-
iciul economy; and The exhaustion of great
war, the Stress Of iara.cisln, lie reluctance
Of the dominant party to forcgo anaht which
NAV prut.act its tenure: aud 4 certain SYM
ralhy for tic much wronged black race.
unite with this Ignorance to gain the pnpu!ar
assent to Z measure whose proportions and
significance the popular mind does not un-
dcrstaa1. But the instincts Of race are strong,
and with the uncducated they are apt 70 run
in.o bite: prejudice. The more We over
our representative assenby-and the pro.
cess seems !. graduated inevitabiity
greater tie risk that this prejudice, now hall
s;noihcrcd. viii burst forth into angry flames.
Waite Men will never consent, in the long
run, TO be ruled by black men; and The ccn-
nict once begua, where will it end, and
h3w
Amoug Certain classes Of inc community
hatred of the negro is universal passion-
passion which, at one time, under strong
and misguided excitement, led, in New York.
to icporabic cxcesscs. Whether right or
wrong, this passion exists. 1t may be sal
utary instinct, it may be an unreasoning PFC.
judcc; but be this as it may, the sentiment
must be taken into account by those who
would rightly calculate social forces or con-
sruct political innovations. Suppose, now, 10
the population of New York should be added
an equal numbcr Of negroes, or, to perfect
the intended analogy: greater number in
somc wards, a lesser in others, so that on the
whole the two races should be numerically
balanced. Suppose, further, the franchise to
be equally conferred upon al, The POLITICAL
result would then be what it is prcposcl TO
bring about iu some cf the States of the
Union. How long would it last in one case,
and how long is it likely TO last in the other?
Mr.. Lincoln, with his homely ssgacity, per-
ccired all the difficulties OF reply. lie has
left upon record distinct and explicit warn.
ings against the concession of suffrage 10
the black race. He knew the question must
arise, that lis decision in The affirmative would
be strongly in the interest Of the dominant
party, that such decision could never har.
moniously and peacefully be carried into ef-
feet; and to escape the difficulties Of the
problem he even contemplated Wholesale de-
por,alion. Are Our present Republican lead.
ers wiser than he? This will hardly be ad.
mi,ted, but the inference from their proposed
action must be that they think 80. Like
many others Of their counrymen, mcn like
Mr.. Wade appear to believe that because the
war is over ard tie Union preserved, the
Millennium is at hand. Perhaps it is; but
in the meantime mankind with their hopes
and fears, their passions and lhe;r interests
are Just what they were before. Immigration
is adding to the Proportions Of Ignorance and
stupidity among the laborins classes rather