Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-09-27
CAN WE EDUCATE THE NEGRO:

The suffrage. 1t IS the habit OF men VINO
strain for notoriety by advocating extremes
to obscure by clouds of rhetoric the simple
fundamental truths which ought, for the !
sake of good government, to be kept clear
" in view. Americans are said to be hab-
itually dazzled by success and to despise |
history, but they cannot avert, by ignor-
ing the consequences, that reason and ex-
perience ensue as results of q given line
of policy. Nothing is more certain than
that the lower the average Intelligence OF
it's electors, the lower will Sc the character
of q representative assembly. The charac-
ter of our National Government has been
sinking for quarter of a century In obe-
dience to this law. The CONFESSIONS!
of morality, intellect, and cul-
ture have deprecated in about the same
relative degree. Ignorant immigration,
the corruption of cities, the universal and
debasing pursuit of mere wealth-in the
absence of other attainable objects of am
bition-are among the causes of degen-
eracy which intelligent people cannot fail
to see, and which, if candid, they freely
admit. At this juncture, when the weak
nesses and dangers which subtract from
the benefits of our system are already aug
mentel to an alarming degree-a degree
which leads many of our wisest thinkers
to despair Of the permanent success of that
system-it is deliberately proposed to take
a step which, by vastly increasing the col
lective Ignorance of constituencies, prOml-
ses to aggravate in q similar ration the evils
thus deplOred. 1t is proposed to admit to
the franchise something like million of
coiored men, most of them emancipated
slaves, and to leaven our already deteriora
ting national assembly with the elements
such a measure is calculated to produce
That this can be done, and the national
edifce still hold together for some time
longer, may be possible enough. The dis
content that comes of conscious degrade
ton is, perhaps, an essential precursor Of
revolution, and community which accepts
with cOmplaceEcy--or with cynical apathy
the presence in Congress Of thieves,
gamblers and pugilists, nay assent to their
association with new members quite proba-
bly, their superiors in morality, if not in
the color of their skins. But the difference
which might tolerate such condition of
things would be unlikely to last. Those
who wish to retain Pc yer seldom weigh Or
take heed of the ultimate consequences to
others OF the measures they adopt for the
purpose. The ignorance of the great mass
Of American vOters-even if we claim for
them superiority over the commonality of
other nations-on subjects of ethnology
and historical analogy, is almost as great
as their Ignorance Of political economy;
and the exhaustion of great war, the
stress OF fanaticism, the reluctance of the
dominant party to fOrego aught which may
protect It's tenure, and certain sympathy
for the much wronged black race, unite
with this ignorance to gain the popular as
sent to measure whose proportions and
significance the popular mind does not IN
derstand. But fthe instincts of race are
strong and with the uneducated they are
apt to run into bitter prejudice. The more
we lower representative assembly -and the
process seems q graduated inevitability-
the greater the risk that this prejudice,
now half smothered, will burst into angry
flames. White men will never consent, in
the long run, to be ruledby black men; and
the conflict once begun, where will it end,
and how
Among certain classes of the community, !
hatred for the negro is a universal passion
Il passion which at one time under strong
and misguided excitement, led in New
York, to deplerable excuses. Whether
right or wrong, this passion exists. Itmay
be a salutary instinct, it may be an unrea-
sonable prejudice but be this as it may, !
the sentiment must be taken into account |
by those who would rightly calculate social
forces Or construct political Innovations
Suppose, now, to the population of New
York should be added an equal number of
negroes OF, to perfect the intended analo-
9y, q greater numberln some wards, alesser
IN others, SO that on the whole the two
races should be numerically balanced. Sup I
pose, further, the franchise to be conferred |
equally upon all. The political result would
then be what it is proposed to bring about
in some of 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 sagacity, per-
ceived all the difficulties of Il reply. He |
has left upon record distinct and explicit
against the concession of the suf- |
frage to the black race. He knew the ques-
ton must arise that its decision in the af-
tirmative would be strongly in the interest
Of the dominant party; that such decis-
ion coull never tremendously and peace
fully be carried into effect and to escape
the difficulties of the problem, he contem-
plated wholesale deportation. Are our pre-
sent Republican leaders wiser than he p
This will hardly be admitted, but the in
ference from their proposed action must be
that they think so. Like many others OF
their cOuntrymen, men like Mr.. Wade,
appear to believe that because the war is
over, and the Union preserved, the Millen-
alum Is at hand. Perhaps 1T is but IN the
mankind, with their hopes and
sears, their passions and their interest, are
ust what they were before. immigration
S adding to the proportion of ignorance
md stupidity among the laboring classes
'ather faster than education is diminishing
hem, and in this respect we are worse, not
better, off than before the war-which is
lot condition favorable to the division of
political power between antagonistic races;
out otherwise, save in q growing popular
mpatience of constitutional restraints, or
ather, perhaps, We should say, growing
popular; indifference to their disregard by
public men, we are substantially unchanged /
The number of people who hate slavery
without loving the negro is probably what
t was five years ago-no more, no less
The speciops plea that the black man must
Dc armed with vote for self protection is
perhaps more generally believed in than
heretofore that this means the protection
II the Radical party may be less commonly
inspected. Our own conviction has been,
md still is, that just as slavery did more
larm IF less wrong) to the whites than to
he blacks, SO will the franchise in black
lands do more harm to the latter than the
Ormer. The experiment NAV not end. as