Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1867-12-06


blacks Of the South are not only regardless
Of tho rights Of property, but so utterly
ignorant of public affairs that their voting
can consist in nothing more than carrying
ballet to the place where they are directed
to deposit it. Il need not remind you that
the exercise Of the elective franchise is the
highest attribute Of an American citizen, and
that, when guided by virtue, intelligence,
patriotism, and proper appreciation Of our
free institutions, it constitutes the true asis
ola democratic form Of government, in which
the sovereign power is lodged in the body of.
the people. A trust arti6rially created. not
Flor its own sake, but solely as means Of
promoting the general welfare, its influence
for good must necessarily depend upon the
elevated character and true allegiance of the
elector. 1t ought therefore to be reposed in
none except those who arc fitted morally and
mentally to. administer it we'll for if confer
red upon persons who do not justly estimate
its vlauc and who are Indifferent as to its re-
suits it will only serve as means Of placing
power in the hands Of the unprincipled and
ambitious, and must eventuate in the COM
plete destruction of that liberty of which it
should be the most powerful conservator.
have therefore heretofore urged upon your
attention the great danger ito be apprehen-
ded from an untimely extension Of the cleo
tive franchise to any new class in our coun-
try, especially when the large majority Of
that class, in welding the power thus placed
in their bands. cannot be expected correctly
to comprehend the duties and responsibilities
which pertain to suffrage. Yesterday, as it
were, fouf-mi!lions Of persons were held in a
condition of slavery thu I had existed for gen
erations.; to-day they are freemen. and are
assumed by law to be citizens. 1t cannot be
! presumed, from their previous condition Of
servitude, that, as q class, they are as we'll
informed as to the nature of our Government
as the intelligent foreigner who makes our
land the home of his choice In The case Of
the latter, neither residence Of five years,
and the knowledge Of our Institutions which
it gives, nor attachment to the principles Of
the Constitution, are the only conditions upon
! which he can be admitted to citizenship He
must prove, in addition, good moral char
acter, and thus give reasonable ground for
/ the belief that he will be faithful to the obi
/ cations which be assumes as citizen Of the
Republic. Where a people-the source Of
| all political power by their SURFACES,
through the fundamentally of the hallot-box,
it must be carefully guarded against the con-
troll Of those who are corrupt in principle and
enemies Of free institutions, for it can only
become to our political and social system a
safe conductor Of healthy popular sentiment
when kept free from delnoralizing influence.
Controlled, through fraud and usurpation,
by the designing, anarchy and despotism
must inevitably follow In the hands Of the
patriotic and worthy, our Government will
be preserved upon the principles Of the Con-
stitution inherited from our fathers. It fol-
lows, therefore, that in admitting to the bal
lot-box new class Of voters not qualified
I for the exercise Of the elective Franchise, we
weaken our systens of government instead
| of adding to its strength and durability. p
II yield to no one in attachment to that rule
Of general suffrage which distinguishes our
policy as a nation. But there is a limit.
wisely observed hitherto. which makes the
ballot privilege and trust. and which re-
quires of some classes a time suitable for
probation and preparation. TO give it in
discriminatory to new class, wholly unpre-
/ pared, bv previous habits and opportunities.
4 to perform the trust which it demands, is to
degrade it, and finally to destroy its power !;
! for it may be safely assumed that no politi-
cal truth is better established than that such
indiscriminate and all-embracing extension
of popular suffrage must end at last in its
overthrow and destruction.
/ repeat the expression Of my willingness
to join in any plan within the scope of our
constitutional authority which promises to
better the condition of the negroes of the
South, by encouraging them in industry ,en-
frightening their minds, improving their NOR
ais, and giving protection to all their just
rights as freedmen But the transfer Of our
political Inheritance to them would, in my
opinion, be an abandonment of duty which
we owe alike to the memory of our fathers
and the rights of our children
The plan of putting the Southern States
! wholly, and the General Government par
TALLY, into the hands Of negroes, is proposed
at time peculiarly unpropitious. The
foundations of society have been broken up
by civil war. Industry must be reorganized,
justice re-establishcd public credit maintain
ed, and order brought out of confusion. To
accomplish these ends would require all the
| wisdom and virtue Of the great men who
| formed our institutions originally. conf
IDENTIFY believe that their descendants will be
equal to the arduous task before them, but
it is worse than madness to expect that ne
groes will perform it for US. Certainly we
ought not to ask their assistance until. we
despair Of our competency. Tci
| The great difference between the two ra-
ces in physical, mental and moral character
istics will prevent an ANAL gamation or fusion
Of them together in one homogeneous mass.
! If the inferior obtains the ascendency over
the other, it will govern with reference only
| to its own interests-for it will recognize no
common iuterest-and create such a tyran-
ny. as this continent has never witnessed. =
Already the negroes are influenced by pro-
misses OF confscation and plumber. They are
taught to regard as an enemy every white
man who has any respees for the rights Of
his own race If this continues, it must be-
come worse and worse antil an order will
-