The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-05-20
THE coLonED VOTE.

we publish, because 1t ls accompanied by q Ger
liicnte from the Collector of Beaufort that its
writer is citizen Of rcspeotability aud iuflu-
ence, and because it is the first direct commu-
nicntion to us from that class of voters whom
its writer claims to represent:
HHToS HEAD, 8. o.,l
Nay 18th, 1867.
To he Editor Of the Daily Ne,cs
sn:-I note your article on Registration"
in your Yesterdays issue, and am willing to strike
hands on it, but niue. observer it comports but
i'll with your contemptuous mention Of tho Union
Convention. II in good faith and from conviction
you accept tho platform OF equal rights. for I'll,
irrespective Of race. color, or preyouB condition
why these snocrs and expressions Of hate to-
wards tho Radicals, the enlightened Of said
"plntform2" U, rr#1rq,
Those discrepancies on your part, and tho un-
disguised bitterness Of tho Mercury, E hoo genus
oane arc forcing us into tho arms tor nets, rath.
cr) OF doubtful oharaoters from tho North, who
now infest tho South and seek 10 swallow up
everything, whito or blaok in their insatiato
they cit upon tho fonoo, and having no
principle, savo ihat Of making money aro ready
to jump to side or tho other, according to the
prospects OF spoR. II you really in earnest, If
you can only convince US land We are very suspi-
cious) that you accept the Petersburg Platform in
good faith, wo will gladly join our efforts with
yours TO enforce it on tho North (some will Bit
tcrly say commend the poisoned ohalice to
their own lips p but VIC will any, sauce, good for
the Southern goose, must bo equally good
for the Northern gander), and to procure
Southern Office for Southern mon, the only prac-
tical issues for of all horrors and abomlnntious
tho most horrible and nbomnable to us is that un-
natural reptile, tho Northern copperhead.
Let mo not te misundorstood, spe,k Of local
offices only; for tho present
GEORGE CURTIS,
President Ethiopian Union Republican
Association, Hilton Head, and
Chairman Provisional Committee.
Our first suggestion TO our correspondent
would be TO change tho namo of the associa-
tion over which he presides, "The Ethiopian
Union Republican Association" Is entirely too
suggestive of ethiopian Seronalers." who, we
oil know, are white men with blackeued faces,
whose trado it is for money to initiate negro
customs and .e1aggerate negro, Pcculiaritics
Several bands of such performers have recent
ly made their appearance ON the political
stage, beating the Radical banjo, and singing
"Dis nigger is do chilo
What can read, write and cipher"
It is high time, 'weg think, for che oolored
selves, and TO repudiate the sympalhy which is
as dirty and slippery as the lamp -black and oil
with which the performers Radicali1e and
Africaniro themselves. i*-.s .-.: rs
1t is, therefore, because the certificate which
accompanies this letter justifes US in believing
that tho writer really represents himself and
his people that We proceed 10 answer the
questions he puts us. IA, rt
We must soy, however, by way of preface,
that the writer is mistaken in supposing that
the "Nereury Ct hoe omne genus" manifest any
"undiaguised bitterness" as to the, new privi-
legcs Of the freedmen. The Mercury, and The
very large and respectable body of citizens
whom 1t Represents, think universal suffrage
very dangerous experiment, and do not re-
cognize the constitutionality Of the law by
which IL was enacted. But the Mercury, and
every other representative press in this State,
have recognized the fact that universal suffrage
is now established, and that il is the part of
justice and wisdom 10 adapt ourselves to this
new condition, and to work together with the
colored voters for the good OF the whole State.
And when oil this merely political agitation
begins to subside and the Radical party having
used the colored vote for its own purpose,
leaves the negro to the labor of his daily life.
tho President Of the Ethiopian Union Associa-
tion will fad that his education and intelli-
gcnco will separate him much further from the
mass of ignorant and unintelligent negroes
than it does from his white fellow-citizens.
The principle of the editorial to which he
refers and upon which he processes his readi-
ness "to strike hands" is simply this: Tint
TO all citizens, the honors, the privileges, the
duties of citizenship, are alike common, and
that the question whether man shall dis
charge duty, enjoy o privilege, or wear an
honor, is not whether he is black or white, but
whether he is citizen and fit for, the position.
Upon; that principle we are willing to stand.
but IL o citizen cannot be excluded from his
privilege beeauee heiis black, he cannot claim
an office because he IS black, and tho man who
appeals to the oitiIens Of this state to vote for
q man because he is black is violating this prin-
cipie just as much as one who calls upon his
fellow-citizens to vote against man because
he is black. In other words, hereafter in
all political questions the element Of race md
color Is to be entirely disregarded i1y.l q
While re hold this in common with eyery
thinking man In the South, s.in good faith and |
from conviction" I've protest against the course
OF the Radical party because, thcy are acting |
in direct contradiction to II. They ore not an.
pealing to the voters of tho South as citizens,
they arc appealing to them as blacks. Thoy |
lre deliberately exciting prejudices which, II
excited, must and will deyelope into angry and
bitter passion. They call upon the black yoto
II tho State to join them against the while
'ote, and that upon the ground Of their former
slavery. Let US take an illustration from Tho
section Of country in which. The writer of this |
etter himself lives. n'E''. ~ !.
In ST. Helena Parish before the war we will
suppose there were Ave thousand slaves 10 two |
,undred owners. For the establishment Of |
his slavery the owners were in NO wise rospon-
'ible, and their energies and capital were ex-
'ended 10 Develop by this labor the lands which
hey owned. IN doing this, we think ali intel.
lgent eolored men will admit that, as a general
'ule, their conduct was humane and that tbe
condition Of their laborers 40 lsb5rers WAS su.
'erior TO any other population in The world doing
ne same work * Now the ownership in thssc
laSes has been abolished, The exolusiy. pol,ioal
'ower belonging TO the former owl srs la bson
lbrooated The Ava tbar.. :, II