The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-10-11

ment of its own hlstory--tbat civil war is the
sum and contamination of all human woe,
Protesting solemnly the integrity of motive by
which was then actuated, yet I never recall
the names OF the noble men who fell In our con.
f1ict; l never look abroad upon our wasted
fields and desolated homes; never contemplate
the allembracing ruin in which we are in.
volved, the sad collapse of our liberties, and the
sinister aspect of the future, without inwardly
resolving to dedicate all possess of ability 70
the public service to the task OF avering aaother
such catastrophe, and to that end OF cultivatng
a spirit of forbearance and good feeling among
all classes and all sections of the country.
These, my dear sir, are the opinions, very
briefly and dogmatically delivered, which l
entertain touching the actual condition of the
Southern States, and the policy proper for them
TO pursue in the present luncture. They arc the
result of anxious and conscientious reflection,
of much observation on the popular temper of
the North, and of extreme and unabated solicit
tude for the welfare of the community to which
l am attached by the strongest ties of flial
devotion.
With the utmost sincerity of conviction, l
believe that by a system of conduct in conform
ity to these suggestions the Southern people may
achieve prosperity aud happiness equal to any
they ever enjoyed while, on the contrary, | am
as firmly persuaded that by vain and impa-
tient resistance to an order of things they can
not change, and to destiny they cannot escape,
they will infinitely aggravate the miseries of
their present condition, and beside bring down
upon themselves calrmities appalling to con-
fCatiOn of parties, but IT these opinions make
one radical, - then am q radical" for they
are deliberately the opinions of
Yours, very truly, ROGER A. PRYOR.
Radical View Of the October Election
From the nti-SlaUery Standard Of this Ueek
1t seems probable that the elections in Penn
sylvania and Ohio yesterday were substantial
triumphs for the negro-hating Democracy. We
are not surprised at this result though the loss
especially, of the amendment in Ohio we greatly
deplore. it puts in still greater jeopardy our
own, in this State, whenever it shall be sub.
mitted for vote; 1t endangers a similar
amendment now pending in Kansas, and more
than all, it will affect very unavorably the still
unsettled problem of the political relations of
the negro IN the final reconstruction at the
South With the large registration of whites,
though the actual majority vote cast may call
for convention, is likely, in several States, to
be minority OF all those reg istered, aud there
fore Intellectual. In this way Congressional
reconstruction is to be again checkmated. What
greater encouragement do negro-hating South
erners need than the adverse vote of Ohio, with
such President in the White House, to do all
they possibly can to resist the establishment of
government in the South which shall place the
blacks upon an equality with the whites?
We do not doubt the ultimate complete tri-
umph OF our cause. But we see in the timid
and shiftless man9uvring of Republican mana
gers criminal blundering which, If 1t involved
only themselves in disappointment, we should
not particularly regret. But in the two political
divisions created by the circumstances of the
revolution through which we are passing, it is
the misfortune of the situation that their crlmi-
nal folly lnfiicts needless and most cruel suffer
Ing even unto death, or living tortures worse
than death, upon thousands of victims, white
and black, throughout the South, and greatly
embarrasses the progress of our cause i'll the
North. The Republicans of Massachusetts, in
their late Worcester Convention, over which MIR.
Wilson presided, paved the way for the Ohio
defeat by their non-committal attitude in regard
to negro suffrage as a vitality important ques-
tion. Such course was but part OF the VIII
SON .Fessendcn Republican policy.
The Republicans of this State resolved dea-
nitely and uuqu6lidedly in favor OF negro sui
frage; but the action of the representatives OF
the party at the Albany Convention, In post
poning the subject beyond the November
election, neutralizes the moral effect OF the
| Syracuse resolution. The Republicans OF
Pennsylvania meanly lodged the issue, the
significance of which, as connected with ma
| tional politics, they fully understood. Their
action invited the defeat which they richly
deserve. The Republicans OF Ohio, in greater
| degree than its spurious Democracy, are respon-
sible for the ignominious defeat OF the national
| issue in their canvass just closed. In most
| disreputable manner they refused 6rst TO submit
| the question at all, and then, in view OF what
| Congress, under military rule, dictated tor the
South, they felt constrained to reconsider their
| previous action, and to change front in the
face of the enemy. With this manifest timidity
and insincerity, they were in no condition to win
| victory.
In all this an absolute necessity is made ap-
| parent for continued hard work on the part OF
| all abolitonists and sincere radicals everywhere
| 1t is demonstrated that our cause cannot be
| safely entrusted to political adventures, how
ever loud their professions of fidelity to the doc
| tTne of negro equality. Radical, persistent
| agitation must be continued. Under the opera,
| tions of the war power we have made rapid
| strides. That power is not, and ought not to be-
perpetual in q free Government. If, as the heal
of battle subsidies, it is found that the average
| opinion of the country is below the point
to which, in the direction Of freedom
for the negro, the war carried US, We
opinion Churches and the clergy are as formerly
for the most part, but make-weights or posi-
! tive drag, where they should be foremost II
| leading the nation in the light of immutable
| fundamental Christian principles through IL
! present difficult and dangerous pass. The grea
battle for permanent freedom and equal politi
cal rights for the negro is TO be fought in the
year before us. The elections of yesterday anC
those of next month will be as a preliminary
engagement, "What might have been," ar
among the saddest words.
Had Congress met its responsibilities prompt,
and in straightforward manner by long agC
removing johnson and guaranteeing negro suf
fraee, without equivocation, in its Legislation
upon reconstruction, the present untoWard de
feat and others foIeshadoWed might have beer
avoided. Will 1t be admOnished at the "eleventl
houI" 1t is one of the most threatening danger
OF the Republican defeat of yesterday that ii
the Presidential campaign which will open mex
summer, the standard bearer Cf that party vii
be such, from supposed availability, as woul
render victory in itself disaster. Better de fea
with standard which deserves success thai
victory only in the name. WENDELL PHILLIPS
Mr.. Francis Lacombe, the author of
"HistOry of Monarchy in Europe" has jus
died.