Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1867-04-09
A Colored Mans View of the Situation.

We published yesterday, (says the Charles
ton Coayter,l q condensed report Of the pro-
ceedings Of a mass meeting Of the eolored peo-
pie, which was held in Columbia on Monday
last. For the edifcation of that class Of 'phi-
lanthropists" at the North, and their sporadic
missionaries in this military district, who hug
the delusion that the changed relations Of the
two classes OF our people will engender an ire
pressible conflict, we take pleasure in reprodu-
cling from one of our Columbia exchanges full
report of the speech Of Beverly Nash colored
citizen, with the brief reportorial introduction,
as follows: GAS a matter of curiosity we give
his speech uerbatine, merely smoothing off the
accent and pronunciation:
Fel1ow- Cftizens-I have been taken somewhat
by surprise, and am not prepared to say all that
I want to on this OCCASION but we know what
we have come here for. We have come to Gel
ebrate the right of age-the one thing need
full to place us on a common platform as clti-
zens The question has been asked whether
we are prepared for this condition Of things or
not do not blame our people for their doubts
on this subject, because our former condition
was calculated to make them doubt; but wheth
er we are prepared or rot, we are now entitled
to vote under the recent law. | must confess
that do not like that law in all respects, be-
cause it disfranchises gentlemen in whom we
have more confidence than anybody else, and
forbids them to represent our country as it
shouio, ne re,,~esAnted in the councils of the
people. My doctrine is that every man, .erh ~..er
taxes, is entitled to vote It is matter of pub
lie policy what we should be, because there is
dlscontented element in our midst, composed
of the ignorant people Of both classes, which
would be greatly disturbed if they were pre-
vented by convention of the State from exer-
cising the right to vote, and we should have
revolution in tea-kettle. For the purpose Of
peace and quiet, therefore, in our State, L want
to see everybody vote except the women |
believe, my friends and fellow citizens, we are
not prepared for this suffrage. But we can
to use them, and, in time, he will learn trade.
So it is with voting. We may not understand
it at the start, but, in time, we shall learn to do
our duty.
It has been said that Calhoun was master of
South Carolina, Clay the dictator OF Kentucky,
and Webster the emperor Of Massachusetts,
But hereafter we are to vote for principles not
men. And we have good >men in our midst;
men we can trust; men who are our friends,
and have proved by their acts, that they are
the friends Of the State. In these gentlemen
aoe mast haze confidence, uatI they haze proued
that they do not deserve it. do not believe that
reason aoith him about these things, aoiW not
agree eoith aohat Isay. Werecognize the South
ern ao7site man as the true friend Of the black
man. You see upon that banner the words,
limited we stand, divided We fall;'' and if
YOU could see the seal Of the society which that
banner represents, you would find the white
man and the black man standing with their
arms locked together, as type of the friend
ship and the union which we desire. We feel
that the white man has not understood the
black man as the black man has understood the
white man; and if the citizens OF South Caro-
lima had all acted after the close Of the war as
these gentlemen have done to-day, and spoken
their kind sentiments as freely, our State would
not regret the loss of twenty-thousand colored
citizens. who have gone abroad because they
had not sufficient confidence to stay
After the remarks we have heard to-day, we
believe there is better time coming. Twelve
months ago Mr.. Gibbes said 'Fellow-citizens,
we are willing to meet you half way" and we
are glad to say that the representatives and
nublic men Of Richland district have done so on
the present occasion. We feel that we are un-
derstood here, and we believe that colored men
will hereafter enjoy the rights and privileges
which now belong to their race There as Tess
prejudice here, less prejudice eue,yuhere South
of the Potomac against the colored man, then
IS North Of IT. Applause. saw in Wash
ington, few days ago, men more violently op-
posed to our advancement than any gentleman
here; and we knew that the States of New
Ham pshire, Ohio, and perhaps some Others
have refused that political equality which exists
and has been accorded in South Carolina. It
is our duty, therefore, to identity ourselves with
to manhood Many Of u.s.. white and black,
have been brought up together; we love the
people we respect their honor; we know their
worth; and I ask whether, under these circum-
stances, having the power to do SO, we ought
not to petition Congress to remove the disabili-