The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-12-03

their -ndelity TO the Union unsainted to the lesB.
Many were incapable OF any legal ofense. large
proportion OF The persons able to bear arms we're
those who are guilty with their own consent, tho
degrees Of guilt arc as various the shades OF their
But these acts OF Congress confound them all toge-
ther In one common doom. Indiscrlminate ven ven
eonnnnities for ofsnses committed By portion of
thom against the government 90 whlch tney oweu ~ IN
dience was common in the barbarons ages OF s9e 1
world But Christianity aud civilization nave mlue
such progress, thatrecourse 20 q ~ ~ a
unprecedented and right minded men men; dnS PosSsns S
justice Of this age, and especiay VI ybi fRo,,o
os aDs Tssasng ali Their people without distinction g
the condition of slavery Il deals separatseIly s WIN
vind,cstcs It's own purity by an impartial examination
of every case before competent judicial tribunal
Ifthis does not satisfy ali desires with regard to
Southern Rebels let console ourselves by rejecting
that free Constitution, triumphant in war and un-
broken IN peace is worth far more to Us and our
children than the qualification OF any present feeling
O. Temporary and Perpetual Evils.
am aware Il s assumed that this system Of govern
ent for the Southern States is not to be perpetual
Iii true this military government is to be only pro-
visionai but It is through this temporary evil that
greater evil is to be made perpetual III the guarantees
OF the Constitution can be broken professionally to
country, we can destroy them everywhere and for all
time Arbitrary measures often change but they
generally change for the worse
II is the curse of despotism that 1t has haltng
place. The ntermltted exercise Of its power brings
know what more they will be called upon to endure
when its red right hand is armed to plague them
again. Nor is it possible to conjecture how where
power unrestrained by law may seek its next victims.
The States that still free may be eusaved at any
moment for If the Constitution does not protect all it
Negro Suffrage.
It is manifestly and avowedy the object OF these
laws 20 confer upon negroes the privilege of voting
and TO dlsfranchise such number of white citizens
as will give the former clear majority at az cleo
tions in Southern States This to the minds of some
q
stitution is justified as means of bringing 1t about
The morality is always false which excuses wrong
because Of its purposes to accomplish desirable end
We are not permitted TO do evil that good may come
But in this the end itself is evil well as the
means The subjugaton of States to negro domina-
tion would be worse than the military despotism
under which they are now suffering. It was believed
beforehand that the people would endure any amount
of military oppression for any length OF time, rather
than degrade themselves to the negro race. There
Negro suffrage established by act Of Congress,
and the military officers were commanded to superin-
tend the process Of clothing the negro race with poll
tical privileges torn from white men.
. Negro Supremacy.
The blacks in the South are entitled TO be well and
hnmsanely governed and to have the protection of
Just laws for all their rights of person and property
II 1t were practicable at this time to give them 60
verTment exclusively their own, under which they
might manage their own affairs in their own way, it
would become grave question whether we ought to
DO 30, or whetheG common humanity would not re-
But under the circumstances, this is only a specl-
istye point It Is not bmt proposed pose merely that they
white race, make and administer State laws, elect
Presidents and members OF Congress, and shape, to
greater or less extent the future destiny of the whole
country. Would such a trust and power be safe in
such hands? The peculiar qualities which should
characterize any people, who fit to decide upon the
management OF public affairs for great State, have
seldom been combined.
White Man's Government.
1t is the glory of white men to know that they have
had these qualities in sufficient measure to build upon
this continent great political fabric and to preserve
its stability for more than ninety years, while in every
other part of the world all similar experiments have
failed. But If anything can be proved by known
facts; II all reasoning upon evidence is not aban-
of nations negroes have shown less capacity for GO
vernment than any other race of people. No inde-
pendent government of any form has ever been sue
cessful in their hands, On the contrary wherever
they have been left to their devices they have
shown constant tendency to relapse into barbarism
In the Southern States however, Congress has under
taken to confer upon them the privilege of the ballot
Just released from slavery itmay be doubtful whether
organize and regulate civil society Indeed, it is ad
mted that the blacks of the South are not only re-
gardless of the rights of property but utterly gno
rant of public affairs that their voting consist in
nothing more than carrying ballot to the place where
they are directed to deposit it.
Importance of the Ballot.
need not remind you that the exercise of the cleo
tive franchise is the highest attribute of American
citizen, and that when guided by virtue intelligence
and patriotism, and better appreciation of our free
cratic form OF government, in which the sovereign
power is lodged in the body of the people "a trust
means of promoting the general welfare; its influ-
ence for good must necessarily depend upon the ele
Yated character and true allegiance OF the eecto it
ought therefore, to be repOsed In none, except those
who fitted morally and mentally, to administer 1T
well, for II conferred upon persons who do not justly
estimate its value, and who are Indifferent to
its results, 1t will only OF placing
power ia the hands of the unprnciped and ambitious
and must eventually end in the complete destruction of
that liberty of whchst should be the most powerful
conservator. have, therefore, heretofore urged upon
your attention the great danger to be apprehended
rom an untimey extension Of the elective franchise
to any new class in our country especially when the
large majority of that class in welding power
placed in their hands, cannot be expected correctly to
comprehend the duties and responsibilities which per-
tain TO suffrage. Yesterday, it were four millions
persons held in condition of slavery that had
existed for generations To-day they freemen, ana
are assumed by law to be citizens II cannot bepre-
sumed from their prevous conditlon ol seVluoe that
class they well informed as to the nature OF
our government the intelligent tforegner Whomakes
our land the home Of his choice.
In the case of the latter neither residence OF hye
years nor the knowledge OF our hsntuuons wnlcn IL
tuition are the only conditions upon which ne can be
admitted to citizenship. He must prove, In addition,
q good moral character, and thus give reasonable
obligations which he assumes as citizen OF the Re
public. Where a people, the source OF all political
power, speak by their suffrages through the nstru-
mentality Of the balot-box it must be carefully
In principle and enemies of free institutions for 1t
can only become to political and social system q
safe conductor Of healthy popular sentiment when
kept free from demoralizing influences. Controlled
through fraud and usurpaton by the designing, an
archy and despotism must inevitably follow In the
hands Of the patriotic and worthy our government
will be preserved upon the principles OF the Constitu
tion inherited from our fathers
1t follows, therefore, that in admitting to the ballot
box new class of voters, not qualified for the exer-
cse OF the elective franchise, we weaken our system