American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1867-09-07
NEGRO EOuALITY-HoN. C. L. VAL
LANDIGEAM ON THE ISSUES OF
THE DAY.

i Mr.. Valhndigham addressed
meeting on Fhe 9th inst, at Middle
town, MahNing County, Ohio, Oh
"The Issues of the Day. From :
report of ths speech in the Cincinnati
commercial we quote the following
on the SUBJECT OF negro equality ant
suffrage:
L base my opposition to negro
equality on this: That God has
created u barrier between the two
| races: and rln+ Gnd bae olilS
I together. Those marks | have in
dicated may be the semblance of that
which is written to denote that in
capacity for combining that race and
mingling it into ours, and for that
reason there ought to be no attempt
to raise the negro to political or civi
equality. He is man as you are
don't say he is brother. Lough
ter He is a man-GOd made him &
man-but it follows not that He
made him of the same elevated race
by no means. Yet as a member OF
the human family he is entitled tc
all the protection that the alien has
for the five years following his ar
rival in this country, or as much
longer as he sees fit to live here with
out becoming citizen-as much pro
lection by law as your wife has, as
your daughter has, neither of whom
can vote or hold Office. Give him
these same rights. | would give
them to him; and l would give tc
him another right which has beer
denied to some of us-the right OF
trial by jury and the right to testify
in courts. would give him fail
trial when accused OF an offence, and
convict or acquit him according tC
the laws of the land. But the ques
ton of political rights lies far deeper
This country was settled by white
men, and developed by white men,
and the impossibility of mingline
these races, the utter failure of such
attempts of the kind as have been
made, is a sufficient argument against
the proposition now before the peo
pie of this State. The negroes OF
Hayti are wiser than their Republi
can brethren of the United States
The negro in Hayti has forbidden
the white man to vote or hold office.
and Sambo is right. He understands
the human family better than those
who preach negro equality here. He
is in the vast majority there, and
white men are in the minority. Ile
knows the white man ought not to be
allowed to mingle on terms of equali
ty with him; and hence all office
holding and all suffrage are continued
to the negro there | recognize the
superior wisdom of this. | am in
favor Of negro suffrage in Africa, but
| am opposed to it in the United
States. / am opposed to allowing
the white man to hold office or vote
in Africa, and l am opposed to Civ
ing those privileges to the Negro
here. But Africa is the negro's coun
try; this is ours; that's the differ
ence. The question isnOw presented
by the Republican party of Ohio to
introduce negro equality and negro
suffrage by striking the word "white'
out of the State Constitution. Thus
at last it has come. The wolf is now
at YOUR doors. | recollect when, a
few years ago, we proclaimed that
the party was drawing itself toward
this very doctrine, how we were met
with contradictions and denials; the
lie was thrust into our teeth; we were
denounced as slandereTs. As late
as two years ago they bitterly de-
MED it. Why Abraham Lincoln,
whom some heather men, quite
pagans, are not willing to worship as
a god-(and they have illustriOus ex-
amples of that sort of work now. =
Abraham LincolH proclaimed in 1858,
not as mere temporary matter OF
policy, but he gave as reason why
there should and could be no negro
equality in this cOuntry-no negro
office holding-that there was phys
ical distinction between the races,
which forbade that the negro should
be the equal of the white man. VIM.
Dennison, late Republican Governor
of Ohio, denounced universal emanci-
patton, in 1862, during the war-at
the end of the first year of the war,
when they wanted soldiers to enlist
under pretence of fighting for the
flag, and not for the negro. He de-
nonnced not only emancipation, but
negro suffrage and equality, and pro-
claimed that it was not the intent or
purpose of the Republican party to
advocate or carry ont either. So,
too, the present Governor of the
State, Gen. S. ID. Cox-a scholar, a
man of reflection, man who thinks
upon the subject before he speaks or
writes about them; man who has
stndied this particular question, and
who has the courage to speak his
mind. / refer to him in these terms
because he deserves, not for any
mere partisan purpose, though when
provoked, two years ago, to speak of
him in plain Anglo Saxon vernacular,
on account of a falsehood in relation
to myself, | so did. All that is pass
ed, and refer to him now for these
qualities for which he is remarkable.
He has declared in letter addressed
to that place called Oberlin-you
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