Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-12-05

blacks In the South are tntiueu 20 DO wei anu
governed and To have the prot zion
oS inst laws tor all their rights OF person and /
nronerty. II IL were practicable at this lme
10 Give them government exclusively lheir |
own, ander which they might manage hef
avn affairs IN their own way, II would become
a Grave ouestion whether We ought 10 do 10 or |
whether common humanity would not require /
US To cave them from themselves. but tnuer
The circumstances this Is only specrAllNe |
point. II is not proposed merely that lhey |
shall govern themselves, but that they shai RUE
the white race, make and administer state |
laws elect Presidents and members ofConlress, |
and shane 10 greater or less extent the hture |
destiny of the whole country, would tlch
trust and power be safe IN sucn hanusI ihe
peculiar qualities which should charaetrl1e
any people who are ut TO decide upon thenan-
SSsn emf Of public affairs for great statehaVe
seldom been combined. II Is the gloy oil
white men 10 know that they have had hese
qualities in sufficient measure 10 build lpon
this continent great political hbrlc, ara 10
preserye Its stability for more than nnety
Wears, while in every other part Of the World
all similar experiments have ialled'
But il ANYTHING can he proved by known acts,
;fnlI reasoning upon evidence is not abandond, II
must be acknowledged that in the progress ma
tons negroes have shown less capacity for goern-
ment than any other race Of people. Nomdeend-
emf government of any form has ever been success
full in their hands. On the contrary, whoever
thew have been left 10 their own devices theylaNe
shown a constant tendency to relapse INTO oa bar
ism. In the Southern States, however, CorTess
has undertaken 10 confer upon them the privilege
Of the ballot just released from slavery, itmay
be doubted whether as q class they know more
than their ancestors how 20 organize and regulate
civil society. Indeed, 1t is admitted that the
blacks of the South are not only regardless the
rights of property but utterly ignorant OF pub
lie affairs that their voting can consist IN nohlng
more than carrying a ballot TO the place where
they are directed 10 depositit. l need not remind
Won that the exercise of the elective FRANCHISE Is
Tho highest attribute of an American citizen and
that when guided by virtue, intelligence, parrot
ism and proper appreciation Of our free inntu-
tions il constitutes the true basis OF demoratlc
form Of government in which the sovereign lower
| is lodged in the body of the people. A rust,
artfcially created not for its own sake, but olely
| as n means of promoting the general welfare, its
influences for good must necessarily dependupon
the elevated character and true allegiance the
slector 1t ought therefore, 10 be reposed IN none
| except those who are fitted, morally and menally,
toadninister il we'll for if conferred upon pesons
who do not Justly estimate its value, and VIII are
indifferent as TO its results, II will only seruas
means of placing power in the hands OF the unrln.
| oipled and ambitious, and must eyentuate II the
| complete destruction of that liberty Of whth II
| should be the most powerful conservator. lave,
| therefore, before urged upon your attention the
| great danger to be apprehended from an untmely
| extension of the elective franchise to any new
| class in our country, especially when the large
of that class, III NltlullE poNel tlluh
placed in their hands, cannot be expected correctly
| 10 comprehend the duties and responsibilities
which pertain to suffrage. Yesterday, as lt we're,
| four millions of people were held IN CONDITION OF
slavery that had existed for generations; 70 day
| they are freemen, and are assumed by law 10 be
| citizens. 1t cannot be presumed, from Their pre-
yious condition of servitude, that, as class they
| are as well informed as to the nature of Oul Gov
| eminent as the Intelligent foreigner who makes
| our land the home of hls choice. In the ase Of
hi thnv ie II n a
| the knowledge of our institutions which it owes,
| nor attachment to the principles OF the CoRtltu-
ton, are the only conditions upon which he en- be
| admitted TO citizenship. He must prove IN addl
ton, a good moral character and mus give
| reasonable ground for the belief that he will be
faithful to the obligations which he assumes as a
| citizen of the Republic Where peOpl, the
source of all political power, speak by then sut-
| frages through the fundamentally OF the hllot'
box it must be carefully guarded against the con
| troll of those who are corrupt in principles and
enemies of free Institutions for II can only become
10 our political and social system safe conductor
| of healthy popular sentiment when Kept free
| from demOralizing influences. Controlled through
fraud and usurpation by the designing, an,
archy and despotism must inevitably fol
| low In the hands of the patriotb and
! worthy our government will be preserved
upon the Constitution Inherited from our faith
| eTs 1t follows therefore, that in admitting tC
| the ballot box q new class of voters not quail
| fled for the exercise of the elective franchise
| we weaken our system of government instead
of adding to its strength al durability. yield
to no one in attachment TO that 1ule OF genera
suffrage which distinguishes our policy as ma
ton, but there is a limit, wisely observed NTH
erto which makes the ballot privilege and {
trust, and which requires OF some classes
time suitable for probation and preparation
| To give it unfortunately to new class Whoi
| ly unprepared by previous haolts ana opportu
| mites to perform the trust which it demands ii
| to degrade it and finally to destroy its power
| for il NAV be safely assumed th8t no poitica
truth is better established than that such indis
| criminate and all embracing extension OF pop
| pular suffrage must end at last in its overthrow
and destruction. Irepeat the expression OF M
willingness to join in any plan within the scope
of our constitutions al authority, which PROMISE
to better the condition OF the negroes in tn
South, by encouraging them in INDUSTRY, en-
| lighter ing their minds, improving their moral
and giving protection to all their Just rights a
{ | freedmen: but the transfer of our political III
| heritance to them would in my opinion be al
| abandonment of duty which we owe allke U
| the memory of our fathers and the rights Q
| our children. The plan of putting the south
| ern States wholly and the Genenl Government
| partially into the hands OF negroes is propose
at a time peculiarly unpropitiow. The 1ounda
2 | tiOn4 of society have been broken up by clVl
9 war, industry must he reorganiged justice re
, established, public credit maintained, and oil
= der brought cut of confusion. To aCComplls
= these ends would require all tie wisdom an
3 virtue of the great men who fomed our inst
L tutions originally. | confidently believe tina
!, their descendants will be equal 0 the arduou
8 task be fore them, but it is worst than madHes
5 to expect that negroes will perform 1t Tor III
= Certainly, we ought not to ask their asslstanC
n until we despair Of our own competency. tn
/ great difference between the two races IL ply
# | zeal mental and moral characteristics will pr
y | vent an amagamation or fusDn of them t
s gether in one homogeneous mass. II the interit
: 0btains the ascendency over The other, 1t wi
e govern with reference only to lis own interest
t | Tor it will recognize no common interest al
d create such Tyranny as thb continent h
If never yet witnessed. Already the negroes al
1t infiuei ced by promises of sontisCation ar
: plumber. They are taught to Il gard as an en-
1t my every white man who has any respect Il
Is the rights of his own race. i Thu continue
IS it must become worse and wolse, until all @
n der will be subverted, all industry cease, al
y the fertile fl Ids of the South grow into a W
l. derness. OF all the dangers which our matte
E. has yet encountered, hone are equal to tho
3 which must result from the success OF the etfO
D. now making 10 Africanize the half of o
II country.
ia THE COST OF CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTED
lie l would not put considerations of money
Is competition with justice and light but the e
o, peuses Incident to reconstruction, under t
II system adopted by Congress, aggravate what
Ii regard as the intrinsic wront of the measu
De itself. 1t has cost Recommendations alreaC
r and, if persisted in, will add largely to t
IN weight Of taxation already TOD oppressive to