The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1867-09-14

white man. It is the degradation Of the
Government to the level Of those voters,
and the destruction of the value and pu-
rity Of the ballot by comforting it 50 lavish.
ly on all sides It is the exacerbation
and embittering of the spirit Of races by
subverting their normal and accustomed
positions and placing the intelligence and
superiority Of the one under the control
Of the members of the other.
In ono word, the whole system Of re.
construction advocated by the Republican
party-the test which they set up of 10y.
atty and intelligence--consists in the con.
solidation Of the government, the confer.
ring Of suffrage on the negro in all the
States, and the absolute transfer to him
Of all the political power of six States.
Is this wise? Is it statesmanlike ?
Shall it be adopted? Will it restore
peace, and order, and fraternal feeling,
and stimulate industry to repair the raw
ages Of war? Will it conduce to that
stability in legislation, that harmony in
society, that hopcfulncss Of the future,
which are essential to prosperous com
munity?
| address you for the moment simply
az Northern men, as a Northern commu.
nifty. leave out Of view the feelings and
wishes and interests Of the people Of the
South. / make no appeal to your sense
Of justice, Or your fratcrnh affection for
men of our own lineage and race.
| address the question to your immcdi-
ate and personal and material inter
ests. Will this policy conduce TO your
interests VIII it tend to increase the
prosperity and happiness of this commu
nifty? VIII Minnesota. will the North
be made stronger or freer or more con.
tented By pursuing to the very end thii
change Of our governmental and political
system? [Crics Of No, NOT
| have said this policy subjects si1
States to the domination of the negroes
They will have Immediately the right oI
suffrage; they viii have inevitably and
necessarily the right to hold Office; they
win have greater political privileges thar
you confer upon women, upon your soni
who arc twenty years Of age, upon educa
ted and intelligent residents Of foreign
birth they viii have a majority of voters
VIII the laws Of the Federal Government
affecting this community be more bencfi
cent when they arc subjected TO thc
influence Of such voters? VIII the pres
ence Of fifty members Of the House anC
five Senators, elected by such eonstituon
cies, inspire you with more confidence il
thc wisdom Of the laws or the purity o
the government?
You are an agricultural people Your
products are bulky; they follow natural
ly the channel of cheap freighis you
best markets are on the banks and at the
mouth of the Mississippi river; your in
tcrests require thatth communities whom
you feed should be rich aud prosperoul
and popuious; that their policy should
be peaceful and stable and wise; tha
their industry should be active, their civ
tlization advanced, their laws effective
Your advantage is to be found not only il
selling for money, but in making exchan
ges for the products of their industry
Will the value or the pleasure Of your in
tercourse be enhanced by this substitu
tion of the negroes for the whites in po
litical powerg
We are told that the interests Of th,
North require harmony and repose? anc
that TO secure these We must have guar
antees against another rebellion vii
this change afford any guarantee? vii
the negroes be always quiet and submis
sive and sclf-restraining VIII they pos
sess always a reverence for Federal law
Has there been no rebellion, no revolu
tion in Hayti? Has England had NJ
trouble in Jamaica? Or is it part of thi
plan of peace that they shall restrain tn,
turbulence Of the white race, and to be t,
them a perpetual menace? Guarante,
of peace ? President Arista in the heigh
of his power, at the head of the Republi,
exclaimed, "Unhappy Mexico! she i
doomed to the agony of perpetual anarch,
by the conflicts of her races. !"
There can be no guarantee except jus
tice, good government, absence of all caus
es of discontent-aye, even of disconten
itself And in the many wrecks which
are strewn along the pathway of history
there is melancholy proof that even thes
will not always suffice. Eternal actiyit,
of the human intellect is the condition 0
its vigor. Repose is stagnation-stagna
tion is death. We need not wonder tha
its ceaseless motion fails sometimes in al
upward and onward step. Its efforts ar
the parent of all progress. Its struggle
put all things to the crucial test. 1t
touch is the great dissolvant of comming
led truth and error, and that it shoult
sometimes stimulate to acts of apparen
or even real evils, to causeless rebellion
against our good and wise Government, i
but the badge of its human infrmity.
But suppose this work fully accomplish
ed suppose the Government thoroughly
consolidated; suppose the constitutions
amendments adopted, and reconstruction
perfected on the basis proposed. It vii
be strong enough to execute the Civi
Rights Bill, strong enough to execute tn,
duties assumed to themselves now by tht
military commanders. It will have ;
large army and large navy. The mum
ber of its civil employees will be increased
and they will be spread over and through
out the country, as we'll as collected a
Washington. The power of the Presi
dent viii be vastly enhanced, and the sub
jects of the attention Of Congress viii b
ten fold multiplied.
Will the Government be better or saf
er or more economical than the one W.
have heretofore had !? Win there b
fewer taxes, or lighter burthens, or les
corruption? The taxes collected by tht
c4nuarnmnnt last uaar we're $3.50 600 600