Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-03-25
Our DUTY TO THE cOLoRED PEOPLE.

We have piece Of news from South
Carolina not at all likely to please the
hTacohius of The North. Wade Hampton,
one of the great heroes Of the South, is
said to have participated in a meeting
Of negroes at Columbia, made them a
speech and promised them all the rights
and privileges of white men. 1t is also
stated that the negroes have decided to
petition Congress TO give white men
equal privileges with themselves. This
is movement Of the greatest import
ance and will extend to other cemmuni'
ties in the South. The colored popula-
.ior have been enfranchised fer pur-
oose Their votes are wanted to assist
in DISTINGUISHING the Southern whites,
that the Southern loyalists and imported
sneaks may control the State govern
ments The movement of Hampton may
knock this project into what printers
call "pi." Outside of, and probably in
side of Tennessee, the Southerners
have every advantage in a con-
test for the colored vote. The col
ored people reside upon their lands, and
are dependent on them for employment.
But the greatest advantage they possess,
results from access. Jacobin emissaries,
hlaek and white. male and female, will
find the job of visiting every negro cabin
in the South tough, if not dangerous
one. 1t cannot be accomplished. More
over, the interest of the colored people of
the South is exactly that of the white
people of the South. When Congress
strikes one, 1t strikes the other. The
interests of the two races are in every
respect identical, and the colored people
are notso ignorant that they cannot COM
prehend il
The truth is, the Southern people have
never given the colored people the full
credit that is due them. During the war
they were loyal to the South, raised
bread for its armies, and supported the
women and children at home. They
did not meet the expectation of the
North. That section had been educated
in the notion that the South was slum-
bering upon q volcano that was liable at
any momentto disgorge its death-dealing
lava. The proclamation of emancipa-
ton, it was expected, would be the sig
nal for the negroes to rise and cut the
throaas of the wemen and children,
while the men were in the field. Vain
hopel That proclamation had about
the same effect on the disposition of the
negroes, as the Pope's bull against the
comet had on the exeentriciHes of that
lawless wanderer through space. 1t did
not cause ripple on the surface Of the
colored mind Eternal gratitude, for
this extraordinary fidelity, is due this
unfortunate race, aRd should be paid as
a sacred obligation. They should no
longer. il they ewes have seen. be treated
as antagonists. They should be instructed
as to their condition, assured ofsympathy
and justice, and earned against the
traps set for them BY the enemies of
both races in the South. They should
be taught what is unquestionabiy true,
that they have been enfranehised for the
meanest of purposes, and that those who
proclaim themselves their champions,
care no more, really, for their welfare
than for 90 many monkeys Ia Brazil
They want the negros back to serve as 6
sort of block from which they may
bound into Office. The movement made
by Wade Hampton, if followed generally
IN the South, will thwart this abomiSa,-
Die scheme