The Van Buren press., 1867-04-19

! gels fear to trcad.r II therefore, cyou
elect ignorant men, you will have albed
constitution, Give us then, the good
men of the State Il would rather trust
him who took up arms aud went to iths
battle field, and has come home withrhia
honorable sears, believing In the justice
/ of his cause, than he who cskulked from
duty, and nov claims 70 be Union man.
| [Chesrs SUCH : one is unworthy the
contempt ofeyen negro, ! wOnd rather
trust General Hampton riding at the head
OF his column, and shouting to his men
Ito follow, than any man who has stayed
at homo and, when his country was jp
danger, hunted for an iron,clad or :, rat
hole. Cheers And 50 would yos-r-
+" That's so.'' Wcdon't believe in those
people who, since the war, have dodgeI
around the corners declaring they were
/. Union inen," T. Mo- po,nl When /
hear a Southern man say he was "a I'm.
ion man, know 6e1s a traitor. When
I hear a Northern man say he was a
Southern man during the war, / know
that he is a traitor. Bit, when / hear, q
colorod man say he was q Onion man, I
,beiieve him from my heart Whenever
| the telegraph announced q Southern vic.
tory, the black man trcmblel; but when.
ever the tidings came of a Northern vic
tory, we rejoiced, because we were that
ilittch nearer freedom. To-day, thank
God we enjoy the results ofthat freedom.
We stand before the world invested with
a political equality with the white man.
We can vote .ii4ilii'7 ~ .'Het sie ''''u s'''i
Hon Edward Arthur. (sotto pocs -.
You are more than our equals, Nash, In
ono sense, because We are 'disfranchised.
The Speaker--Yes, sir, and we are not
goingito let the halls Of Congress remain
silent until you are permitted to vote, 1t
is, the men ofyour GLASS, and your ability,
who recognize our wants, and whom we
desire to see reinvested with the power
Of doing good. 1t is with the men OF
your class with whom We want to vote
on the great questions Of the day, and by
whom we wish to be counseled and dis
rected. ~'S'-s
1t is not our desire to ba a discorlant
element in the community, to unite the
poor against the rich. We want to live
together in harmony--to go towork and
restore the lost credit OF the State As
General Hampton has said, ''our destiri
niesidepend pponeach other" The white
man has land, the black man has labor,
and laboris worth nothing without CAPT
tall. We must help to create that capital
byr restari9 GGia iasgpaadfpsa. sgad by .alscung. pro-.
There are said to be 10000 colored
voters and Az, ,0O0iwllite voters in South
Carolina, Look what . power yoa have
for,good, ortfor evil J., But sfellow-citi-
zens, be sure that vow use thatpower with
intelligence, andato Ahe end that. South
Carolinaslvtll which your Interests are
all identified. may enjoy the prosperity
which it gives. When citizens come for
ward and meet " as gentlemen have
done to-day, VIC have no right to doubt
the future / look upon to. day as our
fourth of Jply.9 And il we do our duty,
we shall prove ourselves worthy Of the
great privilege with which we have been
invested 1t is true, the majority OF col,
ored men may not be able to vote intel
ligently, but you will be. educated. In
tue fourwecks preceding the first election
in this district you will be taught more
about voting than the people OF Ireland
or England ever lid know. There never
was a people who have gained SO much
as we have done, But little while ago
we were slaves. Now we are freemen.-
1t has been declared that we shall have
a voice in public affairs. In these public
affairs we must unite with our white fel,
low citizens They tell us that they have
been disfranchised, yet We tell the North
that we will never let the halls Of Con
gress be silent until we remove that dis
ability. Can we afford to lose from the
councils ofthe State our arst menl Can
we spare judges from the bench Can
we put fools or strangers In their posi-
tioni No, fellow.c citizens, no! Gloomy
would be that day, indeed We want 10
charge of our interests only our best and
ablest men, And then, with strong pull.
a long pull and pull altogether, up goes
South Carolina. Cheers. Na9f .'aI
- ss ,.--- pA
A STRAw.-A Northern planter over.