Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-11-02

HE degree of morality and decency
The majority are much controlled b,
social Influences, desire to be respected
by honorable and yirtuous men, and tt
| leave what 10 called good name behind
them. And many would die rather than
suffer disgrace among their fellows and
incur the just censure of bad eonduc'
from those eminent for private integrity
and patriotism in public affairs Inc
stigma of cowardice, fllsehood or dis
honesty most white men will repel at the
EXTREMIST personal hazard, and against
the law itself, which puts their property
and life in jeopardy as the penalty Of
seeking redress. 1t isa power of social
| life, found in civilized communities, too
great for control by the fear of conse-
ouences, and one whose conservative
and peace giving influence, in the inter-
ests of society and morality, far sur
passes that Of the law itself The more
thoroughly it prevails, the higher is the
civilization. Takejt away and the in
sabordination and recklessness of savage
life results Of necessity.
The race Of newly emancipated freed
men in the South is now in this condition.
The difference between meum and tuunl,
the necessity of strict fidelity to truth,
the Importance and value of unbending
integrity and high honor in all cireum-
stances, they do not even know. They
hare not been educated that ray Not
that their late masters failed to teach
them such principles, not that all the
lessons of Christian morality have not
been inculcaied on them all their lives,
with scarce an exception even in the
worst of masters, nor even that under
favorable circumstances they were
wholly incapable of being brought to
appreciate such principles, but that in
the circumstances in which they have
been hitherto placed they hare not
learned the lessons Of morality as white
men understand them. The fact is so,
account for it as we may, and whether,
had they been slaves to other men, they
might have been better educated or no.
Such is the fact-as well known to those
who have set them up TO rule the whites
as il is to us. The consequence, which
is apparent, was also previously a known
necessity. There can be no reverence
for law, where men have no fear, except
Of the bayonet. There will be no truth
and trust between man and man, where
intentional falaehood incurs no disgrace
And there is not an incentive to good
conduct where dishonesty and theft is
not dishonor, and where among ones
associates no adherence for injustice,
except, as among the lower animals,
that which springs from vindictive pas
sions and revenge, exists.
What might have been expected is
what we now everywhere see. immoral
tiles are rife among them, crime abounds,
they live in large part by plumber, they
infest the highways and render them
insecure in a country which had not
the damning record of so many crimes
in all its previous history, and during
the whole century since its settlement,
as are now crowded into a single year
Having no idea that good character and
good conduct will always be sufficient
shield to them, they are arming for self
protection, not that they may be safe in
pursuit of the peaceful and laudable avo'
cations, but that they may be secure in
living as they list, and doing as they
will. Told by the enemies Of the whites
that Southern men are their enemies,
they go armed to their own caucuses
and conventions, and to the ballot box
Having no idea Of liberty except that of
idleness and license, they, as in the Vir-
GINA elections, force men Of their color
to vote one ticket, and no other, on the
peril of their lives. So far as they have
dared, they have even undertaken the
same control Of white mems votes in that
State, and ordered white men in time of
peace to leave their business and their
homes, for the crime of voting and
thinking and speaking against them.
What other result could have been ex.
pected but that in localities where they
are in the majority they would overawe
the freedom of elections. In Richmond
they would have slain one of their own
color for voting against them, if he had
not been protected by the military.
Minorities, white or black, can no longer
vote in their midst. You may not con.
troll savnges with reason. The moment
they feel sufficiently the consciousness Of
power, they will control the ballot by
brute force. The election in Virginia
was no farce, but an outrage, of little
consequence compared with what we may
expect to see if their career of DONNA
ton is not arrested. They have no re
spect for the law, or its ministers as
such, but for the bsyeuet alone They
have been accustomed 10 the control Of
force, and know no other. And hence,
if ever fair election is held again where
they vote, the bayonet will CLEAN at the
side of the ballot box. The military
must be called out to protect ignorance
in its rule over an intelligent people