Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-07-04


Is6t the citadeI Il now stormed, and the slave
set nee. Over him is extended the feefs OF uni
yefsal emaneipation. Why, then. keep mp this
attitude d fhc Jsnzay 'Theep The puppose nf ber
Illuminating gcomplacency having ceased 20 exist,
Justice and impartial laws7 Long ago the revolt
cd sense OF her people swept from the statute
lieve the honor Of her name, and the glory Of
her escutcheon, rom this last vcstige other an
The pending amendment to the Consultation
proposes this, and nothing more. Can any ra-
II is coitended thai The exfsnsion Of impar-
tial suffrage TO the black race will degrade the
elective nanchise, and tend 70 bring popular
tion founded in reason7 u
~ inaugurates nonew or revolutionary prln-
ciple The authors OF tho first Constitution pos
sibly intended 10 exclude the African race, and
Its defendants OF every shade. But the courts,
principles which rest at the foundation OF pop
ulsr government gave 70 its terms more llber-
al construction. Under that construction, eman-
ceDcs pfit X fsised ylsseent havine q pre-
saS e & 81 3 slf ePtea al
Ies ssnaiHs 81 seeEe9re does 81 not
cinfe hut only 70 enlarge an old and long estalb-
alton g the entire = iricsn race, large portion
To this extension OF the principle, thus giving
TO the whole race a pri vilcge which part only
much fess insupSfabie, objection. Under the
Constitution as itnow is, persons having 1fty-
one per cent Caucasian blood are electors, while
those having forty-nine per cent, being only
two per cont. less, are disfranchised. Can this
insigniflcant difference in blood afford any just
ground for the inyldious distinction made? Or
can the extension Of suffrage now enjoyed by
the African OF nfty-one per cent, to the African
tionary innovation? Surely not.
The principle of African suffrage being thus
established by constitutional law and imme-
mortal usage, its impartial extension to the
whole race Is, therefore, neither an innovation
of principle nor degradation in practice. Does
any other just reason exist then, why the same
enfranchisement conceded To and enjoyed by
the African half-blood, undertr existing Con.
by the African of whole blood, as proposed by
the amendment? Two only are seriously urged
cegenation. and the inferiority OF .the race. ~
The first is stale, fiat and hstfofitable. For
half century it wasemployea by the power Of
cononbinage, against the interests and progress
OF freedom, as 1t is now employed against the
efforts for extending acknowledgements. 1t was
| the inpudent assumption of the devil preach
| ing righteousness. II were disposed to treat
| consideratton' con- / can discover much stponger
motives for miscegenation under the existing
| Democratic Constitution, which confers dis
tinctive privileges those only of mi xed blood,
than could possibly exist II these privileges were
| iInpartially enjoyed by all. But 1 have too ex-
taste can be corrupted, or its virtue prostituted,
| by an act of Justice to an unfortunate people /;
| er and ISLANDERS his kindred May never so far
| forget my sense Of dignity, and the feeling Of
respect due to my .countrymen, as to think 1t
an imputation. Let him who utters 1t believe
| 1t; l will not. The domestic history Of the two
tiiscaridor of intelligent observation, and truth,
alike refute the calumny.
a shs on This Is PpSe pha
5ning on the subject has its beeinnina and its
exhausted Yth learned essays in its demonstra-
: But coneeding the inferiority of the African to
| Ing, he have the riehts Of man 70 protecv the
dens of citizenship to bear; ii, in point OF man
hood, he is not too inferior to be The subject OF
| fact OF his inferiority most powerful and con-
| vincing reason for arming him with the ballot,
| that he may defend himself against unjust gov
| eminent and tyrannical laws? What is the
| purpose of popular suffrage, but that the weak
may protect themselves against the strong. the
feeble defend their rights and persons and liber-
| ties against the injustice of the powerful? If
this be not its purpose then suffrage is an empty
| privilege, burdensOme rather than beneficial,
| and the theory of popular government cheat
For ages the plea of inferiority held the masses
| of mankind in the grasp of oppression and sub
| jected them TO the domination of supeI1or caste
| and nobler blood. Patricinn and plebeian, Bour-
bon and SanSculotte, Cavalier and Roundhead,
were the inexorable distinctions ma intained by
the arrogance of nobility and the divine right Of
4 But the justice OF heaven did not sleep always.
Imparting energy to the resolution of despair,
manhood burst lts letters, and asserted the i'm,
inalienable rights with which all men by nature
| are endowed, governments are instituted among
men, deriving their just powers from the con-
In defense of this principle, in which our own
liberties are anchored, the sword of Bunker Hill
was drawn and the equal dignity of manhood
vindicated alike by the blood of the Pilgrim and
] cognition was wrung from reluctant and dis
| comtited tyranny, and the doctrines of divine
| right and hereditary superiority which had jus
Lined the hoary oppression Oh centuries were
| Coneede, then, that the African is the feebler
race aye, inferior II you please is his Inferior
| ity Of such degree as TO place him below the
reach of this just principle thus asserted by the
ansh9rs Of the Keyqlnt9n and sq6Iect him TO TO
his Caucasian spoilere IL he were so far infe-
rior as TO be without those attributes Of man
i iects of % government and law, this might be so.
] But is 1t so? You concede his equal right TO life
| icide with the same death penalty you concede
the equal sacredness of his person. for You have
provided Tor IL INC same gnsTanies OF nvioiaI
liberty, for You shield ii by the impartial privil
eyes of habeas corpus; You cohcede the equal
| dignity of his rights to property and the fruits
| OF his own labor and enterprise, for You guar
aniee to them the impartial protection Of Judi
the dignity of these rights that his inferiority
consists for in respect TO them, and the measure
Of protection and security to which they are en-
| titled, you concede him to be the equal of all
| othef men.
, Does it consist in the nature OF his obligations
| as member of community? In respect to these
you also regard him as one having the attributes
| of manhood. You enforce agninst him the rig
| id performance of his contracts; you exact from
\ him his equal share of public burdens; you hold
him equally ameiable 10 the laws, and infitct
Al upon him theimpartial penalties OF their vio-
lation; you bind him by the ties of allegiance,
and punish his nfidelity to the Stnte as treason
you treat him in respect to all these things as
| onehaving rational, intelligent, equal manhood.
II is not then in the nature of his obligations
\ as member OF community that you regard his
| inferority as consisting. y, '.'f
] hut these rights are the rights OF man-these
| obligations are the incidents of rational man
| hood. For the protection and enforcement of
! these, and these only, government IL instituted.
Ithas no other purpose: these are the only sub
jects of its powers Does IL not follow, then, as
| n logical sequence that as the African has, In
! equnl degree with all other men, the rights and
| obligations Of rational manhood, for the protec-
| tiOn and enforcement of which government Is
| instituted, nc ought to have and exercise, in
| com mon with them, such measure OF political
power derived from his consent, as viii mako
| thenr permanently secure? This necessarily re-
| suits from the principle upon Which popular
| governfheflt is f6tfhded and IN which our own
iibeYties repose for security, unless he be so in
ferior IN rational capacity as to render him In
capable OF Intelligent consent:
4 of hitnf II Il eau, then the separation of the
| races and the colonization Of the African con-
signs him to anarchy; for IL he be not capable of
1 infeIliuenfly exereisinR the ordinary functions