Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1867-12-14

Ne nfffH W. Ifififfe NJ feiinf aHi m .
iisnsaahlss saoh = aumlisf " Nhlie siil .
lsns as siii nlfs me fafmsf flsaf major h
M Al III eis0iians w ihs Hauihsfh States
fhls. ~ The minds ~ some psfsoas, u a. .
.mtafisat that = viniailda NJ me tnHfiiin .
lion Il iusilhfd NJ . msahs NJ hfiHfihf u
about 1hai mafaliiy 10 Alsa false Whith
strnsss a wrong hseanse u proposes 10 &C. .
rampiish q desirable end We are not per' .
nlilsi 10 de- evil that good may come. Hut
In this ease the end itself u evil ~ sell % /
The means The suljugaiion ~ States 10
negro don nation would he worse than the
military drspolism under which they are
nos suffering II was believed beforehand
that the people would endure any amount I
Of military oppression fur any length Of
time rather than degrade themselves by !
subsection 10 the negro race, Therefore
they have been leil without u choice, Ne
gro .uiTnge was established 10y act OF Con-
grrss, aud The military officers were CON
nandcd 10 supeTiniend the process oi u'olh'
ing the negro race with the p0 liicnl Priyi-
lcge 10 govern white men, The blacks IN
the Souih are entitled TO DO well aud hu-
namely governed, aud a. have the proiec- !
I ion OF Just laws Tor all 4 cir rights TO per-
sun AMI property, II II were practicable
al this lime TO give them q government ex-
c lusiyely their own, under which they
phI manage their own affairs, In their
own way, II would become grave question
whether We ought TO do so, or whether com
mon humanity would not require MS TO save
them from themselves, Bat under the cir
cunsinnce this Is only a speculative point.
II is not proposed merely that they shall
rule the white race, and make aud admin
lister State laws, elect Presidents aud mem
bcrs OF Congress, and shape, TO q greater
or less extent, the future destiny OF tho
whole country. Would such q trust and
power be safe in such bands2 Peculiar
qualities, which should characterize any
people who are 1T TO decide upon the man
agemcnt Of public affairs for great State,
have seldom been combined. Ii Is he g'o
nv Of white mon TO know that they have
had these qualities in sufficient measure TO
build upon this continent a great politioai
fabric, and to preserve its stability for
more than ninety years, while In every
Other cart Of the w6:ld oil similar expert
ments have fiie6. But IL aly thing can
be provided by known facts, II Nil reason
ing upon evidence is not abandoned, II
must be acknow lodged that in the progress
of nations the negroes have shown less ca
pacity for government than any race Of
people. No Independent government OF
any form has ever been successful in their
hands. On the contrary, whenever they
have been left to their own devices they
have shown constant tendency to relapse
into barbarism. In the Southern States,
however, Congress has undertaken 10 con-
fer upon the privilege Of the ballot, just
released from slavery, it may be doubted
whether, rs a class, they know more than
their ancestors how to organize aud regu-
late civil society. Indeed, 1t is admitted
that the blacks Of the South are not only
regardless of rights Of property, but their
voting can consist in nothing more than
carrying ballot TO the place where they
are directed to deposit it, need not re-
mind you thak the exercise Of the elective
franchise is the highest attribute OF on
American citizen, and that when guided
by vitue, intelligence, patriotism and prop
or appreciation Of our free institutions, it
consists the true basis of democratic form
of government, in which the sovereign pow
err is lodged in the body of the people. A
trust artifcially created, not for its own
sake, but solely as means of promoting
the general welfare, its influence for good
must necessarily depend upon the elevated
character and true allegiance Of the elector.
1t ought therefore to be reposed in none ex-
cept those who are fitted morally and men
tally to administer il well. For if confer
red upon persons who do not justly esti-
mate its value, aud who IRE Indifferent to
its results, it will only serve as means
Of placing power in the hands of the un-
principled and ambitious, and must even
tuate in the complete destruction Of that
liberty Of which il should be the most pow
erful conservator. ...
have, therefore, heretofore urged upon yorr at.
tcntion the great danger to apprehended from the
untimcIy extension Of the elective franchise to any
new class In our country, especially when majority
of that class in welding tho powers thus placed 10
their hands, cannot DO expected correctly to compre.
end the duties and responsibilities which pertain
to suffrage. Yesterday, 1t were four millions OF
persons were held In condition Of slavery that mao
and assumed by law to be citizens II cannot DC
presumed, from tho previous condition OF serviude,
that as class they are as well Informed as 20 our
land the home Of their choice In the case OF the
latter, neither residence OF five ycars, and the
knowledge Of our institutions which it gives, nor
attachment 10 the principles Of the constitution, are
the only conditions upon which he can be admitted
to citizenship. He must prove, in addition, good
moral character and thus give reasonable ground or
a belief that he will DO faithful to the obligations
which he assumes as q citizen of republic, where
the people, the source of all political power, speak
by their suffrages through tho fundamentally Of
the ballot box 1t must be carefully guarded against
tho control of those who are corrupt principle and
enemies of free institutions for can only become
our political and system safe conductor Of healthy,
popar timent when kept free from domoraliz ing
influences, con / rolled through fraud.
Occupations, by designing anarchy and despotsm,
must inevitably follow. In the hands Of patriotic
and worthy citizens Government will be pIeserv
cd upon tho principles Of The constitution inherited
from our fathers 1t follows, therefore. that In ad
hitting the ballot class Of voters not quail
fled for the exercise of tho elective franchise, we
weaken our system Of government instead OF adding
to its strength and durability yield to no one In
attachment to the rule of general suffrage, which
distinguishes our policy as a nation, but there is a
limit wisely observed hitherto, which makes tho
ballot privilege and trust, and which requires Of
some classes time suitable for probation and pre-
paration To give 1t unfortunately to a new class
wholly unprepared by previous habits and opportu-
mites to perform the trust which II demands, is to
degrade II, and finally to destroy its power. For II
NAV be safely assumed that political truth is bet
ere.,ablIshed than that such ndisc inmate and all
Embracing exten.nn Of popular suffrage must end at
iaast in ia overthro,, and Instruction repeat the
ar nression Of INV wiIinqn.,s to oip IN any plan
uitthin Tho aroma of ou1 constitutional authority,
,ch IN bstter The cond;ton of tho neproe,
Y, H. Snv,h nv enc"urae ;ne them In indnstr1 and
sn,;abtenmsot the imnroyemona of their mo rails