The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1867-12-10

i
hands, The peculiar qualities which
should characterize any people who are
6t 10 decide upon the management OF
public affairs FIR great State have sol
dom been combined Itis the glory OF
white men 10 know that they have bad
these qualities In sufficient measure 10
build upon this continent great polit.
ical fabric, and TO preserve its stability
for more than ninety yoars while in ey-
cry other part Of the world all similar
experiments have failed
But II anything can he proved by
known facts. II all reasoning upon owl
dence ia not Abandoned il must be ac-
kuowledgod tha, in the process Of ma
tons negroes have shown loss capacity
for government than any other raro Of
people. No independent government
Of any form has ever been successful in
their hAnds On the contrary. wherey-
or they have boen leit to their own de-
vices they have shown a constant ten
dency TO relapse into barbarism. In
the Southern States, however, Congress
has undertaken 10 confer upon them the
privilege Of the ballot just released
from slavery, it may DO doubted wheth-
or as u class they know more than their
ancestors how TO organize and regulate
civil society. Indeed. II is admitted that
the blacks OF the South aro not only re-
gardcss OF tho rights Of property. but
SO utterly ignorant Of public affairs, that
their voting can consist in nothing more
than carrying ballot to the place whore
they are directed 10 deposit IL need
not remind You that the exercise Of the
elective franchise il the highest attri-
buto Of an American citizen, and that
whom guided by virtue, intelligence, pa
triotism and a proper appreciation OF
our free institutions, 1t constitutes the
true basis Of democratic form Of gov
ernment in which tho sovereign power
is lodged in the body Of the people. A
trust, artifcially created, not for its own
sake, but solely as a means of proinot-
ing the general welfare, It's influences
for good must necessarily depend upon
the elevated character and true alle-
glance Of the elector. 1t ought, there
fore, to be reposed in mono except those
who arc fitted, morally and mentally to
administer il well, for il conferred upon
persons who do not justly estimate it's
value and who arc indifferent AZ TO it's
results, it will only serve as means of
placing power in the hands OF tho un-
principled and ambitious, and must
eventuate in the complete destruction
of that liberty of which IL should be the
most powerful conservator / have.
therefore, before urged upon your at
tention the great danger 10 be appre-
hended from an untimely extension OF
The elective franchise 10 any new class
in our country, especially when the large
majority OF that class, in welding the
power thus placed in their hands. can
not be expected correctly to ocomprehend
the duties and responsibilities which
! pertain to suffrage. Yesterday, as it
were, four millions OF people were held
in a condition of slavery that had exis-
ted for generations; TO day they are
ireemen, and are assumed by law to be
citizens. 1t cannot be presumed, from
their previous condition of seryitude,
that, as class, they are as well inform
ed as TO the nature Of our Government
MS the intelligent foreigner who makes
our land the home OF his choice. In
the case OF the latter, neither resi-
dence Of Ave years, and tho knowledge
Of our institutions which IL gives, nor
attachment to the principles Of the Con-
stitution, nre the only conditions upon
which he can be admitted TO citizenship.
He must prove, in addition, q good
moral character, and thus give reason
able ground for the belief that he viii
be faithful TO the obligations which he
assumes as a citizen OF the Republic
Where people, the source Of all polit-
ical power, speak by their suffrages
through the fundamentally Of the bal
lot-box, it must be carefully guarded
against the control OF those who arc
corrupt in principles and enemies OF
free institutions. for it can only become
} TO our political and social system a safe
conductor of healthy popular sentiment
when Akept free from demoralizing in
huences Controlled through fraud
aad usurpation by the designing and
anarchy and despotism must enevita.
bly, follow. In the hands of the patri.
otic and worthy our government will be
preserved upon the Constitution in.
horited from our fathers. 1t followa
therefore, that in admitting TO the bal.
lot box new class OF voters not quail.
fed for the exercise OF the elective fran
] chise we weaken our system Of govern
ment instead of adding TO its strength
J and durability. / yield to no one in a.
tachment 10 that rule of general suffer.
age which distinguishes our policy Is q
nation, but there Ii limit, wisely OBJ
| served hitherto, which makes the ballol
} o privilege and . trust, and which 70
] quires OF some classes time suitable
: for preparation. To give it indiscrin.
: inately TO new class wholly unprepar
D ed by previous habits and opportunity
! TO perform the trust which 1t Demands
. is to degrade il and finally to destroy
8 its power--for ii may be safely assumed
8 that no political truth is better estab
a lisbed than that such indiscrirninats
and all embracing extension OF popula,
: suffrage must end at least in its over