The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1867-12-10

tablished than that such indiscriminat
and all embracing extension Of popula
suffrage must end at last in its overthrow
and destruction"
FURTHER OBJECTIONS TO NEGRO sU
S sPREMACY. II W
repeat the expression Of my willing
ness to join in any plan within the scop,
of our constitutional authority which
promises to better the condition of tn,
negroes in the South, by encouragin,
them in industry, enlightening thei
morals. and giving protection to all thei
ljust rights as freedmen. But the trans
fer of our political inheritance to then
would, in my opinion, be an abandonment
of duty which we owe alike to th,
memory of our fathers and the rights o.
our children.
The plan of putting the Southern
States wholly, and the General Govern
ment partially into the hands of negroes
| is proposed at time peculiarly unpro-
pitious. The foundations of society
have been broken up by civil war. In.
dustry must be recognized, justice re-es-
tablishsd, public creditssmaintained, and
order brought out of confusion. To ac.
complish these ends would require all
the wisdom and virtue of the great mer
who formed our institutions originally
confidently believe that their descend.
ants will be equal to the arduous task
before them, but it is worse than mad
ness to pectthat negroeswill perform
! it for us. Certainly We ought not to ask
their assistance until We despair Of our
own competency. s-r
The great difference between the two
races in physical, mental ,and moral char,
acteristics will prevent an amalgamation
or fusion Of them together in one ho-
mogeneous mass. If the inferior obtains
the ascendancy over the other, it will
govern with reference only to its own
interests-for it will recognize no COM
mon interest-and create such tyranny
as this continent has never yet witnessed.
Already the negroes are influenced by
promises Of eonfscation and plunder-
They are taught to regard as an enemy
every white man who has any respect
for the rights of his own race. If this
continues it must become worse and
worse, until all order will be subyerted,
all industry cease, and the fertile fields
of the South grow up into wilderness.
Of all the dangers which our nation has
yet encountered, none are equal to those
which must result from the success of
the effort now making to Africanize the
half o. our eountry. ;
FINANCIAL ASPECT OF RECONSTRUCTION.
"a I would not put considerations of
money in competition with justice and
right. But the expenses incident to ire
construction" under the system adopted
BY Congress aggrayate what I regard as
the intrinsic wrong of the measure it
self. 1t has cost uncounted millions al
ready, and if persisted in will add largely
to the weight of taxation, already teo op-
pressive to be born without just COM
plant, and may finally reduce the Treas
ury of the nation to condition of bank
ruptcy. We must not deIude ourselves.
It wilfrequire strong standing army,
and probably more than two millions Of
dollars per annum, to maintain the su-
premacy of negro governments after they
are established. The sum thus thrown
away would, if properly used, form a
sinking fund large enough to pay the
whole national debt in less than. fifteen
years. It is vain to hope that negroes
will llmaintain their ascendanoy themselves.
Without military power they are wholly
incapable of holding in subjeetion the
white people of the South.
Isubmit to the judgment OF Congress
whether the public credit may not be in
juriously affected by a system of meas
ures like this. With our debt, and the
vast private interests which are compli-
Gated with it, we cannot be too cautious
of policy which might, by possibility,
impair the confidence of the world in our
Government. That confidence can only
be retained by carefully intoxicating the
principles of justice and honor on the
popular mind, and by the most scrnpu>
ous fidelity to all our engagements of
every sort. Any serious breach of the
organic law. persisted in for consider
able time, cannot but create fears for the
stability Of our Institutions. Habitual
of prescribed rules, which we
bind ourselves to observe, must demW-
alike the people. Our only standard of
civil duty being set at naught, the sheet
anchor of our political morality is lost,
the public conscience swings from its
moorings, and yields to every..impulse of
passion and interest. IF we repudiate
the Constitution, We will not be expected
to care much for mere pecuniary obliga.
tions. The violation Of such pledge as
We made on the 22d day of July, 1861,
will assuredly diminish the market val
ne of. or other promises. Besides, if
We now acknowledge that the national
debt was not created to hold the States in
the Union, as the taxpayers were led to
suppose, but expel them from it and hand
them over to be governed by negroes, the
moral duty to pay it may seem much less
clear. | say it may seem SO; for I do
not admit that this or any other argu-
ment in favor of reputation can be en-
tertained as sound; but its influence on
some classes of minds may we'll be ap-
pretended The financial honor of a
great commercial nation, largely indebt
ed, and with republican form of gov
ernment administered by agents of the