The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1867-08-09

the impartial protection OF Judicial RENE.
dies II is not, tEen, in the nature or the dig
nifty Of those rights that his iuferiority con.
slsts, for in respect TO them, aud the meas.
ure Of protection aud security TO which
they are entitled, you concede him to be
the equal of all other men.
NOR 1S RESPECT TO OBLIGATIONS.
Does it consist in the nature of his obli.
cations as amember Of community In re.
speot to these you also regard him az one
having the attributes Of manhood. You on.
torce against him tho rigid performance of
his contracts you exact from him his equal
share Of public burdens you hold him
equally amenabe to the laws, and inhict
upcu him the impartial penalties of their
violation you bind him by the ties of al.
legianoe, aud punish his inhdelity TO the
State es treason you treat him in respect
to all these things az having rational, in.
i telligent, equal maEhood. 1t is not, then.
tn the nature of his obligations Ms member
of community that you regard his inferior.
ity as consisting.
But these rights are the rights of man
those obligations are the incidents OF ra.
tionel manhood For the protection and
enforcement Of these, and these only, gov.
ernment is instituted. 1t has no other pur.
pose these are the only subjects of its
powers. Does it not follow then, as a
logical sequence, that an the African has,
in equal degree with all other men, the
rights and obligations of rational manhood,
for the protection and enforcement OF
which government is instituted, he ought
TO have and exercise, in common with them,
such measure of political power derived
from his consent, as will make them per.
mancntly socureY This necessarily results
from the principle upon which popular
government is founded, snd in which our
own liberties repose for security, un.
less he be so inferior in rational capacity
as TO render him incapable of intelligent
consent.
DEFECT OF CAPACITY CONSIDERED --sEPARA.
/ TIoN OF RACES. M
Can such defect of capacity be Justly as.
serted of himP Ifit can. then the separa.
ton OF the races aud the colonization of the
African, consigns him to anarchy for il he
be not capable of j. diligently exercising
tue ordinary functions of citizenship in con
junction with n superior race, much less is
he if east upon his own resources and his
civil end political condition in u state of
separation would therefore, be one of in.
describable miseries, exposing him to the
oupidity Of commercial advcnturtrs and the
misfortunes of his own incapaoity. Unless
tbs theory OF separation be the suggestion
of barbarous inhumanity, its advocates
must be satisfied Of his capacity of self.gOv.
ernment aud the exercise of political pow
ers with sufficient intelligence 70 guarantee
the protection aud seomity Of his rights.
With them, therefore, no controversy can
be had--no vindication of the negro's ca,
pacity is necessary for they concede it,
A HIaH ORDER OF CAPACITY NOT THE RULE
| t OF SUFFRAGE.
That he is Inadequate to those higher
efforts of genius and intellectually of which
the Caucasian is capable, may be possible
But the capacity OF genius is not the rule of
enfranchisement If suffrage were re-
stricted to those possessing extraordinary
capabilities. not only the African, but the
great body of the Caucasian race would he
excluded. government conforming ts
practice to such q standard would const.
tute an aristocracy of intellect, highly
Utopan in theory, yet no less despotic and
tyrannical than an aristocracy of wealth or
birth. Our whole political system is at
war with standard so practically unat
tainabe. 1t rests upon the fundamental
and liberal idea that rational manhood
however humble its endowment, however
incapable of reaching the higher attainment
of craftsmanship, is the only practical
standard of restriction. The masses Of
mankind, although ungifted with those
powers which make men illustrous, are
nevertheless competent to constitute an
ultimate tribunal, a grand inquest of the
nation, by whose will selections from the
| gifted are commissioned to eXersse the
more delicate and difficult powers of state
aud at the bar of whose united judgment
they are rightly required tohccount tor the
manner in which they discharge their high
trust. On this depends the security of the
weak against the strong--of the feeble
against the powerful. This is their bhl.
wark, their only shield, the palladium of
their safety. aa .
| ONE STANDARD FOR ALL RACES.
Shall moro stringent rule he applied to
the African Concede that he is unequal
in capacity to the more gifted of the Cau-
casian race what tben2 Does it follow
| that because he may not excel, he cannot
| attain medocrty? That because he may
not rival the efforts of genius. he cannot
have the ordinary nationality of manhood 2
That because he may not reach the first
rank in statesmanship, he cannot intelli.
gently exercise the ordinary functions OF
the citizenG That because he may not be
Caesar, he can be nothingP II this stand.
ard were applied to our own race, its
electoral ranks would be fearIuy deci.
mated AS TO it, however the ordinary
capacity of rational manhood is the lest and |
rule OF suffrage CAN Impartial justice de- |
mand a less liberal rule for the African |
He mas the same rights Of life; liberty and
property to be protected shall not the
same ordinary powers of intellect entitle |
him to exercise tho means OF protection |
lie is subject TO the like obligations and |
duties of citizenship In common with oil |
other races Of men; shall not the like ordi-
nary capacity epiite him, in common with |
them, to share IN tempering and controlling
their enforcement? He is exposed to like
acts OF tyraruy and oppression shall not
the same ordinary nationality entitie him {
to the means of resisting his oppressor
Let impartial justice answer
n HIS INTELLIGENCE.
That he possesses this nationality. the
candor OF intelligence, and his own achieve
ments under the most adverse circum-
stapces. bear Witness II is stubborn
fact, abundantly sustained by the e6uca.
tional statistics OF the country that wher-
ever the heel of oppression ami the hand
of prejudice have been lifted from the
negro, his progress In rudltneutai knowl.
enge has not been less than that OF his eau.
casian superior, In 1850, before the facil.
tiles of partially just educational system
were extended to him in tue Notthwesi;
its proportion of illiteraie blacks was not
greater than the whole Southern white
population. So keenly sensitive were
Southern statesmen to this fact, that in
1860, they prevailed Oh the authorities then
in power to omit the collection Of educa-
tiollal statistics in the census Of that year.
What his rank in the scale Of Intelligence
might have been il stimulated 10y the pride