Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-10-25
FoR fiMIPILiRrIIE sUFITRAaE; rs.

IL we deny such right we pronounce the
Declaration Of Independence a lie and /
the vital, essential principle Of our gov /
eminent heresv. This Is professedly /
a republic, that is a government deriv-
ing its powers from the consent Of the |
and whenever We deny any /
portion Of our loyal citizens slieh con
ssnting voice in the government We re-
lapse towards despotism and declare
the republican theory Of government /
false and impractieabIe- The very fact /
of citizenship under q government de-
irving its powers from consent carries
with It the right to exercise such con
sent
To establish this theory Of govern
ment by the people, we fought the war
of the revolution, and to vindicaUe it
we fought down the pro-sIavery rebel
lion. Mr.. Lincoln very elOquently
stated this in his Gettysburg address,
saying:
ssFour score and seven years ago our
fathers brought forth upon this CON
tinent a new nation, conceived in nber-
ty and dediedtsdto the proposition tadt az
men are created eQ0slgG. Now we are en-
gagged in q great civil war, testing Vyheth-
that nation or any nation 30 conceived
and so dedicated, can long endure.
Such was the great principle in issue
in the late war, and to that principle
Mr.. Lincoln further declared, in the i'm
mortal address above quoted, the Amer
lean people should dedicate themselves
anew, and highly resolve, ''that this ma
tion, under God, should have new
birth Of freedom, and that government
Of the people, By the people and for the
people, should not perish from the
earth"
In the spirit Of that resolution we tri-
umphed and our triumph vindieated
the great republican doctrine that all
men are created equal, and that for the
security of their rights, governments
should derive their powers from the
consent Of the governed. Under such a
system as ours, therefore, the abstract
right Of every citizen to a cOnsenting
voice in the government is unquestion-
able.
Whether this is itself a natural right
or not it is the necessary result Of nat
uraI rights. For what are such rights
worth unless we can secare them2 And
how make them secure unless we have
a voice in the government whose duty
it is to protect them? A government
in which we have no such voice is a tyr
amy and may protect our rights or
take them away as it chooses The bal
lotis every citizens necessary protee-
ton Gexarnmanta1- powers are insti-
tuted tor the especial purpose Of pro-
tecting human rights, and those powers
can be justly derived only from the ball
lot. This then is the means Of protee-
tion, and is just as necessary as the
rights themselves.
But there are overwhelming positive
reasons, aside from those Of abstract
Justice, why we should enfranehise the
black people Of this country. They
stand out as the most remarkable, and
perhaps the only example in history Of
DISTINGUISHED race unequiYocally and
universally friendly 20 the government
that ensIaved thenH ThesOIdiers of the
Union Judged Of the sentiments Of
white men in the South by the color Of
their dress, sltppOsiag they were loyal
when they saw them dressed in blue
and disloyal when dressed in grey
But whenever a Union soldier looked In
black face, he k1leaO he was looking in
the face of friend. These people are
born on our soil and devoted, heart and
soul, to the principles Of American free
dom. They have attested that devotion
by unmeasured suffering and written it
in blood. Now what government ever
committed the vilIainy of repudiating
and trampling upon its friends without
paying a fearful penalty for such wick
edness sometime? +? Not one in history.
Further; the loyal white people of the
South have appealed to us again and
again to enfranchise the blacks. This
appeal is made to us by people whose
devotion to our flag has been tried in
the fire, and who demand It as abso-
lutely necessary for their own protec-
ton from rebel persecution. Disfran-
chise the blacks ana they will be redu-
ced to serfdom, but a still greater ca
lamity will befal the loyal whites
who Will be compelled either to apOsta-
tie from their principles or leave
the country. As during the war, so
again each Southern State will be made
too uncomfortable for a loyal man to
stay ia It, a new secession aristocracy
will be. erected based on serfdom, and
the last condition Of the South win be
worse than the first. Meanwhile the ma
tion will have gained nothing by this
diabolicaI policy save the curse of heav-
ven entai1ed upon ourselves and our
children for the double vilIainy of hav-
ing deserted and dealt unjustly with
the nations friends.
acknowledgements is necessary for the
the protection of the blacks. It is, in
deed, their only protection. The great
majority of them have neither proper
ty, education or social influence. With
out the ballot they are entirely at the
mercy Of moneyed and disIoyaI class
whose fortunes were gained by p1under
Of the wages Of the poor, and were free
" contributed in support Of the rebel
lion. These wealthy secessionists, pos
sessing the social and political influence
will take care that the blacks are mea-
gerIy educated, VIII put every possible
obstacle in the way of their acquiring
property, and do their utmost to make
them the political vassaIs of secession
demagogues. In short these aris6oerats
viii aim by legislation and every other
possible means to make these people
their social, intellectual and political
dependents.
Enfranchisement now resolves itself
into the question whether the people of
this country are ready for rebel and
copperhead domination in the national
government. If the insurgent States
are restored on any other basis than the
acknowledgment of the blacks they
viii be hopelessly turned over to the
rebel party. Every Southern State win
give a solid electoral vote for a Demo-
cratic President because the great ma
jority of the loyal people VIII be ex-
cluded from the ballot box. Moreover,
those States will send to Congress near
" thirty Senators and one hundred
Representatives every one of whom
will probably be an ex-member of the
Confederate government or army, and