Bloomsburg democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1867-1869, 1867-12-11

and members Of Congress, and shape, to q
greater or less extent, the future destiny Of
The whole country. Would such trust and
power DO safe in such hands The peculiar
qualities which should characterize any peo.
ple, who are fit to decide upon the manage
ment Of public affairs for great State, have
seldom been combined.
1t is the glory of white mon to know that
they have had these qualities in sufficient
measure to build upon this continent great
political fabric, and to preserve its stability
for more than ninety years, while in every
other part Of the world all similar expert
ments have failed But It anything can be
proved by known facts If all reasoning up
on evidence is not abandoned, it must be ac.
knowledged that in the progress Of nations
negroes have shown less Gu pacity for govern
lnent than any other race Of people. No
independent government OF any form has
ever been successful in their hands. On
the contrary, wherever they have been LETT
to their own devices they have shown con-
stant tendency to relapse into barbarism
In the Southern States, however, Con-
gress has undertaken to confer upon them
the privilege of the ballot. Just released
from slavery, it may be doubtful whether,
us class, they know, more than their an
cestOrs, how to organize and regulate civil
society. Indeed, it is admitted that the
blacks of the South are not only regardless
of the rights of property, but so uttorly ig
norant Of public affairs that their voting can
consist in nothing more than carrying Il bal
lot to the place where they are directed to
deposit it.
| need not remind You that the exercise
Of the elective franchise is the highest at
tribute Of an American citizen, and that
when guided by virtue, intelligence and
patriotism, and proper appreciation Of our
free institutions, it constitutes the true basis
of Democratic form of Government, in
which the sovereign power is lodged in the
body of the people. A trust artiIicially cro
ated, not for its own sake, but solely as a
means of promoting the general welfare, its
influence for good must necessarily depend
upon the elevated character and true allegi-
ance of the e!ec,or; it ought, therefore, to
be reposed in none except those who are
fitted. morally and mentally, to administer
it we'll, for II conferred upon persons who
do not Justly estimate its value, and who
are Indifferent as to its results, it. will only
saw az Wceho VI pi'Si.S Po"ci u" III"
hands of the unprincipled and ambitious,
and must eventually end in the complete
destruction of that liberty of which it
should be the most powerful conservator, -
| have, therefore, heretofore urged upon
your attention the great danger to be ap-
pretended from an untimely extension of
the elective franchise to any new elias; in
our country, especially when the large ma
ioyity, in welding the power thus placed in
their hands, cannot he expected correctly
the duties and responsibilities
which pertain to suffrage. Yesterday, ms
IT were, four millions OF persons were held
ia condition Of slavery that had existed
for generations To-day they are fraemen,
and are assumed by law to be citizeus. 1t
cannot be presumed from their previous
of servitutle that as class they
are as well informed as to the nature of our
government as the intelligent foreigner who
makes our land the home OF his choice.
In the case of the latter, neithera resi-
dence of i've years nor the knowledge of our
institutions which it gives, nor attachment
to the principles of tho Constitution are the
only conditions upon which he can be ad-
mittcd to citizenship. He must prove, in
a good moral character, and thus
give reasonable ground for the belief that
he will be faithful to the obligations which
he assumes as a citizen of the Republic -
Where people, the source of all political
power, speak by their suffrages through the
of the ballot-box, it must be
carefully guarded against the control Of those
who are corrupt in principle and enemies of
'rGe institutions, for it can only become to
our political and social system a safe con.
Iluctor Of healthy popular sentiment when
Kept free from demoralizing influences. -
Controlled through fraud and usurpation by
the designing, anarchy and leSpotism must
inevitably follow. In the hands Of the pa
triotic and worthy our government will be
preserved upon the principles Of the Con-
:titution inherited from our fathers.
1t follows, therefore, that in admitting to
The ballot-box new class Of voters, not
qualified for the exercise of the electi,e
We weaken our system of govern
nent instead Of adding strength and dura-
oility.
| yield to no one in attachment to that
.ulc Of general suffrage which distinguishes
,ur policy as u nation. But there is a limit,
wisely observed hitherto, which makes the
ballot privilege and trust which requires
If some classes time suitable for proba-
ion and preparation. To give it indiscrimi- |
,ately to a nav class wholly unprepar:d by
previous habits and opportunities to per-
orm the trust which it demands, is to de-
,rade it, and finally destroy its power. for it
my he safely assumed that no political truth
$ better established than that such in
discriminate and al embracing extension Of
popular suffrage must end at last in its over
hrow and destruction.
repeat the expression of my willingness
O join in any plan within the scope of our
authority which promises to
,etter the condition Of the negroes in the
south, by encouraging them in industry. en-
tightening their minds, improving. their
norals and giving protection to all their
ust rights as freedom. But the transfer Of
ur political inheritance to them, would, in
ny opinion, be an abandonment Of a duty
which we owe alike to the memory Of our
athers and the rights of our children.
The plan of putting tho Southern States
Wholly, and the General Government par.
tally, into the hands of negroes, is proposed
t a time peculiarly unpropitious.. The
oundaticns Of society have been broken up
" civil war; Industry must be reorganized,
ustice established, public credit maintain
d, and order brought ont of confusion.
o accomplish these ends would require all
he wisdom and virtue of the great men who
ormed our institutions origionally. con-
l,otl, bol;oya tLof THAR dosconTln nts will