Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-04-12

nay consider aueha = presumption mod
EST but it is not reVeFent.
But We have been considering the
case as il stands, aneonnsctsd With
sztraneous circumstances. Who are
these blacks whom We disfranchise on
account Of tbeir color Are they bad
citizens. lEiE brsakers, criminals z Our
processes 20 disfranchise
Eor Infamous crimes. Is It then an in
famous crime to have been born with
4 black faee2 Shame, shame on the
civilization fhat calls il such Shame, I
shame on the party that sets up. such
a monstrosity as part Of its creed It
is q heresy set up not only in defiance
Of justice but in defiance Of facts
Whatever other odium the coIored I
population may bear, ID has not that
which comes from violence or laRless-
ness. Point out che race which does
most to busy our police courts and hll !
our jaila, aud twill net be the negro. !
We hare . Reform School TO which |
our charitable philanthropy does not
admit black boys or white girls. but
leaves them parentless and homeless
to roam as viii on the road to ruin
Yet public opinion by no means ad-
mits that either females OF negroes are /
the most lawless classes In society
The restraints which our partial pub
lio benevoleuce throws around the male
Hhits boy 70 keep him from crime and
disgrace de not after aII secure him
greater credit than tho tender female
orphan or the despised negro as 80 OBJ
server Of the law. The crime for which
the solored race Is disfranchised Is the
crime Of birth, purely and simply
But while il should be no legal de-
merit to be black let It not be .suppos-.
ed that any ons holds it a merit TO be
80. Il would be just % absurd to eB-
franshiso ~ to disfranohiBe 8 man sim
/ ply on account Of his complexion
Republicans claim that the color Of
mans faoa has simply nothing to DO
with his ability to vote and that COM
mon sense teaches that his qualiHca-
tions for that high preFogative should
be sought for elsewhere than in the
pigment Of his skin. We do not ofFer
the negro the ballot because he has
color which is socially ostracised but
in spite Of that fact. We do not offer
/ it as a bounty, as we certainly should
not withhold it as a punishment for an
incident Of bis birth ordained By his
Creator. and for which he Is neither to
be eensured or praised.
Il But aside from the negative reasons
why the elective franchise should not
be withheld from the coIored citizens
Of Ohio, there are strong positive rea-
sons why it should be conferred upon
them. It is bestoWing no fulsoms
praise and risking no intelligent con-
tradietion to say that as class they
are as loyal, peacabIe, unOf5ending and
industrious Is any race now admitted
to the ballot. By their industry and
tact for business they have acquired no
less than one hundred and fifteen mil
lion dollars worth Of property, out Of
which, without being at ell represent
ed or having any voice il toe Govern
uent, they bear. their regular and full
proportion Of the burdens Of the State.
IOur white ancestors revolted against
English misrule because it taxed them
without their voice or consent, and we
applaud the act as a glorious era in the
worlds history. And yet we commis-
sion our taE-gatherers to infliet upon
sixty thousand guiltless citizens of
this State the same arbitrary oppres-
sion, resistance to which We glorify as
heroic patriotism and obedience to
! God. We condemn ourselves So ty-
rants toward the colOrod race and yet
against our tyranny there is lifted, not
the hand Of violence, but only the
voice of humble petition.
We have placed ourselves in a still
more unfortunate attitude. White
traitors organised a rebellion to destroy
our liberties, and in our dire exigency,
while Fate held a doubtful balance,
we called upon the colOred race to
help us save them. One hundred and
eighty-six thousand responded to that
call, aud out Of that number sixty
eight thousand lost life or limb in
fighting our battles. Qua of eight
thousand Eve hundred cOlored men in
Ohio Of cOmpetent age to vote, about
seven thousand, ornearly seven eighths
enlisted in the armies of the Union
Near the exploded mine at Petersburg
the writer has stood by the graves of
scores of them, where they fell, nobly
fighting in and around the rebel
trenches Black patriots who perish
ed for our cause gil humble graves ct
Wagner, Honey Springs, Fort Pillow,
Port Hudson, and upon many aEother
bloody field, @
BY holy chrisrn and hot baptism
or battles hery mood,
The chatteI - rose above his woes,
And wrote his right in blood.
And will the white voters of Ohio now
Tepudiate that writing as a nuIlity and
spurn that blood as an unholy thing I?
Would not such an act be adding mean
ness to Injustice. ingratitude to wrong ?
Would it not be branding patriotism
with shame, and Loyalty as a thing to
be despised :? No one is fool enough
to say that the negro soldiers alone
saved the country. nor is any one very
confident in the belief that it could
have been saved without their aid
But whether il could or could not, we
acted upon the supposition that their
help was necessary /; We asked for it
and it vas freely given. Their lnvaltv |