The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1867-06-27

lctS fiito compeutlon With native
laborers among whom feelings of
jealously and i'll will are freq1e htly
aIonsed (, Dislikes are enaendeted. |
Thousands Gome to our counti'JI
who are unacquainted with our Ian
guhge or who speak a dialect which
jars upon our ear. In every nation
q great many people are prejudiced
against strangers. Foreign dialects
will be Knocked; broken English will
be ridiculed. Chickering's and quar-
rels are apt to follow and end in fre-
quent breaches of the peace, And
now we should see the foreigner,
stranger among strangers, unable to
obtain redress even where he has
been wronged and outraged, Una
bic to give proper explanation Of.
his case to q court of justice, sup
posed to be in the wrong because he
appears to be ignorant, exciting rid
icule by his broken attempts to make
himself understood, without infiuen-
tial social connections, what justice
would he have to expect, what pro
lection, safety, and comforts would
he enjoy, assailed by the prejudices,
i'll Will, dislike, violence or injustice
Of those with whom his business or
labor has thrown him into competi-
ton, and of their friends, relatives
and followers, if that wonderful and
civilizing genius of our Institutions
had not invested him with a magic
wand of protection which at once
becomes his own protector He at
once ceases to be a ''bloody, red
mouthed Irishman" or a ''stupid
Dutchman," and becomes one of our
''liberty-loving and intelligent Ger
man friends" or one Of our s'indus-
trious Irish fellow citizens" J" Can
this difference be without it's effects
The harsh and contemptous treat
ment to which I have alluded, would
have depressed and discouraged
him, and he would have continued
to be a subject and helot; but the
kind treatment which he owes to his
vote, at once encourages and elates
him; it brings out the better points
in his nature; it arouses his spirit Of
emulation it makes him strive and
struggle zealously the battle of life;
it makes him citizen infinitely
more useful than if he were disfran
chised.
I do not propose to discuss
whether suffrage is natural OF vest
ed right, whether it is right or as
John Stuart Mill seems to think, a
political trust. What are .philoso-
phical niceties OF distractions in the
stormy arena of a great political
contest !? But let me say that as a
powerful reformer and civilizer, suf-
frage is second only to the invention
of gunpowder which dem oiished the
strongholds of the feudal lords and
destroyed their pernicious power
The medieval robber in his fortified
and impregnable castle was scourge
and terror to his fellow-men. He
robbed peaceful commercial cara
vans and defied the authority of law,
Of kings, and of emperors. He re-
duced the country to beggary by his
everlasting private wars with his
neighbors, bequeathing to his chill
dren and children's children a legacy
Of hatred and revenge He pillaged
and ravished and murdered with i'm
punity, mocking in his inaccessible
stronghold the in1potent outcries of
outraged humanity. What could
be done against him? A knight
clad in an inpenetrable armour of
steel, and skilled in the use of the
sword and the battle-axe, was q
match for dozens of churls and peas
ants But, sir, the invention of the
German monk turned the tables at
once. Cannons and mortars bat
tered down the castles which had
defiled the assaults of centuries OF
war. The musket in the hands of
the plebeian churl took the knight
Of sixteen ancestors from his horse
in spite of his heavy armor, his
broad-sword and his. battle axe
All the skill he had acquired in
the use of these weapons during
the many hours Of his aristocratic
leisure, went for naught, and he be
came the helpless target of the
swine-heard who laid him low
Quantity now superseded quality and
became important in the hands OF
able commanders. Intellect now
triumphed over brutal force. Gen
ius took the place of physical power
and, sir, at the battle of Landen The
+. weakest and sickliest man in eacl
army was probably the great genera
who commanded it. The flash o
gunpowder thus helped to dispel the
darkness of the middle ages, as i
battered down the robber castle:
and destroyed the lawless occupa
ton of the federal barons.
| Suffrage, sir, has accomplished
similar results. 1t has awakened /;
sense of human dignity and self-re
spect in the bosom of the lowest ant
the humblest 1t has diffused ;
sense of justice. 1t has swept ava,
the dangerous effects of caste. ! I
has promoted political knowledge
and has spread general information
and intelligence. 1t has established
legitimate channel and safety
valve for popular Indignation. l
, has provided peaceful remedy fo
popular grievances, and thus, anon!
those who understand it truly, it ha
made instructions and revolution
unnecessary. 1t may, as said be
fore, be liable to abuse, and Civ
, rise to certain evils, like every othe
human institution, but, on the Who'll
, it has done wonders as an instru
t ment of liberty, justice and eiVilizs
ton.