Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-04-26

leading papers of New York City, few
days since, published long editorial rela-
tive to the matter. and suggesting means
by which remedy might be obtained =
And vet these men are the representatives
of those people who are, in part, the au-
thors of the manifold ills now in endu-
rance by the South, and for that Recon
struction bill which it is intended to force
upon them. They are of those WHO wish
to impose upon us an equal community OF
political interest with the negro, and would
give to the ignorant and irresponsible mas
ses of freedmen the sacred right of suf-
frage.
The wisdom of granting the people the
right of unqualified suffrage, has never yet
been conceded in toto, as necessary to a
purely Republican form of government
In the debates upon the formation of both
our own State and the Federal Constitution,
this question was ably argued, and although
it was decided in the affirmative, yet the
minority still chung to their own views
The succeeding history of this country has
demonstrated how correct those views were,
and how comparatively few there are Ca
pable of welding Alright this great priv
lege.
Previous to tho war, a naturalization OF
five years date was required of all foreign
ers before the ballot could be open to
them, and no native American youth could
receive the privilege of voting before he
had registered his one and twenty years.
Now Congress attempts to force upon the
polls the vote of those who, incapable,
both by birth and ignorance, of apprecia-
ting its great blessings, will be almost sure,
the majority of them, to vote as others may
dictate. The great Objectionable feature
in the proposed new system, is not so much
the bestowal of the privilege itself, as it is
the unqualified right to vote as the die
tates of passion or of prejudice may
prompt, and without fair appreciation of
the value of the right itself. The negro,
suddenly freed, and untutored and ig-
norant as he is, is certainly no better
prepared to vote thus, than is the
unnaturalized foreigner or the educa-
ted, but not yet adult American
If the question is to be conceded, that as
freedmen they are entitled to all of the
benefits of their freedom, let, by all means,
those benefits be conducted within the
bounds of reason, and restrained by the
same conditions now imposed upon the
white man. For the benefit of the colored,
as well as the white race is this necessary,
and it is in the name of their own, as
we'll as of the national interests, that it
should be done. The privilege of fran
chise, as it will be welded by many Of
them under the present order of affairs,
will revert more to their own present detri-
ment than to their eventual good While
appearing to be exercising their own judg-
ment, that 4" greatest of freedoms boons, "
they will, in reality, be but as puppets
upon the stage, and be used as tools i'll tho
hands of others. Let them appreciate
fully the advantages of the gift before they
are allowed the unrestrained use of it, and
in the end both themselves and the white
race will be the gamers by it, A too great
quantity of political liberty, and a too small
amount of education, can hardly be ex-
pected. together, to produce the most ben
eticial results.