New-York tribune., 1867-03-27
THE RID FOR THE COLORED VOTE.

nv the whites They hold the balance OF
mower. and the keen Southern politician, never
mistaken except when policy is opposed 10
principle, already bids for the colored
vote. The negroes are organizing
Union Republican party; the Wade lamp
| tens want negro Southern party ana
| "a the tendency of the negro is to vote with
tbe party to which he owes freedom, citizen
shin. and the ballot, their old masters must
work hard TO cOunteract this natural gravlta-
ton. They are going to work hard; they nave
| not vet recovered from the suddenness OF the
| blow, and bid for the cOlored vote with 1alr
words only; to get it they must make offers
more substantial. "Wll you place in Office
" these strangers who have flocked here to
"plunder what little is left to usW asked
| Gen. Hampton; or will you trust the men
"among whom YOU have lvedW He added,
| and wisely al do not tell you to trust profes-
/" sions of friendship alone, whether they come
| from the Southern man or the Northern. But
| "what ask is, that as zoe profess to be your
friends, you will give us the opportunity OF
showing by our actions whether we are SIN
Z" cere or not"
Yet. ia the changed tone of the Southern
| press there is much encouragement Tor the
colored race. They are no longer people
created by the Almighty expressly TO be
! slaves; they are men and women, and not so
! far below white men and women either.
Bear with their harmless prejudces," says
| The Charlottesville Va.) Chronicle; "haye not
are ten thousand foibles and vaniticsR Does
mot the same poor human heart beat under
" the most snowy and the most jet black
| "bosomP" Ii Is rejoiced at the moderation the
freedmen have displayed "under the same
circumstances the white people would not
"have behaved as well by twenty per cent"
And it adds. with an astonishing burst of
humility, 1--WE Just say ths-that if we had
I "been a born niggcr-rcarcd ont III a mud
"cabin. with no knowledge of God, with no
knowledge of anything, surrounded by puDhc
sentiment that tolerated dirt, swearing, Sab
"batll- breaking, stealing, lying-wc should have
"been hung long ago"
Then comes the point of this praise i'll adj
vice and warning TO the negroes: " Remember
"that although you are free, and although you
"wiIl vote, you are still the labOriRg class Of
"He country Do not abuse the freedom which
"GOd has given you by forgetting your posi-
" ton in society. Do not undertake. to be like
gentlemen. Do not put on airs Attend to
"your business do your daily work, do it well,
" deal honestly and uprighuy, and you will
command respect. Live peacGably with the
"whites. Make them your friends They can
" do you infinite harm if you make them enc
"mies. They can persccute you TO death in
thousand ways which no laws can reach We
may not like these gentle threats but we know
! what they mean-vOtes.
This policy has had some success already.
Gen. Hampton at Columbia advised the freed
men to give their friends at the South fair
trial, and if they were found wanting, 1t would
then be time enough TO so abroad for sym
patiY In answer to this we find c0lOred
clergyman foolish enough to oppose universal
| suffrage. But though the freedmen are gnO-
rant, there are few of them so stupid as not
to know that they owe to the ballot all their
influences. 1t is for them weapon more power
full than the pen or the sword.
Thus seem to end the prophecies of the
Southern papers that to give tho negroes tho
right to vote would be to create war of
races. Instead Of accepting the Reconstruction
law as a call TO arms, the Southern leaders are
ready TO use il as q means of obtaining power.
"The weapon with which our mortal and
"eternal (sic) enemies seek TO destroy u.s.
1
for our sure defense"
| But it is not certain that the negro vote can
be made unanimously Southern, in the usual
sense Of the term The colored citizens of
Charleston and Savannah lately held meetings
for the purpose of organizing Union Repub-
lcan party Resolutions were adopted giving
cordial and entire sanction 10 the principles of
Congress opposing reputation of the national
a. n
schools open to all without regard to color
and a revision of the laws; and pledgng the
coIored men to vote for no candidate who will
not openly advocate these measures and prin-
ciples. I'm effect they declared that they re-
quired from the Southern leaders better Sc
curities than promises; they demanded the re-
peal of all laws under which they have been
held in subjectOn, and nothing less than the
! full legal acknowledgment Of their political
and civil equality. They are organizing Re-
publican party, and intend to vote for Repub-
lican candidates. Mr. +. L. Cardozo, at the
recent meeting in Charleston, said: owe are
not opposed to united action. We will gladly
welcome union with our Southern friends
but let them join the party which is true, and
has been tried and then there will be united
action. Let them adopt our platform and
Join the Republican party" In Jacksonville
Florida, they resolved that they would support
no candidate who had voluntarily been in the
Rebel army.
The Southern colored vote will no doubt he
divided, and hereafter, it may be legitimatcly
sought by rival parties At present we have
no electioneering to do. If the men who Bit
terly opposed universal suffrage are now de-
sirous to use it, we are content that they should