The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1867-01-12

y
and are not therefore allowed a voice in the
electoral college or representation in the
councils of the nation, they are nevertheless
American citizens, entitled as such to every
right which pertains to citizens OfzOur com
mon country In all matters, then affecting
their domestic affairs, the spirit Of our dem
oeratic form of government demands that
their wishes should be consulted and respee-
ted, and they taught to feel that, although
not permitted practically to participate inl
national concerns, they are, nevertheless,
under paternal government, regardful Of
their rights mindful Of their wants and sol
licitous for their prosperity. it was evi-
IDENTIFY contemplated that all local questions /
would be left To their decision, ut least to an.
extent that would not be incompatible with /
the object for which Congress- was granted |
exclusive Legislation over the seat Of govern /
ment. When the Constitution was yet under /
consideration it was assumed by Madison |
that its inhabitants would be allowed 81
municipal legislature for local purposes de- |
rived from their own suifrages. When for |
the first time Congress in the year 800 as
sembled at Washington, President Adams ia
his speech at It's opening reminded the two
Houses that it was for them to consider
whether the local powers over the District OF
Columbia, vested by the. Constitution in the !
Congress of the United States, should bel
Immediately exercised, and he asked them
to Consider 1t as the capital Of q great pa !
ton advancing ia art, in commerce, ~, wealth /
and IN population, and possessing .wlth1p it ]
self those recources which If not thrown
away, or lamentably misdirected, would Sc.
cure "a it a lJng course of prosperity and.
seif-gOyernment Three years had nOt
elapsed when Congress WAS called uPOlf to
determine the prOpriety Of retrocedins 20 4
/ Maryland and Virginia the jurisdiction of
| the territory which they had respectively re-
| liuquisheG to the Governmental the United 1
States 1t was urged ON the one hand that
| exclusive jurisdiction was not necessary or
useful to the Government, that it deprive3
| the inhabitants of the Distrfctof theirpOliti
! cal rights that much of the time of Congress
was consumed in legislation pertaining to it.
| that its government was EXPENSIVE, that Con-
| gress was not competent to legislate for the
! District because its members were strangers
/ to its local concerns and that it was an ex-
/ ample of government without representation
I'm experiment dangerous to the liberties
of the States On the other hand it. was held
| among other reasons, and successfully, that the{
| Constitution, the acts of eessiOn of Virginia
| and Maryland and the act of Congress ae-
cepting the grant, all contemplated the exer-
else of exclusive legislation by Congress !;
and that its usefulness, if not its necess ltys
was inferred from the inconvenience which
was left for want of it by the Com
| gress of the Confederation; that the people
| themselves, who it was said had been de-
prived Of their political rights, had not
complained and did not desire Il retrocessiQn,
that the evil might be remedied by giving
1 them a representation In Congress when the
District should become sufficiently pOpulous,
and in the meantime a local legislature that
if the inhabitants had not political rights
they had great political Influence; that the
trouble and expense of legislating for the
= District would not be great but would di
minIsh, and might In a great measure be
/ avoided by local legislature, and that Con
gress could not retrocedel the inhabitant'
{ without their consent Continuing to live
! substantially under the laws that existed a
q the time of the cessiOh and such changes
. only having been made as were suggested
e by themselves, the people Of the.Distric
q have not sought by a local legislature tha
t which has generally been willingly aecedeC
!, | by the Congress of the nation. Al a genera
e rule sound policy requires that the legisla
b ture should yield tO'the wishes of a people
l. when not inconsistent with the Constitution
II and the laws. The measures suited TO on
II community mightnOt be we'll adapted to tn
y condition of another, and.the persons bes
It qualified to determine such questions ar
e those whose interests are to be dlrectl
Is affec ted by any proposed law In Ma
10 sachusetts, for instance, male persons ar
a. allowed TO vote without regard to color PIT
l. Vided they possess Ncertain degree of INTEL
70 gence. In a population of that State
ID ,23l ,066 there were, by the census of 1866
le only 96O2 persons Of color, and of the male
he over twenty-One years of age there wei
BIZ 239,OS6 whites to 1902 coIored. By I'll
ie same official information there were in I'll
80 District of Columbia 60, 764 whites to Il, 81
n persons of the colOred race. Since the
le however, the population of thi District hi
ne largely increased, and it is estimated that
8. the present time there are nearly 10000
of whites TO 10000 negroes. The cause of I'll
a augmented numbers of the latter class neet
be no explanation. Contiguous to MarylaT
of and Virginia, the District, during the va
al became place of refuge for those who {
ed capped from servitude, and it is yet the abb
M ing place of considerable proportion
la those who sought within its limits a shelf
al from bondage Until then held in slave
BE and denied all opportunities for mental q
u ture, their first knowledge of the GOvernme
X was acquired when-by comforting up
he them freedOn--it became the benefactOr
set their race. The test of their eapability
Is. improvement began when, for the first tin
for the career of free industry and the avene
I'm to intelligence were opened to them. p
tu- sessing these advantages but limited til
re- the greater number perhaps having c
In tered the District of Columbia during t
ON latter years of the war or since its termil
a tion-we may Well pause toihquire wheth
ct after so brief probation, they are, as clq
rs capable of an intelligent ex eTeise. of t
The right of suffrage, and qualified to dischar
of the duties Of Official positions.
op- The people who are daily witnesses
ma their mode of living, and who have becd
sen familiar with their habits of thought, he
sm, expressed the conviction that they are J
gro yet competent to serve as electors, and tt
ice become eligible for Office an the local COVE
,er- ments under which they live. Clothed VI
Ia the elective franchise, their numbers, alreil
red largely in excess of the demand for lab
to would be soon increased by, an infuS fr
ult the adjoining States Drawn from lie
the where employment is abundant, they VOL
are IN vain seek it here, and so add to the {
nm barrassments already experienced from
ted large class of idle persons eorgrcgated
ne the District Hardly yet capable Of 'fUrm
ded correct judgments upon the important gu
tions that often make the issues of q politi