The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-05-14
Remark. OF Col. or. Thomas,

Remarks OF Col. 1.,P. Thoinas,
Chairman Of The Comisitesin Charge
: ofTMe South Caroline Reai,sastrd rdnce
q Piper before The ReconsAsie Conn
mitsee or the House Of Represdak kdtieess
Ma. CHAIRMAN AND sGRNTIRsIl oF
THE COMMITTEE: Give as leave TO
thank You for the courtesy Of this
hearing, which will be ,thet more
highly appreciated by the people
whom we represent because it was
unexpected. We we're told that we
would not be heard before your Com
'mittee; but we -are gratifedl to find.
that we were not mistaken in assum-
ing that your body would SURELY not
refuse to receive such truthful repre-
sentations as we might submit on the
subject Of our mission. 4ui %
: We are here, q Committee on be-
half os ..!iio .oousefvatiye people OF
our State, to remonstfste and to re-
cord n protest against the imposition
upon our people of the new Consti-
tuition proposed for South Carolina.
And first allow us to call your ntten-
ton to the character and attainments
of the men who framed that Constf-
tuition. The world over. fundamental
laws for free States have been the
work of the best, the purest and the
wisest of their citizens. Not so with
US. We had, indeed, the severity of
Draco, but not the wisdom of Solon.
The Constitution we oppose was the
offspring of Northern adventures,
of inexperienced Southern whites,
and of negroes, native and foreign,
some of whom were intelligent, but
the majority extremely ignorant and
utterly untitled for the duty of their
position. Not single man in that
Convention possessed the unselAsh
spirit, the high craftsmanship, the
long experience, the philosophical
cast of mind essential in the legis-
lator-absolutely necessary to those
upon whom is devolved the task-the
elevated and delicate task-of form
ing for Commonwealths an organic
law.
With regard, next, to the objec-
tions to this proposed instrument,
we do not design to consider them in
detail. This has been done in the
remonstrance presented in the House
OF Representatives and referred TO
your honorable Committee. There
are, however, two points to which we
invite atteption-two objections that
stand out in bold relief. We refer to
unlimited negro suffrage and the tanu-
lion professions. AS to the former,
aceording to the proposed Constitu-
ton, many of the best and purest of
the whites are disfranchised, whilst
every male negro over the age of
twenty!one years is invested with
suffrage. The negroes being in a
large majority in our State, the re-
suit is, that negro supremacy, for a
time ut least, is established in South
Carolina. This is disastrous in its
tendencies and particularly injurious
in its ultimate results to the black
race. Under such state of things,
the negro grows arrogant and the
white man bitter. The consequence
is, you produce ill-feeling between
the races. In such an event, the
bLck man must suffer most; and if
the antagonism is made sharp and
permanent. it must seal his doom as
people. AS to the white man, he
will take care of himself, and will hold
or regain his own. The fact is, all his
tory, all experience, proclaims that
when two races are brought together
in conflict, the weaker and less hardy
must succumb. This is the law of
power-this the decree of the Al
mighty Ruler of the Universe, and
no hnman arrangement can avert the
inevitable result-the logical Sc
quence. In the Olympic chariot
course of nationalities-of contending
peoples-it is blood, it is race, that
wins the goal and enjoys the prize.
Hence the Southern whites, in the
faith of the proud race to which they
belong, feel confident and strong;
and no doubts rs to their future come
seriously to disturb their well-found-
ed equanimity. But the ex-slave-
holder OF the South-though slavery
be forever gone-is not disposed
to disturb the harmony which should
exist between the races at the South.
Acknowledging the fidelity and the
services of the negro in the past, he
feels that he is the colored mans best