The Van Buren press., 1868-07-10
FREEDOM.


The negro, having the age Of man with the
expeyience. child; Ia Wild and erratic.
All kinds Of f1olic meets welcome from
him, ard stTis not to be wondered at that
excess viii too osen characterize their
jovisl meetings. Being a favored race
they are permitted to carry firearms and
seriops CASUALTIES are inevitable. On
the day in question there seem. to have
beeaa general row, resulting in the shoot
ing o. rone ofthe number lad of six
teen or seventeen years. II there are any
palliatins circumstances, We have not been
iaformcd Of their existence Judging
from the past, we have every reason to
believe that these criminal acts will be of
frequent occurrence in the future. This
being true, 1T becomes necessary for all
law abiding and good citizens to see that
rhe LAWS faithfully administered The
negroes are not altogether TO blame for
many excesses and outrages of which
they have been guilty in our State, since
the maugrratien Of the congressional
policy sf reconstrpcticn. The race has
never, heretofore, been amenable to the
laws of the State as strictly and fully as
were white men. II would be unjust and
unreasonable for US to expect him to learn
his responsibilities, in so brief period
ms since the end of the war. More espe
clally when we consider that, a class of
white men have taken the negro, under
their control, and teach him the miserable
tacticss ef the politicians, instead of the
duties .efa good citizen, From, the very
condition of the races, established by
Him who made them, the African must
Occupy subordinate sphere as long Is
he IS in contact with the superior or white
with ," conflict" So long as labor was
owned by'cantal, there could be no con.
fict, Now, capital and labor being sepa
'rated-ne, longer dwelling in the same
'objed--this conflict must exist There
en- be little doubt, as to Che result 6 this
contest, Labor must be subservient to
capital Thenegr neaer having absorb,
ed those tenets Of life, common to the
whfte reaa, by reason of the irresponsible
condition heretofore of the former, must
remain for many generations unequal to
the task of successfully competing with
the white man. This is no fault of either
race, bot being a existing fact we must
so deal with it Like all subordinate races
brought into contact equally free, and
equally responsible and indcpendant, the
only question is, how many will survive
the overwhelming tide of enlightenment
and civilization----how many will fall by
the way, by proving incapable of main.
tanning their places in the grand army of
advancement Look back over the his
tory OF America. These forests were
once the possessions Of the red men.
Our common pathway is thickly dotted
with the graves of the Indians. Com.
R'sratirely, handful still survive, still
'oe~s pushed forward by the irresistible
force ofimprovement. a few have BY
'(lint OF hard struggling. brought them
selves to the point Of Improvement, that
enables them to buffet the waves success
fully These rapidly become absorbed
into the mass Of white people, and their
identity must, sooner or later, be forever
lost. The negro has by no means so
fair start, In this grand race, as the In
diaas. The latter never knew any thing
but freedom--aad independence--the
former have always, in America, been
slaves and entirely dependant A false
philsnthropy-fslse in results, if not in
conception has thrown the negro upon
hisown resources. Has armed him, a
child In mind, with the unwieldy arms
oi the grown up man; and now demands
OF him to defend himself in this unequal
battle Of life Nature teaches us a better
and wiser lesson. She throws the child
upon the charity and mercy ofthe world,
unarmed and defenceless. AS its mind
grows stronger society has wisely con.
ferred the proper arms, and -eqaired of
thcrec,pient the duties Of the full citizen
These simpls lessons are wholly disre.
gSrdsd by the philosophy of our present
dominant political party Arrogating to
themselves the entire control OF this uu
Fortunate race, ond monopclizing its