Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1868-07-03
The Democratic Protest.

lHC DtlikOCIdtIC L IOtCSts
THE Democrats of the House seized
the opportunity presented by the admis-
sion to seats in that body of Representa-
ti1es from Arkansas, to file characters
tic protest. In this we have an authorita-
tive exposition of the views and objects OF
the party of illiberal ideas and conserva-
tive sympathies. The dissenting paper is
long and elaborate, but its pith is contained
in the following extract
eve demand, in the name of the fathers
of the Constitution, and for the sake of
pOsterity, not its reconstruction, but the
| restoration of that sacred instrument,
which has been to all of us a fiery pillar
| from 1857 on to its present overthrow and
in all solemnity, before God and man, I'M
der a full sense of the responsibility of all
we utter, we do hereby fix our names to
this protest against the admission of these
three persons claiming to be members OF
Congress from Arkansas
1t seems impossible for the Democracy
to quit their platform of effete issues, to
which they cling with all the eager per-
sistence of wrecked mariners in open
ocean, tossed and half submerged on frag-
ments of their ships. The eyes of Demo
Gratis are ever turned toward the deep
darkness of the past. 1t is the restoration
of the old order of things which they de-
mand-the Constitution Just as the fathers
of the Republic made it. They are ready
at all times to stigmatize all changes in
that "sacred instrument" as sacrilege.
The abolition of slavery, and the recogni-
ton of that abolition by solemn amend
ment of the organic law, becomes, in their
estimation, an attempt to reverse the great
laws of human being established by the
Creator. The readmission of the insur-
rectionary States on the basis of equal and
exact justice-of impartial standing before
the laws-is regarded as an iniquity of
hideous magnitude
Thus runs the argument: The negro is
black, and black is the type Of wickedness,
of responsiveness, of deformity, and of al
that is unsightly and hateful it is the adj
jective employed to characterize all from
which the soul instinctively recoils, as a
black" deed, "black J" ingratitude,
black" flag, and so on; therefore the
black man is inferior in the grade of
| nature to the white. Nevertheless, these
sophists feel no adherence for black
hats, "black" broadcloth, shiny black u
boots, or "black walnut furniture.
1t is further argued that the negro's
brain is smaller than the whites, therefore
he lacks intellectual capacity, and it would
be flying in the face of Gods decree of in
| feriority to accord him educational facili-
| ties equal to those possessed by the noble1
races, in the vain expectation of lifting a
| cursed people out of the depths of the
degradation to which they were long ago
consigned by the wisdom of Heaven and
from which they have never been able tc
| emerge through their own exertions
Well, our ancestors centuries ago were
| fully as ignorant and imbruted, yet theil
| descendants have reached the highest levels
Of civilization. 1t may be possible that
similar results may be much more rapidly
achieved in the case of the negro We
think the experiment is well worth the
effort. If the fact be, as the Democrats
insist, then nothing will be accomplished
for truly the laws of the Creator cannot bt
reversed by human agencies. But if the
| Democrats are in error, a victim race viii
be rescued from the lowest depths of de
basement, and the cause of civilization
will receive new and important acqui
sitions. Despite the physiological objec
lions about the Negroes smallness of brain
kinkiness of wool, flatness of nose, thick
ness of lips, length of heel, and odorous
ness of body, we cannot perceive tha
| they present any reasons why the blacks
should be cut off from civil and politica
| rights, and be prevented from rising above
| the condition Of "hewers of wood an(
| drawers Of water"
| But the most significant part of the pro
test is the threat that the Democratic party
on obtaining possession Of the Govern
ment, will at once proceed to undo all tina
L dow 20 t,rfv Mt l,n
quered States. All the enactments Of Con
| gress to that end will be treated as uncon
stitutional legislation. The readmitteC
States will be restored to their old status
| Negro suffrage will be abolished, the
negroes be RENTED to subordinate posi-
| ton, and authority be lodged exclusively
In the hands of the whites. The amend
ments to the Constitution will be pro
nounced null and void, and thus we shall
| get back to the old standpoint at which
the original compromises of the organic
| law will become operative, including that
clause which declares that " no person held
| to service or labor in one State, under the
| laws thereof escaping into another, SHALL
| IN consequence of any law or regulation
| therein, be discharged from such service or
labor, but shall be delivered up on claim
| OF the party to whom such service or
labor may be due"
With all amendments of the Constitrl-
ton since the war thus eliminated by a
party in authority the old in
strument restored in all of its provisions
| and efficacy, slavery would of course re-
main as not abolished. 1t requires little
imagination to bode forth the consequences
of such an entangling condition. No one
supposes that the hot heads who would &C
complish such ends can obtain ascendency
in national affairs, but it is well to remem-
Der, amid the sophistries which will be the
stock in trade of Democratic stump-speak-
ers and journals, during the pending cam
paign, what are the real views and aims of
the party they represent, and. what would
be the sequel of its acquisition of power.
Chicnd0 Re11aLMicnn 26fh