Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-01-29
OBJ FIREMAN.
MONTPELIER, W.:
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 1868
The Democratic Conservative Plat
form.

Dir D0oiittle made q speech last THURSDAY
in the Senate which 10 hailed by the Demo
cratic papers AZ unanswerable, and may
therefore be treated Is the platform Of the
Democratic party in respect to reconstrue-
ton Mr. Doolittle would have the South
reconstructed on the basis of giving the suf-
frage to all the whites, but limiting it to
freedmen al follows:
L. To those who have served in the Fed
sral army
z 10 those who have sufficient education
10 read the Constitution of the United States
and TO subscribe their names to an oath to
support the same; or
). To those who have acquired and hold
real property to the value of $3.50
Ii was obvious to Mr. D. that he must find
some reason for not putting the whites in
the same category ~ the freedmen. and he
therefore says thas, by the constitution and
laws of these Southern states. the whites have
the suffrage, and Congress has No power to
take 1t away also that the whites have t-sa
accustomed for centuries TO vote. and know
how to vote and finally that the freedmen
are barbarians, descendants Of eannbsls
As tais speech is about the first Democrat
ie or conservative attempt to deal Affirmative
ly with the problem of reconstruction, or
deal with 1t at all except to esssil the Re-
publican method of rebuilding the states of
the South, it 10 perhaps worth while to give
strength either in its logic or the necessities
Of the times
Why should Mr. Doolittle ask Congress to
NEEDLE at all with this question Of suffrage ?
He and his party hold that all control over
the rights Of voters is remitted by the con-
stitution to the states, and that Congrsss
should not NEEDLE with it. IL Congress can
say who shall vote, can it not also say who
shall not vote7 Mr.. DoolittIe surrsnders
the only ground upon which no can stand So
curely moment in resisting the action of
Congress giving suffrage TO the blacks, when
he admits that Congress may give it to blacks
who served In the Union army
But why should it be given to black sold
icrs and not to black civilians Of equal in
tslligencs7 Mr. Doolittle's proposition is to
give every black soldier who served in the
army. no matter how poor or how ignorant,
the ballot If intelligence 10 necessary -
make it safe to entrust . vote 20 the negro,
why not insist upon it in every oess? But
Mr. Doolittle admits that is 10 not necessary
BY proposing to give it to all negroes who bore
arms for the Union and he thus admits
away his whole case.
As to the educational and property quail
heations. There is no reason in the nature
Of the case, or in the constitutional Difficult
ties in the way, why q black 10 moro
dangerous withs ballot than white man.
If . negro must be able to read the consti-
tuition or hold real estate to the value Of
$3.50 to be safely entrusted with the ballot,
why should not white voter be required to
be able to read the constitution and have
$3.50 in real estate? Why should suffrage
be qualified in the one case and not in the
other, except upon the theory that one is
white and the other is black and upon
that theory why should the ballot be given
to the black man at all? Or if black man
must own real estate because he 10 black,
Why not have . sliding scale, and compel
the mulstto before he can vote to invest of
his surplus earnings one-half of $3.50,
the quadroon one-quarter of that sam, the
octoroon one-eighth and 50 diminishing SIS
the color fades to perfect white, which is al
lowed to vote without owning any real es-
tate? Here again Senator DOolittis loses
all standing ground for argument by agree
ing that the black man ought to vote in any
IL
case in which he ought to vote, the color OBJ
lection loses its weight. He votes, if at all
because he il q citizen, or because he 10 Obliged
to obey the laws and has q right TO = voice in
making them, or because he owns property
or because he can read-and none of thes.
less essential in \ white than in black
voter
If Mr.. Doolitsle, or the Democratic party
would make one rule for white and blacl
alike in the South, they would have nuci
more reason in their undemocratic idea 0
admitting only part of the people to par
ticipate in the government. Ignorance is al
objection to any voter. and 80 far - these OF
atore picture the ignorance and poverty an,
small stake in the government which tn
poor slsvery-riddsn blacks have, there i
como plausibility in their positions bu
when they refuse to exclude . white man VIII
is equally ignorant. poor, and Indifferent t
the success Of the government, they comics
at once that their talk about ignorance, po'
erty, &C., means, all the time, color and moth
ing else. Their logic is like this;
Black men are ignorant, therefore the
shouldn't vote. Black men don't own $25
worth of real estate, therefore they shout
not vote.
Let Us grant it, and state it again thus
No man unable to read the constitutio
can safely be allowed to vote therefore il
norant men should not vote. No man nc
owning real estate has sufficient stake in tn
government to wisely use the ballot there
fore none but owners of real estats shoul
vote.
Does Mr.. Doolittls accept this logic!
he does, his own proposition il partial AZ
unjust in discriminating against black mel
If he docs not accept it, except With the qua
ifcation Of color, 10 it not obvious that it
color, and nothing else, that he objects &c
And if he objects on the ground OF colo
why talk about ignorance. barbarian, can
balism, and all tn at, and not meet the que
ton fairly and refuse the ballot to all black
The truth l., and Mr.. Doolittle will iii
it ont some day, there 10 no halfway pls
I1x->~- xI> docx hat q pA0rn ia an 4