The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-02-14

( .tnD. and, az 8ther claUckIe. 4hS fourrhI
I The name of this one cannot be found.
Go 10 headquarters OF REGISTRATION. 2
says the Judge, if your name is there
they viii give gon a certificate en-,
aiding YOU Ia vote. !" = I've been thar
sorrowfullyd rejoins the Tapplieant.
. 'Tain't thar = EOrry.z SAYS the
Judge, make room, make room. -
Now / ask you to watch this poor
fellow. HeLcoEaes out looking sic as
heart. A bright mulatto takes him
aside, and inquiries Into his case. It
is hOpeless-nameI DotnEegistered st
all. The disappointed darkeY wandeTs
around foften minutes, thenIhe quiet
~ falls again into the rearfof the line,
to be fepulsed again and aGaih, When
he reaches the window Hope that
his name may have been overlooked
dies out at last; and not without the
sharpest pang his simple, but emo
tional nature can feel
Enter. the fifth. My name is
Henry Clay s All right, Henry
you can vote, you're registered.
But Henry, where were you born =
I'm Kentucky, sir; Henry Clay Of
Ashland, was my father And the.
tall, handsome mulatro bows and
makes his way out. The sixth This
is another Of the persevering kind.
He gives his name BE of, says
the Judge. = You have been here. att
ready half a dozen times. You say
you are not registered - Well, sab, ?
replies the sOrroWful negro, Use
been hyah evan since Tuesday trying
to vote atlOne place or nuther, and
hasn't had a bite to eats and i cant
vote. and Use gotto walk twelve miles
to git hnme.n The red.nosed. cross
looking Judge takes bicuit from his
pocket and han3slit to thenegro, with
Here, make room, now" One of.
the challengers says, Boys, the Con-
servatives have the name Of being
generous. Lets give this hungry mig
ger dinner.2 The speaker draws
his pocket book and transfers some
currency TO the object of this kindly
impulse, who takesitWith q Yankee. ?
buta vacant look. 1t is a vote he
wants--not a meal. Ha S. I'D
D So the strange procession moves
slowly on. If you wish 10 determine
how much the negroes heart il in the
election, watch his face as he comes
away from that little window. His
vote once In, eEeryfeature blazes with
joy; but his vote rejected, sorrow and
dismay are expressed even In his atti-
tudes. Watch the anxious bat reso-E
lutte sooty faces in those waiting their
turns. Is all this emotion due the
duphcity of Yankee adventurers :?
Can the f" carpet bagger"a thus sway
the very soul of the black man to
reach his own selfish ends? Is it for
possible mule and forty acres of
land that the negro is thus pro-
foundly stirred; that he braves hard
ship, the ill.will Of his en-
ployers4 and. may be, starvation
itself2 No, friend Conservative. The
slave you once owned, ignorant as he
is still, and lowly in social rank, feels,
as he casts that ballot, the throes that
liberty awakened, and which, un-
checked by renewed oppression, will
give his manhood rapid and gen
erous growth. do not seek to con.
ceal his ignorance about the techni-
cal duties of citizenship. An old
black fellow came as / stood near one
of the polls, and prohered me his
vote, asking, Are you de boss?"
The question is, does the lack of such
technical knowledge unfit him for
useful and honest citizenship? There
have been periods in the history of
our country when q loyal heart, an
honest, incorruptible nature, were
worth more than ten thousand of the
most cboicely cultivated intellects on
the national roll of the rich, the pew
erful and the gifted.