Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-02-12
'Or the Memphis Appeal

| SIR When proud nation becomes
stricken down by years OF irreparabie
misfortune when the wall of distress is
heard to come up from every household;
when the hearts Of her brave men are
! broken by the cries of distress uttered by
! the women and children OF the landt
when her pr0Pefty Is destroyed, her re-
sources exhausted, and gloom and de-
! spondency seize upon a whole commu-
nifty, IL is no time 10 renemter former
/ party animositles or sche mes tor the as
tendency of party allies. Such, sir, Is
now the condition Of this once beautiful,
| prosperous and happy country. The
| Southern States, once the great proau-
cling portion of the oouotry, the fieecy
bags of whose industry whitsned the
sails of every sea, crowded the markets
| Of the world, and filed the Golfers OF the
whole Union with gold, lies to-day q
| helpless, broken corpse. Her lands are
| puulled, her store HOUSES are empty, her
N ansions exist Oaly in their oharred re-
msius- The thOus ands Of busy laborers
who in years gone by were happy and
contented, are turned into starving and
ragged vagabolds, many Writhing in
jaiis and penitentiRries, Others wandering
abroad without home or an object aud
subsisting upon what they can steal from
others, or rendering half service for a
precarious service. In the midst of
scenes like this l appeal 10 you, and
through you to others, to lay aside for
while at least the eDginery Of party STRIFE |
and looking the danger full in the face, |
begin earnestly and at once to ward IL |
Off and save this country from still deeper !
woe. These States that you and others |
were wont to call "the rebel S1atesp are |
ruined The negro wifi not labor sufil- |
ciently to produce subsistence for HIM /
self There must be added to his pro- /
ducts q balance from the labor of the |
white man to support both races. In
view OF this fact, the white race Of other
States and countries will not settle here,
aud the result viii be a still deeper pow
erty every year. This result continuing
a few years only will ultimately render
this eOentry far less useful to the white
race of the Union than when occupied
by the native Indian. Permit me, sir, 20
suggest to you that there is but ore hope
for this country, but one means of
making it what It has been-a source Of
natural wealth and strength. And the first,
the very first step in that direction,
is the removal of the negro. tits idle to
expect any, egen the slightest Improve
ment in the condition OF the South so
long as this unwieldy load Of race aud
rests upon it. Remove the
negro and the ,uthern States offer the
iairest field for the labor and enterprise
Of the white race to be found anywhere
upon this globe. But how is this to be
done, snd where are We to send them
The first question flud5 a solution ia the
mode OF removing the Indians. II was
done by the Government as q great pub
lie necessity. AS a citizen the negro is
as useless as the Iudian, and his presence
Il dctn of NJ tn 70 fn 7. |
is a dead weight upon society and his
Is sn obstacle to the progress of
society, which can be avoided only by =
mis- renewal. The Government must
therefore DO the work. The other cues.
ion, too, l think, may be easily solved. |
The old effete idea OF sending him back
10 the land OF his ancestors is exploded. |
The process is tGO tedious, and the dis
ance renders it too expensive. There is
! land far nearer to Us and far better
adapted to the physical condition OF the
negro than Africa one, too, taat doubt
lCt can be bought at much less than
you agreed to give for Wslrnssia or c
Alaska. l allU0e to Yucatan. Toe geo.
position of HucataB renders it,
n fact, the weakness Of Mexico, and is
4 burden to that Republic. The in flu $
ance of the Central Government OF Mex :
co is scarcely felt, except in very small
portion OF the country; and the very I
pest protection that the Mexican Gov
srnment could have, would be to have
YucatsD in the hands of the United
States l would not advise the purchase
IF the cCuGtfy, the location of the negro =
here, and then the abandonment of them
o themselves. By no means; but the 4
purchase Of the country and the cOloBi- |
.ation of the negro upon It, under the
supervision and control of the United 7
States until such time SIS it might be =
bought prudent to erect them into an
government, would be both
wise and prudent. 1t might require fifty
IT evez hundred years 10 complete our
ssk, but in the meantime the whole o
cheme might be so managed as to make a
{ in the end source Of gain rather than s
# expense. l do not pretend to be suf- p
iciently fsmilisr with the climate and q
PRODUCTS Of tie country to enable me to y
inter- into the detail of the scheme, or n
,oint out the advantages Of it. But l 2
hink / know enough of it to be able to y
sy that the climate Of that country, and I,
he amount and character of labor nee c
ssary to a state Of prosperity are far a
,etter adapted 70 the American negro II
han Africa. To subdue the soil and 0
,vereome and civilize the barbarous !
ribes of Africa, is q task too great for .
he negro; and IL it is ever done, it 8
1ust be done by q different race. To H
Undertake it with the half civilized v
American negro is only to fail in the n
nd. In Yucatan the negro from the 4
United States would be exposed to no r,
uch dangerous contact. There he would
meet with no obstruction in his march
o complete civilization except such as
! inherent in his own nature, and the
rObem Of his capacity for the higher
utilization might be fairly solved. A b
sw millions would be sufficient to pur- u
hase the country, and the cost of send n
1g of ten, fifteen or even twenty per b
ent. of the negro population annually y
yOuld not equal the cost of maintSiniDg q
hem here. Let me entreat you, sir, in q
be name Of our common country, give ~
he subject some thought. The plan is q
easible one, and if acted upon and car
led out, would result in more good to
he country than anything you and all g.
our abolition friends have ever done for d
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