The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1868-01-31

$3.50.
Mr.. DOOLITTLE said,
Mn. PREsIDENr-The question presented
in the amendment offered by me is, whethel
congress is still resolved TO subject the white
people of the southern states to the domino
ton of the negro race at the point of the
bayonet. or whether congress, in Difference
TO the recently expressed will of the Amer
can people, will now so far modify their pol
| icy as to leave the governments in those
states in the hands of the white race, ana o,
the more civilized portion of the blacks !
That is the naked question. Strip 1t OF ali
useless veroiage and specious arguments
about sustaining loyal men and pun,shlng
rebels, it is nothing more nor less than this:
Shall the general of the army put the negro
| in power over the white race In all the states
of the south, and keep him there? That
purpose is boldly avowed by some, and that
will be the effect of this radical reconstruc-
ton now IS it stands, or as it will stand, if
the idea of the senator from Indiana shall
prevail. On the other hand, the amend
Inent which offer, if adopted, would leave
the government in those states where they
belong, and where they ought always to re-
main in the hands of our own race-while
at the same time, it would allow the right of
suffrage to oil those negroes who have any
claim to 1t by reason of intelligence or pa
triotic services or estate subject to taxation,
namely:
l. To those who have served in the fed
eral army;
2. To those who have sufficient education
to read the constitution of the United States
and to subscribe their names to an oath to
support the same; or,
8. To those who have acquired and hold
real property to the value of $3.50.
But the question may be asked, why not
| apply the same tests to the white men of
the south? The answer is plain and twofold.
First, by the constitution and laws of those
states the right of suffrage is already secured
| to them, and we have no rightful power to
take it away. To do so would trample under
our feet one of the most sacred rights re-
served to the states. 1t is By extending suE
frage TO the negroes that congress is over
turning the constitutions of those states. In
my opinion, this is usurpation, which its
advocates jus tify upon the grounds of ne
cessity alone. l neither admit the power
nor the necessity; but, granting both no
reason can be given, and no necessity but
that of party ascendancy can be urged, for
going any further in this revolutionary work
| than to admit to suffrage tie classes of ne
groes named in this amendment.
The second answer is, that white men
have, for centuries, been accustomed to vote.
They have borne the responsibilities and
| discharged the duties of freemen among
freemen and it is a very different thing TO
| take away from a freeman a privilege long
exercised by him and b. his ancestors, from
what it is to confer one, never enjoyed, upon ig-
norant half civilized Africans Just released
from slavery. Three generations back many
of them were cannibals and savages of the
lowest type of human kind. The only civil
cation they have is that which they have re-
ceived during their slavery in America.
To confer this great privilege upon the
more enlightened negroes might tend to ele
vate the mass in the end. But to confer it
now upon their ignorant hordes can only de.
grade the ballot and the republican institu-
| tions which rest upon it.
No answer to this view has ever been Civ
en-, no answer can be given BY the friends OF
universal negro suffrage, except this: THE
ignorant foreigner is allowed to vote, why
not let the ignorant negro vote ?" Thus to
compare the civilized European, accustomed
to free labor. to self support, and sell. govern
ment, to all the duties and responsibilities OF
free man, and who. withsl, before he is al
lowed to vote in most of the states, must ap.
pear in open conrt, and, after five years res,
idence, prove by the testimony of two citi.
| zens good moral character, and that he is
! weli-dlsposed toward the government and in
situations of the United States,-to compare
him with the poor, degraded class of AFR.
cans, plantation slaves Just set free, is an
| atrocious libel upon ourselves, and upon our
| ancestors, upon the results of Christian civil
and tbat Ganooa,op nh; -
for thousands of years has ruled the world
But, suppose it to be true that too many
ignorant foreigners are admitted to suffrage
| already, is that any reason, or any apology
even, for admitting 100000 halfcivilized
men of another race linen whose natural
home is IN the tropics, who are exotics here,
| transported not by their own free will, but
| by the cupidity of Old and New England, as
slaves, and whose whole education and civil
| izatIon, so far as they have any, have been
derived from slavery to the white man.
| do not say that there are not some ignorant
white men, foreign and native born, who are
| not qualified to vote /; but they are exceptions
| to the general rule. | do not say there are
| not some persons of Indian, Chinese, or OF
African decent who are not qualified; but
| they are exceptions to the general rule also.
Society must, in the main. be governed BIZ
general laws. While the general rule is that
| white men are capable, and, therefore, suf
frage may be made universal with them; on
the other hand. the general rule is that In
dams, Chinese, coolies, and negroes are in
competent; and especially is this true of ne
groes in the plantation states. Therefore
the general rule should exclude them from
suffrage. At all events, it should be no fur
ther relaxed than to admit the excepted
| classes mentioned in this amendment
The effect OF the adoption of this amend
ment would be to allow all who have the
qualifications required by the constitution of
those states before the rebellion, not special.
ly disfranchised, to vote-that is to say, the
mass of white men, and at the same time il
would allow the most liberal negro suffrage
at all compatible with the maintenance of
civilized governments in those states
Let congress now pause, and modify its
course in accordance with the provisions of
this amendment, and have every reason to
believe the people of those states would at
once take part in the work of reconstruction,
solution OF our difficulties would be attain
ed, and peace restored to the country.
But, If congress will insist upon the su;c;.
dial measures,-if congress is still determined
to establish those governments upou neurn
supremacy. then chaos again a war ofraces
is inevitable at the south.
Mr.. Alexander H. Stephens, one of the
ablest living men of the south. and who
speaks from long and actual observation.
can