The Montana post. [volume] (Virginia City, Montana Territory [i.e. Mont.]) 1864-1869, 1868-05-16
THE THREE ISSUES

THE THREE ISSUES
Owing somewhat to the dearth of Sun
day schools in Montana, and perhaps
more to the multifarious duties and evil
proclivities of an editor, we have latterly
been very negligent in our attention to
that earliest recollection of every well
regulated. orthodox boy and girl, the
Shorter Catechism.' Yesterday the
apostolic erudite who gets up the Sun
day editorials for the Gazette, recalled
old memories of . mixed character by cat.
echising US after the following fashion,
respectfully requiring direct categorical
answers We could not very well give
an indirect categorical answer; neither
can We admit the right of any man to
require" us to answer any questions
he may see fit to PROFOUND. The right
of silence is as sacred MS the right of
speech, and we feel like holding you to
account for endeavoring to enforce pre-
maturely (before d. is cleared) your
very undemocratic doctrine announced
the other day that one tyrant was pref
erable to ten. However, We must admit
the Gazette is very courteously and very
mildly tyrannical in its requirements.
Therefore we will answer.
i. Are you In favor of the disfran( (chin)-
chisement of the white race in the South?
No!
2. Are you in favor of negro suffrage in the
Southern States, to the exclusion of the
whites, thus eleyating the former above the
latter in point of politiit)ical equality!
MOI -u .rrrI..fu ...'I
3. Are you in favor of manhood or negro
suffrage and equality, socially and politically,
throughout the whole Union!
No!
4. Should the Republican National Conven-
| tion nominate Fred. Douglass, the Radical
negro, for President, would you vote for him
in preference to the Democratic nominee?
No,
Having given you absolute replies,
you can scarce misunderstood them if YOU
understood your interrogatories. We
will however offer the following explain
ations:
1. We are Republican. Republicans
believe in enfranchisemento of the people
of the South-not disfranchisement
Your Democratic eight millions in the
South disfranchised themselves by the
acts of secession. We wish to restore
to them their forfeited franchise. An
drew Johnson, Ly his reconstruction
acts, excepted fourteen classes, over
800. 600 white voters, from any particle
patton in reconstruction, while Congress
in their reconstruction reduced it to one
class of less than 5000. You see We
could not consistently favor the first
proposition.
9. Your question is extremely absurd.
Read it again. We have answered
what we presumed you meant.
s. There is no such thing as social
equality, as applied to q people or classes.
The world does not furnish-never did
furnish-an example of it. 1t is fall
lacy. No party in this country has ever
favored any such theory. If the people
of each State should adopt manhood y
suffrage we should have no right to OBJ
ject, although we have, individually,
views on this subject different from any
yet presented by a party.
4. We caEnot conceive of any circum-
stances under which, as the party exists
at present, we would vote for a Demo
cratic nominee for President /; nor are
there any circumstances under which
we would vote for a negro President
In that case We would have NO prefer
| ence