Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-09-04

Of their white citizens and place the con.
troll in the hands Of the half civilized
Africans. [Cheers.] You know, fellow
citizens, without my telling you, the con-
dition of these people in their native
land. You know that for six thousand
years 10 the history Of the world none OF
the tribes OF negroes in Africa have ever
shown any capacity for self government.
They have been among the lowest OF the
races Of the family Of man. For six
thousand years the history Of the world
has shown all this. They were brought
TO this country as slaves. They have
been kept in state Of slavery for two
hundred years, and we have all heard,
in all the pulpits Of the land, upon every.
political rostrum, that the institution OF
slavery tends to brutalize and degrade
the men who are subjected to it. Now
what is there in philosophy, in reason,
in nature, to lead the mind Of any human
being TO believe that this great mass Of
Africans, just set free at the South, are
capable Of maintaining republican insti-
tutions and republican self-goyernmenf.
! do not say that, under favorable cir
1
educated to become respectable citizena
But am speaking Of the great mass OF
this people of these ten States upon which
Congress has forced suffrage in violation
of the constitutions of those States.
Fellow.citizens, to illustrate to you
what kind of persons these are to exer-
else the suffrage in the States of the
| South, / will relate TO you an incident
which occurred in the State Of Georgia.
In one OF the most populous negro dis
tricts, a man who had gone there from
the North to engage in planting, desiring
to be elected to the Convention, was a
candidate for that position; but how
could he be elected in district where
the great majority were negroes That
was the question. He resorted to an
artifce / do not justify man in re-
sorting TO srtifice in political matters any
more than in business affairs; but he did
resort to this arti6ce. He employed q
bright mulatto to pretend to run as q
candidate for the Convention against
him. When the day of election came
on, the mulatto mounted the rostrum with
his tickets in his pocket, and called upon
| the negroes to sustain him. When the
votes which were deposited in the ballot
box were counted, every single vote was
given for the white man, and not single
vote for the muatto. [Cheers Are these
the men to exercise the right of suffrage 7
rat this stage another torchlight pro-
cession entered the square, and Mr.. Doo-
little paused until they had taken up their
position.
When interrupted 1 was speaking Of
the capacity of the negroes down there
for self-government Hear what Gov
Perry says about it: 1.-THE idea OF
placing the government Of these States
| in the hands of negroes is preposterously
absurd. None of them have property,
and not one in FIVE hundred can read or
write. In the recent election for mem
bers of the Convention, many negroes
had forgotten their names. prolonged
laughter.] Scarcely one in a hundred
could tell after the election for whom
they voted. Laughter ] They we're led
blindly by the =" Loyal Leagues" and the
tickets were printed in Charleston, with
the likeness of President Lincoln on
them" have one of these tickets here /;
you can see it if you like. Laughter.
"There never has been before such q
wide field opened for the demsgogues
and unprincipled aspirsnts for office.
The negro is the most credulous belng In
the world, the most easily imposed upon
| BY the wretches who are disposed to pan
| der to his passions. Emissaries from the
| North, white and black, have come here
to prejudice him against the white race.
/ thax NJ for a
Radical ticket they will be placed back
in slavery; if they vote that ticket they
will have lands and mules given to them
| [Great laughter. Ia some instances the
negroes actually brought their brides
| with them to take their mules home"
daughter.
Now, fellow citizens, what do you think
about the policy adopted by this Radical
Congress, which DISTINGUISHES intelligent
white people of the South by thousands,
and then puts the governments of these
States into the hands of these ignorant,
half-civilized Africans, and allows them,
not only to elect their officers and con-
troll their State Governments, but to elect
Presidents to govern you, and to govern
me2 ("Never, never"
Dut, uCiC 10 dhObhSt
authority which l propose to refer to
that ought certainly to be held in vesy
high regard by our Republican friends.
| refer TO the Hon. Lyman Trumbull,
Senator from the State of Illinois. Mr..
Trumbull says: ~ know there is a dis
tinction between the two races, because
God Almighty Himself has marked it
upon their very faces; [laughter] and
in my judgment man cannot by legisla-
ton or otherwise produce q perfect
equality between these races so they
will live happily together"
That is an authority that my Repub-
lican friends ought TO treat with great
consideration and respect But | have
still another. / read this so that our
Republican friends can understand what
kind of policy it is that these Radicals
in Congress have sought to force, first,
upon the Republican party, and then
through that party because 1t had ma
jority in Congress, to force that same in
fernal policy ["tbafs it, upon the
country. Never" Hear what Mr..
Lincoln says on this subject of negro
suffrage:
Il am not, nor ever have been, in
favor Of making voters or jurors OF ne
groes, nor qualifying them to hold office,
nor intermsrrying them with white peo-
pie; aud will say in addition to this
that there is a physical difference be-
tween the white and black races, which,
l believe, will forever forbid the two
races living together on terms Of social
and political equality; and inasmuch as
they cannot do so, while they remain
together there must be position Of su-
..l :.c...n. "A L ~. rnnch