The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1868-06-24
OATH Vide Art. l44.

OATH Vide Art. IA, Is g 6eisttiii.a
e Other provisions could be cited to prove
that, by this constitution, the negro has
established his supremacy in this State.
We will not argue the question of race
it is not q political question. The Ameri-
can people knowithat the white and negro
races do not rank upon one level in nature;
that legislation can peaceably. no more
change the mould and stamp ofnature
than it can disturb the order of creation.
The governing intellect Of the white. race
hasiruled this country The white race
has never yet entrusted any Gifts interests
tolthe negro. This determination springs
from no local, sectional unfeasoning pre-.
jadice. Every State in the Union has
fixed the status Of the negro. The free
negro in Ohio and Indiana could not testi-
fy in court in civil suit ia which white
man was interested as late as 185l--if he
can to-day. In Louisiana he has always
been q competent witness in such cases.
The Massachusetts law ofl7SS, Furnishing
with Imprisonment land stripes any negro,
without exception, who committedthe of.
Tense of residing sky days in that State,
was repealed only in 1884. It was only in
1868, forreasons which we pass over, that
Massachusetts removed another badge OF
dishonor on account of race, and allowed
the negro the privilege Of bearing arms in
her militia. The, new Northern States,
moved by the same reasons that prompted
the legislation of the older States, rigor.
ously carried out this principle Of exclud
ing the negro from their limits, though at
the same time. they were making strenu-
Gus efforts to increase their population.
The laws prohibiting intermarriage and
Withholding the elective franchise, fixed
the negro's status Of social and political
inferiority. We repeat that this prejudice
is not sectional.
The result of the late elections at the
North are not calculated to fatter the
hopes of any one, that the American peo-
pie have changed their estimate of the
claims and character Of the negro. The
popular will to-day is as it has been ever
since the formation of the Government
the white man must govern the State.
When legislation has been so uniformly
exclusive and unbending, it finds its justif-
cation in the stroug convictions of its ne,
cessity, and yet it Is proposed that we shall
have for social equals and political suneri.
ors race that carries Oh it's foreh FAD the
stigma Of degradation, stamped IS the leg
isiation Of every NortherA State. Oar
governors, our legislators, our judges are
to be of that race which, by Your usages, is
ostracised from the lowest grades Of human
society. The menials Of your households
would sc0fn to associate with those who
are 10 Gil the honored Offices Of our State
The rights Of property, the safeguards o.
personal liberty, the vital interests Of So
ciety are to be regulated by race which
your own States have declared unworthy
of the elective franchise, even when its ex.
ercise would have but an unappreciable ef
feet. Such government may crafty the
base passions of revenge, but it promises
the strife, sacrifices and anarchy which a
suffering country can i'll afford to invite
Since history has first narrated the events
Of the world, where has such a spectacle
been presented as that which we present
to-day-free Americans pleading to the
American Congress for the government q
the bayonet to escape more dishonorine
fate? Your laws did not even allow us te
determine this pitiable alternatiye-th
or their Interpretation, which is practically
the same made the negro decide whether
or not he should rule the white race. In
one parish of1200 white voters $50 were
DISTINGUISHED. The Indian was forced te
! yield the occupation Of this country and
abandon the tombs Of his fathers because
he could not avail himself of the adyanta
ges Of civilization. By the test Of YOU
State legislation his voice is superior tf
the negro race. Is it less than a fraut
upon civilization, after having, at an enor
1 nous cost of life and treasure, chased iht
Indian from his dominion, after having en-
couraged and invited the white man tc
build up this country, now to surrender TIC
monuments Of his civilization to race in
ferior to the Indian.
IF we are asked what we will do, we Cal
only answer that as full and as suggestive
as are the teachings Of history, we canno
point to the past. The experiment Of sub
|jecting the white race to the rule of the ne
gro has originated in this country and il
this century. An answer might be obtain
ed if You ask yourselves what the consti
tuencies you represent would do # similar
/ ly situated. Of our population Of nearl.
| 100000 whites, $4,000 are Irish and Ger
man men whom no sacrifices deferred from
/ escaping the tyranny OIL the white despot
A large proportion are men from thu
Northern States and their descendants
They are known to you. A very larg'
number are from the original Southern
States descendants of those who's