New-York tribune., 1868-07-28
D4WSON DInAcTIcAL.

enough to come all the way from Georgia t0
lecture to us upon subject like Suffrage OF
which we may reasonably be supposed to know
nothing while he knows all which it is posi-
bic for the human mind to compass concerning
that branch of polity, common courtesy re-
quires that we should not laugh in his face,
and we promise not to do it. We never before
heard of "a II. II. Dawson, esq, late of Georgia.
who the other night philosophical upon Suf-
Z" frage,r at Lebanon Hall, in this city; but as
his talents seem better fitted for the Georgian
than Cor this meridian, it would be a kindness
to his old fellow-citizens, as it would certainly
be a kindness to us, if he would shoulder his
carpet bag-we suppose he is one Of your
carDct-bag men and return to the place
from which he came, there to lecture
or to loaf, as the destines may determine. Mr.
Dawsons fine capacity for discussing any sub
iect of grave public importance may be esti-
mated by the fact that lie thought it ex-
"tremely unjust that the negroes, many OF
whom had fought against the North, should
"be allowed to vote, while many white men
"were disfranchised who didn't Eight against
"the North we suppose, and couldn't have
been persuaded to do so under any circum-
stances! Pray, why does this Mr. Dawson
travel so far and take so much trouble if he
has no humbug less transparent to offer than
this ? The mass of the Southern white men
were during the whole Rebellion, in active
service in the Rebel ranks. Some Of them were
forced to go into the army, thousands entered
it voluntarily; but, at any rate, there they
were killing as many loyal soldiers as they
could, and only occasionally coming over
as desertors to our side of the field. On
the other hand we had whole regiments OF
those lately slaves serving under our hag
chcerfully, voluntarily and effectively, haunted
by the threat of "no quarter" and pretty sure,
under any reverse in the field, of being merci-
lessly slaughtered. The negroes who, as Mr..
Dawson says, "fought against the North" were,
as he very well knows, far from being moral
agents II Is safe TO assume that, If left to them
selves, not one in fifty of them would have
been found in the Confederate army; and 1t
is well known that they were employed with
extreme caution, and that the weapons which
they welded were principally the shovel and
the hoe. Yet here comes Esquire Dawson, Of
Georgia, and wants to know if we should confer
the right of suffrage upon negroes who fought
against u.s. while many white men are disfran-
chised9 We congratulate him upon having
acquired the true, One-legged logic of his class
But we hav'nt quite done with Mr.. Dawson
yet lie declared that no one could be more
unfit to vote than the negro. His laziness"
said Mr.. Dawson, "his intemperance, his un-
truthfuness, his want of integrity, render the
negro, of all men, the one least able TO vote
honestly and consistently" Are we to infer
from this that the white man Of the South
is particularly industrious? That he never has
so much as a wee drop in his eyer That he Is
never known to tell an untruth9 That he flogs
the world in his integrty9 We fear that these
beachcd paragons and living evidences of hu-
man perfectibility hardly exist even in the
warm imagination of Squire Dawson. Now,
then, is Dawson ready to have every Southern
white man who had rather eat than work, who
had rather drink than eat, who is economical
of the truth, and whose "integrity" is
suspected by his neighbors to be a little
laX-is Dawson ready to bestow the ballot
upon this taVern-haunting specimen of hu-
manity merely because he chances to have
face which would, perhaps, be a little light
colored if he ever washed itl Is he ready to
deny the suffrage to all Comers Of whatever
tint, who cannot prove themselves, say by a
clcrgyman's certificate the possessors in per-
fecton of the four cardinal virtues7 Is he
ready to dsfianchise white men for laziness
or the love of hQuorY or for telling iibs or
for private characters slightly blown upon
Why should the goose be served with one sauce
and the gander with anotherY If a negro
offering to vote IS to be put through his cate
chism before his ballot can be received, why
not Mr. DawsonY And pretty mess, we
fancy, he would make of it,
This gentleman from Georgia evidently
thought he had u.s. as money making Yankees,
on the hip, when he told :" the bOnd-holder to
beware how he voted to put the ballot in the
hands of the colored man. The bloated
bond-hodcr will undoubtedly be much obliged
to him for the caution, but the advice is not
so valuable as it would have been before Mr.
Horatio Seymour proved TO demonstration
that the bonds are already pretty nearly good
for nothing. Ii the holders of public securities
can only manage to defend themselves and
their property against white man like Pendle-
ton, wo don't fancy that they will feel any
particular anxiety about the financial views of
the Freedmen. Or does Mr.. Dawson mean
that the poor blacks will be used by the
White RepudiatOrs9 Is that the particular
rascality which he is limiting at! If so, he
only proves that his Whites are far less worthy
of suffrage than the Blacks, and so we leave
him.
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GERMAN JOURN1LISM