The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1868-01-23
Extract from Hon. ID. w. VOr-
hecS' speech at Tie Democrat.
&c State Convention.


Extract from Hon. ID. w. vOr-
hecS' speech at Tie Democrat.
ic State Convention.
Soon the sordid and inferior face of the
negro will be seen in congress. The rad
ical leaders, Sumner, Stevens, Wilson and
all, are bidding him warm welcome in
advance. They point out the seats in the
senate and the house, once occupied by
Webster, Benton. Clay, Randolph, Slas
Wright and the whole array Of departed
statesmen, and tell the fell hands, the
BARRIERS, the hostlers and the lowest me-
mails of the south to come and fill them
The negro is just now busy making state
constitutions. As soon as that ob of
craftsmanship is accomplished then will he
respond to the call which summons him to
the national councils The black vote will
elect black men. 1t has done so eTor mem
bers of the various constitutional conven-
tions. Il will do so for members Of cor
gress ard senators. Enough will be there
to form a party and dictate to parties.
To retain the negro vote, the radical par
ty will always heed the demand of the ne
gro, and if these two elements, the white
and black radical combined. have the ma
jority you will receive frcm their hands a
system Of national legislation shaped by
the negro and in the interest Of his race.
He will be entitled to places on all the
great committees He may give the cast
ing vote in the wavs and means of the
house or the committee of finance in the
senate, and give character and complex
ion to the measures OF revenue and taxa
ton which are there devised All the
great laws Of trade, commerce, internal
improvements, and higher than all, for the
liberty and security of the citizen, will
feel the tainting influence Of barbarous
race. | am not Overpalnting this degra-
ding picture. The present congress means
absolute equality between the races. In
the face OF the terrible condemnation by
the people in October and November last,
they have recently obliterated by law ev-
cry distinction of race or color in the Dis
trict of Columbia. The capitol of thirty
millions OF white men is a ncgro colony,
with large negro majority, in absolute
and unlimited control of al the local laws,
interests and offices. Your proud and
beautiful capitol, where so many millions
of your money have been expended to
make it tho admiration OF the world, is
now governed by population but little
superior to their brethren and kindred In
the savage wilds of Africa If the negro
is fit to govern your capitol he is fit to
govern Indiana or any other state. Thus
reasons the radical, and lie is correct in
his conclusions, but fatally wrong in his
premises deny that the negro is capa-
bic of self government any where on the
face Of the globe. His race has beea in
this world as long as yours. The earth
and the funess thereof has been for him
as we'll as for you Every avenue of
thought and action has been open to h i'm
from the morning Of his creation But
where are the foundations he has laid, the
structures he has reared
Where are the books he has written
W here are his temples dedicated to science?
Where are his histories, filed with his
achievements in war or peace? Where
are his epic poems, his odes aud his bal
lads Where is his sculpture ? What
block Of marble ever took the human face
and form under the divine inspiration of
his genius? Where is his architecture
What quarry did he ever open, and what
Doric, Gothic or Ionic columns did he ever
raise Where are his cities? He has
had six thousand years in which to build
them. Where is one, the work of his
hands aud the offspring of his enterprise ?
All history is silent to these questions
lie has made no sign of progress IN all the
wide realms of the ages. The great crea-
tions of human genius, the mighty pro-
ductons of science, are to hifn an impene-
trable mystery. "The locomotive which
flies through the length and breadth of
the land, conveying brother to brother a1d
distant friend to distant frcnd-the
steamship, which ploughs the deep and
makes the waste waters the highway of
commerce and civilization-the lightning
wire, which brings the ends Of the earth
together and sends whisper around the
globe--the knowledge, which penctrates
the earth and reveals the store-houses of
its necessary treasIres-the science that
foretels the storm and erects the strong
lighthouse in the midst of the raging wa
ters, the very light which shines with a
useful glory"-ncne ofthese thiags spring
from the African brain or even excite it
with the fantest dawn of curiosity or corn
preheasion. Am [ told that he has beer
in bondage for centuries? That is but an
other ana still more conclusive reason of
his inferiority and incapability to govern
Has your race ever degenerated into slave
ry? Can you enslave a proud and intel
lectual people? The attempt has often
been made aud has as often ultimately
failed. Am | told that his opportunities
on the broad theater Of history have been
less than yours? We find him in his ma
tive state in possession of one of the great
continents of the earth. Its lands are
full of riches, its rivers wash them in ev-
cry direction with navigable waters, and
its harbors invite the commerce of the