Litchfield enquirer., 1869-03-18


 Britain, As. a portion of the Amerieal
 people. these millions possess the follow
 ing, among other constitutional rights
 viz: freedom of speech, of writing, and ot
 printing; the right peacefully to assemble
 and petition for redress of grievances; the right to keep and bear arms, and to be SC
 cure in their houses, persons, and effects
 against unreasonable arrests, Searches anG
 seizure. It cannot be expected that the,
 will be ignorant of these rights, or refrain
 from exercising them. la 1h9ft ess8 Yo .E5 ,ss.i
 Now, we confidently put thequestion te any refecting man, which. is safer for the
 to give this increasing mass oi our population the same political capaci'
 ties which we, in all our Federal and State charters claim for, ourselves, and thereby make the Republic to them, as t is to us, an object of abiding affection, as the con servator of rights and the guafantnr of lib critics, or by arbitrarily refusing to them all such capabilities, hold up to them the State as an imperious master, whose law for them is the Pagan law of force, and whose denial to them of what itself asserts to be the inalienable rights of humanity, must necessarily choke up in their hearts all the fountains of patriotic affection? Do we wish to have ten millions of our coun- trymen, q quarter of century hence, re- gard our Government with the same feel ing with which the Irish peasant now re- gards England? The issue involves not merely the destinies of the colored race; it affects the stability of society, the perma- hence of free institutions, and the contin. uance of civil harmony. For there is no lesson taught by history with more clear ness than this, viz: That the legalized de- gradation of a part of a people tends irre- sistibly to the demoralization of the re- and results either in the general of popular freedom, or in vio- lent conflict for its preservation. We are just at the end of such conflict. The seeds of similar convulsion Are sown broadcast over one-half of the Republic. Shall we leave them to germinate and spring up into harvest of blood to be reaped by our children, or eradicate them by the simple expedient of extending to all American citizens the political capaci- ties which are now enjoyed only by a part?id bna .dea@ls V1e1'.af F. 1@@ 'a
 In reply to all that is now urged it is often said, ' this is Republic of white men. The broad language used in our charters of government is always to be un. as applicable only to white men. It was never meant for negroes. If you extend it to them. by parity of reasoning you must also extend to them all those so- cial courtesies which exist among the mem bers of the now dominant race; you must invite them to your table and to your so- aial circle; if negro asks your daughter in marriage you must give her to him; if your son desires the hand of negress you must consent. 2Ats -a A..A hsr ioIt is difficult, for an intelligent man to believe that any one can be sincere in a fallacy so transparent. The statement re- garding the scope of our charters of gov sr rament is historically untrue. The ne- gro was part of 2" the people'' mentioned in the ordaining clause of the Constitu.
 ion, as the authority from which that in : strument proceeds He. voted, with the rest of the people for its ratification. As slavery grew to be the prominent infu- snee in the land, the right was withdrawn from him. He was 3 legal voter in Con- necticut until 1918. Yet the distinction between political rights and social prefer snces was as well understood before that year as now. The jcolored man, in our system of government, has right to the suffrage because that system affirms that all civil authority is derived from the con- sent of the governed. But association and marital connections are matters of taste and choice. .,, The right to .' the pursuit of secures to every individual per feet liberty of selection in these relations, ard this is a liberty which is incapable of and restriction by human
 laws. The moment we apply such Ian yuage as we have quoted above to any oth- ers than negroes, we perceive it's fallacy. Every one will admit that there are thous- ands of white men whom he would not choose as companions; to whom he would be sorry to give daughter in marriage; yet every one will see that this fact is no reason for excluding such persons from the exercise of political rights. Social tastes are no criterion for these rights; if they were, nobody could vote, for we presume there is no man whom some other man would not decline to associate with, or whom some lady would not refuse to ac- cept as husband, There is no mystery, no difficulty in deciding how to deal with the negro in these matters, if we are only disposed to exercise common sense. Give him his political rights and let him alone
 lct u1M alOu0s tO fSobS IS AS pACoo0Se {. AA0o him alone to seek and find his appropriate place in society" Give him 8 chance to la- DOT and improve. If he violates law, visit him with the penalties of the law. Treat him just as you do any one else coming in- to your community; .. e. according to his qualities and his character. In this way. and in this way only will you settle the E negro question" forever.
 It is often asserted that the negro race is by nature incapable of exercising polit- Ical functions, and we are triumph antly asked, "why, if this be not so, the Afri- can races have never succeeded IS estab- fishing a civilization of their own?' Let us bring the light of history to bear upon this matter and see what revelation 1t will make.ar Forty-two hundred years have elapsed since the Deluge Midway of this Ionr period lie the Greek and Roman spochs.i All before them is involved Tn hopeless obscurity, except as 8 faint line plimmers along the darkness from the He brew annals. We know that southward of the great African desert was and for un- known ages had been the home of the nu- merous eI,od1,ss negro tlibes, and that somewhere "a the northward of the Danube and the Oaspian roamed the wild hordes who were to become the ancestors of modern Eu- rope. To the world of Plato and of Sene- ca. the tribes of the north and the south were alike barbarians; equally believed to be incapable of becoming the founders of civilized States. What has made the diff ference in their subsequent career? We shall not attempt to interpret the myste-