, 1869-04-02
HE, suMNER0 ouR9r1nr

I A~ oVAAAAU AI6&IluH.
fBr1,.S ~ 81 sCMsKk Then The senasof proposes ia
OF that State t9ooez.ap7n '~ o'A'A 1sea
snch Was the question Of Mr. sumnar IN
tne debate on, Wednesday, and It Ia ona
which 1t seems to us has been asked and
ansvoFed often enough BY Uu,on ,nrn
AZ. hummer means tho colorM men Of
soo7g1', for the grievsnoec>> against that
etate now Ia that colorcd msn chosen as
anenbers ct the LegsalAsure have no. been
permitted to occupy their seats in that BODY.
ahas It Is grievance and an, outrage, there
Is, We think, no question; but whether the
Congress Of tho United States have onr
business to nedt3}e with it, or any right
To attempt 1edreah it, is quito a1other mat.
ter Tho night Of suffrage was given
10 ,ne BLACKS OF The South under precisely
Inc pressure Of this question Of Gr, Sum
nersthat protection vas needed bv9h,s
class OF Southern UnIonis,A, and that with.
ont the right Of suffrage they were utterly
detcnceless~ It was on this ground and this
alone that distinction, it was insisted, was
properly made between the black man of
The North and tho black man, OF the South.
That the necessities Of the caso inperatyely
demanded that the ballot should be NIT aa
weapon Of self-dcfcnce in the hands of Tho
one, while no such necessity oristed in the
case Of the other 1t was argued that the
Southern black could protect himself whom
armed with an instrument 10 effective "a the
ballot-bon, for no purity and no class Of men
would daze 10 cypress him when this power
OF comforting or Withholding office WIS
lodged in his banda. And the argument
was good one. We accepted and adro-
Gated it ut the time, and believed that it wss
safe and sure path to the reconstruction Of
the rebel States.
1t VIE assumed also, when this question
was under discussion, that the right to vote
included the right to hold Office. It is Just
ut this point that the difficulty begins with
Georgia Tint State accepted The condition
Of negro-sufrage, but in the absence of any
other positive Law thnn her own upon the
subject Of negro Office holding, she chose to
follow her Own Laws and deny tho negro that
privilege.
Now, then, wc come back TO the original
position Of at1airs and Nj, Summers quos-
ton-ShaI wo not protect tho Unionista Of
tho south2 Aud IL not a second question
proper answer to tho drst7 Have we not
protected them2 The country thought it
had when it gave them tho right Of suffrage.
Was the country mistaken2 Il is Just here
We join issue with Mr.. Sumner and his
class Of statesmen. In restoring to
the hlack liz Freedom, and endow-
ing him with the rights Of citizenship,
VIC think we have given him ell the special |
protection he can claim and that hereafter
he nust take care Of hinself. It ia not
good for him to be held in condition Of
perpetual Tupilage- Itts not good for him
that in any difficulty he may encounter in
the way Of full fruition Of his rights, that !
he should run to Congress for suecor. A
tremendous weapon Of self-defcncs waa put
in his hnnds when the ballot waa bestowed
upon him ; let him use it.. Il the whites
keep him out Of Office against his will, then
let him vote the whites out Of
Office. A minority 30 large rs
the blacks hre at tho South is uuite
large enough to command respect for ali
their rights, They maJ not be able to or:
ganize and concentrate their strength at the
very first difficulty, but let them learn
and learn they never will if they ARC tauKht |
that their reliance in time Of trouble Is upon
Congress md not upon themselves. No
body, We presume, Twill auspect us Of not be- /
ing sound on "the main question: and,
therefore, We may frnnk]y say that We think