The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-03-24
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No 81

makes an effort to adopt this clause
Not only will the negroes of Kentnck,
swarm in upon us, but Tennessee vii
contribute her quota until there is no
room to receive them.
But this is not all. This amend
ment says without distinction of rae,
or color :" and with. the negro vii
come in the Chinaman in California
the Japanese and the Gipsey to divid,
with you and me the priceless boor
of governing this great country. Oul
fathers laid down the maxim that tbs
success of our institutions depended
upon the virtue and intelligence of the
people. Can the virtue and intelligence
deemed by our ancestors necessary te
the stability of our institutions be
found in the degenerate negro race
It may be well for some smart fellow
to come and tell me, not merely that
YOU should give up your right to de.
eide upon this question, but that, up
on general principles, the negro has q
right to vote. 1 have argued this
question in your hearing before, not
with particular reference to Indiana,
but in respect to the States generally.
The speaker went on to discuss at
some length the unftness ofthe negro
to possess tie right Of. suffrage or to
assist in the government. A govern
ment could not be built up of such
materials. The race had had every
opportunity for advancement, but
never risen above barbarism. They
had had fruitful land, a land of fer
tile soil and mighty rivers, where the
wealth of nature was boundless, but
it has been all to no purpose. The
Saxons, the Angles and the ancient
Britons were once savages, but when
the day dawned for them they advanc-
ed upon such a career of greatness as
adorns and Eliminates all history.
The negro has had. the same advan-
tages, but the result has been entirely
different. The people of Indiana want
no such partner to assist them in their
government The career of African
in the past is an illustration of what
his future experience must Is be. The
speaker said he felt no bitterness to-
ward the negro, who was being
brought into corroding contact with
the white race, which was his superior,
and the interior race must gradually
and finally become extinct.
1t is not prejudice but wisdom to pre-
serve the white race in its purity.
l would keep the powers OF this
Government in the hands of those
men to whom our fathers gave it.
How great has been our career under
their wise precepts. When Hook
hack I feel as Adam and Eve must
have felt when, driven forth IRON Pa
radise, they looked back and through
the half open gates caught glimpse
of the beautiful flowers, the shady
groves, the sweet frLits and all the
luxuries they had lost forever. So
we to-day stand amid tie distraction
of the elements, and see around us the
effects of the curse of civil war, of
mixing races, of jarring jurisdiction,
and every thing in confusion. as when
the curse came upon the world, and
the clouds swept low along the tree
tops /; the birds flew shrieking through
the air, and beasts fed afrighted
across the plain. Tonight, in the
midst of this confusion and distur
bance of political principles with the
clouds lowering over our heads, charg
ed with thunder, flashing with the
lighting and ready to burst with fury
upon us, as 1 look back into the beau
tiful past, where our fathers precepts
adorn the gallery of our glory, it seems
as though we had been driven from
Paradise, and I long to go back and
drink once more deep dratghts from
the fountains of their wisdom. It is
enough for me to point out what has
been achieved by their great doctrines.
It inclines me to turn away from these
modern innovators who call themselves
and contemplate the dIgni-
ty and glory of these ancient men.
AS for myself, / shall never bow
down to this thing. / would, as l
have Just said, keep the powers of this
Government where our fathers placed
them as best for your safety, for the
safety of your children, and also for
the safety of the black man. These
men who propose negro equality are
the worst enemy of the colored race.
As for myself, i would throw around
the negro, by our own wise legisla
ton, the safeguards of the law. /
would not put him in the schools with
YOUR children, nor upon the Jury bench,
nor into the Legislature. / would to
God that / could be heard all over my
and all over the State, upon
this question. Iwould to God that
there was to be q general canvass, and
then that the people might be allowed
to decide this issue ut the ballot-box.
Then weshould know whether they
wish the negro in the public schools
in the Legislatures, and besides them
in the jury box, for that is what negro
equality means, and nothing else.
Do not make mistakes in this mat
ter You are a great and powerful
nation, the greatest that the world
has ever seen. You have forty mil
lions of people, and you are the
strongest nation the sun ever shown
upon. The rivers of South America
are broader apd deeper than ours.
Their groves are spicy and their fields
groan with the riches of the earth, yet
hey have no rank among the nations.
They made the same mistake which
the Republicans are now making, and
an interior race into the
body polite. II led at last to an ad-
mixture, aud finally to equality, and
those great countries are inhabited by
,,onorals- and avft thew ara country