The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-03-11
HARKI8B URG.
The Majority Report Of the Committee
on Federal ReIHtiOns--Ihe COostItu-
ltOnnI Amendment

On Federal ReIHtiOnS--the COustitu-
ItOnRl Amendments.
Yesterday, in the Senate. the Committee on
Federal Relations submitted a report on the
resolution rah ymg the 1fteenth constitutional
amendment From the majority report. sgned
by Messrs. Lowry, Graham, and Olms.ed, we
take the following
Why should uot PenusS lyania give its colored
cluZel 8 the gut % vote
In the Slales lately IL rebellion, slavery has
not only been abolished, Out by the . oplp
Themselves as engrated 10 their ate Cpnsti.
tutioDs $50 TAR as hose States have beeu recon.
s'tucteO), The right OF suffrage has been gwen
TO the back nan under no restrictions winch
DO not apply equally to the white. Tae Con.
stitu'ions OF the three vet remaining will guar.
antee the same right to tnelr cOlored citizens
This provision, 1t IS true, was demanded OS
Congress as oGe OF the conditions under which
the great CRIME OF the Rebellion might be cou
doIed, not as punishment for the past so mucu
a. u security fer the future, as we'll as q most
deserved tribute to the uOfaltering LOYALTY o.
the black race during the war; but where does
this demand, made by Us throug our represen-
tatlves. leave us? The spirit OF forgiveness, rs
n ade by the Congress OF the people To those
ldely in rebellion, has been the wonder OF toe
world. The civilization OF the past would not
have suggested 1t: the history OF the worli
koffe1s no precedent for IT. 1t stands alouel The
prouo Offering OF American repub .icanism-
ripened by religion aud education-o the
archives OF time Aud noto, while yet the
paudns OF the whole earth are ringing 10
our ears, shall We break the swell by a sudden,
dscordant stopY Shall We consent to the
charge that, while claiming magnanlmity
we have asked what we will not give?
Stall we ak OF the ,sou.h an
extension of the franchise 10 hundreds OF
thousands of suddenly manumitIed race,
while we refuse it TO a handful OF the same race
born free aud educated and bro Ight up
among us? How can we do iJ and sill be Just
to ourseyes-still retain that seltrespect which
is the glory of the Anglo Saxon racer The
ga IN nAV Ia m a a. ot
5000. Many can trace their State lineage
through generations; most have been born on
heI soil. Some are highly educated, have
amassed wealth, and equal the most favored III
| their surroundings OF taste and cult ire. Toey
have enjoyed the advantages OF our common
| schools and are among our most respectable
| citizeus. Atoge her they form element in
| our body poliuc which may be made conducive
to lis glory, or detrimental aud productive of It's
| downfall, Is 1t the part OF wise craftsmanship 10
| ignore them; to decline TO streugthen our ons
through their aid, 10 refuse Their protier OF help,
and refuse to weld TINS element into our
| political lite, which, rejected and rebuffed, may
| some day become as dangerous as it m4y now
| be made contributlve 10 our welfare aud
| stablli y? The negro in Pennsy ylvania voted
until 1888. Did his exercise OF suffrage injure
| the State? Can any oDe-did even the couVeu-
| tion which, IN obedience to the behest of
| slavery deprived him OF th at right-say that it
| did? Did he Lot use the privilege thus ex-
| tended 10 him as judiclously and in as peaceful
| a manner as did his white neighbor2 Was any
| great public wrong committee, any crea public
| calamity incurred Dy his SO doing? Did any
| OF Tie great evils which are nov so loudly
| proclaimed as sure to follow the auop-
| ton of this amendment, follow the vote
| of the negro? Did 1t at all aft ct the
| social relations of the two races? Was
| amalgau ation ios,ered? Did we see in the
peeIo any or that overbeariDg conduct to wards
| the white which many pretend now to fear?
| Was the purity of the ballot destroyed? Did
| bribery ana fraudulent voting, aud false swear
| ing, and repeating obtain then more than no "?
| That the negro citizen will eventually become
| a voter is as certain as that he is no citizen.
| Then why not make him voier now, as we'll
| "a sgsiD, aud at once remove from the politics
| of the Sia'e question which, as long as / IS
| unsettled must be a source OF vexatiOus agita-
ton? In his favor is to te urged every principle
| OF justice and right; against him only q
miserable prejudice which will vanish as
dew before the morniug sun; as soon as the
suffrage Is given 10 him. The negroes of the
| State are to-day as law abiding and moral, as
worthy aud respectable as any otner class of
our population. naive or foreign. They bear
| theiI proportion OF the pubic blrden, they are
entitled TO their share of the public
power. Taxation without representation Is as
repUguapt to the moral sense of to dav a. it was
III the Rev oluti1p. Let Pennsy vauia no longer
tolerate IL wi hin her borders, but now, hand
in hard with her sister S ates, let her help to
eDgraft into the Constitution OF the nation
this last Lesson OF the RebelnOn this crowning
act OF justice, and proclaim that under tne fac
OF our country all men shall be equal in the
| eye OF the law.
For these reasons your committee report
the resolutions with favorable recommen-
| dation.