Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-02-05
JAMES FENTREsS. OF IaARDE-
ef MAN, te
ER the Constitutional Convention. on
the Franchise Question.

Mr. President: 1t is with great deferenc
to the age, experience and ability Of man
members of this Convention that propos
briefly to discuss this subject of tho cleo
i've franchise, and assure you that nothin
but sense of duty TO my constituents, an
and a conscientious desire for the real peac
of the people of this State could induce IN
to do SO.
There is, however, this consolation, tina
having neither the venerable age, whic
brings with itathe checks and balances Q
caution and prudence, nor the distingulshe,
ability of many members of this body,
run no risk in assuming my premises, TO
the wisdom of this body will readily dis
cover any flaw therein-nOr of carrying
you away to false or impracticable conclu
sion, for your age and experience Will re
fuse to follow IL doubtful paths to danger
Gus results. So that unlike those aged anC
experienced men upon this floor, whose
fears should be excited lest the weight o.
= heir character and personal influence,
upon questions before this body, should
outweigh the truth, when, without proper
reflection, they take a decided stand, l am
conscious, in expressing my decided con-
victions, their influence viii depend alto
gether on tine power of the truths that may
be spoken.
It is question of the gravest importance
in every Government, whatever be its form,
as to who shall exercise, and to what eI-
tent, political rights. But especially is this
the case in ours for we hold, and our
fathers before us held, as fundamental
truth, that all power Is inherent IN the peo-
pie, and all governments rightfully Deepen
L .
in our system of government, just in pro-
portion as you lower the scale of intelli-
gence and virtue, lust in that proportion
you increase the danger Of its peace and
prosperity. I appeal to you If this is not
true; and if true, does it not become this
body to pause and consider whether the
pretended peace which those who advocate
the enfranchisement of the negro claim it
viii bring, is not the peace which precedes
the convulsive throes of political death
desire as earnestly as any delegate can the
real peace Of my people. We have had
enough of war, Of conmotion, of discord.
But ask you what is there in the negro
race which will make him an element of
strength in our body polite, or justify as
an making this dangerous experiment? Has
be virtue? Has he intelligence? No, sir,
cur long experience with him assures US
with no uncertain voice that he Is a
stranger, an utter stranger to both. Has
he capacity for well ordered government?
If so, We might indulge the hope that some
day he would prove worthy of the great
right which it is proposed to bestow upon
him. Look to history, see him in his
native land. Where are the evidences of
his capacity to maintain a good Govern
menty Where is an instance, when left to
himself, he has ever attempted to establish
government of law, or been able to main
tain one which was given him? Where
has he ever risen above absolute barbaric
anarchy? l assert, sir, that the highest
state of civilization which any part
of the negro race ever attained, was
their condition as slaves in the
Southern States. and he never
would have attained that, but for the fact
fact that he was forced by his master out of
his natural, hRbitual stupor of laziness and
Incidence to healthy exertiOn, and with all
the care, the teaching, the example of his
master, he initiated (aped) in some poor
measure, and was forced up to his present
status. Leave him now to himself and his
retrogression would be more rapid than his
rise; and in an exceedingly short time you
would find no CLEAN, even Of the Light Of
dwelling-place
Well II he has neither intelligence or
virtue: if he has in himself no capacity for
seh-government, can We not, by inCorpor-
ating the forty thousand negro voters IN
our body polite, and making him equal
politically with our one hundred and TWEEN
ty thousand white voters, counteract |
or control the injury which we, as
a people, would naturally experience
from the introduction Of this ignorant, IN
virtuous race as political equals Of the
white man? This is a serious question, but,
unhappily for those who favor it, the les
sons of history, experience and reason
alike declare that such a result Is impOssl-
BILE
Mr.. President, let those who have gotten
their consent TO recommend to the people
of Tennessee the political equality of the
negro with the white man remember the
origin of this terrible abOminatiOn. Who
are the enunciators of il? Who are its de-
Tenders 81? Has the Conservative or Demo-
cratic people of the North embraced it I?
No, sir; they are, and have been stTug-
Cling against it with an energy which de-
serves emulation. 1t had its origin, and
finds its defenders alone in the Crtr6H6
Radical party. Has any Democratic, or
even Conservative State received and
adopted this issue of Radical corruption?
have been unable to find the first one.
The negro population in some of them
is so small, that practically to them, the
proposition is one of little Importance
still they abhor it. The very instinct Of the
white man revolts at it. And if We desire
the real pace Of our people, and the pu-
rity and stability Of republican govern
l.. L, l.. 49, ..lTv-
this dogma of Radicalism-
assert, sir, that no government ever en-
dorsed the mad cry of the French revolu-
tionists-'l liberty, equality, fraternity
without being cursed with disorder and
confusion. 1t is revolution itself-strife is
its companion, and anarchy its end. 1t
means the breakingd down of all the barriers,
which wealth, intelligence, or moral worth
have erected-the destruction of all dis
tinctions in society-and the utter ruin of
all that is pure, peaceable or good. If this
be so where the people ore homoge-
neous and the distinctions Obliterated
were those which were the result of cir
cUmstalces, how shall JC6 escape if We re-
Ceive into political equality the negro, who
is Of a different and inferior race, without
the intelligence to knowOr the virtue to do
what is right, aud who, from the earliest
history of his race to the present time,
IN his native land or elsewhere has never
manifested a capacity to erect or maintain
well ordered government, but who with
all the restraints of religion, Of education,
of association, is essentially IN the anarchy
of heathenism in this christian land There
is still a higher reason Why we should not
embrace this dogma. 1t is a clear viola
ton of the Divine law Ii is an attempt by
man to make equal what God has declared
unequal Doesnot our knowledge of the ne
gro race as well as his history, assure usthat
by a natural law he Is not our equal He
Is not our equal in the power Of physical
or mental endurance: he is of a different
color, and especially is he naturally our in
ferior in capacity for self-government; and
vet shall we. in defiance of the natural law
Of our Creator, declare this negro our Pr
htir2l equal, and place in his hands equal
" with the white man the control by bal
lot Of q government Of law and order, and
expect a blessing on it? l tell you no.
For what nation or people have ever vio-
lated a revealed or natural law CT God and
prospered? Who hath resisted His viii
and triumphed
But some delegates, though they agree
that in defying and disregarding the natural
distinction between the white and the ne
gro race, and declaring him the political
equal of the white man, they
violate abstract truth. still they
say it is the road to peace. 1t Is the
way to avoid the disastrous consequences
which would follow from doing what is
right.