The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-07-01
AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS FROM A
GERMAN POINT or VIEW.

Germany, a series of letters on American
subjects that are interesting in themselves
and important as impartial crit cisms of
matters and things on this side Of the At
lantic. The correspondent writes from Car
Isle, in this State, and in view of the intimate
relations existing between this country and
Germany, we propose to reproduce some of
the letters, at least, for the benefit of our
readers. The following translation of the
first letter will be found to be an able resume
of the leading social and political ideas of the
day as developed in the United States:-
CARLISLE, May, 1S70.-The object of this
and succeeding letters is to bring the
German people into closer acquaintance
with the life of the American people, into
which so large a German element is now incor-
porated and to give, in distinct outlines, q pic
ture of the influences under which men here
act and live.
Since the suppression of the fearful rebellion
in the Southern States, whereby our country in
Cured debt of thousands of millions of dollars,
and lost over a million of human lives, the
United States have stepped out of the compara-
lively insignificant position which they before
that time held among the nations of the world, and
have attained an Importance undeniably and in
proof of this may be mentioned
the present value of American bonds in the Eu-
ropean market and the great demand for them.
According to letter lately written by the
United States Consul in Berlin to Secretary
Boutwell,, Germany is overrun by mortgage
bonds of different United States railroad COM
panies. This is an important fact, not only as
evidence of the confidence felt by European
money-dealers in the financial affairs of America,
bat also an indication of the weight which this
country would be in a position to throw into
the scale in case of ENHANCEMENT in the Old
World, for by tie the interests of different
nations so bound together as by their financial
relations.
The ratification of the fifteenth amendment to
the Constitution of the United States (whereby
the colored race, SO lately held in the bondage
of slavery are allowed equal rights with the
white citizens) may be considered as settling
the negro question, which has so long agitated
the minds of men in this country. Everywhere
the colored people have celebrated this event
with music, dancing, and general festivity, and
already the political wire-pullers of both the
great parties, Republicans and Democrats, are
using their arts to gain the votes of the now i'm
portant black brother. Intelligence does not
characterize the colored population of
this land, as class: they are,
taking them as whole, far behind
the white foreign inhabitants, who only receive
the rights of citizenship after five years resi-
dence. There are, of course, individual eXcep-
tons to this as, for instance, in the case of the
colored man from Mississippi who now occupies
a seat in Congress at Washington. AS long as
the old naturalization laws are in force, by
which the most intelligent white foreigner can
not become citizen until he has been five years
in the country, this fifteenth amendment brings
some injustice in its train, which will sooner or
later make itself felt.
But the desire to improve the Constitution is
not satisfied with this bestowal of citizenship
upon the negro. Scarcely is the fifteenth amend
ment ratified before a sixteenth and seventeenth
appear, both taking strong hold of the social
and moral life of the people. The proposed six
teenth amendment recognizes God as the source
of all things, and desires distinct declaration of
the fact that the United States is a Christian
land, while the seventeenth amendment would
give to women the right of suffrage. The last
named effort, especially, is causing at present
much excited discussion. In many places socie-
ties have been formed usually led by few en-
thusiastic single women, whose object is, by any
and every means, to obtain for women equal
Wyoming, through which the Pacific Railroad
passes, this has actually been accomplished, and
jury in recent murder trial was composed
chiefly of women. The ladies cannot have
found this duty very agreeable although it came
to them with their new political rights, and they
received fattering commendation for their
discharge of it from the presiding judge at the
trial.
But, in truth, woman would seem to belong
more properly to her home than to the political
arena, and that the better class of American
woman fully understand this is shown by petit
tion lately sent to the State Legislature of Ohio
when they were agitating the subject of female
suffrage. The petitioners set out with the prin-
ciple that they are not in any way inferior to
man (Which is certainly true) but that the duties
which are laid upon them in the nature of
things are quite as important and sacred as
those of man; that these duties claim all their
time and energies if properly performed; and
that they are duties which they alone can rightly
fulfil. Their sense of the great importance oi
these claims upon them had led them to protest
against efforts to burden them with new
responsibilities, in meeting which theil
truer interests must suffer. The result of thi
petition was that the Legislature refused t.
pass the bill granting suffrage to women. II
Minnesota it was managed in somewhat diff
terent way. The Legislature there passed
law by which the question of female suffrag,
should be submitted to the decision of tn,
people by vote. There is no doubt that through
the influence of the better class of women tn,
vote viii be against giving them the ballot, ant
the mouths of the vehement advocates of tn
cause there will be forever closed.
1t is indeed true that, since the late civil war
which carried off so many young men, ther