Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1870-03-23
Iron the Cleveland Plain Dealer.l
The Political Equality of
the NegTO.

passing strange" If this re-
markable political metamorpho-
sis resulted from spontaneous
effort of the. people, who were
impelled to it by a hidden and
irresistible sentiment, as all
great moral revolutions are sup
posed to be brought about, per-
haps something like grandeur
would attach to it; but an in
vestigation into the causes that
led to this political change fails
to reveal any such force. There
are plenty of negroes in the
Southern Legislatures, and
there is a negro in the United
States Senate, but it was not a
people, struck with remorse at
having held in bondage the
black race, and prompted by a
desire to make amends for such
injustice, that sent them thith-
er: it was a force of govern
ment troops, standing guard
over the white men of the
South, and compelling them to
accept the political equality OF
the negro. The Republicans
use to talk finely about the
progress Of the age, and of the
moral changes God was max
ing in America, when a journal
for the dissemination of New
England notions could be pub
lished in New Orleans and 9TH
er parts of the South; but what
were the facts?-that journals
Of that character were protect
ed by the army, and that their
brave editors never wrote out
of hearing of a sentinel's tread.
Then, again, the fifteenth
amendment, which gives the
ballot and citizenship to the
negro-that is another moral
triumph, we suppose. But has
that been the result of a spon,
taneous popular movement?
does it show that the ideas of
the whole country have been
revolutionized on the subject of
the African? BY no MEANS
This, like every other move in
the great work of progress" )"
is a trick to enhance the good
of a political party. An amend.
ment to the national constitu-
ton that States are forced at the
point of the bayonet to ratify,
is not a very good indication Of
public sentiment. The fact is,
the people have had nothing to
do with it; this is proved in
the coercion employed to COM
pass the measure, and in the
fact that in those States that
were not coerced, no steps were
taken to get an expression of
the popular will on the subject,
and that in some instances, as
in the case of Ohio, the Legis-
tors instrumental in securing
is ratification knowingly mis-
represented their constituents.
We are not shutting our eyes
to what is manifestly true, that
negro equality is a stubborn
and practically accomplished
fact; neither do we say that
right is not on the side of the
negro: but we desire to show
that the African has attained
his political recognition thro'
the drift of chance circumstan.
ces, and not through a revul.
sion of popular feeling in his
favor. Like Grant, he has been
utilized by the Republican par.
ty as the stepping stone to
power. Intelligent rebels
would not vote the Radical
ticket, so they were disfran-
chised; negroes, it was assum-
ed, would, so they were made
citizens,and in conjunction with
a horde of carpet-bag adven.
turers placed in absolute charge
of the moral and material inter-
ests of the Southern people,
solely because such a step coun-
ted largely as political capital.
Such pleasant aphorisms as
',justice to the black man." and
the negro troops fought nobly,"
'HlF a''r a .r..
.,4