Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-04-14
LETTER FROM CHASE.
He FaVOrs the Abolition of the Disabilities
Of the Southern People.
Ane AdmOnIshes the Negroes to Temper
ance, Industry and good Citizenship.

CINCINNATI, April l3.-The follow
! ing is a substance of an important and
remarkable letter, from Chief Justice
Chase, to the committee of cOlored
! citizens, who were appointed to cor
! respond with him in relation to the
celebration ef the Fifteenth Amend
ment, it is one that commands study,
and viii repay investigation and con-
sideratiOn.
WASHINGTON, April 3.
Accept my thanks for the invita-
ton rendered in behalf of the cOlOred
people of Cincinnati to attend their Gel
ebrstiOn. Duties here will not permit
me to be present except by good will
and wishes. Almost a quarter OF a
century has passed since some of you
probably heard me declare in May,
iS45, that all legal distinctions between
individuals of the same community,
founded on any such circumstances as
color or origin or the like, are hostile
to the genius OF our institutions and
incompatible with the true theory OF
American liberty; that true DemOc'
raay makes no inquiry about color Of
skin, place Of nativity, or any other
ElLlAldL N4lNulLsAuALIA ~ .rNALSNANACAf
and that the exclusion Of coloreI p6G,
pie az 2 body from the elective fran
chise is incompatible with true Demo-
cratic principles. l congratulate you
that these principles have been
at lengtI made part of
the supreme law o. the land.
Many, no doubt, would have
been glad as / should have been if
the great work consummated by the
ratification of the Rifte6Rth Amend
ment could have bee1> accomplished
bv the States through 1s7 amendment
of the State constitutions, and
through appropriate State legislation
bat delays and uncertainties, prejQdi-
cial to every interest inseparable from
that mode of proceedings, ssemed to
necessitate the course actually adopted,
nor does the amendment thus seal
the rights of any State, but leaves the
whole regulation Of suffrage to the
whole people of each state, subject
only to the fundamental law thatThe
right of no citizen to vote shall be
denied or abridged 9V account of race,
cOlOrOr previous ambition OF servl-
tude. 1t Is to be hfiisd that each State
will so conform ifs constitution and
laws to this fundamental law, that no
OCCASION may be given to legislation by
Congress. But the best indication of
wisdom, as well as justice, of the
amendment must be found in the
conduct of that large class of citizens
whom YOU represent on the occasion
to which have referred. / injured
to saw that the best Wa-' tlp1ns4Fe the
peaceful dwelling together Of the diff
ferent races is the cordial reception of
the benefits, and not the nlnt9ai in
Fiction OF injuriesi and ! cannot give
YOU better council now than ] offered
then. Go forward, having perfect
faith in your own manhood and in
Gods providence, ADDING to your
faith virtue, and tC virtue knowledge,
and to knowledge patience, and to pa
tienoe temperance, and to Temperance
brOtherly kindness, and to brotherly
kindness charity. Why not signalize
your rejection in the right secured IN
der the Fifteenth Amendment by urg-
ing upon Congress the prnmpt re-
mOVal Of all political disabilities i'm
posed upon our fellOw-citizens by the
Fourteenth Amendment, so that
through universal suffrage and uni
vePsal amnesty, peace, good yill
and prosperity may be estab-
lished throughout OgF country.
Every good man must rejoice
in the progress which the colored
citizens of the United States have
made I'm education, in religious cHi-
ture and in the general improvement
of their condition. Every good man
must earnestly desire their accelerated
progress in the Gsme direction. All
public and all private Interests will be
promoted by IT, and it will insgre at
no distant dag 2 cordial recognition of
their rights, even from those Of their
felloW-citizens who have been most
earnestly opposed to them. No man
can now be found who would restore
slavery. A few years hence, if the col
oFed men are wise, it will be inpOssi-
bic 10 6nd q nan who will avOw him
self In favor of denying or abridging
their right TO vote.
(Eigued s, =. CHASE.