The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1870-05-05
.Dndge Chase.
Letter from Him in Regard to the Fifteenth
Amendmcnt-He Advocates Universal amnesty.

Letter from Hin in Regard to the Fifteenth
| Amendmcnt-He advocates Universal Amnesty.
From the Cincinnati Commercial, April 49,
The following important and remark
able letter from Chief Justice Chase has
been received by the Committee Of Cor
respondence OF the colored citizens OF
this city, who are about to celebrate the
ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment
WASHINGTON, March 80, 1870
| NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. nv thanks for
| the invitation you have rendered me, in
behal Of the colored people Of Cincin.
natl, to attend their celebration of the
ratification Of the Fifteenth Amendment.
Ny duties here will not permit me to be
present except ny good will and good
wishes
Almost a quarter of a century has
passed since some Of you, probably, heard
ne declare, on the 9th of May, 1915 in
an assembly composed chiefly of the pco
Die whom you now represent, that all
legal distinctions between Of
the same community, founded on ans
such circumstances rs color, origin and
he like, are hostile TO the genius of our
institutions. and incompatible with the
rue theory of American liberty; that
true democracy makes no inquiry about
/ ,he color of the SKIN, or the place of ma
tvity, or any other similar circumstance
of condition and that the exclusion Ut
the coio1ed people, as "a body, from the
elective franchise, IS incompatible with
true democratic principles
II congratulate you on the fact that
these principles, not then av0wed by me
for the first time, nor ever since abandon
ed or compromised, have been at length
incorporated into the constitution and
made part Of the supreme law of tht
land.
Many, no doubt, would have BEEN
glad, as | should have been, if the great
work c0nsumated by the ratification OF
the Fifteenth Amendment, could have
been accomplished by the States, through
amendment or the State constitutions and
through the appropriate State legislation;
but the delays and uncertainties preju-
dclal to every interest, lnseparable from
that mode of proceeding, seemed to
necessitate the course actually adopted.
Nor does the amendment impair the real
rights of any State. 1t leaves the whole
regulation Of suffrage to the whole D 20
pie of each State, subject only to the
fundamental law, that the right of no
citizen to vote shall be denied or Abridged,
on account of color, race, or previous con-
dtion of servitude IG is to be hoped
that each State will so form its constitu-
ticn and laws to this fundamental law
that no occasion may be given to legisla-
ton by Congress.
But the best vindication of the wis
dom as we'll as the justice of the amend.
ment, must be found in the conduct Of
that large class of citizens whom you
represent. On the occasion to which I
have referred, | ventured to say that the
best way to insure the peaceful dwelling
together OF the different races, is the
cordial reciprocation of benefits, not the
mutual intliction of injuries and can
not now give you better council than l
offered then: Go forward, having per-
feet faith in your own manhood, and Ill
Gods providence, adding to your faith,
virtue and to virtue, knowledge; and
to knowledge, patience; and to patience,
temperance and to temperance, brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly Kindness,
charity.
why not signalize your rejoicing in
the rights secured under the Fifteenth
Amendment, by urging upon Congress
the prompt removal of all political disa-
bilities, imposed upon our fellow citizens
by the Fourteenth Amendment $50 that,
through universal suffrage and universal
amnesty, peace, good will and prosperity
may be established throughout the
country.
Every good man must rejoice in the
progress which the colored citizens of
the United States have made in education,
in religious culture, and in the general
improvement of their condition. Every
good man must earnestly desire their
continued and accelerated progress in
the same direction All public and pri-
vate interests will be promoted by it
and it will insure, at no distant day, cor
dial recognition Of their rights. even
from those of their fellow citizens, who
have most earnestly opposed them.
No man can now be found who would
restore slavery q few years hence, if the
colored men are wise, it will be impossi-
bic to find man WHO will svow himself
IN favor of denying their right to vote.
Very truly YOURS, S. z. CHASE.
Messrs. PETER Fl. CLARK, &c, Com
mittee.