The Hickman courier., 1871-03-11
From the Nashville Union and American.

=
hope few words on the relations Of the
negro to our Southern communities may
receive due consideration, without sus-
pieion of partisan purpose:
We question the sounduess Of The
/ fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, not
because they award civil rights and the
elective franchise to the freedman, but
/ because they do so in manner utterly
| subversive of local self government. We
| think there is a more excellent way BY
| the new Constitution of Tennessee our
people have made the negro an integral
element Of our body polite. 1t is we'll
to appreciate this accom- plished fact And
/ it would be well to have this impressed
| upon the party most iDterested-that bis
| rights have been placed upon the only
/ legitimate and permanent basis, the con
sent of the community IN which be lives
/ As we value our free institutions, 1t il
our interest to see that he uses his fran
lsyhise ineeiligenfs5 and for tie pubift
good-to see that be is we'll grounded 10
a sense of political duty and justice. II
any think his admission severe strain
on our popular system, that is only an
additional argument for earnest endeavor.
Ia his individual aud family relations.
/ the negro continues a constituent part OF
our Southern people aud a leading pro
ductive element 1t Wholesale depor
tation were feasible to morrow the ma
! jority of Teunesseans would pause be
fore bidding him God speed. No; he
must remain among US, aud his influence
will, must, be felt, in society, for good or
! for evil. He must live ne cannot see
/ him starve. Neither can we afford, as
communities, to support him in idleness
or eountenance him in crime. Nor is it
our interest 10 see town and country
/ blotched over with mud novels, uuinyi-
ting to the stranger and demoralizing TO
the native, breeding poverty; pestilence
and petty larceny. 1t is the interest of
no community to harbor thriftless, un-
productive class. Such cancers on socie-
ty may be inseparable from the vast
swarmeries Of old settled countries, but
there Is no excuse for such In this broad
/ fertile land of Tennessee. Therefore it
is our duty to endeavor, by all means
within our power, to draw out the negroe s
( Industrial capacities, to make him provi-
deRt aud prosperous, to teach him self
reliance and SO improve his lot inl life and
make him a eoutented worker IN the hu-
man hive This must be mainly labor
OF love. The negro, as a distinct class
has passed beyond the pale OF special
legislation Nor would we like to see
even the most general statute enacted
hat night seem from the surroundings
/ Of his race to bear more particularly on
him than on Us We want to see the law
passed for the purpose of including the
negro We must accord him before the
courts an even chance In the race Of life
Outside OF the courts let us do the same
or more The matter Of his instruction
encouragement and elevation should b
left to those insensible influences b.
which society is shaped and perpetdateC
to the voluntary efforts of individual
and communities To make such effort
efficient, we must manifest an earnest in
terest in his welfare To make the man
Hesitation certain, it must be with us
genuine feeling. We must work with +;
will and a heart.
The perpetuation of political freedom
and the security of society is largely con
cerned in our success. Those who know
/ the negro best will most readily concedC
that he will not be insensible to sincere
unselfsh interest in his behalf He i:
naturally grateful creature. and many
I of his errors since emancipation may bt
attributed to issudden and complete iso
lation from the mpathies and counsel;
of those to whom he had always locke
for encouragement aud instruction. The
war turned him out on the world, all un
prepared and unfamiliar, like disinher
/ tied child. Probably we erred in yield
/ ing him, without struggle, to the selfish
I schemers who swarmed the South to
i make money of our miseries. Aud often
we have become impatient at his docility
/ to the stranger, when he was but seeking
tor those needs of his social nature that
We peevishly denied him. But those
| days are passing away, and we may rea-
sonably expect to be henceforth the mas
ters of our own destinies. Let US now
at length begin the good work. Our
doctors on their mission of mercy, enter
the lowliest hut, and lawyers will defend
the lowest criminal for mere pittance.
while the local politician will not hest
tate to improvise and attend the negro
ball for the furtherance of his ambition.
With higher motives, in the interest of
society and of our ehil lren, let US also
proceed to labor earnestly in this iDvi-
ting harvest Of human souls. The church
can aid largely in this work perhaps the
church should lead. Unless our people
take hold of this work. and speedily, we
fear we shall bequeath our children a
heritage of woe in the next generation of
negroes reared amid all the curses of civ
ilization, without the moral and human
izing influences that the present genera
ton have partially enjoyed. Unless So
ciety takes hold now, ia some manner
similar to that We indicate, the negro
question will be, twenty years hence,
more terrible reality than we dare
dream of.
The above vas written before the
developments Of the 'Colored State Con
vention7 reported yesterday. Those un
called for and infammatory proceedings
only to show what a thorn in our
side these neglected orphans of the war
will prove, unless We speedily and sue
cessfuily inaugurate individual and social
efforts to rescue them from the hands Of
the Philistines among whom they have
fallen.
AMNESTY = The following resolution
was unanimously adopted at meeting