Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-02-26
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teeuth and fifteenth amendments, not be-
cause they award civil rightsand the cleo
tive franchise to the freedman, but be-
cause they DO 50 IL, 2 manner utterly subj
vtrsive of local sselfzgovernment. We
think there is a more excellent way. BY
the new, Constitution of Tennessee our
people have made-tAe- negro an integral
element of cur body spoliticaH 1t is well
to appreciate this accomplished fact.
And it would be wei TO have this inn
pressed upon the party most Interested
thst his rights have been placed upon the
only legitimate and permanent basis, the
consent of the community in which he
lives. AS we value our free institutions,
it is our interest to see that he uses his 4
franchise intelligently and for the public
good-to see that he is well grounded in
a sense of political duty and justice. IfI
any think his admission severe strain on
our popular system, that is only an addi-
tional argument for earnest endeavor. In
bis Individual and family relations, the
negro continues constituent part of our
Southern people and leading productive
element. If wholesale deportation were
feasible tomorrow, the majority of Ten
nesseeans would pause before bidding
him God speed. No; he must remain
among us, and his influence will,
must, be felt, in society, for good or for
evil. He must live: we cannot see him
starve. Neither can we afford, as COM
munities, to support him in idleness or
countenanee him in crime. Nor is it cur
interest to see town and country blotched
over with mud novels, uninviting to the
stranger and demorslizIng to the native,
breeding poverty, pestlence and petty
| larceny. 1t is the interest of no com
munity to harbor a thriftless, unproduc-
tive class. Such cancers on society 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 negro's industrial
capacities, TO make him provident and
prosperous, TO teach him self re-
lance and so improve his lot III
ife and ma Ike him contented worker in
the human hive. This must be mainly q
labor of love. The negro, as = distinct
class, has passed beyond the pale of spe-
cial legislation. Nor would we like to see
even the most general statute enacted
that might seem, from the surroundings
| of his race to bear more particularly On
him than on US. We want TO see no 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 be
| left TO those insensible influences by
which society is shaped and perpetuated
to the voluntary efforts of individuals
and communities. To make such efforts
efficient, we must ma nifest an earnest in
tere5t in his welfare. To make the
manifestation certain, it must be with us
a genuine feeling. We must work with
a will and 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 concede
that he viii not be insensible to sin
cere, unselfsh interest in his behalf. He
is naturally a grateful creature, and many
of his errors since emancipation may be
attributed TO his sudden and complete iso-
lation from the sympathies and counsels
of those to whom he had al ways 10 Jked
for encouragement and instruction. The
war turned him out on the world, all I'M
prepared and unfamilia-, like disinher-
tied child. Probably we erred in yield
ing him, without struggle, to the selfish
schemers who swarmed the South to
make money of our miseries. And
often we have become impatient
at his docility to the stranger. when
he was but seeking for those needs of his
social nature that We peevishly denied
him. But those days are passing away,
and we may reasonably expect to be
henceforth the masters of our own des-
TIMES. Let us now at length begin the
| good work. Our doctors, on their mis-
sion of mercy, enter the lowliest hut, and
| lawyers will defend the lowest criminal
for a mere pittance, while the local poll
tician will not hesitate to improvise and
attend the negro ball for the furtherance
of his ambition. With higher motives, in
the interest of society and of our chill
dren, let US also proceed to labor earnestly
in this inviting 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 heritage oe woe in the next
geDerati0n Of negroes reared amid all the
| curses of civilization, without the moral
| and humanizing influences that the present
generation have partially enjoyed. Unless
society takes hold now, in some manner
similar to that we indicate, the negro
question viii be, twenty years hence, a
more terrible reality than we dare dream
of. ..... ......
The above was written before the de-
velopments of the 'COlored State Con-
vention'' reported yesterday. Those un-
called for and inf1ammatory proceedings
only serve to show what thorn in our
side these neglected orphans of the war
will prove, unless we speedily and sue
cessfully inaugurate Individual and social
efforts to rescue them from the hands of
| the philistiOpS amOnp whom, ,bo,- bo,,o