The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-09-24
eor,,inr "a bis worth. with no respect "

III our Government succecns ene'e
marty. there lis no considerable factloh, thele
! is really nobody left In The field opposing OF
/ obie,tii,g to their standing on the conit,oh
platform of American nationality. lay
plausc.l say, then, that it Is the,T eiea. ~
coined. and ratified. and approved py tl,s
entire American PEOPLE, and yet II IS te.y
discourariue fact presented to us that theie
ia no other class 80 GENERALLY and so pitteiil
onnosinp Ma n they are. There II no otnef
cIasu ne class. who insist so Thoroughly or
Observation-Disclosures in misrepreScntlng us. i
COW not this TO excite prejudice against them.
They are ignorant, and their ignorance IS not
their own fault, though it Is their ana our
| misfortune. They are mislcd, and we are
illuminated in their ears.
/ have been repeatedly asked TO contradict
assertions that | have been negro-trader.
| Even on my way to this place one 4tl'droon
girl. on hearing me speak. said: wouio
| like to stick a Knife into his heart. He. SOLD
nv mother into Richmond. Va" Laughter
/ can imagine no reason why lies like that
should be told. can imagine no reason why
good men and women should not everywhere
discountenance and Iefute them. !.
It is. I say, the misfortune OF the colored
Deoule-a misfortune of our people-that
thev as class are steeled against us. They
will not hear us, they do not believe us.
They arc told that this movement is con-
tlyancc to get them ensiaved again, virtually
if not absolutely, and that all The pretellslons
of the Cincinnati platform and the Baltimore
Endorsement in favor of equal tights are
frauds, are lies. If this party succeeds,
saws Mr.. Wendell Phillips, "you must cor
ceal your property and take care oil your
wives"
| Now, felow-citizcns, l state these facts
here not that 1 would have you think any
worse of these misguided people. J st'te
them because want you hentsIcklall> TO re-
aize that ignorance is public pcrll--tLat you
cannot well afford to have part OF your peo-
pile growing up III that dense llnacqllalntsnce
with public men and public affairs that tllcy
can be deceived and misled as these people
are. You must take care that they shalt De
educated so that they shall be too wise, 100
well Informed to be thus misinlormcd ana
misguided. :,
Fclow-citizens. if our movement should
rreyaiI. rs | trust it will prevail, we will
sweep away all this refuse of lies i'll three
months. We will say to the colored men.
we proilcr Won nothing except thc protection
Of Tie laws; tie same for you IL for Us. You
have your living to earn rs well as we. You
will have to use all your abilities, all your
energies, all your faculties, and make the
most Of them YOU can. The laws do not
favor YOU. but they will thoroughly protect
you: and in three months if we succeed, the
coIored people will he So tll-abll'ed that the
suuic men can never deceive them ngalll-
never again. =.
But suppose we fail. and we may fail. II
the coIorcd men did not believe that the pow
or was against III. TINT money was against Us !:
if they did not realize that the treasury, the
army, the 10000 ofice-holdCrs were all
handed against us. in force which they be-
| jievc we rrnunt overcome. they certainly
would not be SO universally hostile To ll>.
Why. they think wc cannot succeed. ard they
want TO lie upon the winning side. That Is
part of it, but they are also dcludcd III regard
to onr purposes. -,
We say wc arc not your enemies. we VIII
not bc your oppres>orS; We WIFI not, ti0uSh
Won have done lis an injustice; we VIII Try
az well is we can to have your children edll-
Gated and enlightened. so as that the mistakes
Won have made cannot he made over ana over
a-a;n. That is where we stand.
1t is not for the sake of the prescribed
alone that speak Every community ha>
the right to The best services OF all It's clt'-
7cns. Men say Ia lie. ''Why. You don't
want to elect Ioombs. OF somebody else, do
you:" No, don't want To elect any oil
these men; but suppose the people do? WIN"
are YOU and who am ] to say whether they
shall or not: 1t is not acquisition for me, hui
whether American citizens. whom you say
have the same rights to vote and hold office
for YOU. shall he mt liberty TO vote for men
they prefer or shall br compelled to vote Tor
men you prefer. :.
So long us you have prescribed class III
the country. men all around tbemhonor-
able. generous men-will feel | ought to be
prescribed the same rs that man. The differ
ence was only by accident. He happened TO
take an oath Or ill an office before the strug-
gle that ! did not. His guilt was no more
than mine. Accident only makes him pro-
:,liLcd and leaves III" free. so that so long
as there shall he Il prescribed class IN this
country prescription will lr,nilc in tie heart,
Of millions Of Americans who feel that they
themselves are condemned and banned i'll the
act which doomed their leaders.
| Now. icllow-citizens, why do we condemn
prescription? They are mistaken who say
there are only two or three hundred left
now forbidden 10 exercise the common
rights of American citizens. 1t Is not so.
There are thousands. There are 5000 dis
| tl~,nchscd in the State of Arkansas alone,
and the men who hold them DISTINGUISHED
cxpect to carry that State against us by vir-
tue of that Acknowledgement. But it is not
the number of prescribed men who. IN not
under this han, feel themselves prescribed
because Others are for iii offence which was
their offence rs well.
| The question reaches not several hundreds
| 1 ,,,iIlipr. Of ON n;inp1n WplI
they say. what do the people care about this.
The banks are making money, the people are
prospecting, manufacturers are thrifty-who
cares that ii few hundred or thousand men
are di.Ianchiscd? care. / say war which
ended nearly eight years ago ought to have
had nearly all its bloody traces wiped out
before this time. ,[AppauSe.]
| say that while we have often been amused
with promises of general amnesty the Gov
eminent of the country has practically been
controlled by men like~Senators Morton and
Chandler, and General Butler, one of which
Senators is SAYING: "Well. then, all may for
give rebels if they will, but | never cam
Now. that spirit is not one which should rule
a Republican country. \ Republican should
be generous and iaitlItul-generouS to errors
whereof the very last evil consequences have
long since faded away.
| Grant that it was wrong, indefensiby
wrong; grant that the whole Confederate
NOV WA, as heinous as you please still
it was utterly defeated. II became Il lost
ca,lSc: and there Is no more probability, aud
| may say no more possibility, OF another Sc
riouS attempt to divide the American Union
than there is of an attempt to disrupt and de-
stroy the solar system. Never before did the
Union stand so strong as to-day. Never WAS