Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-07-31
POLITICAL.
Summers Letter to Negro Voters.
He Is Emphatic for Horace Greeley.
A Brilliant Platarchian Parallel.
Greeley and Grant Side by Side.
Radical Sophisms Punctured.
Bound Advice to the Negroes.


| correspondence has taken place between
Hon. Chas. Sumner and the colored citi-
zens of the United States:
Washington, july IL, 1872.-SIR: We,
the underss gned, citizens of color, regard
| ing you as the purest and best friend of our
| race, admiring your consistent course in the
United Stairs Senate and elsewhere as the
| special advocate of our rights, and believing
| your counsel at this critical juncture in the
! period of our citizenship would be free from
personal feeling and partisan prejudice,
have veutured to request your opinion as to
what action the colOred voters of the nation
! should take in the Presidential contest now
pending. The choice of our people is now
narrowed down to Gen. Grant or Hor-
ace Greeley. Your hong acquaintance
with both, and your observation, have
| enabled you to arrive at correct
conclusion as TO which of the candidates,
| Judging from their aItacedents as well as
their present position, viii if elect ed enforce
the requirements of the Constitution and
laws respecting our civil and political rights
with most heartfelt sympathy and gxeatest
vigor. We hope and trtlst you viii favor
Us with such reply as wi Il serve to enlSghten
our minds upon this subject and impel our
people to go forward III the right direction.
Our confidence in your intelligence is 50
firm that in our opinion thousands of in
telligent colored voters Of the country will
be guided in their AZ 4ion by your statement
and advice. Hoping to receive reply sooD,
we hsvesthe honor 10 be with great respect
your obedient servants.
[Signed by 27 negroes.
Summers Letter.
Washington, JTally 20, 1872 Gentlemen
and fellow citizens: II have delayed in
answering your communication of July IL,
which was duly placed in my hands by
your committe e, it is not because the prop
er course for you seemed doubtful, but be-
cause l wished to reflect upon it and be
aided by information which time might
supply. h @ tf-8sl#
[Atper prologue wonderfully prolonged,
the Senator proceeds:1 -
remark that you call attention to two
things, the ante cedents Of the two candi-
dates, and secondly their present position.
You wish to know from these, which gives
assurance Of the most heartfelt sympathy
and greatest vigor in maintaining your
rights; in osrer words, which, judging from
tie past, Will be your truest friend.
answer your inquiries, beginning with
The Antecedents
of the two candidates. Horace Greeley
was born to poverty and educated himself in
printing office; President Grant, fortunate
in early patronage, became cadet at West
Point and was educated at the public ex-
pense. One started with nothing but in
dustry and a character; the other started
with a military commission. One was
trained as civilian; the other as soldier.
Horace Greeley stood forth as reformer and
abolitiOnist; President Grant enlisted as
slavery Democrat, and at the election OF
James Buchanan fortified by his vote all
the pretensions of slavery, including the
Dred Scott decision. Horace Greeley from
early life was earnest and constant against
slavery, full of sympathy with the colored
race and always foremost In the great battle
for their rights; President Grant except as
soldier, summoned by the terrible acci-
dent Of war, never did anything against
slavery, nor has he at any time shown any
sympathy with the colored race. Horace
Greeley earnestly desired that colored
fellow-citizens should vote, and ably
championed impartial suffrage; but Presi-
dent Grant was on the other side. Beyond
these contrasts which are marked, it cannot
be forgotten that Greeley is person Of
Large Heart,
and large understanding, trained to the
support of human rights, always ready for
any good cause and never deferred by Cp-
position or reproach, as when for long years
he befriended your race. Add to these
Qualities conspicuous in his life an untiring
industry, which leaves no moment without
its fruit, abundant political knowledge, ac-
quaintance with history, the instinct and
/ grasp of craftsmanship, an amiable nature,
| a nsagnamious soul, and above all an
honesty which no suspicion
has touched, and you have
a brief portraiture. These are the antece-
dents of Horace Greeley. Few of these
| things appear ia the President. His great
| success in war and the honors he has won
cannot change the record of bis conduct,
towards your people especially, in contrast
with the lifetime fidelity of his competitor,
while there are unhappy antecedents show
! ing that in the prosecutions OF bis plans he
cared nothing for the colored race. The
story is painful but it must be told. Irefer
! to the outrage he perpetrated upon
Hayti. tt
IThe Senator harps on Hayti in ex.enso.
! We make the following extract:
Sailing into the harbor of Poru-au-P rince
| with our most powerful monitor, the 'Dic-
tator," properly named for this service, also
| the frigate Severn as a consort and other
monitors in their traiD, the Admiral acting un-
| der instructions from Washington, proceed
| ed to the executive mansion accompanied by
an officer of his squadron, and then point
| ing to the great war ships in sight from the
! window, declared his menace of war,
| threatening to sink or capture the Haytien
| ships, That President was black, not
white. The Admiral would have done no
! such thing to any white ruler, nor would
our country have tolerated such menace
| from any Government in the world. Here
was an indignity not only to the black Re-
public with its population of 100000, but
| TO the African race everywhere, and especi-
ally in our own country Nor did it end
here. For months the navy of the United
| States was lowering On the coast, keeping
that insulted people in constant anxiety,
while President Grant was to them
Like the Hawk Sailing I'm the Air,
and ready to swoop upon his prey. This
heartless cruel proceeding found a victim
among our white fellow citizens. An excel
lent merchant of Connecticut, praised by all
who knew him was plunged into prison by
| Baez, where he was immured because it wa !
feared he would write against the treaty
annexation, and this captivity was prolong-
| ed with the connivance of two agents of
thePresident, ,one of, whom is found constant
| ly with him, and is part efthe military ring
Immediately about him. this terrible
transaction, which nobody can defend, is
among the antecedents of President Grant,
from which you can Judge how much the
colored race can rely upon his heartfelt
sympathies. Now can it be forgotten that
shortly afterward on the return ofthe COM
mission from this Island,
Hon. Frederick Douglass
a colored orator, accomplished in manners
as in eloquence, was thrust away from the
company of the commissioners at the COM
mon table of the Mail Packet on the Poto-
mac almost in sight of the executive man
sion simply on account of his color. But
the President at whose invitation he had
Joined the commission, never uttered a
word in condemnation OF this exclusion, and
when entertaining the returned commits
siopers at dinner, carefully
omitted Douglass who was in Wash
ipgton at the time, and thus
repeated the indignity. Other things might
be mentioned, as showing tae sympathies
! of the President but | cannot forget the