The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-08-22
To the Colored People.


Night.
To the Colored People.
Believing that the colored people-more es-
pecially those residing in what were formally
known as the slave holding States sincere
ly desirous to pursue such course in the pres
ent political campaign as shall best subserve
their own interests, as well as the good of the
country at large, we offer some suggestions for
their careful, unprejudiced consideration.
outset-the liberty and rights of the colored
race are fixed beyond the possibility of recall.
Their emancipation and enfranchisement are
not merely accomplished facts, but facts which
cannot be changed by the rise or fall of party.
Incorporated into the organic law of the land,
they must and will remain there unaltered and
unalterable as long as that law stands where it
now does, the foundation of our Republican
institutions. In the North we have yet to see
the man. no matter what his previous opinions
and.actions may have been, VINO honestly wish
es to restore the system of slavery, or to de-
priye the freedmen of those benefits naturally
arising from the demolition of that system.
That much anxiety is felt among thoughtful
citizens lest these benefits should not be fully
appreciated and judiciously enjoyed and i'm
even among the most ultra, to go back to the
old WAYS if it were possible to do so. The
public sentiments of the North virtually settles
this business for all time to come, without re-
gard to the sentiment which may prevail in the
South but there is no reason to suppose that
any respectable portion of the Southern people
intend, now or hereafter, to seriously oppose
the inevitable results of the war. They have
accepted these results in good faith, and ex-
pect to abide by them. In short, the whole
nation, South as we'll as North, is solmnly
pledged to the maintenance of the privileges
conceded to the colored race; and those mem
bers of the race who allow themselves to be
influenced by unscrupulous demagognes preach
| ing the contrary doctrine, are simply the VIC
Tins of an idle hoax concocted for purely par
| tizan purposes.
With freedom and citizenship guaranteed,
what, then, is the duty of the colored people?
we mean more particularly those of the
South. There can be but one correct answer
to this question, and that is to establish such
| relations with their former masters, and white
population generally, as shall produce mutual
confidence, and ensure to all the blessings of
wise and economical government. The South
is now the common property Of whites and
blacks, and upon their hearty cooperation de-
pends the prosperity of that section. Every
| intelligent colored man knows that since the
termination of the war the South has been in
tested with q gang of political adventures
| from the North, having no sympathy with the
| native born inhabitants of either race, and
seeking only to create antagonism between the
two in order to obtain for themselves the hon
ofs of Office and the chance for plunder. If
the whole of the carpet-bag fraternity were
driven across Mason and Dixon's line, or into
the gulf, and the South left exclusively in the
hands of those who belong to the soil, all the
difficulties which now encompass the political
and social situation there would be amicably
adjusted before the expiration of three years
The whites understand this thoroughly, and
are anxious to begin the work of reconciliation,
which is and must. be the sole basis OF solid
and enduring reconstruction. Heretofore cir
cumstances have been unfavorable for the init
| alton of compromise which promises to ac-
complish so much-now the path is open and
swept clear of all obstacles. The Democratic
narty have indorsed the Liberal nominees and
placed at the head of their ticket a man whose
lifelong devotion to the colored people has
never been called in question.
The record of Horace Greeley on this point
is too we'll known to require word of COM
ment. The whites of the South have accepted
him cordially, and they ask the blacks to join
with them i'm securing his election. If the lat
ter will take the hand thus held out, work side
nv side with the former in the contest which is
sure to end in glorious triumph, the treaty
of friendship is signed and sealed. The two
races are henceforih bound together by indis-
soluble ties; prejudices and jcalousies will
gradually but surely melt away; an era of
peace and good feeling will be inaugurated,
and both races can unite in restoring the South
to that political and commercial position which
Justly belongs to her-and which she never can
rcrain until such an alliance is consummated.
Is it wise to throw away an opportunity
which may never return? Is it sensible to de-
spise the lessons of the past, and allow the tu-
t,lre to drift from bad to worse? The white
people of the South have gone as far as they
can 60 they do not ask the colored people to
come to them-oply to stand still and permit
the two forces to be united. Will they do it?
One mistaken notion had, at any rate, better
he abandoned at once. The coorcd element
docs not hold the balance of power in the pres
idcntal struggle Greeley can afford to give
Grant every colorcd vote North and South, and
vet be elected. He can easily get along with
out them can they get along as easily, without
him. and without those influences which his
election will set in motion? We do not think
so and, moreover, we are satisfied that before
sixty days have passed 4 very large proportion
of the colored people will not think so-&.
| Louis Republican.
- That was beautiful idea in the mind of
lolo h,,ch on,