The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1872-08-10
Senator Summers Letter.
[From the n. Y. Tribune. ]

There have been few utterances
during this Presidential contest which
have so much significance and weight
as the letter of Senator Sumner to the
colored men, elsewhere printed this
morning. Mr.. Sumner is historic
character. Anti-Slavery and famous
before the Republican party was
heard of, his commanding position at
once made, him one of its foremost
leaders. His voice, eloquence, inflI-
ence largely determined the charater
of the party itself; and his labors
have greatly contributed to its ulti-
mate triumphs. His appearance in
the present contest, therefore, is that
of a man who may fairly claim a large
share i'll the authorship of the party
which has SO great place in the his
tory of the country, as well as of the
advancement of the human race. His
letter is strong argument in the
cause in which he has labored for so
many years it is scholarly produce
ton more than this, it is an unan-
swerable political thesis.
The Senator traces the antecedents
of the two candidates for the Presi-
dency with an unerring and forcible
hand. Grant, who shares in the large
honors of the party which Sumner
helped to make, never had any
sympathy with that party or its prin-
ciples Till it brought him high office !;
Greeley was friend and champion of
human freedom, civil and religious
liberty, and constant foe to every
form of oppression from his earliest
manhood. This is the key of the
whole letter. Throughout all its ring
ing sentences we can hear the tllrob of
indignation beating underneath. There
is fine scorn in the Senator's con-
stant protest against Grants being
weighed in the scale with that early
and persistent refOrmer, Horace Gree
ley. He sees that Grant has no heart
felt sympathy with the black men;
his cOntemptuous treatment of the
Black Republic of Hayti, and his
whole insufferable bearing towards
the c0lOred race, are. conclusive on
that point. And to measure this mans
weak and pitiful claims to the vote
of the freedmen of America against
those of one who has spent the life
time of a generation in the service of
human rights seems to the last degree
monstrous and presumptuous. The
accusation that Mr.. Greeley has de-
parted from the principles to which
he has been for so many years devoted
is disposed of by this same line of ar
gument. The claim that he will do
so hereafter is an insult to reason.
The Senator lucidly shows how false
and artful is the charge that Mr..
Greeley has become a Democrat by
receiving Democratic support; and he
quotes the famous historic examples
of men who have been elected. by
Democratic and Republican votes
without losing their own political
character or betraying any political
trust. Salmon p. Chase and Charles
Sumner were both sent to the United
States Senate by such Il combination
as that which will elect Mr.. Greeley
to the Presidency. Who accuses these
illustrious men of recreancy +?
But the whole argument of the let
ter is addressed to the colored people
who sought the advice and opinion of
the Senator. TO them his counsel is
emphatic, kindly, and intelligent. 1t
is difficult to see how these generous
words can bereceived with other than
hearty concurrence and consent. The
colored fellow citizens who addressed
Mr.. Summer acknowledged the right
which he had earned to give them a
watclword in the present juncture of
affairs. To them the time is critical !;
for them, pointing to the Liberal can
didates and the platform SO heartily
adopted by the Democratic party, he
utters this noble phrase" The Unity
of the Republic and the Equal Rights
of All, with Reconciliation" By that
sign We conquer.