New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-08-28
speech Of Peter u. Clark
Convention Of CeIersd Men Held a, ,hIiIi-
ehethe, Ohio. August IA. Is5s.


4 loud cneer-. tie spoke a lhiioNs
! / desire to state at the outset that in what
/ have done, or in what | shall say in con-
nectiOn with this convention, do not profess
| to represent anybody but myself. | do not
| profess to control any vote but my own.
| | make this statement for the benefit OF
| those who profess to be uneasy As to nv pur-
| poses; those anxious gentlemen who assert
that | am selling the colored voters of the
State to the Democratic party. 1t may Seem
waste of time to say this to you, but, in
credible As il may appear, there are men
| foolish enough TO tell this story, and some.
more foolish still, who believe it.
| | simply, here to-day, exercise one Of nv
| rights as an American citizen. Being dis
satisfied with the treatment accorded to
| colored men in this State, both by the State
and National authorities feeling that the
managers of the Republican party do not ac-
cord to colored men that amount of cnnsid.
Grafton due them as members of the same
great political organization, | am free to
express that dissatisfaction. Further. pro-
pose to name the things which give rise to
| that dissatisfaction, and to urge the men OF
| this and other audiences which | NAV ad-
| dress, to unite with me IN protesting against
| the wrongs inflicted on US, and to use such
means as lie in our power for correcting the
| evil.
There is much talk, too, of ingratitude to
the Republican party, which we, who propose
an independent course Of action, are said to
be manitesting. We deny that any founda-
| ton for the charge exists. That the policy
| OF that party, in the past has enured to our
benefit we cheerfully acknowledge. Through
the workings of that party we are free and
| partially enfranchised. But we deny that
| these things were done from any original
| impulse prompting them to benefit US. They
were merely the steps needed to carry out
the great central purpose Of the partv-the
| preservation Of the Union. Nor do these
| things bind us to vote with it until every
white member shall have obtained an office
Abraham Lincoln, whose memory we all
revere, declared that ifby maintaining slavery
he could preserve the Union, then he would
maintain slavery, and he fairly expressed
the motive of the party Of which he was the
illustriOus head.
Those Of you who are old enough to remem-
Der the twenty years of discussion that pre-
coded the organization Of the Republican
party, know that it was not the self accusing
cry of James e.. Birncv: "We are verify
guilty concerning our brother" nor the right
eous denunciaton of Garrison. who stigma
TIED slavery as "a league with hell and a
covenant with death, !" and 8 the sum of VIII
lanies," that moved the hearts of the men
who organized that party. We know that
1t was the arguments of Ganalel Bailey,
Salmon 7. Chase, and John {. Vaughn, who
proved that slavery did not pay, that nflu-
enced the most of the men who thronged to
Pittsburg and to Philadelphia in 1856, and
nominated John c. Fremont as the first can
didate of the Republican party for the Presi-
dency. A favorite sentence With some of the
early champions of the party was this "We
will preserve the virgin soil of the West from
the polluting step of the negro, bond or
free'
Abraham Lincoln issued his famous procla-
nation of emancipation, basing it, as he
declared, in the document itself, upon mill
tary necessity.
| do not recall this to arouse any i'll feel
ngs in the breasts of colored men against
their white tellOw-citizens. Asking for JUS
tice l also advocate peace. put them for
ward as an answer to the sentimental whine
which declares the colored people lacking in
gratitude if they refuse to vote with the Re-
publican party.
am sorry that the motive which prompted
the gift of freedom had not more of kindly
feeling toward the negro in it, but having the
gift and cherishng it highly, am prepared,
with Frederick Douglass, to welcome the
bolt, whether from heaven or from hell, that
shattered the accused institution of slavery.
The virtuOus Trajan, placing the sword of
Justice in the hands of his servant, cnioined
him to use it for him so long as he reigned
justly, and upon him if he reigncd uniustly.
In this spirit, take it, the true friends of
the colored man gave him the power to vote.
Our first duty is so to vote as to preserve the
integrity of the national compact; to keep
the jewel of freedom in the American family;
then to preserve and enlarge our own privl-
eyes. We should cast our votes for the Re-
publican party SO long as it continues in the
line of progression followed in 1856; when
it departs from that line it is not only our
right but our duty to vote against it.
The platform, adopted at Philadelphia in
1872, declares that complete liberty and
exact equality in the enjoyment of all civil,
political, and public rights shall be estab-
lishrd and efiectually maintained throughout
the mon by efficient and appropriate State
and Federal legislation. Neither the law nor
its administration should admit Of any dis
elimination in respect of citizen, by reason
of race. creed, color, or previous condition of
servitude."
Further. 1.-The recent amendments to the
national Constitution should be cordially sus-
tanned, because they are right, not merely
tolerated because they are law, and should
be carried out according to their spirit by
appropriate legislation
LII All tullllTd-
BILE state Of our demands, and if they be
carried out in good faith, then we have no
cause Of complaint. More than year has
elapsed since the adoption Of this platform,
and it has been indorsed by an immense
majority Of the people. Every department
of the Federal Government is in the hands
of the Republicans, President, Congress, and
all, yet the colored people of the United
States are only subjected to the most fragrant
violations Of their rights, violations which
would be prevented by the appropriate legis-
lation spoken of in the second paragraph Of
the platform. Daily, on steamboats,, rail-
roads, and at public houses, the accommO-
dations granted to respectfully dressed and
acting white men are denied to us, because
of our color, however respectfully we may
dress or act.
In the bestowal Of Offices BY the Federal
authorities, in all the Nol.hwest, colored
men are ignored, and, with one exception,
no colored man has received an appointment
to an office.
Make tour with me Of the State Of Ohio,
visiting the towns and counties controlled
by the Republican party. You will find
miles OF road and street making and repair
ing, miles of sewers being made and pipes
being laid, scores of bridges being built Yet
in all this work there is no room for the coll
ored laborer. Except in Toledo, there are
no policemen, nor have there been any. No
colored man has attained to the dignity Of a
deputy sheriff, deputy auditor, deputy re-