New Orleans Republican., 1873-07-16

used the crushing process, low :1y a con
ciliating one.
But. gentlemen Of Louisiana. you mus,
not expect to accomplish all this without
trials and troubles. You VIII find men who
will heap obloquy upon thvse white men
who have Initiated this beginning OF the
end" They will be stigmatized as losing
| all love and homage for their ancient Gus
| toms and usages OF antebeilum times. and
as being lost TO all honor, integrity and de-
votion for the Lost Cause; that they have
sunk go low as 20 be compelled 10 seek the
level OF the negro, and Z. hundred other
such sensational, unnatural charges; but
Yneet them with determination and frm-
ness. Tel these croakeIs that IN surrender.
| ing your prejudlces and recognizing the
| civi! rights of the cOlored mar, you only
yield to him as a freeman of tine United
| States, that TO which he is entitled as such.
| Ask him who would upbraid you, wha .
has the negro done! They have committed
no sin; you cannot cay that they deserve
punishment for sins never committed.
| We. the colored people. are. repeat,
| guilty Of no crime. You, the white people
of this State, if you had taken the proper
| course, woald have easily acquired the con-
| fdence OF the colored people, ands you
| would have had the government in your
| OWE hands, and the Northern man who
would have been placed in Office, would
| have been placed there because OF his moral
worth and not as he has been from neces-
! sity. But TO the contrary, your course was
such as to satisfy the colOred man that he
| could not trust YOU and he firmly believed,
| Of hjs own accord. that the moment YOU
| came into power you would deprive him of
HE civil and political rights. Ycu by your
OWE action forfeited entirely the confidence
of the colored people Of this State.
Your exclusion from office, and from par
-, -, L.
was the result OF your own conduct and
your hostility to the advancement Of the
colored man. Then it - you who have
heretofore held aioof from him, and not
him from you. I rejoice that an era has
dawned upon US when . few patriotic white
citizens have resolved to break over the
fetters Of prejudice which have SO long
cramped very free movement and estranged
the people OF your State.
you why you have taken this step, tell them
that on account Of your great prejudice
against the colored people, and your down
righ: refusal to act for and with them.
that your State has become heavily
burdened with debt. her credit I'M
paired, her commerce dwindling down
to almost nothing, and her lands al
most worn out by the war. Education ;s
leaving her eeat, and your children are
threatened, and her affairs are in danger of
being deserted; and while we mug to our
bosoms these uanatural and wicked preiu.
dices, justice is hindered in her high privi-
leges, and the law of the strongest will be-
come the law of the land; and rather than
see your beloved State 60 down TO destruc-
ton you prefer TO surrender your preiu-
dices, ana that, come veal or woe, having
stood upon the banks OF the Rubicon and
plunged in, you are determined not to IN.
dertake a retreat.
The colored people are keenly alive 70 The
obstacles besetting your pathway leading
from your old beaten tracks of prejudice
and injustice. and deeply and heartily will
they sympathize with you in all that you
may 6e elected 70 undergo.
They may not be able to help you in your
determined efforts 10 overcome these Deep
rooted hereditary prejudices, the common
enemy Of rs all, but, like the helpless pill
grims of old, who, when "Christian' en-
gagged in deadly combat with the dragon
prayed to God to give him the battle. SO
will the colore3 people of this State stand
by you in your honest efforts to overthrow
the dragon of prejudice and sincerely will
they pray that God will vouchsafe to give
you victory.
Year after year have We waited and
hoped for the consummation of the last
closing act of our great lifes drama, the
full and unconditional recognition Of cur
civil rights.
Year after year you who have kept US
from the full enjoyment Of them have been
swimming in the charmed circle Of policy
and temporary expedients, but to-day we
feel that, by your present action, these
questions are to be no longer evaGed.
You can not shu: your eyes, nor close
your ears to the demands Of your State, and
so deep are these interests bound up in the
preservation Of your State that you must
meet the issue fairly and fearlessly.
Let all those, both white and colored,
having an interest in the future welfare and
prosperity Of the State put aside faint
healtedness, and openly and boldly stand
viii live. despite the efforts of tyranny 70
overthrow them or prejud;ced policy to
check their expression.
The general scope and tendency of this
movement must be beneficial il carried cut
in an honest, manly manner. It has for its
object the downfall Of hereditary prejudi-
ces. the obliteration of past usages and
customs, and the full acknowledgment Of
the civil rights, privileges and immunities
which pertain TO any man created in the
image Of his Maker, and guaranteed to him
by the constitution and laws of the land.
Said laws are and must be fundamental in
all just free governments, and it is imposs.-
BILE for any one to stand by and see Them
ignored Or permit them 70 10 violated or
denied.
You, gentlemen of Louisiana, can rot
stand still, and indulge in constitutional
hair splitting as to the legality of laws
enacted for the protection Of the black, nor
the right OF our national Congress 20 enact
such laws; neither can you stand por,ng
over the Observation-Disclosures OF your old.
time rnatnmS and EarraHa Of nv.
gone days. for whilst you are 80 engaged,
there is one portion Of your citizens who
are becoming more and more estranged
from you, and you by your actions are
making chasm that i. will be almost i'm
possible to bridge.
Meanwhile these fundamental principles
OF free, just government are growing and
progressing rapidly; and soon they must be
the recognized laws Of the land, despite
the opposition that may be put in operation
against them.
Whilst you are meeting together to
strengthen each other in your hereditary
prejudices, and studying ont and devising
means to make these laws imperative. and
the equal protection of the laws only gilt
tering generality. the development and
restoration of your State is being neglected:
your commerce crippled your citizens de-
prived, either by option or compulsion.
from participating in the government OF
your State. and confusion, turmoil and dis
content reign supreme.
Can you, in simple justice to yourselves.
your State, your families, allow partisan
feeling to possess you all, and, hu. glns this
destructive phantom of :ins past to vouc
bosoms, refuse to abandon that policy
which, il persevered in, must eventually
paralize and hinder your State in her iu-
ture when, by a urreniering of all mer
cenary, selfish, hereditary preiudices to
characteristics OF an ennobling and right
VOC in