The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1874-02-28

the fdoo0r Of, Congress, rs well as those
OF otheer t. Representatives Of our race dybo
occupy seats seats in the National Legislature
You know with what discretion aud
ready; zeal the Honorable j. II, Ruiney
has entered tho debates which ha We
arisen from time to time upon the sub
ject Of our civil rights. His just, though
ceaustic,s rebukc !, Of Mr.. Cox is fresh In
your memory. The Honorable A., q.
Ransier has proved himself to be your
zealousand able champion in Congress, is
you have long known him to 30 in other
places, The effort ofHonorable. r. IL
Cain, ip reply to Mr.. Robbins, of North
Carolina, has commanded, the attention
OF Congress and of the country and his
added TO the well earned laprels of this
distinguished cha mpion of our rights
Long may you be represented by men Of
equal ability, zeal, prudcn ce and fidelity
With such Representatives, to sustain
- ~S, 'aS'oiy eanuob pe long
delayed.
But, fellow. citizens, not only have we
national interests. and national duties
but We have home interests and home
duties The guarantee of the fullest
measure of civil rights BY thc national
Congress is not all that we need. That
will give US the opportunity only, to
prove our fitness to possess aud use those
rights. 7,
| should fall short of my duty on this
occasion if did not draw your attention
to-, the immediate and commanding
necessity of a change in the character OF
our administration Of the public affairs
Of this State -,
Fellow-ctizcns, I approach this sub
ject, from the stand point Of. strict
Republican. Ifthere be any nun here
or in this State, who eau impcach or
eainsay my Republican record, let Him
come forward. II there be any one who
can show longer, more untiring or
consistent service of the Republican
party,.I challenge him to appear What
ray to night, ] cay as Republican,
standing on the Identical platform which
the Republican party solcmnly put forth
to the world as the expression of til G
political i;'ith Of the Republican p,rty
of South Carolina, on the 2}l d,y o
August, 1879. Upon that platform
still stand If others have wandered
from it, I have not. The pied res con
tained in that platform are still binding
on my conscience ond honor. Those
pledges I must and shall redeem.
Fellow liens, no man oan exaggcr
ate or overstate the critical ch llacter of
our present political situation upon the
fortunes of the colorcd race. For cen
turics our history has bccn marked by
oppression, in all its forms, at the hanls
of the white race Of this country We
were that stricken and pitable people
whom the world seemed to believe was
brought into existence solely for the
service of the white races of the earth
The pathetic miseries, the hopeless
su ubordinaIions of our race, have formed
one OF the most deeply tragic features of
the worlds history. At last, the in
stiucts ofhuDanity, the divine sense of
human brotherhood, have re 'ognizcd us
as men, entitled to the ri 5hts of men,
worthy to be clothed with the powers
and responsibilities Of self governing
citizens
The vastness and rapidity of this
change in our civil and political condi
tion has no parallel. Many have, at
every stngo Of our progress, predicted
our failure With what confidence did
men foretcll that the colored man of the
South would not work except undor the
spur Of the task masters lash. Yot the
crops of the South, for the last four
years, are more than equal in amount to
the crops of any four years during the
days Of slnyery.r How confidently was
it said that tho coored. man had no
sense of prudence, no provision for to,
m orrow-idly baskng i'll the sunshine
of to-day, and laying up nothing for the
morrow. Yet one OF The most marked
results Of freedom has peon the suniver
sal and unconquerable desire of our race
in these Southern States to secure
homes aud lands of their own. It has
bean our rnnrnnnh with tho ,uh M, =,