The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1874-06-11

increased opportunities tor the acquisition
of wealth, have been more prosperous t
them than the four years following eman
cipation. They are taxpayers i'll tn
State of Mississippi. They are not /;
pauper race there.
Why, sir, the third man on the list o.
large cotton -growers in the State of Mis-
sissippi is a colored man. Without
single drop of white blood in his veins
he to-day stands third in the list of cot
ton-growers in that State and Mississip
pi has about as large cotton-growers a:
any State in the Union. | venture to say
that he stands not less than sixth among
] the cotton-growers of the Southern States;
and here will relate an anecdote of him al
illustrative of what we may reasonably
hope for from men of his class under
proper teachings and the promptings of a
laudable ambition for the accumulation
of wealth. He is very excellent citi-
zen. Finding that a white man
whom | had appointed member of the
/ board of supervisors of one Of the wealth
| lest counties of the State and an old
southerner, too, by the way, had been
faithless to his trust in the county in
which this colored man lived having
the appointing power in my hands.
was very much in want of member of
the board of supervisors who would pro-
tect the prOperty-interests of the people
of the county OF Warren, and so | ten
dered the appointment of president of the
board of supervisors to this negro, Ben.
Montgomery. Ben. Montgomery wrote
me very polite note, (tor he writes a
good hand and is an intelligent man,
though he was slave up to the end Of
the war, saying to me that he was very
much obliged indeed for the compll-
ment | had paid him and for the conf
dence | had manifested in him in
rendering him so responsible an office,
but stating at the same time that his bust
ness was such and his duties were such,
so engrossed was he with his private at
fairs, that he had no time to bestow upon
public offices, and that he would be very
much obliged to me if l would confer the
Office upon his neighbor, whOse name |
will not mention, who had been Il slave
holder when Ben was a slave, which neigh
Dor, Ben assured me, was very anxious
for the place.
Now, Mr. President, | do not wish to
detain the Senate, and | will not de-
tain 1t much longer in discussing this
question | have already said mole than
| intended. But | will add few words
in addition. The obstinacy, the passive
as we'll as active resistance that the south
ern people have given to that destiny and
to the workings of that Providence in
whose hands we are, has retarded their
prosperity and has almost deprived them
in the negro States of any voice in their
government. This action on the part Of
the better classes in the South is not due
to prejudice, as | said a while ago, but
to an inherent pride of soul. They be-
lieve that the action of the Government
in the legislation which has characterized.
reconstruction was intended to insult
and degrade them, and it is this feeling
that has led them into false position and
false relation toward the colored man.
Why, sir, but the other day when the
Legislature Of the State of Mississippi
attempted, through the Vaccinations of
class of knaveS who are IN that body,
to cast an imputation upon me, as far
as they could to degrade me in the eyes
OF the nation, by passing resolution ask
ing me to resign my seat, and when that
resolution came before the senate, who
rose there to vindicate me against the
foul aspersions that were attempted
Can | ever forget? The lieutenant
governor of the State of Mississippi,
whom | had known as slave in the past,
a man and gentleman, came with others
of his race to my rescue and defended
me against the assault, and cooperating
with men of my own race, to whom |
L..
miniously defeated.
Do you tell me that | can feel preju-
dice against men like these? Do YOU tell
me that the people Of the South who have
been associated with the colored people in
the relation of master and servant from
childhood, who during the war left their
families under their protection, and when
the bloody strife went on trusted with a
confidence that was rarely violated, and
who to-day look back in wonder at the
fidelity of the slave-that these brave
Southerners will let the colOred men have
Just grounds to charge them with ingrati-
tude? When the North bid them take up
arms against us and freedom was the
prize, when liberty was the watch word,
the colored man stood guard at the door of
the distant battlefield fought that the
slave power might be perpetuated. The
property of the slave-masIer was protect
ed by the colored people he left behind
him. They stood around the bier of the
dead confederate soldier, shedding tears
Of grief from their hearts and nIingling
with the family in all the sorrows that
beiell them Do you tell me, | repeat,
that we feel prejudice against the color
ed people? 1t is unnatural It is not
possible. | say the southern heart does
itself an injustice, a foul wrong when it
stands here to declare men like these I'M
worthy to be free-that men like these
should be denied the fullest measure of
equality before the law.
| see before me the honorable Senator
from South Carolina, Mr.. Robertson,
who was Shareholder in the past, and
who stood forth in the State of South Car
DINA, which he now so ably represents,
from the close of the war to the present
hour the friend of the colored man. He
stands to-day with all his heart urging
the passage of this bill He believes
with me that it will give quiet to his
people, that through it he can remove
tnOSe ODStdCleS THAT nave SLOOu III lH0 way
of good government In South Carolina.
Sir, why is it that we hear the cry of
distress coming up from that stricken and
afflicted State to-day! 1t is because the
South Carolinians acting upon the princi-
pie L have just now sought to describe,
have wronged themselves in turning their
backs upon the colored people, and
have opened an easy way for the intrigu-
ing whites to win the confidence of the
credulous colored people, who prize hber-
ty and equality above every other consid
Grafton. The white man, who seeks to
despoil the Stale, who designs the rob