New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-03-19

no provision for to-morrOw-idly basking in
the sunshine of to-day. and laying up moth.
ing for the morrow. Yet one Of the most
marked results Of freedom has been the uni.
versal and uncorqucrable desire of our race
in these Southern States to secure homes
and lands Of their own. 1t has been on.
reproach with the white man that we were
not content to pass all our years in ti!llno
the lands of others. Thus, one by one, the
colored race have shown to the world their
right to q place among men; and our claim
to such a place has been conceded at each
step. Our present claim to complete civil
rights and privileges will, l firmly believe,
be soon granted.
THEIR CONSEQUENT NEW DUTIES.
But, fellow-ctizcns, rights impose duties.
| We arc not now, as once we were, without
responsibility because without power, with
out duties because without rights. In the
order of Gods providence, the political power
Of this State is in our hands. Ten years ago
without 4 vestige Of political power, we arc
to-day the absolute political masters Of South
Carolina. Such change is without par
allel, not only in its rapidly, but in the
mOmentous responsibilities it imposes upon
US. Are we so ignorant as to imagine that
God and the world will not hold US to &C.
count for our use Of all these rghts!' Never
was there people on whom the eyes of the
whole world were fixed with more intcreS.
than or the people Of South Carolina. This
proud State--mothcr of statesmen, number
ms among her sons the brightest minds and
| braVcst hearts that our country can boast
has been committed to our keeping. Our
former masters have predicted our failure.
Admitting, as many Of our former slave
holders do, our capacity for Improvement in
many directions, they have declared that
here, in the highest test, the negro would
| fail that he would be the victim OF the Gun :
ming and unscrupuous white man. and the
base slave Of his own greed and dishonesty.
| TIE EACEoN TRIAL.
Iwisi | had l0,0Q0 voices with which to
proclaim the great fact that they, the coorcd
people Of South Carolina, are now on trial
before the whole country. The question is
now to be dccidcd-can the colored people
of this State maintain and administer the
government OF this State upon the basis of
self-goyernment and unres rictcd suffrage
| This is the tremendous responsibility which
we are to meet. The power VIC have vii! be
our condemnation, unless we arouse our
! selves TO our responsibilities and resolve to
| be governed by constant and profound re-
gard for the public welfare. Remember, my
| teliow-citizcns, that no fact is more deeply
! engraved on all the tablets Of history than
| this ; that individual prosperity can only be
secured by an unscliish devotion to the good
| Of the whole community. That State or
community is Fastening to destruction when
| its citizens are no longer bound to each other
BY the great moral ligament OF q constant
regard for the welfare of The community as q
| whole. Self-preservation demands unseltish
patriotism. If we make Of the machinery
Of government anything else than a
means OF promoting the common good, we
remove the very foundation of all OUR civil
| liberties. The former Stakeholder, who, per-
chance, still denies your right to freedom,
and sullenly opposes every civil right which,
you demand, is not half so dangerous an
enemy as he of your own party who teaches
you to regard the functions Of public officer
as the means Of merely securing your OWL
personal aSgrandi1omeut. Nothing pave
| that people who have come to consider public
j position as source Of private advantage o.
gain. Your liberties, your civil rights, al
that You now hold most dear, will be dust
and ashes, unless you use them under sense
of your responsibility for good government
and the general public veal.
OPINION IN THE NORTH.
To-day the North doubts whether VIC cav
! maintain decent government in South Caro-
I lima. To-day our friends blush for US. To
day they look to see whether we are capable
of shaking off this monstrous burden Of NAL
administration, and rising to tolerablc de,
gree of regard for our common public inter
ests. Mistakes, many and grievous, may be
made without impairing the confidence o
our generous friends abroad; but it is no
our errors and inexperience which threaten
to ruin us; it is the present reckless dsre
gard of public interests, the prostitution o
T the machinery Of the Government to per-
sonal ends, and the total lack of respOnsi
bility ON the part of some our public officers
We raise our demand for complete civil rights
and the answer is: Show US that you arr
capable OF appreciating your rights, restor
good government TO South Carolina, us
, her revenues to public ends, build up he
, material prosperity, vindicatc your right t
| be full citizens Of the Republic, and you
, demand will meet no denial from any source
THEIR DANGER ONLY FROM THEMSELVES
: l confess, fellow-citzens, that with all m
zeal for equal civil rights-and it is a caus
in which | am ready to Law down my life
!. need be- confess with sadness greater thai
l can express, that here in South CAROLYN
, we to-day present q spectacle which does no
! excite interest in our causc--a spectacl
which dishcartcns our friends, paralyzcs GU
best efforts for the complete civil protection
of our people, and makes the name Of thi
State by-word and reproach to our race
Our danger is not from without, but fror
within. 1t is not the Democracy that vii
, overthrow us, it is our own party, with ii
l faithlcss leaders and their infatuated bench
. men. Let us not lock abroad for Our enc
= mics they are here, members OF our ow
> party, officers elected by our own votes.
, have hundred times lifted my voice befor
!, you in support Of the principles and polio
. of the Republican party. Those principle:
r. under all circumstances, l shall assert an
y maintain. They are the expression of til
highest political wisdom Of the world. 81
e say to you now, fellow-citizens, we ma
= shout our party shibboleths, VIC may rope;
l, our party watchwOrds, we may discourse ev,
y so eloquenily upon the glorious principles
T. the Republican party, but all this will NJ
~ save us from overthrow and defeat, unle
:, we maintain good government in South Car
~ lima. Party fidelity will never, in the lol
i run, atone for wilful disregard Of public il
l. terests, or reckless extravaganza in publ
N expenditures, No party tic can ever
woven strong enough to hold together a,
party whose members are joined by nothir
$. save the secret bond OF common hope
" cain by public debauchery. Dissolution w
~ follow pollution. Distrust is born OF poll
VI ton. Discord is the child OF fraud. Not
% ing but honor, honesty, patriotism, rega
d d for the public interests, can preserve az
~ party. There may be some so thoughtle
., or so base as to charge that the utterance
IA these truths is an act Of treachery to o
W party. Fellow.citizens, the man who fails
or speak is our real enemy. That man vi
L. hesitates to point out our true danger is t