New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-10-01
The Foolish Cry Of Lost Faith.

The Foolish Cry Of Lost Faith.
There is disposition on the part Of not a
arraign the Republican party and to denounce
il as being to blame for the Outrages in the
South. We speak particularly Of outrages
upon the negro. II is contended that had
the civil rights bill been made law the White
Leagues would not have had the courage to
perpetrate their villainy in the face of such
determination to recognize the rights of the
negro as the passage Of that bill would have
eyinced on the part of the Government. We
believe that the bill should have been enacted
into law, and that it would have had the
effect to put check on the lawlessness prac-
tised against colored people. We are not
so blind as to be unable to see that the de-
feat of the Republican party and its disruption,
through the non-support of our people, can
but he a calamity to us. Our struggle is still
one of life and death, for liberty and against
slavery. There are but two political organ
izations in the country; the one is committed
to the policy of liberty for all citizens
of the United States, and declaring that
all born or naturalized in this country are
citizens, and the other organization is COM
posed Of managers MISUNDERSTANDING any
professions of their party platform to the
contrary, practically deny the right to life,
liberty, ana the pursuit Ct happiness to
twelve and half per cent. of the citizens of
the United States. The success of the latter
organization in getting control Of the Gov
eminent cannot certainly inure to the benefit
of the twelve and half per cent. of the
population which that organization does not
regard rs having inalienable rights. 1t
would appear to sensible men, ungoverned
by passion or disappointed ambition, to be
the most senseless suicide for the prescribed
class, numbering one-eighth Of the popula-
ton, to fail to support the organization that
recognizes its citizenship, its humanity, and
its right to voice in the Government.
1t may, no doubt, appear to be brave on
the part of certain cOlored men to declaim
and resolve that they shave lost faith" in
the Republican party, and that the time has
come to court the Ku-KluX Democracy; the
Democracy that voted solidly against the
supplementary civil rights bill, that is now
in the South banded together in White
Leagues and Color Line parties engaged in
shooting down defenceless cOlOred people
while the Republican party, through a Re-
publican Administration, is forwarding troops
and aiding United States Marshals in cnforc-
ing laws, for the protection Of the life and
liberty of all citizens, enacted by Relubli
can Congress in the face Of the most bitter
opposition of the Democracy. Such curse
may be considered bravery by the immediate
followers of the demagogue colored men who
lead of in the attack on the Republican
party, but il is not. 1t is the reckless attack
of the soreheads Oh the one hand, and the
unthinking, restless dupes Of the former on
the other. The vanity Of the leader Of one
class leads to desire for a collectorshIp
at Newport, or a mission to IIayti. though
lacking brains sufficient for either position,
and the ignorance and thoughtlcssness of the
other drinks in and cheers the pretentious
criticisms of the Republican party by the
uemaSOSle sOreHcau.
We have at other times warned our people
against the demagogues OF orr own race. We
repeat the warning, and ask them to seriously
examine the attitude of both political parties
towards their best interests. The colored
declare that they have lost faith
in the Republican party-that is, they have
no longer confidence in it. Naturally, then,
if the Republican party is one in which the
colored people can have no confidence, it is
not the party for them to support. They
stultify themselves every time they vote with
it. They should seek some other party in
which they have more faith than they have
in the Republican party. Where to find that
other party is the question that will bring us
all to stand still. One Of the leaders of
the demagogue colored men writes letter
to the negotiating New York Tribune COW
ertly suggesting that our people divide up
between the liberty protecting Republican
party and the murderous White League
That suggestion evinces the
madness and folly Of those colored men who
shave lost faith" in the Republican party.
That suggestion is the best proposition that
those who shave lost faith" in the Republi-
can party can make. They are unable to
the tendency Of the Democratic
party from its consistent and persistent OPP
position to every measure in the direction of
freedom and equality in the United States.
They profess to believe that the heart of the
may be softened by the support
Of colored voters. If they do believe it, such
belief is not insanity--it is idiocy. But
these faith-losers arc neither insane nor
IDIOTS; they are simply demagognes, playing
q glame. Our people cannot, for their very
lives, afford to follow them. There Is no
safety for the negro outside of the Republican
party. When the Democratic party, by its
actions in the direction of equal and exact
Justice TO all men, demonstrates its purpose