New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-08-23

IUTLu6E HoElOub VOloOtlOu w eA0 A0CC A1Vt0.
ment is found in the proscriptive method sug-
gested BY its advocates for controlling the
negro vote. They do not propose to disfran-
chise them, nor to intimidate so az to pre-
vent their presence at the polls, but my
friend DR.. Taylor will Ostracise the white
man who may honestly give counsel to The
the cOIOred masses and would withhold en-
ployment from the negro worker, and thus
deprived of leadership and impoverished.
masses will become docile and easily induced
to act in harmony with the resident whites.
This is a monstrOus proposition, both in the
ends contemplated and the dangerous agen-
eies used to accomplish it. 1t suggests the
idea that the man who hires his muscles to
honest toll, that he may make honest bread,
sells his conscience, as a citizen, to the pur-
chaser of his labor, and proposes THAT no
bronzed son of toll shall have awarded to
him by the intelligent, conservative white
men of Louisiana the right of unprOscribed
work, except on the condition that the
worker shall yield to his employer his hon
est political convictions. 1t the negro citi-
zen would for an instant yield to the demand
thus conditioned and made, he would prove
thereby not only his in~competency for, but
his I'm worthiness of citizenship.
RaGiealism, as it stands represented to-
day aud illustrated in public affairs in Lou
leldUh, Is al OWL - w. SAeA6S4 cAouAN
wish to abate. But a victory won over the
yandals that nave outraged Us would be
more nominal than real if achieved at such
a cost. and we should neither desire nor
seek a governmental reform on the race
movement. when it is based upon conditions
that would require the voluntary or en-
forced ~sacrlfie on the part OF One-halt, II not
the majority, of our citizens. OF both their
individual independence and political con-
v%ictions.
Permit me to say that there is a solution
of the political problem that SO vexes our
peop,e. that wars upon neither race, stulti.
ties neither and embraces the rights of both.
This solution does not array the interest of
the white nan against the cOl0red nan
requiring one to be destroyed to save the
other. but Identifies and unites them and
p~erfeccs them by the union. 1t further
does not propose to destroy the political
elements OF the State, bu. It improves them,
not by prescription. legislation OF otherwise
reducing the number or voters IN louisiana,
but BY instruction in all the duties of the
| citizen, to educate and elevate them, and
! by a kindly, patient, brave spirit shown by
the educated white masses OF the State to
their less highly favored .colored neigh
bors, a hearty, genuine concert Of action
NAV be obtained between the races, that
will result in securing all legitimate
| reform and restoring the lost prosper
| itv of Louisiana. Neither individual nor
national growth is the work OF one year,
| nor of ten years. Great changes are slow,
and permanent only as they are gradual,
and we must not, if VT would subserve
| our interest, ungenerOusly estimate the ca
| liabilities of the cOlOrej voter on the insult
ficient data of the brief and unexception-
| ably difficult probation through which be
has passed; nor must we conclude from the
| unsatisfactory results following the ftful,
| Inadequate and fugitive efforts made by
! the white residents to secure the Iegro's
| confidence and cooperation in political af-
fairs, that it is either impossible or imprac-
ticable, by continuous and sufficient exer-
| lions on our part. to bring about such an
| understanding and concert of action be-
| tween the races as will not only give u the
blessings of stable and good government,
but make our beautiful State the Eden
| among the States that her soil, climate and
| resources fit her to be.
can not see any occasion or cause to
bring the question OF social equality into
the issues Of the pending canvass. In ex-
cepticnai cases l have seen white men who,
of choice, sought negro association, and ne
groes who preferred the association of the
whites: but as the rule, with rarely an
exception, the healthy minded white and
| colored alike seek domestic affiliations with
those of their own race.
In common with my Anglo-Saxon kin
| drei. I am not indifferent to the reputation
and claims of my race 10 pre-eminence. and
| feel an honorable pride in the fact that l
| am a Caucasian: but the pride that leads
the superior race, exultant in its strength
to dOmineer over the inferior, is a question.
able virtue in the American system, but
whatever self-gratulation l might indulge
in, when retrospectiDg the requirements OF
our common ancestors, or in contemplating
their prospective growth in the future-tar
| stronger than any feeling arising from this
| SOURCES the desire to deal justly with my
fellows, and more especially if he is my
inferior.
The teachings of the civil liberty under
which DR.. Taylor and myself were reared,
| recognize as the personal imprescriptable
rights that belong to an American citizen
and that are not subjects OF legislation, be-
cause existing before and above the statute,
| the right of individual conscience, the right
of individual taste, the freedom of wOrShip
| and of personal fellowship; and in my judg-
ment the American people would no sooner
by statute attempt to determine and regu-
late the question of social equality than
they would violate the individual conscience
by establishing a uniform system of wor-
| ship. l suggest that the people would be
rid somewhat of their mOrbidity in their
| Judgment upon this subject of social
equality scarecrOw, which the ~demagOgues
SO constantly and inconsiderately introduce
into our political campaigns. if they would
| appreciate practically the effect OF emancl-
patton and enfranchisement upon their TOR
mer servants. As a slave the negro was
| not only helplessly dependent upon the
white man. but his condition bred an obse-
quious spirit, which led him to court white
recognition in every form; but with his
freedom has come political independence,
and with his political and civil rights mas
come selt-respect, and he is learning more
| and more daily to seek associations more
congenial to him in his own race, and IN the
operation Of these causes there Will De
found not only a protection to the virue OF
the negro race, but a sufficient guard 10 the
sanctity of the fresides of the whites.
Like DR.. Taylor, l nave had the response
bility attaching to the ownership OF 3OO
| slaves, nor could l feel that their emancl-
patton and reimbursement released me
from the obligation to care for them. 1
have deemed it not only expedlent, but a
duty as opportunity offered to do what L
could for their enlightenment and advance
ment in the new sphere in which they, as
sutiragans, have been called to move. Nor
have l been disappointed in any reas0na-
BILE expectation relative to them, either as
a political or industrial element. Iney
nave increased in numbers, made credita-
BILE progress in education and in the ac9ul-
siti0n of the material comforts OF life.
Under the iudiciOus labor order OF Gen
eral Banks, then commanding the depart
ment, which required them to leave or &C.
post in the hands of the planter, as a pro-
vision against their contingent wants, one-
halt OF their net current earnings. tney
had at the close of the war accumulated
considerable money, and with such assist.
ance as l was able TO give, they were enabled
to purchase land. hnild hnusaa thereon tor