Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-04-02


worth to accomplish its failure. say
| ahk the Senator, if he SD believes
does he think it quite right, quite Just
quite patriotic to have imposed Oh
brave and generous people a burden
that they would surrender their lives
and all that is dearer than life soouel
than bear? Does the Senator think
that such d sacrifice of the white peo-
pie OF the South would have been
| right / cannot believe he does.
Let me inform the Senator that the
proposition to bestow suffrage and
citizenship upon four millions oi
human beings just emergir Z
from slavery. and known to possess
rot the first qualification or requisite
tor the proper discharge of that high
est power. did shock the moral sense
and the patriotic emotion OF the
! Southern people to their deepest
foundations. They could not realize
the fact that the intelligent, virtuous,
and patriotic people of the North
could lntrust the sacred responsible
ties OF the ballot and the higher du-
ties Of popular rnlers to class of pei
! Sous who no one was insane enough to
believe were III any sense fitted for the
for the exercise of these inestimab BILE
rights aud privileges.
! The southern people were appalled,
at the danger which, like some mighty
avalanche. WAS thus Ia p moment sus-
/ pended over their rights, their social
happiness, and their liberties. They
with ali sincerity regarded it as the
! most perllOus experiment ever at
tempted at any tima by a civilized
people not entirely dissolved from nil
moral Allegiance to the opinion OF
nenk'ud. But, sir. they never pro
i'nt''-d, they never conceived the ST
lrema madness OF attempting To avert
these Threatened and probable evils
by tie certain and purposed d.struc-
ton, by their own hands. of all tue
muilmenta Of law, society, civilization,
ard freedom. No the South never
looked to anarchy or chaos as their
desperate deliveraHce from negro
supremacy. They feared too
deeply that these terribla curses would
he the result OF that reck less expert
m8nt. They never dreamed uf pre-
ciPItltlDg that awful crisis. Ga the
Contrary they determined with the
most patriotic fidelity to stand by the
coVeDauts Of constitution which had
been imposed by power upon them,
and To give the new departures from
the great original the falrest trial and
the most favorable test which the life
Of the country could bear. They saw
the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amend
ments introduced, imbe ID, d, incor-
porated in the body and very life Of
the Constitution. They saw no posi-
bility OF any revisal of the popular judg-
ment thus embodied III the organic
i..r nfk !,a
good faith the people OF the South re-
solved 70 make the best of their stu
alton and to do everything in their
power to carry into proper effect and
enforcement the laws OF the country
Thcy determined to respect the rights
OF the black man. to cultivate his
friendship, to conciiiate his confidence,
to promote his welfare, to elevate him
by education. by counsel, by example,
and by couutenance and support up 20
the high duties of American citizen.
This was the general sentiment, wish,
and purpose of the Southern people
after the reconstruction of the States
The history of that period attests its
truth; Il Is illustrated in the acts of
State legislatures. the resolves OF
popular Assem- oIIes, and the common
expression OF The people and the press.
I iregret to say what was the fate of
this sincere and hont st effort On the
part Of SOutfern whites to live in pc
lt:cai peace and prosperity with the
colored race. Our off f-rings were
spurned, our tenders Knocked, orr
generosity ridicuied and every effort
We made, every word VS. spoke only
united, Intensified, exasperatcd tie
great body OF coiored voters yet mora
against us. This was not the fault Of
the Ieg-o, aid the Southern people
have been too generous to charge him
with It. The sin Of It's failure lies at
the feet of those who, for mercenary
ends. arrayed him, to the common in
jury of both, against the white man,
We still labor, we still hope, We atil!
faithfully strive to conquer his preiu
,tice5 0ud convince him that we do''not
intend to destroy his rights or impair
his happiness. But, sir, while this has
been onr cOurse-sincere, faithful and
etermined-pursued With fidelity but
not with confidence, let me say to the
honorable Senator from New York
that hatred Of suffrage and equal rights
Of black men has not ruled the hour.
We have 90 ''uuGuenched resentment
and PREJUDICE" but We all have Ill our
hearts kindly, anxious solicitude, deep
concern and Christian humanity for
the black man.
Sir, We have no prejudice of race,
but we have n sentiment born with ",
coe7al with human creation, running
through every age and felt in every
ciime-a sentiment as inerad cable as
life, ~ inexorable as fact, as perma-
nent rs nature, as strong as the attrac
tl6n of gravity, as invincibl- and ire
prtssibe as the flow of the tides or
the revolution of the seasone-that
the white race is the leading, progress
sive. dominant race HpOu the earth.
This Is net pref udice Of race. 1t is
pride of race, character Of race, dig
nifty Of race. It is not an unjust and
arbitrary habit of the mind or the
heart; it is an honorable conviction,
founded in the experience of mankind
from the beginning, and always main
talned in every stage of human his
tory. Not to admit it is to convict
this nation OF the grossest wrong AID
cruelty ever exercised in its treatment
of the Indian tribes. Any other theory
would make cur forefathers ruthless
robbers and their descendants the
bloody Successors to their crimes.
Sir. [ deI that this is SO.
say nc man can read the worlds
hi~tory-nO man Can take up
the mop Of the habitable globe
to-day and fail to see the proof of
this assertion. Look at the atlas Of
al the States an peoples upon the
earth; run your eye back along down
tine long vistas of all the generations
that have gone before us; consider the
Asayrian, the Baby loniaD, the Greek,
tbA Roman, the Eng gish, the Frerch,
ft,, i r,44n. and all the p:up'e VINO
;a!e known III history; consider we'll all
the nations of the earth and all the
races of men, and tell me if you find
civilization, art, science, enlightened
government, happy society, law, or
der, progress. or true humanity among
any bnt the white race. The Persians
We white, the Greeks were white,
the Romans were white. their con-
uuerorg were white, the Britons, the