Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-09-23
A Letter Of the Rev. j.. w. Duniee
te His ColOred Friends OF the
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ma south. sz.
E RIoHMoSD, Va, Sept. 18th, 1876.
v To my colored friends of Louisiana spec
. tally and of the South generally y 50
So numerous are my letters from
: Louisiana and from all parts of tn
/ South, and from both races, that i
y would consume a large proportion o
) my time were 1 to attempt to answel
them In detail. / must, then, brief,
I respond to them. collectively and give
the more important reasons that have
! prompted me to cooperate with the
/ Conservatives and Democrats of my
, State and of the country in the sup.
port of the men, measures and princi-
pies of the Democratic party. Lss
claim no greater honesty or patri-
otism than Influences Others of my
race who differ with me and who see
proper to unite with the few whites oi
the South in their crusade against the
great body of the whites of my section
1 will not denounce them for so doing,
tor they are but acting upon the pref
udices that have been instilled into
them by selfish aud corrupt leaders
until they verify believe, in banding
together and forming a color line, they
are but performing their duty to their
God, their race and their country
While, however, / concede to them
honesty of purpose, I claim like in
tegrity in following the dictates of my
honest and deliberate judgment, and |
feel perfectly well assured that the
time Is not distant when our race
throughout the South will not hesitate
to declare that the path / now point
out to them is the only one that can
lead to an abiding peace between the
races, and that prosperity, happiness
and contentment that must be the de-
sire Of all worthy the smiles of a ben
ifcient Providence.
There never was a time when the
fact was more clearly perceived and
felt that the two races, the colOred
numbering 100000, and the whites
5000, 900, have to live together within
the limits of the sixteen Southern
States and that their highest moral,
intellectual, and physical well-being
depend on the fact. that both shall
! harmonize in their respective spheres,
so that each may attain the greatest
progress in these respects, to which
their race is capable. he
We believe, after ten years expert
| ence, that this can best be attained by
the colored people ceasing to antagon-
/ lze the white race in their political
campaigns, and manifesting that con-
tidence politically in them which they
daily manifest towards them in their
| business relations.
Wa can lxy- fhaf a11oraI ,,,o,,
trust most implicitly the whites in vi
tai matters appertaining to their cOn-
tracts for labor, by which they and
their families are supported. Why,
therefore, should we not equally trust
them about our political matters,
which are far inferior in their bearing
on our well-being 2 ,s. a+
If we answer candidly why this want
Of confidence in political matters, we
mast say, in our judgment, it is due to
the fact that our political guides and
associates. mostly from the North,
have persistently instilled in the minds
of the colored people the idea if the
Democratic party obtain power that
the amendments of the Federal Con-
stltutlon and the guarantees of the
States in behalf of freedom would be
repealed, and that we would be put
back into slavery. This has placed
the colored people politically more in
antagonism to the Southern whites
and rendered their minds more sus-
ceptible to all forms of imposition at
the hands Of the earpet-bag element
than all other causes combined. The
experience. however, of Conservative
or Democratic ascendency In the last
SIX or seven years In most OF the
Southern States, is causing the scales
of prejudice and error to fall very rap
idly from our eyes, and so far from
placing our rights in jeopardy we are,
rapidly learning that our personal Sc
curity seems to be only assured to US
where that party has control in the
South. Hul
We begin, further, to see that such
dire result as pulling four millions
of people back into bondage is not
even desired by the larger class of the
Southern whites, if they could accom-
plish it, and we begin, moreover, to
learn that its accomplishment is ut
terly impossible, even if they desire it. !
In fact, the public sentiment of all
civilized nations would be utterly hos |
tile to it, if it should be desired by the !
Southern whites, backed up by the |
Northern people. 4tA
In regard to the Fourteenth amend |
ment, which gives to the Southern |
States some thirteen or fourteen more |
members of Congress, and, by conse-
quence, the same number in the cleo
toral college, more than they would |
have without it the Southern whites |
controlling this additional political
power, would be less willing therefore
to see it repealed than the Northern |
people themselves, for by means of
this they may now and for all time to
come determine the Presidential strug-
gle, or continue their present ascend !
ency in the House of Representatives.
And as means for such an end, we /
know by the past that they will never
willingly surrender it. -d -aaAoaI
These views, and this experience is
rapidly preparing the minds of the
colored people, or at least the more !
intelligent of them, to aid the South
ern whites to obtain control of the |
Southern States, and accounts for
those immense majorities in the recent |
elections in the States of Alabama and |
Mississippi. And this for the most |
manifest of reasons, that their eyes |
are now being confronted with the fact |
that these civil and political rights,
guaranteed by the Thirteenth, Four-
teenth and Fifteenth amendments, are |
much better respected in those States
where the Conservative or Democratic
party is in the ascepdeucy, than those |
where the Republican holds power,
In proof of this we point oonspicu-
ously to the State of Virginia, where
the two races are moving on more har-
moniously than the most devoted
friends of the colored race could have
anticipated ten years ago. go 4
We have no hesitation in saying
that the rights of the Colored people,
including their right to vote, are as
we'll protected In Virginia to-day as
they are in Massachusetts,. And the
provision made Ly the State for our
education, while it is not all that we
would desire, yet, taking into eonside-
ration that nearly one half of her prop
erty was lost by the war, and debt of
more than $30, 100000 resting on her,
it is all we have o right to expect.
But Virginia is no exception to this
benign action on the eolored people, |
where the whites have gotten posses
slon OF the State governments. Wit
mass Arkanaao rphioh a fpW wears L