The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-09-30
COLOKED MEN FOR TILDEN.
Words of Truth and Wisdom from the Lips
OF a south Carolina Field Hand.

From the Columbia Register.l
!. AT a Democratic meeting at BatesDurg' .
c., on the 9th inst, there were several coloreu
speakers among them one Tom Watson, q
hard working field hand He made brave
specch, and so formulated the situation in re
gard to the colorcd people of the South thai
an extract is we'll worth printing. He said
i The Radicals have been ruling this Gov
eminent for ten years, and their motto has
been "lie, cheat and STEAL" and today there
is no money in the country. My colored
friends, we have to labor hard every day to
get bread for our little children; we have to
90 barefooted and IN our shirt sleeves. went
to Edgeffeld the other day and went into Law.
renee Gains "a leading RadicaD palace, and
saw a carriage for his baby that would cost
800 in New York, and he had white girl
to roll it. When his wife walked across the
| floor she was dressed so fine you could hear
! her rafting hundred yards. tell you,
my colored friends, the Radical party is rot.
ten. They have been ruling thirteen States
twelve of them have rotted down, and the stills
under the thirteenth (South Carolina) arerot-
ted, and will fall on the 7th of November.
There is no such thing as party now; 1t is
honesty butting rascalty, and | tell you ras.
cality has got to get out of the way. | have
been voting for the Radical party for the last
7 ten years, and, white folks, | will tell you
why did IT. These here carpet-baggcrs and
scalawags came around and told me TO give
them office, and they would tax you so that
you'd have to sell your land, and then we
could buy It, thought il would be mighty
nice to have big plantation, and voted for
them and told them to stick on the tax. They
stuck on the tax; they got land, fine horses,
fine clothes, and plenty of money, but have
never got anything from them yet. tell you
another falsehood they hsvc been telling the
colored folks. They tell US that as soon as
the Democrats get into power, they will put
us back into slavery. Itell you, my colored
friends, that it is impossible. The whole
world is against slavery, the Constitution Of
the United States forbids it, and the white
people could not put you into slavery If they
would, and they wouldn't If they could.
At the conclusion of his remarks Tom came
forward to the front of the stand, and, with
all the earnestness of his honest soul, cried
out: .tH s#f seq
"All you honest colored men come up here.
Give me your hand and God your heart, and
let's have an honest Government" A mum.
Der of colored mca were Immediately enroll.
ed In the Democratic club. ft.It
RIDGE, Sept. 3, 1876.
EDTToRs EDGEFIELD ADVERTISER: Allow
a colored man small space in your popular
and patriotic paper TO state my position to
the good citizens of Edgeicld county. AS to
my future plan of action l will say that
have always voted the Radical ticket, but will
in the coming election vote the straightout
Democratic ticket, and will use my influence
to elect IT. And II any of my Radical fellow
citizens attempt TO intimiaate or iDjure me.
as they are doing others, and am unable to
maui them myself, then l will call on our
United States troops, who are here, under.
stand, to protect colored men in voting the
Democratic ticket. / leave the Radical par.
ty Of my own free will, without beng influ.
enced by any one but simply in order to help
my white and colored friends secure an hon.
est and good government.
MILTON JACKSON.