, 1876-12-05
1.-THE RACE QUESTION"
III IAA Etitar nj Tia Txihhnk.

1.-THE RACE QUESTION"
70 shs Editor af Tho Tribune.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL.,, Dec. Al hare read your
articles In THE TRIBUNE on the raec question,
and also tho communication Of Air. C. d.
Trlmblc, OF Ottawa, taking Issue With THE Tnlu-
GNE on the question. hare ITO doubt Mr..
Trlmble's heart Is all right, but his logic Is
sadly ont Of joint in arguing the question OF
"rIghts" In this case. quote hts language
upon this point:
~ do not conceive II to be necessary for any
class Of people In this broad land to 'strike for
their rights In order to attatn position OF
Equality before tic law It seems to nc to be
tho duty Of the Government to secure Just that
thing for every citIzcu, be he native or foreign
born."
I think Mr.. Tr1mble has mistaken "human"
for illegal" rights in his view Of tho casc.
There is a "higl.er law +" which no Government
IL strong enough to guarunteo to its subject,
namely, the law Of seli-detcnse and self-pro-
lection. It seems to me TINT this Is the law
which should exert itself in the case Of the col
ored raeo in tic South, and until It does there
M erc tho NJ ioP te SasRs. e nop
forcc Of this Law Of aclf-lcfenEc is
thp u DoDg, ony ssfsga, , Of =. tS r, eTSn @
out ths thc ".0oyerntncnt is powerlcss, be-
cause the people are the Government, and even
free governments uro not sGlf-aettug. There
must be forrc somewhere. Tho American NJ
earth, simply because Of It's ability and dispost
tion to "etllke for 1ts rights" upon tho least
provocation, md to strike hard.
Tho American people first struck for their
gntf agtn,'s nos h,v sEes ns,t b, q,
and and opp, opprcs.tor's' ' and il thls spirit 81
sc1flefensc finally srystal!zel into popular Eor-
unfortunately, it was part fres md pnrt slavc.
It took long time, uearlY n hundred yeara, for
tho moral force VI enlightened public sentiment
to gain the ascrnlcncy, and ntMlo tic mistake
Tic time came, and tic blacks were csnauclpatsd
and ,uatle free cittzcns Now the bond and the
frcc htarc alike tho burdens and the b!cssings
Of tho Governmcut, aud 1t is nctualay FREE, thco.
lbs people % are imposed upon On OF deprived
Of their fights by another CLASS, tile right to
strike back is not ouly an Inherent right, but
duty that tho tndivldInl owes to himself and
tcction aga!nst highway!nen, but there ii no
law agninst shooting y hchwa7nlsn 4 he stopa
sou o.. thc roati: It is the fear ot tho latter
unrritteH law which protects the citizen against
law OH our statllte-b books, with tile militia to
bnck It. Mr.. 1rtmblc, II lie ls rs old 4 citizen
| Of Northern Illinois as the, writer of this,
will remen,be' TIE ttme when sh ~. band n,n Of
| or country. The punalttcs for horse.
stealing then were hanging and nocglng, aud
tho Government was In duty bound TO enEorsc
an p Piqtass ssop IT, o sfs sv i. S tte1y "a sd
to to stop @ 1t. Was It stoppeti Most oftectunily
By thc people q striking for their rights" III
sell.lcfense and aclt-protcct!on.
Now 1t sccllls to .ne TINT the colorcl raee has
suiilvirnt 'lcgal" protection already, and tl,is
protection is enforced IN good fatth, to Just
about the extent that the Inv is enforced nga1nst
the 1orsethlcf and tue hlEllwaTynlan, under tho
wants for bis protection IL education In the d
rccttonof seltprotcett0n. 1t ls necessary to kill
\ low abarbarians IN orsler. to .gra!uato tho
negro In this school, emit for the 1fo Ut mo
scc whcscln 1t would be tho iaalt Of thu negro.
There 10 Just ono why, and only one, IN which
apect the rights Of Sa.nto, and that ID 10 give
tue gentlemen who follow the oecnpatton Of
cecdingly tangefous business. Let them under
stand Gttcu t1lat they are liable TO 10 shut for
Shooting, aud the thing WI 4 stop. There L. no
more u:e talking Of the The " Government Pr,
Louisiana rhle they remain passive aud inactive
! IN their uwu defense, than that tho lucas OF
Peru weFs protected against tho ot-
lions of tie earlh By. the same po'icy.
| II tl,sra must DO = war of races" as 90 many
fear, let US have fair, square, stand-up fight,
where blows can bs given "a well ns takcn
less tho wlltes inauenrato It. II there is q
etstnlg probability of somebody with white skin
getting hurt, tile chances for VIII will 10 u'atc-
rally lesseileA. ...-
llcans may regFst and deploro the necessities of
the Ease, they no ltsB exist, aId arc the real nc
ccsslttes after all. II tller cailuot be met In one
way they must ~ another; Experimental pro-
army In tho Southern statcs, and keeping It
there. 1t Means that the Government IL