The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-09-06
,,,,a reero Z North and south.

Jff1nl the New, OrklN
One of She bitterest accnsaIaonsss n, when
49,, ,,,aa restored and they were pun W
~$sas;aent johnson temporarily IN conttol
- th.sr own affairs they shoWen %SSutspV-
5..s.s,, 90 trcat the freedman with an insns-
sssS a,,d severity that would hayeresulted IN
s.,ss,,c;,,r him to serfdom ifnot to slavery. In
nrnof al the accusation sundry enactments
concerning Che freedmen are cited showing
hnw in various States they were bound out
10 labor for stated terms by the Com
monwealth II they failed TO make contracts
for themselves. Lamar's defence Of what
WA done at that period Is very simple. He
argues that the sudden emancipation OF
four millions OF slaves, and the consequent
abolition OF the slave codes under which
they were governed, left the community
reyolutionized, and new enactments seemed
an. Some kind of special laws were neces-
sary until the constitutional amendments
ieyelling oil classes were passed. The natsl-
raj ropensity. In each State was to advance
the negroes to citizenship with great eau
ton. The result Of the sudden enfranchise-
xaent OF the freedmen, as shown in the mis-
government Of the South, proves that this
conservative spirit was founded In a whole
some fear. 8 ~. F-s.a sE.-.f@,
In touching upon the same theme, Hook
or, OF Mississippi, defended the course OF
The South towards the freedmen by contrast
Ing the mild laws adopted for their govern
nent with the severe codes adopted in each
af the northern States after the abolition OF
slavery. Although the colored people were
few in number in the North, and could not
have influenced political action or social
progress, they were prescribed for years. Ii
it be fair to draw the logical inference that
because certain southern States made provi.
sions for hiring out the labor Of colored
conyicts or setting vagrant negroes 70
work therefore the southern people were IN
q conspiracy to reduce the freedmen To
slavery, certainly the same Inference should
be drawn against Rhode Island, Massachu'
sets, Indiana, and other northern states
which passed much barsher enactments
In Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylya
MIA, and New Jersey, emancipation wa:
gradual, children born in slavery being II
most of these States held to service unit
the age of twenty-one or twenty-five
In all the northern States negroe:
were prohibited from voting. In none o
them was .intermariage with whites allowed
and In few was the right to bear arms con
eeded. In many States the right to serve
on juries and TO appear rs witnesses wa
denied. Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois forbade
the immigration of negroes, except bond
was given for their good behavior and guar
anteeing that they should not become :;
charge upon the towns where they lived
In the last-named State provisions Were
made for forcing lazy negroes to worl
under the lash. Even Kansas excluded
negroes from iuries, from the common
schools, and from the witness-boX, and pro
libited miscegenation. #
These proscriptive codes Were all the
more cruel from the fact that they were I'm
necessary in northern communities to secure
the object aimed at, the subsection OF tn
eolored race. We should blush to thinl
how slowly the statute-books were cfeanset
OF such enaetments. Many northern States
failed to do justice to the few free
negroes within their borders until the!
were compelled to act by their desire
10 hand over tue South to the contro
OF the freedmen. When the course
Of the southern States towards thu
emancipated negroes in 1865 is compared
with that of New England, New jersey, ant
Pennsylvania toward the emancipated nc
sroes Of a generation ago, it is clear thai
the people Of the South, although IN the
presence Of difficulties which no northern
community ever encountered, did not ylelC
TO the same spirit of bigotry and prejudice
which ruled here. Judged by the race en-
actmepts which they made, we have nc
right to accuse them, as Republican orators
do, OF hatred and ferocity and the deter.
mined purpose OF reenslaying the cOlored
people,. Trulythe whole Republican theory
OF southern politics IS based on very
slender foundation.