Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1876-10-04
To COIOred Men.

I did not intend to say anything
on the duty of colored men; blu
when the Post charges that Mr.
Sweeney had been bought with
barrel of money merely because h
has expressed his opinion, / mus
say that it is a base SANDER upoi
our race, and that his treatmen
shows that the Republican party
generally looks upon every colored
man who takes an Independent pc,
sition as a barbarian. Why ha,
not a colored man the same righr
as a white man to express his opin'
ion, free from the charge of being
bought by any party! Such g
charge is an iasult, and I burl il
back to those who gave it. My
great desire is that my people may
be elevated above the tail-end OF
the Republican party. l wish col
ored citizens would look we'll into
the matter of their treatment by
the Republicans, see what it is,
and decide for themselves what
their political duty is. l have de-
cided, and leave it to your judg-
ment if / am not right. In my
opinion colored citizens have been
misled by the Republican party,
greatly to our disadvantage, pre-
venting us from receiving the re-
spect that is due to us from both
parties. What respect has the Re-
publican party shown us, as colored
citizens? Have we been treated
with the same consideration that
other classes of voters have 4? / say
no, and that we never will be so
long as we stick solidly to the Re-
publican party. 1t is to our advan-
tage to use our better judgment,
break down prejudice and vote for
our best interests, and not for party.
This is the only course by which
we can command respect at the
hands Of both parties. / ask you
again, wherein does the Republi-
can party show respect for the col
ored mani A short time since,
when q colored citizen raised the
first Republican pole that was ever
raised in this city by a colored
man, what was the result, and where
the white Republicans! They did
not respect the pole nor the man
who raised it. Why! Simply be-
cause his was q colored man. l
speak as an eyewitness when / say
that there was not a white man
carrying torch present. You all
know that if it had been q white
mans pole-raising white Republi-
cans would have been there.
The Republican party claims to
have freed the slaves but colored
men know that they were freed as
the result of military necessity.
The proposition was submitted to
the South to lay down its arms and
come back into the Union, slaves
and all. 1t is an insult to the in
telligence of colored men to say
that the Republican party freed
the slaves or put down the rebel
lion. We all know that there were
many war Democrats in the field.
Even General Grant himself was a
war Democrat. This being an IN
deniable fact, why the Republican
party wish to blind the eyes of the
colored citizens of the United
States in respect to it Merely to
secure their votes. That party has
ridden into power upon the back of
the colored citizens, and when it
got to the door it would leap into
power and shut the door, leaving
the colored man out in the cold.
There are good men in both par
ties. But colored men should not
forget that such men as Horace
Greeley, Charles Sumner and Cas-
sius M. Clay left the Republican
party on account of its corruptions,
but they preserved the same re-
spect for the colored man that they
always had. The successors to
these men and to the lamented Ger
rit Smith In the Republican party
are men Of n different stamp. One
old tried friend, Charles Sumner,