Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1879-10-16
From Washington.
WAsHINGToY, Oct. 9, 1879.


Mr. EDITOR:
On Tuesday evening last Prof. John
NJ. Langston { United States Minister
at Hayti) delivered an address, at
Lincoln Hall upon the exodus of the
Negro from the southern to the west
ern and northern states. He describ-
ed IN deeply feeling manner the con-
dition Of his the colored) race at the
time of their emancipation.
He had no home, no land, no
property, no resources, no education
FOR hope Of any, no advancement, but
was tarned loose as his own master,
with nothing but hts two hands with
which to subsist, clUthe and educate
himself and those dependent upon
him; and this, too, in the midst of his
former owner, who had became soured
and unhappy because he had been di-
vested Of his chattel, and had no real
friendship for, or sympathy with the
emancipated slave, who to him was
just SO much lost property. To make
progress under such circumstances
seems almost an Impossibiiity-snd
vet the freedmen have advanced,
though slowly and not very far, on the
road of successr He has learaed that
he owns himself, and yet he enjoys
but limited benefit from that fact.
He tolls, but he shares onl Il ameagre
return therfor He is told by the
Constitution that he is citizen and
voter, but he is bull-dozed and intimi-
dated out of his vote. His chances
for educational advancement are all
cut of All of which has reduced him
to lower stage Of servility than that
occupied when he was owned by his
master
After seventeen years of emancipa
ton, now understanding what his real
position is and comprehending his
wants, the freedmen seeks to relieve
himself by escaping thence. His exc
dus is movement which is declara-
ton of a purpose of the freedmen to
assert and maintain that independence
in his own behalf, without which no
individual and no people can rise to
the level of dignifed and honorable
manhood. Ifjustifed upon no other
ground, this movement is justified
thoroughly by the fact that it IS an
effort to relieve the present condition
Of utter dependency on the part of the
freedmen upon the old slaveholding
class.
The history of the emancipated class
of the world, whether they have been
serfs or slaves, sustains the position
that in cases in which emancipation
has occurred, and the emancipated
class has been left under the control
of the former master class in the
midst of the old associates of its slav-
cry upon the plantations or estates
where it was wont to labor, such class,
thus situated and thus controlled,
does not and cannot rise until it has
by some means freed itself from the
dependence connected with such con-
dition.
But there are objections to his en-
igration. First, it is claimed that the
negro should remain in the South and
demand of the Government protection
from the wrongs which are perpetrated
against him. it being asserted that for
him to emigrate at this tine theretrom
is to surrender the fundamental prin-
cipal of protection which is guaran-
teed him.. as we'll as every other citi-
zen of the Republic, by the Constitu-
ton of the United States. Here it
must be remembered that in emigrat-
ing from the South to the North the
freedman is simply moving from one
section of our common country to an
other; doing so in the exercise of his
individual right to go when and where
1t suits his convenience and his ad-
vantage. In the next place, it is in
the exercise of such constitutional
right that he leaves section of the
country where slavery has created a
barbarous and oppressive public sen:i-
ment; the source of all the abuses
which he suffers, which it is impossi-
ble-eertainly impractable-to reach
and eradicate by any legislative enact
ment had by the General Governments
or by any legal fat-which in fact,
can only be altered and improved by
educational and. moral appliances
brought to bear upon the
masses of the people of the South for
an inde6nate period. Then this OBJ
lection is urged in disregard both of
the considerations just now suggested
in reply thereto, and in disregard of
the fact that the freedman emigrating
to the North and West puts himself in
a far better condition than he is in the
South in every sense; while be make