The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-04-21
Fox The CLAR-OS-
TO THE COLORED VOTERS OF
MISSISSIPPI.

TO THE COLORED VOTERS OF
MISSISSIPPI.
1t Is said by Republican leaders "that
colored man can not be else than a Kepub-
lican." I've heard it said that ''if person
should tell something which he knows to
be untrue, and repeat the same thing; and
hear it told BY Others after him he would
soon learn to believe it TO be as he tells it
Now, the idea chat colored man can not
be else than a Republican" has been taught
you, recited to you, and You have said it 50
often yourselves, that some of you really
believe it to be so. Before we give ''the
idea" our full confidence, let Us see whether
those who taught it to US were prompted by
4 desire to do US good or by personal
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT And even after taking
into consideration their motive we should
weigh the matter carefully ourselves. We
have been free long enough TO judge for
ourselves which way we shall vote, if we
are capable Of self government at all; and
none of Us will admit that we are not; then
why should we allow a set of party lashers
to dictate to the whole race a certain ticket
to vote to the exclusion of all others. Re
fleet but moment, my colored brother,
aud you cannot but observe that those who
are most earnest in teaching Us this unpo-
ltical policy are ofYceholders or seekers
who are directly benefited by keeping
US within the ranks of the Republican
party, and are therefore prompted by
selfish motives; who ride into Office
upon the flow of the tide of your votes
but when the tide GIBBS, stand back
with their hands in their pockets holding
fast to the spoils Of office, while you are left
high and dry upon the sandy beach, TO sut-
fer the consequences of bad teaching. You
have only to think moment, and you will
agree with me that the time has come for
Us to show our manhood and prove to
friends and foes that we are capable Of self
government. There is no better way Of
proving this than by giving notice to these
party lashers that you viii no longer suffer
yourselves to be penned and driven 10 the
polls under the party lash, like many
cattle, instead OF being allowed to choose
between men and measures. What kind Of
CO lHS OilNA ~ eVLi nv bu tIitAN
you cannot be Democrat? They say the
Republicans fought for and freed you that
under the Republican administration you
were allowed to hold Office; but the
Democrats don't allow you a chance; and
they presume 50 much on your ignorance
that they even say that if the Democrats
gain the ascendency in national government, /.
they will repeal all laws and amendments
which give to you your freedom, etc Sew
eral wears ago, soon after the emancipation /
you (being uneducated and without poIiti /
cal experience could not be blamed for be- .
lieving such bosh. Because the devastation .
of war was yet felt in the land, general .
apathy was in command of the Southern .
political heart and mind and hun
dreds of emlssaries were sent among you .
heavy laden with just such taffy, and you
were fed upon that and nothing else. But
after a decade of freedom and education, if
you still persist in feeding upon this politi-
cal trash, which your friends, at home and
abroad, know to be political nostrum, not
conducive to your political health, and
which jeopardizes your home interests, then
YOU are to blame, and your best friends will .
and will become disguised with the chronic
howl of the ''negro's having no political .
rights in the South"
The sooner we learn too look at the facts .
and Judge, politically, for ourselves, the .
sooner we will be respected by all concerned. !
1t is absurd to say that the Republican party /
fought for, and the Democratic party against /
our freedom when thousands of Northern .
Democrats were Unionists, and all the So
called Southern Republicans were Secs
siOnists
Suppose we should admit for sake Of argu-
ment that the Republican party freed us
is that a reason why we should always vote
the Republican ticket, whether it jeopar~
dies our local interests or not? Dove owe
to the party an eternal debt of gratitude
Have not kept them III office, in this
State, until they have stolen more than the
value of the State? We have paid them
for something which they did not do. For
the emancipation was one of the results and
not the cause Of the war. II
But we are told that the Democrats do
not intend for Us to take any part in govern
ment. How are we to know until we have
tried them. Have we ever offered to 90 to
Democratic Conventions assisted in max
ing and electing a ticket? Have we asked
them to compromise? As a general thing, !
"No.' We have held ourselves aloof from
their conventions. And, since our foreign
set of Republican friends, have bagged the
money and gone, have taken men from the :
tors enough to join any party to get into Of s
flee, and have voted for them, and against 7
Democrats who we know to be true and |
honest, because "a c0i0red man must vote :
the Republican ticket The Democratic ,
party of Mississippi has nominated and eject :
I'd colOred men when asked to do so, which t
goes far to prove the proposition utterly L
false and weak. Then why Is it that COLI y
bred man can not be else than a Republican l
Do they mean that we have not sense to see y
md feel the difference between the state Of r
affairs during radical rule as compared with q
he present? 1t does not require Solomon" |
. note the high taxes, extravaganza in adj
theft of public funds, (and
nearly every county in the State has its own
ale to tell of that,) and strife between the 4
aces under radical rule. And low taxes
administration, capable and hon
st officials and, last but not least, peace c
md harmony between the races under dem
'cratic rule. In Mississippi above all other 0
states, a coored man can, from pure and c
honest motives, be Democrat.
A COLORED DEMOCRAT '
Hon w. Fl. GIBBS, Republican,, of c
his city, has been appointed Supervisor u
# Census for the Third District, in e
olace of John r. Lynch, (colored Re =
,ublican), rejected.