The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1881-11-26
THE MERCURY MAN FAvoRs WIZ.
mo OUT THE FIFTEENTH
AMENDMENT.
Meridian Mercury.

|
temporary-THR CoAER-to answer Y
logic Of the Mercury about wipIng ent
the negro amendment from the Constltl
tion. The Herald compliments the piee
Il takes from THE C0NuT rs conta1nin
9 sensible, sober, logical Words" an
thinks few such writer's before the W.
might have been worth their weight
gold to the South. We suppose the Heral
means, such writer's might nave iec e
abolitionfsts without an effort or q strui
i gle TO maintain their constitutional right
The Herald is behind the excitement. II
has taken the old abolition fever too Lat
after 1t Is all over. However, from tn
way he has, he appears to regret lost OF
portunities.. If the negro fanatacism tina
prevailed In the day that abolitionism wa
q live question, and struck the editor, b
would have made good one. ii
would have made one of the sort to hav
stood up ON his hind legs and howled
terrific howl.
The article it quoted from THE COMET !
chock full of sOphistry and PHILOSOPHERS al
ways heretofore regarded by Southern pub
licists as false and dangerous. TIL
COMETS philosophy 10 the mudsill upol
which the structure upon which ADoli
| tionism aud its numerous attendant ssm
are reared. "ManhoOd suffrage" is one o
them, and THE COMET seems to go a ..littl
beyond the old Negroph0lists who first de
clared it. That post-bellum abolition or
gan declares that the " right of the negr'
| to vote is ANNEXED to his freedom" SO tina
the right came of course rs result Of free
dom without being put into the Constitu
| ton. The Abolition cOnquerers OF the ne
groe's freedom did not see 1T so the.
would not rest content without negrt
suffrage IN the Constitution which
THE COMET well remembers WAS pu
there by the sword. AS sample OF III
false philosophy we need only cite the eX
ample of the Heather Chinee" and the
Indian, who are free having "the right tt
personal liberty, personal security and per
sonal property but it has not yet turned
out that the right to vote in their case Ia
"anneXed" to freedom and an "inseperable
incident in Republican government
This citation cOnyicts the brace OF post.
bellum abolition journals of false philosO-
ply and OF being mad and fanatical on the
subject of negro rights. The Comet is ad-
yised, before 1t again attempts to pronounce
such profound philosophical views. to
think profoundly and THOUGHTFULLY first,
and it may avoid appearing ridiculous
when uttering what it would have people
believe is profound wisdom, whereas, 1t is
profound nonsense.
Seeing that the negro has been in and
out the Constitution frequently during our
history-in first as slave, in then as a
freedman, and then as avOter, we conclude
that he is not to be considered rs 80 firmly
fixed in it us that he can't be got out
whenever public opinion is ripe for 1t.
The question to be considered Is, Is the
"nigger in the wood pile" doing any good
TO himself, to man or beast, that he may
not be pulled out Of there Public opin-
ion among the negroes ancient friends IN
the North, who were ready and did wade
through He'll for him, are coming around
very fast to see that the negroes amend
ment in the Constitution is q nuisance, and
many would love to see it quietly pitched
out. The trouble is, a few p0st-bellum
zealots in the South are trying to
chock the wheels of the progress Of repeal,
such AS the Yicksburg Herald and the
Jackson Comet.
The Meridian Mercury is DESTROYS Of
"wiping out" the Fifteenth Amend
ment, which would be. to disfIanchise
the negro IA desire we are satisfied it
will never see consummated-and un-
Ill such rawlings as the Mercury has of
late been INDUCING in is put stop to,
the peace between the races, which is
by the Democratic party,
and which was the basis Of this cam
paign, will never be realized.
From what source the Mercury de-
rives such principles as he is at present
attempting to inculcate, we know not /;
they certainly are not derived from
the Democratic party.
In an article of ours in the last issue
Of this paper, We briefly discussed the
question proposed by the Mercury, Of
''thrusting the negro out of the Consti-
tuition" The article received COM
pliment from the Vicksburg Herald,
and as we think it was perfectly plain
to all unbiased minds that the reason
ing was not full of "sophistries," nor
The PHILOSOPHY" it inculcated false
aud dangerous" as the Mercury inn
puted 1t to be. 1t simply inculcated a
doctrine that is based on the law of
nature and of God. The doctrine
hat no man has the right toens'ave a
human being, and we still insist that
and slavery are
The negro element in this State is
decidedly larger than the whites.
Take away from them the right to vote,
@ say who shall protect their lives,
liberty and property, and IL they are
lot slaves by what name will the Mer-
Jury call them?
AS sample, he says of our " false
philosophy" he cites the case Of the
indian and the heather Chinee,"
who are .ree without the right to vote.
The Chinee is free, tits true, but thst
re has no right to vote Is a question
hat remains TO be decided in the State
II Mississippi.
As for the Indian, II he embodies the
idea Of freedom, thank
heaven we do not have to takesuch a
definition. II the Mercury proposes
o "thrust the negro out of the Consti-
ution" 1t had better bend all Of Its
rain power toward that object first,
nd then when IL discovers that II 10
lot equal TO the task, we will discuss
he subject of the Indian aud the
Heather Chinee," both Of which are
,reign TO the subject Of negro rights.
He accuses us Of being "mad and IA
atical on the subject Of negro rights"
,et us assure the Mercury that
re are perfectly sane, but that we do
ct propose to sit still and allow the
Ights Of human beings, whether ne
ros or not, to be treated as the Mer-
ury Is DESTROYS Of treating them, with
ut, as a public journalist. entering our
rotest on the subject.
The Mercury Il Of the opinion that
here can be freedom without the right
, vote. We deny any such PROPOSE
on. II the right to vote were taken
.om the editor Of the Mercury with
Ut any cause whatever, as he pro-
oses to take It from the negro, would
e think that his freedom was unre-
The Mercury we know would be
ne Of the first to deny the right Of
ny power to disfranchise the whites,
a II