The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1881-03-17

IOr the negro race between slavery and
equal citizenship. There can be no per-
maDent disfranchised peasantry in the
United States. Freedom can never yield
its fullness of blessings no long as the law
or its administration places the smallest
obstacle in the pathway of any virtuous
citizen. The emaneipated race has already
made remarkable progress. With un-
questionable devotion to the union, with
the patience and gentleness not born of
fear; they have followed the light as God
gave them to see the light They are
rapidly laying the material foundation
of self-support, widening the circle of in
telligence, and beginning to enjoy the
blessings that are gathered around the
homes of industrious people. They re-.
ceive the generous encouragement of all
good men. So far as my authority can
lawfully extend, they shall enjoy the full
and equal protection of the constitution
and laws.
The full and free enjoyment of equal
suffrage is still in question, and a frank
statement of the issue may aid Its solu-
ton. 1t is alleged that in many places
an honest ballot is impossible, if the mass
of uneducated negroes are allowed to
vote. These are grave allegations. So
far as the latter is true, it is the only
palliation that can be offered for oppos-
ing the freedom Of the ballots. Bad local
government is certainly a great evil
which ought to be prevented, but to
violate the freedom and sanctity of suf-
frage is more than an evil--it is q crime
which, if persisted in, will destroy the
government itself, and if successful, is not
a remedy. If in other lands it be high
treason to compass the death of the king,
it should be counted no less aAcrime here
to strangle out the sovereign powers and
stihe its voice. 1t has been said that un-
settled questions have no pity for the
repose of a nation. 1t should be said
with the utmost emphasis that this ques~
tiou of suffrance will never give repose
or safety to the states or to the nation
until each. within it's own jurisdiction,
makes and keeps the ballot free and prre,
by the strong sanctions of the law.
But the danger which arises from ig
norance in the voter cannot be denied.
1t covers field far wider than that of
negro suffrage and the present condition
of that race. 1t is a danger that turks
and hides in the sources and fountains
of power in every state. We have no
standard by which to measure the disas-
ter that may be brought upon us by ig-
norance and vice in the citizens, when
joined to corruption and fraud In suf-
frage. The voters Of the Union, who
make and unmake constitutions, and up
on whose shoulders will hang the desti-
MES of our government, can transmit
their supreme authority to no successors
save the coming generation of voters who
q fho oola hosra &c tho onuora;r-Y,
If that gehefation comes to it's inheri-
rupted by vice, the fall Of the republic
will be certain and remediless. The
census has already sounded the alarm in
figures, which mark how dan
gerously high the tide of illiteration has
risen among our voters and their chill
dren. TO the South this question is of
supreme Importance, but the RESPONSE
bility for the existence of slavery did
not rest upon the South alone. The ma
ton itself is responsible for the extern
sion of the suffrage, and is under special
obligation to aid in removing the litter
acy which it has added to the voting
For the North and the
South alike there is but one remedy
All the constitutional powers of the ma
ton and of the States, and all the vol
unteer forces of the people should be
summoned to meet this danger by the
saving influence of universal education.
1t is the high privilege and sacred duty
of those now living to educate their sue
cessors and provide intelligence aud vir-
tue for the inheritance which awaits
them.
III this beneAcient work sections and
races should be forgotten, and partisan
ship should be unknown. Let our h"pe
find new meaning in the divine oracle
which declares that "a little child shall
lead them," for our little children will
soon control the destinies of the repub-
lie. My countrymen, we do not now
differ in our judgment concerning the
controversies of the past generation, and
fifty years hence our children will not
be divided in their opinions concerning
our controversies, They will surely
bless their fathers and their fathers
God that the union was preserved; that
slavery was overthrown, and that both
races were made equal before the law.
We may hasten or we may retard, but
we can not prevent the final reconsider
alton. 1t is not possible for us now to
make truce with time by anticipating
and accepting it's inevitable verdict. En-
terprises of the highest importance to
our moral and material well-being invite
us and offer ample scope for the employ
ment of our best energies. Let all our
people, leaving behind them the battle
fields of dead issues, move forward, and
in the strength of liberty and restored
union win the grander victories of peace.
The prosperity which now prevails is
without parallel in our history. Fruit
full seasons have done much to secure it,
but they have not done all. The preser-
v,ation OF public credit and the resump-
ton of special payments so successfully
attained by the administration of my
nredaceaanra hnn -nnnLIaL A... 1911 L.