The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1881-01-14

Chey piaycu Win US as cniI 1ren. Onuer TIT
slavery system the relations were kind
When the war came on it was supposed b,
many that they would rise in insurrectioI
and soon disband our armies They at N,
time ever behaved with more loyalty to us
or with more propriety. Since the end o
the war. when, as we thought, you very un
wisely gave them the ballot, they have ex
ercised the rights Of freemen with mod
craticn that probably no other race woul,
have done. Therefore, l sag it is our dut
in the South especially. and think your
in the North as well, to encourage them, ant
as they are now citizens, to elevate theu
aud make them the best citizens possible.
THE CAUSE OF ILLITERACY.
4 Kat IA L stated a while aga, have sesiyel
l you. reason Why there is sen aS vast nre
-pohderance Of illiteraoy now in our section.
1t is not only due to the fact that we did
not have the common school systems in the
Southern States prior to emancipation, but
that the four millions of freedmen were ad.
ded to our population as citizens there with
out education. Then we must appeal to you
not only now but in the future to be liberal
towards the South in aiding in the education
of these people. know there have been
complaints that they may have been cheat
ed in some instances at the Ealot.box. Ig-
norarce may be cheated anywhere. Doubt
less, Senators, you have seen the more ig-
norant class cheated in your own States.-
If you would guard against this effectually
In the future, educate them; teach them to
know their rights, and, knowing them, they
will maintain them.
1t is necessary to educate them, further
more, for the reason that they do not now
understand, rs ignorance does not 1ywhere
understand, the theory aud form and spirit
of our Government. Education will enable
them to understand it. We must give it to
them. We must teach them what is the
nature of tho Government, what are the
principles of the Constitution of the United
States, and, now that we all agree that it is
to be perpetual in future, we must teach
them to love the Union and to be ready to
stand by and defend it, and l believe the
senators from New England will agree with
me when say we must teach them also that
tho Union is a union Of States, and that we
must not destroy the States. When the
States are destroyed there is no longer the
Union Of our fathers. AS the Union is to
Union-and without which it cannot be
maintained--must forever remain in lcstruct.
iblo, and they must continue in the exercise
of all tho reserved rights which they now
dRpaAf shaa haHs9itsslsp s il taqrk The
States.
THE NEED OF EDUCATION.
Therefore, it is necessary TO teach all cit.
izens, white and colored and to teach their
children, the importance or maintaining
Republican institutions in the purity in
which they originally came from the hands
of the framers Of our Constitution, and to
maintain tie ballctbox in its purity also.
[ announced i'll my own State to the cleo
tors who were to vote on my case the next
day, that L was for free ballot and fair
count. | want to see the day come when
that will be so everywhere, not only in Loai-
siana, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia,
but i'll New York, Massachusetts, Ohio and
Indiana us we'll Let it be so everywhere
Let us educate our people, white and color,
ed, up to the point where they understand
the proper use Of the ballot thea let it be
free to all, and let the ballots be fairly
counted when deposited. Having referred
to the struggle that brought about the pres.
ent state Of things, will add that what
ever | may have thought of the terms
you dictated to us, have accepted them,
and L have all the while advocated carry
ing them out i'll letter and in spirit in good
faith, in practice as well as in theory
Whenever the whole mass Of the people are
educated there is no danger in doing this.
Until they are educated there will be i'm
positions practiccd upon ignorance in every
section of this country, and probably in ev-
cry State in tho Union.
TIE ''sTRICT CONSTRUCTION" VIEW.
Some objection has been raised on the consti-
tutional question. 1t has been said that the
States alone can take charge of this matter, that
the Federal Government has nothing to do with
the education of the people. Well, under the
strictcst rules of construction of tho old States
Rights school, prior to the war, possibly so; but
we do not live under the Constitution that we
lived under them. The amendments made at
the termination Of the struggle have very great
ly enlarged the powers of this Government
Again, think, the constitutional objection can
not apply to this bill, for the reason that it is
mainly proposition to dispose of the proceeds
of the public lands, and so far as those proceeds
| are concerned there never has been time when
| the Government did not have the right to dis.
pose of them. AS far back as 1886 there was Il
law lassed for the distribution of the surplus
| funds in the treasury, and in 1871 to distribute
the net proceeds of public lands, the Congress
recognizing the fact that they belonged to tho
States. Then in the organization of new States
| and Territories large amounts of the public do
main have been set apart for the use Of college:
and schools there, recognizing the power of Con
grcss to use portion of the land for this pur
| pose.
Then, again, the act of 1862, of which hav
been speaking, which appropiates a certain
amount of the public lands in aid of agricul
tural colleges, is another use Of the public do
main for that purpose which has not been oh
jected to- After all that has been done VIII,
may not we now appropriate the future proceed
of the public lands and the Patent Office to thi