The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-05-26


their section OF tho country with no
stronger defense than counter. charge
that tho right OF suffrage Il restricted
by law In certain Northern States. An
inability to SEQ any difference In the
moral quality OF tho two otlanses, al
lowing both to DO offonses, would oer.
tainly Indicate q remarkable obtuseness
In regard 10 moral distinctions. Wheth-
or II Is expodiont To maintain the ro-
strictionS that exist In ono or two
States Is q fair question for discussion,
and tho policy OF maintaining them may
bc subject to attack by reasonable argu-
MenL There 10 nj least ground for
controversy. But toprcvont thoSo who
arc actually clothed with tho right ot
suffrage bv law from enjoying Its exor-
cise, and by violence, Intimidation or
fraud To subvort tho will of tho major
ity Of legal voters, 10 q practice about
which public morality cnn admit no do.
bate. Violation Of law and tho subvor
sion Of legal rights allow Of no argu.
mont In their dofonse. They stand on
very different ground from that on
which tho policy OF restricting political
rights by Constitutional enactments is
defended.
Tho States which are tho favorite oh.
jccts Of attack with those defenders OF
Southern practices who find IL difficult
to support their cause with argument
aro Massachusetts and Rhode Island,
two of tho most enlightened and order
ly OF the Now.England Common wcalths.
Rhode Island Is conservative little
State. Down to loss than forty years
ago sho continued to live under her old
| colonial charter, which afforded all
al I,..N
was found necessary. 1t Is u State OF
small area and relatively largo popula.
| tion. II Is almost wholly devoted to
manufactures, which concentrates it's
population In towns and attracts n large
proportion of foreign laborers. 1t has
| deemed that its interest and security re-
| quired restriction of the suffrage In
the case of foroign-born citizens. In
order to vote they must hold &l34
worth Of real estate or pay an annual
rental Of at least %. The qualification
is not onerous, but 1t serves the purpose
of excluding considerable class of
persons least likely to be intelligent,
thrifty, and endowed with sense of
civic responsibility. 1t undoubtedly
works some hardships and disfran-
chises some very worthy citizens. 1t is
In violation of the principle of univer-
sal suffrage, and IL Is question
whether it is to be justified by the
amount of benefit which 1t secures.
Massachusetts,, which from her earliest
colonial days has fostered and promoted
popular education with zeal and liber-
ality, requires her citizens to read and
write in order to vote. The require
ment is at once an encouragement to
education and safeguard for the suf-
frage, and, SO long as schools are pro-
vided free for all, it is easily justified.
1t mitigates to some extent the diff
culties experienced in other States,
especially in their large cities, that
spring from ignorant voting. But there
are grounds on which 1t can be assailed
as matter of policy, though the dis
| cussion is one over whose results MAssa-
chusetts has exclusive control.
The offense charged upon the people
| of the South is quite different from that
which furnishes the retort against Mas.
sachusetts and Rhode Island. For rea-
sons and under circumstances which
need not be recalled, the people Of the
United States, by change in the or
ganic law Of the Nation, declared that
no distinctions should be made among
citizens in regard to the suffrage on ac-
| count OF race, color, or previous condi-
tion of servitude. That prohibition was
entirely justified by the causes and cir
cumstances which impelled its adop-
more clearly vindicated as time passes.
in no Northern State is the violation of
its spirit or intent by unlawful, means
| justified or tolerated. That the case is
different in the South is generally ad-
mitted, and attempts at justification are
made. 1t is claimed that there the
| colored people are very numerous, and
the mass of them are uneducated and
unfit to exercise the rights of citizen
ship. Much greater reason exists for a
restriction upon the suffrage than in
| Massachusetts or Rhode Island for the
purpose of excluding from its exercise
| the illiterate and the thriftlcss. 1t may
be said that there Is nothing to prevent
Southern States from establishing an
educational or property qualification,
| provided no discrimination on account
| of color is made. But there is q very
serious obstacle in the way Of such q
policy. 1t would involve the taking
away of rights which now exist, with
the consent of those who hold them.
This may be set down at once as wholly
impracticable.
The apparent hardship of the South
ern case may as well be freely admitted,
though it does not justify violence and
fraud. or obliterate the distinction be-
tween such practices and the restric-
tions upon the suffrage which some
| Northern States still maintain. The
Southern States have large colored
element in their population, which Is to
q great extent uneducated; the right OF
suffrage was conferred upon it virtually
by the people of the North; the with
drawal or qualification of that right by
law is altogether impracticable, and
the task of educating the colored race
cannot be accomplished at once. The
problem presented is not an easy one.
considering the natural prejudices OF
the people, nor is the difficulty of its
solution slight. The suffrage must be
free, the rights OF citizens, must be pro
tected. and the evils of misgovernment
that are SO apt to spring up where vo-
ters are ignorant are to be avoided.
The South has task to deal with in
which the North has little share, and
in which the North can render it little
| direct assistance. But first of all, the
task should be honestly accepted and
not shirked. If a considerable portion
of the whites will honestly support and
defend the equal rights Of the blacks,
there will speedily come political di-
| vision of both races that will vastly
simplify this task. 1t is the apprehen-
sion of this fact that gives for the
Northern mind so much significance
to the attitude of Senator Malone.
He is regarded as in the van of a move.
ment that would prove blessing to the
colored race, to the Southern States,
and to the cause of universal suffrage.
| m y. Times.
1@ There is an unnecessary amount
OF squealing among the patriots who
are suspected of connection with the