The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-03-05

thO u1dtcildl lOuuudllOu lOI sell sup
port, widening the circle of intelligence
and beginning to enjoy the blessings
that gather around the homes of the
industrious poor, they deserve generous
encourge ment, and all good men so
far as my authority can lawfully exs
tend, they shall enjoy full and equal
protection of the constitution and the
laws. The free enjoyment of equal
suffrage is still In question, and frank
statement of the issue may aid in its
solution. 1t is alleged that in many
communities the negro citizens are
practically denied the freedom of the
ballot; in SO far as the truth of this
allegation is admitted, it is answered
that in many places an honest local
government 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 OPP
posing the freedom of the ballot. Bad
local government is certainly a great
evil which ought to be prevented, but
to violate the freedom and sanctity of
suffrage is more than an evil, it is
crime which, if persisted in, will de-
stroy the government itself. Suicide
is not remedy; if in other lands it be
high treason to compass the death of
a king, it should be counted no less a
crime here, to strangle our sovereign
power, and stifle its voice. 1t has been
said that this unsettled question has
no pity for the repose of the nation /;
and it should be said with the utmost
emphasis, that this question of suffrage
will never give repose or safety to the
states or to the nation until each, with
in its own jurisdiction, makes and keeps
the ballot free and pure by the
strong sanctions of law. But the
danger which arises from ignor-
ance in the voter cannot be denied. 1t
covers field far wider than that
of negro suffrage and the present con-
dition Of that race. 1t is a danger that
turks and hides in the corners and foun-
tains of power in every state. We have
no standard by which to measure the
disaster that may be brought upon us
by the ignorance in citizens when
joined to the corruption and fraud in
suffrage. The voters of the union, who
make and unmake the constitution,
and upon whom will hang the destiny of
our government, can transmit their
supreme authority to no successor save
the coming generation of voters, who
are the sole heirs of the sovereign
power. If that generation comesto its
inheritance, blinded by ignorance and cor
ruption and by vice, the fall of the repub-
lie will be certain and remediless. The
census has already sounded the alarm
in the appalling figures which mark how
dangerously high the tide of illiteracy
has arisen among our voters ..and their
children. To the south the question is
of supreme Importance, but the re-
sponsibility for the existence of slav-
cry did not rest upon the south alone;
the nation itself is responsible for the
extension of the suffrage, ,and'it is under
special obligations to aid in removing
the illiteracy which it has added to the
voting population; for the north and
south alike there is but one remedy. All
the constitutional power of the nation,
and of the states, and all
the volunteer forces of the peo-
pie should be summoned to meet this
danger by the saving influence of uni
versal education. 1t is our high privilege
and sacred duty now to educate
their successors and fit them, by intelli-
gence and virtue, for the inheritance
which awaits them. In this beneficent
work sections and races should be for
gotten and partisanship should be un-
known. Let our people find new
meaning in the divine oracle which de-
clares that IA little child shall lead
them" for our little children will soon
control the destiny of the republic.
My Countrymen, we do not now
differ in our judgment concerning
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 both races were
made equal before the law. We may
hasten or may retard, but we cannot
prevent the final reconciliation. 1t is
not possible for us to make truce with
time by anticipating and accepting its
inevitable verdict. Enterprises of the
highest Importance to our moral and
material wellbeing invite us, and offer
ample scope to employ our best
powers. Let all our people, leaving the
battlefield of dead issue, move forward
and in the strength of liberty and re-
stored union win grander victories of
peace and prosperity which now pre-
vail without parallel in our history.
Fruitful seasons have done much to Sc
cure it, but they have not done all; the
preservation Of the public credit and
the resumption of specie payment, so
successfully attained by the adminisra-
tion of my predecessor, has enabled our
people TO secure the blessings which the
seasons brought.
By the experience of commercial
nations of all ages it has been
found that gold and silver offered
only safe foundation for the mon
etary system. A confusion has recent
lybeen created by the variations in
the relative value of the two metals, but
L confidently believe that arrangements
can be made between the leading COM
mercial nations, which will secure
a general use of both metals.
Congress should provide that the CON-
pulsory coinage now required by law
may not disturb our monetary system
by driving either metal out of circula-
tion. If possible, such adjustment
should be made that the purchasing
actly equal to its debt-paying power in
all tHo udTkctS VI tuo WoElu. ln6 cnleI
duty of the national government in
connection with the currency of the
country, is to coins.and delare its value
Grave doubts have been entertained
whether congress is authorized by the
constitution to make any form of paper
money legal tender. The present issue
of United STATES notes has been sus-
tained by the necessities of war, but
such paper should depend for its value
and currency upon its convenience in
use and its prompt redemption in coin