Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1881-03-10


sibilities of the future, and Sacredly pre-
serving whatever has been gained to lib
erty and good government during the CEN
tury. Our people are determined TO leave
behind them those bitter controversies con-
cerning things which have been irrevOca'
bly, settled. the further discussion of which
can only stir up strife and delay our on
ward march. The supremacy of the ma
tiOn and its laws should be no longer a
subject for debate. That discussion. which,
for half century, threatened the existence
of the union, was closed at last in the high
court of war, by n decree from which there
is no appeal, that the constitution and laws
made in pursuance thereof are and shall
continue to be the supreme law of the land,
binding alike upon the states and the pcO-
ple. The decree does not disturb the all-
tOnOmy of the states or interfere with any
of their necessary rules of local Sclt-goy-
ernmcnt, but il does fix and establish the
permanent
SUPREMACY OF THE UNION.
The will of the nation, speaking with
the voice of battle and through an amend
ed constitution, has fulfilled the great
promise Of l776 by prOclaiming liberty
throughout the land to all the inhabitants
thereof. The elevation of the negro race
from slavery To the full rights of citizen
shin is the most impOrtlnt political change
we have known since the adoption OF the
constitution of l776. No thoughtful man
CAL fail to appreciate It's beneiiccnt effect
upon Our people. II has freed us from per-
prtual danger of war and dissolution. Ii
has added immensely to the moral and in
duStrial forces of our people. 1t has libcr-
atrd the master aS well as the slave from
q relation which wrOngcd and cnfccbcd
both. 1t has surrendered To their own
Guardianship the manhood of more than
five million people, and has opened 10 each
one of them career of freedom and usr-
funcSS. II has given new inspiration to
the power Of Srlf-hrlp in both races, by
making labor more honorable tO the one
and more necessary to the other. The III
hucnre Of this force will grow greater and
bear richer fruit with coming years.
No doubt this great change has caused
serious disturbance To our
SOUTHERN COMMUNITIES.
rhis is Ia be deplOrcd, yet ii was ulnayOd-
able. But those who resisted the change
should remember that in our Institutions
there was no middle ground for the negro
race between slavery and equal citizenship.
There can be no permanent dlStranclilstu
praSanry in the United States. Freedom
can never yield its tullnpsS of blessings as
the smallest obstacle in the pathway Of
any viltuUus citizen. The cmancipatcd
race has already made remarkable pro-
grrSS. With unuuCStiOnablr devotion to
the union, with patience and gcntlcncSS
not born Of fear, they have followed the
lirht as God gave them 10 see the light
They are rapidly laying the material fOun-
datiOn Of self support, widening the circle
Of their intelligence and beginning to en-
low the blessings that gather around the
homes Of the industrious poor. They de.
serve generous encouragement from all
good men So far as my authority can
lawfully extend they shall enjoy the full
and equal protection Of the constitution and
the laws. ~
The enjoyment of equal suffrage is still
i'm question, and frank statement, if is
sued, may aid its solution. 1t is alleged
that in many communities negro citizens
are practically denied the freedom of the
ballot. IN so far aS the truth Of this allie
| cation is admitted, it is answered that III
many places honest government is impoS-
/ ,ihIc, if the mass of unrducatrd negroes
are allowed to vote. These are grave allie
cations. So far as the latter is true, ii is
| no palliatiOn that can br offered for Opp0S-
. ing the freedom of the ballO'. Bad local
government is certainly great evil which
ought to be- prevented. But to violate the
FREEpOM AND SANCrITN OF SUFFRAGE
is more than an evil. II is a Grim" which,
/ il persisted in, will destroy the govern
mrnt itself, and suicide is not remedy
In other lands il BE- high treason To com
pass the death Of the king. II should he
counted no less Il crime here to Stranglc our
sovereign power, and stiilc its voice. II has
been said that unsettled questions have no
pitv for the TcpOsc of nations. II should
be- said with utmost emphasis that the
question of suffrage will never give rcpoSc
or safety To the states or tO tine nation, ull-
til each within its own jurisdiction makes
and keeps the ballot free and pure by the
strong sanctions of law.
But the danger which arises from ignOr-
ancr of the voter cannot be- denied. II coy
crS ticl'l far wider than that of negro
suffrage and the present condition of that
race. 1t Is danger that turks and hides
in sources and fountains of power IN every
state. We have no standard by when I,
measure the disaster that may be brought
upOn us by Ignorance and vice in citizens
when iOincd to corruption and fraud II
suffrage. The voters Ot the union wht
make and unmakc constitutions, and upOl
whose will hang the drStnicS of our gov
crnmrnt, can transmit their supreme an
thOrity to no successor save the cOmlnl
generation of voters who are sole heirs o
| the sovereign powers. II that generation
, comes to It's inheritance blinded by ignOr
, anCr and corrupted by vice, the fall Of tn,
republic will he certain and rcmcd less
r Tie census has already sounded the alarm
in appalling figures which mark how dan
= gcrouSly high ........
r THE TIDE OF ILLIrERACi
D has arisen among our voters and thcl
. children. To the South the question is o
supreme Importance. But the r'SpOnSbil
ity for the existence of slavery does no
/ rest upon the South alone. The nation II
: self Is responsible for the extension a
! suffrage, and is under special Obligation
To aid in removing the illitrracy which
n has added to the voting population. Fu
r North and South alike tn re is but one rem
I edy. All the constitutional powers of tn
a nation and of the states, and all the volur
tecr terCeS of the people should be sun
/. moned to meet this danger by the Sayin
Il influence of universal education. 1t is tn
: nigh privilege and sacred uty of thoS
i now living to educate th ir successors an
4 fit them by intelligence and virtue fIr tn
4 inheritance which awaits them. In thi
bencGccit work section and race Sh0ul
:. be forgotten and partisanShip should u
v unknown. Let our people ind ne'
= meaning in the divine oracle which III
l. clares that Il little child shall lead them
,t for our little children will so II control I'll
Il dcstnics Of the republic. ,
"a MY cUuntrymcn, we do not now diner
~ our Judgment concerning the controversial
p of the past generations, and fifty yea
10 hence our children will not be divided
n their opinions concerning our cOntr0ve
l. sizes. They will surely bless their fathe
IN and their fathers GOd that the union W;
j. preserved, that slavery was overthrow
" and that both races were made equal D
n. fore the law. We may hasten or we me
.. 81 retard, but we cannot prevent the fin
H. reconciliation. Is ii not possible now +
I'd lis to make a race with time by antcipatil
." and accepting its inevitabl verdict? +
terprises of the highest Importance to o
moral and material well being invite L
% and offer n mple scope for the cmplOyme
IS of our best powers. Let all our peOp
Ic- leaving behind them the battle field
er dead issues, move forward in the Streng
III of liberty and restored union, to win I
,r grandest victories of peace.
nf Id THE PROSPERITY WHICH NOW PREVAIL
of is without parallel in our history. Fru
air full seasons have done much to secure
mr. but they have not done all. The preSerN
lfe tion of public credit and the resumption
ed specie payments, so successfully OBTAIN
of by the administration of my predecess
IT. has enabled our people to secure the Die
ed ings which success brought
ws BY the experience of commercial nati0
ns in all ages ii has been found that gold a
,oi silver afforded the only safe foundation
his a monetary system. Confusion has rece
les ly been created by variations in the. re
~. tiva volua of fhn twn metals Dut