The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1882-03-29

! lift the dark veil OF despair which shuts out
the prospect of elevation and advancement.
It is our duty to dignity and ennoble labor,
not to debase and degrade it. The Ameri-
can laborer so far has been the grandest pro-
| duet of our free institutions He has con-
verted a continent from a wilderness into
cultivated fields. He has built our towns
and cities, our railroads and canals, our
ships and our warehouses, the mansions of
the rich, and the humble cottages of the
poor. He has patiently sown, where in
many instances others have reaped; he has
built what Others have enjoyed. Yet in the
main be has been rewarded for his
skill and toll. At the same time, sir, he
has discharged with fidelity, and in the main
with sound judgment, the duties. public
and private, of American citizenship. In
peace be has created all our great wealth
and advanced the country To an unparal-
leled prosperity. In war he has carried,
as private, the musket and the knapsack,
and braved the horrors and carnage of bat
tie without the stimulus of personal ambi-
ton or the hope of personal renown. It is,
sir, in my judment, our duty to pass this bill
To reject it is to invite to ours shores
millions of an inferior and degraded race to
drag down TO their own level the American
laborer.
And now, Mr. President. before I take
my seat,I wish to congratulate the Senators
from the Pacific States on the skill and
moderation with which they have discussed
the relations of the American people with
this inferior race. For once, sir, this subject
has been discussed in a calm and philosOph-
ical spirit without exciting sectional ami
mosities or rekindling the passions engen-
dered by past contests and dissensions.
The time may come it is here n0w-when
the relations of another race to American
citizenship must be, as all other questions
ought TO be, discussed la the like spirit. |
In the mean time, while discharging our |
duty freely in educating that race into a |
proper discharge of their duties as Ameri- |
can citizens, advancing them to their full |
capacity, it will also be our duty to observe |
with care and impartiality the experiment |
of African citizenship. No man shall strive |
harder than | will to make the experiment |
successful, and no man will be more reioiced |
if in the end it shall be all that /
those who initiated it shall desire. |
All that l ask for the white peo- /
pie of the South on this subject is what I |
am willing to grant, and | believe majorl- I
ty of this body is willing to grant to the
white people of the Pacific States, that their
their experience, and their judg-
ment shall not be di5credited in a matter SO
deeply affecting their welfare.
The Constitution was ordained and estab-
lished by white men, as they themselves de-
clared in its preamble, "to secure the bless
ings of liberty to themselves (ourselves) and
their (our) posteriy," and cannot doubt
that this great pledge thus solemnly given
will be as fully redeemed in favor of the
white people of the South, should occasion
for action arise, as l intend on my part and |
on their behalf to redeem it this day in favor
Of the white people of the Pacific States, by
my vote to protect them against degrading
and destructive association with the inferior
race now threatening to oYerrnn them.