The bee., 1883-04-21

If you wish to suppress it I counsel
you my fellow citizens to remove its
cause. The voiceof popular complaint
whether it is heard in this country or
in other countries, does not and cannot
rest upon dreams, visions or illusions of
any kind.
The demand for negro rights would
have ceased long since, but for the
existence of sufficient and substantial
cause for its continuance.
Fellow citizens, the present hour is
full of admonition and warning. / de-
spise threats, and remembering as do
the depths from which have come and
the forlorn condition of those for whom
l speak, dare not assume before the
American people an air of haughtiness,
but | cannot forget that the negro is
now, and of right ought to be, an
American citizen in the fullest sense of
the word. This high position, take
it, was not accorded to him in sport,
mockery or deception.
No matter what the Democratic
party may say, no matter what the old
master class of the South may say, no
matter what the Supreme Court of the
United States may say, the fact is
beyond question, that the American
people, in view OF the services of the
negro in the national hour of peril,
meant to make him in good faith
according to the letter and spirit of the
constitution of the United States, a full
| and complete American citizen.
The amendments to the constitution
of the United States mean this, or they
are a cruel, scandalous and colossal
sham, and deserve to be so branded
before the civilized world. What
| Abraham Lincoln told us in respect Of
the United States is as true of the
colored people as of the relations of
those states. They cannot remain half
slave and half free. You must give
them all or take from them all. I'm
til this half and half condition is ended,
there will be just ground for COM
p!aint. You will have an agrieyed
class, and this discussion will go on.
Until the public schools shall cease to
be caste schools in every part of our
country, this discussion will go on.
Until the colored mans pathway to
to the American ballot box north and
south shall be us smooth and as safe
as the same is for the white citizen;
this discussion will go on. Until the
colored mans right to practice at the
bar of our courts, and sit upon juries,
shall be the universal law and pSactice
of the land, this discussion will go on.
| Until the courts Of the country shall
grant the cOlored man fair trial and a
just verdict, this discussion will 90 on,
Until color shall cease to be a bar to
equal participation in the offices and
honors of the country, this discussion
will will go on. Until the trades
unions and the workshops of the coun-
try shall cease to prescribe the colored
man and prevent his children from
learning useful trades, this discussion
will 60 on. Until the American peo-
pie shall make character and not color
the criterion Of reSpectability, this dis
discussion will go on. Until men like
Bishop Payne, shall cease to be driven
from respectable railroad cars at the
South, this discussion will GO on.
in a word, until truth and humanity
shall cease to be living ideas; and man
kind shall sink back into moral dark
ness, and the world shall put evil for
good, bitter for sweet, and darkness
for light, this discussion will 60 on.
There never was a time when this
great lesson could he more easily
| learned than now. Events are trans
piring all around us that enforce this
lesson. In one form or another, by
one means or another, these ideas of Il
common humanity against privileged
classes, of common rights against
special privileges, are now rocking the
world with explosives that rival the
earthquake. They are causing dcspots
to tremble, class rule to quail, thrones
to shake, and oppressive associated
wealth to turn pale. 1t is for Amer
lea to be wise in time. For the pres
ent, our institutions are not likely to
be shaken by dynamite or daggerS. We
have free speech and a free press.
"Weapons of war we have cast from
the battle" With us there is no apol-
ogy for violence or crime. Happily we
are in a position to win by peaceful
means, those victories more renowned,
than any secured by war
The gates of reason are still open to
US, and while we may speak and vote,
we need not despair.
The question is sometimes asked, as
when, where and by whom, the
negro was first suspected of having
any rights at all? In answer to this
enquiry, it has has been asserted that
William Lloyd Garrison originated the
the anti-slavery movement, that until
his voice was raised against the
American slave system, the whole
world was silent. With all respect to
those who make this claim, | ain
compelled to dissent from it. /
love and venerate the memory
of William Lloyd Garrison. l knew
him long and well. He was a grand
man, a moral hero, a man whose ac-
quaintance and friendship it was d
great privilege to enjoy. While liberty
has friend on earth, and slavery an
earnest enemy, his name and his works
will be held in profound and grateful
memory. To him it was given to for
mulate against oppression and slavery,
the testimonies of all ages. He re-
vived, but did not originate.
1t is no disparagement TO him to
affirm that he was preceded by many
other good men whom it would lie