The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-11-15
"Put Yourself in his Place"

"Put Yourself in his Place."
1t is one of Charles Reade's characters,
We believe, who undertakes to solve all the
social problems by the one rule = Put
yourself in his place. and think for mo-
ment what your action would be under the
circumstances that surround the man
whose conduct you are tempted to criti-
else. 1t is crucial test one which every
fair-minded man should be willing to APP
ply. Yet how seldom is it awaited of. How
few and far between the instances in which
men are willing to grant to others the pos
session of the same frailties they so fire.
quently exhibit; the same indulgencies
they practice the same forays beyond the
borders of the discreet which they allow
themselves without protest.
The events Of the late campaign in Vir-
ginia forcibly illustrate the point we would
impress upon the attention of our readers.
Whilst protesting all the time that they
were willing to grant to the negro the
rights guaranteed by the constitution and
laws of the State and nation, the Demo-
Gratis were continually, through their press
and speakers, stultifying themselves. Tn
der the laws and the constitution white
and black stand upon an equal civil foot
ing. Theoretically they enjoy the same
rights and are entitled to the same priv
ileges. Each may legally exercise those
privileges without let, hindrance or inter-
ference from the other. Neither has the
right to dictate to OF attempt to control
the action of the other except by legiti-
mate means. They stand in the eyes of
the law upon level plane, clothed with
the same power. armed with the same
| weapons, and free to act Extensively or de-
fensively as their interests may demand.
Such being the case. let us apply the test
we have suggested = Put yourself in his
| place."
Suppose just three or four days before
the election, the Richmond Star, the organ
or the colored people, had come out i'll the
editorial which appeared in the State of
that date and adapted it to it's imposition.
Suppose it had stated that the negroes
had tried persuasion and fair means with
the whites long enough. That they in
tended now to coerce, to force, to drire
them whithersoever they would. What
would have been the consequence?
| Suppose the whites had had Il majority
of three or four hundred in Danville, and
some twenty negroes had gotten up a cir
cular declaring that the whites had actually
put four of their color in the council out
of a membership of twelve had two of
nine policemen the city scayenger and
| the clerk who attends to the market.
What would have been the response The
signers would have been laughed at, and
the whites called fools because they didn't
demand all Of the offices, Instead of so
small proportion. Let anyone who can,
point out single corporation within the
limits of the State where the whites, with
the power in their hands. have exercised
e-tenth of the moderation on the race
question that the negroes of Danvile
have displayed.
Suppose, in the face of the most unex-
ampled prosperity, those twenty negroes
had attempted to SANDER their city and
create the impression abroad that neither
capital nor life was safe within its con-
| fines. Would it not have been regarded as
an outrage calling for the most pronounced
and emphatic refutation? And would it
not have been the duty of those in control
of the city to brand the SANDER us it de-
| served?
Suppose that 4 white man had stepped
aside to allow negro woman to pass and
in so doing had accidentally trod on the
foot of a negro, and that out of it had
grown a murderous riot, to which, at q
given signal, negroes had flocked from all
directions armed to the teeth and COM
menced an indiscriminate firing upon the
unarmed and unoffending whites who
CHANGED to be near. Suppose in that riot
seven white men had been killed, and only
one negro, and he accidentally by weapon
in the hands of his own friends, what
would have been the impression created
by such condition of affairs Would
| the riot was the result of generalization
Would there have been excuse or eXtenua-
tion offered In behalf of the negroes !?
Would not every good citizen have looked
| upon it with horror and the utmost con-
domination And what would have been
thought of a meeting of prominent ne
groes held in Lynchburg which adopted
resolutions commencing the course of
the men of their own race in the disgrace
full and cowardly assault which had been
made on an unarmed body of whites?
But coming little nearer home, suppose
| that on last Tuesday week, whilst both
races were crowded about the polls in a
| feyerish state of excitement caused by the
Danville murders, a drunken negro, ON the
| outskirts of the crowd. without any provo
| cation whatever, had shot down a white
man. would the simple assurance of the
mayor that justice should he done have
been sufficient to protect the perpetrator
of the deed. and allay the turmoil which
ensued? And would the men who were
so quick to ascribe the shooting to the re-
suit of accident. and TO divorce it from
all political significance, have been as
ready to accept the same plea, if the places
of the white and the black man had been
changed? That shooting was not acct
dental. 1t was logical result of the feel
ing created by the Danville riot, coupled
with the use of whiskey to a degree of
responsibility. Last week we were un-
able to learn the particulars, and glad to
place the whole affair in light as favor
able as possible. Since then we have found
| out more about it, and the details, as pub
| lished in another column, show that it was
| the act of desperate drunkenness. But
suppose the colors of the assailant and
assailed had been the reverse OF what
they were, can any man think, without
shudder, OF what the consequences would
have been?
We are writing plainly. and we want
men to pause and reflect as they read 1t
will not do to undertake to defend the con-
duct of the Democrats in this campaign
on'the plea of the natural prejudice be-
tween the races, and the superiority of the
whites. Ignorance is the soil where passion
and prejudice attain their rankest growth.
Intelligence ought to occupy the higher
plane where reason, Judgment. reflection.