The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-03-21

Negro Citizenship in South Carolina.

Negro Citizenship In South Carolina.
It is little late in the, day for a
southern newspaper to impugn the
veracity OF Mrs. Stowe's pictures of the
pha 'es o American slavery as she has
drawn them in :. ncle Toms Cabin, -
FIRST. because public interest in the mat,
ter has ceased, and second, because the
deous and barbarous system of owner.
ship in man expired long ago beyond
any hope Of resurrection. The Charles
tom Nescs and Courier, however, IN a
long and labored ar ic'e seeks to make
n appear that the negro Q condition
O. ervitnde was happy and contented
being. and enjoyed most OF the bless
ings of Christian civil at on. A FRO
fessor IN the South Carolina University
al . co 1ects mum er Gf acts, which
are printed in the same article, with
the pur ose of show .ng that from the
earliest settlement o the State down to
the time of the agitation or the a oil
ton OF slavery educational and religious
advantages were. enjoyed by the ne !
gro.s, ant thst even during the War of
the Rebellion religious instruction was
never " thheld from the slave. .r5I /
1t 10 q mat. er of little consequence
ligious instruction which the slaves en- :.
joyed in outh Carolina be ore or dur
ing the war though it is little strange
IL the negroes were so happy and con-
tented aid en- oced such exceptional
privileges that thev should have SO con-
tinuously and PERSISTENT run away II IN
their blessing before the war, and that
when the war broke out no ne yroes in
anv part OF the South so !, bi aatly
hailed The approach 4 the Northern
arm es rs those In South Carolina. none
spran to arms so quickly as soon as
hey had the opport n ty, none did bet
ter service to the. Union cause than
these verv ne yroes who had receive
such tender and svm athletic treatment
from those who were trying to evate
their minds and to save their sou s, but,
alasi cared little for their bod es. All
this, however. as we have said, is mat
ter OF the past Admitting all that the
Hetps and Courier So s. it Is not of any
conse ruence at this time 1t is much
more to the purpose to in uire VIII the
people of Sou'h Carolina are doing or
the negro now, and looking all through
this article we find only this:
since the white reopie a sumed control OF
the state. Goverrm,nt in 1 Is nearly a ha
million colored ch idren have been cd ic-te
about one m HIM dollars. OF course nesriy
the whole ~ the ta es for he snT port OF tn
holders O. tIe state fscrs ike mn,te ebes,. e
tnat, In South Caroi ma at least, the ne .ro
soIea es ssye are or fGeCs an has never
Admitting all this. too. what 'ren?
What has been the result It is pener-
ally conceded that the prime eSsent ais
for high degree Of c.tizenshi are edu-
cation and rel e on. The one enables
the Q ii en- to mprehend pub ic ues-
tons and to take a clear and Gnpre u
diced view of them; e other IS an in
ducement for him to act bonestl and
uprightlv IN the performance of his
duties as citi en-. If the N tcs and
CouTI r be correct in It's s atements of
what South Carolina d before the
War and has done since for the intel
lectual and spiritual inn TO ement of
the negroes, If for more thar cen ury
they have had all the adva stages o.
church AMI school equally with the
VIII tes. then most certa nj. they are
qualified to perform al the duties and
en- oy al tn. pri ileges of ciii ensh
the Nrsos and a. mr.er, the college ro-
fessor who furn shes him with the data
OF this instruction., or anl other whit,
Cit en- OF the State IL is m o,sib. e o
esca e from the conviction even If ut
hall the statements of the plrs Grd
Co~Ter are true. that the South
Carolina negro is peculiarly invested
with all the attributes and uual-
ifcatOns OF citi ensh p. and stands
ready to exerc Sc them in elli-
ge tly, and periodically. Tbs beng
the ca Q. having presented h:m with
these essen ials. an having done so at
reat cost OF ime and none why is it
that no State in the S nth so in exib'y
and persistently seeks to debar b m
from perform ng tie duties of the citi.
7enP Why is it that when he wishes to
act or himself. to vote for himsel to
per orm any o. the funct' ons be ongiug
to citizenship. he is prevented from so
dong? Why it that he has been
ho med and hunted own bv the ku-
klux klans and by red-shirted regu-
lator and banditH organi ed for that
purpo ea Why is it that he has been
lashed. shot at. driven away from his
home, a d thrown uto iail on all kinds
OF pretexts. his only o ense being the
desire 10 perform those acts of tizen-
ship FOR which he has warrant in the
Constitution and for which he has been
Ouaiif ed bv the white people them
sci esp y nv Is he disfran b sed at the
rolls If the peop o that State have
done so much to make him citizen
why do the, not allow him to have the
rights of citi en-? 1t is of no couse-
Gu noe at this late dav how South aro-
lima treai ed the ne ro efore the War
or during the ar. Il is o. conse-
: uence, on the other hand. how she is
reating HIM now, and why she is not
treating him as c.u en- Chicago
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