Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-08-22
NEGLECTED DUTIES.

One of the greatest blunders, If not a
crime, ever perpetrated by any party,
was that of the Republicans after enamel
patton and the close of the war, in thrusting
citizenship and the ballot upon the ex-
slaves, in all their besotted ignorance and
stupidity, mere infants in intelligence,
without any previous preparation by way
of educational enlightment. They
were thus made prey to
the INSCRIPTIONS and designing, and car
pet baggers swarmed all over the south to
own hurt, that they, the carpet baggers,
might secure place and plumber. Gov
eminent should have made provision for
the education of the colored race before
putting ballots into their hands which
they could not read or understand the full
purport of.
Henry Clay said, "Eegro slavery had
been sanctioned and sanctifed by two
hundred years of legislation sorry
comment on his understanding of sancti-
ties. Those years had been years of i'm
bruiting barbarism thrust upon an abiect
race, stepping them in ignorance, making
it criminal offence even to teach them.
What high delinquency for a nation to
turn out millions of cruelty imbruited slaves
into freedom, with the shackles removed
from their limbs, but with no effort to
remove the shackles of ignorance from
their minds. And this criminal neglect
has run on for some twenty years, and yet
this debased element in the social, educa-
tional and political life of the republic,
has been admitted to the full
exercise of political power, the
power of the ballot, without any due or
proper estimate Of its responsibilities.
This is one of the glaring and mex
cusable sins of party that lays claim
fagrantly to all the intelligence, refine
ment and responsibility of the land.
Teach the holder of ballot how
to use it before placing
it in his hand. Give
him some sense of his rights, and enlight-
eminent enough to form an opinion
of his own, before clothing him
with franchise, that he may be led by
designing men to use to his own harm.
That the colored people have been dam
aged rather than benefited by pIac-
ing the ballot in their hands
without any educational preparation
there can be no denial. Demagogues and
scoundrels have profted by their ignor-
ance, and caused suffering, abuse, perse-
cution and murder, because men refused
to be trampled into the dust socially and
politically by barbarian ignorance, con-
trolled and guidedby corrupt men. The
colored people have been set back for
years, in the line of improvement and
elevation by this censurable treatment by
those who boast of being their friends.
The elective franchise is the safeguard
only of an intelligent people,who are capa-
BILE of forming opinions for themselves,
who know their rights and how to main
tain them. Put the ballot into the hands
OF the ignorant, and they become the
TOOLS OF demagogues, and are blindly led
to their own undoing, as we'll as to the do
ing of great public harm.
An educational qualification for the bal
lot, is an absolute necessity to the safety
OF a free, elective government. The
party IN power have last
sight of this great fact; its only end
and purpose seeming to be, how best to
perpetuate its own power, not how to in
sure the greatest good to the greatest num-
Der. Such party ought to be disci-
plined by stripping from it a power which
it has abused, and of which, in almost
every regard it has shown itself unworthy.
While the mass of the emancipated
FREEDMEN as they are loftiIy called,
were thus stepped in densest ignorance, by
the great crime Of oppression,it is but just
to say there are, and always have been,
bright and shining exceptions.
where in spite of all the
disadvantages of the condition of servitude
men have arisen in the scale of intelH-
genee, making them worthy, not only of
the free exercise of the ballot, but of
official recognition. These exceptions
show the capability attainable by the
race with due opportunity, for improve
ment.
1t is not too late for the government to
redeem some OF its oblig cations to the lately
oppressed, and it may we'll be hoped the
time is not distant when the proper rights
of all shall be recognized and protected.
CpApTyNn NOUpC