National Republican., 1883-04-17

| strong, importurbable and cheerful. Men Of
all lands and languages make him a subject
of profound thought and study To the
| statesman and philosopher he Is an object of
intense curiosity. Men want to know moro
Of his character, his qualities, his attainments,
| his mental possibilities and his probable
destiny. Notwithstanding their black faces
the jubilee singers with their wild and
plaintive music, thrill and charm the most
refined and cultivated of the white race both
here and in Europe. Generous and brave
men like Andrew Jackson Benjamin II.
Butler, and Gen Grant have borne ample
| testimony to this courage of the negro, to his
gallantry and TO his patriotism OF the books.
pamphlets and speeches concerning him,
there is literally no end. He is the one in
exhaustiblo topic Of conversation at our fire.
sides and in our public halls. Great, how
ever, as is his advantage at this point he Is
not altogether fortunate after all as TO the
manner in which his claims are canvassed.
| His misfortune is that few men arc qualified
to discuss him candidly and impartially.
Americans can consider almost any other
question moro calmly and fairly than this
one. know Of nothing outside Of religion
which kindles more wrath. causes wider
differences, or gives force and effect to fercer
and more irreconcilable antagonisms.
1t was so in the time of slavery, and it Is
so now. Then the cause was interest, now
the cause is pride and prejudice. Then the
cause was property. He was then worth
twenty hundred millions TO his owner. He
is now worth uncounted millions to himself.
Let any man now claim for the negro or
worse STILL let the negro now claim for him
self any right, or privilege, or immunity
which has hitherto been denied him by law
or custom and he will at once open u foun-
tain of bitterness and call forth overwhelm-
ing wrath.
IL is his sad lot to live in land where all
va1
we accept the presumption Of inferiority and
worthlessness. If his course is downward he
meets very little resistance, but IL upward his
way Is disputed at every turn Of the road. If
he comes in rags and in wretchedness he an
swers the public demand for negro and pro-
vokes no anger, though he may provoke de-
rision but if he presumes to be gentleman
and scholar he is then entirely out of his
place, he excites resentment and calls forth
stern and bitter opposition. If he offers him
self TO q builder as mechanic, to client as
n lawyer, to patient as aphysician, to q uni
versity as professor, or to department as
clerk, no matter what may be his ability or
his attainments, there is presumption, based
upon his color or his previous condition, Of in
competency, and If he succeeds at all he has
to do so against this most discouraging pre-
sumption. .s-.
1t is a real calamity in this country for any
man, guilty or not guilty, to be accused of
crime; but it is an incomparably greater
calamity for any colored man to be so accused.
Justice is often painted with bandaged eyes.
She is described in forensic eloquence as ut
terly blind to wealth or poverty, high or low,
white or black but mask Of iron however
thick, could never blind American justice
when black man happens to he on trial.
Here, even more than elsewhere, he will find
all presumptions Of law and evidence against
him. 1t is not so much the business of his
| IN him mi ie tho htI al
ness Of himself to prove his innocence. The
reasonable doubt, which is usually interposed
to save the life and liberty of q white man
charged with crime, seldom has any force
or effect when colored man is ac-
cused of crime. Indeed, color is n
far better protection to crime than anything
else. In certain parts of our country when
any white man wishes to commit any heinous
ofiense, he wisely resorts to burnt cork and
blackens his face and goes forth under the
similitude of o negro. When the deed is
done a little soap and water destroys his
identity and he goes unwhipt of justice.
Some negro is at once suspected and brought
before the victim of wrong for Identification,
and there is never much trouble here for rs,
in the eyes of many white people, all negroes
look alike, and as the man arrested and who
sits in the dock in irons is black, he is undoubt-
edly the criminal A still greater misfortune
to the negro is that the press, that engine of
omnipotent power, usually tries him in ad-
vance of the courts, and when once his case
is decided in the newspapers it is easy for the
jury to bring in its verdict Of guilty as in
dicted. I
In many parts Of our common country the
action of courts and iuries is entirely too
slow for the impetuosity of the peoples JUS
tice. When the black man is accused, the
mob takes the law into its own hands, and
whips shoots, stabs, hangs, or burns the ac-
cused, simply upon the allegation or sus-
picion Of crime Another feature of the stu
alton is that this mob violence is seldom
rebuked by tho press and the pulpit in its
immediate neighborhood, because the public
opinion, which sustains and makes possible
such outrages, intimidates both the press and
the pulpit
Besides, nobody expects that those who
participate in such mob violence will ever be
held answerable to the law and punished.
Of course judges are not always unjust, nor
juries always partial, in the case of this class,
but affirm that / havo here given you no
pictureof the fancy, and l have alleged no
point incapable of proof and drawn no line
darker or denser than tho terrible reality.
The situation, my colored fellow citizens, is
discouraging, but with all its hardships and
horrors am neither desperate nor despair
ing as to future.
One ground of hope is found in the fact re-
ferred TO in tho beginning, and that is, the
discussion concerning the negro still goes on.
The country in which we live is governed by
ideas rs well as by laws, and no black man
need despair while there is an audible and
earnest assertion of justice and right in his
behalf He may be riddled with bullets or
roasted over a slow fire by the mob, but his
cause cannot be shot or burned or otherwise
destroyed. Like the impalpable ghost Of the
murdered Hamlet it is immortal. All talk of
its being dead issue is mistake. 1t may
for time be buried, but is not dead Tariffs,
free trade, civil service, and river and harbor
bills may for time cover 1t, but 1t will rise
again and again and again with increased
life and vigor. Every year adds to the black
mans numbers. Every year adds to his
wealth and TO his intelligence. There is
power in numbers, wealth, and intelligence
which can never be despsed or defed All
efforts thus far to diminish the negros i'm
portance as a man and as member Of the
American body polite have failed. If / do
not misread the signs of the times he will
play an important part in the politics Of the
nation during the next presidential cam
paign, and will play it we'll.
When that crisis shall come neither of the
great political parties will fail to appreciate
the influence of his voice and his vote. 1t
would not be strange or surprising if even
the democratic party should be seized with an
appetite Of unusual intensity for these colored
votes. From present indications, too, ap-
prehend that his vote will be employed in
such manner as to more fully open the gates
of progress and secure for himself u better
position among his fellow cOuntrymen.
Without putting my head to the ground /
can even now hear the anxious inquiry as to
Ixayna hfu "A IF IN mo will