Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-07-25
Equal Right, of rCitilrn,hip.

Tn" "rulral idea uf 10 Republican form of
government is toe rule of the whole pco-
pie u~ opposed To- the other forms which
resi- upon Il privileged class.
our iurctatn,r-. in thp attempt to erect
a new Government which might represent
the advauccd Thought Of the world at that
period upon tine subject of governmental
reform, adopted the idea of the people :
spyrrciguty. and thus laid the basis of our
present Republic While technically Il
Government OF tine people, il was in strict
ness only Il Government of Il portion of the
people, excluding from all participation Il
certain other portion, held in condition
of absolute, dCSpOtiC. and hopeless ScrVi-
tudc, the parallel To which, fortunately,
does not now exist in any modern Chris
tian nation.
With the elimination. however of an
other cycle of advanced thought. the
American Republic suddenly assumed the
full character of "a Government of the
whole people. and four million human
creatures emerged from the condition of
bundsmcn to the full status of frecmcn.
theoretically invested with the same civil
and political rights possessed by their
former masters. The subsequent lpgi~la-
tion which guaranteed by every legal title
the citizenship aud full equality before the
law IN all RESPECTS Oft his previously di~trau-
ChlScd people, amply covers the require
mcnts and secures to thcm 50 far as lc9iS-
latiun can. the privileges of American citi-
Hcnship. But the diSagrecablc fact of the
case is. that while. theoretically. we are in
the enjoyment of Government of the
whole people, practically we are almost as
TAR from II as we We're in the autrbcllum
day, Of the Republic. There are but Il few
leading and iudi,putablc facts which cover
the "hOl" statement ul the case I'm many
of the ~uut bern States the COlOrcd pppula-
tlpu Is in large excess of the white The
COLI tfpI 1t.t1Ia 2ttul liglt, ~
Il considerable portion ut the white people.
b" remaining portion of the latter are
Democrats. In face Of this iucputc~tahlr
truth THESE States invariably return Dem
cratic maioritjcS. In other States Ot the
south tn" cOlorcd people, although not IA
majority. form Il very considerable body Of
the population, and with the white Bcpub-
licnn> are numerically in excess Of the
Democrats, yet precisely the same pOiti-
cal result ODtainN-thc Democratic party
invariably carrying the elections. Ii i
not even thought advisable to allow 1u uc-
c'rsionul or unlmpurtant election to bc car
ricd by the Republicans aS Il "blud" or as
Il stroke Of fucsSr
Careful and impartial investigation has
shown these results to followthe sy~tcmat-
iC exercise of physical intimidation and
violence, con- joined with the most shame
tUl devices ever practiccd in the name of
free elections. 80 confirmed has the re
F,i, 3tIotiLr tI ,,i "lt prouEnt i'oG 10
~ w. ,,' .i,v oMt t''' l'T.
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: i",I" i,','. '"' i'' H"'''0N !" "'''o""I c'cc
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franchise, which desire to state dl~paS-
~, -, ",i'' ~ i'"!l.l'l '"HIP ''i-
,f W. 'i,r -
ui'' i - wy wy ~ '"c -Nil'cl'V'"' Pco
~. u"H''v Sti'9G.
,,'l ~ - III '"la.' '"i., open, Glrcc''
''ii'. I't-I 'n.' ~ t''r PRIMARY pIIhcllH' up
"h ,, ne" , our '',NtrliI!lrlil Is EuppUNtd L"
t tro,' Va ,..'t, III. 'IulIpi HI 'hc ''"Ntri!
- IP'lr' ~ ny an itEa!E 4u2!I
I'S'' 'I,Mtla9' III ",roI'"l'lcc "ilH llt pI'h
W t P'Puii"i GHN'I"H'tH,' NAY HIaJorI'IcN
second II Is III VOCATION OF me rights
particularly ccntrrcd the great wealth
ANA Industries of the Nation, and which
pay an overwhelming portion Of the Ma
tiOuaI taxes. The immense anrrpult ion of