The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1888-12-05

made the mistake of attempting to force,
by the same methods hostile policy upon
a people whose interests were vitality in
volved, and that are in some respects not
wholly in accord with their own"
"What will probably be the course OF
President HarrisonV
IL have no information whatever about
the policy Of the new administration
toward the South / am as radical and
aggressive as the average Republican, and
have been the subject Of some picturesque
criticism from our Southern friends for
venturing TO protest against their methods.
But should not favor any vindiCtive, in
tolerant or proscrptive legislation / rec
ognize the burdens under which they
labor, and the terrible conflicts Of their
future. | would help them and cooperate
with them, ii they would make 1t possible
to do so, but we must have justice and
equality. There must be fair play. They
cannot suppress the vote and still retain
the representation. They must relin-
| quish the increment, and let each voter
be an equal unit of sovereignty. The
proposition advanced by some Southern
leaders to disfranchise the negro is unten-
able. The reconstruction policy might
| ~
too late TO discuss this now. Disfranchise-
ment would shock the conscience of man
kind II would be impossible. Such rev.
olutions never 90 backward. No race has
ever been deprived OF rights and preroga-
tives once solemnly conferred. The ex-
pertinent has gone too far to be recalled.
II the two races are heterogeneous, and
can never be assimilated, then education,
| hn ~ a
development intensity instead OF diminish
the dangers. When you teach man to
think, give him a home, increase his self.
respect, you render il impossible TO make
him the unresisting victim OF injustice.
Give him conscious power and he will ex.
ert II. Ultimately, therefore, the whites
will be compelled TO acquiesce or to fight
The time will come when the negroes,
aware OF their numbeBand their strength,
will insist upon their equality under the
law, and then there will be a crisis which
may become a catastrophe. There is but
one practical suggestion which offers any
present relief that is n nation
al registration law, under which
every voter should be entered
upon the poll lists and then have the elec
tons under the control OF supervisors ap'
| HiihAeA vi AhAh Hbi HfaNs aiils'AN Nv,
secure fair elections, but IL would AFFORD
the means or ascertaining whether they
were fair or not. So that the Congress
could act nteligently in deciding whether
contestants were entitled TO their seats IL
either house and in the Electoral College
The voluntary separation OF the races Il
among the possibilities Of the near future
| say voluntary, because the blacks have
the same natural and legal rights on thii
continent that the whites have. They art
natives and they are citizens. They hay,
as much right 10 ask the whites 10 retire
or to scgregate themselves as the whites
have TO request them to do so. But The
original environment of the African rae,
was tropical, and It may be that on th'
southern shores Of the Gulf or the Yves
India Islands, or along the lowlands o
Mexico, regions friendly 10 the African
blood, the eniranchised millions, undo
the protection OF the United States, sub
jects Of its Government, and full sharer
in its citizenship, may yet accomplish
their destiny, and fulfill the prophecy tina
Ethiopia shall stretch out its hands TO Goo
and rejoice" L. w. u.