The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-03-09
A TRIBUTE TO COL. WILSON.
The Color Limo EffectuaIly Broken
at Platte City at tho Re
cont Election.
From the 81. Loui. Reputllc. /

Nityt AnOsy W.
day night 200 colored men and boys
repaired to the residence of Congress.
man elect X. p. G. Wilson and lied
the air with the songs of Dixie land
Platte City never before heard the rich
and melOdiOus voices of so many sons
OF Ham in one grand chorus, and the
inmates OF almost every home in the
little city stood shivering at open door
and window, listening TO the strange
yet delightful music. At the close of
the third song Col. Wilson appeared in
the doorway and, when The loud aud
hearty cheering had ceased, said:
"My beloved friends and neighbors:
"Wiih grateful heart 1 thank
you tor the devotion you manifested
to me at the polls last Tuesday. No
power on earth could keep you from
my side. You scornfully drove from
among you the boOdlers and the
denagOgues, who sought both to buy
your vote with money and to obtain it
by arousing the prejudices born of the
war. Notwithstanding these things,
almost in body, the colOred men of
this town and vicinity crossed the
political lines that once divided us,
and rallied to my support. The older
ones among you remember that ! was
your playmate in boyhood; the younger
ones remember that was the friend of
their mothers and fathers who are
gone. You give striking evidence that
you are beginning to appreciate the
value of the ballot. You hurled into
the face OF the boodlers. last Thursday,
their charge OF compatibility, by prov
ing to them that the right of suffrage
was without price. How proud were
your white friends to observe i'll How
much closer does il draw you to your
white neighbors and friends
"I would have you place at its true
value the privilege of voter; il raises
you to the high plane of a sovereign; it
invests you with the powers of govern
ment; you play your part in the
making of good laws and the destruc
ion of bad ones. By your conduct
last Tuesday you have pronounced
against the heresies that the govern.
ment has right to tax one man for
the benefit of another; that the higher
you are taxed the richer you grow |;
aud that high taxes make high wages.
You fell into line with the great
majority of your white friends and
neighbors in declaring that the govern
ment has no right to tax the people l
cent more than is necessary to ad-
minister the affairs of the government
upon an economical basis We receive
You with open arms. The democratic
party is the poor mans party, and
! trust you will never again listen to the
siren song of the boodler or the mis-
guided white men in your midst, who,
inf tn1 aknlt -
corrupt you and steal you away from
the old party which has always stood
by you and all the poor of this land.
! "No one knows better than 1, having
been born among the coIored people
and lived with them all my life, what
means have been employed to array
you against your natural friends
They have appealed to the preiudices
of race; they have scrupled at nc
falsehood TO excite you against us
they even had the effrontery anC
audacity in this very town to tell yor
that the democrats OF this county were
watching an opportunity 10 return yor
to slavery; they told you that, if tho
democrats were successful your wage
would come down TO SO cents day
All these things we have reason L
believe you have discovered to be tn,
basest of talsehoods, as shown by you
acts last Tuesday.
"And, now, my colored friends ant
, neighbors, standing here upon thi
eminence, with nothing between u
. and the stars, 1 express to you IN,
. thanks again, and again, for you
:. devotion to me when hard -presse,
last Tuesday; and in the sight o
heaven declare on the part of tn
> democracy of old Platte that we wei
come you to the lines of the old Tent
. Legion, and will stand by you as clos
], as brothers, come veal or woe in tn,
, future. Our destiny shall be yours
,, yours shall be ours. l welcome yol
, 10 the hospitality of my home."
.. Cheer after cheer . rent the air il
raDid SUGGESTIONS at the close of Col
Wilson's speech, and every coloret
: beggarly hospitality rendered them
After teasting for full hour al
!, intelligent colored man returned tn
thanks of the gathering for the goo'
:. treatment accorded them in speecl
thai touched a responsive chord in tn
breast of Col. Wilson.
=, On the streets OF Platte City to-da
! colored men aud boys gather in littl
+ groups to talk of the jolly evening
spent and to discuss the kindnes
shown them by Congressman elec
Wilson. They. have never receives
> such treatment from republicans, an
it is confidently asserted by leading
democrats that few of those who sup
: ported Wilson will return to tn
o republican told after having tasted @
Q democratic gratitude.