St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-10-02
Gbe Californian
THE NEGRO QUESTION.

AS long ago as | can remember my
fathers house was a regular station
on the Underground railroad" be-
tween the slave states and Canada.
He was a radical abolitionist He
believed that slavery was wrong,
not to be tolerated under any cir
cumstances or compromised with in
the least. Uncle Toms Cabin and
the National Era were my earliest
literary food. Many dirty tramp,
covered with vermin, used to gorge
hearty meals and ruin a clean bed
under the plea of being a runaway
slave. 1t is now my candid opinion
that nine-tenths of his ''runaw way
slaves" were frauds of this character,
but at the time their woeiul tales i'm
pressed my mind deeply with the
evils of slavery My fathers right
eous wrath, also, when he had dis
covered an imposition, was some
thing glorious to behold. He gave
up his life, in 1864, on the swampy
coast of Carolina, fighting for his
that it was not for any abstract
theory of national supremacy as OPP
posed to states rights" that he
fought and died; but simply for the
freedom of the negro.
To me, born and reared in such an
atmosphere of abolition, the present
status of the negro could hardly fail
to be of interest. Was it worth
while for my father thus to die !?
Has the slave really been freed? Are
the colored people better off now
than when they were slaves With
out attempting to answer these
questions categorically, | will try to
throw some side lights upon them.
Politically, the negro at the South
has not yet acquired freedom. From
the poor white" who does not own
a foot of land to the judge and the
college professor, every man with
whom | talked land | talked with
everybody met sang the same song
to the same tune. We will not be
ruled by the negro. If we cannot
out-vote him, we will out-wit him"
The ''force-bill, - SO called, was con-
demned on all sides. Universally
southern men speak of it as an at
tempt to ''trample on the liberties OF
the South" Nothing reminded me
so much of the old ante-bellum, fire
eating talk, as this. Yetit all seemed
ridiculous to me- The idea that the
North, which loved liberty SO well
that it would sacrifice its best blood
and wealth to free the black, would
then turn about and try to steal the
liberty of the white southerner, was
absurd, and | told them so.
1t is all matter of educa ton and
environment. | have not the slight
est doubt that, if | had been born in
Virginia, instead of Vermont, |
should feel and talk just as Virgin
ians do on this subject. There is
something to be said on their side
too. In counties where ignorant
blacks have for time held the polit-
cal reins, they certainly have made a
bOtch of it. Dress piggy in lace, and
he will certainly soil his dress Yes,
the hasty bestowal of the right of
suffrage on race totally untitled to
exercise it was a big mistake. The
best solution of the ballot problem
now would be to disfranchise every
man North and South, who cannot
write his name and read the consti-
tuition. But, they say, that is i'm
practicable | don't know exactly
what that word means, when a
thing needs to be done ANYHOW,
tell me how a man can honestly take
an oath to support the constitution
of the United States, without know
ing a word of what that constitu-
ton contains. In Minnesota | met
an Indian. He was a fine specimen
of a human being. He had an educa-
ton equivalent to a course in St.
JOhnsbury Academy. He was an edi-
tor of newspaper. Nevertheless,
he did not drink or use tobacco. I'm
til two years ago, he could not vote
or become a citizen of the United
States, although very anxious to do
so. Where was the consistency in
depriving a man like him of all polit-
ical rights, and comforting all upon
the whisk y-soaked rough of lower
name, and the brutalized darkey of
the South who hardly knows his
own name? Every objection that l
heard Virginians advance against
negro suffrage would apply with
equal force to the ignorant white.
For example, he is easily lead by de-
signing demagogues, he will sell his
vote for a dollar or for whisky, he
doesn't know enough to vote, etc.
AS far as | could learn, in the part of
Virginia in which Travelled the negro
is allowed to vote as he pleaSes, to
hold political meetings and all that
sort of thing,-but, if at any time
there seems danger of their gaining
control of affairs, some means are
found to prevent it. That is about
the size of it
Socially the races are separate
castles. Intermarriage is forbidden
by state law. A negro walking the
street with a white woman on his
arm would probably be mobbed. No
woman but a northern enthusiast
would undertake it in a southern
city. Yet / saw this done dailyin ST.
Paul and it excited no attention or
comment. Schools and churches for
the two races are entirely distinct.
For the public schools the school
money is equally divided between
the two colors They have buildings,
teachers, -everything separate.
stopped a colored boy on the street
in Gordonsville, and quizzed him.
His answers were as follows:
Eleven years old. Go to school
seven months in a year Read in the |
fourth reader. Study reading, writ
ing, spelling, arithmetic and geogra-
ply" Schools were not in session,
but | visited colored church during
service. A very short visit was