Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-10-23
BOLTER LANGST0N.
WHAT FRED DOUGLASS SAID OF HIM
TWO YEARS AGO.
EXTRACTS from the Papers In the Venabic
Standardization
Case.

DnuglaHd5
lfrenoi'o liter Of Frederic Douglass IN re-
Lana io,tsr from some OF tho leading colored
piy Ws.ha Fou,th congressional dlsulct asking
~ aoinion AZ 10 John N. Lausston ABILITY az
&c.l
Gentlemen.-I have duly received
vour respected letter OF the l4th instant
and haye.carofully and thoughtfully read
is contents. The subject upon which
Won invite an expression of my opinion
ia both grave and delicate. 1t is so for
two reasons. First, because it Is col
ored person and respects the part that
color, it is thought, should play IN the
selection of a candidate to represent
YOU in the Fifty-frst Congress OF the
United States
It is so secondly because it is matter
which especially concerns the citizens
NJ the Fourth district OF Virginia.
II is this question OF color, with
the preJudices on either SIDE whicn
il enyokes. that makes the duty
Won impose upon me both difficult and
disagreeable. Buta great statesman has
said "Any man can do en- agreeable
duty : not every man can do disagree
able one" | promise to comply with
your request, though the duty Is not an
agreeable one. / do it all the more
freely because am colored man and
am speaking to colored men, and have
devoted fifty years Of my lie to the
welfare OF colored people. My hrst
thought is, and hope it will commend
itself to you, that neither you nor l
should determine our political action by
any Difference to prejudice in favor OF or
against color. To look at the contention
in the Fourth district OF Virginia wisely
and properly, the question OF color
should be entirely subordlnated TO the
greater questions of principle and OF
party expediency. There is no moral or
political quality necessarily involved In
color. The trouble is that color IS con-
sidered the badge of certain condition,
and the question is by what means we
can best remove prejudice and in-ieellng
between the different varieties Oh clu-
zens.
The other point of difficulty already
referred TO is that am and will be call
ed an outsider l shall be denounced
for meddling with a matter that does
not concern me and you will be de-
nounced for calling upon me 10 take
part in this controversy. This last re-
proach, however. to both you aud me
will be successfully rebutted and neu-
tralized by the fact that the party from
whom censure may be apprehended has
himself. far in advance of you and me,
taken his contention beyond the limits
of this district and the State lines OF
Virginia. He has appealed to the ma
tional Republican party to help him IN
his fight for congressional honors. Hlsap-
peal is mainly based upon his color. The
fact that he is Republican does not go
far in his favor, for perhaps there Is not
one of his competitors less sound as q
Republican than he. The superiority Of
his claim rests solely upon his color
His fidelity to the party would hardiy
bear comparison with that OF other can
didates.
Nv guiding principle in this contro-
versy, and in all of my political actiyi-
ties. is the fundamental and command
ing importance Of maintaining the So
Iidltv and the ascendancy of the Repub-
lican party, both i'll the state and the
nation. adopt this principle and com
mend il to you, not for the sake of the
party itself simply as a machine, but Tor
the sake of the great principles OF JUS
tice. liberty, and humanity for which 1t
stands, and which at present must fall or
flourish with it. | recognize the Re
publican party as the sheet-anchor OF
the colored mans political hopes and
the ark of his safety 1t was the party
which gave us the political franchise.
Ii is that party which afirms, defends,
and maintains that great safeguard oil
the liberty Of every American citizen.
1t is that party under its tried and ap-
proved leaders in Virginia which makes
It possible for you in the Fourth district
of that State to vote. You know and
know that but for those approved and
trusted leaders, men to the manner born,
who have lived among you and fought
the political Battles for you, and are still
fighting those battles, your fate even II
Virginia would would be like that OF the
colored citizens of South Carolina, Geor
gia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
have held that there is no way out
side Of the Republican party that does
not in some sense help the Democratic
party, and / ask you to shun every patti
or any path which leads you in that dl
rectlon. The recorded conviction o
the Democratic party is that the consti
tutional amendments 10y which you have
been invested with the right to vote arr
revolutionary, unconstitutional, and void
1t is evident from all their utter
ances that the leaders of the Democratic
party believe that this is, and of RICH
ought to be, not government OF all thu
people, by all the people, and for all the
people, but simply of, by, and for white
people. This was avowed IN the cam
paign Of Seymour and Blair. 1t has no
been denied in any authentic form since
that campaign. Allen G.. Thurman, the
present candidate of the Democratic
party for Vice President. who may he
come President Of the United States, ha
distinctly declared himself opposed L
those amendments. He scouts the idei
of political equality as the widest ab
surdity. HIS words are:
"Of all the decisions | have eve
known, the idea OF political equality be
tween the white and black races seems L
me the greatest.
Hon. Thomas Bayard, our Democrat
Secretary OF State of the United States
has given US bis solemn assurance tina
"whenever that party (the Republican
shall 60 down, as 20 downit will at som
time not long in the future, that will b
the end of the political power OF the ne
gro among white mon on this continent
Let me assure you that this is no Id
prediction, nor Is it left entirely to th
future to confirm. You have only t
cast your eye southwark to see Its fulfil
ment. A blow struck at the life OF tn
Republican party In any section of on
country, from any pretext whatever
should be met with prompt and stern II
buke. II is blow aimed at the life c
the negro's political rights. The integ
rity and ascendancy of the Republica
party IN Virginia are more important I
the colored people than anything tha
| can come To them from any QratlticatlO