The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-06-08

The statement of Mr.. Fassett before
the Minneapolis Convention yesterday
that the honor of the Republican party
sis pledged to continue the contest for
free and honest ballot until this question
is settled in the right" will fall upon
somewhat unsympathetic ears in New
England. The old warrior blood of this
section, which became of white heat at
the recital of moral wrong, now in the
lapse of thirty years, has grown too
sluggish to be moved by the thought
that those same moral wrongs practi-
cally exist as they did before 1860. Dis
tance, both of time and space, has
cooled our ardor, and we are prone to
look with an impartial glance upon
wrongs which those who suffer make but
slight attempt to redress.
There is no attempt, tt is confidently
believed, made by any member of either
political party to deny that the ballot
in the South is not free and honest, or
that it must be made so in some way
before the recent constitutional amend
ments can become anything more than
travesty upon the law of the nation.
The questions which we of New England
have to settle is merely to what extent
we are responsible for this illegal state
of affairs, and, therefore, to what extent
interference would be justifiable ON our
part, and lastly whether there is any
effectual remedy beside education and
culture which time alone can bring.
In all these considerations the question
of expediency is q prominent one and
the essence of issue is lost sight of. The
question which should be considered by
the thoughtful is not SO much what is
the present condition of the Southern
negro and can it be bettered by legisla-
tion, but rather, what is the cause of the
present condition Of the Southern negro
and If we as a people are the cause either
directly or indirectly, what steps must
we take to rectify the cruel wrongs
which result from that cause. That
cause is well known. 1t was the selfish
mercantile spirit which made slavery
profitable--it was the fault of the South
ern States which clung to slavery
for so many years that its abolition left
the poor negro absolutely helpless in the
hands of his enemies, and his enemies
have chosen to aid rather than alleviate
their helplessness. They have looked
upon the negro supremacy as condi-
tien to be avoided by all known means.
They forget that but for them the negro
would not have been in this country and
that they have themselves alone to
blame for present conditions. We, too,
of the North are indirectly responsible
for the same thing, and the burden of
righting our original error still rests
upon us.
We cannot avoid it. It is a moral
duty of the most imperative kind. Edu-
cation can only be accomplished by al
lowing the negroes to participate not
only in voting but in office-holding.
The negro can only get experience by
practice. He cannot have practice until
he is assured of his political rights.
The events of thirty years have con-
clusively proven that the negro of the
South has not and cannot emancipate
himself, and that emancipation so
proudly declared by us has been only
partially accomplished. Some remedy
must be applied and that, too, vigor-
ously and consistently until the negro
can maintain his own rights and until
the pledges of equal rights and protec-
tion of the constitution are carried out
not only In theory but also in fact.