The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-10-01
The Negro in the Election.


single word on the statute book, but
the great law of public sentiment may
by them be essentially changed for good
or for evil. Precisely here lies its inn
portance to the welfare of the negro.
The need of the hour, for him, is not SO
much written law Though this is i'm
portant) as the unwritten law of public
sentiment To whoever else, therefore
the pending presidential election may
seem of slight importance, mere game
of chance and simply a race for victory
and spoils, it connot be so regarded by
any intelligent negro. The problem with
which he is confronted is, whether he
shall continue to hold unimpaired and
undiminished the rights guaranteed to
him by the United States constitution.
1t can no longer be doubted that few
negroes at the North have gone wrong
and are trying to Induce others to follow
in the same way. Ambitious aspirants
have arisen among them, giving them
sophistry for argument, fiction for fact,
and loud prosecutions of love for the race
without evidence. They have taken adj
vantage of one of the most despicable
| vices to which human nature is suscepti-
BILE. Knowing how easy it is to turu the
hearts of debtors against creditors, and
that lenders often lose their friends as
well as their money, they have preached
deliverance to the one and poured bitter
contempt upon the other. They have
demanded absolute perfection in the
Republican party, but have piled sophis-
tries mountain high to hide the crimes of
the Democratic party. They have
strained at a Republican gnat and swal-
lowed whole professions of Democratic
camels.
These men have argued mainly in
favor of the following propositions: l.
1t is the duty of the negro to divide his
vote between the two great political
parties. 2. The negro should form an
independent race and color party. 3.
The negro should support the candidates
of the Democratic party. Let us con-
slider the proposition of dividing the
negro vote between the two great politi-
cal parties.
In several states of the North the negro
vote is potential and may, in close
contest between the two great parties,
turn the scale either in favor of the one
OF of the other. This is especially the
case in New York, Pennsylvania, Indi-
ana and Ohio. Therefore to take one
half of the colored vote from the Repub-
lican party and transfer it to the Demo-
cratic party, would give the Democratic
party an immediate and unfair advan-
tage over the Republican party. Thus
the sound of fairness and impartiality
which is relied upon to recommend the
proposition to divide our vote equally
ceptive sound. and has in it no fairness
whatever. It means the defeat of the
Republican party and the victory of the
Democratic party.
The first argument against this divis-
ion is this: 1t is inconsistent. 1t is man.
ifestly inconsistent to desert the Repub-
lican party, whose antecedents have all
been in our favor, and to join and sup
port party whose antecedents have all
been against us. But. further, the fun
damental and all-commanding objection
to such a division of our vote as is pro-
posed is this: 1t would absolutely de-
stroy the negro as political force in the
nation. Such division would convert
what is now an effective moral and po-
litical force into a monentity, thing di-
vested of every attribute of power, and
for which nobody would have any reas-
on to care one way or the other. Two
equal physical forces opposing each
other destroy the active force of both.
Two bodies of equal weight put into OPP
posite scales determine nothing as to the
weight of either. Equal numbers when
opposed in election elect nobody. Hence
those who ask the negro to divide his
vote, simply ask him to cast away his
most potent weapon against popular in
Justice and wrong. In other words, we
are simply invited to state of political
stagnation and death.
But it may be said by these advocates
of division that they do not insisU upon
an equal division. While they may will
ingiy admit that the result would be pre-
cisely as have stated in the case sup
posed, they may deny that such would
be the case if only some of our votes were
given to the Democratic party. The an
swer to this is that, if the Democratic
party is entitled to any, SO far as we are
as already stated the parties are now SO
equally balanced as to numbers that any
diversion from the Republican party
gives victory to the Democratic party.
1t is argued that the fact that we now
as class belong to the Republican party
makes us. hated and prosecuted by the
Democratic party, and hence the conclu-
sion is reached that if we shall divide our
vote with the Democratic party we shall
be allowed by that party to live in peace.
What is this peace? What is it but the
peace between the white man as the mas
ter and the negro as the slave?s.Is it rea-
sonable to suppose that the Democratic
party will change its attitude toward US
when it shall have us completely in it's
power? Can we safely debase our man
hood by joining party that hates us,
and yet hope to have our manhood re-
spected by that party?
But we join the party to gain it's good
will! We have heard of people marrying
to get rid of each other, but who ever
heard of a people uniting with a political
party in order to get rid of its hatred and
persecution? Not only is the PROPOSE
ton to divide our vote bad, but the argu-
ment in support of it is worse. We are
asked to do mean and scandalous thing
and to add to the odium so freely heaped
upon our race. We are asked to desert
our friends as means of conciliating our
enemies. We are asked to divide our
vote bo+rao,, Dopaooratio ouf1,aUa and in,