People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-09-21
A COlored Man Talks. :

time past the cOlOred people have
been urging me to attend the repub-
lican meetings and being man that
always likes to hear both sides of a
question, on last Monday night | at
tended their meeting and feel in
duty bound to say something in de-
Tense of what | heard denounced. /
have always held the republican party
in the highest esteem. But when |
hear man get up and say like
Judge Woods did that "any negro
who will not stick up for the repub-
lican party has heart blacker than
his hide, it naturally makes me tired.
Just as if a cOlOred man was in duty
bound to stick to the old party,
though it drag him down to the bot
tom of the ditch of poverty. | am
no rattle head. l never jump until |
see where am going to light, and
after about four years of careful
study and observation, | can see no
way whereby the old party can bene-
fit me or my race. So l came to the
conclusion that any rational, sound
minded man cannot help but arrive
at if he look at this matter from a
common sense standpoint of view,
that we must have change. And to
be called black-hearted man simply
because | reserve the right to do
what honestly aud sincerely believe
to be right, not only for myself but
for my race, and any other poor man,
black or white, | consider it great
insult. That assertion, alone, would
cause me to think less Of the party,
if nothing else.
Now, | have always had a good
opinion of Judge Woods and | was
surprised to hear such words fall
from his lips.
can give good reasons for leaving
the old party. | fail to see any thing
they are doing to benefit me or my
people. On the contrary, they and
the democrats defeated the only bill,
1.-THE Blair educational bill that was
ever brought up that would directly
benefit the cOlOred people. And as |
am an American citizen, / reserve
the right to 90 to any party which |
think will do the most good to me
and all poor people.
Now, you may ring in that old
chestnut about them freeing US. |
shall ever be thankful for the part
the republicans had in setting us free
from bOndfge. But where is your re-
publicaniSm of thirty years ago? III
could find such republicanism as that
grand and ever-tO-be-reyered man,
Abraham Lincoln, taught, nothing
on earth could tempt me to leave it.
But where has it gone to? We have
; gone from bad to worse under the re-
publican administrations until we
are now threatened with being thrown
into bondage far more disastrous
than that from which they set US
free.
They come around about election
; time and pat US on the back and
= make a $40 talk about what they are
going to do for us, and then after
they flatter and lie US into voting fol
them and they get hold of the reinS
of government, they ignore the fact
that they are our representatives,
they ignore the fact that they are in
charge of grand and glorious land
created by an all-wise God. who said:
"AS ye would that Others should do
unto you do We even so unto them. ),
, Christ was no reSpecter Of persons,
but they are.
And throwing all these facts aside,
they 60 in for all there is in it, re-
gardleSS Of the fact that thousands Of
people are depending on their legisla-
tion for their support. God deliver
US from such tyranny. And if any
one will convince me where either of
the old parties have done any good for
the cOlored man since setting US free,
or where they intend to do anything
for us except drag US down, then l
will raise white flag and surrender
and step back into the ranks where l
once stood.
Yours for suffering humanity,
BRADFORD BUSH.