The herald., 1898-10-16
WHY ARE THE COlORED Voters SUPPORTING THE UNION TICKET

Americans, being a part of the people.
with identical interests, have lined up
with them In support Of the union ticket,
as against the railroad ticket. headed
by Mr. Gage. Those measures that VIII
elevate one class Of workingmen must
necessarily advance the interest OF ALL
There Is no middle ground-the working
people must either labor for their own
elevation or degradation. The AFRO
Americans being largely p race OF labor
ers. what they most need Is Increased
opportunities to pursue their avocation.
Party Ingratitude
In nv address before the Afro-Ameri-
can congress, on the I'd Of last August,
will be found the following paragraph:
"In the public service the color line
ia 80 rigidly drawn that we hold moth
ing but the most menial positions. AL
though we have stood by the Repup-
lican party, faithfully helping 1t to win
its victories when 1t was deserted py
thousands of it's white followers. we
have never held state or county once
The Republicans seem to regard the
thought of such thing as a crime. The
thought of federal appointment for
member of our race Is objectionable
SIM"
There are at least fifteen hundred col
ored voters in this county. the bulk OF
whom live In this city. Two years ago
the Republican party carried the county
by a plurality of S24. 1t Is easy to see
that without the colored vote that party
couldsnot hold the county and city Of
fees. What is true of this county
and city Is equally true of this state.
The governor has In his hands more
than two thousand appointments, and IN
spite of the ante election pledges OF
the party, they give us no consideration
whatever after the election. A Few
weeks ago the party managers fiatly re-
fused the request of the Afro American
State League to put an Afro-American
on the state central committee, stating
that they intended to get along without
the negro, as the party could carry the
state on the war record. The local
committees are acting In similar man.
ner in many respects. They are located
In a hotel where the elevator boys re-
fuse to carry a colored man, unless he
states his business or shows his pass.
Mr.. Gage has. l learn, become alarmed,
and will move his headquarters to any
place the "colored boys" may suggest.
This Is unnecessary.
There are nearly, or quite, one hundred
deputy clerks employed in the city and
county offices. The heads of these de-
partments. with two exceptions, are Re-
publicans, elected by the colored vote,
vet in spite Of their election prom
ises, they have not given their colored
allies single permanent deputyship or
court baillff. Ex-Mayor Henry T.
Hazard brought upon his head the ever
lasting contempt Of the Republican
party for keeping his promises to the
colored voters by appointing colored
policemen.
Contrast the above Republican record
with that Of the Democratic party OF
this state and note the difference
For the support he received from the
colored voters our Democratic governor
made Mr. j. A. Wyley "vice governor. a s
our Republican papers will have 1t.
Pretty good for a Democrat. Knowing
our Democratic mayor, NJ. p Snyder,
to be a friend of the race, large num-
Der Of colored voters bolted the Repub-
lican city ticket two years ago and helped
to elect Mayor Snyder. He not only gave
us one more policeman and one member
of the fire department but several other
places. Hon. James G. Mcguire, the
union candidate for governor, has the
same record for liberality towards our
people.
Is II reasonable to suppose that the
colored voters Of this state, as self
respecting American citizens, will sup.
port any part of the Republican ticket
under such circumstances? Does the
Republican party expect' by waving the
bloody shirt, to make US smite the
hand that gives US bread? Does 1t ex-
pect to longer get our votes by appeal
ing to our prejudice? VIII the party
make more promises to break? 1t can
not. There Is nothing left out of which
to make them. We will not support the
Gage ticket this year; we are against 1t
because it Is against US. If there are
among us any hidebound voters who
cannot vote against the so-called Re-
publican ticket let them show their man
hood by not voting at all. Young colored
men, how many offices will you lose by
the defeat Of the Republican ticket?
Its defeat this fall means much to you;
it's success offers not one ray of hope to
you and yours.
1t Is charged that the Democratic party
has always been antagonistic to our in
terests; the same may be said of us
with regard to that party. Wherever we
have been intelligent enough to vote for
good men, regardless of the ticket on
which they ran we have found as good
friends in that party as we found else
where. AS a race, whatever wrongs we
suffer that need righting we will have to
look to the people with whom we live
for redress. If our rights are abridged
we must look to our state capital for re-
lief. If we hope to succeed in this coun-
try we will have to do so not as hide
bound partisans, but as American citi-
zenS.