The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-02-18

in condition OF freedom, we have proved
ourselves self-sustaining race. prodncing
more cotton and corn and other wealth as
OF the states OF the South than was ever
dreamed of in the philosophy OF the slave
master: We appeal TO The statistics OF cot.
and since the war to sustain our contention.
We have not produced all the wealth OF the
South since the war-we have produced our
honest share. produced vastly more as a free
man than we produced as g. slave-and, in
stead of becoming public charges have be-
come self sustaining and reliant citizens; who
share I'm the wealth we have produced and
rejoice in it and in the strength the expansion
and the glory of the republic, OF which We
E a. Pr 2aya Ge IL Hr fssa
in whose past. achievement and present glory:
in war and in peace, we claim by, right o OF
equal share and participation. % r,,:'' j, y.
It seems to us strange and unnatural that
we should have to turn from the magnificent
which go at the very roots of our citizenship.
and to appeal from the injustice and inhu-
the justice and fairness and Christian char
fty inherent in the heart and the soul Of the
great American people. But we haye to do
Christian faith and ESQ years of education in
American law and precedent that we shall
not appeal In vain. We have lived in darker
hours than those Of today; we have seen
American Justice and fair play go through
s-e and death and devastation and come out
purified by the faith that abides in the God
again. Our optimism is as expansive as
American love of justice and fair play. And
properly TO- +Tds when tbp
can furnish a sublimer reply than 1t can and
will give. And we do not look to one Sec.
ton for response but to all sections, am and
we have friends who have been tried in the
furnace OF experience and found true, and
have been in the past, if we shall be true to
ourselves, true to the God who brought us
out of the Egypt Of slavery into the Judea
of freedom.
But no race has ever risen out Of the shad-
ows into the sunlight without fierce oppo-
sition. We have been no exception to the
der, where Daniel Webster declared there
was plenty Of room. however long it takes
and time is the most Important factor in the
Of races and nations@We shall d encounter
tor sha% have S God sa and us a e and
In view Of the present condition of affairs
in which We find ourselves We beg to direct
attention to the following facts:
1. Since 1868 there has been steady and
persistent discrimination to eliminate us from
the politics Of the Southern states. We are
not to be eliminated Suffrage is federal
or withheld by the states. We are not OPP
posed to legitimate restriction of the suffrage,
but we insist that restrictions shall apply
willing to accept an educational or property
qualification, or both. We insist that neither
OF these was as intended or is conserved by the
lima. or Louisiana. Their trainers intended
and did disfranchise majority of their citi-
zenship because Of "race, color, and previous
congress to reduce the representation of
those states in the congress, as provided and
made mandatory by section 2 Of article XIV.
leans everywhere to resist by all lawful means
the determination to deprive them of their
suffrage rights: If it is necessary to accom-
plish this vital purpose to divide their vote
The shfbboleth Of party must give way to
the shibboleth of self-preservation.
-, 2 The increase Of mob and lynch law in
grief to every law-abiding citizen. It has
become source of reproach at home and
abroad We feel that this cancer on the body
which will spread over the whole body of the
nation unless stop be put to it. The re-
cent outbreaks Of it. in the Carolinas have
that the president Of the United States saw
fit to treat with silence this vital matter in
his second annual message to congress.
good offices to settle this matter to the salts
faction Of all concerned and the honor and
glory lo Of the he,,a nation: 49,, .,. ..
stlch provoking proportions, and they are so
unjust, degrading, and oppressive in their
operations that we deem It urgent to direct
in the interest OF Justice and decency, that
the graduated passenger rate prevailing in
North Carolina be substituted for the in
other ststes Of the South. It is principle
OF common law that a man shall pay for
what he wants and get what he, pays for.
In New York with q railroad or other COM
mon carrier is not worth the paper It is