The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-01-21

American Justice and fair play go through
fire and death and devastation and come out
Of Destiny, and we expect to see it do so
again. Our optimism is as expansive as
American love of justice and fair play. And
aroused, we do not believe that the world
can furnish a sublimer reply than it can and
will give. And we do not look to one sec
especially to the South where we know that
we have friends who have been tried in the
furnace of experience and found true, and
who will be faithful in the future, as they
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
: 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 DER where fr u 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 encounter
fierce antagonism, but we shall win in the
end, for We shall have God and justice and
In view of the, present condition Of affairs
in which we find ourselves we beg to direct
attention to the following facts:
persistent determination 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 op-
posed to legitimate restriction of the Suffrage,
but we insist that restrictions shall apply
alike to all citizens Of all states. we are
qualification, or both. We insist that neither
Of these was intended or is conserved by the
new constitutions OF Mississippi, south Care;
and did disfranchise majority Of their citi-
zenship because of race, color, and previous
condition. and we therefore call upon the
congress to reduce the representation of
those states In the congress, as provided and
made mandatory by section OF article XIV.
of the constitution. We call upon Afro-Amer-
leans everywhere to resist by all lawful means
the determination to deprive them OF their
suffrage rights. If it is necessary to accom-
plsh this vital purpose to divide their vote
in given state we advise that they divide it.
The shibboleth of party must give way to
the shibbo1eth of self preservation.
2. The increase of mob and lynch law in
the republic must be a., source Of regret and
become source of reproach at home and
abroad We feel that this cancer on the body
petite is breeding for r. law
cent outbreaks Of Fit It in the carolinas have
shocked and disguised the nation. We regret
that the president of the United States saw
fit to treat with silence. this vital matter in
his second annual message, to congress.
Yet we indulge the hope that he will use his
good Offices to settle this matter to the salts
faction of all concerned and the honor and
glory of the nation. .S...- .l.....
8. The separate car laws have. grown to
such provoking proportions, and they are so
unjust degrading. and oppressive in their
operations that we deem it urgent to direct
attention to them here. We urge and advise,
in the interest of justice. and .decency. that
the graduated passenger rate prevailing in
North Carolina be substituted for the in.
famous system now in force in most of the
other states Of the South. 1t is principle
Of common law that a man shall pay Tor
what: he wants and get what he pays for.
Under the prevailing system contract made
in; New York with a railroad or other COM
mon carrier is not worth the paper it is
written on south OF: North Caroline. Is this
fair or just, or in accordance with common
or statute law practice in the United States.
contract valid in one state of the republic
should be valid in every state-with all other
citizens than Afro Americans 1T is.
A. In the interest of humanity. we request
that, the penal institutions OF the South be