The colored American., 1900-05-26
Tnn Uor0KRD AMERICAN. WARRINGTON, :. :.
i'll remain while the Constitution


itself stands.
why divert attention and force from
something that can be done, to something
that can not be done?
In saving what [ have, 1 would not con-
vey the impression that mere law can
make one individual equal to another. NO
law can make ignorance equal with lntelll-
gence The feet do not rule the head,
simply because there are two OF them.
What the negro does ask is equality OF op-
portunity, that the door which rewards and
encourages virtue, intelligence, thrift, econ
omy, usefulness, the possession of property,
be kept wide open to the humblest black
man from one shore of this continent to
the other.
Close this door against negro now, and
within few years the temptation Will be
to close it against q class of white men,
The minute you recognize law which
taxes a negro for support of government
and denies him the opportunity to make his
wishes felt at the ballot box that minute
you begin to undermine our whole theory
of government and throw to the winds the
principles for which the revolutionary war
was fought.
To Preserve a Republic.
The minute you deprive one-eighth of the
population of the right of franchise, by
reason of the accident of birth and race,
that minute this country ceases to be a re-
public.
1 stand today where have always Stood
advising my race that in their present con-
dition it is a mistake for them to enter
actively into general political agitation and
activity; but when the foundation of ouI
citizenship is attacked L think 1 have a
right to speak, and 1 speak here in the
same spirit that L have already spoken II
the heart of the south.
It is to the interests of the southern
white that there shall not be one law which
can be made to apply to the white man
and another to the negro. Take away from
the hope of reward, that the use Of the bal
lot holds and you produce state OF stag
nation, ignorance, crime, corruption A
people thus deprived of hope of reward be-
comes an eternal milestone about the neck
of the body polite.
Any subterfuge, any makeShift in the
form of law that gives the ignorant white
man a right to express his wants at the
ballot box and WithhOlds the same prtVi-
| lege from the ignorant negro, is an lnJus-
| tice to both races. In most cases sucf
| laws give the negro the incentive to pre-
pare to become a voter by getting prop
erty and intelligence, but says to the Wh1tt
man in so many words remain in ignorance
and poverty, and a way will be found fol
you to exercise the franchise. No question
is ever settled till settled right, till settled
| by the absolute immutable laws of justice.
Qualified Suffrage the Way Out.
In this matter there is but one way Out
| of our difficulties in the south, and thai
| is for each state that finds it necessary
| to change it's constitution to make an cleo
ton law, excepting possibly the soldiers
who fought on both sides in all wars, that
| shall be based on intelligence, or poverty
| or both, that shall apply every day in the
year, honestly, squarely, fearlesSly to both
races.
Surely if the negro is willing to meet this
test the white man should not shrink from
| it.
In closing, may repeat a thought with
which l began, 1t is my faith that the
matchless combination of the northern
white men and southern white man and
black Americans who during three centuries
have exhibited virtue, patience, wisdom
| SKILL physical power and perseverance
enough to clear the forests, build the rail
roads and highways, tunnel the mountains
plant the cities, defeat foreign foes and eS'
tablish a system of schools and churches
that has made ours the most inviting cOun-
try known to man, [ say the forces thai
could achieve these results will not be baf-
fed or defeated in the settlement of ouI
race problem.
No, there will be no race war. Race wars
have been predicted in this country fol
three centuries, and the first has not Oc-
Cured.
The main weapons of defense used by the
negro have been the hoe, the shovel, the
plow, the pick, the school, the church, kind
ness, forgiveness, meekneSS, his fOreday
prayers, his midnight grOans, his songs and
an inherent faith in the justice of his
cause.
The Caucasian in the south needs the
negro, the negro needs the Caucasian. The
black man has gotten much from the white
man. The white man has gotten much from
the black man.
Judge Us by Our Best.
We must teach the white man to judge us
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