Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1901-12-20
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THE SUFFRAGE A

luz COuSIlLuOlOA 10 lnoo pCihS Puo -
shape, and this is the portion OF tn
constitution which seems to cauS
wider and more varied expression o
opinion and diversity of thought thai
any other. The opinions vary o
course as the party holding them i
affected by his politics. Ii one is
Republican, be usually rises in hi
wrath when ne learns that the consti
tuition will doubtless cut off the vote
of many worthless and ignorant ne
groes. If he be a Democrat, he feel
some indignation over an intimatloI
that there will not be that Limitation
placed on the suffrage which he, as
property owner and white man, thinks
should be placed there. 1t is no new
view on the part of the white people
of this country to hold that negros art
not their equals, that they are MOI
born equal any moro than they are
endowed with the same moral worth
or mental ability. These ideas are
not purely Southern, they have pre-
vailed in this whole land since this
e overnment first took shape, and they
will continue as long as it shall last
In the memorable debate between Lin
coin and Douglas in 1858. Mr.. Lincoln
took the ground, of course, that slave.
ry was wrong, but he did not argue
then, no matter what he thought, OF
afterwards expressed, that the negro
was the equal of the white man. but
he did hold that before the law "all
men were created equal and endowed
with certain inalienable rights by their
Creator, ETC."
Lovejoy, and others of that day,
went further, and by the time the war
closed the negro had been lifted very
far above the level of the white man
of the South in the eyes of many labid
anti-slayery people, not because they
believed he was above them, but be-
cause they had determined to force
such a sentiment, If possible, down
the threats Of the rebelliOus South
erner. This they have been unable to
do.
AS the day approaches when in Vir-
ginia there will be a limitation on
suffrage and a definition thereby of
what constitutes the real element of
citizenship, some of our home talent is
making itself heard in regard to the
superiority of the negro, and how good
a citizen he is, and how important, in
fact how 1t is ov~erturning nature to
say that he should not have the same
voice in public affairs as the white
man. We rejoice that these senti-
ments do not occupy the bosom of very
many white men, saw and except they
be the groveling politician.
In the debate referred to, MI. Doug
las held TO the following views, and be
being a Western man, thought as many
hundreds of thousands of white men
then thought. The views we print be-
low were stated on the stump in a
heated campaign, and when he express
ed them he did so without fear or
favor. They correspond with our
views OF today, they are the views of
most unbiased, intelligent white people
of this land now, and while many may
be too polite or too cowardly to say
the same things, they are nevertheless
evidenced by their every day actions.
Speaking of the bred Scott case Mr..
Douglas. who was then a candidate for
the q. s. Senate from Illinois. in ajoint
debate with Mr.. Lincoln, in part said +:
Mr.. Lincoln objects to that decision,
first and mainly because it deprives
the negro Of the rights of citizenship,
l am as much opposed to his reason
for that objection as l am to the OBJ
lection itself. l hold that a negro ia
not and meyer ought to be a citizen of
the United States. l hold that this
government was made on the white
basis, by white men, for the benefit of
white men and their posterity forever.
and should be administered by white
men and none others. l do not be.
lieve that the Almighty made the negro
capable of self government. | am
aware that all the Abolition lecturers
that you find travelling about through
the country are in the habit of reading
the Declaration Of Independence to
prove that all men were created equal.
and endowed by their Creator with
certain inaliepable rights, among
which are life, liberty, and the pursuit. :
of happiness. Mr.. Lincoln is yery
much in the habit of following In the {
track of Lovejoy in this particular. by I
reading that part Of the Declaration =
of Independence to prove that the :
negro val endowed by the Almighty l
with the inalienable right of equality e
with white men. Now, 1 say to YOU.
my fellow citizens, that in my opinion :,
the slgners of the Declaration had no h
either to the negro, the saw
age Indians, the Fejee, the Malay, or =,
any other inferior and degraded race, {
when they spoke of the equality of u
men. One great evidence that such +
was their understanding is to be .
found in the fact that at that time u
every one of the thirteen colonies was o
, slaveholding constituency, and we c
that not Il of them emancipat-
his slaves, much less offered citizen
snip to them, When they signed the 2
and yet, if they intended ;;
declare that the negro was the equal VI
the white man, and entitled by di- 81
zine right to an equality with him,
hey were bound, as honest men, that
lay and hour to have put their negroes az
N an equality with themselves. In @,
tead OF doing so, with uplifted ewes %
o Heaven they implored the divine N
blessing upon them. during the v
ears bloody war they had to fight "
o maintain that Declaration, never
roaming that they were violating di-
inc law by still holding the negroes in
ondage and depriving them of SC
tic
My friends, l am in favor of preserving III,
liz government az our fathers made 80,
. 1t does not follow by any means Ia
,of hoco ,,co q porro ;c no4 lin