The Washington bee., 1903-02-07


labor for this great Republic.
The little log cabin IN the edge OF the "oous'
the stick chimney. the chatter OF the squirrel
the shrill notes of the red and bob white the ca"
of the Vagrant crow and the leap OF the sucker
and bass in the sunshine are as dear TO US as the
lofliest mansions and daring sports OF the whlte
man. Then why ask US to turn our back on the
crumbling homes Of our sires, the streams heids
and hills we love so well to become wanderers
over the face of the earth. Ishmaelites IN world
oflife. love and beauty. The coloTed man loves
his "hemestead" and even its mourntul surround
ings, and should he be forced by tyrant laws to
leave his native land he could well exclaim IN
the language of noted poet
In nook on the top Of the hill
Where my heart was as light as the foam on the
tide
When / sauntered about the old we'll
That stood on the banks Of the brook down the
Where it run,bled in musical how
Bnt, alas, shall never play there again
As played in the sweet long ago,
Farewell to the scenes and the friends that
In the morning OF life bright and fair.
Nv heart shall forever comingle with you
And my spirit shall ever be there"
Iincoln's proclamation broke the back of the
rebellion, and the Morgans, Tillmans. Bates and
Blackburns have never forgiven the grand old
,,artvr for wiping slavery out of the Republic
With A stroke ofhis patriotic pen and the thTus
% his cleaning bayonet But in the language o
. noted orator: "The laundering tones of the pro-
| clamation shall nevertheless 20 sounding down
,ba AGES and the Tightening fash of each SEN
| ,srce will eradiate the rugged road 1.-THE human
race and light up the darkest nooks of monarchy
The memory of Lincoln will live as long hu
ma, hearts pulsate with the love of liberty.
The Negro Of this Republic deserves and de-
r,apds equal Justice before the law ana consider.
ing the long night of his cruel bondage it is
-.u,,rL, ,bIe how far he has advanced in sing .
! generation in moving up the mountain top Of edu-
cation and prosperity. The Negro has never
asked for social equality, but all things being
equal where a colored man has the decency and
knowledge OF his white fellow citizen he should
have share in the responsibilities government,
in City County. State and Nation. Taxation
| without representation we know is tyranny, and
although this country contains seventy millions
of whites and ten millions of blacks. there are
not ten prominent coloTeo men holding oihce un-
der the national admiuistration,-One noted
brainy colored man to 4 million. Another sam
pie of the white mans gratitude and justice. The
Government through the instrumentality OF the
great Republican party gave freedom and the
right OF franchise to the colored man as lOgcai
sequence of the rebellion. knowing that he could
not maintain his liberty without the power of ihe
ballot.
You might as well throw man into the ocean
with his hands and feet tied and expect him to
swim as to ask him to climb the mountain OF pro-
gress and prosperity without the shield and ro-
lection of the franchise. II is The greatest power
in the Republic. for although man may be poor
in bullion and brain. if he has the right to vote at
local and tional elections. he still remains a
freeman. and compeIs candidates for office to so
cit his periodical support. and on his single vote
the destiny of State or Nation is often nodded
into administrative power The Democratic par
ty has never initiated or adopted any measure
for the liberty, education and prosperity of the
black man. and modern democrats are the natur-
| al enemies of our race. bearing US as much love
as the proverbial cat has for rat, the tiger for
the deer. and the lion |. the bullock
lfthe Republican party has not always been
able 10 carry into effect the three Constitutional
amendments for the freedom and uplifting of the
Negro what can we expect from our late masters
who nurse the iron scars defeat and bite the files
OF fate.
The black man is a tool a fraud or both. who
expects any official or material favOrs from the
Democratic party, aud everybody outside of an
idiot or a lunatic asylum knows that the political
privileges that we enjoy to-day were given us
through the generosity and justice of the great
Republican party. And we would be bastard
ingrates not to support the men and measures oi
the progressive party that has constantly endesv'
ored to advance our mental and material welfare
Prejudice. hate mob law. robbery, expulsion and
murder are dealt out to race in every South
ern State, and there is not week or month in the
year Dut that the wall and death cry of the Negro
IS borne on every breeze that watts its way from
the sunny South. Deportation will not cure tn,
ills we suffer. Justice and truth alone can mend
the broken promises, and blighted hopes we have
so patiently endured at the rough and bloody
hands of the Southern white man who. to-day in
defiance Ofthe constitution and law laughs in hi.
sleeve at the abortive effort of he government al
Washington to check or control him in his mad
career of persecution and injustice savage b,
nature and tyTaBt by art.
But nv brothers let US grid up our loins for the
future; extract knowledge from the garnered
wisdom of the ages, build up men and happ,
homes in this Republic for our children, and ther
with energy, honesty and economy we shall hav,
implicit faith in freedom and our God, KNOWN g
fui well-tbati
freedoms battle once begun
Bequsathed by bleeding sire to son,
+ ough bafied Oft is ever won i"