Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1903-03-06

thoughtless folly, in an evil hour, by
the combined agency of fraud ant
force, the Fifteenth AmendDent wai
added to our Federal Constitution
thus carrying us as far beyond right
and reason. in one direction, as slavery
had taken us in the other.
No white man believes in the Ff
teenth A mendmeDt, save as a theory
to be applied to some other man S
case. The loudest advocates or its ap
| pllcation to the South, stood aghast
when they met it face to face in the
City of Washington, IN the State OF
California. and In or new insular p; s
sessions. 1t is wrong in principle, it is
Impossible of enforcement where the
Inferior race it numerous, it is dem
oralizing to the negro, it is corruptine
to the white man; to abandon that
| ignorant and helpless race to their
Own devices and control, would be the
| greatest cruelty; to set them up as
rulers over the race that produced
! " asnIngton and Lee, would be crime
against nature, and sin against God.
The Southern people entertain not
the slightest animosity for the negro j;
they are, in fact, the best friends be
ever had. In this, their acts speak
louder than their words. In every
thing that pertains to his welfare as a
man and citizen, in his rights of life
and liberty in the acquisition of pro
perty and the pursuit of happiness, he
bas, for thirty-five years, enjoyed
more in the South, than he ever did
elsewhere in all this world. since the
morning stars sang together. His
condition in the South, today, is far
better, his opportunities for moral
and material improvement are far
greater, than in any other country
upon the face of the earth and none
of the rights guaranteed to him under
the Fourteenth Amendment, as it was
understood when adopted, are either
denied or begrudged to him there.
But, Mr.. Chairman, while all this is
true, still. in the South, just as every
where else ln the world, white men
are unalterably resolved that, come
what may, no black, red nor yellow
man. shall ever rule over them, or
their children. so long :as time shall
roll. This is the decree of nature,
which no human statue can reverse.
AS we'll try to set crows to rule in a
nest of eagles, or jackals to make laws
for lions. There is but one way to en-
able negroes to govern white men, and
that is to first kill all the white men.
God gave to the Caucasian his great
qualities of mind, his virtues and his
courage, in order that be might guide
govern and protect his weaker breth-
rem of the human race, and mitigate
the consequences of their vice and
folly. Just as be chose the Israelites
of old to be the custOdians of religious
truth, so has he appointed and, speci.
ally equipped the Caucasian race 10
guard and perpetuate the altar-fres
of civilization and progress for the un-
Interrupted maintenance of which he
will surely hold us responsible. Hav
ing thus delivered into our keepiEg the
ark of this covenant, it is not lawful
that we should abandon that holy trust
or surrender it's custody into impotent
hands.
1t is said that unsettled questions
have no pity for the repose of man
kind" and, as surely IS the eternal
principles of right and reason are de-
stined ultimately to prevail, just so
sure am | that the stupendous folly of
the Fifteenth Amendment, long since
CO idemned by Abraham Lincoln him
self, will yet be rectified by the great
voice of the American people.
But, for the time being, the Fifteenth
Amendment was an accomplished fact;
however unworthy and upwise, it was
the law of the land, and as such had to
be recognized and dealt with. The
Southern people accordingly determi-
n ID to give the negro fair trial as
voter, and God only knows what the
trial cost them.
Utterly impoverished as we were, we
schools for the education of the ne
groes, to which they practically con-
tributed nothing, and from which they
graduated only to officer the vast
army of blacks arraYed solidly and
persistently against the very men who
were educating them. We endeavOred
to implant in them some conception OF
the functions of Government, and to
impart to them some faint knowledge
of. or interest in, the political q questions
of the day, so that they might have at
least an idea of the effect of their bal
lots. AS proftably might we have
sung psalms to q deal horse.
Nosooner had the Fifteenth Amend
meut been proclaimed. than the me-.
groes banded themselves together in a
solid, impenetrable mas; aud, true to
the instlnc of their race, voluntarily
submitted themselves to, political
bondage, as complete as that from
which, without any effort of their own,
they had recently been liberated. This
black phalanx, officered by the worst
elements in the community, and man.
ned by their blind, unreasoning and
thoughtess followers, whom they
herded to and from the polls like
dumb, driven CATTLE" soon became a
menace to the very civilization of the
cOuntry. The necessary and inevita-
bio consequence of this hopeless COD
solidation of the negro vote, was the
creation, in the South, of white man 8
party, and a black mans party, which
slDgle issue, of white or black rule. was
SO immediate. so absolutely vital, 20
utterly overwhelming in its c0nse-
quences, that it simply obliterated all
Others.
Thus it was that the persistent refu-
sal of the negroes to accept political
freedom, forced the whites to abandon
it, and to blindiy follow the white
man y party, regardless of any and all
political heresies by which. for the
time, 1t might be dominated.
In obtaining recruits among South
ern white men, what inducemsnt could
any political party offer that was com
parable to sympathy and support In
their struggle against the black peril
a. their doors 1t was as if man,
facing in deadly encount er some terri
BILE and ferocious aulmal; should be
offered, by one friend, a tip on the
stock market, and, by another, a weap-
! ON with which to defend himself.
Could he hesitate which offer To &C
cppt? Would he insist that the man
Offering him the gun should first salts
fy him thst bis views on tiuauce were
sound? Such was the condition of the
S>uti EN- pc pie, and such was the
reason why the solid South Was solid !!
The negro has NJ aversion to the
political thraldOm that be has created
for himself. The same characteristics
that have caused him to submit with
out resistance to be enslaved by every
race that ever came in contact with