Year: 1865

/
on the present occasion. Some are salts
fed with the idea that States are to be
lost in territorial and other divisions are
to lose their character as States But
| their life breath has been only suspended,
and Il is a high constitutional obligation
IRE hare to secure each Of these States IN
the possession and enjoyment Of repub-
iican form Of Government. A state may
be in the Government with peculiar in
stitution, and by the operation of the re-
belion lose that feature; but IL acus a
State ,chen ii lcent into rebellion, and ehen
Il comes out pithom the igstitutiOa IL Is still
q State"


The question of colored suffrage, which
Mr.. Lincoln would give to the very in
telligent," and ''to those who serve our
cause as soldiers" is thus met by Presi-
dent johnson, in his address to the South
Carolina delegation, on Saturday last:


| will again say to you that slavery is
gone. Its status is changed Fhere is
no hope you can entertain of being adj
mitted to representation, either in the
Senate or House of Representatives, till
you give evidence that you, too, have ac-
/ cepted and recognized that that institu
ton is gone. That done, the policy adop-
ted is not to restore the supremacy of the
Government at the point of the bayonet,
but by the action of the people. While
this rebellion has emancipated great
many negroes, it has emapcipated still
| IN, u
Carolina that belonged to man who owr-
ed from one to five hundred slaves, thought
himself better than the white man who
owned none, He felt the white mans
superior. / know the position Of the
poor white man of the South, compelled
to till the barren, sandy, and poor soil for
a subsistence You cannot deny how he
was, in your eyes, of less value than the
negro. Some here in the North think
they can control and exercise greater
influence over the negro than you can,
though his future must materially depend
on you Let us speak plainly on this
subject too am Southern man have
owned slaves, bought slaves, but never
sold one You and | understand this
better; we know our friends are mista
ken, and | tell you that don't want you
to have controlof these negrovote against
the vote of this poor white man. re-
peat, our friends here are mistaken, as
you and knoH, as t., where the control
of that negro vote would fall. When
they come to talk about the elective fran
chise, | say let each State judge for it.
eelf. | am for free Government; for
emancipation and am for emangipa-
ting the white man as we'll as the black
man."


1t will be seen, therefore, that Presi-
dent Lincoln, while recommending that
'' the very intelligent negroes, and those
| who have fought for the flag, SHOULD vote
does not once propose that Congress shall
take charge of the subject. All is left
to the States President Johnssn takes
the same ground in stronger language.
lie believes if Congress could confer the
right of suffrage upon the South Carolina
negroes. their former masters would con-
troll them; and he emphatically declares
that he does not desire this to be so, used
as these votes would be against the poor
whites of the State, and for the benefit of
the aris.ocrrcy of the soil. might add
many other sustaining thoughts. The dap
ger OF giving to Congress the right to
regulate suffrage now is that it may be
used hereafter to enable mere party ma.
jority to oppress State or section. In
all the so-called seeding States, save
two, the white poF4laion exceeds colored;
and in most of them largelyso. The ewhite
people of those States, with almost entire
unanimity, are intensely hostile tc
the principle of negro suffrage. How
ever unreasonable Or unjust thrs hostility
may be, it is a fact which stares US in
the face, and with which the Govern
ment is compelled to deal. If in re-or
ganizing these States preparatory to theil
full reinstatement in the Union, the right
of the negroes to vote should be guaran
teed to tiiea by the interposition of the
General Government, would it not have
the effect of so uniting the white voters
in all elections, upon candidates of theil
own exclusive selection that the colored
voters, being in the minority, would be
rendered utterly powerless? Even il
the States of South Carolina and Missis
sippi, where the blacks are in the major
ity, it is by no meaps probable that at I
first election they would be able to rally
to the polls in sufficient numbers to out
vote the more intelligent though less nu
merous race 1t would take time for then
so learn that they had the right to vote
and even if aware ofthe right, they wouiC
scarcely have the intelligence necessary
to its exercise in any effective manner
If the effect would be 80 to unite al
white voters on the same candidates al
utterly to nullify the political power o
the negroes, would the men elected unde1
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