Year: 1869




stitutions as you or ], vested by ma
turo with all those qualities which
would make them fitted for all the
duties OF the State, and infinitely su.
} perior to the negro. Yet they are
, excluded There are more citizens
under the age of twenty.one years
than there are over that age They


have more interest in this govern.


ment, Senator's, than we have, for


they are to survive us and those who
elected us; they are TO defend the
Commonwealth in the near future /;


they are TO pay its taxes and admin
lister its government. Yet all these
are excluded and deprived of the
right But you affirm that the negro
defended The Republic in war, and
therefore be should be given the right
Of suffrage. If this be sound, why


will you not give it to the half million
OF white men between the ages OF
fifteen and twenty-one, from whose


ranks you filled the gaps in your regi-


ments during all Of the warg We're
they not as gallant, are they not as
Intelligent, have they not as much in
terest in your institutions as the ne
gro? Yet depriviDga Of these classes
Of this right, you are about to throw
open the polls 20 the negro. 1t is a
privilege, nay, a duty, and all cannot
be vested with it, Why shall we ad-
nit the inferior and exclude the supe-
riorg Why include the few and ex-
clude the manyy Why enfranchise
the less deserving and exclude the
more meritorious


Suffrage is political power vested
by the sovereignty Of the community
in chosen body Of electors" 1t in
wolves duties and responsibilities, and
it is our duties as members of the
State to place those responsibilities
and devolve those duties upon those
best fitted to operform them. 1t is the
right Of the mass Of the people TO be
properly represented at the polls, and
it is the right Of the Commonwealth
to be well served by her electors. Can
these duties and responsibilities be
best fitted by every member of the
community, or shall it be by a select
ed few Experience in every age has
determined the latter Whilst recog.
nizing the beauty Of the ideal right
we must not fail to remember the
practical. The right, as it can be OBJ
tained by human agencies, is only
that which is practically within the
reach Of man, having regard 10 his
surroundings and the circumstances
under which be exists, and no states
ran can surrender the dttaindJle good
Of the greatest number for the vision
airy and uRattaindble STANDARD Of per
feet right. Hence, those who framed
our government wisely excluded the
idea Of unlimited suffrage and confined
il TO a chosen body of white people.
In this we see and recognize their
wisdom and forethought, and from il
we may itly conclude that in the ex-
clusion of FIVE sixths Of their own race
they did not dream that these should
be made subordinate 10 the control Of
an inferior race, then and for years
previous a servilc people.


The whole question for considera
ton is, who can best perform the du-
ties required by the Commonwealth
at tho hands of her electors, and there
are no interests of morality, no inter
ests Of religion, no interests OF society |
that demand that we should mould /
the inferior with the mass OF the su-
porior, and thus debase the whole.


The interests Of a vast political |
community are at stake, and it is
wrong TO incur any risk, remote /
though it may be, in giving them the /
controlling power Of the government. /


The influence Of race upon National /
destiny can scarcely be doubted The 1
inherent nature. the intellectual, moral /
and animal qualities Of families of men,
largely aid in shaping the course and /
position OF the nation they control, or
Of which they form a part, and "all I
history in las ultimate analysis is a
history not Of kings and laws, but of /
races" This is one Of natures hidden 4
forces, silently working out its own /
great problem Ii isas true that man
makes the institutions Of which be |
forms a part, and impresses with all
Of his mental and animal propensities,
as it is that governments are made for
men, not men for governments. Our
progress is one Of the best evidences
Of the truth Of this proposition. Con-
trast the career Of the Saxon for six
hundred years with that of the Afri.
can for four thousand years, and see
in this the power OF race. Compare
the results Of the energy Of the eau
casian admixture rs found within this
Republic with the evidences Of the
energy Of The mixture Of that race
with the Indian and negro as found in
the Republic of Mexico, and discover
here, too. the influence Of race upon
National destiny.


We have proved our capacity; they /
have demonstrated their weakness.
We have impressed upon every por.
ton of the Republic the evidences OF
our intellect and energy. The busy
maris Of commerce; the thriving,rest-
less and indomitable millions OF our
people; the schoolhonse upon every
hill, the church spire wherever man Is
found the shrieking engine tracking
bill and dale and valley, and dragging
riches from the earth the college,
the telegraph and the factory; the ad
vanced requirements in every branch
OF literature, OF science and Of art
our wonderful increase Of population /
are the proofs OF our capacity, the :
majestic results Of a government Of
white men. They are the patents of
our nobility. the insignia Of our right
to rule. These, al OF these. prove to
Us the wisdom Of the policy Of the
founders Of our government; and it
should be our pride TO continue in the
career Of progress so auspiciously be-
gun Shall we jeopardizc our future
shall we initiate n new and dangcrpns