Year: 1867

F to be only temporary in their opera


tfon, and says:


cit is true that this military gov


ernment is to be provisional but it is
through this temporary evil that a


greater evil is to be made perpetual.


If the guarantees of the Constitution


can be broken Professionally to serve q
temporary purpose, and in a part on.


ly of the country, we can destroy


them everywhere, and for all time
Arbitrary measures often change, but
they genaralIy change for the worse


1t is the curse Of @despotism that il


has no halting place. Intermitted ex.
ercise Of its power brings no sense oil
security to its subjects, for they can


never know what more they will be


called on to endure, when its red right


hand is armed to plague them again,
nor is it possible to conjecture how OF
+ where power Unrestrained by law may


seek its next victims.


Estates that are still free may be
enslaved at any mOmeut, for if the
/ Constitution does not protect all, it


protects none"


He then proceeds to say that the


"manifest and avOwed object" of the


reconstruction measures is to give the
! political control Of the South to the


negroes. On this point we quote his
( argument in full. He says:


cit is m9niftstIy and avowadI Y the


object Of these laws to confer upon


negroes the privilege Of voting, and to
ldistranchise such number of white
/ citizens, as will give the former a clear
majority at all elections in the South
ern States. This, to the minds of
some persons, is so important that a


violation Ofthe Constitution is justified
/ as a means of bringing it about


Morally, the argument is false which
excuses a wrong because it proposes to
: accomplish a desirable end. We are
not permitted to do evil that good


may come but in this case the end
itself is evil as well as the means
The subiugatiOn Of the States to ne
gro domination would be worse than


the military despOtism under which


they are now suffering. It was be-
lieved beforehand that the people
would endure any amount of military
oppression, for any length of time,
rather than degrade themselves by
IsubiectiOn to the negro race; therefore,
they have been left without a choice.
Negro suffrage was established by act


of Congress, and military officers were
commanded to superintend the pro-
cess of clothing the negro race with
the political privileges wrested from
white men.


"The blacks in the South are entitled
to be humaueIy governed. and to have
the protection Ofjust laws for all their
rights Ofperson and property If it
were practicable at this time to give
them a government, exclusively their
own, under which they might man
age their own affairs in their own
way, it would become a grand ques-
tiOn whether we ought to do so, or
whether common humanity would not
require US to save them from
themselves. But under the circum-
stances, this is only a speculative
point. 1t is not proposed merely that
they shall govern themselves, but that
they shall rule the white race, make
and administer State laws, elect Presi-
dents and members of Congress, and
shape to a greater or less extent, the
future destiny of the whole country.
Would such trust and power be safe
in such hands? The peculiar quail
tiles which shOuId characterize any.
people, who are fit to decide upon
the management Ofpublic affairs for a
great State, have seldom been COM
bined. 1t is the glory of white men
to know that they have had these
qualities in sufficient measure to build
up on this continent a great political
fabric. and to preserve its stability
for more than ninety years, while in
every other part of the world all sim
liar experiments have failed.


But if anything can be proved by
known facts-if all reasoning upon
evidence is not abandOned-it must be
acknowledged that in the progress of.
nations, negroes have shown less ca
pacity for government than any other
race of people. No independent gov
ernment of any form has ever been
successful in their hands. On the
contrary, wherever they have been
left to their own devices, they have
shown a tendency to relapse into bar
barism. In the Southern States, how
ever, Congress has undertaken to con-
fer upon them the privilege Of the bal
lot. Just released fIOm slavery, it may.
be doubted whether, as a class, they
know more than their ancestors how
to organize and regulate civil sCcio-
ty. Indeed, it is admitted th2t the
blacks Of the South are not Ohlv re-
gardless Of the rights Of pTc1erty, but
their voting Gun consist in nothing
more than carrying ballot to the.
place where they are directed to de-
post it.


'I need not remind you that the.
exercise Of the elective franchise is the
highest privilege Of an American citi-
zen, and that when guided by virtue,
intelligence, patriotism and proper ap-I
pTeCiation of our institutions, it con-.
stitUtes the true basis of n Democratic
form Of Governments in which the SOW
ercign power is lodged in the body Of
the people. A trust artifcially Great |
ed, not for its own sake, but solely as
a means Of promoting the general vel |
fare, its influence for good must neces-
SariIy depend upon the elevated char
aCter and true intelligence of the eIec-
tors. 1t ought, therefore, to be impos-
ed on none except those who are
fitted, morally and mentally, to adj
it well; fO", if conferred upon
persons who do not justly estimate its
value, and who are Indifferent as to
its results, it will only serve as a !
means Of placing power in the hands
Of the unprinciplcd and ambitious,
and must evcntuate in the complete
destruction of that liberty of which it
should be the most powerful conserva-
tor.


81 have, therefore, heretofore urged
upon your attention the great danger