Year: 1867

ne democratic nina mas drawn COM
fort, for years, from the reflection that
there was one class ofhuman beings in
ferior to Democrats, in at least one par
ticular-the Niger could not vOte.


The frantic condition of the party as
"the last link is broken which bound"
the colored person to this lower deep,
is something awful to look upon.


The coIored man has been shut out
from our schools; in some States it has
been made Penitentiary offense to
teach him even to read the word of God;
he has been taxed for the support of a
government which not only gave him
no protection, but gave all lis power to
his oppression; he has for ages been
shut out from all advantages of whatever
kind, political, civil, or social; the high
er walks of skilled labor, the professions
and the arts have been closed to him;
every effort that ingenuity could devise
has been made to degrade him, besot
his mind with ignorance, and imbrute
him. yet the moment an effort is made
to place in his hands the ballot, with
which to prevent himself from being
misgoverned, the Democratic party
raises the shout-"The Radicals in favor
of Negro Suffrage! A nigger better
than a White Man! Our Daughters to
marry Niger Husbands"


(We would willingly leave such Bill
ingsgate TO the privacy ofthe Demo
cratic journals, but even dirt must some
times be shoveled out of the way, in the
work of progress.)


Now, what do all these cries of the
Democratic party mean, if they are not
a confession ofinferioriiy to the colored
race, measuring man by man, as God
created menl What can they mean,
except that the Democratic party-the
tchite mans party, as they are fond of
calling it-fostered by power, and edu-
cation Ito limited extent), and preju-
dice, and sustained by all the influences
Of caste and pride of race, is afraid to
come in competition, on fair and equal
terms, with the lowly and oppressed
race which has been ground down by
centuries of oppression to the level of
personal properlyl


If the mere right to vote is sufficient
to raise a negro above the level of a
Democrat, aud endanger the celibacy of
Democratic maidens, is it not sufficient
proof that we have tarried too long in
gifting a race Of such noble capacity
with he elective franchise? If the ne
gro, distranchised, uneducated, des-
pissed for generations, can by this simple
expedient be raised to the pinnacle Of
superiority to the noble Caucasion, the
favorite Of government, educated at the
expense of the people, and idoliZed by
all, does it not show oulpable injustice
and impolIcy in any government, to
keep such a people down another day3


We are discussing this question now
from the Democratic standpoint. We
believe in our inmost soul that the white
man is the equal of the colored man,
and able to compete with him success
fully on equal ground. We deny that the
giving of the elective franchise to the
negro will make "better" than the white
man. We feel willing to trust any Of
our female friends TO decide thequestion
for themselves whether they win marry
colored men or not. We havefno fears
that the foundations of society will be
broken up, or our political system suffer
q shock, or anything except the Demo-
cratic party be destroyed, by placing
colored men upon a political equality
with other men. .--Colttv,bts Journal