Year: 1865




Carolina.


The Wilmington. North Carolisa Rer-
aid, recently published an article about
the candidacy of Mr.. Pennington, eiitor
OF the Raleigh Progress. for seat As a
Delegate in the State Conv ention The
Herald said though Mr. Pennington was
ont '.squarely and boldly against giving
the ballot to the negro" vet he had ."un-
Intentionally. of course, not expressed
himself quiet full enough on this point"
Presently the editor of the Herald saws
that ''to be more explicit. it will be awk-
ward for MIR. Pennington ''to be called
upon hereafter for information regarding
the understanding he entered into with
AIR. Chief Justice Chase, in this city, in
regard TO negro suffrage at the next
Presidential election The Raleigh
Progress, of the 23d of June, contains
Mr. Pennington's reply. the maternal
portion of which is as follows:


Relative to negro suffrage, we said
TO Chief Justice Chase substantially what
We have said n dozen times in the Pro
gress we told him that our people would
be opposed to giving the right of suf-
frage to the freed negro, and that should
the General Government attempt to
force IL upon them, they would feel
aggrieved and mortiied-that should We
be forced to accept it, we should have
the union of States, without a union of
hearts. We told him that if left alone,
we thought the people of North Carolina
would be generous to the colored man,
and that if hereafter he should show
himself worthy of an extension of
privileges, they would not be withheld
that while the present generation might
deny them the right to vote, we could
not bind or shape the action Of future gen
erations. We expressed before Judge
Chase, as we do on all occasions, n kind
~ feeling for the negro, and advanced
the opinion that in educating: christian.
izing. and elevating him, the people of
the Southern States would elevate them
selves.


The free negroes voted in North
Carolina up to 1886, and we shall no
more abuse our fathers for allowing them
that privilege than we shall censure them
for withdrawing it and they may vote
again, but if they do so in the election
reorganizing loyal State Government,
or in the next Presidential election it
shall not be with our consent Freedom
may, and we hope will, prove blessing
to the negro. but it will be for coming
generations, and not the present, to
enjoy the fruits of it. We were much
pleased with Judge Chase, but in Justice
to him, as well as to ourseif we will say
that no understanding was .enterod
into between us relative to the matter
of negro suffrage, or any thing else.


We suppose the Chief Justice hardly
felt that he had the General Government
in his breeches pocket and we are sure
we had no idea that North Carolina was
in ours. The next Presidency was not
alluded to, and nothing fell from the lips
of the Chief Justice calculated to induce
the belief on our part that he was an
aspirant, or if so, that he was calcula-
ting on the negro vote. o


when the negroes of any Southern
States shall satisfy u majority of the
loyal white people of that State that they
ought To be allowed the rig ht Of suffrage,
and that majority SO besides, then we
shall say, let them have it but not until
then. And the coming generation Of
negroes may be able to do this, but we
have but little idea that the present ever
will


Judge Chase will not charge or in
sinuate that We held up any hope to him
that the people of North Carolina would
consent to the negro voting, now or in
the next Presidential election, and if
others so charge they do us injustice
When we appealed to Judge Chase to
know how the matter Of negro suffrage
stood in Ohio, he answered that the
negro was only allowed to vote when
it could be shown that he had more white
thap black blood i'm him. We said TO
him, Then you give it to the white man
and deny it TO the African, after all Z and
he admitted that it was so but he thought
the State would soon allow all freedmen
to vote, regardless of color. Wereplied,
Very well but that will be the action
of the State of Ohio, not Of the General
Government; and if You will leave the
matter to the people of North Caro-
lima, when they think the negro worthy
of suffrage they will extend it, and not
before Now, as to whether he will
ever show himself worthy of il, is
problem yet to be solved among us
Many of the Northern States, including
Ohio, do not consider the African worthy
of the right Of suffrage and they deny
it; and it would be unjust in them not
to allow us to manage this thing for
ourselves. as they do.


Eve told Judge Chase, also, that it was
our conviction, that if the negro were
allowed 10 vote the bulk Of them would
be influenced by leading secessionists TO
cast their suffrage against the govern
mcnt, for that for years to come they
would be largely under their influence,
as they would have TO reside on and
cultivate their lands. We gave him to
as we have all with whom
we have conversed on the subject, that
we thought it would be bad in policy. as
well as wrong in principle, to open the
ballot box to the ignorant, uniformed
md deprayed slaves Of the Southern
cotton, rice and sugar fields"