Year: 1867

AhNNNN IL IL, l'ttiittSu thtl ti


blacks Of the South are not only re.


gardless of the rights of property, bu


so utterly ignorant of public affair


that their voting can consist in moth


ing more than carrying ballot to TIN


place where they are directed to de,
| posit it.


| need not remind you that til,


exercise of the elective franchise is tn,


highest attribute of an American citi


zen, and that, when guarded by virtue


intelligence, patriotism, and proper ap


probation of our free institutions, i


constitutes the true basis Oft demo


cratic form Of government, in which


the sovereign power is lodged in th'


body of the people. A trust artifi


cially created, not for its own sake, bu


solely as means of promoting thu


general welfare, its influence for good


must necessarily depend upon the ele.


waited character aud true allegiance O.


the elector. 1t ought, therefore, to bt


rcposed in none except those who arr


fitted, morally and mentally, to ad,


minister it well for, if conferred upon


those who do not justly estimate its


value, and who are Indifferent rs to it,


results, it will only serve as a means


Of placing power in the hands of tho


unprinciplcd and ambitious, and must
eventuate in the complete destruction


ofthat liberty Of which it should be


the most powerful conservator. have


therefore, heretofore urged upon your
attention the great danger to be appre.


hended from an untimely extension ol
the elective franchise to any new class


in our country; especially, when a


large majority Of that class in welding
the power thus placed in their hand
cannot be expected correctly to COM
prchcnd the duties and responsibilities
which pertain to suffrage. Yesterday,
as it were, four millions persons were
held in condition of slavery that had
existed for generations. To-day they
are troemen, and are assumed by law
to be citizens. 1t cannot be presumed
from their previous condition of scrvi-
tude that as a class they are as we'll in
formed as to the nature of our Gov
ernmcnt as the intelligent foreigner,
who makes our loved home his choice.
In the case of the latter, neither, a
residence of five years and knowledge
Of our institutions which it gives, nor
attachment to the principles of the
Constitution are the only conditions
upon which he can be admitted to cti-
zcnship. He must prove, in addition,
a good moral character, and thus give
reasonable ground for belief that he
will be faithful to the obligations
which he assumes, as a citizen of the
Republic. Where people, the source
of all political power speak by their
suffrage, through the instrumentality
Of the ballot-box, it must be carefully
guarded against the control of those
who are corrupt in principle and enc
mics Of free institutions, for it can
only become to our political and social
system a safe conductor of healthy
public sentiment when kept free from
dcmoralizing influences controlled
through fraud and usurpation. An
archy and despotism must inevitably
follow. In the hands of the patriotic
and worthy, our Government will be
preserved upon the principles of the
Constitution inherited from our faith
crs. 1t follows, therefore, that in adj
mitting to the ballot-box new class
of voters not qualified for the exercise
of the elective franchise, we weaken
our system of Government instead of
adding to its strength and durability.
| yield to no one in the attachment to
that rule ofgcncral suffrage which dis
tinguishcs our policy nation, but
there is a limit wisely observed hither-
to which makes the ballot a privilege
and trust, and which requires of some
classes time suitable for probation
and preparation, and to give it indis-
criminately to new class, wholly un-
by previous habits and OPP
portunities to perform the trust it de-
mands is to degrade it and finally de5-
troy its power, tor it may be safely as
sumed that no political truth is better
established than that such indiscrimi-
nate and all-embraciag extension of
popular suffrage must end at last in
its overthrow and destruction. 1 re-
peat the expression of my willingness
to join in any plan within the scope of
our constitutional authority which
promises to better the condition of the
negroes in the South by encouraging
them in industry, enlightening their
minds, improving their morals and
giving protection to all their just
rights as freedmen, but to transfer our
political Inheritance to them would, in
my opinion, be an abandonment of
duty which we owe alike to the mem
rry Of our fathers and the rights of
our children.


The plan Of putting the Southern
States wholly, and federal government
partially, in the hands of negroes, is
proposed at time peculiarly unpro-
,itious. The foundations of so ciety
nave been broken up by civil war.
Industry must be re-organized, justice
'e-established, public credit maintain
ID and order brought out ofconfinsion.
TO accomplish these ends it would re-
luire all the wisdom and virtue Of the
great men who formed our institutions
1 confidently believe that
heir defendants will bo equal to the
lrduous task before them, but it is
yorsa than t,,o1nara IN ovpaof that r,a- |