Year: 1865

Reconstruction and the Elective Franchise.


The question which at the present time seems
to be engaging the attention of the Union party,
more than any other in the political calendar,
is the Que relating to negro suffrage. 1t is
claimed that considerable majority of the
members who will occupy seats in the next
Congress, and who were elected by the Union
party, are in favor of extending the right of
suffrage to the Negroes, and will probably sue
ceed in the legislation of next session to carry
this measure through. The States, it is true,
have the right to regulate this matter and de-
termine what the qualifications of an elector
shall be, but the Constitutions of nearly all the
Southern States, in express terms, do not dis
qualify the negro from voting, and thepresump-
ton is that the negroes will be allowed to vote
at least in those States whose Constitutions do
not expressly forbid it. The Abolitionists con-
tend that the Union party cannot perpetuate its
power without extending the right of suffrage to
the emancipated negroes of the South, and with
them, the perpetuation of power towers ahcci-'tg
every other consideration, country and libert;
are Insignificant things in comEarisou. The
negro vote is not wholly depended upon to car
ry the southern States for the Union party, for
there are besides, small part of the white pop
ulation tnat will vote with any party which. dis
burses the Government patronage. Gov. Pier
pont, of Virginia, the present Executive of that
State, was elected it is claimed by receiving
about four hundred votes. The votes that
elected him are supposed to have been cast BY
loyal men. 1t is claimed that these loyal men
in the Southern States, no matter how small the
number may be, should control the State gov
ernments and be protected in that control by
the military power of the General Government,
if that should become necessary. But, in order
to protect this sprinkling ofloyalty in the South
without the aid of such large standing armies
as 1t would inevitably take to keep the large
and diseontented majority of whites in subjec-
tion, it is proposed to enfranchise the negroes
who are certain to vote with and for the loyal
minority. The execution of this plan of recon
struction it may well be supposed, would con-
vert the southern portion of this great republic
into perfect pandemonium, sickening to con-
template and revolving to the spirit of demo-
cratic institutions. But there are only two
modes of procedure that would perpetuate the
power of the Union party, and one mode is to
control the Southern States by military power,
and the other is to give the blacks the right of
citizenship The latter is the policy which is
most likely to be carried out, as it promises
the longest lease of power and it is thought
would be less expensive. To keep standing
army of from two to four hundred thousand
men to hold the South in subjection, would be
a luxury that this government, now on the verge
of bankruptcy could not stand. But the other
luxury of having the government conducted up
on pure African principles, involves outlay
OF drain upon the national treasury, and be-
sides the felicity of the thing is more in conso-
nance with abolition ideas ofrepublican govern
ment. We are speaking only of the manner in
which the Union party propose to administer
the government ana bind up the national
wounds Reconstruction, and everything that
pertains to government is in the hands of the
Union party, and it is for that party to propose
and dispose of public questions. The Opposi-
ton party is in the minority, respectable in
numbers, but without influence in respect to the
legislation of the country, and of as little i'm
portanco practically as if it had no existence in
fact So that all questions and measures which
are to be met and disposed of for the next year
or two of any national Importance, will be dealt
with exclusively by the Union party, and that
party alone will have to bear whatever of odi-
um or glory attaches to its conduct of public af-
fairs. m


The Marysville Appeal, one among the jour-
nails on the Pacific slope which have "arose su-
perior to the prejudice against color, faVors
negro suffrage 1t still confesses to) slight
prejudice-just enough to advocate negro suf-
rage with hearty good will, as matter OF ne
cessity to control the politics of the Southern
States. In its issue of May 9th, in long article
upon the elective franchise subject, it maintains
the doctrine openly that the blacks should be
enfranchised. We make few extracts from
the article


,"No one denies but that the black soldiers
have fought bravely in support of the Govern
ment, but many think they would not vote IN
diligently if enfranchised. We have strong eY-
idence that the majority of them would so vote
by the manner the right is exercised where en-
lOyed by few. Ihe negro U0fe OF NeU IoTh tSe-
fsateG HoradO Seymour for GoDernor and gave
the State to Lincoln. Though we have sat on !
the same bench at schools with colored boys, |
and voted at the same polls with colored men, |
we still confess a prejudice against color. The
fact, however, that the colored people defeated
that internal traitor, Horatio Seymour, removes
load Of prejudice.


The Appeal after thus admitting that New
York would have gone for the Democracy had it
not been for the colored vote, goes on to give
its reasons why the elective privilege should be
extended to the darkeys Of the South:


"Uniess the elective franchise is extended to
the intelligent blacks in the seeded States, we
fear the Constitutional Amendment abolIshng |
slavery will be lost. On this point speech OF
NJ. B. Lowry, in the Pennsylvania Senate, hits |
the question. He says: 4 consider this mat
ter of the enfranchisement of the negro to lie at
the very foundation of the whole question OF !
the reconstruction of the rebelious States. The
colored people Of the South are universally the
true friends Of the Government. Their loyalty
can never be questioned; their fidelity to the
flag can always be relied on. THEY ARE THE