Year: 1867

But, says the democrat, you are giving
the negroes great power over the white
people. We are doing no such thing.
! We are only trying TO give loyal men
power over the disloyal. distinction 50
broad that even child can discern it. IF
| it was left to me alone, | would put a
gulf between loyalty and disloyaly so
broad and so deep that every rebel would
bury himself in it if he attempted to
steal across.


Next, they have holy horror of ne
groes voting. Well, we have allowed the
negroes to vote in the District and in
Tennessee, and we are not ashamed oft.


Who has heard of any bad results from
it in Washington? They have the best
set Of officers they have had In ten years,
and they are all white. Possibly they
would have been just as good IT they had


been black.


"But the negroes are ignorant. That
NAV be. Some are and some are not.
In my State they call me a negro suffrage
man. | admit it. | want everybody that
is dark conplexioned to vote. Laughter
and cheers. 1t is privilege that has
been granted to me, and l do Dot see
why it should not be given TO Others 1t
will not do to say nobody in this country
shall vote except intelligent people. The
pioneers Of. this country, settling IN the
lar West, had not the opportunities OF
education, aud they should not suffer dis
franchisement on that account, and if we
were to exclude all from voting except
the well educated. the Democratic vote
would be light in some places, This would
be a bad doctrine for the Democratic
party. You allow the negro, when tried
for crime, to have voice in selecting the
jury why allow him to select men to ad-
minister the law and not allow him to
help elect men to make the law? The
true doctrine of repubIicanism is that ev
cry citizen subject to the Government
shall be entitled to its privileges and ben
efts, unless forfeited by crime, | know
the strong prejudice against color, but
there is the hag of the country threaten
ed by traitor hands On this side of it
stands a man black as jet, with musket
in his hands, protecting its honor. On
the other side stands white. man, with
musket assaulting that flag, for the pur-
pose of destroying this Government
Change the scene !; An election comes on
and these two men go to the polls; the
rebel white man casts his ballot, but the
black man, who helped preserve the
Government, is turned away. ! ask any
fair minded just man. II lie can look on
such scene and not be ashamed OF his
Government for not allowing that man to
VOTE


But they object to negro equality. All
| have to say Is that If you send me
drunken Irishman to sleep with me at the
hotel, won't sleep with him, and If
you send a negro | won with him either.
That's my idea of equality. In illustra-
tlon Of this point. the speaker told
good aneedote; He happened to be at
Democratic meeting in Indiana, when
the oratordeclared himself opposed to.
negro equality. One Of his audience
Jumped ur and said MY name is Bill
Jones, and the yalIow gal that marrIes
me will get the worst of it, sure. and,
said Gen. Logan, | agreed with him ex
actly. But it is folly to talk OF negro
equality There is no such thing in this
country. especially north of Mason and
Dixon line There has been something
of the kind down In Democratic dlstrics.
and the speaker illustrated the fact by
reading an extract from the Legislative
Journal Of Georgia. The Legislature
was about to pass bill expatriatng all
free colored people from the State In
Savannah there are great many people
Of color-what they called people OF color
but many of them winter than most of
us-some of them slaves, but majority
free The bill of expatrlation passed to
a third reading, when petition was re-
cejved from Savannah, signed by nine
tenths Of the population, in words as fol
lows


"Whereas, the people of the city of
Savannah have understood that there Is
bill before the State Legislature for the
purpose Of expatriating the free people
Of color in this State, we protest against
it, inasmuch as a majority of those in
Savannah are our near relations. Great
cheers


1t was only among Democrats such as
these that the doctrine Of negro equality
had been reduced to practice. This was
subject the speaker did not like to talk
about. When he was Democrat he
studiously avoided it. Cheers. He was
either mum, or claimed to be an IRISH
man, and then they could not accuse him
of such principles. Laughter.


The General then addressed himself es-
pecially to soldiers, saying Your work
in the prosecution o. this war Is not end
ed. The reconstruction OF country at
ter rebellion like ours is more difficult
than fighting the war. 1t must be done
in such way that it will not again fall
into the hands of rebels You have tried
the Republican party. You know what
it has done under the most difficult cir
eumstances, and you know what it can
do | you had left the rebellion with
the Democrats to manage, your Govern
ment would have been destroyed, and If
you let its reconstruction fall into their
hands, there is no guarantee that it will
fare any better.


This brief sketch of two hours speech
delivered in the General rapid and over
powering manner, can do him but poor
Justice, and all who have an opportunity
to hear him at the different points where
he speaks should not fail to do so.


At the close of Gen. Logan's speech,
Chaplain Collins stepped to the front OF
the staging and proposed three cheers for
the speaker, three for the soldiers of the
Union, and three for the Government,
which were given with hearty good Will
and the meeting adjourned.