Year: 1867

NAVE pLOtSu AOb OuiJ SluCC Ull0 war


but before and during the war, that
they were in favor of freedom for
all men, irrespective Of race or color.


There are those who would have
us believe that they are our best
friends who are not of the party to
which / have referred. They have
never proved their friendship to us
by any deeds of kindness for which
they were not duly compensated one
way or the other. The Republican
party has given for our freedom
three hundred thousand lives of their
best and bravest men. and thou


sands of millions of money, and
only ask of us in return, our support
I to secure to ourselves the gift thus
purchased. Now, what can [ say
for those late friends of Southern
origin, whose lands lie wasting and
spelling for the want Of cultivation
Have they hired hands and treated
them we'll, and given them good
wages and paid them punctuaily
Not only the idle hands in our cities
but the weed grown and deserted
plantations answer no! Have they
cut those uncultivated plantations up
into small lots, and offered to the
freedmen at living prices so that the
freedmen might feel themselves safe
in the possession of their own labor,
thereby adding to their country the
much needed supplies of food, and
giving an incentive to agriculture
Have they built and furnished free
schools at which our children can
be educated? Have they provided
for the poor and helpless Of our
race? / hear no answer in the af-
firmative: vet they say they are our
best friends and know our wants
better than any otherpeople. Well,
L don't dispute what they know, but
at the same time / know that they
do not furnish us with our eeds. :.


On the other hand, the Republican
party not only knows our wants but
meets them daily. Then we ought
not to be blamed for taking them to
be our best and most true and faith
full friends #


There was an old woman once
none the less a woman either, be-
cause she was truly black, and sit
ting in chimney corner-who said
that talk was talk, but it took the
money to buy the land. So think
friendship is friendship, but it takes
more than talk to make friend.


They try to make another point on
US, sometimes, by branding the Re
publican party as being proscriptive,
and that they seek to take away their
rights from one class Of men and
give them to another I can't see it
in that light. 1 feel satisfied that
wrong construction has been placed
upon the efforts Of that party.


That party means only this, that
every man shall own a home for his
family, where they may by industry
surround themselves with all the
comforts Of life and be happy; and
looking to this end, Congress has
passed a homestead law donating
eighty acres of the public lands to
every man, white or colored, who
wishes to enter and clear them.


The Union Republican party, gen
tlemen, which stands up for equal
rights for all; its highest object is
to secure all men in the peaceful
possession of their own property, to
augment unanimity and friendship,
and tare down the mighty partition
wall Of hatred and prejudice that has
been SO formidably built between
the white man and the colored. Yet
it is said that that party is using
means that will excite them in war
of races l have been with them in
" Washington, I have heard their de-
bates in the House and in the Senate,
| have talked with them privately
[ mean the leaders of that party
and / can speak frankly. and say that
I have heard nothing from any of
them but the best kind of advice
They tell us to dismiss the thought
of the wrongs that may have been
perpetrated upon us in the past; to
let the past die with the past; to
treat all men with respect, and pre-


pare ourselves to meet the resposi-


bility Of the present and the future.


They advise us to lose no time in


educating ourselves that education


not only of the colored people of the


South, but Of the white and colored


that all may share the advantages OF


a public school system. The freed.


MEN schools in our State are fair eX-
ponents of the fulfillment of their


promises. We have I30 schools in


the State, ;tlld nearly 10, Ooo schol


ars who are making fine proficiency


in almost every branch of learning
. This, gentlemen, is only a small
glimpse Of the light that will be sheC
by that party over this wholecount
ry say thot party because theil
opposers say faithfully that Coo
freed the colored man through the in
: strumetality ofthe Republican party
: That being an acknowledged fact. i
seems that it ought to be clear to th'
r commonest mind that if Gods hant
! is recognizable in this work, it i
r useless and serious loss Of time tt
r fight against Gods legions, for G OF
t has never failed to complete any jol
t that he has undertaken. This bein,
r clear and plain. we must expect tha
7. party to work the machinery ofthi
e Government until God says it
b enough hence, to my mind, it woul'


be wisdom to cease to contend owe
T. the ruins of the most fertile countr
: in Gods creation, Let every man g
e to work and help to build itup agai
g removing the dark cloud that no
overshadows her prospects and hide
e her beauty and wealth, that we ma
: rejoice to hear the sweet song