Year: 1867

their great desire for your intellectual and
i moral culture by prohibiting you by law from
learning to read or write; by making it a
criminal offence, and in some States peni


tentiary offence, to teach coiored man, wo


man, or child to read or write. 81 That's
so."] You must live in peace on terms of
kindness and justice with these people; but
when you come to bestow political power,


be sure to bestow it on your loyal friends.
[Cries of We WILL we WILL" and great ap-
plause If those who have not been your
friends and have not been loyal ask you for
your votes, you wust tell them to show their
faith by their works, and you must give them
time to establish to your entire satisfaction
the sincerity of their repentance. Applause.


Now l will tell you where your true inter
ests lie, and you understand this perhaps just
as well as l do--frst in cultivating love
and absolute devotion to the Union of these
States. 1t was the Union that gave you lib
erty, and the Union alone can preserve it.
| You must encourage and protect immigration
from the North and from Europe You must
encourage all men to come eamong you; and
when | speak to you l am speaking to the
colured people of all the South You must
encourage them to come among you, to take
up their residence with yon. They must
have absolute and perfect protection for life,
liberty, and property. Above ALL you must
encourage education. If this generation is
able to do nothing but to educate their chill
dren and prepare them for their duties in life,
| it will have done well. The intelligence.
the edr Location OF your children must stand to
them in the place of capital, in the place of
position, in the place of worldly advantages
! In the Southern States your late masters own
nearly all the property; but the colored
people by industry, 10y intelligence, and by
| low
portion of that property hereafter.


1 remarked in the beginning that there
was mysterious providence in all the events
OF this war Starting out to establish slave
ry and make it perpetual, and with the
declaration that slavery was to be the corner
stone of the new confederation, it has result
| ted in universal liberty and the acknowledge
ment of those great truths of the Declaration
| of Independence all men are created
eqnal and endowed by their Creator with
certain inalieHable rights, and that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap
pness. A war for slavery led to a waragainst
slavery. The attempt to make slavery i'm
mortal gave it its mortal wound. The con-
tinued disoyalty of the late rebels after the


war was over led to the necessity for raising
up new loyal population that SHOULD sus


tain the Government. The re- iection of the
constitutional amendment offered in 1856 as


Il basis of settlement to the rebel States led


to universal suffrage in 1867. Great ap-
plause.


And now the great example which has been
| set by the Congress of the nation in estab-
! fishing universal suffrage in the late rebel
| States must prevail with all the Northern
States where universal suffrage does not yet
exist. When the Congress of the nation has
giving suffrage tc the eolored men of the
plantations, it cannot be refused TO tho far
better educated and more intelligent colored
men of the Northern States. When the Re
presentatiges OF the Northern States have by
their votes conferred suffrage upon the col
Ored men ct the Southern States and of this
District, they cannot deny it to the small
number of cOlorcd men in their own midst
The question of universal suffrage in the
Northern States, therefore, can scarcely be
considered an open one. 1t viii be settled
in favor Of equal rights and of equal suffrage
in very short time, 1 have no doubt, in all
the States of the North, applause


Let me say to the coorcd men OF the Dis.
trict Of Columbia that they occupy favor
ed position They occupy responsible
position to their brethren on the plantations.
Bear in mind that you are far better educa-
ted here, as IL mass, and that your opportn-
mites OF learning are tar superior to those of
| NouI tIttI!Ecu NiJt)H lEc IjitnldltOuS. 1ou
must labor for their education and enliyht-
ennent. You must send your agents among
! them to instruc. them in their duties, and
| to prevent them from falling IA prey to the
men who but recently owned and oppressed
them. Applause. have no doubt that


you intend to do your duty by them. am
glad to see the enthusiasm that prevails


among the colored men of this District and


other portions of the country. 1t is an au
gury OF goAd results in the future.


do not desire to continue the bitterness


Of feeling that now prevails between the
loyal people and those who have been dis
loyal; would that all the wounds of the


Republic were healed up; but bear in mind
that you are not called upon, neither here
nor anywhere in the South to show your
willingness to forgive the injuries of the past
by elevating your old oppressors to office
| (Applause) You can show your willing
ness to forgive the wrongs that you have
suffered for generations in other means than
again elevating them to rule over you. owe
won't do it.'O


have already spoken longer than ex-
pected to do. 1 wish that had an address
prepared that was worthy of the occasion-
The great event that you celebrate, your
emancipation, must ever be the greatest
event in your lives, and the dearest to you
and your children.


You must learn to love liberty, not as
selfish possession, not simply for yourselves,
but to love it as a principle, love it as the
great Inheritance of mankind, without dis
tinction of race or color. (Applause)


thank you for the kind invitation to ad
dress you to-day.


Gov. Morton then retired from the stand
amid the enthusiastic applause and cheering
of the assemblage.


PAYING OF GOVERNMENT CLAIMs.-As |
one of the beneficial results of getting Ten |