Year: 1867

freedmen at living prices so that
the freedmen might feel themselves
safe in the possession Of their own
labor, thereby adding tothe coun.
try the much needed supplies Of
food, and giving an incentive TO ag.
riculture? 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 nc
answerin the Affirmative; yctthey
say they arc our best friends and
know our wants better5than any
other people. Well, | don't dis,
.pute what they know, but ,at the
same time / know that they do not
furnish us with our needs.


On the other hand, tho Republi
can party not only knows our
wants but meets them daily. Then
we ought not to be blamed for tax
ing them to be our best and most
true and faithful friends. '15't


There. was an old woman once
mono the less woman either, be.
cause she was truly black, and sit
ting in a chimney corner--who
said that talk was talk, but ii took
the money to buy the land. So i
think friendship is friendship, but
it ttakes more than talk to mako a
friend.


They try to make another point
on us, sometimes, by branding the
Republican party as being pro-
scriptive, and that they seek to
take away their rights from one
class of men and give them to anoth-
er. can't see it in that light. !
feel satisfied that a wrong construc-
tion has been placed upon the ef-
forts of that party.


That party means only this, that
every man shall own u home for
his family. whore they may BY in.
dusty surround themselves with oil
the comforts Of lite and be happy;
and looking TO this end, Congress
has passed homestead law donat-
ing eighty acres of the public lands
to every man, white or colored,
who wishes to enter and clear them,


The Union Republican party,
gentlemen, which stands up for
equal rights for all; its highest OBJ
ject is to secure all men in the
peaceful possession Of their own pro.
perty, to augment unanimity and
friendship, and tear down the
mighty partition wall of hatred and
prejudice that has been so formlda
5ly built between the white man
and the colored. Yet it is said that
that party is using means that will
excite them in a war of races, |
have been with them in Washing.
ton; havc heard their debates in
the House and in tho Senate; |
have talked with them privately
l mean the leaders Of that party
and | can speak frankly, and say
that havo heard nothing from
any one 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 re-
spect, and prepare ourselves to
meet the responsibility of the pres
ent and the future. They advise
us to lose no time in educating our
selves; 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
exponents of the fulfillment oftheir
promises. We have l30 schools in
the State, and nearly 10000 schol-
ars who are making fine proficiency
in almost every branch of learn
ing.


This, gentlemen, is only q small
glimpse Of tho light that will be
shed by that party over this whole
country. | say that party because
their cpposers say faithfully that
God freed the col6red man through
the instrumentality Of the Republi-
can party. That beingan acknowl-
edged fact, it seems that it ought
to be clear to the commonest mind
that if Gods hand is recognizable
in this work, it is useless and a Sc
rious loss of timo to fight against
Gods legions, for God has never
failed to complete any job that he
has undertaken. This being clear
and plain, we must expect that par
ty to work the machinery of this
Government until God says it is
enough; hence, TO my mind, it wo'd
be wisdom to cease 10 contondover
the ruins of tho most fertile coun-
try in Gods creation. Let every
man go-to work and help to build it
up again, removing the dark cloud
that now overshadows her pros
poets and hides her beauty and
wealth, that we may rejoice tohear
the sweet song sweet now, because
the colored man can appreciate it,
too-the song of "Thc, Sunny South,
the Land | Love "A Once more, my
friends, let me-. advise tyou1when
yougo to the ballot boz, go all to-
gether, for Union Republican mon
and principles, il you would do well.


1t is acknow ledged, as you know,
that God freed us; you know, also,
that the party that fought to estab-
lish the Southern Confederacy, new
er gave us any reason to believe
that they intended to set us free in
the event of success. Very well,
now, it seems plain to me that
whether the Federal armies fought