Year: 1867

1--WE OF Coppelneau party ever done for the
colored people?


A. 1t has tried to keep them in slavery,
and opposed giving them the benefit of the
and the right to vote


Z. Why cannot colored men support the
Democratic party.


A. Because that party would disfranchise
them, and, if possible. return them to slave
ry-and certainly keep them in an inferior
position before the law.


G. With whom do the disloyal white men
of the South desire the colored men to vote ?
A. With the Democratic party


Q. Would not the Democrats take away
all the negroes rights
A. They would


@. Then why do they pretend to be the
best friends of colored men?
A. Because they contend they are fitted
only for slavery, or an inferior position, and
are happier in either condition
Q. How would it suit them to be served
| in the same manner9
A. They would not endure it. They call
| themselves a superior race of beings, and
claim they are born your rulers
Q. Why do they not do unto others as
they would be done by?
A. Because they are devoid of principle,
and destitute of all sense of justice where
| the cOlOreU man is concerned.
Q. Do all white people belong to party
which would treat US in that way2
| A. They do not. There are many who
have stood up nobly for your rights, and
who will aid you to the end indeed, all true
Republicans are snch.


@. To what party do the white people of
the South belong?


A. The larger portion belong to the De-
mocratic party.


@. Are the shareholders and the lead
ers of the rebellion members of that party?


A. They are and would not regard you
as having any right if they were in power.
| O. The colored men should then vote
with the Republican or Radical party?


A. They should, and shun the Democra-
| tic party as they would the overseers lash
and the auction block.


O. Has the Republican party ever deceiv-
ed the colored people?


A. 1t has not. While the Democratic par
ty has always been opposed to their free
dom, their education, and their right to vote,
the Republican party has always been their
| friend,


O. To what party do the leading colored
men belong?


A. Without exception they belong to the
Republican party.


O. What are the most. prominent prin
ciples advocated by the Republican party


A Equal rights before the law and at the
ballot box for all men without regard to race
or color ttiat is, that every man shall
have the same rights and liberties as any
other man:


Q. Does not the military Reconstruction
Act secure to US these rights9


A Yes, but you may yet be deprived OF
them if your enemies get into power.


Q. What would the people think if the
colored men voted with the Democratic
party2


A The people of the North would think
that they did not fully understand their own
rights nor the duties devolving on them :;
and the people of the South would proudly
say: 1--WE have always told you that the
negro did not wish to be free"


O. What use has been made of the money
which the colored people of the Southern
States have paid as lakes?


A. 1t has been used to establish schools
for achite children to pay the expenses of
making and executing laws in which the
J colored men have had no voice, and in en-
deavoring to have the Supreme Court set
aside the law which gives you the right to
vote.


Q. What are the Democrats using my
own money to take away my rights?


A. They have always done so, and will
continue to while they remain in power.


Q. Can this be right


A. 1t cannot, but it is what you have al
ways received, and such treatment as you
will continue to receive from the Democrat
ic party.


Q. Some people say that if we vote against
the white people of the South it will make
them our enemies and we will be destroyed.
Is it so?


A. This will not be the case, because
they will try to befriend you to secure your
vote.


Q. But they say that we shall be discharg
ed from work if we dare vote the Republican
ticket Will they do that9


A. You should remember that your labor
is worth just as much to the man who en-
ploys you as his money is to you.


@. You would advise us then to disregard
these threats and vote with the Republican
party?


A. Most certainly 1 would. Had you not
rather suffer. or even starve to death, than to
aid party to reenslave you? Remember
your former condition and avoid return to
chains and sIavery-"Giye me liberty or
give me DEATH"


@. The white people South say that the
Republicans of the North do not care for the
colored men only so far as they cen use them
to continue in political power. Is that true
A. 1t is not.


@. What is the reason that several of
the Northern States do not give US the right
to vote?


A. Chiefly because they have in the past
been controlled by the Democratic party. In
the Western States where what are called
the Z" Black Laws' exist, which forbid COL
ored people to live there, there are large
bodies of whites who moved originally from
the slave States, and carried the hatred and
preudices of slavery with them.


@. What has the Republican party done
in those States about such iawsi


A. Tried to abolish them as fast as it OBJ
tained powder 1t publicly advocates their
repeal.


O. Well, I am satisfied. You have clearly
shown me my duty, and shall impart the
information to my people


A. Let me say to you further, that the
Democratic party will use all means to get
the colored people to put it in power again,
but you must remember what has been its