Year: 1876

boring robly in our State for public edu


cation, without regard to color. | hav
every right in Richmond that l woulC


have in Boston. They are doing all fol


the colored people ia a benevolent wal
they can do. You know the late war laiC


It's withering hand upon the South, and


there are many poor people, both white


and black; notwithstanding, there are


many of the white gentlemen who have
contributed largely 10 mission work for
our people IN Riehmond and other places
IN the South. There are 81 900 colored
people in this city who are depending on
the whites for the bread they eat. Many
poor people of color would starve to death
here but for the kindness of the whites ir
giving them shelter and food. You ca


have no idea OF the trne conditisa u
things here. Now, in the face of all thess
facts, | donot think the white people ..
the South very dangerous rebels. Jus a
word about some of our troubles You
have heard much talk about "carpet-bag
gers" You have no idea the amount Q.
trouble these men have given US. Me-
who were of the worst characters in the
North, who were from the lowest haunts
of New York and Boston, men as bad as
crime could make them, who were negro
haters at the North, have come South and
taken advantage of the ignorance of the
colored people, aud have been elevated to
places of high trGst in our State govern
ments, for the sole purpose on their. part
to plunder the public. THIS same class
of men have arrayed tie colored people
against the whites for political purposes,
and when trouble coThes, desert them.
All the mobs which We have had in the
South, have been COTTON up by bad men.
| know we have some lawless white men
here, but the good people Of the South
must not be blamed for their acts. You
have them at the North with you.


This wild and fruitless contest has
been going on for years, and who are
the sufferers? The colored men, being
the weaker party, always lose ground,
and must at last go to the wall if the
fight is kept up. | know you in New
Hampshire may not see this matter as L
do, but | tell you that the negro of the
South must 60 under if the policy of the
last few years is to be continued. Now,
if the Home Missions Board discharges
me for these sentiments l regret it. but
cannot yield my honest convictions. l
am sorry | cannot make them see the
rightfulness of my position. You ask
me what the persons who have contribu-
ted from time to time for my support
would think. To this l would saw If
they understood my true position, tbey
would, think, make those contribu-
tions more readily than ever. The ne
gro is now passing through the most
critical period of his history, and his des-
tiny for good or evil will be sealed by
his action, lfhe arrays himself against
the white people, he must, sooner or
later, be ground 20 powder. There is no
natural antagonism between the two
races in the South; the whites and blacks
were born and brought up together, and
must live and die together. The late
trouble at Hamburg, South Carolina,
and other troubles we have had in the
South since the war, have not been the
result of any i'll feeling ON the part of
our home people, but are the result of
the action of bad men who have coma
South and kept up from year to year the
most bitter political contest, and have
used every effort to keep the white and
colored people from making friends.
Que of their principal means is the
wholesale use Of bad whiskey-also ap-
pealing to the very worst passions of the
Ignorant. No stone is left untnrned on
feelings of our poor people, which might
at any time be kindied into flame which
might result in bloodshed.


l only wonder we have not zen riots
where we bave one. Now, / say that
every good man in the South, white and
black, ought to Join hands and rid our
fair section from this terrible state Of
things. hope you will not misunder-
stand me these charges are not against
the good people of the North. We viii
give the most hearty welcome to any
good men of the North who may come
among us for good purposes. l think that
if you were to live here a few years, YOU
would take the same stand l have. We
have some men from the North who are
highly respected, but all of these take
the same stand, and are not the men OBJ
jected to. The 'colored men, If they are
to be citizens of this country, must differ
just as white men do on all the great
questions of the day, such as finance,
tariff, taxation, and questions of law.
trade, etc., etc. Until we arrive at this
point, We will be mere machines, and not
men in the true sense of the term. In
conclusion, l would call your attention
to the report of the Hon. B. b. Douglas.
of Virginia, On the freedman's bank fraud
and the speech of Hon. w. S. Singer of
Pennsylvania on the same subject. /
would also call your attention to the
large amount of money stolen from the
widows and orphans of the colored sol
diers and sailors, The District Ring,
and many other things might be mention
ed, but time and space viii not allow it.
The colored voter Of the South, as ruled


by the Radicals, has no liberty in the use


his ballot; which liberty we claim and


must have, or continue slaves. He


should be taught independence and self


reliance. Please answer me a few aues.


tions. Who should be the best Judge oi


the true condition of the Southern peo


pie, ], who was born and brought up in the


South, as | been, and served twenty-sev
en- years of my life slave (when a boz
= played with white boys, and know
there is no natural bad feeling between
the two raees), or yourself What car
you in New Hampshire or Maine know
Of our condition down here? When yoV
call our people ''rebels" you do them
great wrong. | believe the people 0


the South are as loyal to the Union a


those Of the North.


l ask you, as a Christian, do you thin
( it right to be constantly abusing tn
t Southern people? They have come bael
to the Union and fully accepted all of tn
!, amendments to the Constitution, with al
i the results of the war. The only reasOl
d why they have made such an effort to ge
= hold of their own State Governments is t
d protect themselves from the wicked plun
# derings and robbery of carpet-baggers
> and every good man, white and black
4 ought to join hands to emancipate ou
is section from this fearful state Of tbingz
b Remember that our homes In the Sout
2 are as dear to US as yours in Ne