_Extract of a letter from Gov. WRIGHT, of Indiana._
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, _July 3d, 1850_.
_To the Executive Committee of the Col. Society_—
GENTLEMEN: Your circular, containing a copy of Mr. Bryan’s memorial, came
to hand a few days ago, and I have no hesitation in saying that Mr. B’s
plan, or any other good plan, of forming a line, or lines, of transport
to draw off our free people of color, will meet with general favor in our
State.
And some movement of the kind is much needed; for the youth of the free
States are growing up _ignorant_ of the merits of colonization, and
very _sceptical_ as to its final success. This has been produced by the
labors of men in the North who have never investigated the subject, and
who have poured contempt on all your attempts to colonize—they have
been too successful in indoctrinating the youth of the North. A want
of faith in the enterprise, or confidence in its final success, will
soon paralyze all your efforts in the North; for in a few years the
unbelief of our young men will become confirmed, and when they grasp the
reins of government, which they will do in the course of time, African
colonization will be discarded by the North.
The best remedy that can be devised for the above _ignorance_ and
_scepticism_, among Northern men, will be a bold and decided _movement_
on the part of the General Government, which will look directly toward
the separation of the _colored_ race from the _white race_, and the
erection of the colored people into an independent commonwealth.
This movement will confound the opponents of colonization in the North;
it will send a thrill of confidence through the hearts of all our
friends; it will compel the people to think and talk on the subject of
a national colonization enterprise, and it will compel each newspaper
in the land to speak out on the subject. Discussion is all we want, for
then we can make thousands of friends; in short, we can indoctrinate the
nation with our opinions, “and opinion rules the world.”
As to Mr. B’s plan, we are willing that he and his friends shall have the
monopoly of the African trade for a time; but that monopoly should be so
guarded as to make it a source of wealth to Liberia, and not a drain on
the wealth of that Republic, or be calculated to retard her progress. The
East India Company has been a stupendous leech on British India, from
which it has drawn untold millions, and under whose management India must
become impoverished, and made dependent on England.
The interest of colonization requires that we foster Liberia, and not
impoverish her. If Mr. B. is to be remunerated for his trouble, and
doubtless he should be paid, and well paid, let the American people pay
him, and not Africa. So plan the scheme that it will be the interest of
the free man of color to go to Africa, and this can be best accomplished
by making Liberia a wealthy commercial nation.
It would be well to blend the Colonization Society and Mr. B’s company
into one association, if possible, and procure liberal provisions from
the General Government, granting large powers for forming settlements
and trading stations on the coast of Africa; but having no power to hold
real estate in Africa, except a few acres at proper points on the coast
for factories, around which colonies might be established, which, growing
into states, would in due time take their place among the states of the
Liberian confederacy....
I know of no enterprise of this age that we, as Americans, should be so
willing to take hold of as one man, with nerve and energy, as that of the
settlement of Liberia.
As one citizen of this nation, I would be willing to make all my
contributions, and devote the last dollar of my means, to the
colonization of the black man of this country to Liberia.