And I rejoice in the blessings which, through the wise legislation
of the Republican party, this policy has brought to the Nation. But
what does a man care about the tariff whose birthright has been taken
away. The question as to how the revenue for the support of the
government shall be raised should be considered a secondary issue
while the constitutional rights of citizens are being denied by the
Democratic party in more than a dozen States. The protection of
American industries, of American workmen and American homes against the
competition of the cheap labor of other countries is not worthy of our
undivided attention until that other American industry--the lynching of
Republicans for the constitutional assertion of their Republicanism--is
stopped; until it is as safe for a Republican to vote in Mississippi or
South Carolina as it is for a Democrat to vote in Pennsylvania or Ohio.
The Democrats claim that one of the chief causes contributing to their
overwhelming victory during the late unpleasantness, was the fact that
they kept prominent what they call
"THE FORCE BILL
Issue." And by this they mean that, in the South at least, the Negro
shall not be allowed to vote and have it honestly returned. In other
words, they appealed for votes on the ground that, if intrusted with
power, the nullification of the Fifteenth Amendment should be made
perpetual.
The issue should be squarely met. The Republican party stood for the
enfranchisement of the Negro when his cause was unpopular, when it cost
tens of thousands of votes to do it.
Perhaps it would cost tens of thousands now, but it would also call to
our ranks hundreds of thousands of liberty-loving, patriotic men. For
the American people have a conscience, and when it is properly appealed
to and thoroughly aroused, though they may seem slow in the formation
of their judgments, of this let all parties take note--_in the end the
American people will do right_.
If this amendment cannot be enforced it should be repealed. But it
would be still better if the law were so amended that whenever a State
excludes the Negro from the right of suffrage, the Nation should have
power to exclude him from the basis of apportionment. For, as it is,
the Democrats have between forty and fifty congressmen and as many
electoral votes, fraudulently obtained, with which to start, and with
such a lead as this, it is difficult as parties are now divided for us
to win. But the Republican party has never taken a step backward. Her
history is the history of the most glorious days of the Republic. This
question may be often set aside and obscured by other issues from time
to time, but it will continue to come up and plead for settlement, as
throughout the Nation it breeds injustice in a thousand forms, it will
plead until its pleadings are heard. The American people are slow to
anger, and for this reason their indignation when aroused is all the
more terrible.
The spirit which resisted George III., which put down rebellion and
treason and which gave citizenship to the slave, as well as that other
spirit which, with a magnanimity unparalleled, threw the protecting
mantle of the flag of the Republic about those who sought its
destruction; this spirit, I say, is still abroad in the land. The old
cry of
"NEGRO DOMINATION"
And "Negro rule" is a false alarm. History does not record a single
instance in which the Negro has attempted unlawfully or by force to
dominate this country or any section thereof. He has never plotted or
perpetrated treason against the Constitution or the laws. He has never
given his vote in support of any measure against the best interests
of his country and his countrymen. He has a keen appreciation of his
condition and his needs. The Church has more charms for him than
Congress; he is more anxious to go to school than to the Senate; and
now, thank God, under the changed conditions of these latter days, he
is striving with more diligence to provide a home for his wife and
children than he is to obtain a mansion in the skies. But, while this
is true, he is striving more zealously to wear a crown in the kingdom
of heaven than for the uncertainty of being a ruler in the kingdoms
of men. When the party of his choice has rewarded his devotion by
appointing him to an humble office, with the promise of better things
to come, he has been satisfied and remained as faithful as the old
woman who shouted every time she went to church. One day her pastor
asked her if she was happy every time she shouted. "Why, no, I'm not
happy every time I shout," she said. "Then why do you shout?" he
inquired, and she replied, "Why when I'm not happy I just shout off
the promises." Like her, the Negro is Republican in season and out
of season. Whatever others may do there are no factional quarrels
among the colored citizens. They are as incorruptible as any class of
citizens in the State. They do not sulk in their tents on election
day, nor at the polls do they conceal a razor in the Australian
blanket in order to cut any member on the ticket from the head to
the foot. Despite outrage and desertion and wrong, despite passion
and prejudice, as long as the banner of Republicanism bears upon it
such illustrious names as Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, Garfield, Blaine,
McKinley and Foraker with the principles which these names suggest, as
long as gratitude is kindled by the memories of the past, and while the
achievements of the present can give confidence to patriotic hearts, as
long as the star of hope sheds its rays upon the pathway of the party
of progress, bearing inspiring prophecies of victories to come, the
colored citizens of the United States will be among the last to desert
its standards or to let its sacred folds trail in the dust of dishonor
or defeat.
[Illustration: Decoration]