American citizen. (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, October 23, 1867, Image 1

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    VOLUME 4.
ftoetrg.
For the Cltlxen.
TWENTY YEARS AGO.
When I look back iomi twenty yean,
To kcenei that bare passed by,
I think of those I oft ha»e
The tear atarta in my eye!
All my companion* then were email--
A happy ban*! wore uto,
Ae then we ell together played
Beneath the old Birch tree.
Bnt where are now my coniadee£one;
"Wbere may they now befOued?
Some of ♦hem in the churchward Me,
Low, mouldering id the ground !
Some hearkened to their Country's call,
When it in danger stood,
And lif«leee from the field were home,
All crimsoned o'er with blood t
And wme proclaim theOoepel souad
Toaicaer* of mankind.
While otfcer*, various trades pursue ,
Gcsgsnisl to their mind.
It Is a end and tfrtlemn thought.
But yes, ':ls even so :
We never more shall meet ftfain
As twenty year* ago J
But then, a day Is eoraingftut.
Wherein we all must meet.
To give In o«r account at last
Aronnd the Judgment eeat.
Oh, may we all be well prepared
For such tf scene as this,
That Heaven may be our final home,
Our portion, endless bline
PmoiPECT, Oet. fr, 1H17.) M.
|HisCcHniUoUfi.
CIVIL RIGHTS BILL
Opinion of Chief Justice Chase.
THE LAW CONSTITUTIONAL.
BALTIMORE, October 10. —In the Uni
ted State* Circuit Court, yesterday, a
hearing wa* had before Chief Justice
Chose upon the petition of Elizabeth
Turner, colored, by her next friend Chas
H. Minaky, addressed to the Ron. Sal
mon P. Chase, Chief Judge of the Cir
cuit Court ot the United States, and for
the Maryland District. The petitioner
alleges that she is the ehitd of Klisabeth
Turner; that ahe ii restrained of her
liberty and held io custody by Philemon
T. Hamble'on, of Talbot county, Mary
land, in violation of the Constitution and
laws of the Uaited States ; also that the
petitioner is restrained of her liberty by
▼irtue of certain alleged indentures of
apprenticeship made not in accordance
with the laws of the State of Maryland,
as applicable to the binding ot white
children.
The petitioner prays this Court for a
writ of hab'at rnrjmt,^ id dressed to said
Hambleton, requiring him to produce in
court the person of the petitioner, and
Certify the true cause of her detention,
and to show cause, if any he has, why
petiiioner should not be discharged.—
[Signed by H. Stock bridge and Nathan
M. Pusey, attorneys for petitioner.]
The petition was filed September 20th,
and indorsed, " Writ granted as prayed,
Returnable October 15th, 1867.
[Signed,] " S. P. CHASE,
" Chief Justice of the United States."
The master, P. T Hauibleton, made
the following return to the writ: "In
obedience to the commund of the within
writj I herewith produce the body of
Elisabeth Turner, together with a copy
of the indenture of apprenticeship, show
ing cause of her caption and detention,
aud respectfully await the action of your
honor."
The petitioner appeared by counsel.—
The Chief Justice inquired of the res
pondent if he had counsol in Court. He
replied in the negativo, and said he would
let the matter be se'tled by the court.—
The Chief Juatice stated he would pre
fer that the case should be fully argued.
The respondent stated that the child and
ita mother were formerly his slaves, and
were set free by the constitution, which
went into operation is November lit,
1864. The child waa apprenticed No
vember 3, 1864, two days after she was
emancipated. The law of Congress call
ed the Civil Rights Hill was passed since
the child was indentured, April 9th, '66,
and everybody told him that the law did
hot interfere with this case.
The Chief Justice aaid the questions
In the case will be crave and important;
that he wished to be advised by argu
ment of counsel on the part of claimant.
He woald adjourn the Court until to-day
•t 9 o'clock, in order to give claimant or
any other person interested in the decis
ion an opportunity to appear. If io per
son appeared, he would dispose of the
case. The Court convened at 9 o'clock
this morning, when the Chief Justice de
livercd the following decision :
The petitioner in this cose seeks relief
fiom restraint and detention by Philemon
T. Hambletcn, of Talbot counay, in Ma
ryland, in alleged contravention of the
Constitution and laws of the United
States. The facts as they appear from
the return made by Mr. Hambleton to the
writ, and by his verbal statement made
in Court and admitted as part of the re
turns, are substantially as follows : The
petitioner, Elisabeth Turner, a young
person of color, and her mother were,
prior to the adoption of the Maryland
Constitution of 1864, slaves of the re
spondent ; that Constitution went into
operation November Ist, 1864, and pro
hibited slavery. Almost immediately
thereafter many of the freed people of
Talbot eounty were collected together
under some local authority, the nature of
which does aot clearly appear. The
younger persons were bound as appren
tices usually, if not always, to their last
masters; among others, Elisabeth, the
petitioner, was apprenticed to Hamble.
ton by an indeuture dated qn the 3d of
November, two days after the new con
stitution went into operation. Upon
eoKpariog the terms of this indenture,
whifl h is claimed to have been executed
AMERICAN CITIZEN.
under the law of Marylaud relating to
negro apprentices, with those required by
tho law of Maryland in indentures for
tbe apprenticeship of white persons, the
Variance is manifest. Tbe petitioner un
der this indenture is not entitled to any
education. A white apprentice must be
tanght reading, writing and arithmetic.
The petitioner is liable to be assigned and
transferred at the will of the master to
any person in the satire county. Tbe
white apprentice is not ftfeble to the au-i
thority uf the master. The petitioner is
described iu the law as a property and
interest; no such description is applied
to the authority over a white apprentice.
It is unnecessary to mention other par
ticulars.
Such is the case I regret I have been
obliged to consider without the beuefit of
any argument in support of the claims of
the respondent to the writ, bnt I have
considered it with care and an earnest de
sire to reach right conclusions. For the
present I will restrict n>yself to a bHef
statement of these conclusions without
going into the grounds tor them. The
time do«s not allow more. The follow
ing propositions seem to me to be sound,
aod tbey decide the case :
First, The first clause of the thirteenth
Amendment of the Constitution of the
United States, interdicts slavery or invol
untary servitude, except as a punishment
for crimes, and establishes freedom as
the constititional right of all persons in
tbe United States.
Second, The alleged apprenticeship in
the present case, is involuntary servitude
within the meaning of these words in the
amendment.
Third, If this were otherwise ( the in
denture set forth in the return does not
contain important provisions for the se
curity aod benefit of apprentices, which
are required by the laws of Maryland iii
the indenture of white apprentices and
therefore in contravention of that clause
of the first section of the civil rights law,
enacted by Congress, April 9th, 1866.
Fourth, The law having been enacted
under the second clause of the thirteenth
the enforcement of the first
clause of the same amendment is consti
tutional, and applies to all conditions pro
hibited by it, whether originating in
transactions before or since the amend
ment.
Fifth, Colored persons equally with
white persons are citizens of the United
States. The petitioner, therefore, must
be discharged from restraint by the res
pondent.
[Prom the Columbia (Ohio) Journal.
Democratic Orator Confounded.
We are informed that •x village in one
of the " backbone" Democratic counties
was tho scene of a funny incident a few
eveuiags tiuce, whereby a Democratic ora
tor was utterly confounded and brought
to grief by men of bis own party. The
circumstances are as follows:
lie had told them how the rich bond
bolder had reduced them to slavery in
despite of tbe efforts of the Qoddess of
Liberty and several other personages,
both human and celestial, till then un
known to the audience. lie quoted ex»
tensively from George Francis Train's
| " demagogue" speech, and among other
things the following :
" Work! work! work !
From the dawn to the dunk of day,
Per your h«p«e ore crmhad with a weight of debt.
That the toil of your life won't pay F"
Having wrought up his hearers almost
to mutiny, he left that branch of his sub
ject, and proposed to show up some of
(he Republican leaders, beginning with
Ben Wads. '• Why, fellow citizens,"
said he, •' there is Hen » ade, a regular
agrarian, *»ho wants all the property di
vided so that every man will have an
equal share." [Thundering applause,
and cries of " Bully for him ." "That's
the ticket!" " He's the man for me!"]
" Why, fellow citizens," said he, 14 Ben
Wade is a Radical aud an agrarian ; he"
—[Deafening applause, and yells of
" Good for the Radicals !" " Bully for
the 'grarianx !"]
The speaker was thunderstruck. Evi
dently, his hearers had never heard much
of Ben Wade and the Radicals. They
had been well stirred up against the rich,
and they thought that radicalism was a
species of detnocrscy, of which Ben Wade
was the champion.
" Gentlemen—fellow citiaens," contin
ued the speaker, " I don't think you ex
actly understand me. Ben Wade is the
Vice President, elected by the Radicals,
and he is himself \ Radical, and an
agrarian land pirate to boot. Why, what
do you think ! He proposes to take the
rich man's property, for which he toiled
in early life, and givs it to those who
hate no property, even to those who do
no work. What do you—"
A voico J " Three cheers for Ben
Wade!"
And in spite of all that two or three
village leaders, candidates for constable
and supervisor, could do, the crowd gave
three thundering cheers for Ben Wade
and the " 'grarians." The orator, fiud
ing that he had got on the wrong track,
abruptly brought his remarks to a close.
A lie, in that instance, made Ben Wade
several friends, y*t wo scarcely feel like
congratulating him on the acquisition.
CHEERFULNESS. —A woman may be of
great assistance to her husband in busi
ness, by wearing a cheerful smile upon
her countenance. A man's perplexities
and gluominess are increased a hundred
fold when his better half moves about
with a continual scowl upon her brow.—
A pleasant, cheerful wife is a rainbow
set in the sky when her husband's mind
is tossed with storuts and tempests; but
a dissatisfied and fretful wife,in the hour
of trouble, is like one of those fiends who
are appointed to torture lost spirits.
"Let us have Faith that Right makes Might; and in that Faith let us, to the end,dare to do our duty as we understand it"—A. Lmrfotw.
BUTLER, BUTLER COUNTY, PENN'A, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1867-
SUSPENSION DURINGINPECH
MENT.
The President is reported to have said
to a Tennessee friend that if Congress
should impeach him and attempt to sus
pend him daring the trial he would re
sist. He would endeavor to justify such
a coutse, probably, upon the ground that
the Constitution—which is so preeions
to him and to the Democratic allies and
apologirts of the rebellion—provides for
the removal of the President only on
conviction. But if Congress, upon as
sembling. should pass s law providing
for the suspension froe their functions
of all impeachment of the Government,
from the moment of impeachment until
the end of the trial, what then ? The
Presidest would, of course, veto the bill;
Congress would pass it over the veto,
and it would become the law of the land.
Would Andrew Johnson then undertake
armed resistance to the law ?
Undoubtedly he would if he thought
he should be supported, and very pos
sibly he would be remembered that the
President is not only an ignorant, obsti
nate and pass'onate man, but—if com
mon report may be ttustcd—he is an in
temperate man. It has been publicly
Btated that he intended to relieve Gen
eral Grant and make General Frank
Blair Secretary of War. Now the hab
its of General Blair are notorious. Jer
emiah Black is tho President's confiden
tial adviser, and Jeremfah Black is a
patriot of the school of Fernando Wood
and Robert Toombs. It is idle to sary
that such men will not dare to do this or
that. They will dare to do any thing.
They would undoubtedly prefer the form
and letter of law, but they conld very
readily devise any pretext. Thero can
be no more stupendous folly, with our
recent experience,than to insist that it is
a mere partisan trick to say that vio
lence is very possible and probable upon
the part of the President.
He is besotted with the notion that it
is his busines to defend what he calls
the Constitution—in other words, certain
theories of his own—against Congress.—
Now as a mat er of fact, under the Const! %
tution there is no power whatever lo op
pose the action of Congress, when the
veto has t<een outvoted. To the extent
of the veto the President has a constitu
al check upon Congress Beyond that,
he is as powerless as the man in the
moon. When, in opposition to his veto
and by tho Constitutional provision, the
will of Congress has become law, the
sole constitutional duty of tho President
is to take care that it be faithfully exe
cuted in such manner as Congress may
have appointed. The President may
think that it is a law destructive of the
Government, of civil liberty, and of the
rights of human nature. But under the
Constitution, when he has vetoed it in
vain, he must see to its faithful execu
tiou or resign. If he will do neither—
if he remains merely an incumbrance
and paralysis upon the law—Congress
may, at its pleasure, constitutionally pro
ceed to impeach him for high misde
meanor.
The truth is, that, under tho Consti
tution, Congress, when it has a two
thirds majority against tbe President, is
the really superior and supreme branch
of the Government; and the only final
check ot its action is not the will of the
President but of the people. One very
advantage of tho present political
situation is, that it dispels some of the
vague traditional untruths about our
Government. One of the most common
theories has been that it was a govern
ment of three co-ordinate branches. Co
ordinate means not subordinate; and the
theory, therefore, waa, that ours was a
government of three eqnaily supreme de
partments. Such a fallacy might been
tertained until it was tested Then, of
course, it was sure to be discovered that
three supremacies in the same system was
a mere fiction. When an actual contest
arises between all of them, or any oae of
them and the other two, it must either
be compromised—which settles nothing,
and leaves the essential question still
open—or one must wholly yield—which
establishes its infertority—or each must
persist to the last—in which case force
would determine the superiority of one
or the other.
The history of the present conflict be
tween the President and Congress that
when Congress has not a majority of
two-thirds against the President he is
master of the situation. But when Con
gress has that majority tho President is
utterly powerless. If Congress should
pass a law over his veto, aod the Presi
dent should refuse to see it faithfully ex
ecuted upon the ground that the Supreme
Court had declared it unconstitutional,
Congress must either yield to tho Su
preme Court, which would make that
Court the government of the country, or
it must impeach the President despite
the Court. If then, the Chief Justice
refused to sit upon tbe impeachment,
there must be a compromise or a forcible
solution. Or suppose Congress and the
President united, aod tbe Court oppos
ed to them. Congress passes a law and,
the President sees that it is executed,
while the Supreme Court declares it to
be unconstituional. What can the co
ordinate supremacy of the Court do ?
Does tho Constitution require the Pres
ident to ask the Court before he sees to
tbe execution of a law, or does it require
him to refuse to execute it because the
Court declares it unconstitutional ? May
every law be held invalid until the Court
legitimates it? Such a theory subordi
nates both Congress and the President to
the Supreme Court In any case the fic
tion of the co«ordinate branches is ex
posed.
Take another possible case. The Pres
dent has issued an amnesty. Certainly
ex-rebels demand to be registered under
it and are refused- The Supreme Court
decides that they may be registered and
vote. They are permitted to vote by au
thority of the President, sworn to see
that the laws are faithfully executed
Hut such voting is against the law of
Congress, and the President is impeach
ed for authorizing a plain viola Won of
the law. There is again no alternative
but submission or resistance. There is
ceitainly no equal supremacy. Tho
truth again is, that the will of Congress
must prevail despite the President and
the Supreme Court, or the Jupreme Court
is the real Legislature.
It was this combination of the Execu*
tivc and the Supreme Court upon which
the leaders of the Democrucy relied ten
years ago to secure the nationally of sla
very. They were sure that the opposi
sition could not obtain a two>thirds ma
jority in Congress, and they everywhere
declared that a decision of the Supjeme
Court settled finally and forever the con
stitutionally of a law. Therefore Bu»
channan in his inaugural announced the
Dred Scott decision. When it eVftne, the
Now York Exprets and the other slaves
of the slave-power insolently asked
"What are you going to do about it?"
Mr. Dougias asked Mr. Lincoln tbe same
question upon their stamping contest
through Illinois. Mr. Liuooln as
usual, answered for the intelligence and
conseionce and determination of the
country iu replying that the decision of a
court might be|roversed asdecisions often
had been.
If Congress shall think it wise to im
peach the President, after having pro
vided for the suspension of all impeach
ed officers pending their trial, there will
be no letter of the law even upon which
the President could hope to justify re
sistance. Resistance would be mere rev
olution. Even if he pleaded that he
was persecuted for opinion's sake—which
would be ludicrously untrue— thorp
would be no course for him but submis
sion or resistance. All that Congress
and good citizens can do is to take caro
that he has no excuso for violence. For
the violence itself, however, they ought
to bo prepared. If it is not attempted it
will be chiefly because it is anticipated.
—Harper Weekly.
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTI AND
POLITICAL PURITY.
The leaders of the Democratic party
hope to confuse and blind tho people of
the county to tho vital issues of the sit
uation by denouncing the corruption of
the Republican Union party. What are
tho facts ?
They are simply that tho Union party
having been for some Years tho domi
nant party, has naturally been joined by
all mauner of camp followers, while the
war has produced a system of taxation
requiring an immense increase of the
number of government offices. To some
of theic offices dobtful and dishonest men
have been sometimes appointed, and the
disgrace of their exposure has of course
fallen upon the party. This is a misfor
tun3. It is a pity that Jthc dishonest
men will not go with the minority, and
that the agents appointed by a party Jof
good principles shjuld not be always good
men
That there is great corruption in poli
ties everywhero is not doubted. Tho
practical qnostion is whether that cor
ruption is peculiar to any party, as such
and whether tho antecedents of tho Dem
ocratic party arc such as to justify the
expectation that it would purity politics?
To ask the question is to laugh. Tho
politics of the city of New York are an
epitome of those of the Democracy. Is
it possible to conceive a more utterly
rotten and degraded system ? It is no
toriously a matter of bargain. Even
Judges arc known to have bought their
way to the bench, and the prices which
they have paid are known. Moral worth
intelligence, capacity, fitness, are official
qualites wholly disregarded in the bar
gain pf Democratic politicians which
results in filling by enormous majorities
the various municiptl offices.
Or look at the States in which the
Democratic ascendency is unquestioned.
Is it supposed that the politics of Demo<
eratie Kentucky and Maryland are pur
er than those of New England or Wis
consin ? The Republican party has been
the dominant party in New York siuce
the election of 1864, when Horatio Sey
mour was happi'y defeated. Of late
there has been a loud outcry against
Legislative corruption and rotten canal
management. But no man has ever
heard that the Democratic members ofthe
Legislature were not, in proportion, quite
as venal as the Republican, while the
Republican majority did not hesitate to
investigate and expose the frauds in the
canal contracts without inquiring wheth
er or not tho scrutiny might not impli-.
cate some Republican agents.
Or, viewed nationally, it was the Dem
ocratic party whose agents gave us the
synonyms of swindlers and corruptions.
It is enough to suggest Swartwout and
Price, Floyd and Fowler, [and tho
whole Cabinet of Buchannan. John
Slidell in the Plaquemine frauds in Lou
isiana merely repeated the "repeating"
system practiced and taught in the City
of New Yoik.
We do not mention these things as
"you're another" argument. We speak
of them to recall to our readers the char
acter of the Democratic party in the mat
ter of political purity, and to remind
them inat if that party does not very
widely steal at present it is because it has
no opportunity. It is out of office.
Even Andrew Johnson keeps it out.
The Now York World complains that
tho President experts the support of"the
Democracy," and yet keeps Democratic
fingers out of the Treasury.
Indeed, what right is there to expect
peculiar honesty of a party which shouts
and sneers with eontfempt af "moral
ideas?" Why shoukt the people of New
York, or af any State, anticipate integ»
rity in the management of publio affairs
from a party whose leaders preach repu
diation openly with Mr. Pendleton, or
stealthily and tentatively in magnifying
the debt as crushing, and paralyzing, and
iihsupportable, with Mr. ganford E.
Church ? Men who canstantly enlarge
upon the horrible opppressiveness of tax
ation, upon the awful price of bread, and
upon the pinching aud starving of.the
workingman's wife and children, but who
hare n'sver a word to say of the blessing
that was bought with that price, and
the incalculable advantage to every
workiug man which was seemed by the
war which he is taxed to pey for, is a
man who is willing that the word should
be said which he does not Bay, and the
debt repudiated whose repudiation he
doen not verbally advise.
The Democratic party will promise re
trenchment, reform, and all the cardinal
virtues a? their policy. Having heard
their protestations, let every voter
at their history and at the character and
views of men whom they can uot shake
off as lehders, because their hold is vital
men like l'ondlefon and Yalandingham.
Let every voter consider the tendency ol
Democratic supremacy everywhere, if ha
tred of equal rights, its servility to ig
norance and prejudice, and then de
termine whethea this in the party from
which political purity is to be expected.
llarptra Weekly.
[From the Toledo BUde j
NASBY.
MR. NASBT DETAILS HIS ADVENTURES
IN A STRONG DEMOCRATIC COUNTY IN
SOUTHERN OHIO —MT SUFFRAGE
QUESTION IN THAT PART OF TUB DEM'
OCRATIC TLERITAOB.
POST OFFIS, CONFEDRIT X ROADS,
(.wich is in the Stait uv Kentucky), >
September 20 1867 )
Last week I wuz invited togo into
Ohio to assist my brethren uv that Bute
The Masiedonia cry reached me, "Come
and help us!" and ez the cry wuz coup
led with the asihooranee that I shood be
parvided for,l heeded it. Couple Mas
sedouian ories with whiskey, and I can't
resist em. I never try. I knowd there
wuzu't much difference atween the Dim
ocrisy uv Ohio aud Kentucky, but I wuz
onprepared fer the sirikin resemblanco I
found. Twins is not more similar. My
Ist appointmeut wuz in a pure Dime
kratic oouaty. It wuz a settlement after
my own heart, and the minit my
practist eye restid onto it, my sole leaped
for joy. It wuz a town wich had bin
some day the seat av bizrins, bat a rale
rode runuin some nine miles to one lide
uv it hed cutoff its trade, aud their inhabv
itants licvin uuthin to do, the better part
nv em went with the trade. Nacher
abhors a vadium, and there rushed in
sich an found it diflikult to live elsewhere
The whole population hevin much leiii
ure fell to pitchin coppers, wich, to make
the game excilin, tlicy pitched for drinks
Pitchin for drinks soou rendered cm in*
capable uv more violent exercise; and
n a year from the timo the trade left em
it wuz the strongest and moat intenso
Democratic town in the State. Ez they
must eat sutliin, and ez the groseries
coodent run perpetooally without money,
they hed occasional spasms uv labor.
Then wood they look over to the Kens
lucky shore, and see thousands uv jest
rich men ez theirsclvcs a spendin their
lives in one unendin round uv copper
pitchin, hoss racin and poker playin,
the nigger meanwhile a sweatin to fur
nish the means and they would break out
into mnrmurin at the crooel fate wich
cast their lot where every man wuz forst
to sweat for hivielt, and the cuss of labor
coodent be filled by pioxy. Their prox
imity to Kentucky tantalised em. They
wood hev all gone their cood they hev
raised enuff to bay a nigger apiece,
but they coodent. There wuz a most
deliteful look uv serene repose about the
place wich charmed me. Notliin stood
uprite. The sign-post uv the tavern hed
bin leaned again 80 much that it hed
contracted the samo habit, (he hastes,
from a too rigid economy in the matter
uv oats, wuz loaniu agin the sido uv the
barns, the shutters on the grosseries
hung corQcria across the winders in con
sekence uv the lower hinges bein broke,
the clap boards on the houses all haogin
by a single nail at one end, presented
any but a regular appearance, and the
men were all either sittin on store boxes,
or leanin agin whatever posseised suffi
cient strength to keep em up.
I wasenthoosiastically reseeved. The
town wua excited on two questions. I.
Taxation. 2. Nigger Eqnality. The
chcermen uv the depntashun wuz the
most cheerio style uv Demokrat I hed
seen for years. His independent hair hed
pushed its way thro the top uv his hat
and bristled in all directiens, bidditt de
fiance to-the world} his toes pertrudin
from his shoes and his trowsers liangin
lopeided by one suspender indicated a
sovereign contcmpt.for appearances. He
begced me, with tears gtreeming down
his eyes, to rouse the people agin tbe
dangers wich threatens em.—'-Think sed
be, "uv tho hundreds uv thousands uv
millions, wich we, the people are forced
to pay in taxes to the General Govern
ment, and rouee em to the necessity uv
ackshen
"I will," sed I, "I will. Stato to me
tbe amount uv taxes paid tho tyraniklo
government by this Areajen spot, that I
may hev th 3 data from wich to speak."
" Taxes !" returned this patriot with an
amazed look onto his countenance, "Tax
es ! We don't pay an 7 taxes here. The
Assessor came here two years ago, and
findin nothin to assess, hez'nt considered
it worth while to come since. But, good
Lord, our hearts bleed for thbSe unforti'
nit victims uv Ablishn policy, wiph hev
■utbin, and is forced to pay onto it 1 The
people.is bain ground Into dust by taxa
shen." And the old mia wept bitter
tears at the miseries uv the sitofashen uv
the people. What techin benevolence!
On tho question UT nigger ekality, I
found em at a most deliteful heat. They
hed seen terrors uv it, and know'd where
of they spake. Niggers hed com* frurn
Kentucky across the river to e»a, »nd in
stead uf aoceptin normal speer, and
yieldin quietly to tho irresistiblo decrees
uv Ueaven, wich made em the interiors
uv the white, they hed, the moment the/
hed accumulatid suthin to livo on, a3<-
soomed tho airs of ekality. They rofooß
ed to keep their places. The Cheeruian
remarkt, ez shoyin the stubborn ousscd
ness uv the race, that one uv em lived
some months next to him. Ho (the
cbeerman ) borrowed pork on several OCK
cashens uv him, twipt a bakin uv flour,
and, on one otreashei», n'nfe dollars uv the
miserable rags wich we are forst, by a
tyranikle Government tu accept ez mon
ey.. That nigger hed the soopreme im
pudence to iusist on beiug pade ! and
even talked uv sooin for it. But on oon«
sullin a lawyer, he didn't owin the onoet
tainty ez to who wood hev to pay the
costs. Another instance. A niggor,
wioh wuz nearly white, settled in the vi>
oinity. He hed not only a daughter, but
a farm. My son sores. Labor be despis
ses ez a occupashen only fit for serfs.—
lie proposed to woo this nigger's daugh
ter. It wuz a struggle with me. My
son marryin a female wioh hed the ac
cursed blood uv Ham in her vanes 1 Hut
Jiniuel. my son, sir, threw dirt in my
eyes. About sixty akers uv dirt. I thdt
uv the ploasatit time I cood 'hov a iivin
on that farm—uv the days devoid of la
bor and afterasevero sthnologikle strug
gle with my feofitfs, I consented. 1 want
ed to take keer uv that nigger. Pitying
him as an inferior bein—loaded in his
abnormal condishen with responsibilities
wich ho cood not be expected to din*
charge, I wood hev taken oharge of his
affares. I wood—my son Jiniuel aid I hev
hev managed his farm and his stock
and sich. Alas I Jiniuel menshuned the
matter to the Ethiopian, sir, and with
wat result 1 He wur ignoininiously kickt
out uv the house, sir. He wuz d—d,sir,
for a drunken broot, by a nigger wich
threatened ef ho ever shotved his pim
piled pimpilcd wuz the word face
there again, he'd break every bono in his
b6dy. Sir, this is becomin unsnpporta
ble. They must be dragged down to our
level. Sly proud Caucashen blood re
volts. There must be a inferior race, and
its us or the nigger/ The Injen is out of
the question, ez there ain't any uv them
here to be inferior. 1 wouldn't mind the
InjeD, but there ain't none. It's the
nigger or nothin. Uivo ballot,
sir, and what'll distinguish us ? Hpeek
with a angel's tongue onto this theme, 1
beg."
Tho mcetiu wuz a glorious one, aud my
speech one uv my most movin ffforts. —
My perorashen moved me to tears. It
wuz on nigger suffrage. Depictin its un
told horrors I begged em to organize—to
rally wunst more agin this common one
my. " There is," said I, " seven thous*
and nigger males in the State uv Ohio.
Shel we peril the liberties uv the State
by permittin them to approach the ark uv
onr safety—the ballot box ? Shel we
raise cm to the pint uv bein our ckals.
Shel we marry em and give em in mars
riage 112 Shel wc contaminate the pure
stream uv Anglo Saxon blood, by mud
dlin it with the tnrbid stream uv •"
At that pint I (top- My eve balls wuz
Searlkl. Joe Biglor, which 1 supposed wuz
» hundred miles away in Kentucky, wuz up
in t.ie aujeoce.
"Agreein ' Bed he, - 'with wat the speek
er is saying, 1 beg to nsk a questirn foron
litement. lam a Kentuokian.,'
"ltor for KeOtucky"
Buwin, Bigler proceeded. There wuz a
lurking devil in hit eye which afflicted me.
*'l understood the speaker, he holds that
the nigger if premited to vote becomes so
much our Bushel ekal that we must take
him to our buzzums—that we must marry
the femais and uur guhin daughturs forth*
with tie theiuselvs tu the males uv that ac
cussid race. Is it so 7
"It is 1"' retiirted I.
"My blood bils when I think uv it-
Ef I recoloct arite, tho laws uv Ohio pre.
niits all niggers to vote übo are only half
black. Ez there are a good many mulattoes
in this region the produx uv tha loose ekal
ity uv the races over the river, thero must
have bin, ever since that law pushed t much
uv that kind uv inaryin here. May I be
permitted to a.«k this oppressed people who
hev suffered so from this unnatural state uv
affairs, bow they like it7 Is yoor wife a
nigger sir? sed he, oddressin the Secretary
"and ef HO, don't yoo feel the wuz, by the
force uv Dimukratio circumstance, to marry
i her, take her to yourbuzzuin the mintit her
father got a vote 7 Its enuff to drive a man
into Ablishism to escape it. My brothren,"
sod this Bigler, "I'd advise yoo all toahjoor
Dimocrisy. Up North the minit the nigger
gits a voto you are forced to legal mes«eg- .
egengashun—down South, the affinity Dim» j
oerisy he* for niggers, heu bleached out tho
race to the color uv molasses. There's no
hope for yoo, save in Ablishnism, wich
hcz the happy fakulty uv doin justis to em
without marryin em T" And ho stilked out.
It didn't make.'no difference. They didn't
know what he wuz talkin about. The word
"sefsengenashen" struck em with amaze
ment, from wich they didn't recover till we
left. In speakin to sich aujences, men
must be kerful uv tho words they yoose.
I finish my speech. The meetin then re
solved they was better than niggers : that
they never wood consent to be taxed for the
benefit of purse-proud aristocrats ; that the
Urods shood be luken up with greenbn •
that there shood be a return to specie pay
ments to wunst ; and that they were willin
to give millions, ef need be, to resist usur-
NUMBER 44
pasheii, but not onejeent in taxes in a un»
coitftitooshnel manner. ~ ,
This resolooshen wuz passed, when a
collekshen wuz taken up to pay for the can
dles. But alas I There wasn't nary a eenl
in the house, and I heiHopay fcr.em my
self. Anothdr little insident didn't pleasa
me. The State Central Committee lied fur
nistrt me, e* it does all Its speakers, with a
twenty doPkr gold pieee, nr>d a fifty dolWr
bond, wich I wuz to exhibit to (how the
difference atweea Aiilrahcn tad fiemoerotio
,money., I shoved 'pm at,the people,-and
it excited 'em iuadoia. . laid em on tho
tftDie afore pie. Wheri the, mcetid wyz acN
journed. they wuz g„ne t WbtfTi&tik Vttij I
know, not bnt this 1 do Kno*, thit fhfe
Cheerman »iv the meetin hW.'iittrt mornW,
« new pare of (.hoes and a lit, and Wn*. a
talkin doubtfully upon.the propriety B'T! W
kin bonds. Igo from herf to Pennsylvania,
tq fill some appointments in that State.
PETROI.ZIM V, NASIIV, „
(Wich is l'ostinaster.)
WIT AKD WISDOM.
—"SvrtRS Of the Ocean"—Midship
meh.
—Tailcr's Revenge Giving a custo
mer fit*.
' —The lap of luxury—A sat enjoying
her milk. . • . t
—A. one-legged miller is at oeoe a
miller and hopper.
—lt is not so much trouble to get rfof*
as it is to tell when wo arc rich.
—A man who bumps his-head against
that of liis neighbor isn't apt to think
that two haada are better than one.
—What is the difference between a
hungry map and, a glutton ? Q De lougn
to eat and the other eats too long.
—Tears at a wedding are only the com
mencement of tho pick'e that the young
folks are getting into.
—"W«ll, wife, you can't say I ever
contracted bad habits." "No, sir ;• you
generally expanded them."
—Wnat is tho difforepce befweefi ft
spider and a duck? One has its feet
perpetually on a wo|),and the othef & web
perpetually bin its feet.
—Dr Hall sayß that for a period of a
month before uiarriago, and a month af
ter death, men regard their wives as
angels. ,
—ln some, of Josh Billings' Into pa
pars he aays: "The sun was a going to
bed, aud the hevins far and near were a
blushing at the perforuianea."
—lt is a good thing to havo utility and
beauty combined, as the poor washerwo
man said when she used bar thirteen
children for olotbs-pins.
Woman's tears are generally mora
effective than her words. In such eases
wind is a less powerful element than
water.
"Patrifk, Jiow long has it been since
yotf left Ireland J" "Eighteen months,
my Lord; but I've been thore twiee
siee."
—Foote expressed the belief that a
certain misor would take the beam out of
his own eye, if ho knew where he could
sell the timber.
—lmitate the example of the looomo
tjvo. He runs along, whistles over his
work, and yet never takes anything but
water when he wants to "wet his whistle.'
—"I have the best wife in the world,"
said a long suffering husband ; ,"«he al
ways strikes mo with tho soft eud of the
broom."
-""Am I not a httle pale?" inquired
a lady who was thort and corpulent, of a
crusty old bachelor. "fou look moro
like a big tub ?" was the blunt reply.
—A sharp-talking lady was reproved
by her husband, who requested her to
keop her tongue in her mouth. "My
dear," responded the wife, "it is against
the law to carry concealed weapons."
—Picniee are vanegated fooleries.—
They are sultry stupidities. Thoy are
elaborate funeral processions marching
with melancholy steps between two rows
of pies, ice-cream aud cakes.
—On a tombstone in a churcihy ird in
Ulster is tho following epitaph : "Erecv
ted to the memory of John Phillips, ac
cidentally shot as a mark of affection by
his brother."
—rlt won't do to be so devoted t> a
tender hearted wife as to comply with her
request when she asks you—"Now tmtn
ble over the cradle and break your neck,
my dear, won't you ?"
—A gentleman met another in the
street who was ill of consumption, and
accosted him thus . "Ah ? my triend,
you walk slowly." "Yes," replied tho
man, "but I am goiog fast."
—What "is tho difference between a
rifleman who Bhoots wide of the target,
and a husband who blackens his wife's
eyes ? Tho one misses his mark and tha
other marks his missis.
—Quilp thinks it rather remarkable
that while several thousand feet are to
quired to make ona rood, a single foot
properly applied, is often sufficient to
make one civil.
—"l'l['teach yott to play pitch and
toss ! I'l} flog you for an hour, I will."
■ "Father," instantly replied the incorrigi
ble, as he balanced a penny on his thumb
and finger, "I'll toes with you to make it
two hours or nothing."
—"I wonder where the clouds are go
ing I" sighed Flora, pensively, as she
pointed with her delicate finger to tha
heavy masses that floated in the sky.—•
"I think they are going to thunder,"
said her brother.
—The great objection to smart chil
dren is, that when thoy oommenee hav
ing whiskers they leave off having brains
By forcing children, you get so much
into their heads that they beooma crack
ed in order to hnld it.