Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1888 — SENSIBLE WORDS. [ARTICLE]

SENSIBLE WORDS.

A Plain, Common-Sense Speech by an Illinois Colored Man. In the Democratic State Convention of Illinois, the following trim-built speech was delivered by Charles Nelson, a colored man: The greatest honor ever conferred upon me is the honor you have conferred upon me to-day in calling upon me to address the assembled wisdom and patriotism of the great Democratic party of Illinois. The only regret that I have is that I have not the ability or the time to deliver such an address as your intelligence, your patriotism, your party fealty demands. But I have never yet, since 1876, refused to raise my voice for those principles which I love and hold in common with you and the whole Democratic party of the United States. I belong to a party that is gray-haired with old age, with a record more grand than kings and princes have made in the past; a party that has done more for civilization and humanity than all the Generals that fought in former years under the old feudal system; a party bom and brought forth of the most noble and grand principles which the human mind is capable of grasping, the right of every man to live and pursue the course of happiness for himself and placing all on an eqality. There is some difference between Democratic equality and Republican equality. The Republican party claims that it is the party of equal rights for all men. I deny it upon their own assertions. First and foremost they are not for equality between white men. The man that toils, the farmer, the men that build the railroads and houses, the men that do the great' work of building up society and making all the commodities of life, this class of men the Republican party throughout its entire history has ignored entirely. That party is the party of the strong, the powerful, the rich. The legislation of the Republican party, to a great extent, has been entirely in the interest of the rich and the powerful, anil against the poor and the many; therefore I say, my Republican friends, from your own acts I am prepared to show, without fear of contradiction, you are not the party of equality between white men. But they say we are for equality between white and black. I deny that upon your own acts. You say the white man ought to vote as he pleases, but a black man ought to vote as you tell him. The Republican party says: “We freed you, Mr. Black Man, we

made you citizens and gave you the right to vote. Therefore, unless you vote for us you ought not to have the right to vote nt all.” Ask any Republican, living or dead, just please tell me how much rights you give the negro. If you only give him the Republican white num’s ballot to take to the box and vote it, I say to you now that I never carry any man’s ballot but my own, and I deposit it where I please. They say it is a strange thing that a black man should vote the Democratic ticket. Why cannot a black man have common sense as well us anybody? The Republican party has not been the true friend of the negro. The true friend of the negro is the man who, when he found him clothed with American citizenship, with the great responsibilities that position imposed upon him, said to him : “Read, study, think, and then vote as you please.” This is what the Democratic party did. The Republican party, on the contrary, says to the negro: “Read, but be careful how you read. Think, but do not think for yourself. Think for the Republicanparty ; when you vote don’t pay any attention to the principles held by the party, or how those principles, if put in operation, might affect the great mass of the people. Do not think of these things, simply inquire and look carefully, and see if this is a Republican ballot. If it is, sink all your manhood down into your boots, let all your brains go down into your feet, and take that ticket and deposit it for the Republican party, because wo are the best friends you have got.” Yes, my Republican friends, you are pretty good friends to the negro, in talk, as long as he acts like a mule. When he undertakes to act like a man, or vote like on American citizen ought to do, having due regard for the position he holds, and also with a due regard for the responsibilities, deposits his ballot for those principles and men whom he thinks will subserve the interests of all concerned, you say he is only a negro and he has got no sense, and he ought to be put back into slavery. This talk about slavery does not intimidate the negro now. The negroes have had their years of Democratic slavery. I had a little list the other day which showed that in General Black's department alone there were seventy-two colored men holding posi-' tions with salaries of from S9OO to $1,500 a year. There is Mr. Trotter, holding a position as Recorder of Deeds —a position that is worth $12,000, a place that many a white Republican would be glad to have. When Daniel Manning—bless his memory, a true Democrat now dead—was Secretary of the Treasury there was a colored man holding a clerkship whose turn comes to be promoted to the position of foreman. He was promoted and some of the Republican clerks that had been left in bondage there began to kicking about it. Mr. Manning said: “If there are any of you gentlemen that are not satisfied, bring in your resignations.” Now, that is the way the Democrats dealt with the negro. ’ They do not run around and tell him that they are his friends. They leave the negro with his good common sense to judge by their acts. If that is the way the Democratic party is going to put the negroes into bondage, Ido not care how many of them they put into bondage. And I notice another thing, that our Republican friends keep up a terrible squealing because the Democratic party keens more of them in slavery.

The Democratic party has important work yet to perform. The reforms that the Democratic party promised the people are only begun. Such reforms have challenged the admiration of the American people irrespective of party or color or previous condition of servitude. The Republican party was building up a landed aristocracy in this country by squandering and giving away the public domain to vast corporations. They were allowing the cattleraisers of the West to fence out the early settlers, the American citizen to whom the land really belonged, but under this Democratic administration, with this liberal man who has got more nerve and backbone than all the Republican Presidents that served from Lincoln down to Hayes—he said: “Take away all unearned lands from the corporations and restore them to the legal and original owners—the people," and they have taken away as much land as would make an area as large as the State of Illinois. Again, he said to the cattle barons: “Those lands belong to the people, and I say to you men, move your fences." They got up a little litigation and it was a powerful one. It represented about 8180,000,000, They sent men to Washington to importune President Cleveland to let them go on fencing the people out of the country that belongs to them. President Cleveland is a good man to listen. He listened to them, and when they got through he said: “Alli have to say to you, gentlemen, is to move your fences,” and, gentlemen, they did move. That is the way the Democratic party deals with great corporations. Now, these reforms have been commenced inside the department of the Government at Washington. I dure say if any corporation would run its affairs as carelessly as the Republicans used .to run the Government it would break it in six months if it was worth billions. Under the Democratic administration every clerk has got to be at the desk at certain hours, and if he wants to go driving he must hire his own buggy, and if he wants to drink he must drink water or buy his own whisky.