New era. [volume], January 27, 1870, Image 2

About New era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1870

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T H E N E W K R A. ;
SELLA MARTIN. Editor. i
FEED'S DOUGLASS Corresponding Editor. <
Communication* for tin* editorial detriment should be .
addressed, Kdltor New Km, Lock Box 31* 1
Business letter, and communications from subscribers aud <
? advertisers. should b<- addr.Ktcd. Publishers New
Era, Lock Box 31. 1
The lead< rs of Frederick Douglas*, E*?j., our Correspond- ]
ing Editor, trill bo designated thus >.
This paper is not responsible for the view* expressed by
Correspondents.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1870.
SALUTATORY OF THE CORRESPONDING EDITOR.
The mission of the New Era (appropriately
named, since it signalizes a new world
and a new existence for millions of our
countrymen), has already been ably, eloquently,
and j?erhaps sufficiently explained.
The fact that our paper dares to take its
place among the many lights existing to
guide, and the many shields uplifted to do
- - . c
fend the colored race mi their transition rroin i
bondage to freedom, requires neither defence
nor apology. To us it seems selfevident
that now is the time, that the national
capital is the place, and that, in the
absence of more coinjietent hands, we are
the men to raise this new standard, ami to
unfurl this new banner.
The time has come for the colored men
of the country to assume the duties and responsibilities
of their own existence. Our
friends can do much for us?have done
much for us?but there are some things
which colored men can and must do for
themselves. Benevolence and sympathy
are naturally awakened by impotency and
destitution ; but respect and confidence are
called into life by the vigorous assertion of
manly power, self-reliance, and independence.
Grateful always for thesympathy and
benevolence shown us by our white fellowcitizens,
we deem it not arrogapt to assert,
that w ith fair plav, and a reasonable period
of probation, the entire capability of our
race to win the confidence, respect, and
friendship of all patriotic men will be amply
demonstrated.
11 .1 - *. a ^?i:.: :i
*?anny ail ine lllHUiiincnuuHicB rtwiable
to this end, none, it seems to us, is
more manifestly potent and appropriate
than a well-conducted public journal, mainly
in the hands of men completely identified
with the interests of the newly emancipated
class. Such a journal, published from week
to week in the capital of the nation,inspiring
its readers with manly sentiments, ennobling
aspirations, reflecting the highest
intellectual and moral resources of the
colored people, will serve as a pillar of
cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
Not doubting that the New Era, now
in its third number, will prove itself to be
just such a journal as now described, and
that it will live and grow in usefulness, vitality
and power, we gladly unite our interests
and join hands with its able editor
and proprietors, and will endeavor to add
our mite to its success. In connecting ourselves
w ith this new enterprise, and in undertaking
a part of the labor which this
connection will inevitably impose, we are
quite sensible of the importance of the
work and of our own many dificienies.
We are, however, consoled and encouraged I
? by the thought that our part is but a subordinate
one, ami that younger and broader
shoulders are to bear the main burden
in making the New EKA*equal to its high 1
mission, and to the expectations which its 1
publication has justly created. Of one ]
thing we may, without egotism, assure its '
readers, and that is, whatever may be our
mental disqualifications in point of ability ,
and education, we bring to the work zeal ,
and devotion thoroughly tested by the ,
tpiol?i nrwl Ihinkluiiv ??!' ;i fViirtv vt?arc' niiTi.
flict with prejudice, oppression and slavery,
and that whatever we can do consistently
with our many other duties and occupations
to make the New Era a credit to
our cause, our color and our country, shall
be earnestly and faithfully done.
In saying thus much for ourselves, (we
hope not too much,) we beg to remind our
readers and friends that there are reciprocal
duties between us and them. The New
Era will undoubtedly deserve their earnest
support, but the experience of the past in
such enterprises has lamentably shown, that
it is one thing to merit good will,approval,
and co-operation, and quite another to receive
them. We ask, therefore, at the out- ]
set, not only a charitable interpretation of ?
all the utterances of this journal, but that
the paper itself shall be proudly and joy- 1
fully sustained by every intelligent and 1
patriotic colored man in the land. Published
at the national capital, supplied with
abundant resources for forming an intelligent
judgment concerning public men and t
public measures; conducted in the interest f
I of no section, but broadly overlooking the
social and political condition of our whole
people, whether North, South, East, or '
i West, it will combine in its character all
| the elements of a graml national organ,
through which our minutest wrongs may
be exposed, our equal rights asserted, our
character defended, our efforts for improvement
encouraged, and our whole relation
to the body |>olitic, to w hich we have already
been virtually admitted against long con
tinued and determined opposition, triumphantly
vindicated. ^
EMIGRATION
When the apostle Paul stood upon Mar's
Hill, n Athens, and declared to the won- j 1
dering populace that (Jod had " made of one
blood ail nations of men for to dwell on
the face of all the earth," he uttered the
countersign of the last and crowning civilization
of the world. The Redeemer of
men had not perished in vain. Not without
a purpose had an all-directing Providence
ordained, that the nations should pass
under the yoke of the Roman Ciesars; for
beneath that imperial tyranny the great
lesson of the unity of the races was to be
inculcated. That stujiendous power has
^ long since completed its work and passed
away; but its heirs, the nations of medieI
val Europe, emerged from the obscurity
I which attended ami followed its decline,
I crowned with laurels of rich and varied
I progress. The fifteenth century was espe
cially rich in the bestowal of these endow
nents. Then occurred that spring-time of
literature and of science, which, by the I
abundance and luxuriance of its blossoms, J
earnestly cried out for an improvement
in the mode of garnering and preserving
its fruits, and which had its cry an- j
swered by the revelation of the arts of j
paper-making and of printing. All this j
moral and intellectual activity yearned for j
? wider and less hampered sphere than it
had in the king-governed countries of
Europe; and soon, for its gratification, the
discovery of America opened up a whole !
new world as a field for its further development.
Thus, emigration was necessitated as j
an agency in the onward march of civilization.
It was not, by any means, a new
and unheard-of agency for such an end.
Indeed, the history of the world is full of j
instances in which success vindicated its
employment, from thedays when Adam and
Eve set their faces eastward from Eden.
These instances are amply sustained bv
the results of the activity first set in motion
by Columbus, and followed up by the
voyages of the Cabot*, (.'artier, Drake,
*? >- i i .ii
itaieign, anu omers.
Not to speak of (he various foreign
nationalities which have been established
within the limits of this Western Continent,
our own citizens have, surely, reason
to congratulate themselves, that a
love of freedom, conjoined with an adventurous
spirit, prompted the early settlers
of this country to exchange the comforts
of their European homes for harsh experiences
and unwonted privations in
the wilds of America. Their reward is
seen 011 every hand, in the existence of a
Republic blessed with free institutions, and
with sons and daughters who have shown
their determination to maintain those institutions
at all hazards. This patriotic
population, too, cannot claim one common
origin. Constant immigrations have given
it a highly composite character. Year by
year, upon the primal Anglo-Saxon stock,
additions have been engrafted from Celtic,
Teutonic, Scandinavian, and other sources.
Even the descendants of Africa, the offspring
of an enforced emigration, have
been welcomed into the brotherhood of the
Union, and constitute, certainly, not the
least loyal, and, perhaps, the most plastic
element in our American civilization. But,
whatever their origin, all of our citizens
are proud of a country, which has become
what it is through their united labors. As
they behold it, stretching from ocean to
ocean, spanned by railways and telegraphic
wires, its surface rich with the evidences
of fertility, or carefully guarding beneath
its depths immeasurable stores of mineral
wealth of every sort, they feel that theirs
is a land whose resources will never be exhausted
as lone as a desire to cmiirrnte Im.
- o ? -- C
pels foreigners to seek its shores. Ami if
they, under the providence of God, have
been permitted to extend their possessions
until they are washed by the Pacific waves,
is there not in that dispensation a teaching,
that they have been thus favored, in order
that they might the more readily welcome
the denizens of Eastern Asia and of Africa
to the blessings of Christianity and republicanism?
SENATOR Sl'HKEK.
Senator Sumner's attitude in regard to Cuba
and the admission of Virginia has shown that
his moral stalure is not one to be measured
by that sort of criticism that defers to
standards of mere consistency. We have
reeently seen how men, whose feeble theories
have been bunglingly deduced from Mr. Sumner's
philosophy, and whose political standing
has been secured by his triumphs, will, under
the suggestions of a very curious kind of egotism,
dare to b"come the rivals of their political
creator.
Senator Trumbull, for instance, in a characteristic
speech during the Virginia debate in
the Senate, sou ght to fasten on Senator Sumner
accusations of unfaithfulness to his party anil
its principles in a way well calculated to raise
a laugh at the expense of the accuser. It will
he sad news to the country to learn that Senator
Trumbull is the custodian of republican
orthodoxy. Iiut it would have been a sadder
revelation to the world had Mr. Sumner proved
himself unfaithful to his trust in allowing Vir |
ginia to return to the Union ut.shorn of those
bristling antagonisms which seek to-day to
neutralize the victory we have won and ?o
reverse the history we have created in the
iurrender of Lee and the election of General
Srant.
But the saddest thing showed itself in a dis- !
position to quarrel with Mr. Sumner for the
nere sake of quarreling.
Every member of the Senate knows that even
though Mr. Sumner were lacking in sagacity,
ic possesses a political conscience which by initinct
and long training discards the anxieties
)f the how in his eagerness fortheic/?a^ in the :
idministration of justice.
They know he brands everywhere and always
he claims of mere policy with the marks of a j
tturdy repudiation. Manhood, uotstate-craft,
s his watchword, and it has been from the first. !
If it could be proved that Mr. Sumner was
wrong in taking the position be did in regard
,o Cuba, it would still be admitted on all hands
;hat it was his excessive caution against th >se
who began their revolution as slaveholders, and j
lis zeal for freedom, which determined his utitude.
Whether he was right or not, time will
evval. Hut Mr. Sumner, while awaiting the i
oliuion, may congratulate himself upon tlie
'act, that as to all his past positions on vital
piestions time has been his greatest vindicator.
Everybody knows, too, that principles like these
controlled the action of Mr. Suuiner in the Virginia
case.
By an overwhelming majority the House
incurred, on Monday, in the Senate amend- j
nents to the Virginia bill, though Mr. Sumner,
s lide supporting the amendments, refused, we
;hmk consistently, to vote for it. Virginia
;ouies back to her place in the nation?if in
*uod temper all right, but if she is not, t'ie is
iow so muzzled with conditional restrictions
bat she cannot, like Georgia, bury her envenomed
fangs in the breast of that race which
las nursed her iuto political life.
Again, the nation is laid under obligation to
ine whose incorruptible loyalty to freedom is
constantly pelted with derogatory epithets as
:o his 44 imperiousness of temper,'' and 44 arro- j
jance of manner " as an excuse for lack of fore- !
light and moral force among the pelters. j
3nce more the colored people are made to see
;bat great powers of mind and emiueuce in |
scholarship, distinguished position and com- I
nandiug influence, can all be consecrated to
;he claims of the hamblest of the citizens of
bis republic ; and that here is a righteousness
vbich, in exalting the nation, lifts the oppressed
into the light of political life where
1
their great vindicator can reflect upon them i
tlie glory of his talents and fidelity, and secure j
them in their right- by the wisdom of his states- j
nianship.
All honor to our great champion and the
members of Congress who have had the heart
and sagacity to stand by him in changing the
mother of statesmen a bride of Reconstruction.
GOVEKXMKXT OF TIIK DISTRICT.
Through all the years which preceded the recent
rebellion against the national authority,the
people \f this District, which ought to be a
model ol good government, labored under the
influence of the slave code, with all its attendant
evils of ignorance, tyranny, and lack of
enterprise. Neither education, morals, nor industry
could find encouragement or shelter
within the sound of the slaver's lash, or of the
houdmaiTs chains.
The progress of the national arms and the
national sentiment struck down slavery in this
District by statute, but left the element of
j slavery predominant in our local government,
st 11 crippling enterprise,withholding education,
and sneering at loyalty. It was f< It that a
! solid foundation for liberty and justice had not
j yet been reached. It was seen that in are1
- ^ i
public.all must tic eittzenson a oasis 01 equuuiy,
' orjoyinjf like protection and like privileges. To
I ensure these, the citizen must he endowed with
| the power to enforce his rights. Yielding to
these principles and to the popular demand of
the loyal masses, the national legislature wisely
placed the ballot in the hands of every citizen;
and what has been the result?
The effect is apparent on every side. The
city has assumed a new aspect. Improvement
is advancing; public anil private enterprise
have received a new impetus ; population has
I largely increased; the cause of education has
advanced more, within the last three years, than
it had before in a quarter of a century. The
' ideas of progress, of self-dependence, and selfgovernment,
have taken root and are flourishing
. among our people. Each feels that he is a
part of, and has an interest in, the welfare of
the city, the District, and the nation,
j Hut these things do not suit the remnants of
the olden time. The wheels of progress are
! moving too fast; they must be blocked. A direct
attack upon the privileges of the citizen
would stand no chance of success. This popu|
lar power must, in someway, be curtailed. The
I "rabble," so called, must be silenced, or, in
plain Anglo-Saxon, the old fogies are opposed
| to negro suffrage ; and as they cannot withdraw
| it. they seek to diminish, if not destroy, the opportunities
for its exercise. Here is the whole
secret of the recently inaugurated movement to
take away our municipal government.
Here, in the very sight and hearing of a Republican
Congress?on ground made historical
a> the birthplace of emancipation and equal
suffrage?it is proposed to erect a government
independent of suffrage and derogatory to
citizenship. Here, in the stronghold and
heart of republican institutions, it is proposed
to abolish republicanism, aud turn the people
over to the tender mercies of a secondary and
dependent executive power, in the endowment
of which they are to be denied a voice.
Congress is the legitimate, the constitutional
legislative power in this District: with that we
are content. We do not want that power dele
gated 1o nnv man. or number of men, not di
rcetly responsible to the people. We prefer
the national legislature to any subordinate and
irresponsible body. We prefer the national
executive to any detailed substitute.
We want no territorial government. It
would bo a useless and expensive machine,
wholly inapplicable to a Territory, every foot
of which can be seen from the Dome of the
Capitol.
We ask Congress to set its face against all
such schemes. We ask that body to retain its
Constitutional power over this District, to give
us just laws, a perfect and appropriate municipal
government, and proper representation on
its tloor, and leave the people to conduct that
government. The territorial form is good as a
stopping stone to State organization. But when
the territorial form is made permanent, it is both
unrepublican and irresponsible.
Alexander 11. Stephens.?A letter from
Alexander H/'Stephens. of Georgia, to a friend,
dated 17th instant, savs : 441 am now a little
better than I have been ; am able to sit up,
read, and write a little ; but I cannot walk or
even stand without assistance." He also writes
very hopefully about bis future and peace in
the next world, but is gloomy and despondent
about the country.
It is no matter of wonder that Mr. Stephens
should feel somewhat despondent over the prospects
of the country. The last great effort of
his life was spent in a wicked endeavor to destroy
the Government. The attempt failed ;
th*' Government is stronger than before the attompt
upon its life was made; a new era has
b en ushered in. of which liberty and justice
ni-P crnu'iiiriff irlnrv !in<l tlip pniinti-iT l oo
. .... 0 J UU.O
entered upon a career of prosperity and happi- |
ness well calculated to excite the most gloomy
forebodings in the minds of recreant statesmen
and political parricides.
Till'. MKDICAI- PROFESSION IN THE
DISTRICT.
In another column will he found a memorial
to Congress, recently prepared and distributed
by the National Medical Society in answer to
a complaint, that the association just mentioned
had maliciously and falsely attacked the Medical
Society of the District of Columbia. It
seems, from the statement of facts contained in
that paper, that a supposition hazarded by us
in our last issue has been verified by the cropping
up of the "irrepressible negro among
the disciples of (ialen in this city. This untoward
event has been serviceable in disabusing
the public mind of at least two mischievous
fallacies. The first is this: Hitherto the
popular belief has been, that any individual
who had pursued the necessary studies in a
regular medical school, and had obtained from
it a diploma conferring upon him all the rights,
privileges, and immunities of a doctor in medi
cine and surgery, was to be regarded, on that
very account, as a gentleman. But now it appears
that, in reference to this point, the members of
the District Society say, with Moliere's physiI'ifin
4i mms iimust rhniine Innt rein " \Vroll
if a duly accredited physician is by no means
necessarily a gentleman, it is to be hoped that,
while thus correcting the wrong impressions of
the community, these reformers may have devised
other and less defeasible grounds upon
w hich to 1 use tin ir own pretensions to gentility,
thau tlio.se which they so rudely sweep away.
At the same time, however, it is to be feared
that, by their action, they may have given such
a shock to public confidence, as to deter persons
from accepting even a certificate of membership
in their body as any more valid proof
of gentility than the now useless diploma.
Fallacy the second. Heretofore we, in common
with everybody else, labored nnder the
delusion tha% the Medical Society of the District
of Columbia was, like all other medical
societies that we ever knew of, a scientific association,
having for its main object the advancement
of its members in professional
knowledge and skill. But it appears now,
from its own showing, that its meetings are
held fur another purpose tbau this, and that
they -ire in fact merely 44 social reunions."
TG "W ~FC "R /
Such a purpose inay he, to its members, far
more agreeable than the ordinary one ; but,
really, it strikes us as having been a waste of
legislation on the part of Congress to have incorporated
it. As matters now stand, we are
left to regret that the District of Columbia
is without a bona Jidc medical society ; and we ,
trust that our legislators will supply the want
by granting a charter to the Nationul Medical
Society, taking good care, however, to see that j
it be not, like its unworthy predecessor, a
sham.
This revelation in regard to the " social reunions'"
furnishes a satisfactory reason for the
rejection of certain applicants, last summer. !
We can readily conceive that a society, in j
which 44 gentlemen who served during the war
in the Confederate army are now prominent
in the control of its affairs," might possibly
have at times under discussion matters not
likely to enlist the sympathies of colored gentlemen
who " held positions as surgeons in the
Union army during the rebellion " Indeed,
an emergency might, perhaps, arise, in which
these latter could only he loyal to their "social
reuuionists" by being guilty of treason to
their common country.
?-? /
MISSISSIPPI'S CHOICE. ' / j
Lynch, Stringer, and Spellman have learned
their political lessons quickly and well, to be
able to send a colored native of North t'ar<?- I
lina to the Senate, where a certain white native
of the same State, now of Tennesse, desires so
much to be.
We welcome Hon. Hiram H. Revels, not as
a substitute for " Andy," but as a wonderful
improvement, in loyalty at least, upon Jefferson
Davis. *
The paragraphs in the newspapers show a
tremendous vigor in looking up little things
about one of our ablest men, or else they evince j
a surprising ignorance, fur Mr. Revels has been
known to fame for twenty years as an able 1
preacher and orator. The habit of suppress
ing everything concerning negro ability and
virtue in the past may be an excuse for the j
following paragraph, which we find in the
.V.J'. Tribune:
^'Mr. H. R. Revels, the?eolored Senator elect
from Mississippi, isanative of Ohio, lie is ,
a graduate of Oberlin College, and was educated
for the Methodist ministry, lie formerly
preached in Indianapolis, and went from that
city to Mississippi. He has not heretofore
been very prominent in the politics of that '
State, fie is nearly 4(1 years <5f age, courteous
and gentlemanly in appearance and manner,
of a dark brown complexion, and is said by
those who know him to possess more than I
average ability. Mr. Revels has a brother in j j
this city, who is a clerk in the Freedmeu's >
Bureau. The election was a surprise to the !
Mississippi Republicans who are here, as, be- 1
yond a local reputation at Natchez. Mr. Revels i
was but little known in the State. They all j
recognize him as a creditable representative of
bis race. The choice made of Senators seems
to meet the approval of Republicans." i
Such culpable ignorance as this account dis- 1
plays, coming from a friendly journal, is acu- 1
rious commentary on the interest taken in us
in the past, as a people, by our white fellow- 1
citizens. i
The facts in regard to the antecedents of the ]
honorable Senator elect are briefly these: <
Impelled by a praiseworthy desire to obtain an
education, which he was debarred from by the op- 1
pressive laws of his native State, he removed to j ,
Indiana, where his longings were, in part, grati- '
tied by attending a seminary under the control of j
the Friends. Thus equipped for the battle of ,
1; (Kill aapnuullv iliiwirmw nf 1 < 11< ?> 11 ,r fiir flin
good of his fellow-men, he entered the ministry !
of the African Methodist Episcopal Church,
iu which he speedily acquired distinction by
his ability in the pulpit, and his Christian zeal.
But, in this sphere, he felt that his efforts to
do good were not to be limited by the mere ; |
routine of a preacher's life and duties. At the j ]
lecturer's desk, and in the humble school- j
room, he has striven to disseminate that knowl- (
edge which is essential to a ]people, in order to
secure for them the respectful consideration of
others. The ecclesiastical arrangements of his
church have afforded quite an extended field
for his ministrations ; and he has labored successively
in the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,
Kansas, and, latterly, Mississippi. In fine,
he has, for more the twenty years, shown
himself a zealous and able co-laborer
in the same noble work, in which Bishop
Payne, Frederick Douglass. Henry Highland 1
Harnett, Martin R. Delany, and a host of '
others, have been engaged : and if Mr. Revels, 1
equally well-known to the colored community '
is the other gentleman whom we have men- '
ioned, has not to the same extent attracted 1
ho notice of his white fellow-citizens, the fact J
is perhaps to be ascribed to that blindness on i (
the part of the latter, which has prevented them 1
from seeing any merit in a colored man, unless ^
circumstances rather rudely forced him upon J
their attention. However, Mr. Revels' patriotism,
which led him to take part in the organi- '
/ation of two or more colored regiments duriug 1
the rebellion, and which has since prompted '
him to do his share in the reconstruction of j
Mississippi, has eventuated in his election,
first, to the City Council of Natchez, then to i
the State Senate, aud now to the Senate of the *
United States. All who know him rejoice that
he has been thus honored, and are perfectly '
confident that he will, in his high office, satisfy
the entire people that the Senatorial robes have ^
been properly bestowed.
PRINCE ARTHUR. 1
One feels a little more reconciled to monar- ,
chy when a reigning sovereign* teaches her
children the lessons necessary for a statesman
to learn by the advantage^ of travel, aud the
teachings even of Republican institutions.
Princes are not hot-house plants as of old.
The Prince of Wales has been here, and as
1 ?
a lad we treated him well for his mother's sake. '
So shall we treat this young gentleman, Prince ^
Arthur. It is the approach to republicanism,
under the name of a constitutional monarchy in
(Jreat Britain,with a great Queen at its head, (or
should we not say a great woman,) which has
endeared that lady to every American heart. '
We once sat in Craithie Chapel, at Balmoral, '
being then the guest of Dr. McLeed, when this
young gentleman was present with Prince John, (
of Qluchsburg, Princess llilder, and other '
strangers, together with all the members of the
royal family, except Prince Leopold, named <
after the good King of the Belgians?a kins- 1
man of Queen Victoria?and PrincensH?i?.t.rioA
the two youngest children of the Queen. We
listened that day to a loving, manly, fresh, and 1
thoughtful discourse from the editor of Good 1
Wbr. 's, where royalty bowed before manliness.
We were then impressed with the effect of
that family influence which was created by a 1
strong, industrious, and manly father, assisted
by the self-abnegation and public spirit of a .
true and faithful mother.
They were in the house of God,'and there i
all were equal?not in the American sense of 1
mere political pretension, but in the English
sense of accountability to God and fidelity <
to one another.
The colored people of the United States de- 1
sire that the Queen of that land, which gave a 1
resting place to the soles of our weary and
bleeding feet'amid the helplessness and hopelessness
of oppression, should receive through
j her son, Prince Arthur, the expressions of our
_ 1 - - -"iii'r
I.
highest admiration and strongest love for her
personal character, as well as our deepest
gratitude for all she has dune since her ascension
to the throne to ameliorate the condition
of the poor and oppressed of every land, and
in her name to offer this young gentleman a
hearty welcome to our shores, that he may
carry hack the poet's beautiful assertion from
the convictions of his own heart that?
44 Skins may differ, but affection
Dwells in white and black the same. "
How TO GltT THE NkW Era FOR O.NE Y?AR?
Peer.?Procure five subscribers and forward
us the names, with the money, (812,.r>0,) and
we will send six copies of the paper for one
year, making one extra copy to the getter up i
of the club.
._____
AN EARNEST APPEAL.
What do our people hope to gain by acting
in public meetings in such a way as to bring
discredit on our cause? Nothing is ever gained
by preventing discussion, and a great deal, a
very great deal, is often lost by even the appearance
of acting under the sanctions of gag
law. It was the crushing weight of mob law
and gag law that ground the old Democratic ,
party to powder, and they will prove an upper
and nether millstone for suffrage in the Dis- ;
trict if our people yield assent to their use
among us.
Let the leading men among our people here
in the District call a conference among themselves
first, and adopt some plan of action
which will result in a thorough canvass of the
mass of the people, for the purpose of making
known to them the danger to themselves and
the injustice perpetrated against others in not
keeping their public meetings orderly.
We do not believe as some of our cotempo- j
raries assert that Mayor Howen can be injured
1 * i _ j . ii* I _ __ ,i
ny mese ucmousuauous. ins claims upon me
confidence of the people are too strong, his integrity
is too unquestioned by honest and im- I
partial men, he has too much administrative
ability, and has been too faithful to his trust
to be harmed by what others do. But let our
people remember that it is a great pain t<>
Mayor Bo wen and to all intelligent Republicans
to have those acting with them politically
contenance disorder in any way.
A SUGGESTION.
ro THE OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL FREEDMANs'
SAVINGS AND TRUST COMPANW
One of the especial aims of the New Kra is
the promotion of the industrial and economic
interests of the colored citizen. It is as essential
that men be educated in the art of
saving money as in the art of earning it, for
it is only when industry and economy go hand i
in hand that they lead to independence.
Believing that your Savings Bank is a valuable
agency for the advancement of these interests,
we shall press its advantages upon the
attention of our readers.
The influence of our journal will, of course,
be measured by the circulation it attains. Now,
is one means of extending our usefulness, we
make the following suggestions to our friends
connected with the several Branches of the
National Freedman's Savings Bank :
The total amount of deposits received by the
rarious Branches for the month of December,
is shown by the financial statement published
in our last issue, was in round numbers about
*even hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Our
suggestion is, that each Branch take upon
itself to obtain for us, from among the deposi
tors and friends in its locality, at least one
subscriber for each thousand dollars of deposits
received in December.
This will give us at least seven hundred and
tifty additional subscribers. We believe it can
be accomplished with a very little effort on the
part of our friends, and while it will aid us in
the work which wo have undertaken in earnest, 1
it will also prove a lasting benefit to those who
may subscribe.
Friends, what say you to the suggestion?
Which of the twenty-five Branches of the Freedinan's
Savings Bauk will be the first to respond ? j
3end on vour names, and we will crive vnn <ln#? I
credit.
The Government Printer.
The Xew York Evening Post is generally
Loo impartial a Journal to allow itself to be imposed
on, and stick to the mistake. It is there- j
fore hoped that it will recede from its position,
or cause its Washington correspondent to acknowledge
his to be untenable in regard to
die misappropriation of Government funds by
Mr. Clapp, the Government Printer. The
charges preferred were taken from an annonanous
printed slip circulated in the Senate and
House. And we are informed that when the
Post correspondent was asked for his authority
for making the charges he referred to Gen.
Segly, and though Gen. Negly refuses to be in
iiny wise responsible for them, they are not
ioutradicted. A moments reflection, or an
ounce of information on the subject would
nave put the case in its proper light. Here
ire some facts : Since Mr. Clapp took charge
of the office, there has been added : 1st, a Specification
Printing Department of the Patent
office, working 34 hands ; 2d, the Treasury
Branch office employing 1"> hands; 3d, more
:han ten million of Custom-house blanks have
toeen printed during the last four months, besides
several millions of Post-office blauks ;
svork never done before in the office. Let the
fW take a little pains in this matter, and it
will find that the old pro-slavery spirit, true to
tself will sacrifice the best of white men to rid
tself of a negroe's presence.
SUBSCRIBE FOR THE NEW ERA..
We call upon our friends everywhere to subscribe.
Do it at once. We have embarked in
this enterprise in earnest ; we mean to make
the New Era a grand success. To this end we
shall devote our whole time and all the energies
we possess. If our friends come up promptly
to our support, and subscribe for our paper, we
iha.Il be enabled to produce a journal that will
compare favorably with any in the country.
Send on your subscriptions without delay,
jither singly or in clubs. Ten dollars pays for
Bve copies one year.
Money should be sent in money orders or
drafts when practicable. When these cannot
be obtained, send in registered letters.
Fifteenth Amendment.?We call attention
to the annual meeting of the National Executive
Committee of colored men of the nation,
recently held in this city.
It passed resolutions requesting all the col
ored people of the various States and Territories
to prepare for a grand National and State
jubilee on the occasion of the ratification and
proclamation by the President of the fifteenth
amendment to the Constitution, and to return
thanks to Almighty God and the good people
He used as the instruments in bringing about
such a glorious event.
George T. Downing, of Rhode Island, is
chairman of this committee, F. F. Barbadoes,
of Massachusetts, secretary, and among the
members present were Sella Martin, D. C.,
Prof. G. B. Vashon, D. C., R. B. Sarrell and
Wm. Nesbitt, Pa., Colling Crusor, D. C., J. M.
Langstou, Ohio, and others.
COMMUNICATIONS. I
THE ItlKI.E UIKSTION.
%
T the Editor of (he New Era :
In your rejoinder to my article, " Which
shall educate, the State or the Church?" you
say : " We understand our correspondent to
say that the Bible in schools must be given up
or we must give up our school system, because
the Jews, Catholics, and other non-Protestant
and non-orthodox bodies will refuse to send their
children to public schools where the Bible is
read."
I meant that the reader should draw the inference
from my article that unless the schools
were made truly secular they would eventually
cease to exist as public schools. The'question
will arise, and it must he solved, whether the
schools shall he altogether secular, under the
control of the State, or religious, under the
control of the Church or religious denominations;
and the true policy, in my opinion,
where there are so many conflicting views entertained
in regard to religious tenets, is to
allow noue of the sects to propagate their dogmas
in schools which arc intended for all the
people. If we take the spirit of our national
Constitution and the 1 declaration of Independence
as a guide in this matter, we are not likely
to err. If we do not, then we may become in- i
volved in a sea of troubles.
The only way to save the schools from disruption
is to make them secular, and then place
all on an equality under the State. If this is ,
not done, there will conic demands for portions
of the school fund from different religious soots
. '
which cannot. under fho circumstances, l?e I
justly resisted : and when you once (eminence I (
to apportion the school fund among' religious
sects, then you have sown the seed which will
produce the downfall of the public school sys- ,
tern as an institution of the State. (
When the schools are no longer public schools,
under the control of the State, but sectarian <
schoo s under the control of religious denominations,
then the State as a State, has no real ]
interest in the future citizen. The question i
will, at this stage, assume a different aspect ; i
each of the sects will strive for supremacy, for
the possession of a virtually abandoned State i
government, and it is easy to perceive that du- 3
ring such contentions mental force would not |
be the only force employed.
In this sense, then, you have understood me
properly ; that unless you surrender some of
your ideals for the public good, the school system,
as a public institution, must go down. It
does not follow that any one must surrender i
his religious con/ictions, but merely forego the ]
propagation of his own peculiar ideas, especi- t
ally when they are not acceptable to all. If |
men did not surrender some of their ideas when t
they combine to form the State, then there i
could be no State, no society. J. u. a. j
W ash i no ton, January '24, 1870. I 1
THE ASSASSINATION OF M. VICTOR .
NOIK. 1
g
BV flEO. It. VASHON.
Any one who keeps a meteorological record j
of a tropical region during the rainy season,
must expect being called upon to chronicle sud- '
den and violent disturbances in the economy of
nature : and the journalist who essays to keep c
abreast of political movements in Franre, need r
not count upon a sinecure in the performance
of his duties. For some time past the transatlantic
telegraph has given us daily its usual *
alternating intelligence of storm and calm in '
Paris?now of the threatened resort to barri- 1
cades on the part of the people, and then of
such a skillful disposition of large bodies of
troops, say 80,000 or 100,000 men, as tend to 1
insure the public tranquility. lJut the ordinary ^
treat thus furnished was spiced somewhat more
strongly than usual, last week, by the transmission
of a rather horrifying piece of news.
Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte, a cousin of the L
Emperor, has killed M. Victor Noir, one of the 1
editors of the Marseillaise, under circumstances 0
which give to his deed the aspect of an assassi- c
nation,cold-blooded in the extreme, if the statement
of the only other witness to the trangac- 4'
tion is to be credited, and but slightly relieved
* r
of that character, even upon Bonaparte's own
declaration, that it was committed under the *
8
provocation of a blow. This tragic act has
worked like a fever-heat in the excitable Parisian
blood, and has given to* M. Henri Roche- 1
fort, the principal editor of the. Marseillaise, N
ample opportunity, while denouncing the murderer
of his co adjutor, to thunder with greater 1
vehemence against the Napoleonic domination. 1
Later despatches inform us, that this violence (
has led to the suppression of his paper by the S
Government, and his condemnation by the S
criminal tribunal to the payment of a tine of c
3,000 francs, and to six months' imprisonment. 1
In view of this event, it is not hazardous to J
express the opinion, that it has not strength- 1
eued the hold of Napoleon upon the imperial l
sceptre, or improved his chances of transmit- ting
it to his heir. It is not likely, either, that he
will run the risk of his own exDulsion from
power, by attempting to shield his homicidal
cousin from the demands of justice; but rather, =
that he will, in this ominous crisis of his fate, "
imitate the example of that elder Brutus, who 1
sacritied his own sous, wheu they had incurred 1
the popular displeasure. It is thought that
this cousin has always had, by reason of his e
democratic tendencies, a very slight hold upon
the imperial affections ; and when Napoleon re- 1
Hects that, by one rash act of his, odium has
been thrown upon all who bear the name of
11
Bonaparte, he may reasonably be expected to
submit with facile resignation to the cry of
M blood for blood. " Would such a submission
cause his own horoscope, frowning enough just
now, to wear a loss angry aspect? Time will ^
a^ow" _______
THE BLINDNESS OF PREJUDICE. t
To the Editor of the New Era :
It seems to me strange that those who dwell
upon their wrongs, and who are constant in the f
vindication of their political rights, should not r
have their sympathies enlarged towards another ^
disfranchised class, especially when there ought t
to be feelings of gratitude to deepen sympathy f
and eradicate prejudice, because of the fact 1
* 1 I i I- -.1 J 1-* 11 >
uuu lucre ii?iii UCCI1 ciu?c Hiill 1 neiiuiy lnitTcourse
with some of that class who had already a
proved their claim to equality of rights. I ti
heard one of the oldest advocates of the wo- (
man's suffrage movement refer with pride, at
their late convention, to the beginning of her ^
labors in the cause, :wenty years ago, when 1
they presented their tirst petition to the Legis- t
lature of the State of New York, llow well 8
I remember the pride I felt at the time that ^
petition was presented, and with what feelings 1
of admiration 1 looked at Mrs. Ernestine L. t
Rose and Miss Antoinette Brown, who, aceom- ^
panied by Miss Anthony, addressed that honor- ?
able body. 1 felt proud that, although no white v
man was found with heart large euough and
purse long enough to entertain these noble a
women, there was a colored man possessing *
both the heart and the means to entertain \
them; and there were colored men, whose |
names are well known among the champions a
of freedom, who were always ready to escort ^
them from town to town. But how was that c
pride changed to mortitication, when at their t
convention last year, Miss Anthony fought j J
- ^ ?
y
against the right of suffrage for colored mf,n
and gave as a reason, with great hitternews
the fact tiiar, at a colored men's convention I
held in Albany, she had sent her name up, re.
questing to be made an honorary member, and
was refused. I thought, if that eould he * 4
reason for opposing the amendment, gratitude
for assistance in the days when the woman * t
suffrage movement was held in contempt, shcalj
have been a stronger reason for advocating it,
if there was no reason strong enough in the
great necessities and pitiable helplessness of
the outraged colored man in the South.
Now, one comes to us who demands our respect
and honor by telling us that her whole
life, since the age of seventeen years, has been
spent in seeking to reclaim the fallen : that
she has spent her time in this country and '
abroad, going from prison to prison,from grogshop
to dance-ball, seeking to win souls from
among the degraded ones to be found there.
And as I looked upon her, clothed in the
beautifully simple garb of the (Quaker women,
here. I suit!, is a peer of Prudence Crandall,
she who nearly forty years ago, in the eager
uess of her youth, was doing all she could to
elevate the oppressed, and sulfered imprison
merit for teaching fourteen little colored girls
to read. One of those little girls has just
passed to her heavenly home; having spent a
life of usefulness, she has gone to join her
teacher.
During our late war, she felt that her life
had received its crowning triumph, and she
felt that the spirit of her sainted teacher was
rejoiced to her people free, to see a black
major commissioned in the army of the United
States, her own husbaud invited to officiate us
ehaplaiu in the House of Representatives.
And in the face of all these facts, after the
eu'compliskinent of all this, and after a life
ipont in usefulness, we fiud Mrs. Townsend
coming to urge upon the attention of the people
the necessity for womau suffrage, with her
joul so narrowed by prejudice, that she asks
that Congress may provide ways and means for
removing the colored people to some place by
themselves, that the white people do not want
them to dwell among them.
How can these blind be made to see, that this
mean prejudice can but hinder their own cause
ind dwarf their own souls, so as to unfit them
for the positions to which they aspire.
A Colored Woman.
Letter From Mi** Carroll.
" *
To the Editor of the*New Era :
There is no longer a doubt that the fifteenth
intendment will soon be incorporatod in the
Sational Constitution. It therefore behooves
;he friends of colored suffrage to see, that the
people who uie called for the first time to the
jxereise of the franchise,without the advantage
>f previous education and training, are supplied
with all the meaus possible lor their enightenment.
The ballot is of little value to any one iguo'ant
or indifferent to the general interests of
lociety. To vote in iguoranee of these* inter
?sts under the mere dictation of another, eoners
no ben \I h'.ui wh > casts it, and the efect
of his vote may be decidedly against his
iwn best interests.
One of the most formidable difficulties to be
ivercome is the prejudice against colored suffage,
engendered by slavery.
It is the honest and almost universal opiniou
tt the South, that the colored people are not
ndowed with the capacity for an intelligent
xereise of the suffrage, and in this opinion
he North largely shares.
This prejudice against suffrage, however, is
lot stronger than it was against emancipation
tself.
The South, then, in ten thousand ways en- ^
ieavored to make freedom more onerous than J
liLViTV llftil OVur hppn Sii nnw tliov npoifipl
ill manner of social evils to follow the exerise
of the suffrage by the colored man, and
hey will use every means to embarrass him in
irder to justify the wisdom of their propheies.
Among Southern men, Judge Evans, of Texts,
was the tirst to advocate the exteusion of
utfrage to the freedmen, not only on account
>f capacity, but as an essential condition to
heir citizenship, and the only means of pre
terving their race from the degradation of ineriority,
and at the same time as the best edlcator
for its proper exercise. And he ad'ised
President Johnson, in May, 1865, to
>aso his policy of provisional governments
ipon this principle, but neither the governneut
nor the people were ready for this great
conception. I, myself, prepared an article the
tame month, in 18G5, insisting upon universal
inffrage, without regard to race or sex. but 1
:ould not secure its publication in Baltimore
>r Washington, even in a Republican paper,
md was compelled to send it to a distinguished
riend who caused it to appear in an Ohio pa)er.
But we have advanced in the last live
rears, and this is but an earnest of the still
greater advance in the next half decade.
The first work now iu order is the political
ducation of the colored people ; and in this
;reat mission, you can make your press an en;ine
of incalculable good by instructing them
11 the manner and the method of holdug
political meetings for the calm consideraion
of all subjects of political interest, and
very friend of equ il rights should now assist
n placing your paper in the hands of every
intelligent colored man and member throughut
the land. In this connection 1 regret to
ee any tendency towards the abolition of the
ranking privilege, when, at this especial time,
he colored people stand iu need of liyht from
11 quarters, and upon every question of uaional
interest. Better far to retrench auv
ther source of the public expenditure, than
o block the channel which affords the free
ransmission of light to the colored people of
he country. Miss Carroll.
Baltimore, January 21, 1870.
Gen. Howard is constantly receiving advices
rom the Southern States, of the purchase of
eal estate by the negroes, who are absorbiug
.11 the land offered them. Gov. Scott of South
'aroliua has, since he came into power, sold to
he blacks of that State about 40,000 acres, at
rom oue to six dollars per acre, lu another
ustance, during his late trip to the South,
ieu. Howard was present, when au ex-slave
>wner sold to four of his former slaves 700
teres of his plantation, for which they paid
liiu half cash, and gave him tueir notes for the ,
)ther half.
The recent action of the Regents of the
Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, admitting
adies to the fall advantages of the University
raining, will render little or uo change isecesary
in the conduct of the institution. The
lormitory system was long ago abolished, and
dl the students find their places for board and
odging wherever conveniences are offered in
lie city of Ann Arbor. There is nothing to
>e doue in the University buildiugs, after the
applicants for admission are found qualified,
xcept for the Professor to designate the classes
vhich a student?male or female?shall enter
;ive out the lessons, fix the hour of recitation,
md hear and examine the given classes at the
ime fixed. The students, male or female, preiare
their lessons at their private rooms, aud
vhen the hour for recitation arrives they all
>ass to the recitation room. The question of
iccommodatiou of female students does not
irise iu any way, other than it arises whenever
here is an increase of male studeuta, so as to
;rowd the benches of the recitation room, or
ender it difficult to procure board in the city
Detroit Tribune.
A ? [