| Show SOUTH SOUM va ts NORANCE 16 muen MUCH turbulence of spirit has been manifested within the past few weeks over the proposed change of the organic law in the state of south carolina A large amount of the explosion of words and hitter bitter invectives have been the sequence of an inflamed judgment of political prejudice or of a profound ignorance of the question As the BROAD ax is the accepted organ of a number of colored people in utah and as it is read by many of the race who honestly differ with our political view swe therefore believe that it is our duty as well as our privilege to place this matter right before our readers As we have stated the dense ignorance nor atice of a subject leads the human mind into the greatest errors and upon this question it would seem that our people had jumped to the conclusion given out by the wily politician that the state of south carolina is seeking to disfranchise the colored voters of that state this however is is not true and the idea is either eather the result of ignorance or dishonesty as we pr propose omose to show humanity is advancing life as a whole is ascending and the people of the united states are progressing free government has been brought about by a system of evolution from the experiences and observations of the past universal suffrage and a pure democratic form of government is as yet a bare experiment our forefathers who founded this republic proceeded upon the theory that all were not only free and equal by nature but they were honest and intelligent the voters of an ideal republic should possess all these qualifications but while we have the best government on earth it by no means follows that we have a perfect form of government humanity is fallible and the imperfections of our system and laws become more apparent as we advance in the scale of life the truth is our voters do not possess to any universal degree 9 either of the three great characteristics necessary to good citizenship viz freedom honesty and intelligence the world was knot not day neither can a perfect form of government be created in a generation the time perseverance and process rolof of ages each of the essential qualities of which we have spoken are perhaps possessed sese i by ogreater a Vil number laber of the P people eop lei in u bur country than by any rajo 1 jl rt f other Yeti edit IN important import int that we ta lead in thea it t gle lor existence c w and ana a thit that wa afia sfia at last to reada a arler za af pf with wiehl fr equality ay iy akin thit tha teach badh 44 be 0 o ohis jm is rhu t chic ih A is b for 2 jums 4 FA 4 an aab j e fy t i v ma g to the 0 o s p dia en tot N ia t d iliam aa ss s sa beyst fey St I 1 R N ee t 5 M also an evil bich can he mote easily eradicated than the other two to which we have referred to educate the people of our country is the first and highest duty of the state we must imbue I 1 all classes with a burning zeal to become intelligent and keep in step with the progress of the age otherwise our liberty will be lost and our boasted civilization wither away it has been the policy of many of the states and of the general government to promote the growth of intelligence ani and education by liberal donations of land and money to be used to that end As a people we have for years been making education a special feature taxation for free schools and the reservation of a large part of the public domain prove the importance of this question with the american people the civil service examination examina tio is another means to stimulating the culture of the mind for by it benefits are withheld to those not educated but what does south carolina propose to do why is all this fuss i made about this southern state after all she is simply striving tc to attain a more intelligent citizenship by requiring her vo acra to be able to read that should not disfranchise any true patriotic american it is said it will disfranchise thousands of negroes and also whites well we say aay after these long years of opportunities if any white or colored man cannot read I 1 be ought to be deprived of voting until he learns all of the states now debar a man of ferage suf for committing a crime and we believe wilful ignorance is a crime every colored man in south carolina can be taught to read and if he will not then we say he ought not to be permitted to vote tote an ignorant vote is a dangerous vote especially if wilfully so the proposition of this southern state is a noble one und and every colored man should favor it it is an inducement to elevate our raw race it puts a premi premium umon on in intelligence telli gence it gives reward to in merit erit and withholds favors from the unworthy let us not as colored folks say say such a law is detrimental to our race that would bean be an admission of weakness by saying in effect we cannot learn equal to the whites rather bather let us han hail the law as an auspicious dawning of a brighter day not only of the negro but of the whites the enactment of such a law would have a beneficial effect upon the colored race it will awaken an ali in the breast boenit of many jhc dreria ow weak and ignorant to become boniti more eelig that might high hh du duty s ty ther the south wooing ahi the za od of t 0 arts conr jace and nc instead them 4 we i h on i fw give t h i em 3 the vs T 9 mm by 4 17 i I 1 ll 11 Ws c |
