The question of negro suffrage is not one to be determined by agreement between the whites of the North and the whites of the South; it is a matter for the blacks themselves to settle. Most discussions of the subject assume that the opportunity to vote is to be conceded to the negro, if at all, by the Southern whites upon the demand of the outraged North. Not so. “Who would be free themselves must strike the blow.” After the close of the war the North, driven by the necessities of the situation, placed the ballot in the negro's unpractised hands for the purpose of protecting him against re-enslavement. That purpose has been fulfilled. The ruling whites have been occupied in intimidating him at the polls and counting out his vote, and have, in consequence, been unable to make headway with the purpose (which was evident among them at the close of the war) to shackle him afresh so soon as the power of the North should be withdrawn.

But the ex-slave, unused to directing his own actions and incapable of coping with his old masters, could not retain possession of the weapon that the North had thrust into his hands; still less could he use it for his own advancement in civilization. Of what use would it be, then, once more to confer upon him this gift at present?