“Is it true, General McEnery, that Conservatives, as a rule, object to giving Negroes political power?”
“Among Conservatives that is an open question. Many of us think it a great mistake to have given the coloured people votes; but the United States, which gave them liberty, thought fit to give them votes. We bow to facts. You meet men who would take away the Negro's personal freedom as well as his political power; but the majority of citizens has ceased to dream of going back to the old state of things. A Conservative would like to see the Right of Voting settled and defined by law. In all free countries certain classes, such as paupers, idiots, and prisoners, are excluded from the voting lists. In some free countries, those who cannot read the lists and sign their names, are not allowed to vote. With an understanding of this nature, the Conservatives of. Louisiana would admit the Negro to political rights.”
“You have no fear of educated votes?”
“No fear at all; for educated men are never led by scalawags. Even now, the education tells. If all the Negroes were to pull together--ninety thousand against seventy-six thousand--they might ”
