Whitelaw Reid: “Must the poor negroes prove the vent for this rage that dare not reach to higher objects?”

It is my firm conviction, that suffrage is not only the best security for freedom, but the most potent agent of amelioration and civilization.

And it is both natural and right that colored Americans, entitled to the rights of citizens, should claim their exercise.

They should strive for distinction by economy, by industry, by sobriety, by patient perseverance in well-doing, by constant improvement of religious instruction, and by the constant practice of Christian virtues.

Our national experience has demonstrated that public order reposes most securely on the broad base of universal suffrage.