I can only say this: I believe there is not a member of the Administration who would not be pleased to see suffrage universal; but I can not say, for I do not know, that the Administration is prepared to say that suffrage shall be universal.
Reid reflects on the Administration's stance on universal suffrage.
Share
More from Whitelaw Reid
It is my firm conviction, that suffrage is not only the best security for freedom, but the most potent agent of amelioration and civilization.
May it not prove, moreover, in that work of reorganization, which now engages the thoughts of all patriotic men, that universal suffrage is the best reconciler of the most comprehensive lenity with the most perfect public security and the…
And it is both natural and right that colored Americans, entitled to the rights of citizens, should claim their exercise.
They should persist in this claim respectfully, but firmly, taking care to bring no discredit upon it by their own action.