Under these circumstances one of the very first and noblest acts of the President was to announce that the United States would not avail itself of the right to send out privateers, reserved under the Declaration of Paris.
Reid praises the President's decision to forgo privateering, emphasizing a commitment to ethical conduct in warfare.
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And it is both natural and right that colored Americans, entitled to the rights of citizens, should claim their exercise.
In this way they will surely overcome unjust hostility, and convince even the most prejudiced that the denial to them of any right which citizens may properly exercise is equally unwise and wrong.
It is my firm conviction, that suffrage is not only the best security for freedom, but the most potent agent of amelioration and civilization.
Our national experience has demonstrated that public order reposes most securely on the broad base of universal suffrage.