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          Maryland's Negro Vote will not Divide.

 Reasons Why a Colored Man Should Vote the Republican Ticket, and
        Reasons Why He Will Not Support the Democracy-Honorable
        Recognition Accorded the Negro by Maryland's Patriotic Re-
        publicans.
    It is an axiom, not open to serious objection, that no sensible man
makes a change in any established policy for the mere sake of change.
The very act of change suggests that the reversal of a given line of
thought is made with the expectation of bringing about better condi-
tions, one way or another. And "a decent respect for the opinions of
mankind" argues that he who so changes be able to explain to his
                                friends and neighbors the reasons
                                that inspire him to a parting of
                                the ways.
                                  The campaign now being fought
                                out in Maryland is in every respect
                                a national contest.  The issues up
                                for settlement reach far beyond
                                the confines of the State, and af-
                                fect numerous interests in which
                                the prosperity andhappiness of the
                                whole people are concerned.  Par-
                                ticularly is this true of the Negro.
                                Peculiar social conditions now ex-
                                isting in the South and elsewhere
                                make it necessary for the Afro-
                                American to choose his political
                                course with  the utmost caution,
                                and to employ the clearest judg-
                                ment in forming alliances.
                                  Should the Maryland Negro di-
                                vide his vote? In effect, should the
                                Maryland Negro leave the Republi-
                                can party?  Is there anything to
                                be gained by a change of base. To
      HON. LLOYD LOWNDES        all of these very timely questions,
                                we answer emphatically, No! If
no benefit can be derived from a change of political attitude, then it
is the sheerest folly to tear down the temple in which we have been
reared, to avenge a fancied grievance, or to gratify a groundless pique.
Let us be men of poise and dignity, and in sober spirit look to the
highest good of our race all over the land.
   Why should the Negro vote the Democratic ticket? The party of
Gorman and Rasin has never by word or deed expressed a desire for
the company of the black man, even when such an association would
redound wholly to the profit of that "combine." In the latest platform
of the Democracy the race question is brought forward in a manner
prejudicial to the well-being of the colored people, and the hatred of
the old slave-holding class, and the most destructive forces of society,
are being invoked to win support for the Smith ticket. The influences
which prevented honest elections in the city of Baltimore for many
years, and the thugs whose deeds of violence against black men caused
the streets of that city to run with blood, are working night and day
to place John Walter Smith in the governor's chair, to the end that the
same riotous conditions may once more be perpetrated, with reason-
able safety from molestation by the officers of the law, the same
Democratic party that advocated the disruption of the Union; the
same Democratic party that endorsed the articles of secession; the
same Democratic party that fought to keep alive the infamous insti-




			

OHS Archives/Library Pamphlet Collection

Colored American Republican Text Book