e regularly voted into responsible positions by the best white
men of their cities. And why not? Do not colored men vote white men
into office? And, pray, is the white man less magnanimous than the
black man? Perish the thought! No; the politics of the South will
readily adjust themselves to the best interest of the people; be very
sure of this. And the future rulers of the South will not all be
white, nor will they be all black: they will be a happy commingling of
the two peoples.

And thus with the so-called "war of races:" it will pass away and
leave not a trace behind. It is based upon condition and
color-prejudice--two things which cannot perpetuate themselves. When
the lowly condition of the black man has passed away; when he becomes
a capable president of banks, of railroads and of steamboats; when he
becomes a large land-holder, operating bonanza farms which enrich him
and pauperize black and white labor; when he is not only a prisoner at
the bar but a judge on the bench; when he sits in the halls of
legislation the advocate of the people, or (more profit if less honor)
the advocate of vast corporations and monopolies; when he has
successfully metamorphosed the condition which attaches to him as a
badge of slavery and degradation, and made a reputation for himself as
a financier, statesman, advocate, land-holder, and money-shark
generally, his color will be swallowed up in his reputation, his
bank-account and his important money interests.

Is this a fancy picture? Is there no substantial truth seen in this
picture of what will, must and shall be, as the logical outgrowth of
the Divine affirmation that of one blood he created all men to dwell
upon the earth, and of the Declaration of Independence that "we hold
these truths to be self-evident:--That all men are created equal; that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;
that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"?

Let us see.

A few months ago I sat in the banking office of Mr. William E. Mathews
and ex-Congressman Joseph H. Rainey (of South Carolina), in
Washington. As I sat there, a stream of patrons came and went. The
whites were largely in the majority. They all wanted to negotiate a
loan, or to meet a note just matured. Among the men were contractors,
merchants, department clerks, etc. They all spoke with the utmost
deference to the colored gentleman who had money to loan upon good
security and good inter