Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
I firmly believe that President Cleveland would do
his utmost to protect and defend the constitutional
rights of all classes of citizens. But he is not left
to himself, and may adopt a different policy.
"One thing seems plain, which it is well for
all parties to know and consider. It is this:
There are seven million of colored citizens now
in this republic. They stand between the two
great parties—the Republican party and the Democratic
party—and whichever of these two parties
shall be most just and true to these seven million
may safely count upon a long lease of power in
this republic. It is not their votes alone that will
tell. There is deep down among the people of
this country a love of justice and fair play, and
that fact will tell. It is now as it was in the time
of war, and it will be so in all time. The party
which takes the negro on its side will triumph.
The world moves, and the conditions of success
and failure have changed."
At another place in the same address, he boldly
and truthfully assigns as the chief reason which
caused the defeat of the Republican party in the
presidential campaign of 1884, the subordination
of the principle of protection to the rights of citizens
in the issues presented to the country.
The words to which we refer are as follows:—
" The great mistake made by the leaders of the
Republican party during the late canvass was the