Mr. SCOFIELD. Mr. Speaker, the colored population of the U.S. is now about 5 milions. That is nearly double the population of all NewEngland, fully one 7th of the entire population of the U.S., and almost double the number that carried this country through a 7 years war with the greatest military power in the world. What shall be done with these 5 million ople? Colonize them? Where and when? 1o Africa? Liberia is the most desirable and accessible part of that country, but that colony is now more than 40 years old, and its emi grant population is only 7 or 8,000. Some 10,000, in all, have been taken there, but from 20 to 30%. of that number died during the period of acclimation. To land 5 million men, women, and children upon this miasmatic coast, without houses, roads or improved lands would be mur der by the million. The original kidnapping and importation of slaves to this country wasa very merciful and Christian business compared with 1 such an exodus as this. But. if we were wicked enough to embark in such a cruel enterprise we coudd not accomplish it. Calculate the expense, to say nothing of sufferin of collecting the entire population of Ohio, Tndiana, and Illinois and taking them to the Atlantic coast; compute the expense of transportation for such a nation across the Atlantic, and to these sums add the cost of houses, roads, clearings, stock, and temporary maintenance in that unhealthy climate, and you will have a billtoo great for the resources of the country, even if we were not in debt. But to gather aptand colonize the scattered and unwilling colored population, almost equal in numbers, would be a much ater undertaking. Colonize them in Mexico. then, it is said. The expense might be a few million less, but still far beyond the present resources and strained credit of the government. other obstacles would intervene. Mexico has 8 million 500,000 of population now. Where could yen thrust 5 million more in that uninviting land of endless war? Beside, if this vast population is as undesirable as is represented, they would be nearly as offensive to the people of Mexico as it is said they ought to be tons, and our unchristinn purpose would be defeated by the kindred prejudices of that nation. Colonize them, then, in some of our western Territories! The exwense and inius tiee of this undertaking would be consider ably less, but it would be just no colonization at all. They would soon be surrounded by our advancing millions, and left in the very earth the country from which you desire to expel them. The whole scheme of colonization is so far beyond the present abilit of the Government, so destructive to the proactive interest of the country, so inhuman and unjust toward the people whose an aid labor has added so much to the wealth an comfort of the nation, and whose. valor and patriotism has helped to sustain it in its late lifestruggle, audso impracticable and impossible, even it was right, that its advocates can scarcely expect to be credited with sense and sincerity at the same time. The thought less may be sincere, but the knowing ones can only design to distract the attention of the people from the consideration of other propositions and necessities and if colonization were practicable what would become of the old theory urged by io slavery divines and politicians, who are for the most part the present advocates of colonization, that white men could not labor in the warm latitudes of the South? Do the propose now, in sending oil the only possible a orders there, according to their theory, to abandon the culture of the South altogether? or do they confess they were only trying to cheat the people into the support of a cruel institution by false logic then, as they are trying to delude them with false theories now? If you mean to try colonization why not begin it at once? The longer you delay the more numerous will be these people and the more determined to stay. Bring in your bill and let us see the details. How many billions of new bonds must be put upon the market, how large an army will be asked, how many ships will be needed, and how many years will it take to effect the expulsion? What, in the meanwhile, is the world to do for cotton? What shall be done with the unwil lin and the fa itives? Will you hunt them with bloodhounds, or procure the services of Buchanans old marshals? Give us at once your bill of particulars. Ifcolonization is found impracticable, will you try to reie nslave them? I suppose not. The blacks are now too intelligent, too selfreliant, and too spirited to submit again to the oppressor. It is feared by some that the northern wing of the Democratic party will again yield its neck, not yet quite free from the old callous, to the yoke of the southern master; but the negro never will. Besides, the great Republican party, strong in numbers but stronger in its convictions of right, will always stand between the weak and oppression. by the Opposition, and feared even by some of our friends, that when the griiii leaders of the rebellion shall reembracetheir old party allies, a President placed in power by the publican trust and Republican votes forgetful of an example that consigned 2 residents to private life and public infamy, will be present to cele brate the reunion of these pardoned principals in crime with suspected accessories before the fact. I do not speculate as to what the president may do. ou never know what a single m“aPmut suddenly elevated to power, may o. not your trust in princes” is a warning that will apply to all men in power. I never could guess the secret motives that induced T ler and Fillmore to betray the Whigs. I have of n heard that a person who stands on the brink of Niagara, or climbs to the top of alofty tower, feels an almost irresistible impulse to jump off. It may be some such unnatural sennation that ironipted these 2 gentlemen to leap from their high eminence into the terrible obscurity below. I cannot believe that Mr. Johnson will follow these unseductive exam files. But if he should, he alone will be oken. The tower will stand, but his erip led limbs can never again ascend it. The ranks of the Republican army would not even waver. Its contractors and sutlers would fly, to be sure but without the loss of a man oragun itwould still stand the friend of the oppressed and the terror of teoppressor. Whatever individuals may do, be assured the Republican party will adhere to its principles, and in its principles know it, is said that that party may become powerless by the defection of the President. it is alleged l will certainly triumph. The Whig party could hardly be said ever to have been in a settle majority of the people, and yet it stood the be trayal of 2 of its Trcsidents, and only broke down when it surrendered to the slave power in the Baltimore convention of 1852. I conclude, therefore, that colonization and reiinslavement are both impossible. “Then extermination awaits them, ” so we are told. The census, however, tells a different story. These tables show that the black poulation multipl quite as fast as the white. this the large additions of the white element from abroad that gives that race an apparent advantage. I know that these people are poor. For long, dark years their industry has gone to swell the overgrown estates of their present persecutors. But they have been accustomed to a life of deprivation. Their wants are few and in a country where labor is high and land and food are cheap they cannot waste away. I know it is thought that this rapid increase is due to the mercenary care of the master. The more children he could raise for the market the greater his estate. This is true only of a few of the more northern States. Breeding was not encouraged in the planting States further south. The overseers task was inconsistent with the duties of maternity. The services of the mother were worth more than her offspring. The Life of the slave was graduated by the price of cotton, and, as a general rule, it would pay to use him up in 7 years and whatever would pay in that country was practiced. Hu manity was no restraint, for mayinga man into a brute makes the maker brutal. During the transition from bondage to freedom, in the midst of civilWar and bitter persecution, their numbers may possibly diminish for a short time; but the expectation that they will become extinct has no foundation either in the history or characteristics of the race. In endeavoring to look fairly at this question, I have found no evidence upon which to rest the belief that this race is ever to be colonized, ree nslnved, or exterminated. I come back, then, to the question with whichl began, wh“at shall be done with them? Let them alone.” That is the answer given by a member of the NewYork Legislature when it was proposed to send surgeons to vaccinate the In ians who were dying of smallpox on the Reserve. “The are a drunken, vagrant, thieving race, ”. said e “let them alone. The sooner the are gone the better for the country.” “ e cannot afford to let them alone, ” said the member in repl; “theys read the infection through the whole surrounding country, and we have only the choice to administer relief or suffer and ie with them.” Neither can we afford to let 5 milions of population, who are forever to remain in our mi st, increasing as we increase, sink down into hopeless ignorance, degradation, and vice. If we do, our own race will certainly grade down to them. The more we degrade these people the lower we sink ourselves. The ignorantwhite people have been made to believe that the elevation of the negro is equivalent to their debasement. The reverse is true. The more we improvethis unfortunate race, the higher we raise our own. Human influence is not confined by a sharp cm bankment of rank or condition. It overflows to adacent ranks, corrupting or purifying them as it is itself corru t or pure. l classes in society are elevate where there is no degraded class. It is the interest, therefore, of every white man that these people should be educated in morals, skill, industry, and letters. Every dollar expended for this purpose will econo mize losses by unskilled labor, by riots, theft, and poor rates more than tenfold. I am not now advocating the cause of this racerhowever meritorious it may be. I do not base the necessity of their improvement upon any claim of their own. It oes not atal imir my argument to concede the truth ofal the charges preferred against them, even by their most unscrupulous acciisers. Suppose that their minds are as weak, and their proclivities to vagraucy and vice as strong, as the lifelong despoilers of their earnings allene, (admitting at the same time my premises that they cannot be sent abroad, nor reenslaved nor exterminated at home) it only makes the necessity founded in selfinterest the more imperative upon us in every possible way to encourage their improvement. I submit to the House that the cheapest ele vator and best moralizer for an oppressed and degraded class is to inspire them with self respect, with belief in the possibilit of their elevation. Bestow the elective franc ise upon the colored population of this District, and you awaken the hope and ambition of the whole race throughout the country. Hitherto punishmenth has been the only incentive to sobriety and industry furnished these people by American law. They were kept too low to feel disgrace, and reward was inconsistent with the theory of “service owed.” Let us try now the pursuasive power of wages and protection. If colored suffrage is still considere an exer iment, this District is a good place in which to try it. The same objections o not exist here that are urged on be half of some of the States. No constitutional question intervenes. Here, at least, Congress is supreme. The law can be passed, and if it is found to be bad a majority can repeal it. The colored race is too small in numbers here to endanger the supremacy of the whibepeople, butlarge and loyal enough to counteract to some extent disloyal proclivities. Why, then, should they not vote 1 Because, say the Opposition, that is negro equality! Equality inw at? In mind, stature, e ucation, morals, or wealth? If these much coveted qualities can be so easily bestowed is any man mean enough to withhold them? The objection is contradictory. 1st, he shall not vote because he is the white mans inferior; and 2nd, because it will make him anequal. Do you mean by equality personal friendship and social intercourse? lilhy, sir, if there is anything free in this country, or in an country, it is the right of each man to select iis own associates. comanionship is free now, and will be then. It is your constitutional right to associate with men of color new, if you are so inclined, while you are not forced to associate with nor even speak to a white voter now, not will you be wi ablnck voter in the future. On the other hand, it is the constitutional right of the colored man to shun you now, and is right would neither be enlarged nor diminished by his enfranchisement. The equality so much dreaded and so fiercely denounced must mean, if it means anything, that a colored mans vote will count one toward the election of mayor and councils for Washington city, and a white mans vote will count one also, and no more. That is all and why should they not be so counted? What do the mayor and councils have to do that none but the aristocracy can judgeof their fitness Simply to mend the roads, look after this door, and take care of the school. certain y these are subjects of deep interest to men of color as well as white men, and not above the capacity of the lowest. Colored men do the work on the streets; they ought to understand what reairs are needed as well as ow to make them. on say they are poort icy ought to know the poor mans wants. You say they are ignorant; then give them a chance to vote against a mayor who loads them with school tax and deprives them of schools. In this district no vote is cast for President, member of Congress, judge of the courts, nor any Officer exec t the administrators of local atfairs, in which all citizens, however ignorant in national matters, are necessarily well informed. This action is not alto ether an experiment. In Boston the colored people vote and it is the bestgoverned city in the U.S. But if it is to be considered an exeriment altogether, then, as I said before, there is no better place in the whole country in which to try it than the DistCol. Again. it is said it will lead to time amation This cry has been too often raised to a arm even the most ignorant. When the Democratic party endeavored to establish slavery in the Wm“)?! 13 acquired from Mexico, the arguments in opposition were met by the cry of “amalgamation.” Negro equality was their covering cry, during their long struggle, through fraud and violence to force slavery on the unwilling people of Kansas. When slavery was abolished in the DistCol “Amalgamation and ne proequality” was bellowed by that part all over the land. When the great and good resident issued his proclamation of emancipation, they again screamed “Amalgamation and negro equality;” and the cry came still again in terrible shrieks when slaVery was forever)prohibitedb amendment of the constitution. his is a staning argumentwith the Opposition, and isbrought out on all occasions when any legislation is proposed touching the interest of the colored popution. Even on so trifling an occasion as the passage of a law at the last session allowing these people to ride in the street cars of this city, a cry of horror was sent over the country that I thought would startle the whole An 10 ISaxon race to its feetin defense of its blood, Iiut soon saw that nobody was scared, and we all now see that nobody was hurt. Let our sensitive friends compose their nerves and try to tell us how a little enlargement of the elective franchise over small and urely local matters in this District, will result in marriage between the 2 races. It is fright that makes you mistake a ballot for a billetdoux. It cannot be possible that any man of common sense can bring himself to believe that marriages between any persons, much less between white and colored people, will take place because a colored man is allowed to drop a little bit of paperin a box, thereby intimating who he considers the fittest person to be mayor of this city. It is too triirw for argument. e are again told that their average ability is below that of the white race. How do you know that? The colored man has never exhibited equal ability, to be sure, but he has never hadequalopportunities. The forbidding statutes of tire Sent 1 attest the capacit of the negro. If they really believed his mind was so fragile, why bind it with such heavy chains? If he was incapable of learning, why prohibit it with the penitentiary? Their theories proved he was weak, but their legislntion acknowledged he was strong. They chased him by law to fit him for slavery, and justified slavery because he was debased. So in this District the with holding opportunities of improvementis justified on the ground of his inferiority, and his inferiorityis shown by his lack ofimprovement. But suppose the white race is su)OllOl does it follow tfiht the inferior race should be deprived of any authoritative mode of making its wants known to the Government? If mind is to be made the test of suffrage, a great many noisy declaimers against the negro will lose their votes. As a general rule,t e men least fitted to vote are the warmest advocates of exclusion. They apprehend with much reason, that they may be distanced in the race if the black man is not forced to car weight. such men should beware how they advocate a theo that would jeopardize their own votes if may e universal. but it is further said that whatever their capacity, the are at least uneducated now. hat, would a but a shorth ved objection if true, and not solely applicable to people of color. But it is not true of the largest portion of the colored people in this District. Nearly all of them can read, and the scholarship of many is of a very high order. The whole objection is easily dhviated by an educational qualification. Another objection very much relied upon, is that a majority of the white population here are opposed to it. A prominent man charged with a bi h crime in Pennsylvania alleged t rat the hostility and prejudice of the pee do in the county where he was indicted would deprive him of a fair trial, and asked the Legislature to grant him a change of venue. The people of that county remonstrated, and submitted to the Legislature that they were the fittest persons to try him, because they knew he was guilty, If the people here were generally consenting to this enlargement of the franchise its necessity would be less apparent. It is because the negro is hated in this city, and justice denied him by)TCjlldlCOd officials, that his vote is necessary for his own protection. Every vote against him at this pretended election was an argument in his favor. I know that the prejudices, errone ous sentiments, and even vices of the people should be somewhat regarded in legisation, and that vested wrongs supposed to evested rights should be divested very slowly. But what less can we do in this direction than is proposed to be done by this bill, namely, to be stow the elective franchise upon a handful of men, who, as a body, are intelligent, sober, peaceable, and industrious, and in a District where only local officers are chosen, and over which our right to legislate cannot be questioned. It must be opposed, not upon the ground that it is going too fast or granting too much at 1st, but upon the ground that, in that direction no step should be takennothing granted now, nor forever; that this is exclusively a white mans Government and the colored man is his slave. This is a rebel heresy entirely eXploded by the war. We are coming back to the doctrine of our fathers. In the Continental Congress they asserted that “all men are created free and equal.” They subsequently made the constitution to aecord. with this sentiment, and for 40 years, and as long as they lived to administer it, negroes were allowed to vote in all the old States except perhaps, SCarolina. Both the precept an practice of our fathers refute the allegation that this is exclusively a white mans Government. If we cannot now consent to so slight a recognition, as proposed by this bill, of the great underlying theory of our Government, as declared and practiced by our fathers, we are thrown back upon that new and monstrous doctrine that the 5 millions of our colored population and their posterity forever have no rir ts that a white man is bound to respect. l, Who ronounces this crushing sentence? The politica South; and what is this South? The southern master and his northern minion. Have these people wronged the South? Have they filled it with violence, outrave, and mur der? N o, sir, they are remarkabl gentle, patient, and respectful. Have they despoiled its wealth or diminished its grandeur? No, sir, their unpaid toil has made the material South. They removed the forests, cleared the fields, built the dwellings, churches, colle es, cities, highways railroads, and canals. hy, then, does the oath hate and persecute these people? Because ithas wronged them. Injustice always hates its victim. They are forced to look to the North forjustice and what is the North? Not theiatitude of frosts; not NewEngland and the Statesthat border on the lakes, the Mississippi, and the Pacific. The geograph ical is lost in the political meaning of the word. The North, in a political sense, means justice liberty, and union, and in the order in which l name them. Jefferson defined this “North” when he wrote “all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain ina enable rights, among which are life, libe, and the pursuit of happiness.” This North as no geo graphieal boundaries. It embraces the friends of reedom in every uarter of this great Republic. Many of its ravest champions, like our still unstolen republican President, hails from the cographica South. The North, that did not bar the slave power in its prime, in the day of its political strenglth and patronage, when it commanded aliket e nation and the mob, and for the same cruel purpose, will not be intimidated by its exiring maledictions around this capita. The North must pass this bill, to vindicate its sincerity and its courage. The slave power has already learned that the North is terrible in war and fo ving and Gentle in peace; let its crushed an mangled vie tims learn from the passage of this bill that the justice of the North, unlimited by lines of lati tnde, unlimited by color or race, slumbereth not.