Mr. CHANLER. Mr. Speaker, the following language of Alexander Hamilton, in one of his essays (No. 5) in the Federalist, seems most appropriate at this time and to this subject: guaIrtdissoocfigctryenatga importance in a republic not only to the oppression of its rulers. but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. “Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued uplil it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the miiiiii society in which the stronger faction can readil unite to oppress the weaker, anarchy may truly c said to reign as in a state of nature where the weaker individual is not secured against the violence of the stronger.” A fierce and bloody civilWar has just ended in the complete triumph of this Government over a rebellion which threatened to destroy it. An amnesty proclamation has restored the people who were in that rebellion to their rights as citizens of the U.S. Peace is recstablished, and every function of Government is rapidly bein put into practical operation throughout the outh. The party in the majority in the Government has introduced this proposed amendment to the laws of Congress regulating this District, and urge its passage 1. On the ground of justice to the negro. 2. On the ground of safety to the Union. 8. As a necessity. I do not wish to use the word faction in any other sense than that used by the illustrious Hamilton. But it does seem to me. sir, that if t“his measure passes into a law we will resemble a society in which the stronger faction readily unite to oppress the weaker, ” and “ anarchy ” for awhile at least, may be looked for as the political consequent of our action. Actuated by a sincere wish to do full justice to all classes and racesof men; resolved at all hazards to secure the safety and perpetuity of this Union; and after a fair examination of the necessity of the proposed amendment, I am convinced this measure should not pass. nsono scrim ice IN ran DISTCol . In my opinion, the powers vested in Congresrs over the DistCol, although absoll lute and exclusive do not include the right to establish a principle which in itself, ab initio, is fatal to the full and just exercise of the will of the majorit of the people of this District or of any State of this Union, and, dforii0ri, if it be hostile to the will of a may out of the people of this Union. A majority of the inhabitants of the southern States are negroes, who do not constitute the people, neither in those States nor in the U.S. The negro inhabitant is in a minority in every other State except the southern States, and whether he vote or not in the States in which he forms a minority of the inhabitants cannot affect the sovereignt of the people of the U.S. by eve owing the supremacy of the white race, through the legal and peaceful medium of the ballot, in anyone State. But by the nuciple of negro suffrage, if once establishe by the national congress, the term “the people” will be made to include the negro race throughout the Union, and thereby rvert the intention of the framers of"the constitution as declaredving the preamble: We. the people of the U.S., in order to form a more perfect Union, establishjustice. insure domestic tranquillity mrovido for the commondefcnlo, promote the general welfare, and secure the blecp inirsoflibsrt to ourselves and our postenty, do ordain and establish this constitution for the U.S.A. ” To secure the rights of and preserve the do minion to their posterity the same framers of the constitution enacted: “Thetimcs, places, and manner of holding elections for Sens&Reps shall be prescribed in each Statob the Legislature therool.” rl. l, m. 4. Congresss all have power to regulate commerce with the Indian tribes.”Arr. 1, m. 8. "The migration or importationof snch persons I any of the State snow existin shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibit by the Congress prior to the year 18, but a tax or duty may beimposedon such importation not exceedingten dollars for each pomn. Art. I, no. 9. 1. “To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, to exercise exclnsive legislation in all enseswhatsoever over such district (not exceedingten miles square)as m by cassion of particular States, and the acceptance of on ress, become the scutuf the Government of the U.S.”Afl. 1. Ice. 8. These sections plainly fix the intent of the framers of the constitution on 3 points: 1st, the existence of 3 distinct races 51, that of the framers of the constitution; 2, the Indian race; 8, the slave race or negroes. 2nd, the dominion of the race who formed the constitution to be perpetual. 3rd, homoges ncity of the emigrant of that da With the race that formed the constitution. ourth, the seat of their dominion to be under the exclusive control of the Government founded by that race. I consider the logic of these sections be conclusive on the question, “Is thisa white mans Government?” Curtis, in his admirable work on the constitution, sustains this View. He says, (volume 2, chapter nine, page 195, also chapter ten, page 286:) "But who were to be regarded as the people of State for this purpose[in fixing the right of wings was a umtion o great mairnitude now to be oonnd. cred. Iho situation of the country iu reference to this, as wellas to many other important questions, wal peculiar. The strcarnsof immigration whloh began to flow into it from Europe at the 1st settlement of the different colonies had been interrupted only by the war of the Revolution. On the return of once the tide of emigration began again to set towar the new States which hm risen into existence on the western shoresof the Atlantic. It appeared auite certain that great accessionsof populat onwoul follow the establishment of free institutions in America, if they should be framed in I liberal and comprehensive spirit.” “ I "The States which had encouraged most such immigration had advanced most rapidly in population. in agriculture, and the arts. There were, too. already in the country many persons of foreign birth who had thoroughl identified themselves withi ts interests and its fate, who had fought in its battles or contributed of their meansto the causeof its freedom: and some of these men wer at this very plriod high in the councils of the nation and even occupied pluccs of great importance in the convention [which framed the constitution] itself. They had been made citisens of the States in which they resided by the State power of naturalization, and they were in every important sense Americans.” 4 “The people, ” therefore, who framed the constitution of the U.S. were of the white race exclusively, their only point of difference being the period of time at which they had emigrated from Europe. No other race is mentioned in the Convention. The only consideration given to the negro was as a slave in those sections regulatin the slave trade and establishing the 3lift s rule of representation. To claim for the negro the position of a citizen of the U.S. is to violate the whole spirit of the preamble to the Constitution which made the U.S. a nation. neono you: s new QUESTION. To amend the laws of this District and of the State of Maryland so as to admit the negro race to the exercise of sovereignty with the people of this Union is a new question, and one which demands the avest consideration in face of the history of is country, where the negro has been an inhabitant for as long a period as the ruling white racean inhabitant, at not a citizen of this Union. The negro should never be allowed to vote in this District until the majority of the whole people of this Union shall have passed their judgment upon his fitness to hold so great a power at the seat of Government. lhe present is not, in my opinion, a propertime to urge this amendment upon the people for their judgment. The comparatively tur u lent and distracted condition of the southern States just reorganized under the proclamation of the President, the conflict between the white and black race which public discussion would create, the hiuderance to a fair discussion consequent upon the absence of an established press, the exclusion of the representatives of a nrge portion of the people of this Union from the floor of congress, and the artisan character of such legisation, all ten to put the as sage of this amendment in the category of those public acts of which Hamilton speaks in allusion to the “society in which the stronger faction can readily unite to oppress the weaker.” Whatever may he the merit of negro suffrage, the attempt to force it on the country at this, or any future period in hostilit to the existing opinion of the people of the whole Union, can only be successful through violence and despot ism. For a majorit of this House to i ore the expressed Will of the people of this District is tyrannical and contrary to the spirit of the constitution and the DeclarIndep. Then the warning voice of deTocqueville, who wrote so many truths in regar to democracy in America, may be fulfilled. He says” If ever the free institutions of America are destroyed that event maybe attributed to the unlimited authority of the majority, which may at some future da urge minorities to desperation and oblige them to have recourseto physical force. Anarchy will be theresult, but it will avebeen brouis t about by despotism.” –Democracy in America, vo. 1, p. 317. PLEA or xsesssrrv. The necessity must be absolute and imperative which forces a representative democracy to change the established law and custom regulating the right to vote. None of the arguments presented by the advocates of this measure establish any such necessity. “The power of the Government never was greater, never so safe, never so honored at home so respected abroad. Her disbanded volunteer army and navy tell a glorious story of victory, of peace, strength, and security. The skill ofhor sons in the part of war, the devotion ofher daughters in works of charity, the clemency, sagacity, and fearless patriotism of her Chief Magistrate, are the hap iest guarantees of the future blessings whic, as a nation, we may hope to receive and maintain. The majest of the law universally meets with the ready omage of a free and enlightened people. The minister of religion is we coined everywhere as the harbinger of a tolerant and pure faith. Every class and color of men are secure of equality before the law, and no danger threatens the full and harmonious enjoyment of civil and religious liberty throu out the Union. The slave is free, and the reed man falls protected. The reorganization of social an political society, which the late war threw into chaos is rapidly and satisfactorily taking place.” or ways are ways of leas antness, and all her paths are peace.” “ here is no one to make us afraid.” Our commerce il again spreading her giant arms, in Search of great gain, over every sea and land. The busy marts of men have renewed their hum of eager and restless enterprise. The dominion ofi the people is secure, and the Union is safe in their and s. Whatever evil the future may have in store, certainly the present is without danger, discord, or apprehension of harm. Why bring a new and inexperienced race into the now compact and homogeneous peo10by extending the right to vote to the colored man? SAFETY. The advocates of this amendment in regard to the colored vote in this District urge that the safety of the Union demands the extension of the franchise to the negro. Hon. Michael Hahn, ofLouisiana, in a speech delivered before the National Equal Suffrage Association of Washington, on Friday, N ovember 17, 1865, says: “Follow citiseiis, while we strive to secure the object we have in view the right of suffrage to all American citizens reardlessof color we must overcome obstacles and didculties of a serious character which still beset us, and the continued existence of which may threaten to prevent our immediate success. It is n ssary in beginning our work to see that slavery throughout tho land is effectually abolished, and that the freedmen are protected in their freedom and in all the advantages and privileges inseparable from the condition of freedom. It is in. mistaken idea to suppose that slavery is a ready abolished. The national authority has declared emancipation. The national arms, in a bloody contest against slavery have triumphed. The legislation and literature of the country treat slavery as abolished. But I, who come from the South, and have seen the working of the institution for over a quarter of a century, tell you and I do it regretting that slavery in pradtice and substance still exists.” "And again: The right of the people to keep and bear arms must be so understood as not to exclude the colored man from the term people. " "And again: The only question which now seriously divides the country is that of suffrage. Let us. in healing up old sores and putting our houseto order, begeneroiigJust, and patriotie, and now. for all time to come, dispose of this question in accordanceWith the IlllllClBlOB of humanity and true republican government. 1 c glo rious character of the results to be accomplished, the future harmony of allspetions of the country and classes of the people. should induce usto enter the contestfor this principle cheerfully. energetically, and boldly. As ous 1! this right is denied there is no peacein the an and Hon. B. Gratz Brown, in an address delivered at Turner Hall, StLouis, Missouri, Sep tember 22, 1865, on universal suffrage says: “Safety wasdestined to spring from the people.” Again, he says in the same speech: “Subjeotion of one race to another. a homogeneity of institutions. oan only come of equal rights to all classes, and until there is a homogeneity there will be discord between the sections, threatening renewed civil strife.” Again he says, page 19 of the same speech, spe.ing in behal of universal suffrage: “Have I not then the right toinvokein the causo of universal suffrageall the heroism which this war of liberation has called forth, and all the stern resolve that such noble sacrifice and so great sulfering has put into the heart of the people I An equal freedom is the only refuge from an antecedent slavery, Universal suffrage t u only remedy for disasters that follow from subordipating and disfrnnchising a raceand inc“orporating it in a freecommunity. A new era has come that disconnects us from the traditions of that condemned policy. Lotus avail our selvesof it by insisting that universalsuffr a shall pie thgmonument of universal freedom in all the after me. Hon. Charles Sumner, in a speech delivered before the Republican State convention in Wor cester, Massachusetts, september l4, 1866, ” on the national security an the national faith, ” says: “Neither the rebellion nor slavery is yet ended. The rebellion has been disiirmed, but that is all. slavery has been abolished in name; but that is all.” NATIONAL sscumiir and again: “Indemnity we renounce: but security wewillhave. This is theonething needful and again: “As the national peace and tranquillity depend cs sontially upon the overthrow of monopoly and tyr anny, here is another occasion for a special guarantee against the wholo pretension of color, It is only impartial suffrage that I nowclaim, without distinction of color, so that there shall be one equal rule for all men and this, too must beplaced under the safeguard of constitutional law.” and lastly the secret of all this fear L., as follows: en “Another speaker, loss frank, thought it policy to accept the present condition of affairs, until the control oi theStates restoredinto the handsof its people and to submit for a time to evils which cannot be remedied and still another, much more Wily, when urging asceming acceptance of the Union. thuslured his by rother conspirators: If wc act wisely we shall beJoined by what is called the Copperhead party, and even by many of the Black Republicans. such is the plot, and such is the disastrous alliance plainly foreshadowed. But, thank God! in encouraging his comrades, the conspirator has warned us. Forewarned is forearmed.” The claim to all the privileges of an American citizen was easily to be foreseen as a consequence of the policy which made the negro a soldier during the war against rebellion. The right to secede involved our destruction and forced this Government to destroy secession by abolishing slavery. The rebels, in plotting treason, exosed themselves to the counter plot of abolition, whereby the Union counter miued the confederacy and blew a their whole work in a ruin even greater for than they had prepared for us. How far the arming of the slave against his master may be justified ceases to be a question. of debate while civilWar in augurated by the master threatens the existence of this Union. But the enlistin the slave as a soldier in the armies of the nion was, in my opinion, unnecessary and unwise. It was a step beyond what was consistent with our system of government. Taking a step further and more hostile to society and government, the advocates of negro equality urge now that the rank of soldier invited the hope, if it did not imply the promise, of equality as a citizen in just reward for sharinghthe dangers of war. I have always opposed the enlistment of negroes or their race in the armies of the Union on anequality with the white man. But it does not fdllow that the negro is entitled to a vote as an inalienable right, nor does it follow of right because the Administration, during a civilWar of cat inn nitude, under the plea of military and grpolitica necessity, employed him in her armies as an instrument to win his own free om. It seemsto me, sir, that freedom from slavery and equality before the law areas fall a reward as we canjustly grant the negro for his recent service in arms. The right to vote car ries with it too many and too weighty resonsi bilities to be ranked in the same class with pensions and bount money, the only reward of a large class of white Union troops. The black laborer in the recent field of blood is undoubt edly worthy of his hire; but he is not entitled to become the equal of his recentwhite master in the loyal States, nor to receive a greater reward than his white fellowsoldiers in the Union ar mies. Nor do I think the equality of the negro has ever been fully and fairly admitted even by the Administration which made use of him dur inrr the late struggle. The organization of the colored troops in the Army of the U.S. was as laborers, and not as soldiers. The course pursued by the late President was evidently intended to avoid the responsibilit of pledging equality in peace to negroes who adshared the dangers of war. I deny that any obligation rests against this Government to do anything more for the negro than has already been done. On what meats doth this Caesar feed that he has rown so eat? The white soldier did as muc work as c, fought as well, died as bravely, suffered in hospita s and in the field as well as he. More than this, the white soldier fought to liberate the slave, and did do it. The white soldier did more: he fought to preserve institutions and rights endeared to him by eve hallowed association, to overthrow the rebelion of his brother against their Commonwealth and glorious Union, to reserve the sovereignty of the people againstt e conspiracy of aslave aristoc racy, ifyou will to maintain the fabric of the Government built by their fathers for them and their race in every country of kindred men who, downtrodden and disenfranchised, look to this country as a sure refuge. The white soldier fought as a volunteer, as a responsible, free, and realighg for what he fought and I an; e slave share with the e QSr, towing on him more than his 1 A profits of the white mans victory “Fighteqnal and the negros master. “FACTS WHAT HAS uses more BY rnr. wan. This naturally brings us to a statement of facts as to what has been done by this white mans civilWar. 1. Slavery and abolition twin curses to our peace, have been abolished. 2. Rebellion has been put down, and secession made impossible hereafter. 3. The State governments reorganized in the leceding States. 4. Equality before the lawsecured to the negro by the conventions of those States. 5. Union of the 36 existing States and Territories made perpetual by victory. newer11s. All the benefits resulting from this state of facts accrue to the black and white man alike in everything except the right to vote, which is not a result of, and never was involved in, the contestwhich has just been decided between the seceding States and this Government. The dominion over the different races on this conti nent belon to the white man by right of conuest, and lie will only surrender it to a supe nor in arms. That dominion is secured to us by the elective franchise, which we have ranted to foreigners of our own race, as the ighest privilege within our gift, as a return to them in sharingwith us the task of subduing the savage and establishing civilization in America. That privilerve has been made honorable by the glory which is attached to American arms; by the wisdom which marks American policy; by the purity and simplicity which adorn the American omc; by the security enjoyed under the protection of our laws; above all by the reiiire from military and hereditar aristocracy extended by it to the oppresse and unfortunate of our own race in urope. AMERICAN CIVILIZATION. American civilization, of which universal suffraec is the comerstone, is not, as some seem to think, a plan to overthrow European civilization, but on the contrary to secure the blessings of the highest civilization to the humblest emi grant from Euro o in this Union. That was the scheme of every “uropean nation and language which sought this continent, under whatever pretext they may have disguised it, and with the exception of a few instances in our history, has been the fixed policy of the European race in America upto the present. It is the great social and political task now laid more heavily than ever on the peOple of this Union. Nor has the dominion of the European on this continent been without a severe struggle. Each one of the 13 original colonies, and most of the States formed smce the war of independence, beara sad testimony to the danger and fatigues he suffered, to the long vigil and wearing fast he kept, on the rug edseacoast an on the desert plain, or in testill more inhos itable forest, where behind every tree a red foe urked thirsting for blood. It became a war of extermination, race against race, blood for blood, merciless. Civilization, although fighting at great odds, hand to hand, foot to foot, drove the savage before him, disputing every inch of wilderness and the white man of today enjoys the triumph achieved by his race in this prosperous and ppowerful Union. Scarcely was this victory won over the red man when a new element was thrown into the conflict of civilization against barbarism. A philanthropic priest, Bernal Diaz, induced the punish Government and the Pope to sanction the importation of African slaves as laborers. Indian slaves and negro slaves alike bowed to the lash of the white master from the land of the Pequod to the Lake of Mexico. The dominion of the white race was made doubly sure by dividing the laboring class into blacks and Indians, from the intermarriage of whom a still more degraded element has heen introduced throughout Central America. The proud distinction which the white race holds toda on this continent it has held from the 1st. this certain to hold it, under all circumstances, with a masters hand. I have no reason to fear for the result as between the races. There are 2 beautiful groups in marble, one on either side of the mom entrance to the Cap itol. One commemorates the discovery of America Columbus displays the lobe in triumph, while at his feet crouches an fndianslave. On the other side, a western pioneer is in adeath grapple with an Indian warrior, while the white man 5 wife and child and faithful dog watch the fierce but victorious struggle of their champion with their murderous foe, whose scalpinknife was just sharpened for the innocent an weak. Why should we, at this period of our history, disturb the historic muniments and legal bul warks by which the white man secured and preserves the mastery? Why make it necessary to resort again to violence? By the law of might he 1st won his dominion, and by it he certainly will maintain it if roused by passion. corvruer or 3. 5058. The conflict of the different races may never take place in the same form in which it showed itsel at the beginning, but the conflict is inev itable whenever the white race is roused by anger or suspicion. One of the most certain methods of in ucin a conflict will be, it seems to me, by establishing equality, social and public, as the negro suffrage proposes. Were I an enemy of the ne 0I would do everything to hasten the period when the white laboring classes of this country would feel their instinct for self reservation stronger than an law and unite their strength to drive the blue as they drove the red man out of their midstas a pestilent and turbulent fellow, disorganizing society and delaying the white mans progress. I claim, sir, that this is a whitemaus Government, founded by white men to preserve and peretuate the laws and customs of their race, an to extend the blessing of their civilization to the humblest creature. it is the glory of our tolerant freedom that the benefits to be derived from those laws are shared by all the races and colorsofmen. The negro race hasbeen civilized, slave though he was, by the benign character of those laws. The Indian today is the beneficiary and stipendiary of this white mans Government. lhe stranger from all lands is wel comehere to seek happiness, wealth, and liberty. California is the chosen home of 1,000s of Chinamen. NewEngland is rapidly becoming populated by negroes and then descendants. ile her white sons and daughters seek more genial sections they invite the docile negro to the hospitalities of a rugged soil and severe climate. Kansas and the far western States shelter the industrious tribes of the red men by humane and wise laws. Yet, sir, I maintain that this is, nevertheless, a white mans Government; the dominion is his own, in emulation of the models reared by our race, to mark their progress and prompt a noble imitation, found strewn along the highway of history, like the monuments Roman heroes left along the Latin way to rouse their countrymen to deeds of during conquest; models for which we will look in vain in the fetish worship of the African, or in the blood rites of the liing of Dahomey and his brutis l Amazons, or in the inhuman practices of the Aztec, or in the merciless aristocracy of the Peruvian, or in the crude code of the cruel Iro uoisorof the wandering Comanche. Although t 10enjoyment of the benefits of our institutions may be o on to all men, still the dominion belongs to the white man alone. Itishis Government, to be preserved for his posterity in its purity, and administered with toleration and justice to all races of men who may find a home among us. There is no obligation upon us to surrender the Government into other hands, nor is there any call upon us to share the honors of government with any other race whom we may, from motives of policy, philanthropy, or justice, befriend, protect, or release from slavery. What disgrace attaches to those refused, and what injustice is done by those who refuse them the right to vote? mscuses. uvn INJUSTICE. If the ruling race hold dominion by just, constitutional law, they commit no injustice toward those who by that law are excluded from the righttovote. As “ the people" of the U.S. in the words of t ie constitution. the white race and their representatives in congress, merely execute the established law as handed down to them by the 1st settlers of this continent, and by those who founded the Government in the spirit and name of independence, the white race fixes no disgrace on the excluded negro or Indian by refusing to give what they received in trust for themselves and their posterit. Nor does the fact that from motives of policy and generosity the white ruling race admitted negroes in exceptional cases to vote establish the injustice of refusing to extend the same right to any other or every negro in national affairs, or at the national capita. In some instances women have been admitted to the right to vote, but that does not fix disgrace ont e fair sex excluded by common practice from the right; it is rather an honor to them that they suffer this “constraint which sweetcus liberty.” The right to vote is a political and not a social right. The requirements for an intelligent and capable voter are limited to political rience, political capacity, expe a good name, an a loyal e 8No sgracc attaches to students of divinity, or law, or medicine who, being under age, cannot vote. Nor can the man who reads English vote any more understandingly as to his political rights than the man who speaks German but not English, yet reads Greek, or who can s cash“5] the tongues that Babel cleft the world into, ” and res no language but Hebrew, or be even deaf and dumb, conversing only by signs and reading by raised letters. If he be of a e, sound mind, of good name, he needs no big or merit than being a male white citizen. He may or may not be able to bear arms. He may pay no tax. But why limit the right to vote to male white citizens 3 Because t s is a white mans Government. Because the majority of the people of the U.S. have so established by law. The sovereign will of “the people” has so decreed in the constitution. This bill proposes to change that decree. nouns sacs. The fact that all but the white male citizens are excluded from voting in the municipal af fairs of this District, the seat of Government, is a crowning proof, 1st, that this is a white mans Government, and 2nd, that there is a ruling race recognized in the practice of that Government. The history of the civilization now established in this country, which has its center here, proclaims the proof. The language and customs of our people proclaim it. The laws written and unwritten proclaim it. The organization of our Government proclaims it. The admission of foreign immigrants of the same race to the same rights as those of the original settlers in the different sections of the continent, and excluding the negro and the Indian from voting in man of the States of the Union, proclaim it. Our literature, arts, and science proclaim it in the names of the illustrious men who race those Depts. This national Capito, and the beautiful works which adorn it Within and with out, bear testimony to the identity of American and European art, to the homogeneousness of the white race, as well as to the close and unbroken connection between European and American history the record of the white race exclusively. On the majestic and ceful colonnade at the main entrance of this apitol, the work of the Italian Persico stands opposite Greenongh of Massachusettss colossal group. Over the entrance to the Senate, the cat work of Crawford, son of an Irishman) the in marble the story of American civilization how American Liberty crowns with laurel the white sons of her race, while the “ feather cinctured” savage mourns over the grave of his people and the desolation of his hunting grounds. Hung at the very portals of this Chamber, by the genius of ltogers, of NewYork, in everlasting bronze, is the tale of sulfering and disappointment which Columbus endured before his inspi ration found utterance in the glad cry of “ Land ahead!” on the coast of SanSalvador. Then “ westward ho!” came the rush of eastern meii, until the poet wrote out the sublime drama of a disinthralled race, and foretold our Union, and its might, majesty, and power.” There shall be sung another golden age. The rise of empire and otTiirts Not such as hurope breeds in her decay Suoh as she bred when fresh and oung. Westward the courseof empire to. esits way.” The drama is not ended. The German, Leutzc, by the permission and at the cost of the American people, has recorded the last great scene of this heroic play, and the rich sunset of the Pacific coast at the Golden Gate marks on your walls the limit of the white mans dominion under the flag of this Union in the West. No negro race runs in a parallel line across this continent in rivalry for this domin ion. Would that it had the spirit, courage, and tenacity of will to emigrate. I would not marits plan, nor hinder its hunt afier fortune. But the artist, with the aesthetic skill of his nation, has introduced a negro into this great picturethe happy, humble companion of the white mens progress, carrying his fiddle to cheer them on their way. The decorations of this Chamber, the roof emblazoned with American heraldry, and every panel of the rotunda rich in the record of great things done by white men sometimes painted by the hand of a native artist, sometimes sculp tured by the chisel of the European all relate the same unvarying fact, that this is a white mans Government. The Indian, as he has often been our equal in war, sometimes shares the glories of our triumphs yields to the wisdom of Penn, or rescues the sturdy seaman from death to proffer him a bride the negro never. The same story everywhere reveals the proud deeds of our common ancestr as a white race. upon these walls, from pinnacle to foundation stone, proclaiming the proofof the white mans sole claim to rule, and of his will and strength to do so. This is all by master workmen, who “builded better than they knew” in establishing the right of every working man of their race to have, old, and enjoy, exclusively for themselves and their heirs forever, this citadel of individual liberty, democratic representative government, and universal suffrage. The writin on the wall tells this truth to this people, an he who spurns the lesson it teaches deserves the vengeance and the brand of shame truth bestows on fanatical injustice and falsehood. Sir, I deem the ballot, the bayonet the steam engine, and the ress, the powers of the 19thcentury. Of these the ballot is the most typical of democratic liberty and strength. I claim it as such for the white race against all the world; and jealously and zealously will I contend for its exclusive use. rui: warn: iii ixs oovsniiitsxr. This brings us to the merits of this bill introditced by the chairman of the ComJudiciary. The burden of proof of course lies with its friends, whose arguments I will endeavor to meet on the spot. This is not a question of class, of caste, of rank, of language, or of color. It is !purely a question of racethe dominion which a superior race of men has established for itself over all surrounding or hostile races. There may be many varieties and shades of color of this race from different uarters of the globe, but its identity is as firm y established as the ranges of mountains which traverse the earths Bur cc, maintaining theirindividualityfrom the torrid to the frigid zone. Sir, I uphold that this is a Government made and maintained by and for the white working man, the white masses of this count. If any doubt exists as to the white democratic original character of this Government this certainly is a proper place and time to remove it: “DEMOCRACY or ran Rsvottirion or 1776. The social condition of the Americans is eminently democratic. This was its character at the foundation oftho colonies, and is still more marke. but Lbenresent day. "DeTurqueville, vol. 1, p. 37. “S 11, the great proprietors south of the Hudson constituted a superior class, having ideas and tastes of its own, and forming the center of political action. This kind of aristocracy sympathize with the body of the people, whose passions and interests it easily embraced; but it was too weak and too shorth ved to excite either love or hatred for itself. This was the classwhich headed the insurrection in the South in 1776, and furnished the best leaders in the American Revolution. "At the period of which we are now speaking society was shaken to its center. The people in whose name the struggle had takcpplace conceived the de sire of exercising the authority which it had acquired; its democratic tendencies were awakened: nntl, having thrown otf theyokc of the mother country. it as pired to independence of every kind. The influence of individuals gradually ceased to befelt, and custom said., lavw u. n, itpedto. getherto producethe sameresult.” fho American institutions undemocratic not only in thoirprine iples but in their consequences. “Tho people, theretoro, is the real directing power, and, although the form of government is rep Representative, it is evident that the opinions, the prejudices. the interests and oven the passions of the community nro hindered by no durable obstacles from exercising a perpetual influence on society. In the U.S. the majority governs in the pame of the people, n. sis the casein all the countries in which the people is supreme. ”1bv. o, l. 1, p. 193. At one time in our pational existence the question certainly was raised, and Washington, With true selfrespect, manly dignity, and pure patriotism, put aside the crown which a few Military aristocrats and blindly ambitious citizens offered to him. Like Caesar, he was offered the power to enslave his country i nobler and wiser than Cmsar, he spurned the insult. The hero and father of American independence, he gave back to the people the sovereignty he received from them as dictator. believe no other instance occurs in our history as a nation which can throw a shadow upon the otherwise unclouded title of this Union to be ranked as a pure democracy. Washingtons conduct in this matter is one of the most positive proofs in our annals of the existence of democracy as a practical working system in the confederation o States, over which during the 7 years war of independence he actedal most as sovereign u. Had the people not known their rights, an had they not already been by long experience educated to freedom, this Union never would have been formed. The people, not their leaders, founded and maintained t ctr own independence. If I would consider this statement as conclusive, and rest my or meat here as to the demos cratic character of this Government, but for the manifest disposition of the present Congress to encroach upon the established character and institutions of this Union and its founders. We have newera men, new nation men, war necessity men, peacenecessuy men, and cen tralization men. I wish to pitch the tone of sentiment hack to the old democratic cry of the revolutionary era of 1776, and even beyond, far back to the colonial history of this country. Mr. Speaker, the statesmen of the revolutionary era were not philanthropists, abolitionists, or negro suffrage men. They were practical representatives of the white democracy which fouvht out the 7 years war by themselves antffor themselves, to establish a white mans democratic representative Government to be perpetuated in this Union. They were practical politicians, dealing With every dilii enlty with shrewd policy and admirable tact. They mastered every obstacle with hard, sound common sense. They were not abstractionists as a body, and left abstractions to the few fine writers and publicists among them. They knew what the inalienable rights of man were, but they never surrendered the material advan tage of slave labor to the inalienable right of the negro. Why? Because they knew by stern experience that the negro did not liitnself know what his inalienable rights were. He had no political knowledge nor spirit of independence as a race. In t cir view, independence, just won from the throne of GreatBritain by hard blows and indomitable courage and a French alliance, was something else than an abstract ideait was a very material thing indeed: something to suffer long and keenly for, to die for; something to claim for ones self against kingly power with the sword of a hero, and to maintain when won with the pen of a genius, the grace of a wit, the skill of a states man, and the profound learning of a jurist. They knew allJ this from exerience. All their with and wisdom and skil united to devise the laws regulating suffrage. Those laws exclude the negro and recognize him as a slave. Yet the negro had fought under the eye of Washington, beside the heroes whose blood was shed for the commonweal of white and black men in the struggle for independence. INALIEXABLE RIGHT. The DeclarIndep asserts the inalienable right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I am a believer in and sit porter oftlint fundamental democratic idea. TTIGdecision of the founders of this Government certainly does not favor the profoundly suggestive plan of depriving the agricultural whitelaborof the North, East, and West of a fair cliancein the cotton and cornliclds of the South by giving away to freedmen the fattest lands and best cottongrowing region in this continent. Yet the ne prohad all the inalienable rights then he has to ay. The inalienable right of the negro does not entitle him to vote in this District. An inalienable right is one common to all creat ures and derived directly from the Creator; it may be taken away by force, fraud, or accident, yet never is lost: and may be claimed atanv time with reason and justice, and is specially valuable to man, in his relations with his fellowman, as a barrier awainst injustice and a power for revolution. justice fixes the relations of all conflicting rights in human affairs, reason establishes their existence, force controls their exercise. Now, there are many inalienable rights. Self preservation is the 1st, and is common to all animals. The pursuit of libert, of a home, of happiness, o wealth, are each claimed to be inalienable rights of man. A child sold into slavery may claim his right to be free at any time in after life, and no just law can deny him the right. But the 1st fact to be ascertained on the demand of an inalienable right by a claimant, is, 1st, his free will in making the claim; 2nd, competency to maintain it. So that if a man, woman, or child be either incapable of exercising free will or of maintaining life liberty, or happiness, or of using such life, liberty, and happiness in accordance with his own well bein", Or with that of the society in which lie or she lives, then both justice and reason may hinder the exercise of the inalienable right, under the very 1st of all inalienable rights, selfpreservation. RIGHT provows. The right to vote is not an inalienable right. It is merely a manner of exercising the right to be free, and belongs to a peculiar set and form of government; has its origin in and is liable to the limitations of civil law. It is not a natural right at all, and is in this country made subordinate to the will of the majority so that women, mine rs and aliens are excluded from its exercise. Ylct no disgrace attaches to them in being deprived of the privilege to vote, nor is any injustice committed on them. If the right to vote he, as asserted by some, an inalienable right, it naturally belongs to every human creat ure who lands on our shores, and should be granted to them without limitation of time or distinction of sex. This is denied by the friends of negro suffrage. Hon. B. Gratz Brown, in a each delivered at StLouis, September 22, 135, says: “There arethosewhosecltto escapethisennelusipn, and put the blushon all free government. byBmrlllml that the right of franchise is a purely Political Illh neither inherent or inalienabl and maybe dtvest by the citizen or Stateat will. 0The consideration before mentioned that the right of franchise is neither more nor lea than the rip tof selfgovernment, as examined through a participation in the common government of allshowsthatif itbo not anatural right. it will be call. to say in what a natural right consists. Indeed, it in, perhaps. the most natural of any of our rights inasmuch as it is the denial of all right to personal liberty; for how can such a right exist when the right to maintain it among men and the a ieties of men is denied? Again, if the right to sIare in the government over us is not inherent, from one doesit come? Who cangive theright to govern another? and how can any give that c has not nti?ts a Society tyisrheuptrtehseenagtsgornelgya the of cine ndeiveid duedalism. iatandtions on allnot any reservoir of human rights;otherwise it would vary with every changing association. Still, again, if the right of a man. as regards government, can be divested, either by himse f or governmentnthat will, then government has no limit to its rightful tyranny. It may divest not only one man, but 100 or 1,000: indeed, whynot all but the chosen few or the imperial one, thus arriving logically at oligarchic or despoticrule?" “Now, a franchise is a political grant of a right, and nota natural right. I repeat itin face of the above avowal to the contrary. The right to vote isa right to will a certain thin. what is that thing 2 A political duty, a political right, if you prefer the term, ifthe wi is exercised on political subjects; fixed by law in some States, done in a different way in different States. The manner of exercising this political right is the ballot, or by ostracism, or viva vocc, or by showing of hands, or by dividing the House, as in congress and Parliament. the presentation is neither a cause nora consequent of the right to vote. Voting is as old as the history of man. Representation in government is a modern system, and was never own in any Greek republic; not even in Athens, which was a pure democracy. It was unknown in Rome. the right to vote is therefore simplya political or civil right. A vote is a form of expression whereby men give utterance to their will. To say that this particular form of expressin the will is essential to independence overal the other forms of declaring and maintaining independence by a vote, is to subject the will to a ormula an destroy independence, which isab surd. To give the form of a vote to those who are devord of a will, or ignorant of its uses, is unnecessary, unjust, and iatal to freedom. The honorable gentleman, in myjudgment, puts the form for the spirit and the love of in c)cndence; the desire to vote understanding y for the mannerof doing so, and confounds representation With the right to vote, which are distinctthings, and not consequent. Nations have been enslaved while in the full enjoyment of the most liberal forms of government. Demos thenes tried in vain to fire the Athenian heart against the Macedonian king. Yet a free exercise of the right to vote banished Demosthenes from Athens, and Greece was enslaved by Philip and his son, leaving all the outer forms of franchise in full. force from the Demos up to the Amphictyonic Council. there are manyinalienable rights. But there must be an equivalent force of will and strengthof body to establish the claim to an inalienable right. One, mdividual right seems to be that do minion which man has over eve beast of the field and when Peter was bid on to rise and slay and eat he had full authority to attack the lion, or the bear, or the elephant, of which act of his there is no record. So I take it each man o nthis floor has anequally inalienable and a did yme right if you pre or the term, to get his living out of the 1st Wild beast he may chance to meet. But the beast may claim the equally in alienable right of selfzde ease and eat the man. Sir, the may ienable right of the negro to vote must be asserted and maintained by himself in order to be a valuable and even a safe possession. He must become a demoerat in the pure and SHELF]? sense in which the white race understan, interpret, and practice it. warm DEMOCRACY. White democracy does not mean man worship, hero worship, centralization of power, imperial onc man power. It is the ver opposite of all this. The individual is absor e In the mass, and finds safety in the commonwealth. White democracy denics to one man any hered r itary right to dominion, and asserts the exclusive sovereignty and instructive wisdom of the masses. White democracy uses its heroes for the people. white representative democracy founded, in 1776, cemented union for the people with its blood in solemn compact a inst the hereditary, us in aristocracy of the white race in all the world, because it was resolved no longer to be ruled by that aristocracy of their own race, and feared no other race. White democracy declares this Union to be made for the people, not the people for the Union. White democracy may es war on every class, caste, and race which assails its sovereignty or would undermine the mastery of the white workin man, be he ignorant or learned, strong or wcak. Black democracy does not exist. The black race have never asserted and maintained their inalienable right to be a people, anywhere, or at any time. The black race may have petitioned for their inalienable right, but these petitions establish nothing. The blacks have mutinied against authority, have formed and carried out successful insurrections, but they have never established a democratic principle. They have made successful imitations o revolutions in Hayti, and having once begun a revolution they have been revolving in space around a central despotism, a chaotic mass, ever since. The have developed just force and freedom enough to overthrow the white race, a minorit in their midst and by perpetual persccutionof atwhite race have kept themselves in a condition of case. The proof the blacks of Hnyti and the Vest Indies generally furnish of their capacity for self government seems to be this: they have learned how to make revolutions. But the principle underlying democracy is peace, permanence, self Contained energy for the development of civilization by a people themselves, without foreign aid or the merctricious aid of a central despotism, or any of the seductive phases of monopo y and protection, or aristocracy. Toussaint L Ouverture, so much quoted by the negro worshiping orators embodied a negros pure and simple notion o government when he conceitedl wrote to Napoleon the 1st and Great, ” 1 oussaint L Ouverture, 1st of blacks, salutes Napoleon, the 1st ofwhites.” The same expression might be majestic in Napoleon and was undoubtedly true of loussaint L Ouverture, but would have been fatal to the reputation of Washington, for the reason that his political the ory and practice recognized the equality of his fellowcitizens, one to another, and of each to himself. Itwould have exposed him to universal ridicule for assailing the principle that the ruler is the servant of the people, the distin uishing feature of the white cmocracy of this nion. WHITE DEMOCRACY A HOMOGENEOUSRACE. it is nota thing of toda, nor ofyesterday, but belongs to the history oiy our race, not only on this continent, but throu hout the world, ong before. Democracy in nropeand democracy in America may not be identical in practice nor equal in their develoments, but their origin is one and the same, an can be traced by the annals of our race runnm through all the eras of our civilization from the Germanic tribes, from the Gothic hor cs from the Italian republics, from the Goal the xon, and the Celt, down to the period of the hcgira of the people to America, in the 16th and 17th centuries, to escape from the dominion of chnrch and state, the hated aristocrat and intolerant bigot of his own race and color. Every European tribe, race, and nation, mingled herein common cause, for civil and religious liberty, against the ruling classes of the old World. Maryland was a refuge for the English Catholics against the Protestant and brought toleration with them; RhdIsland was the refuge of the Protestant persecuted by his follow –Protestant and Puritan brother; Massachusetts was the refuge of the Englishman from the tyranny of a political party in ngland; SCarolina was a refuge of the Frenchman from the tyranny of a political party in France; Delaware is the western home of the Swede; NewYork was the republican outpost of the Dutch republic in their lifelong struggle for inde ndence a nst the empire of Charles V and igotry of hilip Ha republican colony, founded by a republic in the wilderness of the western world, to carry on the war of pepular rights instkingly power, intolerance, and commerciifia moaopoly. Her people still cling to those great dogmas of our poitical faith, and stand true to the principles o public and private right establishc by that herOic republic of Europe which has de ed for ages oli e the raging of the sea and the wrath of the tyrant with fear less dignity and untirin industry. The history of this country is the history of our racethe white race. The principles of our Government are peculiar to that race in contradistiuction to the African, the Asiatic, and the aboriginal American. Sir, if you doubt this to be a white mans Government, traverse once more the prai ries and staked plains across the continent to the Pacific shore, from Oregon to Utah; and if still in doubt, travel on to teshore of Australasia and ask there if the dominion of sea and land is not claimed and held by the white race against all the other sons of A am., DOMESTIC EQUALITY ANTECEDENT lO POLITICAL If anyone denies these propositions, let him seek to establish social equality in his famil between the black and white race. The result might prove a success, and may meet with final cooperation from the fair sex and the democ racy of the nurse. But I doubt it. Certainly the more simple retions of domestic life should be harmonized; if not to a thorough eradication of all existing prejudice, at least to the same extent as now exists in the domestic relations of the different races of European extraction now united in private and public by every tie which can make a nation homogeneous. PREJUDICE. The advantage to the advocates of this amendm ent, which would follow the experiment of do mcstic social equality between the black and white races is inculculable. lhc 1st victim to the experiment would be prejudice, than which no eater obstacle stands in the way of equality before the law and the full exercise of all the rights of the black man as a voter at the polls, or here as a Representative. But until a large portion of the prejudice be removed by conviction and sound reason, we are bound as legislators to take it into consideration. prejudice is to the mind what nerves are to the body. It gives impulse to thou lit and direction to judgment. We feel throng our prejudices whatever ismentally offensive or pleasant. It is unreasoning, prompt, perhaps unjust, but decisive. Prejudice in the masses is equivalent to the experience of the philosopher or the quick perceptions of a woman. prejudice is stronger than opinion, because very few think. There are more prejudiced people than reason able people. This is practical and plain. Hu man nature in polities is no way different from human nature in everyday life. The friend of negro suffrage in a democracy must consult the sentiments of the people. The instinct of the masses is always right. But prejudice is one of the elements of every hu man being, and is agood clement; otherwise it would not hold so high a place in the category of mans characteristics and I uree domestic intimacy between the advocates ofue io suffrage and the candidate for negro suffrage, to remove any unfavorable exislin prejudice. In the mean time the enemies to teamendment will watch the process and cling to their prejudice in favor of the white raceas the dispensers of power through the ballot. We respect the intense prejudice which preserves our race in its purity, vigor, and supremacy. It is not unust, for we propose to give the negro equality before the w, and abolish the remnants of slavery now declared unconstitutional by the constitutional number of States of this Union. We are willing that the negro should have every rotcction which the law can throw around him. but there is a majesty which “hedges in a 1866 “221 king.” That he ought not to have until he shows himself “every inch a king.” "Who wouldbefree, themselves muststriko the blow, ” "Some are born great, someachieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” We are opposed to thrusting honor on the negro. He is today, as a race, as dependent on the power and skill of the white race for protection as when he was 1st brought from Africa. Not one act of theirs has proved the capacity of the black race for selfgovernment. They have neither literature, arts, nor arms, as a race. They have no code of laws, no original organized form of Christian worship. They were introduced upon this continent at the time of the Spanish conquest, in 1620, by exress law for their civilization, and have never during all the changes of dynasties or revolution of States risen higher an to be the helpers to the contending parties. They have had the same opportunity as the Indian to secure their independence of the white race, but have never systematicall even attempted it on this conti nent, althoug the have been educated with equal care and in the same schools as the white man. Their race has been subject to the white man and have submitted to the yoke. The race which rules and is to continue to rule this Union submits to no yoke, nor will it have a divided dominion with a servile race. It would be treachery to the trust reosed in us to do so, and fatal to democracy. All the rights vested in a representative, free system at government won d be injeopardy. AMERICAN SOVEREIGN. The only true king possible among us is the white woring man. he monarchists clothe their sovereigns with mythical names, saintly titles, and grand insiguia StGeorge, StDenis, StDavid. But the American sovereim is the white working man on the farm in the shop, in the store, in the mine, on lan, and at sea. His diadem is the crown of care, his motto industry in his right hand the badge of his trade, and in his left the scepter ofhis power, the ballot.” His title is the inalienable right to live free and equal, based on the stron works, on the great eeds of virtue, on the spirit of independence, on the untiring enterprise of his race, and on his own resolve to acknowledge no master but the law and his God. other kings are Most Cath olic, Most Christian, Defender of the Faith, Most Pious, and Most Mighty, and most nearly any thing. The American popular sovereign is Most Democratic. He shares his dominion with no other potentate, race, or power. The negro suffrage bill proposes to limit his exclusive right to rule by estabhshin the s urions claims of the black prince, clothe in the majesty of the olden fleece, fobbed from the carcass of dead ngx Cotton, annealed, housed buried long ago by t i e white workin mans vo unteer forces on land and sea; while is gaudy uniform, tricked off with place is emblazoned with orders of no bility granted to the swarthy Duke of Marma lade, maruis of Sugarplnm and Baron of Daf fodil, bteir sovereigns, Toussaint LOuver ture and Emphror Soulouque, 2 rich s ora die specimens of negro capacity for selgovternment. The Indian was reduced to slave by the 1st settlers on this continent, from P ymouth Rock to the Isthmus of Darien. The northern Indian had every difficulty to contend with in the severity of the climate and ruggedness of the soil, and yet the legend of the “Last of the Mohicans is a romance of the 1st order, displaying the elements of a great character, wisdom in counsel, brave in war, and policy in the administration of their peculiar government. today some portions of the Indian tribes have adopted the civilization of Europe, and are rich in the possession of a language snatched from barbarism and made one of the written tongues of the earth. But in all their tribes none of them have been found willinglto surrender his race to the dominion of the white man without a fight for mastery. Conquered they may be, but cannot be system atically held in bondage, as the African has been for generations. The slavery of the Indian is an exception and full of danger to the owner. The slavery of the Africanis the rule, safe and profitableto his master, and, if we may judge by his conduct, acceptable to himself. Now, until the negro is at least equal to the Indian, we should refuse him the highest privilege a democracy can grantthe right to vote, and with it the right to be voted for. This may be prejudice, but it looks to be very reasonable. A FEW PEBTINENT onssrross. In conclusion, this bill seems to me prema ture. Before surrendering the exclusive right of the race to vote in this District, let me ask a few pertinent questions, and urge an answer from the advocates of this bill before its as sale. What gain would the people of the U.S. exericnce by extening the voting franchise to t ic negro race here or elsewhere? What necessity exists for extending this right at this time in this particular city? What advantage do the advocates of this measure propose to themselves by the passage of this law? hat will be the effect of negro suffrage in the southern States, 1st, on the white race; 2nd, on the negro; 3rd, on agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and the progress of civilization? What effect wrll ne prosuffrage have on internal immigration? what effect on foreign immigration to this city? What examples have we in our own history of the repugnance of the white laborer to compete with slave labor, or its s nonym, black labor, uneducated and utterly ependent? Does negro suffrage if granted ive the control of this city to the no o? Eiave we any reason to anticipate that tedominion of the black race in the southern States or here wiil be an exception to the usual exercise of power by an ignorant, dominant race, to the exclusion of the rival races? How have negroes heretofore exercised dominion? Does nc prosuffrage offer a panacea to the evils which be ong to the present and past antipathies and collisxons between the white and black races? Does it not rather put the black man in new danger? Does it not make him an object of dislike to be put out of the way of the white laborer of the North, East, South, and West? What does GenlGrant say on this question? What does the press North and South say? What have we to fear from the white race in this city? What have we to ho c from the black race if allowed to vote? ill any law of Congress passed at this time remove the future or the existing difficulty which surrounds this question of race? run BALLOT and “UNION, ” EMBLEMS or one men. If, sir, it should everbe your good fortune to visit romantic old S ain, and to enter the for tress and palace of lhambra, the fairest mon ument of Moorish grandeur and skill, as this Capitol is the pride of American architecture, you may see out in stone a hand holdin a key, surmountin the horseshoe arch of the main gateway. hey are the 3 types of stren h, speed, and secrecy, the boast of a now fa len Saracen race, sons of that sea of sand, the des ert, who carried the glory of Islam to farthest Gades. In an evil hour of civil strife and bitter hatred of faction the Alhambra was betrayed to Spain, “to feed fat an ancient grudge” between political chiefs. The stronghold of therace with the palace, the sacred courts of justicc, an all the rare works of artthe ardens of unrivaled splendorall that was their own of majes ty, strength, and beauty, became the trophies of another. The legend of the Saracen exiletells the story of penitence and shame; and to the last moment of his sad life he sighs in the sultry des ert for the fair home of his ancestors, the or geous Alhambra. We, too, are descended from a race of conquerors, who crossed the ocean to establish the lo of civil and religious liberty and secure rec om to themselves and their osterity. today we are assembled in the alliatnbra of America; here is our citadel; here our, courts of highest resort, around these Halls cluster the proudest associations of the American peo10; they seem almost sacred in their eyes. o hostile foot of foreign foe or domestic traitor has trodden them in triumph. Aboveit floats the flag, the emblem of our Union. That Union is the emblem of the triumphs of the white race. That race rules by the ballot. Shall we surrender the ballot, the emblem of our sovereignty; the flag, the emblem of our Union; the nion, the emblem of our national glory, that the may become the badges of our weakness an the trophies of another race? Never, sir! never, never! Shall the white laborer how his free, independent, and honored brow to the level of the negro just set free from slavery, and by yielding the entrance to this great citadel of our nation surrender the mastery of his race over the Representatives of the people, the Senate, and Supreme Court of this mon? Then, sir, the white working mans sovereignty would begin to cease to be. That would the beginning of the end [Here the hammer fell.]