US Presidency
1873

Yet he is not possessed of the civil rights which citizenshipshould carry with it. This is wrong, and should be corrected. To this correctionI stand committed, so far as Executive influence can avail. Social equality is not a subject to be legislated upon, nor shall Iask that anything be done to advance the social status of the colored man, except to give him a fair chance to develop what there is good in him, give him access to the schools, and when he travels let him feel assuredthat his conduct will regulate the treatment and fare he will receive. The States lately at war with the General Government are now happilyrehabilitated, and no Executive control is exercised in any one of themthat would not be exercised in any other State under like circumstances. In the first year of the past Administration the proposition came upfor the admission of Santo Domingo as a Territory of the Union. It wasnot a question of my seeking, but was a proposition from the people ofSanto Domingo, and which I entertained.