The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-04-05

REMARKS or Mr.. HARLAN
In SENATE, TUESDAY. March, %,

1 re M In SENATE, TUESDAY, March, %.
= Hr. HARLAN. Mr.. President, regret yer,
much that Senators depart so far from the pro
prieties, as consider it, of this Chamber, as Il
make the illusions they do. II is done merely
to stimulate prejudice which exists against
race already trampled under foot. l refer Il
the illusions to white people embracing coloret
people as their brethereD, and the invitations BY
Senator's to white men and white women to mar
ry colored people. Now, cir, IL we were to de
scend into an investigation of the facts on thai
subject, il would bring the blush to the cheek.
of some of these gentlemen. once had occasion
to direct the attention Of the Senate 70 an illus
trious example from the State Of the Senator
who inquired If any Of Us would marry greasy
old wench. 1t is history that an illustrious citi
zen Of his State, who once occupied officially
the chair that you sir, nov sit in, lived notori
ously and publicly with a negro wench, and
raised children by her. sur
Mr.. SALISBURY. Let me interrupt the
| gentleman a moment Does he refer to any
citizen Of Delawares
Mr.. HARLAN. I referred to the Senator
from Kentucky, Mr.. Davis
| Mr.. SALISBURY. beg your pardon.
| Mr.. HARLAN. l referred to a gentleman
who held the second Office in the gift of the
American people; and l never yet have heard a
Senator on this floor denounce the conduct and
the association of that llustrious citizen of our
country. know of a family Of colored or mu-
latto children, the children, too, of gentleman
who very recently occupied seat on the other
side of the Chamber, who are now ut school in
Ohio. Yes, sir, the children of Senator who
very recently, not to exceed yeer since, occu.
pied a seat on this floor, Senator from slave
State. q
do not desire to consume the time Of the
Senate and of the country in calling attention
to these facts; it is humiliating enough to know
| that they exist; but if Senators who represent
slaveholdng States will perpetualy drag this
subject to the attention Of the Senate and Of the
country, let them take the logical consequences
of their own folly, and bear the shame which
| an investigation of the facts must inflict on
themselves and their constituents
| know there is q newspaper slander-wrtten,
printed, and published as a slander-on those
! who went down to South Carolina for a benevo-
lent purpose, at least desire to look after the
| welfare of those who had been cast off by their
masters and had no means of support, the ar.
mics Of the Republic furnishing them no protec-
tion, and, as it>is said, actually robbing them
of the scanty supplies left them by their ab.
scondiDg owners. Beneyoient gentlemen have
gone, as it is said, and Believe truly, to furnish
them temporarily with food and raiment, and
| also employment, to enable them TO provide, in
part at least, by the labor Of their hands, for
| their own wants. / confess can perceive no.
thing Objectionable in this; nor do believe that
the Senator himself who drags up that subject,
| as it seems to me, unnecessarily, in the discus
sion of the provisions Of this bill, can point out
anything improper in it. Does he desire that
those persons who have been deserted BY their
IN asters should be left there 10 starve and die
like brutes? l know he does not Then what
| other means can he devise for their protection
and support; or does he desire the President to
withdraw the Army and permit the rebels, who
are now striking at the life of the nation, to re
turn to their possessions under the folds of
rebel flag, reasserting their ownership over their
deserted slaves? II he desires the armies of
the Republic to push forward until the suprema.
cy of the laws Of the Union shall be acknowl
edged, under the protecting folds Of the stars
| and stripes, to its utmost limits, what does he
propose to do with these destitute people? Does
he propose to support them directly from the
| national Treasury? Would this be more wise
than to permit benevele lence to provide for their
| temporary wants and to permit the labor of their
own hands to supply their necessities for the
future?
do not deem it proper on this occasion to
enter into labored investigation of the proba-
bilities Of amalgamation of the white with the
negro race if the negroes should all be set free.
gentlemen and white ladies marrying the free
negroes that are now in this District? Do you
find them marrying the negroes that are now
free in Maryland, and / understand the Senator
says there are over eighty thousand of them in
that State? Do Senators find that the amalga-
nation of the white and the negro race is in
progress in the States they represent? And if
So does it progress more rapidly in the free than
in the slave StatesS And in the slave States
does it progress more rapidly among the free
negroes than among the slaves have known
of but three cases in my own State, and all three
of those men married to wenches have been res
idents of slave States, where, doubt not they
acquired their tastes. Laughter Liberating
the negroes carries with it no obligation to
marry their wenches to white men. Gentlemen
may follow their tastes afterwards as now.
The Senator from Massachusetts, Mr.. Wilson1
has furnished me with the figures showing the
exact number of free negroes in the States of
Delaware and Maryland. In the former there
are 19, 723 free negroes, and but 1,19s slaves,
and in Maryland s3,7ls free persons Of color,
and but 81, 700 slaves. If the white population
of Maryland does not intermarry and amalga.
mate with the 83,TlS free negroes now in the
State, would their tastes in that regard be
changed If more Of them were liberated9 If the
people of this city, the capital Of the nation,
not now insulting our delicate sensibiities by
intermarrying with nearly twelve thousand free
negroes here, would their tastes be changed in
that regard by the liberation of about fifteen
hundred others, for understand on consultation
with the Chairman Of the Committee on the Dis
trict of Columbia that there are not now proba-
bly, to exceed fifteen hundred slaves in the Dis
trict. There were when the census was taken
but q trife over three thousand.
This is merely fling intended on the part of
thn yt,r,, - <1o 49,
know is deep-seated In the minds of the people
of the free States against. association with the
colored population. They know what know
and here state tina: there is in ell the free States
q deep seated prejudice against an association
with the colored population prejudice that
does not exist in the slave States. There you
find this association together, not in the social
circle, it is true. You find them, however, at
work together in the same shop, at the same
bench, on the same farm. in the same buildings,
at the same kind of toll. You find their chill
dren on the same play grounds, at the same
games, at the same amusements, not unfrequent.
ly eating, sleeping, quarreling, and fighting with
each other without reference to color. 1t is so
in this District. We all observe it every day we
live. Any man who will take the trouble to
walk up Pennsylvania avenue at this moment
will see the white hackman and the negro stand
ing side by side, whip in hand, waiting for job
He will see the white man and the negro On the
cross streets, sitting on wagon or cart, side by
| side, waiting for employment. Go into the ho-
tells, aud you will find them there, white men
| and negroes, white females and colored females,
| In the employment of the same landlord Go
| into the Government workshops, into your own
| navy yard, as doubt not all have done, and as
have done, and you will see black men and
white men working side by side, swinging the
same kind Of hammer, forging the same piece Of
| iron.
| 1t 10 here in slave District and In the slave
States that men learn to associate familiarly as
laborers and mechanics with the colored popula-
tion; and as result of that familiar association
at the daily tolls Of life, there is less shrinking
away from them; less reluctance at receiving
them into their embrace, SO handsomely de-
scribed by the Senator from Delaware but mo-
ment since. No, cir; if you inquire for those
willing to receive colored persons into their EN-.
brace, you will find large majority of them
born, brought up, and educated in the midst OF
q slaveholding community; and as a result Of
this familiar association, you will find in every
slaveholding community much larger number
Of mulattoes than in the free States.
Al - - 81. r