Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1863-04-14
Majority Report of the Committee on Benevo.
lent Institutions Relative to Negros Settling On
this State.
Wisconsin Senate, March a, 1853.

Mem.,No 40, s.
The petition Of Nelson Bower, and one
hundred and seventy others, in relation to
the interests of ''white men" and against
''people of African decent" settling in the
State.
Having had the same under considera-
ton, respectfully submit the following re-
port.
Your committee would remark that leg
islation based upon petition, is usually well
defined and pleasant, but in this instance,
at the outset, they find themselves sur
rounded by the most embarrassing uncer-
tainty. The petitioners declare That they
are ''whith men and citizens Of the State of
Wisconsin," also, "that this is govern
ment framed for, supported by, and to
be administered for, the benefit Of white
men," How white, your committee are
conatrained to ask? And in the absence
of all information or conjecture, they fnd
the prospect oflegislating upon the subject
most palpably befogged. Can it be that
the petitioners aim at getting up a charac-
teristic exclusiveness. Are the petitioners
all very white and parercetLence, do they
aspire to the especial consideration of the
of the government! Now your committee
encounter, among their fellow citizens of
the State of Wisconsin, the most varied
shades Of white, from the clear Circassian
to the doubtful brown, all however, good
citizens, electors and taxpayers, and the
presumption would hold, that the petition
ers do not aim to discriminate against any
of these. If they do, your committee
would consider all legislation upon the
subject to be impracticable, not only as an
unwarranted interference with the vested
rights of citizens, but also from the Difficult
ty Of establishing a just, and equitable
standard of whiteness. The petitioners
also declare, however, "that between the
white and black races, equality cannot ex-
| list, nor honorable social relation be main
tanned" And here, now, your commit
tee would congratulate themselves upon
relief from uncertainty, were it not for
what follows
Your committee were upon the point of
concluding, that by white, the petitioners
meant all that is not black, til further
along they find them asking for law cat
the present session of the legislature, for
bidding, under such penalties as will make
the law effective, the settlement of peo-
pie of'African decent within the State Of
Wisconsin" Here now, former doubts
become intensified. The living, breathing
forms of "African decent" which would
be included within the puryiew of the en-
actment desired, would be the unmltigat-
ed darkey, the lnulatto, the quadroon,
quintaroon, sextaroon, septaroon, octaroon,
and thus on, in geometrical, or legal, retro
erosion. In consequence of this, legisla-
ton, to meet the views of the petitioners,
would have TO be SO very nicely dlscrlmi-
native, as to make its practical workings
quite uncertain. Were you to trust to APP
pearances for "African decent" the only
thing you could d. in the absence of re-
corded genealogy) you would run great
risks of doing injustice to the uncontami-
mated "white man." as well as letting the
modified African attain TO illegal priyi-
leges. We frequently meet gentlemen OF
much character, and gentlemen occupying
positions of high trust, present, In some
one or more of their details of person, ap-
peayances most equivocally suggestive. 1t
is really questionable whether the petition
ers would have to travel out OF the coun-
ty of Iowa to find such a gentleman, or
if they aid, the committee think that they
would have no difficulty in finding him 10
the Senate. 1t would be difficult, from
the peculiar locality of the calf, the hollow
Of the foot, the waves or frizzle of the hair,
the swell of the lip, the distended base Of
the nose, for even our grave Senators to
pass ready muster as undisputed claimants
to the pure Caucasian, and therefore your
committee have become personally i'm
pressed thai legislation upon this subject
would be wise.
Aside from all this, in regard to the
equality of the white and the black races,
the committee are not particularly struck
with any Improvements, the petitioners
have made, upon the exposition of the sub
lect by the father spirits of our liberty, In
1916. Upon the 4th day Of July, Of
that year, they declared 1--WE hold these
truths to be self evident, that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness"
OF course it ought not TO astonish US,
in these DAYS, 10 find, IN some localities, p
total want of respect for the Declaration Of
Independence, but of all such as cherish
no respect for the memory Of its author.
and bow not in reverence to it, as the
magma charta of our civil liberties, your
committee would ask attention. at least, to
its logic. Do the petitioners aim practil-
callv to inculcate the idea that The black
race are not inherently entitled TO life, lib
erty, and the pursuit Of happiness? II not
to liberty, why give them q 'elish for it or
the ordinary means Of its rlaintainance
II not TO the pursuit Of happiness, why give
them the physical, moral and intel.
lectual susceptibiities of its enjoyments
T.. ~,.o~I 49,, anr o,,a ct,.AtaaSa that IN