The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-01-17

must depend upon hlulseil, - bile tAe lattc
is in some sense shielded BY the cupidlt
and self interest Of the master who protect
him for the same reason that he protect
any other species OF property. Common
law is said by q celebrated writer Of JurIs
. prudence, 90 be bssed upon the commoI
- sense Of mankind Hence the law reeog
: mixes such evidence as is deemed reason
; able, credible and satisfactory in the com
- mon Transactions of life. The men VIII
:, drew up the rules Of law did not say thi
, shsll not be evidence in court and that shal
= not be evidence, out Of their own meri
/, arbitrary selection and determination, bu
!, they simply embodied in their RI es Ia,
9 common experience Of mankind, and rec0g
/, nized that as sufficient testimony which
meu universally receive As satisfactory il
: their daily conduct and business. And i
: there be any exception 20 the universal ap
: | plieauoa of these general remarks / thiub
! | thst they viii te found in those commuui-
Ties only where The system OF slavery has
made tie oppression and degradation of the
> negro necessary, on the principle that one
> crime often compels the commission Of an
| 9th r. Yet, even IN the Slave States, il
wiil be found thag lbe voice Of nature has
| triumphed iu assisting the eredibility 0i
, negro testimony IN every case, except
! | when the testimony was presented 10 the
complexion Of civil ght. Men and
women too, believe the negro in every case
except when his word Is necessary O. pro-
teet himself When he gives US ordinary
information, and tells US Of things which
concern US, he IS credible. Il Is only when
the poor down trodded creature presumes to
speak for rhimseifin Court that be is branded
as unworthy OF belief. We receive and act
upon negro statements daily, and act upon
il with as much confidence and promptness
I H Il -.
white. What membsfs Of this House
would coolv retain hs seat if a c0lored man
were TO announce that this Capital was on
| hre, or that q bloody riot was going
| on throughout the city, or lLat
beloved relative or friend was in the room
below at the point OF death. Nay. / might
60 even further. and say that numerous
cases have occurred in the experience OF ey-
cry man, when The statement of a c0l0red
witness Of given event or transaction has
been deemed more worthyof belief than the
| contradictory statement Of o white Inan
not that the question Of complexion was
! taken into consideration at all, but because
the evidence OF the negro was more
| consistent with the attending circum-
/ stances Of the case. Neraclty is the
| very soul Of testimony, and vet
we never think OF connecting veracity and
1 complexion, except when the administra-
tion OF the law Is concerned, which is who'll
/ " dependent upon the truth Of testimony.
| We refuse the negroes statement in one
| case out Of ten thousand, and accep. them in
| every other. l have before me an extract
/ from the columns Of all intensely southern
religious paper, which thus notices an aged
/ negro slave, who died IN the State OF ken
| tucky recently az the advanced age of one
| huuored and Ten wears. This memoir SAYS:
ellis extreme old sge was but little more
| remarkable than his reputation for honesty,
| industry and pride Of character. n relat-
| ing his Christian experience 70 the Church,
/ be stated that he had enjoyed a comfortable
| hope of happiness beyond the grave for
more than sixty years. When asked by the
pastor why he had not applied for member
ship before, his reply ives, : have been for
| that length Of time watching the conduct Of
| church members. This remark Is suu
| fresh in the memory OF many Of the mem
bers Of that church, and no doubt has often
/ bad q salutary influence upon their con-
duct"
such a bright pattern of the Christian
virtues was this old negro considered by the
writer that he adds: 81 have never seen
any person, either white or black, who was
| so uniformly and so perfectly recOnciled to
the will of God, or who enjoyed q tirmer
hone OF a glorious immortality beyond this
.
vsry cautiously upon the domain Of theolo-
gy, in which I am but little versei, is it not
| a fact that the MethOdists, Preshyterians,
Baptists aud other religious denominations
/ Of the sOulh have prJtessed for years 70
have Christian zed multitudes of the negroes
and made them ft for Heaven? And win
these good people have US believe that a man
NAV be a good Methodist or Baptist, and yet
not III to be believed upon oa.h? That he
| may be worthy 70 take the sacrament snd
unworthy 10 sand in the witness-box2 7 lat
he msy sing before the Almighty as a Saint
| in glory, but cannot go before the Justice
Of the Peace 10 swear TO an account Of
| FIVE dollars for work which he has
done il the workshop or cotton field If
thst be religion, Mr. Speaker, and these the /
principles on which it is based, ] hiuk the /
less we have Of them the better for public !
morality. Let us turn Tor few moments, |
however from the teachings OF common sense |
and the suggestions OF reason in our daily /
private ailuirs, and observe the practice and |
rue Of the most august judicial body in the |
world. / mean the Supreme Court OF the /
United States. Of which Tennessee is an in |
separable portion. I find in an official edi- |
l-tion Of the public laws OF the United States, |
passed at the Ist session of the 5atn Con !
gress lIs63 and 1864, in chapter 2IO, section |
| s, page 35l, the following national law upon |
the right Of testimony; Ihat IN the Courts |
of the United States there shall be no ex- |
clusi0n Of any witness on account Of color, /
nor in civil actions because ne Is a party 10, |
or interested in the issue tried.
such is the law of the United States. and /
such the rule Of the highest court known |
TO the country. Now, what right has any |
State 10 come in conflict with this law? |
Ought state 10 exclude witness from
| Court whom the Federal Court receives !
Why should a Justice Of the Peace, q city |
Recorder, or a Circuit Judge reiecta witness
whose testimony would be received before |
the Chief Justice of the United States, and |
his venerable associates upon the Federal
| bench?
| Are the rules Of evidence wholly arbitra-
/ ~ aud liable to be varied from time 70 time,
| according 20 human caprice, or are they
| based upon principles OF Justice Certainly
| they are founded upon justice, and according
/ lvsh0ult be uniform evcrywhere, for justice
| il the same a Tennessee as IN the District
/ of Columbia. lt is not limited by climate,
or by lines Of latitude and longitude. II is
as universal as fire, air or water The su-
| premscv Of the Federal law is settled be-
1 yond dispute. 10 is written in letters Of
| blood aH over the lately rebelliops portion
| of the Union, and IL is 100 la.s now 10 argue
| for conflicting laws IN the States ! have
| said that the passage Of this bill is uecessa-
| ~ TO protect toe rights Of negroes, but 1t Is
equally uegess5ry % protect our own chts.
| The selma, Alalama, Messenger, Of a recent
date, gives the following iacl, which Is but
| one OF thousand cases which suggest them-
selves.
a. gentleman Of this city who had his
| horse stolen, succeeded in couyictinc the
! negroes who mad acted as purveyors in the
| mater, but could not reach the white man
who got the horse and carried him off. He
| informs us that there is a regular hitching
| place uea- the city, whittier the horses are
carr ed By negroes, and where they are re
ceiyed by whsla men Now, according %
| the old laws. those negroes cannot testify
against their accomplices, and thus the
white mau uses them rs cats paws for the
| pcrpetruli pa, crime. We are informed that
| most OF the hH-se and cotton stealing in the
| country has been carried on in a similar
| wsv. It.s NJ wonder that this class Of men
| should De violent opponents % the admis-
| sion Of negro evidence. Let the negro tcs-
Gfy, we say. and many dark deeds will be
brought 10 light that are now covered up.
| Mr. Speaker, believe that only two OBJ
| iections worthy OF notice are mace scainst
the admission Of negro testimony in courts
OF Justice One is, that u will establish ne
gro equality 10 society. The other is, that
| the nnullf sion " AAckFn teelAlniih NnAlQ
| increase the crime Of perjury 70 an alarm
| ing extent
Thc Ersi objection IS 20 vague and uncer-
tain that it Is rather difficult 10 ascertain
its meaning. What IS meant By this bug
D. ar term ofnegro equality Does Il mean
thst tha testimony OF truthful, honest col
ored person would De eqgsliy IS credible as
that OF an honest tEutafGl whits person Of
Ike observation and inJelligeucef pre-
sumo no one viii contend that any law which
We NAV pass is required 70 establish that
asct Truth Is truth, and ialsehs0d Is false
hood. whether We hnd them in whites. Afri-
cans. or Indians. ana no legislation can altar
the fact. But. perhaps some msy imagine
tkst the passage ofthIs bill viii place negr0es
an lie same social scale with ourselves
sI,d flrce US % sdulit them into our parlors,
cat st our tables. and marry into our iauli-
lies. I know not BY what queer process Of
s9phistrv the most sensitive negro-hateT
can possibly arrive 81 the conclusion that
negro testimony win lead 70 that sort OF
Il esuality. We surely do not feel constrain-
ed 70 make guests, psEl6r sssneistes or kins-
men. by marriage Of 81 white persors Who
stand II the v-ittcss BOX, q even at the bal
l1t-box We are our oWn masters ia this