The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1866-01-22
NEGRO EQUALITY IN THE Dis
TRICT OF COLUMBIA.

The radical republicans have passed D phi
through the United States House OF Repres-
entatives, placing the negro on perfeo'
equality, in every particular, with the whi'o
people. There is no distinction-the lowest.
vilest, most degraded and ignorant negroes
are placed upon perfect equality with the
white people, and, if the senate passes the
bill, and the president signs it, the vilest
plantation negro can vote, in the capital OF
the nation, and hold any Office in the District
The following is the bill:
"That from all laws and parts OF laws prescrib-
inc qualifications of electors for any oflee In the
District of Columbia, the word 'whits' shall De
and the same is hereby stricken out, and that from
and after the passage of this act, no person shaii
be disqualified from voting at any election, he'o
in such District ,on account OF color. -
ssSEc 2. And be it further enacted that all
acts of congress- and all laws Of the state OF Mar
yland in force in said Districts and all
of Washington and Georgetown inconsistent win
the provisions of this act, hereby repealed and
snnulled,'
The vote upon the passage of the bill In
the house, stood ayes 116, nays 81. The re-
publicans who voted with the democrats
against the bill, are Anderson, of Missouri !;
Ashley, of Nevada; Benjamin. of Missouri !;
Farouhar, of Indiana; Henderson, of Ore
eon Hill, of Indiana; Hubbard, ofWestern
Virginia; Kuykendall, of Illinois Latham
of Western Virginia Phelps, of Maryland !;
Green Clay Smith, of Kentucky; Stil!well,
of Indiana; John L. Thomas, of Maryland !;
Vaughan, of Missouri, and Randall, of Ken
tuoky.
How often have we been told, by repub-
licans, that they were not in favor of negro
suffrage, or of negro equality. Whenever
democrats asserted that the republican party
were 10 favor of negro equality, republicans
always denied the assertion. But here we
have the proof of the truth of all that demo
Gratis have ever asserted, ON the subject. The
issue is now plain and straight one. The
republican party demands the admission of
oil negroes, no matter how ignorant, debased
or degraded, to equal suffrage with the white
citizens demands that they sit ON juries and
be eligible to every Office in the country; and
Senator Wade, in speech in the senate
said: II say to President johnson, to the
democratic party, and to the people of the
the United States, that l never will yield the
controversy until all men in America stand
upon an equal footing-equal before the law
in euery respect"
The issue is now 30 plain that none car
dodge it. The test of political orthodoxy il
the republican party, now, is belief in ne
gro equality and a willingness to enforce it
The members of that party must come ON t.
that platform in order to retain mem bership
Doolittle and Howe cannot vote the sam,
ticket hereafter nor can Morton and Julian
nor can Weed and Greedy. The bottom ha
been reached at last. The republican part,
has sunk from notification to Intervention
from Intervention to compensated emanoipa
ton, and from this to negro suffrage and al
assertion of absolute equality between til
races. The issue is very plain one. Pres
ident johnson will not, we think. hesitate t
continue "the controversy" and we know tn
democratic party will not. The conservative
republicans must yield, and swallow tn
African, whole, or leave that party and &C
with the democrats. There is no middl
ground-no halfway house. The ruin
power in the republican party Ia determine
to put down President Johnson's policy c
reconstruction, and force negro equality upo
all the states, north as we'll as south. Ths
is whsre every man who continues to act wit
the republicans will land. Those who
not favor this policy had better aid the dems
cracy in resisting it.