New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-01-24
THE co1oRED PEOPLE AT THE CAPITAL.
EMAssA LGSKUM's' CONIING-HoW THE FREEDMEN
TAKE THEIR LIBERTY-riE BiACAs AND ihN
REBELS.


TAKE THEIR LmERTY-TuE BLACKS AND TIE
RRBEIS
wAslIISGToS. Jan. IL, 1867.
Tn the carly part Of December, 1860, a numbering
Virginia wagon drawn by six mules came down Z
street in Washington. Its driver was ragged negro
with slouch hat whip in hand sitting astrlde one
of tbe mules nearest the wagon. When be came ol-
noste TO the residence Of the late DIR. Bailey the
wise Tand humane editor of The National ErG he
stopped his wagon, and dismounting glided up to a
person on the sidewalk, who, for some reason, nc
thought he could trust, and softly inquired: Is
Massa Linkum come ~ lie was told that " Ma'Sa
IinlIum" had not come. But the same inquiaitI'o
blackamoor, as we'll as everybody else OF an oO''l
ing turn Of mind who visits thls town. can no" '0'
that " Massa Linkum' has come ,;.i,
II needs no stretch OF Imagination 70 SEQ 'n'' -"
scriptjon placed on he walls and chiseeu 1"'p ro
pavement: to behold il blazing on tne oluo "Oo,o'
and tra;led like a banner after the diI,i"s oiOuu'
To the returning stranger especiany 1t = pi"n "i''
aMassa Linllun IS come" Ills progeny ihIesU TIC
ways The Nubian is thick re was ne'et NJ
I'LL fla has come through the Red Sea ana IS glao
Of his escape. The street cars OF Washington are
oooIlo+ and spacous Washington, of all our cities,
a only one found TO have had its streets laid out
L,ood ..nopoh To accommodate this great modern
convenience and sti1 leave room for all other uses
of travel The stranger stops into one and finds hnl-
self sitting down between Nubian on the one siue
and Nubian on the other He rubs his mlnds eye
ond wonders if this is SeCch Washington. Here SIT
before him the exact countcaris Of Inc races cut III
the ooored stone of Egypt 5000 years ago, when are
still extant Deyilish Socesh cneS out lhls Is d
white mans government" Why not NuDans, an
Abyssinian's, who enjoyed SOcontunes ogoa hlgher
civilization Judging merely by the material monu-
IL. lvt Itp 11ifr and dpluQe OF ages
than ever deviish Sccesh enjoyed They are " pau
pers.r SAYS Reverdy Johnson. And are there not
million of inst such white paupeG on the Island
of Great Britain today And have we not
thousands and tens of thousands inst such; every
bleareyed villain among them all crying ont, ms
sawhite mans Government" And who made them
q" nannersT Let dcvilish SeCesh, who has
robbed them of their earnings, robbed them OF their
morals. robbed them of their manhood, answer NO
cross no crown. We accept the sandwlchmg process
We take our seat within the jaws OF Nuhiansn' ana
we grin iAwardly CHASTITY smile nay,We cXuIt lhat
"Massa LinBum's como' The high prclates Of the
Roman Church 90 annually, in coInmemoraton OF
the lowly act of the Master, and wash the feet OF
twelve of the poor. They generally clean poor]
1t is humiliation which sanctifes. Devilish Secesh
unwillingly follows the example in Washington
street cars only he is compelled TO perform she pro-
cess 800 times per aunum instead OF once. May he
be sanctified over the priest S5 fold. He needs IT,
But "Massa Iinlxum's come not only in the cars.
He's come everywhere You see hisivOry and his ebony
in the Capitol lie crowds the galleries. You JoSte
him on the marble starways. You stumble over HIM
In the passages. Members Of Congress stumble over
him. Let them stumble. 1t does them good. The
Supreme Court on its way to the judgment-seat,
under the groned arches and under the dome, Stun
bles over him. They always did. You remember the
aOfT md bred Scott. Those two
worthless will live long i'm conjunction. The Judge
owes his chefest distinction to that now celebrated
collision But it is bred the hero with the Judge as
assassin. 1t is not canny recollection. But whose
fault is that The venerable iurist walked In the
light of Iapland night and disbelieved that the
sun would ever rise. Younger men, on the bench
and elsewhere may be instructed by his example.
Poor, and dcspsed, and black, and degraded,
naked and forlorn we feclingy watch this wretched
heaying sea of humanity cast up by the war. Ready
for the ballot, are they? God grant H. Ready to be
pitted against deyish SeccSh in the Rebel District
of Columbia-that they are. The Nubian and Secesh,
the slave and his master, with Congress TO overlook
and guide. It is good match. 1t is more washing
of the feet of the poor 1t is sanctifying process
May il be blessed TO the souls of the poor devils on
both sides, especially to the poor devil whites
am informed colored authority that there is to
be "a right smart chance Of black voting at the
next election. The Nuban intends to improve his
privileges Whoever else negects the cardinal duty
in republic OF casting the ballot ecctOn-day, it
is not to be he. There will be heap" Of such votes
east as were never before since the foundation
of the Republic. Suppose we say since NOah's ark
rested on Arorat This will be a little more AEeri-
can We are never quite content TO Guido ourselves
wo must Guido The rest Of mankind. A laudable
ambition.
But the plantations remain. The rice the cotton,
tho tobacco, the sugar regions-what OF theml Semi
tropical where man is made indolent by the Southern
sun. VIII they be New Englands or North Vests, or
rise to the level Of Pennsylvania Berks County
ism by emancipation aud reimbursement J.s.P.
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