The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-02-19
Tired of Them.


she has become tired Of the negro, anu she
now talks of the +" honor and safety OF tne
community" requiring the exclusion IRON
the Galleries of the Capitol " aud from " pup
lie conyeyances of all persons indecent!
ragged or Extensively dirty" the rags may
be seen, but the Extensively dirty are manly
10 be known by their odor. How many ne
croes would be admitted into the corridors
and galleries Of Congress tried by such Il
| test?
| And yet tic Republicans on whose side
this very clever writer ranges herself are
talking about compelling the southern
whites TO board at the same hotels, eat at
the same tables, ride in the same coach"s'
and send their white children to the same
schools with these "indeccntly rasSeo VI
Extensively dirty" persons.
| That the reader may see how kepuoii-
can is offended With the negro When &c
comes too near, we make liberal extract
from GRACE GREENwooD's letter, dated Wash
iugton, February 18th:
| uTie pbilsnthropic allusion of Dir. Cox
to thc colorcd patriots, 'stting uniformly in
| the galleries. and to their urgent, desperate
\ need of decent clothing, suggests question
| which somebody ought to consider and act
| mon. and that somebody should be the
senate or the House of Representatives:
| It is, Shall men and boys, however well
colored. but ragged to the point Of indecen-
cy. and dirty to absolute flthiness, continue
to enjoy the freedom of the galleries! They
now make them their lounging and resting
nIaces. Some of these habitueS are famous
slpppers. Even when the rightsand privileges,
and wrongs and disabilities of their own race
are under discussion, somnolency oyercomes
thom and they sleep not wisely, but too
we1j Senators have told ME that through
| all their night sessions they are comprised
ahout by this dark cloud of obliviouS wit
| nesses. who sometimes spend the entire
| night. especially il the weather be cold or
stormy. luxuriating in the warmth and COM
fort of the summer-lske air and soft cushioned
| seats OF the gallery. Now, the question Is,
| should the United States Senate Chamber be
used as statioT-house for Migrants, however
| meritorious, and tatterdemalous, however
patriotic? Colored women, having more
lively sense OF propriety, and not having the
| franchise, seldom visit the Capitol except in
their Sunday best, aHd they generally man
age to have a Sunday best; yet | saw the
other day, in the ladies' gallery of the Sem
ate, couple Of elderly cnlored laundre>ses,
who evidently did not do their own washing,
neither did they put it out.
81 was a friend to TIE colorcd people
when they needed friendS-when the pollti-
clans who court and use them now were ri
diculing, rcvilng, and bunting them down,
and it is in no harsh or fauls-tinding spirit
sneak now. Faithful are the wounds OF a
friend.' I mean all say in kindness; but
somebody ought to speak out when there il
q general cause Of complaint. Sloth and
suualor are certainly not confined to our
iatciy.culranclIsed citizens, but here, at the
capital, they oitenest put on that color-a
color which always inciEes me to lenient
Judgment, remembering the long, dreadful
past, the hard condition OF the old life, tie
cruel bindrauces, the darkness, the bond
aoe-ull uniting them for habits of order
and industry, for self-respecling reSpecta-
bilty-stilI, I think it is time they
were taught either by the precept and
example of the most Intelligent and refined
of their own race, or by the authority YET
for time, resting in ours, to regard the pro.
prieiies aud decencies of life. Into our street
cars, especially those on the avenue, come
men and boys whom it IS not only olsaSrec'
able but positively perilous to sit by-ani
mated masses of rags, giving out 'oui ano
,, sickening odors. The street car, us true, ; Is
the noor mans carriage but it is extrava
C gance in the poor man TO Use II when DC cal
az We'll walk. How men, ragged as Neapol
itan luzzaroni, can afford frequent induls
ences of the kind is to me profound an(
/ battling mystery. I have known grea
l. bulking, lazy boys, with rays luttering il
# every wind, like signals of distress, take
IA u street car for lift Of three or fon
= blocks. Colored youths OF this sort show
Z manly jealousy of their rights under the IF
tceutb amendment, and seldom are known t
ia offer seat to woman, whether she be
e delicate white girl or feeble old colored
,fl ssunty.' I hope l need not say am glat
- that colored people can ride in the cars, bu
u it does seem to me they are OVERRIDING th
J. thing in this city. We hardly have fai
o chance They have so taken possession Q
10 that popular vehicle that we think Of petl
tioniny the munificent and magnificent cor
poration of the Georgetown and Navy-Iar'
Street railway to furnish set Of new ant
It elegant cars, and put new straw in them an
i colored conductors on them, and set Their
70 apart for our colored citizens, leaving to u
the present old diIapidated concerns, III
u changed except that they shall be plainl
'e letteled: 'White people atloued to ride /
IS these cars
. "To be serious and not inYdious, it seen,
- to me that for the honor aud safety Of tn
'e community regulations should be estat
Il lished excluding all persons indecent
e ragged or Extensively dirty not only froal TIL
d galleries Of the Capitol, but from the public
confeyances of the city, and that these regl
lations should be rig:dly enforced withou
regard to age sex, color, or previous conG
ton of seryitude.
a! "Siuce winter weather and lack of FUND
at have suspended the operations OF the Boar
,e of Public Works. many poor colored me
- are quite out of employment. How do the
=. live? DO the ravens feed them and VIII
IL are the ravens? They are not riotous o
as di>quieted. They seem rather to enjoy the
We leisure in hanging about the City Hall, an
o. througing the headquarters OF the Distrit
- government. Any poiut where voting
10 going on, and their race is represented, ha
TO Still O noy,l attraction for them. The NOR
So ignorant have wild ideas of their polite;
N privileges. They seem TO think that office
oeI are lying about loose, and that they can bel
" themselves to the franchise at any tim
What man so ignorant and SO poor anon
IN them all as to be willing to change his pt
r. litical status for that of an intelligent, vel
b. TODD white womana"
of If anybody In this quarter Of the Unio
" had drawn this terrible picture of the negr
N he would have been ridiculed at the Mort
"a as a rebel not so good as negro, and
% statements would have been denounced /.