National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-09-02
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND
CIVIL RIGHTS

organs and conventions of that party tina
the Radicals, as they call them, have de
termined to force social equality upon tn
country-to make, in the old ante bellun
phrase, the negro the equal of the whit
man. As Mr.. Watterson says, the desigl
is to introduce the "nigger into orr tea AM
coffee ito make him sleep and eat ant
drink with US. To avert this condition o
affairs white leagues are organized in tn
South, reign of blood and terror is inau
gurated over nearly one half the extent o
the Union, murder and assassination stall
through the land in broad daylight, ant
helpless men, women and children arr
hunted into the woods and mountains likt
so many wild beasts
Now, we maintain that in this attacl
upon the civil rights bill the Democracy i
first inconsistent, and second is deliberately
classifying the position of the Republican
party. Let US examine the record, SEE
what the civil rights bill really is, anC
where the opportunities stand in regard t.
it. The section of the bill to which 81
much objection Is made, the passage o
which by the Senate is the preteXt for thu
beginning Of something like new rebel
lion, reads as follows THAT all citizen!
land other persons within the jurisdiction
''of the United States shall be entitled tt
'the free and equal enjoyment Of the &C
Communications, advantages, facilities snt
privileges Of inns, public conveyance OF
Gland or water, theatres and other places
ofpublic amusement, and also of common
schools and public institutions of learning
cor benevolence, supported in whole or IL
part by general taxation, and of cemete
'tries so supported, and also the institutions
'known as agricultural colleges endowed
''by the United States subject only to the
conditions and limitations established by
'law, and applicable alike to citizens Of
every race and color, regardless Of any
previous condition Of servitude." We
deny that this makes any difference what
ever so far as the public schools are con.
cerned. 1t only declares, among otheI
things. that the children of black parents
shall be afforded the same facilities in an
educational point of view as the children Of
white parents. 1t leaves to the State the
question as to the mode and manner in
which those facilities shall be given, moth.
ing more and nothing less. 1t does not
prescribe the methods, only that it shall be
done. If the State wants to create mixed
schools it can do so. If it does moi
it need not But it must be done
in some way. That is the long
and the short of it. When the ques-
ton came up in the debate upon the meas
ure Mr.. Sargent wished to have it expressly
stated in the bill. and to that end offered
the following proviso: "That nothing
therein contained shall be construed to
prohibit any State or school district from
providing separate schools for persons Of
different sex or color, where such sepa-
"rate schools are equal in all respects TO
"others Of the same grade established by
"such authority, and supported by an equal
"pro rdtG expenditure of school funds. 4"
Eight Republicans voted for its insertion,
but the ground was taken that the section
itself plainly carried with it that meaning,
and the proviso was lost. This certainly
does not look like a premeditated plan to
force negro equality, to coerce the South
into the acceptance Of that which is repug-
nant to it, which is, as its red-hot opponents
declare, contrary to the laws Of God and
man." The bill simply provides for the
education by the State of the children of
the State-that in Virginia the black man
shall not be taxed for the education of the
white children; that in South Carolina the
white man shall not be taxed for the edu-
cation of black children. All the children,
black and white, shall be given facilities for
education, and the State can in its own way
provide the machinery for it.
aTo show the inconsistency of the De-
mocracy upon this point, it is only necessary
to go back aud read their declarations upon
the subject. In 1872, in national conven-
ton, in Baltimore, that party resolved,
"That we recognize the equality of all men
"before the law, and hold that it is the
"duty of Government in its dealings with
"the people TO mete out equal and exact
Justice to all, of whatever nativity, race,
"color or persuasion, religious or political.
1--WE pledge ourselves to maintain the
union of the States, emancipation and en-
franchisement, and to oppose any reopen
ing of the questions settled by the thir-
"teenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amend
"ments to the Constitution.
To show its sincerity in this declaration
it nominated for the Presidency man
Horace Greeley-who, in aspeech at Pough-
keepsie, New York, announced that he was
in fav6f OF mixed schools in the South. If
the Democracy had succeeded in that cam
psign it would, to carry out its platform and
pledges, have to pass the very bill which it
is now so bitterly opposing. 1t promised
all and everything contained in the civil
rights bill. Again, to take the position of
the Democracy in one Of the States: Last
year the Pennsylvania Democratic party
supported the new constitution. The State
committee of the party so advised it.
Among other provisions in that instrument
is the following: "The General Assembly
"shal provide for the maintenance and
support of a thorough and efficient sys-
Item of public schools, wherein all the
" children Of this Commonwealth, above
"the age Of six years, may be educated, and
shall appropriate at least one million dol
liars each year for that purpose. This Is
all that the civil rights bill Of Congress pre-.
scribes shall be done. The Senate, In its
passage, only followed the example of the
Demo Iacy Of Pennsylvania, and fulfilled
the riedgcs the Democracy declared they
woui: fulfill in case they were restored to
power. An education at the expense of
the State is the birthright of every Ameri.
can child. The civil rights bill means that
no class of American children, white or
black, shall be robbed of that right; that
education shall be free as the air and the
sunshine. 1t does not prescribe mixed
schools. and is only the legitimate and logi-