New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-02-05
white Ss;i1 ~. .tcGTu.

Another Illustration octhe saying that ''the
whirligig of time brings in his reyengcs." oc-
Cured in the L. :. House ofRcpcocntatives
on Saturday afternoon, when one CT The color
ed Representatives handsomely ii0ored, in
debate, an eX-Rebcl Colonial, who undertook
to give display of the. Old fashioned planta-
ton manners in the House. According to
there port in the New ork Tines. tie feature
of the day was the debut OF another colorcd
representative, Mr.. Cain OF South Carolina.
The occasion was the speech ofIIon. William
NJ. Robbins Of North Carolina, who showed
himself to be an old fire eater OF the icrcest
type, and who. according to bis osn state
ment, " was an officer III the Confederate
Army, participating in nearly all the battles
of Northern Virginia, from Blu! Run to Az
pomattoX CoErt House" Mr.. Robbins OPP
posed the Civil Rights bill. lie argued that
there was natural and perpetual antagonism
between The white and colored races that.
although the former shareholders had sought
to "bring these barbarians mp 10 civilization
they had not risen much above their natural
level, and that the passage ofthe Civil Rights
bill would result III the degradation OF the
white race, not in tAe elevation OF The black.
Mr.. Cain replied in an earnest. unprcme-
dtated FASHIONED speech. lie retortcd
that the civilizng instruments employed by
Mr.. Robbins and his race had been the stocks,
and whipping post, the thumbscrew and the
lash, and that, despite these agencies, HIM
self and his fellows stood upon chat floor, MI
Robbins equals, to assert their rights This
speech, in its way, created as great sensa-
ton as did the speech Of Mr.. Elliott. Mr..
Robbins was completely Inundated by the
jeers of the House. His own Conservative
colleague, Waddell, acknowledged that the
proud Confederate colonel, after inviting the
oft ,n, Inl b,-n 81
prominent Republican leader sail tonight
that, in the ratio of their numbers, it must
be conceded that the colored representatives
in Congress are better parliamentary speak |
crs than the whites
The Boston Herald cores pOndent saws |
Robbins is new member and full of the old |
Southern views, which he poured out in a |
manner which disguised even his own side Of |
the House. lie spoke of the c0lored men rs |
"niggers,' and said that ifthe evil rights bill |
went through, the crow oush to take the /
place of the eagle as the national bird. lie |
spoke for full hour, with the tone and man
ner OF plantation Overseer, his speech |
being more offensive than that of Harris OF
Virginia, which was SO eiloctually replied to |
by Elliott ofSouth Carolina. When Robbins |
finished, Mr.. Cain Of South Carolina, "A black |
member, who has not before been heard from, |
took the floor. He had taken notes of Rob
bins's TRADE, and proceeded to answer him,
point by point, in a style as striking as it was !
unexpected. The effect on the House and .
galleries was tremendous. Mr. Cain met the .
blackguard assault Of the North Carolina /
members with great wit, and tuned all his .
points against him. He told him that the /
crow might well be taken as the embIematc
bird of the Southern whites, for they were
always cawing at the blacks. His peroraiion
was delivered with thrilling eloquence, and
his declaration of the patriotism Of his race
and their determination TO stay on this con-
tinent and work out their destiny was one of
the finest pieces of defamation which has
been heard in the House. AT the conclusion
of the speech, Mr.. Cain was congratulated
by almost the entire body of Republicans
present, and business was suspended for
several minutes. Mr.. Cain is Il good speaker,
and an educated man. As he answered his
points so prompt aud complete,
20 one can charge him with having delivered
speech preparcdby others. His eloquence
airly as tonshed Sam Cox and others the
Northern Democrats, and several of the more
iecent Southern members expressed their
lisapproval OF Robbins utterances.