New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-01-15
wrong the movement is seemingly Inaugu-

wrong the movement is seemingly Inaugu
rated.
The Federal Constitution, as amended
wisely provides, (Article IA, section 33
NO State shall make or enforce any Law
which shall abridge the privileges or immu
mites of citizens of the United States,
nor deny to any person within its ju-
risdlctlon the equal protection of the laws. -
Admitting, for the sake of reaching the
gist of the matter, that no State attempts to
make or enforce laws abridging the privileges
or immunities Of citizens of the United States
! yet it remains to be demonstrated whether
| there is denial, tacit or direct, to any per
| son in any State of the equal protection of
| all law. If so, then the spirit of the proyi-
| sions OF the fourteenth article of amendment
to the Federal Constitution Is violated. and
there is need for the appropriate legislation
Tor the enforcement Of the same rs provided
for in section of said article.
1t may be said that there are no positive
statutes prohibiting the enjoyment of all pub
lie rights by all citizens whose eor.krt and
convenience may b lessmed b. such prohi-
oition, and who tender the equivalent fixed
by law or custom for public facilities.
But if it is found that this denial is made
and | apprehend it is easy of demonstra-
tion--by corporations or individuals who ex-
lst at the will of the State, then there Is need
OF additional legislation to enforce the spirit
OF the provisions Of the Federal Constitution
as amended.
Men may cOncede that public sentiment.
ana not laN, is the cause of the discrimina-
tion OF which we justly complain and the re-
suitant disabilities under which we labor.
this be so, then such public sentiment
needs penal correction, and should be regu
lated by law. Let it be decidedly understood.
by appropriate enactment, that the individual
rights, privileges, and immunities of the citi-
Gems, irrespective of color, to all facilities az
forded by corporations, licensed establish
ments, common carriers, and institutions sup
ported by the public, are sacred, under the
law, and that violations Of the same will en-
tail punishment safe and certain.
we Will then hear no more of public SEN
ument that feeds upon the remnants of the
rotten dogmas Of the past, and seeks q vi
tally in the exercise Of a tyranny both cheap
and unmanly.
Let equity, founded in Justice, honesty. and
rlght-the soul and spirit of the law-be pre-
scribed by the superior power of the Govern
ment, and the inferior compelled to obey. It
is the duty OF the men of to-day, in whose
hands is lntrusted the destiny of the Repub-
lie, to remove from the path of its upward
advance in the future. And while respect.
fully demanding at their hands the removal
OF disabilities from colored citizens, we as
earnestly commend that all other citizens en-
JOY the full rights of American citizenship,
and that the last vestige of our internal revo-
luton be removed by general amnesty.
That social equality will follow the conces-
sion of equal public rights is about as likely
as that danger will come to the Republic be-
cause OF a general amnesty. None present
this unreasonable and unnatural argument
but those whose political life depends upon
the existence of baseless prejudice wholly
unworthy civilized country and disgracefdl
TO the American people ; which, galvanized
into fittul life at periodical intervals to accom-
plish the purposes of individuals whose
patriotism and love Of country is measured
by personal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, creates the i'm
peratve need of additional legislation.
That the relations of the races will be
changed by melting out simple Justice to the
colored citizen, without infringing upon the
rights OF any class, is the clap-trap addressed
to the Ignorant vicious, and finds no response
in the American heart, which in its best i'm
pulses rises superior to all groveling preju-
dices.
In obedience to the exalted sentiment
which impeled emancipation, enfranchise-
ment, and equal political equality in the
adoption of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth articles ofamendment to the Federal
Constitution, the nation, through its law
makers, was true to itself and its traditions
and the wisdom of the legislation Incorporated
in the three several amendments which Joint
ly provide that Congress shall have power to
enforce the provisions of the articles by ap-
proprlate legislation, is fully worthy Of the
lofty patriotism Of the men who were morally
brave enough to rise superior to petty and
unworthy prejudice of race, and who were
as distinctively American in their representa-
tive character as any pnblic men who have
enjoyed the confidence and led the public
sentiment OF the American nation.
1t Is Tor this appropriate legislation We
plead-for the enforcement ofthe spirit as well
as the letter OF the provisions, whose opera.
ton disenthralled and regenerated a nation
OF men who without this needed LEGISLATION
will not have fair opportunity to demon
strate their fitness for American citizenship,
and to whom the channels enhancement in
the legitimate pursuits Of life will be forever
closed, If by law, prejudice, or indisposition
to enforce legal enrichment they are branded
as special creation of God for a special in
feriority in the physical structure of govern
ment. The gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr.
BECK in an elaborate argument, for which
he says he made no preparation, assumes
some very strong but not new positions.
He asserts that " no one on his side Of the
House wants the negro oppressed, or de-
prived of education or any other right warran-
teed by the Constitution and laws" This
declaration, coming from such an authorita-
tive source, Is some indication that the sud-
den conversion at Baltimore In July, 1879,
has taken deeper root than we had been led
to suppose from recent event, and that when
the solemn pledge of the national convention
of the party with which the gentleman afflli-
ates was given in favor of equal rights it
meant more than platform rhetoric. Still 1t
is difficult to reconcile this kindly declaration
with the animus of the gentleman's effort.
We have heard so much of the usurpations
of Congress and of drifting toward centralism
and consolidation whenever some pet idol oil
oppression is about to be broken that we
| need not become exercised for the safety OF
the country because the gentleman from Ken
that this movement would have been ridi-
culed by men of all parties ten years ago /; to
this might have been added, with perfect
propriety, that emancipation and enfran-
chsement would have been ridiculed twenty
years ago. This proves nothing but the ex-
cellence of the gentleman's memory and the
tenacity with which he clings to the obsolete
ideas OF the past from which progressive nden
desire to be emancipated.
If the recent decision of the Supreme Court
in the New Orleans Slaughter-house case has
any relevancy to this bill it is not as apparent
to me as it seems to the gentleman who loves
to linger in the legal atmosphere Of that body
while threatening dreadful things to the
country and humanity generally.
As he seems to be lovingly attached to the
- - g.