Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-03-06
NEGRO s,RFEs.

ment, without regard to color. This Is
all there is Of it-Cineinaati Gazette.
We beg pardon; this is not all there
is Of it. farming to the bill as pub
Ished by the Gazette itself, we find
that the fourth section reads as fol-
lows:
Sec. 4. That no citizen possessing
all other qualifications which are or
may be prescribed by law shall be dis
qualified for service as a grand or petit
juror in any court Of the United States,
or Of ana State, on account of race,
color, or previous condition Of servi-
tude, and any officer or other person
charged with any duty IN the selection
or summoning of jurors, who shall ex-
clude or fail to summon any citizen for
the cause aforesaid, shall, on convic.
ton thereof, be deemed guilty Of
misdemeanor, and be fined not more
than $1,000.
1t Is certainly remarkable how little
attention has been paid by press or
people to this provision which involves
Something more than "houses Of en-
tertainment, public cOnveyances and
places OF amusement" Equally
curious is the omission by nearly all
our Western and Southern exchanges
Of the four words ''or of any State,
which we have italicized in this section,
regulating juries and applying it to
State courts as well as Federal We
regard this as the most serious and
dangerous provision Of the entire bill.
To be jostIed with all sorts Of human
ity in public conveyances and hotels is
an inconvenience inseparable from
travel. Those who stay at home can
resort to house keeping or private
board. We have our option whether
to attend public entertainments or
not Even if the Radicals had
insisted on miseegenation schools,
we might have sent our
children to private or religious institu-
tons. But there is no such option or
substitute for the courts Of Justice, to
which we must resort when our rights
or Liberty is jaopardized. And just
here enters this Infamous law, 10 tam
per with the jury. For centuries the
Anglo Saxon has regarded this peculiar
institution as the very bulwark of
liberty; it is essentially ian outgrowth
of our civilization. No other people or
race, even among the Caucasians, has
ever progressed so far toward popular
freedom and justice-the trial Of the
people by the people. In our degene-
rate days, it must be confessed that the
ordinary jury is bad enough, without
being made worse by compulsory deg
radiation
If enforced, this jury section is a
very deus cr mGcLiHa. 1t prescribes
that any officer Of q State or Federal
court who shall Gail to summon" any
citizen on account Of race and color,
shall be fined not more than $1,000.
Any negro present, who has a smatter-
ing Of Webster's spelling book, may
assume thata sheriff fails to summon
him on account Of color, and thus OBJ
tains a ground Of action for dragging
that official before the Federal Court.
In this way every sheriff and deputy in
the South may be placed under arrest
time and again, until no man fit for
this important Office can be found will
ing to accept it. And toaggravate the
case, the sheriff may be tried in the
Federal Court, under this section, by a
negro jury. He cannot object to their
color, however PLAIN it may be that in
such q case they must be preiudiced
against him exactly on account OF
color.
During the discussion Of this bill in
the Senate, that arch-RepubEcan, Matt
Carpenter, showed that 1t is unconsd-
tational in each and all Of its pro-
visions. Under the plea Of regulating
commerce, Congress might, perhaps,
prescribe that all travellers from State
to State should be treated alike by the
common carriers and hotels of the
several States; but 1t could not regu-
late travel or entertainment within any
one State. The Fourteenth amendment
forbids any State abridging the priv
iieges or immUnities Of any "cit-
izsn" Of the United States, while
the first two sections Of this bill
spoke Of persons" within the jUris-
diction Of the United States, including
rowing Indians, Cinnamon, and other
unnaturalized foreigners. He contend
cd further that the privileges of hotels,
theatres, etc, do not attach to any per
son as a citizen Of the United States, |
but as a citizen Of the State. He |
secuted the idea that refusal Of the |
right to sit on juries, would deprive |
any one Of the equal protection of the |
laws; otherwise women, children and |
babes az the breast, must be made |
eligible. Proceeding on this subject, |
Mr.. Carpenter said:
There Is no doubt Of the power Of
Congress to provide who shall be eligi-
bic 10 serve as jurors in a Federal
Court. aud 1t has already declared that
colOred mau shall be SD eligible. But
has Congress power to provide who
shall be eligible 10 serve as jurors IN a
State CoHrt: Let 1t be borne IN mind
that It Is not the object Of this pro-
vision to secure to citizens Of the Uni
ted States the right Of trial before a
Jury constituted in a particular way.
but 90 secure to citizens Of the United |
States the right to serve as jurors in a
State Court IN the trial Of citizens or
of a State. The Supreme
Court Of the United States, in the 10th
of Wallace's Reports, page l3S, decI-
ded that a citizen Of the United States,
as such, was not entitled TO practice as
an attorney IN the courts Of a State,
affirming that this right in no sense
Il. I ]