The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1875-04-15
Speech of Hon C. G. VIII
lianns on the Civil Rights

made the following speech
Mr.. Speaker, it is hardly possible to com
press the salient points of this subject into
five-minute discussion. Are we now legis-
lating for day, ora year, or for all time {?
ere we legisIating for our own generation
alone, or legisiating here today for the
teeming millions Of all races, classes, and
conditions of men who are to people this
gre 1t Republic? Are we legislating upon
the narrow ground Of mere partisan success
or failure? Are We governed by prelude
or are we seeking to plant our feet upon the
firm foundations of principle?
When the late war closed we thought the
principle had been settled and secured,
which should never be questioned or dis
turbed again. principle sealed with the
blood and sanctioned with the lives of three
hundred thousand Of as brave men as ever
carried bay0ne:s glistening in the sun. That
before the law" and that to-day is the cor
ner-htone Of a reconstructed Republic.
Shall we lea7e a flaw in the foundation
which must endarger the sEperstructure
again? This Tas the principle which found
Inference in the last words of Americas
noblest and greatest statesman. Shall we
not heed the echoes cf that voice still sound
Ing In these chambers, ''Do not let my civil
rights bill fail ?''
What Inconsistency shall We be guilty OF
upon this question We sit with colored
men in these Halls without prejudice, but
we teach our little boys that they are too
good to sit with these mems children in the
public schooI-room, thereby nurturing a
prejudice they never knew, and preparing
though they are tue ones who in the near
future are to have charge Of pnbiic affairs
and upon whose action the peace and tran
guilty ofthe patton must depend. We sit
with colorei men on juries we ride with
colored people on horse-carS IN this the
capital city OF the country, bnt we are told
that we should not do SO ON the ste8m-cars
Of the South We ride with them in car
rages even in warm weather and against the
wind if they drive the carriage. We ride
with them in sleeping cars if they perform
the mental service there but if they pay
their fares ard take their seats like orderly
refined gentlemen, then we say we will spurn
them from our presence.
Now if You run color line through the
schools, where will you draw it? Shall it'll
be the child Of ebony hue that you will pro-,
scribe, or shall it be the half-blood, or the
quadroon, or the octoroon, or the delicate
young schoolgirl with slight orange tint
on her check =? Who shall decide and who
enforce this law ShalI it be the striplngs,
young men of great cities, who against law
and in defiance of it drive young ladies away
from school examinations All, Mr.. Speak
er, is this the road which leads up to s.abil-
ity and peace? How many humble families
are there whose pride and hope are centsred
in some fayorite daughter? How they watch
the days and weeks and months, when not
withstanding their poverty and humble con-
dition in life their child shalt graduate with
the highest honers of the school. And do
you think il safe system of law which
sends into that humble home, instead of
light, hope, and gratified ambition which
causes It's inmates TO feel that they can hold
up thier heads and stand little better in
The world, only darkness and despair ? All
but is that craftsmanship which can thus
trifc with the very fountains of human
pride or human hate?
If you establish two grades Of schools
throughout the South, which shall be main
tanned and which go to the wall? Do you
wish to fight this question all over again Fl
We are in the first day CT our natural life. |
Rome dominated the world in her prestige
and pride for one thousand years. Shall we
legislate here to-day as tho ugh the next
centennial was to be the final end of this
great Republic Settle this question right
now, and the colorline tails out Of politics.
Settle it wrong, and it will come to plague
you again. 1t may cause temporary strife, !
but better this than that growing prejudice |
and growing hate should rend and distract !
this country eyer again. We are all In favor
of educating the colored man. But shall we
do this and expect him as he grows more
enlightened, and as he reads the story of
his wrongs on every page Of history and
in every public journal, and as he acquires |
competence and advances IN influence and
power-do We expect him to remain quiet
and contented under this unjust and unrea-
sonabls prescription ? How can this be q |
social question? Do we invite all men
whom We meet on equal terms in the bust |
ness walks Of life to our houses? Sir, the
classifcations of social life cannot be regula-
ted by law. The dividing barriers may