Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-03-06
CIVIL RIGHTh.

ClnnaQ nave Deen AOie 10 gaInet. we
DO this not with any desire for sensation,
nor for the purpose Of exciting our peo-
pie out Of the propriety which so far
they have happily observed, but solely
with view to keep them well informed
of the feelings and sentiments given ut
terance to in northern cities, where the
negro population is iseomparatively small,
but where the prejudice against them,
on account Of color, finds its ex-
preston in vindictiveness and often a
cruelty that southern people could not
under any extremity Of pressure be
guilty of. We copy from the New York
Tribune, particularly, as to the deter
mination Of the proprietors Of the thea
tiers, hotels and restaurants Of that city,
and confidently point to its report as one
that fairly presents the opinion Of the
commercial metropolis Of the Union.
There, where the negro composes q
small part ofthe population, the owners of
public houses will, with one exception,
refuse TO cOuntenance or cater for him.
They propose and have determined
to test the validity of 8 law that
is plainly unconstitutional, and that
beyond question, was intended as the
last Of a series OF insults and indignities
10 the southern people that should fit
tingly express the hate and malicious
detestation OF us entertained by the ex-
treme Radicals. In Cincinnati the feel
ing is no more favorable to the negro,
and we believe that in Chicago, Pitts
burg, aud even Boston, it will be less
so. In the south, of course, public sem
timent is all one way, and wherever
the people can help themselves it will
find expression, as it has done here in
Memphis, in q determination TO force
conviction upon the negro that they will
not allow the social circle to be en-
croached upon by him, and that in all
our public places Of amusement he must
take the place assigned him, and not
force himself upon those who will not
tolerate him. Last night and the night
before attempts in this direction were
made at the Thester, where the
management, by the advice Of eminent
cOnncil, and with a determination
TO evade the severe penalties i'm.
posed by the law, and the tedi-
Gus litigation, costs and damages
incident to test Of it, recalled his first
determination TO resist it, and threw the
responsibility where OF right it belongs
upon the audiences. These attempts,
Of course, failed. Allowed to purchase
their tickets, and TO enter and take their
seats, the negroes-wbOm We have every
reason 10 believe were put up to it by a
few Of their race who have abandoned
themselves to the worst vices-were in
vited to and did promptly leave,
receiving, in both instances, the
money they had paid for their
tickets. We trust another attempt
Of the kind will not be made.
II we know the people of Memphis, and
as the court once said, 1--WE think we
do" they will not allow any encrosch-
ment by their negro fellow-citizens,
either upon the hotels, boardiug-houses,
theaters, churches or restaurants, while |
they will as quickly and as generously |
as ever manifest a friendship, in some |
cases almost affection, for them,
which through good and evil report,
through war and tumult, they have
preserved and conserved as they should, |
knowing them as they do better than |
sny others of the white race on |
this continent. Ex-President Jefferson |
Davis and Ex-Governor Harris, gentle |
men representing the highest social life
and the most extreme political views Of |
our people, gentlemen whom no laws
can ever reduce below the high standard /
they have erected for themselves, and to
which they have always reached, once
In great emergency, when blOOdshed |
had left its mark upon the fair escut. |
cheon OF our dear old State, spoke for
the black race, and with a nobility of
sentiment we all took home to our
hearts, and have cherished there ever |
since as the truth as we know it, |
paid tribute TO the negro who dur
ing war, pestilence and famine, re-
manned at southern homes a prop and
stay in time OF danger, need and dis
rress. We are not unmindful Of the tes- |
timony of these statesmen, and recall it |
now TO press it upon the attention Of our |
citizens that, while We urge it upon the
negro to abstain from all unnecessary
and seemingly violent assertion of his
supposed rights under the civil |
rights bill, we owe it to him,
as to ourselves, to meet every |
such attempt, as on last night, with the |
0s1iet expression of a moral suasiOn such |
as even the dullest negro cannot |
fail to understand. "Let US have |
peace.n To that end we invoke the |
aid and advice Of the older and wiser |
amongst US, as well as the consideration
and deIiberation OF those whose hearts |
are in their hands, and who, in times Of |
exipency like the present, are more apt |
to be carried captive by their prompt |
ings than their judgment. We conjure |
these to bear in mind that the civil |
rights bill was pressed by Butler for the |
purpose of provoking strife and blood |
shed, and that just now, more than
ever, we must steer clear Of anything |
looking in that direction. We also sp- |
peal to the leaders among our negro |
population to restrain the turbulent
amoug them, assuring them that
IL il the earnest desire Of the white |
neople OF Memphis to live in peace |
with them, and to do all they can to ad- |
vance them by education, and through |
a moral support extended TO them in
their private as well as public enter |
prises. We ask them to urge their peo-
ple to refrain from attempts to force
themselves where they are not wanted, |
and cease playing the mean and con-
temptible role, for black as well as white, !
OF defiant bully Of public sentiment.
Il is unalterably fixed in Memphis, as
We are assured 1t is in all the cities OF
sbe Union, that the blacks shall not en-
eroach upon the whites where they are
not wanted, and alI the laws Of the COM
bined yerId are fruilless to change IL.