The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-10-17
The COlOred Element in Wash
ingtOn Life.
THE NUMBERS AT THE CAPITAL.
The Lines Drawn in Washington Be,
tween the White and ColOred
Population.
SALT LAKE CRY, Oct. Is, 1886.

Pennsylvania Avenue; his every atti-
tude showed that he highly appreciated
everything around, him, more especially
the street upon which he was walking,
which, perhaps, with very few excep-
tons, is one of the finest in the United
States. But say, my friend, " said he,
1.-The number of colored people one
meets is perfectly astonishing. Go
where you will, the negro race keep
coming in sight everywhere. and many
of them-in fact a vast majority-seem
well-dressed and well to-do."
The fact that struck my friend in
regard to the large number of coIored
people in Washington is something that
is noticed by every stranger who visits
the city, and this is not to be wondered
at when it is known that the negro race
form One-third of the whole population
numbering close upon 100000. Every
third person one meets is either a boy or
| q girl, or man or q woman of color.
Some are az black as the ace of spades
real types of the negro race, with q
large fat nose, thick lips, curley let
black hair, and pearly teeth, while
others show mixture of blood all the
way from black to nearly white. As
class, the colored people, in Washington
at least, must keep themselves to them
selves: They are upon no considera-
! ton allowed the privilege of unstinted
association with the white portion of the.
| population. The white and the black
do not and apparently cannot assimi-
| late. The time was, in fact, and not so
very long ago, when q colored person
was not allowed to ride in the same
street car with q white. The street car
companies, to comply with the public
prejudices, were compelled to run cars
for the accommodation Of the white and
the black population of the city. This
may be somewhat strange to many, but
it is nevertheless q fact. Such q marked
distinction, perhaps, did not arise from
any down right hatred of the coIored
people, but simply from the fact that
the negro race for hundreds of years
had been considered ignorant, and
long way inferior, in every sense of the
word, to their fellow beings, the whites.
| The fact could not, apparently, be over
| looked that the vast majority of the
colored people had been slaves; that
they had been the servants of servants,
and that that they were never intended,
the Emancipation proclamation to the
contrary Notwithstanding, TO be put
upon a level with the people in any
sense Of the word. This NAV sound
remarkably odd to Christians in
Christian country. 1t may also sound
strange to millions of people in this
country, in face of the fact that one of
the bloodiest wars in the history of wars
vas waged upon its soil for the sole
purpose Of freeing the colored race, of
breaking what was considered the
terrible crime of slavery, of placing the
colored man upon an equality with the
white. Personally, of course, l believe
that every man should be free that il
was never intended that men and women
should be driven to work under the
lash, treated like unto brute beasts, and
sold from the auction block like so many
cattle at prices of merchandise. As an
individual / could not do otherwise
than stand up for the abolition of
slavery; but to my utter surprise, in
conversation with many freed slaves in
the District of Columbia, and in the
State of Maryland, many of them did
not believe in the abolition of slavery
themselves. In endeaYoring to get at
the bottom of such an incomprehensibIe
i
discovered there was feeling of selfish.
nees. in many instances underlying the
whole. Some informed me that when
they were slaves they had the best of
masters; they were sure of their food,
clothing and shelter; in a word thew
had no thought of the morrow. They
had neither house rent nor taxes to paw.
They worked upon the cotton fields on
the old plantation, and they were con-
b1nt with their surroundings. Their
"massa" was kind, and their ''missus''
was kinder, while Matilda, the daughter.
never forgot 70 say kind word to "poor
old JeR" and his family. I do not mean
to say, OF course. that all slaves were
treated with this kind of consideration.
for l have been told to the contrary
Many were badly used. and thew tbant
God for their freedom. In conversa
ton with many of those old slayes-I |
loved to hear their tales-I took occa-
sion 20 ask their opinion Of Mrs. Beecher
Stoves Uncle Toms Cabin" and was
informed, by the more intelligent. tbst |
more highly colored work upon the |
subject OF slavery, was never written. 1t |
helped, however, to create h feeling |
against slavery, and the elimination |
was its abolition. have also had an |
opportunity Of conversing with many |
Save owners, all OF them being southern /
men. found that. in many instances
they felt sore upon the slavery Question |
They could not argue it without getting |
angry. They maintained that the gov |
eminent had not done the square thing
by them; that they had ought 10 have |
been compensated for every slave thew
owned at the passage of the Emancine. |
ton Act. One man told me at The
passage of that act he owned tbirtS
slaves, for which he had paid unon ~
average 81 900 per head. In onESaEs
therefore, he lost $50, 600, and ffon1 so
day to this had never received q nenn{;s
consideration. Many of his slaves he
said, even after they were emancipaied
would not leave his plantation; be had
been kind 10 them and they begged him
70 allow them to remain almost nnon
MS own terms. For a year or two This
sort OF thing worked all right enonob
put by and bye the spirit of 1ndepen,
aence would creep in-thaI spirit ~
Jack IS as good as his master"-snd
the former slaves were difficult to con
troll: In this connection some of the
cid VIrginians feel very ugly upen the
emancipation of their slaves 70 this dev