The Washington bee., 1897-06-19
E. NJ. HEWLETT.

have been asked to respond to the
toast "The Government of the United
States, Executive, Legislative. and Iu !.
dicial as affecting the personal liberty
of citizens, and at the same time am
informed that | have five minutes al
lowed me, in which to Thoroughly
cover the subject. fear, gentlemen,
that so much liberty has been ex-
tended to us TO night at this festive
board that none of us are in a condi-
ton to talk-that is intelligently.
Should | attempt to respond to the
toast proposed it would take nearer
five hours than FIVE minutes to do it
anything like justice. This liberty is
not accorded me by the "Colored Ma
tional Personal Liberty League" /
will say however, gentlemen, that lib
erty has always been the uppermoSt
thought of the negro, from the time he
occupied the slave pen TO the present.
Many of the negro slaves, after having
held a short consultation with their
legs, found themselves free. The ne
gro has never rested quiet under op-
preston. He has faced death time and
time again IN the hope of gaining his
liberty. He established his right to lib
erty on many fields of battle. OF the
300, 700 troops in the revolutionary war
about 5000 were COlored, the majority
of them coming from the North, which
then had colored population of about
$4,000. The desire for liberty, how
ever, was no stronger in the breast OF
the Northern than in the breast Of the
Southern ColOred man. The colored
men of the North entered the Ameri-
can army that they might gain their
liberty, and the Colored men of the
South entered the British army, with
the hope that they might thereby gain
their liberty. You ali know how the
negro again distinguished himself. |
refer TO his heroism in the most
memorable naval battle fought with
the British in the war of 1872, namely,
the battle of Lake Erie
We are American citizens and can
not underrate our magnificent country.
We are all proud of its grandure. We
mtst love it, for We and our ancestors
have labored for more than two hun
dred years in building up its resources,
but the American people, through
the EXecetive, Legislative, and Judi
Clal branches of the Government, have
utterly tailed to accord to the negro
that protection in his political, civil,
and personal rights guaranteed by the
constitution of his country. The leg
lSlative branch of the government did
pass some laws for the protection Of
the negro in his rights and failed to
pass others, but our Supreme Court
by some kind of circuitous reasoning
has always been able by majority de-
CiSiOn to declare all such laws uncon-
stitutlonal, with Justice Harlan al
ways dissenter in favor human
rights. A negro can get no protection
in this country; he is lynched on the
least provOCation and denied every
civil right that should be accorded
man. fhe courts of the country are
disposed not to put its maChienery in
motion to protect the negro. For all
grand juries fail to indict the lynchers,
when they are known, and petit juries
would fail to convict, if an indictment
was returned and all of this with out
censure from the bench or press of our
country. The Executive of the Nation
ought to, and / think the present
Executive will take hand in the mat
ter, if the things continues much
longer.