The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-06-12
NEGROES WHO HAVE
SERVED IN CONGRESS.

(CorJriEht 1870. A-os J. CBn-inEsl
He Is the last Of his race. An epoch &
closed. Seated In a remote corner q the
chamber 81 the House OF Representatives.
rear BrumIdls painting Of the opening OF
negotiations AT the siege Of YORKTOWN. b.
listens 10 an uprOsr on the floor. apPar-
entity lost IN reflection. \ Hight mUiattC
o. sturdy physique, BE- has ciJse-cropped
kinky half and two inches 81 phiskers
mHitaiTc. The eyes are bright the mus
tachc neatly trimmed. and the hair parted
IN the middle There b. a slight trace
Of The EJhiop in his features. but the
face IS pleasing and Intellectual pressed
with excellent taste be Is evidently a
man OF education and refinement SPEAK
ING lu correct terms in language sparkling
with American idi0ms, be lacks anab.4ty.
although polite in manner and direct in
conversation. Indeed. he has rev 70 any
Congressional associates. His v7fe. a
lady OF beauty and refinement. frequently
visits the Capitol ana returns home with
him after the tolls Of tho DAY. This states
man Is the Hon. George Henry White o.
Tsrhoro, y. G.. the last OF the negro
Congressman.
The reconstruction tide has al last pass
81 the flood and IS beginning 10 ebb. The
Yalmy days Of the new era are over and
the relapse Is here Mere ophemera were
the carpet-baeger and scaIhwagger They
were political !nsects with lives measured
by days But the negro survived nearly a
third Of a century. lie was a part OF the
so.l o. the South, cultivated BY qUest.ona-
tie methods, but never iertiljzai Like the
Old Virginia tobacco fields. the soil seems
20 have nun out, and the land. no longer
productive. Is about 10 be abandoned. Mr.
White Is as able and intelli yen- a repre-
sentative Of his race as has ever appeared
In Washington. He COMFORTS himself With
great dignity In the House. Addressing his
colleagues with unusual ability when the
opportunity serves. he seasons his eiO-
GuenCe with ridicule and sarcasm. Trliov-
Ing IL with tri,e sayings and metaphors
once In the present session he reached
the plateau OF real oTatory. In burning
words he arraignod Judge Lynch for high
crimes and miSdemeanCTs in the South,
and sought his Impeachment at the bar Of
public opinion. There was no pleading for
favor, but a demand for Individual rights
He did not beg for fair play; ne exacted
II. The speech ,lisSected lCknow edged
facts with an unspariDg scalpel, laid bare
the fostering wound, and demanded the
prompt application OF q remedy. Possibly
II was more aggressive than suggestive
more irritating than convincing but no
one could gainsay its logic. The members
listened with intense interest, and the
speech aroused strong editorial comment.
Among those who congratulated the ora
tor was one or TWO Democrats from
south OF Mason and Dixon's line. II was
the best work done by White during his
three years in Congress. Mayhap II was
the last protest that VIII ever be made
by black man in Congress.
For the situation has changed. The
woods have been cut away and tue stream
has run dry. The denuding Of the forest
began four years ago when Mississippi
adopted State constitution that prac-
ucally distTanchised the negro. Louisiana
followed suit. and North Carolina and
Virginia are already treading in the
same path. The fifteenth amendment is
being wiped out. Dry are tba
stones In the bed of the brook. There NAV
be water under them. but whether il will
ever again ooZe IL the surface time alone
can determine.
What a regime II vas in its hevdav,
1arded II as sort Of political nightmare.
No more incongruous political elements
were upheaved in the French revolution.
II was stratum of craftsmanship unfore-
7hsdowed and utterly unknown il was
Ike fungi, the product of a night. and
Only few experts could separate the |
Mushroom from the toaGstOol. 1t first
IrOcked at the door Of the House of Rep |
n ha
he person of a West Indian negro thirty |
Years old. His name was ]. Willis Men !
ird. and he had received d certificate of |
election from Gov. H. c. Warmoth, of |
Louisiana, His seat was contested by |
Caleb 5. Hunt, The Committee on Flee |
ions reported against Menard. and Hunt |
was seated by the House. Menard argued i
his case ably and vigorously, and was the |
irst negro who was ever heard in Con-
yress.
The next negro who appeared was Hi
am r. Revels He was elected 10 the |
United States Senate from Mississippi,
Ind took his seat in February. 1870, his
ERIN expiring March 4. lS1. Revels was
all and commanding and OF very agree
ible and engaging manners 1t was said
hat he had a white wife. He was a
graduate OF a Quaker seminary in Indiana.
Al the expiration Of his term he became
/ Methodist minister and made his theo-
cgical career rcmunerative by featuring
n Boston and other cultured precincts
" lille Revels was United States Sen
tor several negroes were admitted to the
House Of Representatives. This was in
he Forty-frst Congress. The most prom
rent was Joseph II Rainey. born a slave
n Georgetown. s. c, IN 1852 Ralney was
barber IN Charleston when the war
,rCke out He fed to the West Indies IN |
$50, where he remained until the close of
he war On returning 10 Charleston he
vas elected 20 the constitutional cOnven-
ion. afterward became a member of the
'tate senate. and finally landed in Cun-
ress. Rainey was hand in glove with
ohm J. Patterson, Franklin Moses Tim
Hurley, and other Rin2ldo Rinaldinis of
'cuth Carolina reconstruction. Rainey
vas first elected 20 iii the vacancy caused
Y the resifnatio OF r. F. WhittemOre,
Who was threatened with expulsion for
: Hing A cade, ship. He remained in the
iouse longer than any other negro ever
ent 70 Congress, serving eight consec-
tive years. Nemesis caught him in the
an 81 1873 In the election Of 1876 he had
eaten J. = IslChdid Soi bS Inv No'ts' but
n 1873 lost his political feet and was
wept into the whirlpool OF the PAST.
In the House he had been a Lanjunais
monC the reconstructionists. Quick-wit-
a and versatile in action. he had been
{ service 10 his party. He became a
andidate for clerk OF the House in the
'orty-seventh Congress. II was universal
= conceded that he was more than COM
etent and was entitled TO the honor /
Ike others Of his race, however he was /
RI aside when rewards were distributed
D. those who had distinguished them /
elves IN political conflicts. Rainey was a |
Try light c0lored gentleman, with wayy
NJ not kinky hair. Suave in cOnversa- !
on, he had soft. engaging manners. and
as supposed 10 be a West Indian negro |
10 spoke French fuently, had the Creole !