Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-02-23
COL OR LINE
BOBS UP IN
CONGRESS
QUESTION OF "IIM CROW"
CARS DISCUSSED
LIVELY TILT OCCURS BETWEEN
NORTH AND SOUTH
Separate Coaches for Blacks in Dis
trict of Columbia Voted Down.
Heflin of Alabama Starts
Agitation.
b. Associated Press.

b. Associated Press
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22.-The race
question came to the surface in the
house today when Mr. Hefiin of Ala
hama offered an amendment to the
District of Columbia street railway
trackage bill providing for Jim Crow
cars. Mr.. Hefln declared that sepa-
tate coaches for the whites and blacks
had solved TIE race problem in Ala
bama, and he expressed the opinion
that such an arrangement would solve
/, in Washington.
Mr.. Foster of Vermont voiced his
protest against tie amendment and
said it was regrettable that on the
birthday of George Washington such
an un-Americs.n proposition should be
advanced.
Does my friend believe Washington
himself would vote for this amendment
if he were here?" inquired Mr.. Griggs
of Georgia, amid laughter.
"Emphatically, no." responded Mr.
Foster
The amendment was bitterly fought
Ky Mr. Madden of Illinois, who as
serted that congress should never legis-
late in favor of one element against
another. He was twitted by Mr.. Griggs,
who inquired of him If he remembered
the shotgun" quarantine established
by Governor Tanner against negroes.
Mr.. Madden resonpded that he never
conceded the right of the governor to
act as he did.
Southerners on Their Feet
BY this time a number of southern
members were vainly seeking recogni-
ton.
(Which race does the amendment
discriminate against?" inquired Mr..
Humphreys of Mississippi, who first got
the chairman's eye.
Il do not concede the right of the
gentleman to ask such a question.
Mr. Madden replied, at which the DEM
ocpats derisively laughed.
~ MIR. Humphreys insisted that the
amendment provided equal but sepa-
rate accommodations. He provoked
Democratic laughter when he said,
pointing to the members in the gal
leries, that, although the Republicans
were the friends of the negroes, he
could not see any members of the Afri-
can race in those galleries"
HAS the gentleman ever issued any
cards to the members gallery to
negro?" asked Mr.. Griggs, insistently.
yes, SIR" Mr.. Madden replied. land
1 will be glad to do so again.
1t remained, however, for Mr.. Camp
bell Of Kansas to arouse the interest
of the house on the subject. He de-
defended the negroes of Washington,
and said he never noticed anything
offensive on their part on street cars.
Nothing disturbs your equanimity
except small children" remarked Mr..
Clayton of Alabama.
"There are a great many who do not
disturb me at ALL was Mr.. CampbelPs
retort.
"Would you add the representative
from Alabama" inquired Mr.. Griggs
amid laughter
81 will add the gentleman" said Mr.
Campbell, smilingly.
"By request" said Mr.. Simms of
Tennessee, sotto voce.
YES" said Mr.. Campbell, land by
request of the gentleman from Geor-
gia."
The repartee convulsed the house and
galleries, which had become packed to
the doors with many struggling for ad-
mittance.
Mr.. Campbell said he would regard it
as an evil day when congress would
create a class Distinction
After Negro Votes
A voice was heard to say the Re-
publicans were after negro votes.
This inflamed Mr.. Campbell, who de-
clared it to be a "shame to the gentle-
man from Alabama and his party that
there are thousands of colored men In
his state and in the south who have no
vote'
Laughter was brought down upon
him when, after stating that Kansas
guaranteed the rights and privileges OF
every citizen, Mr. Bartlett of Georgia
read a dispatch stating that Booker
T. Washington had been denied hotel
accommodations at Wichita, Kas.
Mr. Campbell took the matter very
seriously and declared that if the dis
patch was true and Washington had
the time to give to the action in the
courts the hotel keeper could be made
the defendant in an action for dam
ages, and, he added, amid shouts of
laughter "the probabilities are that the
hotel man was Democrat from Ala
bama or Georgia"
'The Democrats from Alabama or
Georgia." interjected Mr. Bartlett OF
Georgia, don't go to Kansas very
often"
Sand they don't stay Democrats
when they do co. was Mr.. Campbell's
retort
The debate at this juncture took a
new turn.
Does the gentleman believe in white
and black children going to the same
school?" Mr.. Hefin demanded
Mr. Campbell answered by saying
that his children attended a mixed
school in Pittsburg. Kas., his home
twn.
Would you worship with a negro?'
Mr.. Hefiin also asked
The reply of Mr.. Campbell was that
only last Sunday he had done SO.
Pursuing his inquiries Mr.. Hefin
asked Mr.. Campbell if he believed In
intermarriage between the races.
mo, SIR" shouted Mr. Campbell, and
he said there was n vast difference be-
tween social equality nd political
equality
Il would not permit my daughter to
marry some white men, he exclaimed.
Would you permit her to marry any
colored mani" was the query of Mr..
Beall of Texas.
Raising his voice to high pitch, Mr..
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