Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1914-07-24
Senator Frank White In Maiden Speech In Senate
Pays Fine Tribute to Southern Negro.

Mr.. vardaman. Mr.. President, I should like to ask the
senator from Virginia if the State of Virginia Is contrib
uting anything to this celebration?
Mr.. Martin Of Virginia. think not. ] think no doubt
there will be private contributions, but the State Of Vir-
ginia has not taken the matter up.
Mr.. Vardaman. When is the celebration to take place?
Mr.. Martin of Virginia. 1t Is to take place In 1915,
but the exact date is not mentioned in the papers I have
received. A
Mr.. Vardaman. understand 1t is proposed to make
t a national affair rather than a southern affair.
Mr.. Martin of Virginia. 1t Is proposed to make 1t an
affair for the colored race. t4
MI. vardaman. | am not going to fight the amend.
ment, because l do not think 1t will do any good; but ]
wish to say, Mr.. President, that I think the conclusion
which logically will be drawn from what the senator
from Virginia has said with reference to the negros pro-
gress in the South and his fight against the odds against
him there, to my mind, is not altogether correct. Really
the white man has done more for the negro than the ne
gro has done for himself. AS a matter of fact, there is
no race of people on earth who have received as much
help from others as the negroes Of the South have re-
ceived from the white people of the South. They have
always been helped; the white people have assisted them
in every possible way, except to make citizens or voters
of them, and, of course, that ought not to be done and,
indeed, will never be done. am perfectly. willing to
help develop the negro along certain lilies. + wish him
we'll; but do not think ANY good Will result from this
appropriation.
Mr.. Martin of Virginia. Mr.. President, l speak for the
Virginia negro only. He has made wonderful strides In
morality, in education, and in industry, and l feel like
holding out a helping hand to him. l ask the senate to
make this appropriation.
Mr.. White. Mr.. President, l wish to concur in what
he senator from Virginia (Mr. Martini has said; but
want to speak for the negroes OF the South; not OF VII
ginia alone. | do. not know much about the negroes IN
other sections of The country. | suppose they have done
we'll. If they sprang from Southern negroes, they ought
to have done well anywhere.
These people have accomplished more than we had any
right to expect they would accomplish The senator from
Mississippi (Mr. Vardaman) Is right when ne says they
have not been badly treated in the South. They have
been treated well; and they have treated the Southern
people we'll. 1t has not been their treatment, Mr.. Presi
dent, that has burdened them; but 1t was a condition
and that condition was slavery. They have emerged
from that condition and have made wonderful SJr1QeS IL
progress. If they had not been interfered with after they
were emancipated in 1865, If Mr.. Lincoln could but have
lived, there never would have been any strife between
the Southern white man and the Southern negro; they
would have continued to live together in peace, as they
had done for generations past. We had shown our
friendship for each other for more than a century. Iney
were not brought there by us; they were laid at our doors
by others; they were brought to us as savages. We lifted
them through slavery from savagery to civilization and
manhood.
He has been our burden in the past; he was our bur
den when he was a slave; and yet, Mr.. President, he con-
tributed wonderfully to our race. We can point to as
fine a race of white men as ever lived from the South, and
those men received from the toll and sacrifice of the me-
groes the means with which they educated and accom-
plished. We are grateful to him for what he has done,
and we are willing to show our gratitude by way OF urg-
ing this appropriation for their benefit and to show the
world what they have accomplished since acquiring free
dom.
But, Mr.. President; we are more truly grateful to them
for what they did for us during the struggle in which
their freedom was the issue than for what they did fol
us in other times, When all the colored man had to dc
to obtain his freedom was to cross the line and take up
arms against our section, he stood by our side and fought
our battles with us. He camped with US at night; he
marched with us by day; he held our horses and guard
ed our tents while we stood in battle line and met death
by thousands. He supplied our every want; he guarded
our homes and protected our women and children; he
was indeed our friend. He showed his friendship and his
loyalty as no other race on earth had ever done by stand
ing by us in the hours of our trouble.
The black men of the South carried their dead masters
: back to their wives; the sons who had fallen in battle
! back to their mothers arms. They bore our sick ant
the wounded to them; and when they came bearing In
their hands these precious burdens, they so endearet
themselves to us that 1t has never been forgotten.
l | want to say, Mr.. President, in this presence, thai
: nothing have done, no appropriation for which l have
I voted, gives me more pleasure than does this one. Tt
I enable the black man of the South to show what he ha
achieved under the tutelage of the Southern white mar
! while he was a slave, and with his cooperation since hi
l freedom, and by his own untiring efforts since he has ha(
: placed upon him the responsibilities of manhood, affords
8 me genuine pleasure. Unfortunately for him and for tn,
country he had political responsibilities thrust upon hin
g which he was unable to carry. In this way he was mad,
y to compete in an unequal struggle with the white man
: and this caused the only estrangement between the race
: in the South, 1t was a mistake; it should not have beef
q made, Mr.. President, / will with much pleasure vot
! for the amendment offered by the senator from Virginia
= The Vice President. The question is on agreeing II
the amendment,