History of the Antislavery Measures of the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth United States Congresses, 1861-65, by Henry Wilson, 1865.

CHAPTER XXIII.

NO EXCLUSION FROM THE CARS ON ACCOUNT OF COLOR.

MR. SUMNEE'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. SAULSBURY, MR. JOHNSON, MR. SUMNER, MR. MORRILL, MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. SHERMAN, MR. HENDRICKS, MR. WILLEY, MR. SUMNER, MR. WILSON, MR. TRUMBULL, MR. SUMNER, MR. WILSON, MR. GRIMES, MR. POWELL. AMENDMENT AGREED TO.

IN the Senate, on the 27th of February, 1863, Mr. Sumner moved to amend the House bill to extend the charter of the Washington and Alexandria Rail road Company, by adding to the first section, " that no person shall be excluded from the cars on account of color." The yeas and nays were ordered ; and, being taken, resulted — yeas 19, nays 18, So the amendment was agreed to, was concurred in by the House, and approved by the President on the 3d of March, 1863.

In the Senate, on the 16th of March, Mr. Sumner proposed to amend the bill to incorporate the Metropolitan Railroad Company by adding, " that there shall be no regulation excluding persons from any car on account of color." Mr. Saulsbury expressed his surprise that there should be such a strong disposition manifested on the part of white men and the representatives of white men to ride in the cars with negroes. "Has any gentleman, any man who was born a gentleman, Page 372 or any man who has the instincts of a gentleman, felt himself degraded by the fact that he was not honored by a seat by the side of some free negro? Has any lady in the United States felt herself aggrieved from the fact that she was not honored with the company of Miss Dinah or Miss Chloe on board these cars ? " Mr. Johnson, on the 17th, maintained, in reply to Mr. Saulsbury, that colored persons had a legal right to ride in the cars ; and, if excluded, they had the same rights as white men to appeal for redress to the courts : but whether a white man is to ride in a car with black passengers, or whether a black man is to ride in a car appropriated to white passengers, is, a matter that he did not think touched any of the great issues now before the country. Mr. Sumner agreed with Mr. Johnson, that " colored people have the legal right to enter the cars, and the proprietors are trespassers when they undertake to exclude them." Mr. Carlile thought it better to leave the subject to the courts, that are open alike to the white and the black man. Mr. Doolittle thought the amendment entirely unnecessary. Mr. Morris replied in a speech of eloquence and power to Mr. Saulsbury. In reply to the remark of Mr. Saulsbury, that this question between the races had better be left to the gentlemanly instincts of the superior race and to the principles of Christianity, Mr. Morrill said, " Christianity is an inspiration of love and good-will to man, — purifying, elevating, emancipating; not a law of force, — binding, in the ailing : " but, "under the influence of the gentlemanly instincts of the superior race, slavery has come to be cherished, — cherished as a benefaction to the race ; cherished as a great social good ; Page 373 cherished as the corner-stone upon which you are to rear American institutions, — the corner-stone of civil and religious liberty." The question being taken on Mr. Sumner’s amendment, it was agreed to, — yeas 19, nays 17. The House concurred, and the President approved the bill.

On the 21st of June, Mr. Sumner moved to amend " the bill to amend the charter of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company " by adding, " that there shall be no exclusion of any person from any car on account of color." Mr. Sherman thought " the amendment ought not to be adopted." Mr. Hendrick opposed the amendment, because it tended to depreciate the value of investments made on the faith of former legislation. Mr. Willey would vote against the amendment. The Committee on the District of Columbia, and the Senate, had deliberately decided that negroes "had the same right under the original charter to go into any car, as white persons." — "I presume," said Mr. Sumner, " the senator will vote against this proposition ; for he would not act naturally If he did not." — "He can ride with negroes if he sees proper," replied Mr. Willey ; " so may I : but, if I see proper not to do so, I shall follow my natural instincts, while he follows his." — "I shall vote for this amendment," said Mr. Wilson ; "and my own observation convinces me that justice, not to say decency, requires that I should do so. Some weeks ago, I rode to the capital in one of these cars. On the front part of the car, standing with the driver, were, I think, five colored clergymen of the Methodist-Episcopal Church, dressed like gentlemen and behaving like gentlemen. These clergymen were riding with the driver on Page 374 the front platform ; and inside the car were two drunken loafers, conducting and behaving themselves so badly, that the conductor threatened to turn them out." Mr. Trumbull denied that any right would be secured to the colored man by the amendment. "This provision," he said, " can give no additional right to the negro." Mr. Sumner said, "I always regarded the Wilmot Proviso, if the Constitution were properly interpreted, sur-plusage : yet I never hesitated, in season and out of season, to vindicate it ; and I believe the senator never hesitated, in season and out of season, to do the same. . . . And, on the same principle, I insist that this proviso also should be adopted." — "The senator from Illinois tells us," said Mr. Wilson, " that the colored people have a legal right to ride in these cars now. We know It ; nobody doubts it : but this company into which we breathed the breath of life outrages the rights of twenty- five thousand colored people in this District, in our presence, in defiance of our opinions. They may act according to their prejudices ; and I would not offend their prejudices, unless it were necessary to protect the rights of others. I tell the senator from Illinois, that I care far more for the rights of the humblest black child that treads the soil of the District of Columbia than I do for the prejudices of this corporation, and. its friends and patrons. The rights of the humblest colored man in the capital of this Christian nation are dearer to me than the commendations or the thanks of all persona in the city of Washington who sanction this violation of the rights of a race. I give this vote, not to offend this corporation, not to offend anybody in the District of Columbia, but to protect the rights of the poor and the lowly, Page 375 trodden under the heel of power. I trust we shall protect rights, if we do it over prejudices and over interests, until every man in this country is fully protected in all the rights that belong to beings made in the image of God. Let the free man of this race be permitted to run the career of life ; to make of himself all that God intended he should make, when he breathed into him the breath of life." Mr. Grimes desired to know if these colored men would not be compelled to enforce their rights in the courts if the amendment should pass, and "the company goes on, and does exactly what it has been doing." — "The company," replied Mr. Sumner, " will not dare to continue this outrage in the face and eyes of a positive provision of statute." — "Poor, helpless, and despised inferior race of white men," exclaimed Mr. Saulsbury, "you have very little interest in this Government ; you are not worth consideration in the legislation of the country : but let your superior. Sambo's interests come in question, and you will find the moat tender solicitude in his behalf ! What a pity it is there is not somebody to lampblack white men, so that their rights could be .secured." Mr. Powell thought the senator from Massachusetts should, " the next time one of his Ethiopian friends comes to complain to him on this subject that he has been wronged and outraged, volunteer to bring an action in the courts, and teach this heartless corporation that they must treat these persons properly, and not deny them any of their legal rights. The senator has indicated to his fanatical brethren — those people who meet in free-love societies, the old ladies, the sensation preachers, and those who live on fanaticism — that he has offered it ; and I see Page 376 no reason why we should take up the time of the Senate eternally with squabbling over the senator's amendments introducing the negro into every wood-pile that comes along." Mr. Sumner called for the yeas and nays ; and they were ordered, and, being taken, resulted — yeas 14, nays 16. The bill was then reported to the Senate. Mr. Sumner renewed his amendment ; and it was agreed to, — yeas 17, nays 16. The House concurred in the amendment ; and the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company was forbidden to exclude persona from their cars on account of color.

Source: Wilson, Henry. History of the Antislavery Measures of the Thirty-Seventh and Thirty-Eighth United States Congresses, 1861-1865, Boston: Walker, Fuller, & Co., 1865.