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 THE BLOCK LHWS! 
 
 SPEECH OF 
 
 HON. B. W. ARNETT, 
 
 OF GREENE COUNTY, 
 
 In the 0Ki@ Heuse ef Representatives, MaroK 10 , 1886. 
 
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BLACK LAWS. 
 
 Sec. 4008. When, in the judgment of the board, it will be for the 
 advantage of the district to do so, it may organize separate schools for 
 colored children; and boards of two or more adjoining districts may 
 unite in a separate school for colored children, each board to bear its 
 proportionate share of the expense of such school, according to the 
 number of colored children from each district in the school, which shall 
 be under the control of the board of education of the district in which 
 the school house is situate. 
 
 Sec. 6987. A person of pure white blood, who intermarries, or has 
 illicit carnal intercourse, with any negro, or person having a distinct 
 and visible admixture of African blood, and any negro, or person hav- 
 ing a distinct and visible admixture of African blood, who intermarries, 
 or has illicit carnal intercourse, with any person of pure white blood, 
 shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned not 
 more than three months, or both. 
 
 Sec. 6988. A probate judge who knowingly issues a license for the 
 solemnization of any marriage made penal by the last section, and 
 every person who knowingly solemnizes any such marriage, shall be 
 fined not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than 
 three months, or both. 
 
301 . 45 ! 
 
 Dr C {r 
 
 THE BLflGK LAWS! 
 
 SPEECH OF 
 
 HON. B. W. ARNETT. 
 
 OK GREENE COUNTY, 
 
 In the Ohio House of Represent at ives, March 10, 1886. 
 
 Mr. Speaker : We have before us to 
 day a subject that is of great interest t< 
 the people of the commonwealth of Ohio 
 one of those questions that called for the 
 efforts of great men in the past, which 
 have been the cause of the organization 
 of the party, and have been the life oi 
 the same. I would apologize to this House 
 and to my constituents for the interest I am 
 taking in this work if it were not the con- 
 tinuation of the work of the moral heroes 
 of this country, It is the carrying forward 
 of the work begun by J. B. Burney, who, 
 m 1840, had only 7,059 persons on his side. 
 In 1844 h e had 62,300; and the columns 
 increased, so that in 1848 there were 291 - 
 263 men in the army of the Free Soil 
 Party, with Martin Van Buren as leader. 
 
 In 1852 J. P. Hale led the host, with 
 156,149 bearing his banner in every con- 
 quest and victory. I n 1856, J. C. Fremont, 
 the Pathfinder,” marched to the Bell of 
 Puberty, with 1,341,266 true and tried men. 
 In i860, the great emancipator, Abraham 
 Lincoln, led 1,866,352. In 1864, when the 
 watchword of the nation, “Freedom and 
 the Union,” had an army of 2,216,067, the 
 great emancipator performed his work, 
 broke the chain from the limbs of four 
 millions of human beings, and bade them 
 stand up m the dignity of freedom and 
 defend the Constitution and the Union. 
 
 The next work was that of January 13th, 
 1865. The Thirteenth Amendment of the 
 Constitution of the United States was 
 passed, which forever prohibits slavery and 
 involuntary servitude in this land. I was 
 present in the Hall of Congress when the 
 great act was performed. It was an occa- 
 sion to be remembered by all. The hour 
 
 had arrived for the calling up of that meas- 
 ure. J. M. Ashley, of Ohio, had charge of 
 the measure. The discussion was finished, 
 the vote taken, the result announced. Then 
 the multitude was wild with joy. Men ran 
 jumped, hugged, cried and hallooed; hats 
 were thrown in the air, handkerchiefs were 
 waved by the ladies, old men were young 
 dignity in men and women surrendered 
 to their joy. The halls were filled with the 
 shouts and cheers of the hour. At the 
 passage of the bill a messenger ran to the 
 fiont of the Capitol, where a cannon was 
 waiting to announce the news of great joy. 
 In a moment the sound of the cannon was 
 heard, and a battery at the corner of Mt. 
 Vernon avenue and Fourteenth street 
 joined in the joy, and the thunder was 
 sounded along the sky. The death knell 
 of slavery was sounded by the brazen 
 notes of war; the bells of the city tolled 
 forth tunes and chimed the notes of free- 
 dom, while the hills resounded with the 
 echoes of the shouts of liberty. It was a 
 grand day for the sons of Liberty and the 
 daughters of Oppression. The "scene in 
 the city was indescribable. In the hotels 
 the waiter and the guest congratulated 
 each other. Dinner was interrupted with 
 songs, shouts and cheers. They ate a 
 while, then sang a while, shouted "a while 
 and cheered a while. So, this event was one 
 of the grandest ever known in the history of 
 the city and among the party. It is so far- 
 reaching in its results, so beneficent in its 
 effects— the lifting of the burden from the 
 millions, the closing of the gateway of 
 Oppression, and the opening of the ave- 
 nues of Universal Freedom for the hun- 
 dred generations— and, as the years roll 
 
2 
 
 by, and men appreciate the good deed of 
 the fathers, this act will stand as the grand- 
 est in the calendar of legislation in the 
 country. 
 
 ‘•Now that we have emancipated him, and 
 he can no more be a slave, what are we 
 going to do with him?” was the question of 
 the hour. “What are his legal rights? what 
 must we do to protect him in his new 
 home of freedom? and what must we do 
 for him?” Then, in 1866, the National 
 Convention of colored men met in Wash- 
 ington, and presented to the United States 
 Congress papers defending the position, 
 and asking for the reconstruction of the 
 Southern States on the basis of universal 
 freedom and exact equality. The Consti- 
 tution grants to every man, woman and 
 child equal rights in every State. It is on 
 this that we demand the repeal of these 
 laws; they are contrary to the spirit of 
 the genius of our institutions and the letter 
 of our Constitution, for it guarantees to 
 every citizen his equal rights, his civil 
 rights, and allows him to enjoy the univer- 
 sal blessings of manhood. 
 
 We invite you to come with us down 
 the avenues of universal history, and take 
 antiquity by the hand, and, as we roll back 
 the scroll of thirty centuries, and behold 
 the congregated halls, we see the assem- 
 bled throng, we hear the harping and sing- 
 ing host. We pour over the archives; we 
 converse with the king and his subjects; 
 we hear the tale of sorrow from the beg- 
 gar; we attend to the wants of the dis- 
 tressed, and retire to our State to find that 
 though three thousand years have passed, 
 and thousands of lives have been offered on 
 the altar of our common country, an obla- 
 tion to human freedom by the patriotic, 
 there remains work to be done by the 
 friends of right and justice. The ruins of 
 the ancient cities are to us monuments, 
 that say, “ Righteousness exhalteth a na- 
 tion, but sin is a reproach to any people.” 
 
 This State is under obligations to pro- 
 tect virtue and to prevent crime. It is the 
 duty of the nation to protect and preserve 
 the purity and freedom of the ballot, be- 
 cause on this depends the life of the nation. 
 
 The nation is under obligations to pro- 
 tect all citizens from injustice. 
 
 A well-governed State will guard and 
 foster its industries so as to produce the 
 most good to the greatest number. 
 
 The nation must fulfill its obligations to 
 the poor man and the freeman. When the 
 nation asked the negro to assist in saving 
 the life of the nation, it guaranteed to him 
 all the rights of an American citizen. 
 
 II. RELIGION IN THE DECLARA- 
 TION OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 I find these grand religious ideas run- 
 ning through the immortal Declaration ; it 
 is the widening of the stream of right and 
 
 straightening it in range of government. 
 Is the principle of Righteousness in this 
 document ? or is it outside of the Decla- 
 ration of God. But what does the docu- 
 ment say: 
 
 “When, in the course of human events, 
 it becomes necessary for one people to dis- 
 solve the political bands which have con- 
 nected them with an other, and to assume 
 among the powers of the earth the separ- 
 ate and equal station to which the laws of 
 nature and nature’s God entitles them, a 
 decent respect to the opinions of mankind 
 requires that they should declare the 
 causes which impel them to separation. 
 
 “We hold these truths to be self-evi- 
 dent, that all men are created equal ; that 
 they are endowed by their Creator with 
 certain inalienable rights; that among these 
 are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” 
 
 The Declaration is thus finished, and 
 when this noble band of patriots sent out 
 the document to the world, how did they 
 close it? Let us see: 
 
 “We, therefore, the representatives of 
 the United States of America in general 
 congress assembled, appealing to the Su- 
 preme Judge of the World for the recti- 
 tude of our intentions, do in the name, and 
 by the authority of the good people of these 
 colonies, solemnly publish and declare : 
 That these United Colonies are and of 
 right ought to be Free and Independent 
 States ; that they are absolved from all al- 
 legienceto the British crown, and that all 
 political connection between them and the 
 State of Great Britian, is. and ought to be, 
 totally dissolved; and that, as Free and 
 Independent States, they have full power 
 to levy war, conclude peace, contract al- 
 liances, establish commerce, and to do all 
 other things which Independent States 
 may of right do. And for the support of 
 this Declaration, and in a firm reliance on 
 the protection of Divine Providence, we 
 mutually pledge to each other our lives, our 
 fortunes and our sacred honor. 
 
 “John Hancock.” 
 
 And the names of the whole Congress 
 followed. Y ou see that there is Divinity 
 in this immortal document. Can we find 
 in the Articles of Confederation anything 
 to support the position that the founders of 
 this government intended that it should be 
 a nation for God, and that His religion 
 should have a place in this land? It says: 
 “ Whereas, it hath pleased the Great Gov- 
 ernor of the World to incline the hearts of 
 the Legislatures we respectively represent 
 in Congress to approve of and to author- 
 ize us to ratify the said Articles of Confed- 
 eration and perpetual union.” Thus we 
 find this assembly thanking the Governor 
 of the World for inclining the hearts of 
 men. Who can move the hearts of men 
 but God? But we find them in reverence 
 bowing to the Governor of men. 
 
3 
 
 We now call your attention to the Con- 
 stitution of the Nation, and let us examine 
 that instrument in the light of the men 
 who formed it, and we will see that this 
 was intended to be a nation founded in 
 righteousness and justice. What does the 
 instrument say on this subject? 
 
 It is on these fundamentals that I base 
 the general claim for the repeal of these 
 laws, that are on their very face in opposi- 
 tion to the announced principles of the 
 fathers of the country. Let us, if we will, 
 read the Constitution which was adopted 
 for the government of the whole people by 
 their chosen representatives. It was writ- 
 ten while the fire of independence was 
 burning brightly, and the flames of free- 
 dom were ascending on high. 
 
 The Constitution, 1787, says: ‘‘We, 
 the people of the United Stales, in order 
 to form a more perfect Union, establish 
 justice, insure domestic tranquility, pro- 
 vide for the common defense, promote the 
 general welfare, and secure the blessings 
 of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, 
 do ordain and establish this Constitution 
 for the United States of America.” 
 
 That is very pleasant reading, but read 
 the grand old 13th Amendment, as fol- 
 lows: “Neither slavery nor involuntary 
 servitude, except as a punishment for 
 crime, whereof the party shall have been 
 duly convicted, shall exist within the 
 United States, or any place subject to 
 their jurisdiction.” 
 
 December 18th, 1865. 
 
 The work goes on, and we have the 14th 
 Amendment, in relation to our civil rights, 
 as follows: “All persons born or natural- 
 ized in the United States, and subject to 
 the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
 United States, and of the States wherein 
 they reside. No State shall make or en- 
 force any law which shall abridge the 
 privileges or immunities of citizens of the 
 United States, nor shall any State deprive 
 any person of life, liberty, or property, 
 without due process of law, nor deny to 
 any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
 protection of the law.” 
 
 But we have the capstone when the last 
 one was raised with a shout of joy. The 
 njfh Amendment says: “The right of 
 citizens of the United States to vote shall 
 not be denied, or abridged by the United 
 States, or by any States, on account of 
 race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
 tude.” 
 
 In these laws we have the right to the 
 jury box, the cartridge box, and the ballot 
 box. In this is found the power of our 
 Christian or modern civilization; in them 
 we find that we are able to defend our life, 
 property, and reputation, and for these we 
 are to be more than thankful, and use them 
 so that we may bless all of the inhabitants 
 of our common country. 
 
 THE OHIO IDEA. 
 
 Ordinance 4, 1787, Article III: “Re- 
 ligion, morality, and knowledge, being 
 necessary to good government and the 
 happiness of mankind, schools and the 
 means of education shall forever be en- 
 couraged.” 
 
 Article VI of Ordinance, 1787: “There 
 shall be neither slavery nor involuntary 
 servitude in said territory, otherwise than 
 in punishment of crime, whereof the party 
 shall have been duly convicted.” July 
 17, 1787. 
 
 THE OBJECT OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Section 2, Bill of Rights: “All political 
 power is *in the hands of the people.” This 
 is a child of the Western world; it was 
 never born on the Eastern shore, or grown 
 on Oriental soil. The presumption is 
 that ev^ry person in the State, whether 
 a citizen or not, comes within this pro- 
 vision. The absolute and equal freedom 
 of all persons at birth is a fundamental 
 principle of American institutions, pro- 
 claimed with independence, and incapable 
 of abrogation. 
 
 The principle was, by the ordinance of 
 1787, impressed on the virgin soil while 
 our great State was yet in the womb of the 
 Northwestern Territory. Before there 
 was an organized community within its 
 limits. It is fundamental in her organiza- 
 tions, always embedded in her constitution 
 and in her laws and policy. And the 
 moral and religious conviction of her peo- 
 ple are instinct wfith this spirit. Anderson 
 vs. Poindexter . 6 O. S. 622, 684, Bunker 
 Huff, J. 
 
 “The government is instituted for their 
 equal protection and benefit.” For whose 
 equal protection, and whose equal benefit? 
 Why, for the people of this State, the 
 whole people, the rich, the poor the black, 
 the white, the learned and the unlearned, 
 all are to receive the same protection, and 
 enjoy the same rights and immunities. 
 If it is possible for us to know what are 
 the rights of the citizen, and what he was 
 entitled to under the constitution, we 
 could find out what we ought to do to 
 acquire our rights in common with other 
 men. 
 
 But we are instructed in this bill what 
 the bill of rights says, that no special priv- 
 ilege shall ever be granted. Who to? 
 Why to any person in the commonwealth 
 on account of the birth, wealth, color, or 
 previous condition, but an absolute freedom 
 is given to all of the children of this com- 
 monwealth. Now. if the commonwealth 
 has been giving special privileges to any 
 person, it follows that if any law has been 
 passed w hich makes a distinction between 
 the citizens of the commonwealth, then 
 that law is unjust, and ought to be repealed, 
 so that each may enjoy that which is 
 granted by the constitution. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 ILLINOIS LIBRARY 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
4 
 
 But does the section now sought to be 
 repealed come under the head of equal 
 rights of the citizen ? 
 
 An illustration of what our fathers 
 thought of the matter and what was their 
 action: They knew that it was the duty 
 of Congress, alike under the Articles of 
 Confederation and the Constitution of the 
 United States, to legislate for the Territo- 
 ries and provide governments for their 
 regulation. The resolutions of the Con- 
 gress of the Confederation for the tempo- 
 rary government of territory ceded by the 
 individual States to the United States, 
 adopted April 23, 1784, provided for the 
 establishment of territorial governments 
 by the ‘‘free males of full age and the 
 famous Ordinance of July 13, 1787, for the 
 government northwest of the river Ohio, 
 which repeals the resolutions of 1784, and 
 the salient point of which was known first 
 as the “Jefferson proviso,” and later, in 
 connection with the Oregon struggle, as 
 the “Wilmot proviso,” vested the right of 
 suffrage in the “free male inhabitants of 
 full age,” with a certain freehold qualifica- 
 tion. This Ordinance was re-enacted im- 
 mediately after the adoption of our present 
 Constitution, by the act of Congress of 
 August 7, 1789 ; and in this respect was 
 the precedent for every subsequent territo- 
 rial act passed until 1812. The several 
 acts passed from the foundation of the 
 Government to that date was as follows : 
 
 Under the Congress of the Confedera- 
 tion, those to which I have referred, 
 namely, that of April 23, 1784, “for the 
 temporary government of territory ceded 
 or to be ceded by the individual States to 
 the United States ;” and that of July 13, 
 1787, “for the government of the territory 
 of the United States northwest of the 
 river Ohio.” 
 
 And by the Congress of the United 
 States since the adoption of the Constitu- 
 tion : 
 
 The act of August 7, 1789, already re- 
 ferred to as re-enacting the Ordinance of 
 1787; 
 
 The act of May 26, 1790, for the govern- 
 ment of the territory of the United States 
 south of the river Ohio, under which, as 
 we have seen, the State of Tennessee was 
 organized ; 
 
 The Act of April 7, 1798, for the. estab- 
 lishment of a government in the Missis- 
 sippi territory ; 
 
 The act of May 7, 1800, establishing 
 Indiana territory ; 
 
 The act of March 26, 1804, for the gov- 
 ernment of Louisiana, which provided for 
 a legislative council, to be appointed by 
 the President of the United States, and 
 not for an elective Legislature, as did the 
 rest ; 
 
 The act of January 11, 1805, for the gov- 
 ernment of Michigan Territory ; 
 
 The act of March 2, 1805, for the estab- 
 lishment of the territory of Orleans ; and 
 
 The act of February 3, 1809, lor the gov- 
 ernment of Illinois Territory ; 
 
 And in no one of these ten acts was any 
 restriction placed on the right of suffrage 
 bj r reason of the color of the citizen. In 
 none of them was the word “white” used 
 to limit the right to suffrage. 
 
 The next territorial act was that of June 
 4, 1812, providing for the government of 
 Missouri Territory. More than twenty- 
 two years had then passed since the adop- 
 tion of the Constitution ; and the men 
 who had achieved our independence and 
 fashioned our institutions in harmony with 
 the fundamental truths they had declared, 
 and who, during this long period, more than 
 the average active life of a generation, had 
 resisted the aristocratic and strife engen- 
 dering demands of South Carolina, were 
 rapidly passing, indeed most of them had 
 passed from participation in public affairs. 
 Meanwhile, slavery had been strengthened 
 by the unhappy compromise of the Con- 
 stitution conceded to South Carolina and 
 Georgia. 
 
 III. THE IRREPRESSIBLE CON- 
 FLICT. 
 
 The two civilizations entered the field in 
 the years 1619 and 1620. Of the one at 
 Plymouth Rock we have this to say: 
 
 THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 
 
 The vessels which preceded the ‘May- 
 flower,’ came in the name of some Prince 
 or Lord, carrying grants and patents for 
 the land; and they were to take possession, 
 in the name, and by the authority of their 
 sovereign, who was to reap the political 
 benefits, and the expeditionists were to en- 
 joy the great treasures, which they thought 
 were lying round in the wilds of the West- 
 ern World, or the New World, as it was 
 then familiarly called. 
 
 The Mayflower and Speedwell, two 
 grand old vessels, on a glorious mission, 
 started, not by and with the favor of the 
 crowned heads of the old world; they had 
 no smiles from opulent princes, or favor 
 from the aristocracy; but they came, bring- 
 ing no parchment with them. What did 
 they want with authority from the titular 
 dignitaries of Europe, when they had 
 authority from the Court of Heaven, com- 
 ing at the command of the King of Kings, 
 and Lord of Lords. Their principles were 
 written on the tablets of their hearts by 
 the finger of God; the motto was Holiness 
 to the Lord of Hosts, and their aim was to 
 form a government where men could wor- 
 ship God in accordance with the dictates of 
 their conscience; they brought no monu- 
 ments of the tyranny of Europe with them, 
 and they allowed none to be laid on their 
 shoulders; and, God bless them! they did 
 not transmit any to their posterity; a 
 
5 
 
 f lorious heritage; a grand legacy from the 
 ’ilgrim Fathers. All honor to the noble 
 men who brought into living reality the 
 grand principles, which for sixteen cen- 
 turies had been struggling into life — that 
 governments were made for man, and not 
 man for government. This is the soul of 
 the nation, of our glorious United States. 
 The Bible was the constitution of the Pil- 
 grims; on that vessel was the ‘Grand Re- 
 public’ in miniature. The religious senti- 
 ment of this noble band is still going down 
 through avenues of American society. 
 
 I had an occasion to say: 
 
 THE SEED TIME OF LIBERTY. 
 
 In the conflict, through years of toil 
 and sorrow, we witness the persistent hos- 
 tility of its members to the extension of 
 slavery. The Missouri struggle for the 
 restriction of this wicked institution, comes 
 next in order. There we find the State 
 right doctrine assuming a formidable posi- 
 tion under the famous resolutions of ’98; 
 the union of the friends 01 freedom. The 
 seed sowers make their advent into the 
 political arena, they invade the social circle, 
 and bow at the altars of the church, and 
 altack the muzzled pulpit. They make 
 considerable progress and meet with the 
 pro-slavery re-action. The aggressive 
 friends of slavery want other fields and 
 are for the annexation of Texas, lawfully 
 or unlawfully. Then we have the Mexican 
 war, in the interest of the power of sin, 
 which is a reproach to the nation and to 
 the inhabitants of this land, for right could 
 not afford to compromise with wrong: sin 
 and righteousness are foes and can not 
 dwell in the same state in peace. We now 
 see our grand and glorious country turned 
 into a hunting ground, by the Fugitive 
 Slave Law, the most nefarious that ever 
 disgraced the nation. It was a sin against 
 heaven and man. We next find the con- 
 test the Nebraska and Kansas struggle of 
 1854, where the contest was whether the 
 States should be free. The judicial de- 
 cision of Judge Taney, ‘‘that the Negro had 
 no rights that the white man was bound to 
 respect,” was promulgated to the world; 
 those who were trying to administer the 
 government in the interest of slavery were 
 jubilant, while the friends of freedom were 
 correspondingly despondent, or they were 
 brought to realize the true situation, and 
 many who had been the supporters of the 
 policy of wrong, now, for the first time, 
 saw the logic of their political sentiment, 
 and we find a healthy re- action in the in- 
 terest of freedom, and from that time until 
 the great struggle, in which the two armies 
 were brought out on the field of strife, the 
 halls of Congress, the platform, the stump 
 and the pulpit, were crying with a loud 
 voice that ‘’Righteousness exalteth a na- 
 tion, but sin is a reproach to any people.” 
 Foreseeing that the nation could not 
 
 maintain her power and influence, with the 
 sin of human bondage eating at her vitals 
 and dividing her people into hostile fac- 
 tions, the political parties in this country 
 began to modify their platforms and fall in 
 line with the growing sentiments of free- 
 dom. We find the men and women or- 
 ganizing Anti-Slavery Societies through- 
 out the Northern States, and there was a 
 corresponding awakening in the Western 
 States to the aggressive spirit of the in- 
 stitution of slavery. Then we find the 
 growing sentiment crystalizing itself into 
 the Free Soil party, who went forth show- 
 ing the sins of the nation, and declaring 
 that sin was a reproach to the nation, a 
 weakness, a foul blot on the character of 
 the sons of freedom, and a reflection on the 
 sacred cause of Christianity.” 
 
 THE SWORD OF THE LORD AND GIDEON. 
 
 The lines were well drawn on the princi- 
 ples of Liberty and Slavery. The next 
 contest was the memorable raid of John 
 Brown, who, with nineteen men, frightened 
 the whole State of Virginia. He, with a 
 noble band of men, went down to that 
 State to “set the captive free,” and to 
 lighten the burden on those who were 
 oppiessed, but he failed, and all his men 
 were captured save one, Osborn P. Ander- 
 son, who died a few years ago in Washing- 
 ton, D. C. We have cause to admire the 
 spirit of the old hero, and when we see 
 and learn of his noble conduct while suffer- 
 ing in prison, what a grand sight — one hand 
 on the pulse of his dying son, and a gun 
 in the other. See him in the court room, 
 surrounded by foes, but calm and dignified, 
 or when he is convicted and sentenced to 
 the scaffold to die for his efforts to help the 
 poor, the grand old hero said : “Christ 
 told me to remember those in bonds as 
 bound with them ; to do toward them as I 
 should wish them to do toward me in simi- 
 lar circumstances. My conscience bade 
 me to do that. Therefore I have no regret 
 for the transaction for which I am con- 
 demned. I think I feel as happy as Paul 
 did when he lay in prison. He knew if 
 they killed him it would greatly advance 
 the cause of Christ. That was the reason 
 he rejoiced. On that same ground ‘I do 
 rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. ” 
 
 The Hon. Charles Sumner, speaking of 
 John Brown, said on oneoccasion that “on 
 his way to the scaffold, he stooped to pick 
 up a slave child.” The closing example was 
 the legacy of the dying man to his country. 
 That benediction we must continue and 
 fulfill. In this new order, equality, long 
 postponed, shall become the master princi- 
 ple of our system, and the very frontispiece 
 of our Constitution.” 
 
 ‘•For whether on the scaffold high, 
 
 Or in the battle’s van 
 The fittest place where man can die, 
 
 Is where he dies for man.’' 
 
6 
 
 E. D. Proctor says : 
 
 Bear on high the scaffold altar; all the world will 
 turn to see, 
 
 How a man has dares to suffer that his brother 
 may be free. 
 
 Rear it on some hillside looking North and South, 
 and East and West, 
 
 Where the wind from every quarter fresh may 
 blow upon his breast, 
 
 And the sun look down unshaded from the chill 
 December sky. 
 
 Glad to shine upon the hero, who for Freedom 
 dares to die. 
 
 On his triumphant march from the prison 
 to the scaffold which was to immortalize 
 him, he met on his way a woman with a 
 child, colored, the only friends in the whole 
 throng. He stooped and kissed the child 
 with the tenderness of a father. When 
 coming out of his prison he seemed to 
 walk out of the Gate of Fame, his counte- 
 nance was radiant with the smiles of a 
 clear conscience, there was a joyous ex- 
 pression on his face, and here was the ma- 
 terial out of which was made the grand 
 old song : 
 
 John Brown’s body lies mouldering in the ground, 
 But his soul goes marching on. 
 
 Glory, glor) r , hallelujah! 
 
 THE MARCH TO FAME AND IMMORTALITY. 
 
 A winter sunshine, still and bright, 
 
 The Blue Hills bathed with golden light, 
 
 And earth was smiling to the sky, 
 
 When calmly he went forth to die. 
 
 The old man met no friendly eye, 
 
 When last he looked on earth and sky; 
 
 But one small child, with timid air, 
 
 Was gazing on his hoary hair. 
 
 As that dark brow to his upturned, 
 
 The tender heart within him yearned; 
 
 And, fondly stooping o’er her face, 
 
 He kissed her for her injured race. 
 
 But Jesus smiled that sight to see, 
 
 Ancf said, “ He did it unto me;” 
 
 The golden harps then sweetly rung, 
 
 And this the song the angels sung: 
 
 “ Who loves the poor doth love the Lord; 
 Earth cannot dim thy bright reward; 
 
 We hover o’er yon gallows high, 
 
 And wait to bear thee to the sky.” 
 
 — L. M. Childs. 
 
 The next thing that illustrates the work 
 of the men who went into the war for the 
 Constitution and the Union, is the follow- 
 ing truthful war incident : 
 
 In the celebrated retreat of General N. 
 P. Banks out of Virginia, it is told of him 
 that as the army was on the retreat, and 
 he was engaged in giving commands, he 
 beheld a woman, a colored woman with 
 two children, one in her arms, the other 
 she was holding by the hand; the army was 
 hastening away, the children were crying, 
 the woman was struggling to keep up with 
 the retreating column, but all in vain. The 
 General saw her, he dismounted his horse, 
 lifted the larger child by its arms, set it on 
 the cannon, then mounted his horse. The 
 cannon guarded the retreat of the grand 
 army, and at the same time bore that child, 
 
 the representative of the coming genera- 
 tion, on to freedom, and General Banks^ 
 ought to go down to history and fame with 
 that child on the cannon, while the bene- 
 dictions of the mothers, and all the genera- 
 tions could call him blessed of God and 
 praised by men. 
 
 The following are some of the great 
 works of the party to which I have been 
 attached for these many years, the party in 
 which I had my political birth, and which 
 I hope may bury me in the honors or 
 war. 
 
 A GRAND PARTY OF POLITICAL RIGHT- 
 EOUSNESS 
 
 Was organized, and in the memorable con- 
 flict of i860 Abraham Lincoln was elected 
 President of the United States, and the 
 things which made this party great was 
 the position it occupied on the question of 
 slavery, aud the grand old principle of 
 right. Its success over injustice to the 
 negro and disloyalty to the government 
 stands as a monument to its memory ; 
 and the chains and handcuffs of the bonds- 
 men of the South are the base of the 
 grand pyramid of its triumphs of liberty.. 
 The tracks of the righteousness are seen 
 everywhere in this land of ours, Let us 
 see what this grand party has done for us 
 and the nation. 
 
 1st. It saved the nation’s life and 
 snatched it from the jaws of dissolution.. 
 2 d. It gave the country a free soil, free 
 speech, free press, free schools and free 
 pulpits. 3d. The Proclamation of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, the bow of promise was 
 hung out for ninety days, and the fate ot 
 the race was in the balance, but in due time 
 the Proclamation of Emancipation was 
 issued and went forth to th • world. The 
 prayers of the oppressed went up to heaven 
 that the brazen doors of oppression should 
 be opened, and that the captive might go 
 free. It was so ; a grand and glorious day 
 was it when the work of freedom was done. 
 The Proclamation has the following as its 
 close : “Trusting to the deliberate judg- 
 ment of posterity and the gracious favor ot 
 Almighty God.” Then since his faith was 
 well founded, he arose and followed his 
 leader and feared no danger. Mrs. F. E. 
 Harper says of the Proclamation : 
 
 “It shall flash through coming ages. 
 
 It shall light the distant years; 
 
 And eyes now dim with sorrow, 
 
 Shall be brighter through their tears.” 
 
 The Amendments to the Constitution, 
 first, the 13th, forever prohibiting slavery ; 
 second, the 14th, defining citizenship and 
 giving the oath to all men in the courts ot 
 the United States — the key -stone in the 
 arch of the temple of American liberty was 
 finally secured and raised to its appropriate 
 place, amid the acclamations of the strug- 
 gling millions and the shouts of triumph 
 
7 
 
 from the lovers of right and justice. Then 
 once more the nation took up its line ot 
 march to honor and success. The war 
 cloud went down behind the horizon, we 
 hope, to rise no more, and the sun of peace, 
 plenty and prosperity has arisen in the 
 east, and is now sending its powerful in- 
 fluence through all the avenues of com- 
 merce, trade and agriculture. The high- 
 ways to the mountains of knowledge were 
 thrown open, and the ignorant are invited 
 to come to the fountain and partake of the 
 sweet waters, drink and live, study and be 
 wise. Thus while the country was awak- 
 ening to the duties of the hour, the grand 
 Centennial year came upon us and found 
 a nation grand in all that makes a nation 
 great. Let all the people sing praises to 
 the Lord. 
 
 The work has gone on until we have the 
 satisfaction of seeing the Democratic party 
 passing a Civil Rights bill, and encourag- 
 ing the race to noble deeds and to acts of 
 goodness. 
 
 The leader of the party, Governor 
 Hoadly, last year was as pronounced in 
 his words of encouragement as the leader 
 of the grand old party of justice and free- 
 dom. God speed the day when all shall 
 acknowledge the fatherhood of God and 
 the brotherhood of man. 
 
 IV. THE NEGRO’S ADVENT. 
 
 The other civilization was that one rep- 
 resented by the vessel at Jamestown, Va., 
 when, in 1619, the Dutch man-of-war 
 brought the first slaves to Virginia, and 
 landed them in August. The historian 
 Frost says that it was August, 1620, but 
 Hon. G. W. Williams, the negro historian, 
 says that it was 1619. It matters a very 
 little which year it was, whether the first 
 or the last. We know that a system of 
 great wrong was begun, and has continued 
 in some form or other until this day. We 
 have in these two vessels what has been to 
 this continent the 
 
 IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT OF AGES. 
 
 This government was formed with the 
 principle of right as the corner-stone. It 
 has been well said by one that “a broad 
 and trackless ocean separates the Old 
 World from the New; equally separated 
 are the principles which underlay and give 
 form and vitality to the institutions that 
 prevail in the two hemispheres.” The in- 
 stitutions of the Old World are founded on 
 precedent, and derive their strength from 
 the mouldering elements of the dead past. 
 The American institutions, on the con- 
 trary, are implanted in the living present, 
 and depend for their strength and vitality 
 upon the progressive development of the 
 human mind. 
 
 Asiatic and European nations and peo- 
 ple are enthralled and impeded in their ef- 
 forts for improvement by the chains and 
 
 manacles, the intricate web and woof of 
 inherited tyranny. The fathers left the 
 form behind them, but the spirit of caste 
 found its way to this land, intended to be 
 the asylum from oppression. The Conti- 
 nental Congress had met, and the Declar- 
 ation had gone forth to the world of the 
 Independence of the United States. But 
 no sooner had the old Bell of Liberty, in 
 the Hall of Independence, sent forth its 
 molten notes of freedom, proclaiming lib- 
 erty throughout the land, and unto all the 
 inhabitants thereof, the power of sin, in 
 the person of slavery, entered the halls of 
 legislation, and then Freedom and Slavery 
 began a conflict, which only ended with 
 the passage of the 13th Amendment to the 
 Constitution of the Government. It was 
 the old battle of right and wrong — free 
 labor and slave labor. The forces met 
 and no decisive battle was fought; but a 
 compromise was entered into, so that, 
 while Slavery triumphed in preventing the 
 acknowledgment of the universality of 
 freedom, Liberty was triumphant in draw- 
 ing a line and in culling out its forces. 
 
 THE ATTEMPT TO BUILD A GOVERNMENT 
 ON THE NEGRO. 
 
 The next step in the conflict of the Anti- 
 Slavery principle in this government was 
 when the conflict was not with arguments, 
 but with bullets on the bloody field of bat- 
 tle. The friends of slavery and wrong 
 were determined to have a government 
 founded on what they thought was the 
 proper relation between the white man 
 and the negro. The object of this govern- 
 ment is best stated by Alexander H. Ste- 
 phens in his speech on his election to the 
 Vice Presidency: “The new Constitu- 
 tion has put at rest forever all the agitat 
 ing questions relating to our peculiar insti- 
 tution — African slavery as it exists among 
 us— the proper status of the negro in our 
 form, of civilization. This was the imme- 
 diate cause of the late rupture and the 
 present revolution. Jefferson, in his fore- 
 cast, had anticipated this as the ‘ rock upon 
 which the old union would split.’ He was 
 right, but whether he comprehended the 
 great truth upon which that rock stood 
 and stands, may be doubted. The prevail- 
 ing ideas entertained by him and most of 
 the leading statesmen at the time of the 
 formation of the old Constitution, were 
 that the enslavement of the African was in 
 violation of the laws of nature; that it was 
 wrong in principle, socially, morally and 
 politically. These ideas were fundament- 
 ally wrong; they rested upon the assump- 
 tion of the equality of the races. This was 
 an error. It was a sandy foundation; and 
 the idea of a government built upon it — 
 when the storms came and the winds blew, 
 it fell.” But says this distinguished states- 
 man: “ Our government i6 founded upon 
 
8 
 
 exactly the opposite ideas ; its foundations 
 are laid, its corner-stone rests upon, the 
 great truth that the negro is not equal to 
 the white man; that slavery, subordination 
 to the superior race, is his natural and nor- 
 mal condition. [Applause.] This, our 
 new government, is the first in the history 
 of the world based upon this great physi- 
 cal, philosophical and moral truth.” 
 
 Thus we find that the Southern Confed- 
 eracy was built on the principle of wrong 
 to one part of the human family, as it is 
 here announced that it was the first in his- 
 tory, and if we are to take its life as an ex- 
 ample of the governments which are 
 builded on the sand, then I think that the 
 government which he declares as having 
 fallen is still standing, the designs of the 
 Confederacy to the contrary notwithstand- 
 ing. 
 
 Mr. Stephens says further on: “That 
 many governments have been founded 
 upon the principle of enslaving certain 
 classes, but the classes thus enslaved were 
 of the same race, and their enslavement in 
 violation of the laws of nature. Our sys- 
 tem commits no such violation of nature’s 
 laws. The negro, by nature, or by the 
 course against 'Canaan, is fitted for that 
 condition which he occupies in our sys- 
 tem.” 
 
 Listen to this impious cant: “The sub- 
 straction of our society is made of the ma- 
 terial fitted by nature for it ; it is in con- 
 formity with the Creator. It is not for us 
 to inquire into the wisdom of His ordi- 
 nances, or to question them. Our Con- 
 federacy is founded upon principles in 
 strict conformity with these laws. This 
 stone, which was rejected by the first 
 builders, is become the chief stone of the 
 corner in our new edifice. With this idea 
 we had a war for the preservation of the 
 Union. It is apprehended that the civil- 
 ized world will be against us. I care not 
 who or how many they may be. When 
 we stand upon the eternal principles of 
 truth, we are obliged to and must triumph. ” 
 
 The friends of the Confederacy threw 
 down the gauntlet of defiance; their 
 mighty hosts of the Moloch of slavery 
 united their armies and went forth to bat- 
 tle. The gallant Boys in Blue, at the bugle 
 call of Abraham Lincoln, came forth from 
 the hill-side and gathered from the plains 
 with the boldness of the Spartan band of 
 Leonidas, and with a valor that would 
 have honored the golden legions of Rome 
 in her palmiest days; they drew their loyal 
 swords and shouldered their patriotic mus- 
 kets in defense of the Constitution and the 
 Union. The contending armies confront- 
 ed each other on the field and in the halls 
 of legislation. The fate of the nation was 
 to be decided by the sword. Then my 
 poor, bleeding, bruised and oppressed race 
 was between the upper and nether mill- 
 
 stones. They were between the two con- 
 tending forces. Sad was the sight, sorrow- 
 ful was the morning watch on the day of 
 freedom. Who of the millions can com- 
 prehend the suffering of five million souls? 
 Who can weigh the sighs that escaped 
 from them then? Who can measure the 
 suspense in the struggle, and what book 
 would contain the record of their many 
 woes? Why, as J. Madison Bell, the poet 
 of the Maumee, says: 
 
 “Were all the gags, bolts, bars and locks, 
 
 The thumbscrews, handcuffs and the chain, 
 
 The branding-iron and the stocks 
 That have increased the Afric’s pain, 
 
 Piled up by skillful smith or mason, 
 
 With care in one great concave heap, 
 
 Those gory gyves would form a basin 
 Unnumbered fathoms wide and deep. 
 
 Could all their blood and tears alone 
 Flow in this basin deep and wide, 
 
 The proudest ship the world hath known 
 Would on that basin’s bosom ride ; 
 
 And then could all their groans and sighs, 
 Their anguished wailings of despair, 
 
 But freight that ship just where she lies, 
 ’Twould sink that mammoth vessel there.” 
 
 The mission of the Republican party 
 will not end until every unjust law — every 
 one that discriminates against any Ameri- 
 can citizen, whether black or white, rich 
 or poor, learned or unlearned — is wiped 
 from the statute books, and the wicked 
 prejudice born of slavery, and of a century 
 of bondage, has made an unconditional 
 surrender to the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence, and the golden rule be the standard 
 in practical and political ethics. Then will 
 I be willing to talk of our mission being 
 completed. But, so help me God , I will 
 contend for the principles that have been 
 written on our banners by the soldiers of 
 our Union and Constitution at the point of 
 the bayonet. 
 
 It has been said that the “ Black Laws ” 
 must go; it is only a question of time. This 
 Legislature, I believe, will do its duty and 
 complete the glorious work of the age, by 
 wiping from the statute books all discrim- 
 inations, and Ohio will then be in politics 
 what she is in the sisterhood of States, 
 “ the Reigning Queen,” giving equal rights 
 to all and special privileges to none. 
 
 Some one has said, “ Where does Arnett 
 stand? ” He stands on the Declaration of 
 Independence, wearing the amended Con- 
 stitution as a panoply, uses the achieve- 
 ments of the Republican party as an in- 
 spiration in the present, and an anchor of 
 hope in the future, while the golden rule is 
 his standard of political and social ethics, 
 and is an eternal foe of caste in every form 
 in the Church and State. 
 
 V. CIVIL RIGHTS. 
 
 The denial of our civil rights in this and 
 other States is a subject of public noto- 
 riety, denied by none but acknowledged by 
 all to be wrong and unjust; yet, in travel- 
 
9 
 
 ing in the South we are compelled to feel 
 its humiliating effects. It is written over 
 the door of the waiting room, “For Col- 
 ored Persons;” and in that small, and fre- 
 quently dirty and dingy room, you have 
 to go or stand on the platform and wait 
 for the train. In Georgia they have cars 
 marked “For Colored Passengers.” There 
 is one railroad in Alabama that has a 
 special car for colored persons. They will 
 not allow a white man to ride in that car; 
 and many other roads allow the lower 
 classes to ride in the car set apart for 
 “Colored Persons.” 
 
 One would think that at this time of our 
 civilization, that character, and not color, 
 would form the line of distinction in so- 
 ciety, but such is not the case. It matters 
 not what may be the standing or intelli- 
 gence of a colored man or woman, they 
 have to submit to the wicked laws and the 
 more wicked prejudice of the people. It 
 is not confined to either North or South. 
 It is felt in this State to some extent; we 
 feel it in the hotels, we feel it in the opera 
 house. There are towns in this State 
 where respectable ladies and gentlemen 
 have been denied hotel accommodations, 
 but such places are diminishing daily, un- 
 der the growing influences of equal laws. 
 
 In the city of Cincinnati there are places 
 where a colored man can not get accom- 
 modations for love nor money ; there was 
 a man who started an equal rights house; 
 the colored people patronized him; his 
 business increased; he made money. He 
 has closed his house against his former 
 patrons, and will not accommodate them. 
 
 Members will be astonished when I tell 
 them that I have traveled in this free coun- 
 try for twenty hours without anything to 
 eat; not because I had no money to pay 
 for it, but because I was colored. Other 
 passengers of a lighter hue had breakfast, 
 dinner and supper. In traveling we are 
 thrown in “jim crow” cars, denied the 
 privilege of buying a berth in the sleeping 
 coach. This monster caste stands at the 
 doors of the theatres and skating rinks, 
 locks the doors of the pews in our fashion- 
 able churches, closes the mouths of some 
 of the ministers in their pulpits which pre- 
 vents the man of color from breaking the 
 bread of life to his fellowmen. 
 
 This foe of my race stands at the school 
 house door and separates the children, by 
 reason of color , and denies to those who 
 have a visible admixture of African blood 
 in them the blessings of a graded school 
 and equal privileges. We propose by this 
 bill to knock this monster in the head and 
 deprive him of his occupation, for he fol- 
 lows us all through life; and even some of 
 our graveyards are under his control. The 
 colored dead are denied burial. We call 
 upon all friends of Equal Rights to assist 
 us in this struggle to secure the blessings 
 
 of untrammeled liberty for ourselves and 
 prosperity. 
 
 I am proud to stand in this presence and 
 announce that we have lived to see the 
 day when the leaders and platforms of all 
 the parties of this State are in favor of the 
 civil rights of my poor race that has suf- 
 fered for so many centuries. 
 
 Governor Hoadly, in his last message to 
 this General Assembly, used the following 
 words relative to civil rights: 
 
 “Equal civil rights are enjoyed by all our 
 citizens, except those possessing a visible 
 admixture of African blood. I recommend 
 the repeal of all laws discriminating be- 
 tween citizens on account of color. These 
 are both wrong and oppressive. The 
 most oppressive are those which permit 
 the condemnation of colored children, 
 without accusation or trial, to the punish- 
 ment of compulsory non-association in 
 the common schools with white children, 
 to education often inferior, and in places 
 inconveniently remote from the residences 
 of their parents. This is a badge of servi- 
 tude having the effect to degrade, and 
 keenly felt by many most worthy colored 
 people, as in effect stamping them as un- 
 worthy of equal privileges. I am aware 
 that in many parts of the State much 
 prejudice exists against mixed schools, but, 
 curiously enough, this feeling is manifested, 
 not where the colored children sit upon the 
 same benches with the white children, but 
 where they do not; not where the experi- 
 ment o: mixed schools has been, but where 
 it has not been tried. Wherever in the 
 State separate schools have been done 
 away with, the people are satisfied, and the 
 mixed schools are successful, as may be 
 seen in Columbus, and many other towns 
 and cities as well as rural neighborhoods. 
 
 “Although encouraged by law, this race 
 prejudice is slowly yielding either to the 
 growing belief that it is wrong, or to the 
 pressure of the taxation necessary to main- 
 tain separate schools. The number of 
 children enrolled in the colored schools 
 was in the year 1881, 10,296; 1882,9.701; 
 1883, 9,240, and 1884, 8,490.” 
 
 This is one of the most encouraging 
 signs of peace and good will between the 
 races when a man, the acknowledged 
 leader of the Democratic party, announces 
 that he is in favor of the repeal of every 
 law that makes a distinction between equal 
 citizens. I trust that his spirit will fall on 
 the memory of his party in this house, and 
 that they will join with us heart, hand and 
 vote, in the repeal of these wicked statutes. 
 
 Let the victory be one of freemen, and 
 not of party, only the party of those who 
 love their country and fellowmen, who 
 believe in the fatherhood of God and the 
 brotherhood of man. 
 
 The present Governor, J. B. Foraker, in 
 his inaugural address, as the leader of the 
 
10 
 
 great Republican party of this State, used 
 the following language when speaking to 
 his fellow-citizens, which was received with 
 great applause by the leaders of the Re- 
 publican, Democratic and Prohibitionist 
 parties: 
 
 “In the same line with this comes an- 
 other thought. The theory of our gov- 
 ernment recognizes the absolute civil and 
 political equality of all our citizens, with- 
 out regard to race or color. This theory 
 has not, however, had absolute practical 
 application. There are still a few laws on 
 our statute books that create unjust dis- 
 crimination based on color. They should 
 be swept away, to the end that our colored 
 fellow citizens may have the same rights 
 and the same opportunities for education 
 and self-elevation, and the enjoyments of 
 the rights of citizenship that other citizens 
 have. This is due them — they have earned 
 it. They are a loyal people, and always 
 have been. They have fought for the flag, 
 and have attested their heroism, and shed 
 their blood on the battle-fields of the Re- 
 public. No braver soldiers ever followed 
 the stars and stripes than the heroes of 
 Fort Wagner and a dozen other contests 
 of the late war, where colored men patri- 
 otically laid down their lives that this Na- 
 tion might live. We can not afford to he 
 less than just to all. And not only should 
 such rights be fully accorded, but their en- 
 forcement should he adequately provided 
 for by appropriate legislation. ,, 
 
 Thus for the first time in the history of 
 the State and parties, thev agree to this 
 righteous proposition, and I hope and trust 
 that the men who are the leaders on this 
 floor will unite with me in wiping from the 
 statute books the last lingering relic of the 
 barbarism of the past. Let us crystalize 
 the sentiments of the leaders into law, and 
 send a shout of joj r to the home of every 
 lover of justice in this land. 
 
 I must pay a tribute of respect to the 
 gallant leader of the Republican party, J. 
 B. Foraker, who led the host on to victory 
 the last campaign, and who is destined to 
 occupy a place in the history of his State 
 and native land second to none of his dis- 
 tinguished predecessors. 
 
 And the silver-haired pioneer of the 
 race in this State. Rev. James Poindexter, 
 has been very faithful in his work for the 
 repeal of the Black Statutes, and my 
 prayer is that before his sun sets in the 
 west, he may see his race equal before the 
 laws. 
 
 THE QUESTION OF SOCIAL RIGHTS. 
 
 This is a different thing from civil 
 rights. It is said social rights are sacred 
 things and belong to the individual, and 
 are not to be interfered with by others un- 
 less agreeable to the individual. I agree 
 to the proposition, but hold that civil 
 rights are just as sacred, for the civil 
 
 rights are the individual rights surren- 
 dered for the good of society, including the 
 individual himself, and they are to be en- 
 j yyed conjointly by the members of society, 
 and they become the common property of 
 civilized society. It is this surrendering 
 of a part of our rights to bless others that 
 distinguishes civilized from uncivilized 
 governments. One of the sacred rights of 
 man is to make choice of a companion, 
 one to take for better or worse for life.. 
 Now the law has no right to say who he 
 shall not love, or limit him in his choice. 
 That should be left to the law of social 
 affinity, which is as universal in the social 
 world as gravitation is in the material 
 world and as potential as specific gravity. 
 
 The repeal of this law does not mean 
 what a great many men say it does, nor 
 what a portion of the women say that it 
 does. It is not to facilitate the marriage 
 of the whites and the blacks. That is not the 
 object. That is no subject of legislation,, 
 but is one that belongs to the individuals of 
 society. That is one of the individual 
 rights of an American citizen. His rights 
 to life, his right to liberty, his right to per- 
 sonal happiness is all that we have as citi- 
 zens. After all of the wars of the past, 
 after the blood and tears, that is what is 
 left for us ; that is what we have gained 
 from the conflict, and every man ought, by 
 right, to enjoy that blessing. 
 
 The idea that this law being repealed 
 there would be a general rush to the Pro- 
 bate Court for license to marry white 
 women, is only a woman ot straw. I 
 have too much confidence in the intelli- 
 gence and race pride < f the women of our 
 country to apprehend anything of the 
 kind. Then our society is so constituted 
 at this time that it is very unpleasant for 
 a white woman to marry a colored man. 
 She is not wanted bv her own people, and 
 she is shunned bv his own people to the 
 extent that when anything of the kind oc- 
 curs it becomes a case of seclusion, and 
 everywhere the man feels the force of the 
 position. I am of the opinion that if this- 
 bill was passed, as pass it will, if not to-day 
 in the near future, for there will not be a. 
 party strong enough to resist the growing 
 sentiment of the age, that all of our laws 
 should be for the whole people and not for 
 a part. 
 
 We find that in society there are laws 
 stronger than our statutes, and more mighty 
 than the common prejudice of our people. 
 That is the law of social affinity. It is 
 universal and as unerring as the laws of 
 gravitation, and is as irresistable on indi- 
 vidual character as specific gravity. And 
 we need not fear but what this righteous 
 measure of the law of social affinity will 
 hold the colored man to his mother, sisters, 
 wife and daughters, and make him have a 
 race and family pride in them. 
 
11 
 
 It will stand like a wall of fire to the 
 white race, surrounded as it is with wealth, 
 education, refinement, social and political 
 power, all of these the protection of them. 
 
 We are on the weaker side of the wall, 
 yet we do not fear the result of the repeal 
 of these laws of barbarism. Let us 
 rise in the might of freemen and strike a 
 blow at these black laws that will for- 
 ever remove them from the statute books of 
 this grand empire, within our empire, and 
 let us transmit to our children the first and 
 grandest State in the redeemed and sancti- 
 fied Republic of America, having equal 
 laws for all from the lakes of the North to 
 the rivers of the South. 
 
 The question of marrying white women 
 is not in this bill, but is one of individual 
 taste and preference, and no reasonable 
 person should, for one moment, think of 
 connecting the two together. The intent 
 of the repeal of these laws is to break 
 down that legal wall that is now built up 
 between citizens of the same rights and 
 obligations. The time has come when the 
 law should only know a man as a citizen, 
 clothed in equal rights and privileges. 
 Knowing that the stream of races has con- 
 tinued according to Bible account, will 
 any gentleman tell me, that that which the 
 gnawing teeth of time has not been able 
 to do through all these years, the repeal 
 of this obnoxious law will do? Not a bit 
 of it! Those whom God has put together, 
 let no man, or State, put asunder: and, if 
 it is the will of the Moral Governor of this 
 world that the races must separate, it will 
 be so. If He wills that there shall be a 
 union, the State of Ohio cannot prevent it. 
 
 OUR WOMEN. 
 
 But. some will enquire, if the law is re- 
 pealed, are you in favor of colored men 
 marrying white women? I answer No, 
 No, No. Nor am I in favor of white men 
 taking advantage of this law to undermine 
 the foundations of our society, and to tam- 
 per with the virtue of our daughters. 
 
 No, sir. There are many reasons why I 
 prefer our own women. I think that col- 
 ored men ought to marry their own wo- 
 men, and white men ought to stay on their 
 own side of the fence, and if any person 
 desires to know the character of society, 
 let them look at our congregations and the 
 various complexions. It has not been the 
 pouring of black blood into white veins, 
 but it has been the pouring of white blood 
 into black veins, until it is almost impossi- 
 ble to tell where the white race begins or 
 the black one ends. 
 
 I have a pride for the women of my 
 race; I am proud of their beauty. They 
 are the most beautiful women of this coun- 
 try. We have all shades, all varieties and 
 complexions, so that a man is not confined 
 to any one shade, but can accommodate 
 himself and satisfy his taste. Then, when 
 
 we remember what they have had to con- 
 tend with in the past, it is wonderful to 
 see how virtue has found her daughters, 
 and vice her foes among the daughters of 
 bondage. 
 
 I think that the women who were with 
 us in the days of bondage ought to enjoy 
 the blessings of the days of freedom. 
 Those that stood by us in the time of sor- 
 row, distress, suffering and death, ought to 
 have the first drink out of the cup of joy 
 and freedom. Those women who lived 
 with us in the cabins and worked by our 
 sides in the cotton field are the ones to en- 
 joy the blessings of our new-born home 
 of freedom, and they ought to have the 
 love, and are the rightful heirs to the love 
 and fidelity of the new-made freeman. 
 
 The ones who ate corn-bread with us are 
 good enough to eat chicken and biscuits; 
 they who walked with us over the hills and 
 fields in Kentucky jeans, are the ones that 
 should be by our sides with our broadcloth 
 on, and I hope the pride of race will be 
 strong enough to enable the men of to-day 
 to take their sisters by the hand and help 
 them on their way to the temple of fame. 
 For it is an historical fact that there are 
 no great men that have not had great 
 mothers. What we want is intellectual 
 women, women who are monuments in 
 society, and who will be instrumental in 
 the uplifting of the race. 
 
 It may be that some of them are not 
 beauties, but go and buy the improvements 
 of the hour and have them come out in 
 the latest style; mark them, so when they 
 leave you will know them upon their re- 
 turn. But, young men, my advice is to 
 stand by our women, our sisters, our moth- 
 ers, our daughters and our wives, and the 
 God of the race will give us, in the future, 
 a generation of wise, intelligent, virtuous, 
 industrious and loving women, who will 
 be crowned jewels of the race, and models 
 of womanhood in the commonwealth and 
 Christianity. 
 
 THE THIRD QUESTION IS POLITICAL 
 RIGHTS. 
 
 We mean by that the rights that a man 
 enjoys when living under one form of gov- 
 ernment or another. Our political right 
 varies according to the form of govern- 
 ment we live under. We have some rights 
 in this Republican government that we 
 could not have if we were living under a 
 monarchal or aristocratic form. Here we 
 have the doctrine that there is an equality 
 of rights. Here every man has the same 
 right and opportunity to be the head of the 
 government as his fellow. It does not de- 
 pend on the family relation, but it depends 
 on the opinion of his fellow-citizens, and. 
 his qualifications and availability as a can- 
 didate. 
 
 And I am thankful that I have lived 
 to see the day in this great State of 
 
12 
 
 ours that all the parties have agreed upon 
 a common platform embracing the real 
 principles of a Republican government — 
 ‘‘a government of the people, for the peo- 
 ple, and by the people.” The Democratic 
 party of to-day includes some of my poor 
 people, and has given them positions of 
 trust, State and National, vieing with the 
 Republican party as to who shall do the 
 most. 
 
 VI. EQUAL SCHOOL PRIVILEGES. 
 
 The following are the expressions of a 
 number of the Governors of the State on 
 the subject of the common schools for all 
 the people. If they were living they would 
 be with me to-day, and vote to have equal 
 rights in our schools : 
 
 In 1810, Governor Return J. Meigs, after 
 quoting with approval the above extract 
 from the ordinance of 1787, said: “Cor- 
 rect education is the auxiliary of virtue. 
 Moral science will exalt the mind, while 
 ignorance, the badge of mental slavery, de- 
 bases it. 
 
 “When the structure of government rests 
 on public opinion, knowledge is of vital 
 interest; public opinion, to be correct, must 
 be enlightened, and the culture of the un- 
 derstanding is the preserver of republican 
 principles. Man, informed of his politi- 
 cal rights, becomes reluctant to renounce 
 them. 
 
 “Tyrants govern the ignorant. Intelli- 
 gence alone is capable of self government. 
 ‘Respect religion, purity of morals, and 
 love of country, comprise the substance of 
 civil obligations.’ ” 
 
 Governor Worthington, in 1816, held 
 the following language: “The opportunity 
 for acquiring an education in Ohio has 
 hitherto been confined to the few, and as a 
 general dissemination of learning necessa- 
 rily conduces to the improvements of mor- 
 als and good behavior, while in effect it 
 gives to the people a more extensive knowl- 
 edge of their rights and duties as citizens, 
 it becomes the legislature of a free State to 
 adopt measures coextensive with their 
 means to accomplish these objects.” 
 
 In 1823, Governor Jeremiah Morrow 
 declares: “No sentiment is more generally 
 held to be incontrovertible among enlight- 
 ened freemen than that morality and 
 knowledge are necessary to good govern- 
 ment. The necessary dependence which 
 civil liberty and free institutions in gov- 
 ernment have on the moral qualities and 
 intelligence of the people, give importance 
 to the provisions for the encouragement 
 and regulation of common schools, ‘an in- 
 terest so important to the welfare of soci- 
 ety and to the future respectability of the 
 State, should not be left on the insecure 
 ground of the force of moral sentiment in 
 each member of the community for its 
 regulation and support.’” 
 
 In 1831, Governor Duncan McArthur 
 said: “A well educated and enlightened 
 people only are capable of self-government. 
 The greatest temporal blessing which 
 Heaven has bestowed upon man.” 
 
 Governor Wilson Shannon, in his inaug- 
 ural address in 1838, said: “No people in 
 an organized State of society can be either 
 free or happy without virtue and intelli- 
 gence; and to secure both, a well digested 
 and liberal system of education is indis- 
 pensable.” 
 
 Governor Thomas Corwin, in his first 
 annual message in 1841, breathes into this 
 system the inspirations of his generous, 
 patriotic intuitions, when he declared: 
 “It is in times of profound tranquility, 
 when the people are undisturbed by the 
 tumults of war, that the duties of enlight- 
 ened patriotism invite to the grateful task 
 of giving depth and permanency to our free 
 institutions. It is only at such periods 
 that a commonwealth can hope to delib- 
 erate calmly and successfully upon systems 
 of polity calculated to stimulate industry, 
 by giving it legal assurances that it shall 
 be protected in the enjoyment of its acqui- 
 sitions; to strengthen general morality, by 
 laws which shall tend to suppress vice and 
 crime in all their forms; to give energy 
 and independence of character to all classes, 
 by measures which will promote, as far as 
 practicable, equally of condition, and thus 
 establish rational liberty for ourselves, and 
 give hope of its continuance for ages to 
 come. 
 
 “Of measures which contribute to these 
 ends, education, comprehending moral as 
 well as intellectual instruction, is of the 
 first importance. Under a constitution 
 like ours, which imparts to every citizen 
 the same civil rights, education must ever 
 remain a subject of vital interest in refer- 
 ence to the general welfare of the State. 
 Where the right of suffrage is so unrestrict- 
 ed as with us, government is necessarily 
 the offspring of all the people, and will re- 
 flect the moral and intellectual features of 
 its parent with unvarying fidelity. If the 
 speculations of the most profound thinkers 
 had left us in doubt upon this subject, the 
 familiar history of the last century alone 
 has furnished numerous and melancholy 
 proofs that no people to whom moral and 
 intellectual culture have been denied are 
 capable of achieving or enjoying the bless- 
 ings of rational liberty, founded on any 
 system which tolerates popular agency in 
 the conduct of public affairs. 
 
 “So profoundly impressed with this truth 
 were the framers of our Constitution that 
 they did not leave it to the judgment of the 
 future to decide. They did not leave it to 
 remain in that class of subjects which 
 might be, in after times, adopted or reject- 
 ed, upon the doubtful test of expediency. 
 They incorporated it in the Constitution, 
 
13 
 
 the organic law of the land. ‘Religion, 
 morality, and knowledge, being essential 
 to good government and the happiness of 
 mankind, schools and the means of instruc- 
 tion shall forever be encouraged by legisla- 
 tive provisions, not consistent with the 
 rights of conscience.’ It is thus apparent 
 that in the schools thus to be encouraged, 
 the makers of the Constitution intended to 
 combine moral with intellectual instruc- 
 tion All experience and observation of 
 man’s nature have shown that merely in- 
 tellectual improvement is but a small ad- 
 vance in the accomplishment of a proper 
 civilization. 
 
 “Without morals, civilization only dis- 
 plays energy, and that the more fearful in 
 its powers and purposes as it wants the re- 
 straining and softening influences which 
 alone give it a direction to objects of utility 
 and benevolence.” 
 
 In his message in 1843, he says: “Spec- 
 ulative writers on the nature and proper 
 elements of free government have agreed 
 that civil rights and political power can 
 only be safely extended to the masses of 
 any people, when general intelligence and 
 pure morality have been widely diffused 
 and exert a controlling influence. The un- 
 successful efforts of men in past ages, to as- 
 sert and maintain equal rights, all concur 
 in furnishing evidence of the truth of this 
 great principle in the science of govern- 
 ment. In Ohio, every citizen who has at- 
 tained to majority, is armed with the right 
 of suffrage. Our fundamental law, there- 
 fore, and our general legislation, have all 
 been made to wear the same aspect; they 
 each regard all men as equal, and seek to 
 extend to all an equal amount of power in 
 the conduct of public affairs. In such a 
 system it must be obvious that education, 
 combining both moral and intellectual cul- 
 ture, is a matter of primary public interest. 
 It is not merely the ornament of our polit- 
 ical edifice, it is the foundation on which it 
 stands, and without which it must crum- 
 ble into ruins, and crush in its fall those 
 who, in a false and fatal security, have 
 taken up their abode without it. I urge, 
 as I have heretofore done, the necessity of 
 maintaining, in full vigor, the school sys- 
 tem now in force, and of improving it by 
 every means which experience may from 
 time to time suggest. 
 
 “It is by educating the poor children, 
 wherever they may be found, that we place 
 them, to some extent, at least, upon a foot- 
 ing of equality with the fortunate inheri- 
 tors of rich estates. It is of all agencies 
 yet discovered the most efficient in pro- 
 ducing that perfect and just equality among 
 men which brings harmony into the social 
 system and gives permanency to free gov- 
 ernment.” 
 
 Governor Mordecai Bartlett, in his inau- 
 gural address in 1844, observed: “The first 
 
 and most important of all political meas- 
 ures of a republican government, is to 
 quicken, strengthen, and educate the youth- 
 ful mind. Although I would propose no 
 radical change in the present school law, 
 yet I humbly conceive that experience has 
 shown that it is not incapable of improve- 
 ment. Are not alterations demanded to 
 elevate the character of the school-teacher, 
 to secure such uniformity of school books 
 as is not incompatible with the progress of 
 improvement in the art of teaching; to 
 widen the sphere of common school educa- 
 tion so that it may embrace, not only the 
 elements of that knowledge which is essen- 
 tial to the ordinary intercourse and busi- 
 ness of the humblest walks of civilized 
 life, but also, the rudiments of moral and 
 political science.” 
 
 We find that the last report of Commis- 
 sioner of Common Schools informs us that 
 
 we have the following 
 in our schools: 
 
 number 
 
 of pupils 
 
 BRANCHES. 
 
 1884. 
 
 1883. 
 
 Alphabet 
 
 . 98,509 
 
 99,798 
 
 Reading 
 
 .640,939 
 
 648,241 
 
 656,600 
 
 Spelling 
 
 .657,655 
 
 Penmanship 
 
 .609,515 
 
 596.727 
 
 Arithmetic 
 
 .563,421 
 
 550,122 
 
 Geography 
 
 .308,631 
 
 298,025 
 
 English Grammar 
 
 .217,841 
 
 208,349 
 
 Composition 
 
 ,135,098 
 
 130,707 
 
 Drawing 
 
 .113,271 
 
 106,604 
 
 Vocal Music 
 
 .179,845 
 
 165,994 
 
 Map Drawing 
 
 . 52,173 
 
 49,717 
 
 Oral Lessons 
 
 .236,156 
 
 194,855 
 
 U. S. History 
 
 . 67,985 
 
 58,070 
 
 Physiology 
 
 , 7,792 
 
 7,466 
 
 Physical Geography 
 
 . 13,826 
 
 20,276 
 
 Natural Philosophy 
 
 . 9,858 
 
 5,732 
 
 German 
 
 . 46,641 
 
 45,035 
 
 Algebra 
 
 . 20,095 
 
 21,695 
 
 Geometry 
 
 . 4,776 
 . 1,156 
 
 4,312 
 
 Trigonometry 
 
 1,171 
 
 Surveying 
 
 172 
 
 207 
 
 Chemistry 
 
 . 1.981 
 
 1,690 
 
 Geology 
 
 913 
 
 900 
 
 Botany 
 
 , 2,860 
 
 2.950 
 
 Astronomy 
 
 .. 1,649 
 
 1,442 
 
 Book-keeping 
 
 , 3,091 
 , 4,287 
 
 2.934 
 
 N atural History 
 
 1,240 
 
 Mental Philosophy 
 
 376 
 
 994 
 
 Moral Philosophy 
 
 80 
 
 119 
 
 Rhetoric 
 
 . 2,614 
 
 2,122 
 
 Logic 
 
 34 
 
 24 
 
 LatiD 
 
 . 6,549 
 
 6,957 
 
 Greek 
 
 , 628 
 
 365 
 
 French 
 
 97 
 
 457 
 
 General History 
 
 , 2,238 
 
 2,017 
 
 Literature 
 
 . 3,437 
 
 35,284 
 
 Science of Government.. 
 
 , 2,073 
 
 1,980 
 
 Political Economy 
 
 442 
 
 215 
 
 How many colored schools in the State? 
 What number of teachers? What will be 
 the effect if this bill passes? 
 
 The following is the number of colored 
 schools in the State in 1884 
 
14 
 
 COLORED SCHOOLS. 
 Number of teachers in township dis- 
 
 tricts in 1834 104 
 
 Number in 1883 98 
 
 Increase 6 
 
 Number of teachers in city, village, 
 
 and special districts in 1884 137 
 
 Number in 1883 144 
 
 Total No. teachers in State in 1884.. 241 
 
 “ “ “ 1883.. 242 
 
 Decrease 1 
 
 Number of pupils enrolled in town- 
 ship districts in 1884 2,858 
 
 Number in 1883 2,570 
 
 Increase 288 
 
 Number of pupils enrolled in city, 
 village and special school districts 
 
 in 1884 5,632 
 
 Number in 1883 6,670 
 
 Decrease 1,038 
 
 Total number of pupils enrolled in 
 
 the State in 1884 8,490 
 
 Total number in 1883 9,240 
 
 Decrease 750 
 
 Av. duration of colored schools in 
 
 township districts in 1884 29 weeks. 
 
 Average duration in 1883 29 “ 
 
 Av. duration of colored schools 
 in city, village and special dis- 
 tricts in 1884 35 weeks. 
 
 Average duration in 1883 35 “ 
 
 Number of pupils in primary studies 
 in colored schools in township dis- 
 tricts it 1884 2,351 
 
 Number in 1883 2,256 
 
 Increase 95 
 
 Number of pupils in primary studies 
 in colored schools in city, village 
 
 and special districts in 1884 3,264 
 
 Number in 1883 6,554 
 
 * Decrease 3,290 
 
 N umber of pupils in academic studies 
 in colored schools in township dis- 
 tricts in 1884 168 
 
 Number in 1883 139 
 
 Increase 29 
 
 Number of pupils in academic stud- 
 ies in colored schools in city, vil- 
 lage and special districts in 1884. . 233 
 
 Number in 1883 295 
 
 Decrease 62 
 
 ’■"•This decrease is occasioned by the increased 
 number of mixed schools in the State. 
 
 THE COLORED TEACHERS. 
 
 Are they a failure? Are they unable to 
 
 improve the children under their care, or 
 why is it that you want white teachers? 
 
 1 want it understood, that I am one of 
 those who believe in the ability of the 
 negro to teach as well as to learn. He can 
 instruct the children as well as one of the 
 other race. All he wants is a chance. He 
 wants an opportunity to learn in the nor- 
 mal school the latest methods. He wants 
 a building properly arranged and located, 
 accessible, light and fresh air, then he will 
 give us as high a rate of percentage 
 as others. But if he has disadvantage to 
 work under, he will be as other teachers 
 are. 
 
 I do not argue that we must have white 
 teachers to learn our children refinement, 
 for I am of the opinion that our lady 
 teachers in this country are as refined and 
 cultured as any similar class in the profes- 
 sion. Therefore I do not want mixed 
 schools because the negro is a failure as a 
 teacher. 
 
 WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THEM? 
 
 What are we going to do with our teach- 
 ers if this bill passes? What will we do 
 with our schools? We will do nothing 
 with them. We propose in this bill to go 
 to every school house in this State, support- 
 ed by the taxes of the people, whether in 
 city, village, or on the cross-road, and print 
 on it — Oh ye that thirsteth for knowledge , come 
 ye to the waters and drink , without regard to 
 race or color. 
 
 This bill does not abolish one school; 
 there will be as many schoolhouses to-mor- 
 row as there are to-day. There will be as 
 many pupils in the class to-morrow as there 
 are to-day. This bill does not discharge one 
 teacher in the State that is needed to in- 
 struct the children. 
 
 This bill does not provide that you shall 
 appoint a committee to go to any teacher 
 and inquire if his father was born in Africa, 
 America, Europe or Germany, but it is 
 intended that to-morrow’s sun shall for the 
 first time rise on three and a half million 
 of men, women and children, in this great 
 commonwealth, without a law of distinc- 
 tion, with equal rights to all and special 
 privileges to none. 
 
 What advantage will this bill be to the 
 people to take it out of politics? 
 
 1st. It will take the question of negro 
 education and civil rights out of the whole 
 of party politics, and enable every man to 
 be the custodian of his right and allow him 
 to make choice of principle, government 
 and policies of administration as other 
 men; not as now, all relating to his rights 
 and immunities. 
 
 2d. It will relegate the subject of edu- 
 cation of the negro where that same subject 
 is lodged for other people, in the hands of 
 those competent to control the whole. And 
 then our people will have the same say so 
 
15 
 
 as others; and if they do not get justice in 
 one year, the next year, by the aid of the 
 ballot, which every man has under his con- 
 trol and will, he can make the board so 
 that it will carry out his own will, and 
 give him such privileges as he is entitled 
 to under the Constitution. 
 
 3d. It will give the people who live in 
 neighborhoods where the prejudice is strong, 
 an opportunity of having the benefit of the 
 schools in spite of the protests of the few. 
 It will be of great benefit in some rural 
 districts, and will give our people the 
 power of the law in their favor. 
 
 4th. I am willing to trust the education 
 of the race to the Board of Directors, 
 when it is made non-partisan. It is only 
 where the subject of education of the negro 
 is found with politics that we find trouble. 
 When getting office depends upon the 
 amount of education the negro is to be 
 given, as to how little he is to have and to 
 how poor accommodations he is to receive, 
 then is the time we suffer as much from our 
 friends as from our enemies. 
 
 5th. It will give the child a good teacher, 
 and enable it to be properly instructed in 
 all of the branches. We want the law to 
 be on the side of the weak. We want the 
 law to be just to those who are struggling 
 to educate their children to be useful citi- 
 zens, and I appeal to all fathers here to 
 aid in the much desired object. 
 
 6th. The schools ought to be equal, be- 
 cause the boys and girls who are attending 
 them are to be the rulers and governors of 
 the next generation. They are equal in 
 responsibility, they are equal in destiny, 
 and they are to share with each other in 
 the responsibility of the State and national 
 government. Therefore they ought to have 
 the same opportunity of qualifiing them- 
 selves for these obligations and duties. It 
 is no mean thing to be a citizen, and then 
 we must remember that they are to assist in 
 the government of the greatest nation on 
 the whole continent. 
 
 7th and last. An eminent educational 
 authority has enumerated the advantage of 
 graded schools as follows : 
 
 1. They economize the labor of instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 2. They reduce the cost of instruction, 
 since in a well classified school fewer teach- 
 ers are needed for thorough work. 
 
 3. They make the instruction more 
 effective, inasmuch as the teacher can more 
 readily hear the lesson of an entire class 
 than the pupils separately, and thus there 
 will be better opportunity for the actual 
 teaching, explanation and drill. 
 
 4. They facilitate good government and 
 discipline, because all of the pupils are 
 kept constantly under the control and in- 
 struction of the teacher, and besides are 
 constantly busy. 
 
 5. They afford a better means of inci- 
 
 ting pupils to industry by promoting their 
 ambition to excel, inasmuch as there is a 
 constant competition among the pupils of 
 the class, which cannot exist when the 
 pupils are instructed separately. 
 
 VII. THE DUTY OF THE HOUR. 
 
 What is there for the race to do. If we 
 abolish these laws that discriminate against 
 them, what is expected and what must we 
 do to save the coming generation? Must 
 we abandon all organized efforts, or what 
 must we do to be saved, for we must save 
 ourselves or be lost in the great sea of 
 humanity. 
 
 The general analysis of the duty of the 
 hour for the individual members of the 
 race, is to 
 
 1st. Get an education of the head, 
 hands and heart. 
 
 2d. Get the religion that will enable 
 him to love God with all of his heart, 
 mind and soul, and his neighbor as him- 
 self. „ 
 
 3d. Get integrity, which will enable all 
 men to control themselves and to keep 
 themselves in due bounds. 
 
 4. Get money, which will give the race 
 a commercial standing, and then they will 
 become a factor in the great work of saving 
 men and influencing them on their way to 
 the better land, hoping all the time to make 
 this world better by reason of the life of 
 each individual and each family, so that 
 the best influences will furm an arch of 
 glory for the race that will guard the path- 
 way of the coming generations. 
 
 VIII. THE REASONS WHY. 
 
 1. I am in favor of the bill because it 
 is in accordance with the genius of our in- 
 stitutions. 
 
 2. I am in favor of the bill because it 
 is demanded on the broad principles of 
 common humanity. 
 
 3. I am in favor of the bill because it 
 is just to those who are deprived of human 
 rights. 
 
 4. I am in favor of the repeal because 
 we have to share in the responsibility of 
 the government. 
 
 5. I am in favor of the repeal because 
 we owe it to the men who fought for the 
 Constitution and the Union. 
 
 6. We owe it to the children of the 
 men who laid down their lives for the sa- 
 cred cause of humanity. 
 
 7. We ought to pass this bill, that Ohio 
 might keep abreast with the demands of 
 the age, and lead the other States in doing 
 justice to all of her children. 
 
 8. I am in favor of the repeal because 
 we promised the men who stood by oar 
 standard bearers last fall that we would al- 
 low no party to do more for the equal 
 rights of men than this grand old political 
 party of righteousneas. 
 
16 
 
 9. I am in favor of the repeal because 
 the question of human rights should be 
 taken out of party politics, and be ac- 
 knowledged by all parties and all men. 
 
 10. I am in favor of the repeal because 
 it is right, eternally right ! according to the 
 teachings of the Son of Man and God, and 
 the Golden Rule. 
 
 11. I am heartily in favor of the repeal 
 because the common instinct of humanity, 
 the deeper claims of patriotism, and the 
 broader demands of Christian philanthro- 
 py, call upon all men to make a common 
 cause against these wicked laws, and to 
 join hands, hearts and votes to have them, 
 once for all, wiped out of existence; that 
 the genius of universal freedom shall reign 
 from lake to river, and the banner of Free- 
 dom and Equality shall wave over the 
 homes of the rich and the poor, and the 
 spirit of the fathers shall inspire the com- 
 ing generations with hope and faith in the 
 fundamental principles of this grand re- 
 public. which shall do justice to the chil- 
 dren of every frace and color; and then, for 
 the first time in the history of the State, 
 will we hear arise from the fireside of every 
 family: “Home, sweet home; the dearest 
 spot on earth to me is home, sweet home” 
 — an Ohio home. 
 
 12. I am in favor of the repeal because 
 all of the illustrious dead of the Republi- 
 can party were in favor of equal laws, and 
 exact justice to all men. Among the he- 
 roes of the past were W. H. Seward, Henry 
 Wilson, J. R. Giddings, S. P. Chase, Chas. 
 Sumner, and a host of others, who died in 
 the faith, with a lively hope of the triumph 
 of Right over Wrong. 
 
 13. Mr. Speaker, let us repeal these 
 laws, because the leaders of the forces of 
 Justice of to-day are in favor of wiping 
 out the color line in State and Church; 
 with such men as J. G. Blaine, J. A. Logan, 
 John Sherman, John Little, J. R. Lynch, 
 B. K. Bruce, Frederick Douglass, J. B. 
 Foraker George Hoadly, J. P. Campbell, 
 B. T. Turner, H. M. Turner, B. F. Lee, J. 
 M. Townsend, Gazaway, • Buford, Bishop 
 Shorter, Maxwell and Scarborough, all of 
 whom believe in the Fatherhood of God 
 and the Brotherhood of Man. 
 
 14. We must repeal these wicked laws, 
 because seventy thousand ministers in this 
 country are proclaiming every Sunday that 
 “God hath made of one blood all the na- 
 tions of the earth.” Their united influence 
 is directed toward the elevation of all men. 
 
 15. The Christian and secular press 
 have united in favor of the grand princi- 
 ples of the Declaration of Independence, 
 and every day, with ten thousand leaden 
 tongues, appeal to the intelligence, virtue 
 and refinement of this commonwealth to 
 do justice to all men. 
 
 16. Let us do our duty, because the 
 most refined, intelligent and wealthy citi- 
 
 zens of this State are in favor of their re- 
 peal. Many of them have told me to “Do 
 your duty and trust in God, and if the 
 present generation does not approve of 
 your actions, posterity will vindicate you 
 and those who may vote with you. 
 
 17. Mr. Speaker, we must repeal these 
 laws, because I have received letters from 
 Democrats, Prohibitionists and Republi- 
 cans, urging me to do my duty as a citizen 
 and leader of the people. The people all 
 over this State are praying that this Gen- 
 eral Assembly may do its duty to all of its 
 citizens. 
 
 The eighteenth reason why the “Black 
 Laws” should be repealed is that we are 
 one in origin, equal in responsibility, and 
 one in destiny, and the sooner the people 
 are taught this fundamental truth the bet- 
 ter it will be for the State and for the citi- 
 zens of this commonwealth. 
 
 There was a time when there was much 
 talk about us going back to our native 
 land to carry the torch of civilization, to 
 bear the banner of the cross, and say to 
 those of our race to arise and shine, for the 
 light has come, and the glory of the Lord 
 has risen upon thee and thine. But we have 
 become so intimately connected with the 
 Americans by the ties of consanguinity and 
 affinity that it would be almost impossible 
 to separate us, or to tell which branch of 
 the family should go to Africa, and which 
 part should remain in America. Then the 
 thing is impracticable, and we cannot for 
 one moment think of such a thing. Why, 
 if all the steamers and sailing vessels of 
 this country were brought into requisition, 
 they would not be able to carry the daily 
 arrivals in the family of the race. The in- 
 crease of the race is 1,401,888 in ten years, 
 or we have an annual increase of 140,188. 
 Now, the entire number of emigrants to 
 this country in the year 1884 was 518,592, 
 so you see that when a vessel started there 
 would be more than a load on its return to 
 this country. 
 
 Professor Gilliam says that we must go; 
 that we cannot live in this country, but 
 must return, and leave this country for the 
 Anglo-Saxons to inhabit. 
 
 Now, in the name of the intelligence of 
 the race, I give notice to all concerned 
 that we do not intend to go unless it is of 
 our own free will and accord. We cannot 
 go without taking some of the glory of 
 this country with us. We cannot go unless 
 we have a settlement with this nation. We 
 cannot go unless we receive indemnity at 
 the hands of the government. We would 
 desire to take everything that belongs to 
 us with us, and therefore we must have the 
 bones of our fathers, the tears of our moth- 
 ers, the sighs of our sisters, the groans of 
 our brothers, the blood of the wounded and 
 the life of the dead, in order that we may 
 be able to carry our memories with us, and 
 
17 
 
 forget the wrongs of the years and the suf- 
 ferings of the centuries. We must have a 
 settlement for the years of unpaid labor in 
 the South. We want to collect in some 
 huge cask the tears wrung from the hearts 
 of the bondsmen by the lash. We will not 
 leave this country as long as there remains 
 a bone of the soldiers of the Revolution in 
 the soil. No, sir; we will stay here until 
 every bone of the fugitives of other years 
 is returned, with its flesh, to its family and 
 friends, and the reunited families shall be 
 honored with the blessings of the new day 
 of freedom. 
 
 Ask us to go from this land with the 
 record of the soldiers of the three great 
 wars shining with glory to our race ! No, 
 sir ; you might as well understand it first 
 as last, we are not going. 
 
 While the memory of the heroes of Port 
 Hudson and “Milliken’s Bend” is being 
 sung by our children, and while the sol- 
 diers of the war assemble around the camp 
 fire and relate how 
 
 We led the Union soldier, 
 
 When fleeing' from his foe; 
 
 We brought him through the mountains , 1 
 Where white men dare not go. 
 
 Our hoe cake and our cabbage 
 And pork we freely gave. 
 
 That this old flag might be sustained; 
 
 Now let it brightly wave. 
 
 Let us remember the deeds of valor of the 
 heroes of the war, and preserve the jewel 
 of liberty in the family of freedom. 
 
 We say unto you, that as God reigns in 
 the world we will not leave nor forsake 
 you, for your country shall be our country; 
 we will feel the same pride in its moun- 
 tains of iron, silver and gold as you do. 
 We will feel as much pride in its valleys, 
 plains, lakes, rivers, trade, commerce, in- 
 
 stitutions of learning, manufacturing inter- 
 ests, and in its unparalleled advantages to 
 the husbandman, and in all of these we 
 glory with you. 
 
 We shall say of our country, our fathers’ 
 country. Where thou dwellest, I will dwell; 
 where thou goest to school, I will go, 
 whether in the log school-house at the 
 cross-roads, or the high school on the ave- 
 nue; thy preacher shall be my preacher, 
 and I will be buried in the same graveyard 
 with you — so help me God. 
 
 We are willing to bear our equal bur- 
 den, and assist in developing the resources 
 of the country. We are willing to go to 
 the corn-field or to the cotton-field, and 
 there do our duty as men. We have toiled 
 in the canebrakes of Alabama, and waded 
 in the rice swamps of the Oarolinas; we 
 have dug in the lead mines of Missouri 
 without pay or hope of reward. But now 
 we have the same aspirations that other 
 men have. If they live in the city, so can 
 we. If they prosper on the farm, so can 
 we. If they hold office, so can we, if we 
 get votes enough. If they go to church, so 
 will we. If they are on the grand or petit 
 jury, one of us will be there t© find a true 
 bill or to bring in a verdict. If they go to 
 the workhouse, they will have company in 
 breaking stone. Whether in good or bad 
 society, in doing right or wrong, we are 
 bound together as one. We are united in 
 life, and shall not be separated in death. 
 
 Seeing, then, that we are so intimately 
 connected with each other as men and citi- 
 zens, what wicked prejudice it is to have 
 laws separating our children while learn- 
 ing their duty to themselves, their neighbor, 
 to society, to country and their God; let us 
 do our duty, and in doing this the walls of 
 separation will crumble and fall. 
 

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