The Negro and the elective franchise. A Series Of Papers And A Sermon Part 6

Silence has its part in our fight and many times the cause has been lost because of failure to observe it, but it is not silence in respect to wrongs. Neither upon battlefields nor in the mad clash of pa.s.sions and ambitions that mark the control of states is victory won or success achieved by a boisterous parade of the plan of attack. In the subtle operation of American political methods, silence is the sphinx that baffles the most astute and insinuating politician. The silent vote is a greater dread to the party leaders than was the sword to Damocles.

The Negro ballot has almost lost its potency on account of the unconcerned c.o.c.ksureness of one political party that the other side will not get the benefit of it. The party managers have no concern about the certainty of the Negro vote and therefore spend all of their effort in trying to satisfy the demands of the other elements and are never able to know whether or not they have succeeded until the vote is counted.

They fear the silent vote. It is thoughtful, a.n.a.lytic, decisive. It scans, records, and registers every dodge, retreat, and juggle which the honorable candidate or the party has been guilty of in matters which concern it.

In the exercise of the suffrage, the Negro voter has never been indifferent to the best and n.o.blest interests of the republic. For more than forty years he has voted with the majority of his fellow countrymen on all the great questions which have divided the people. This he has done out of regard more for what men have considered the welfare of the country than for what he has deemed advantageous to himself. There is now a need of a change. He must now consider his well-being and safety identical with the well-being and safety of the republic and must require all men who seek his vote to consider it likewise.

To-day we are on the eve of a great national festival. The peaceful succession of government is a boon not enjoyed by all the peoples of the world. It is an event which deservedly appeals to the enthusiasm and civic pride of the nation. From all corners of the state have come delegations of citizens representing all cla.s.ses, who come not only to honor and grace by their presence the event but, I believe, to pay honest and manly tribute to a man who is beloved and trusted by the whole American people. His battles against civic wrongs and in behalf of weaker cla.s.ses and his policy of "all men up and no men down," not only make him the paragon of public officials, but a lovable and trusted man.

Among the throngs that shall honor him and in turn be honored in the escort which will make the Avenue the most splendid pageant which can adorn any modern government, none will march more proudly than the brave and valiant regiment of black men who, with him whom they honor, risked all and won glory on the field of San Juan. Yet by the laws of the land and by the policy of the government, their rights and their manhood are not on a parity with those of other citizens who with less desert shall follow in his train. It is the possibility of such a state of affairs, that the Negro vote of the North and West, yea the great body of all good citizens must exercise itself to prevent.

Migration and Distribution of the Negro Population as Affecting the Elective Franchise_KELLY MILLER_

Population lies at the basis of all human problems. The first command given by the Creator to the human race was to multiply and replenish the earth. The growth and expansion of the Negro population in the United States must be the controlling factor in the many complex problems to which his presence gives rise. In order to gain adequate as well as accurate knowledge on this subject, it is necessary to take a comprehensive view of its progress since its transplantation in America.

It is well known that the first s.h.i.+p load of African slaves was landed at Jamestown, Va. in 1619. This original handful augmented by fresh importation and by its own rapid multiplication had swollen to three quarters of a million when the first Census was taken in 1790. The following table will reveal the essential facts as to the expansion of this population.

_TABLE_ 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------- NEGRO POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- YEAR. NUMBER OF DECENNIAL PER CENT OF PER CENT OF NEGROES. INCREASE. INCR. TOTAL POPUL.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- 1790 757,208 - - 19.27 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1800 1,002,037 244,829 32.33 18.18 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1810 1,377,808 375,771 37.50 19.03 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1820 1,771,656 393,848 28.50 18.39 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1830 2,328,642 556,986 31.44 18.10 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1840 2,873,648 545,006 23.44 16.84 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1850 3,683,808 765,169 26.63 15.69 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1860 4,441,830 803,022 14.13 14.13 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1870 4,880,009 438,179 9.87 11.68 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1880 6,580,793 1,700,784 34.85 13.12 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1890 7,470,040 889,247 13.51 11.93 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1900 8,840,789 1,370,749 18.35 11.57 --------------------------------------------------------------------

There are certain noticeable irregularities in this table, due in part to known disturbing causes, and in part to imperfections in census methods. It is thus seen that the Negro const.i.tutes a rapidly increasing element, though a slowly diminis.h.i.+ng minority of the total population.

This relative diminution is due wholly to the influx of white immigrants, more than 14,000,000 of whom have come to our sh.o.r.es since 1860. If the two races should continue to grow at the same relative rate of increase as during the last decade, according to the law of diminis.h.i.+ng ratios, it would require more than one hundred years to reduce the Negro to one-tenth of the total population. So far as any practical calculation is concerned, we may regard this as an irreducible minimum. So long as the Negro const.i.tutes one-tenth of the entire body of the American people we may expect to have the race problem, both in its general and in its political features.

From the foundation of our government the Negro has const.i.tuted a serious political problem, mainly because of his unequal geographical distribution. If agricultural and economic conditions had been uniform, and the slaves had been evenly scattered over the whole area, the political phase of the race problem would have been far different from what it is and has been throughout our national life. The fact that the bulk of this race has been congested in one section has const.i.tuted the cause of political friction from the foundation of the Const.i.tution till the present hour. This population persists in remaining in that section where it was most thickly planted by the inst.i.tution of slavery. The center of gravity is still moving slowly towards the gulf of Mexico.

Ninety-two per cent of the race is still found in the sixteen states where slavery prevailed at the outbreak of the civil war. The coastal states, from Maryland to Texas, contain three-fourths of the total number.

While there has been a steady stream of Negro immigration towards the North and West, yet it has not been sufficient to materially affect the ma.s.s tendency. It would seem, on first view, that the Negro who complains so bitterly against political restrictions in the South would rush to the freer conditions of the North as a gas from a denser to a rarer medium. But political and civil freedom offered by the North are more than off-set by industrial restrictions and by the inertia of a population devoid of the pioneer spirit. The warm blooded, warm hearted child of the tropics is chilled alike by the rigid climate and frigid social atmosphere that prevail in the higher lat.i.tudes. In all New England there are fewer Negroes than are to be found in a single county in Tennessee.

_TABLE_ 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------ SECTION. POPULATION. INCREASE, 1890 RATE OF INCR.

TO 1900 ------------------------------------------------------------------ United States 8,840,789 1,370,749 18.35 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Georgia 1,034,813 175,998 20.50 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Mississippi 907,630 165,071 22.20 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Alabama 827,307 148,818 21.90 ------------------------------------------------------------------ So. Carolina 782,321 93,387 13.60 ------------------------------------------------------------------ 31 Northern 759,788 181,876 31.50 States ------------------------------------------------------------------

We learn from this table that there are four states in the union, each of which contains a larger number of Negroes than all the 31 free states combined. While such free states show a much more rapid decennial increase than any of the far south states, still the total increment scarcely exceeds that of the single state of Georgia. These figures reveal no mad hegira to a fairer and better land. The increase in the Northern states is due almost wholly to immigration from the South. It is entirely probable that the Negro population, left to itself, would not be a self sustaining quant.i.ty in the higher lat.i.tudes. During the last decade there was an absolute decline of the Negro population in Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and California.

The political significance of this Northern movement is out of all proportion to its absolute weight. It is only in the North that the Negro vote has dynamic power. In several of the border states, this vote is at present unhampered, but there is no guarantee of future security.

In Mississippi there are 197,936 Negro males of voting age, but this potential vote does not affect the choice of a single official of that state. The black vote of that commonwealth is as completely nullified as the last two amendments had never been appended to our national const.i.tution. On the other hand the 5,193 adult Negro males in Mich. are accounted of considerable consequence in the political equation of that state. In the Northern and Western states where men feel free to align themselves according to conviction, the two parties are so nearly even that the Negro vote const.i.tutes the balance of power. Owing to unusual political conditions, which cannot be counted on to continue, the last three presidential elections were practically one-sided. The Republican party triumphed by a margin that far exceeded the entire Negro Contingent. It is only in several of the border states that this vote could in any way have affected the fate of presidential electors. The Negro vote, however, has been quite effective in state elections, and in the choice of congressmen. As the parties gravitate to normal conditions, the Negro vote will again become the balance of power in the controlling states of the North. At the beginning of every campaign each party feels that it has a chance of success. At such times the black vote looms up large and significant. In national affairs the colored vote usually adheres to the party of Lincoln and Sumner. As the margin between the two parties is a s.h.i.+fting and uncertain quant.i.ty, the rapid increase of the Negro vote in the Northern States becomes a matter of great political importance.

_TABLE_ 8 ---------------------------------------------- NEGRO MALES OF VOTING AGE IN THE NORTHERN STATES.

---------------------------------------------- STATE. 1890. 1900.

---------------------------------------------- Pennsylvania 34,873 51,668 ---------------------------------------------- New York 24,231 31,425 ---------------------------------------------- Illinois 18,200 29,762 ---------------------------------------------- Ohio 25,922 31,235 ---------------------------------------------- Indiana 13,079 18,186 ---------------------------------------------- New Jersey 14,564 21,474 ---------------------------------------------- Ma.s.sachusetts 7,967 10,456 ---------------------------------------------- Rhode Island 2,261 2,765 ---------------------------------------------- Connecticut 3,497 4,576 ---------------------------------------------- Kansas 12,543 14,695 ---------------------------------------------- Michigan - 5,193 ----------------------------------------------

These figures tell their own story when we consider the normal relation between the two parties in these several states. It is also interesting to note that the Negroes in the North are found very largely in the cities. This makes this vote of considerable importance in munic.i.p.al elections. There is, however, a tendency on the part of this vote to distribute itself between the two parties in purely munic.i.p.al and local matters, which to a great degree neutralizes its special significance.

_TABLE_ 9 -------------------------------- NEGRO VOTERS IN NORTHERN CITIES, 1900.

-------------------------------- CITY NEGROES OF VOTING AGE -------------------------------- Philadelphia 20,095 -------------------------------- New York 18,651 -------------------------------- Chicago 12,424 -------------------------------- Pittsburg 6,541 -------------------------------- Indianapolis 5,200 -------------------------------- Boston 4,441 -------------------------------- Cincinnati 4,997 -------------------------------- Detroit 1,732 --------------------------------

The most effective use that the Negro in the North can make of his political privilege is to uphold civic righteousness in munic.i.p.al affairs, and to support those men and measures pledged to support the integrity of the const.i.tution and its vital amendments.

The Negro and His Citizens.h.i.+p_FRANCIS J. GRIMK_

ACTS 22:25-29._And when they had tied him up with the thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned? And when the centurion heard it, he went to the chief captain and told him, saying, What art thou about to do? for this man is a Roman. And the chief captain came and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? And he said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this citizens.h.i.+p. But Paul said, But I am a Roman born. They then that were about to examine him straightway departed from him: and the chief captain also was afraid when he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him._

In this pa.s.sage attention is directed to four things: To the fact that Paul was a Roman citizen; to the fact that he was about to be treated in a way that was forbidden by his citizens.h.i.+p; to the fact that he stood up for his rights as a Roman citizen; and to the fact that those who were about to infringe upon his rights were restrained, were overawed.

I. Attention is directed to the fact that Paul was a Roman citizen.

Citizens.h.i.+p was a possession that was very highly esteemed, and that was obtained in several ways,by birth, by purchase, as a reward for distinguished military services, and as a favor. Pauls came to him by inheritance; his father before him had been a Roman citizen: how it came to the father we do not know. At one time the price paid for it was very great. The chief captain, in the narrative of which our text is a part, tells us that he obtained his with a great sum; and therefore he seemed surprised to think that a man in Pauls circ.u.mstances should have it. At first he seemed a little incredulous, but it was only for a moment. The penalty for falsely claiming to be a Roman citizen was death; this fact together with the whole bearing of the apostle finally left no doubt in his mind: he accepted his statement.

It was not only a great honor to be a Roman citizen, but it carried with it many rights and privileges that were not enjoyed by others. These rights were either private or public,_Jus Quiritium_, and _Jus Civitatis_. Among Private Rights, was the Right of Liberty. This secured him against imprisonment without trial; exemption from all degrading punishments, such as scourging and crucifixion; the right of appeal to the emperor after sentence by an inferior magistrate or tribunal, in any part of the empire; and also the right to be sent to Rome for trial before the emperor, if charged with a capital offence.

Among Public Rights belonging to Roman citizens the following may be mentioned: (1) The right of being enrolled in the censors book, called, _Jus Census_. (2) The right of serving in the army, called, _Jus Militiae_. At first only citizens of the empire were permitted to engage in military operations, to bear arms and fight in its behalf. (3) The right to vote in the different a.s.semblies of the people, called, _Jus Suffragii_. This has always been and is to-day one of the most important functions of citizens.h.i.+p, and one that should be highly prized and sacredly guarded. (4) The right of bearing public offices in the state.

There were many other rights enjoyed by Roman citizens, but I will not take the time to enumerate them: these are sufficient to show us the value, the importance of Roman citizens.h.i.+p; and this citizens.h.i.+p the apostle Paul was invested with, with all the rights and privileges which were involved in it. On one occasion he said, "I am a citizen of no mean city," referring to Tarsus, which was one of the free cities of Asia Minor; but more than that, as he tells us here, he was a citizen of the empire.

II. Attention is called to the fact that Paul was about to be treated in a way that was forbidden by his citizens.h.i.+p; that was contrary to Roman law. He had gone up to Jerusalem to attend the feast of Pentecost. After meeting the brethren and rehearsing to them the wonderful things which G.o.d had wrought through his ministry among the Gentiles, they congratulated him upon his success, but said to him: "Thou seest, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of them that have believed; and they are all zealous for the law: and they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circ.u.mcise their children neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? they will certainly hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men that have a vow on them; these take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges for them, that they may shave their heads: and all shall know that there is no truth in the things whereof they have been informed concerning thee but that thou thyself walkest orderly, keeping the law." It was in compliance with this request, that Paul went into the temple to do as he was asked to do: and while there was seen by certain Jews of Asia, i. e., the province of Asia, who at once stirred up the mult.i.tude and laid hands on him, crying out, "Men of Israel, help: This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place; and moreover he brought Greeks also into the temple and hath defiled this holy place." It was like touching a match to a powder magazine. The people were aroused.

Instantly there was a response to the call; and dragging the apostle out of the temple they were in the act of beating him to death, when the chief captain, learning of the tumult, rushed down with a squad of soldiers and rescuing him, brought him into the castle. The next day with a view of ascertaining what the trouble was, the real ground of complaint against the apostle, the chief captain proposed to examine him by scourging, and issued orders to that effect. In obedience to this order the apostle was stripped and actually tied up. The process of examination proposed was very severe. The culprit was stripped and tied in a bending posture to a pillar, or stretched on a frame, and the punishment was inflicted with a scourge made of leathern thongs weighted with sharp pieces of bone or lead, the object being to extort from the sufferer a confession of his guilt or the information desired.

If the chief captain had understood the Hebrew language, and could have followed the address of the apostle which was delivered on the steps of the palace, he would have understood what the trouble was, without attempting to resort to this brutal method of finding out; but evidently he did not. Everything indicated, however, that it was something very serious, judging from their treatment of him, and from the intense excitement which his words produced upon them, and hence, he was all the more anxious to find out. If the apostle was guilty of any offence against the law, it was the duty of the chief captain to take cognizance of it, and to punish him accordingly, but if he was innocent, if he had in no way transgressed the law, it was his duty to release him. The law also provided how the guilt or innocence of an accused person was to be ascertained; and it was the duty of the chief captain to have followed the course prescribed by the law; but it is clear from the narrative that he had determined upon another course: the prisoner is ordered to be scourged, instead of calling upon those who had a.s.saulted him to make their charges, and to substantiate them, and then giving the apostle an opportunity of defending himself.

III. Attention is directed in the text to the fact, that the apostle stood up manfully for his rights. After they had tied him up, as if waiting to see just how far they would go, and just as the process of scourging was about to begin, he challenged their right to proceed: he said to the centurion, who was standing by, and who was there as the representative of the chief captain, to see that the scourging was properly done, and to make note of what he confessed,he said to this man: "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?" The law expressly forbade the scourging of Roman citizens; it was an indignity to which no Roman citizen was to be subjected. This was what was known as the Porcian law, and took its name from Porcius, the Tribune through whose influence its adoption was secured. And this is the law to which the apostle here appeals, whose protection he invokes. Paul, as a Roman citizen, not only knew what his rights were, but he stood up for his rights. He insists here upon being treated, as he was ent.i.tled to be treated, as a citizen of the empire. They are about to scourge him, contrary to law, and he says to them, Stop; you have no right to treat me in this way, intimating and they evidently understood it, that if they did not desist, they would hear from him; he would bring the matter to the attention of the emperor.

This is not the only place where Paul falls back upon his rights as a Roman citizen. He did the same thing a little later on. He was removed from Jerusalem to Caesarea, as you will remember, where he remained a prisoner for two years. During that time he was frequently placed on trial before various officials,before Felix, before Festus, before Agrippa. It was during one of these hearings, that Festus the governor, in order to curry favor with the Jews, intimated that he might be sent back to Jerusalem to be tried: and doubtless this was his intention, having entered into a secret arrangement with the enemies of the apostle, who had resolved to kill him at the first opportunity. This they felt that they would have a better chance of doing if they could only induce the governor to return him to Jerusalem. The apostle, of course, knew all this; he knew how intensely they hated him, and what their plans and purposes were, and he was determined not to be entrapped in this way. The record is: "Paul said in his defence, Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I sinned at all. But Festus, desiring to gain favor with the Jews, answered Paul and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me? But Paul said, I am standing before Caesars judgment-seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou also very well knowest. If then I am a wrong doer, and have committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die; but if none of these things is true whereof these accuse me, no man can give me up to them. I appeal unto Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Thou hast appealed unto Caesar, unto Caesar thou shalt go."

One of the great privileges of a Roman citizen was the right of appeal; the right of being heard directly by the emperor, of taking his case out of the hands of all inferior judicatories, up to the highest: and this is the right which the apostle here avails himself of. It was the only thing that saved him from being turned over by a corrupt official into the hands of his enemies; and it forcibly ill.u.s.trates the importance of citizens.h.i.+p. Had he not been a Roman citizen clothed with the sacred right of appeal he would have been basely sacrificed to the malice of his enemies; or, though he had been a Roman citizen, if he had cowardly surrendered his right, if he had failed to exercise it, he would have equally perished; but the apostle stood upon his right, and so succeeded in thwarting the purposes of his enemies.

IV. Attention is directed in the text to the fact, that those who were about to scourge this man, were restrained by the knowledge of the fact that he was a Roman citizen. The moment they became aware of this fact; at the mere mention of that sacred name, citizen, everything came to a stand still; the uplifted hand, ready to smite, is arrested, and we find the centurion running off, in great excitement in search of the chief captain, and saying to him, "What are you about? Do you know that this man is a Roman?" and we see the chief captain coming in great haste and saying to the apostle, "What? can it be possible! Are you really a Roman?" "Yes," said the apostle, "I am; and my father before me was."

The chief captain is astonished; yea, more, fear takes hold of him; he becomes suddenly alarmed.

There are two things in this incident that are worthy of note: first, this indignity that was offered to the apostle was through ignorance. It was not known that he was a Roman citizen. The law was violated, but it was not purposely done. It was not the intention of the chief captain to ignore the rights involved in citizens.h.i.+p; for he himself was a Roman citizen, and was interested in maintaining those rights. And, second, to trample upon the rights of a Roman citizen was a very grave offense, a very serious matter; and it became a serious matter because back of this citizens.h.i.+p was the whole power of the empire. These rights were carefully guarded, were rigidly enforced, so that the term, Roman citizen, was everywhere respected. No one could infringe those rights with impunity: hence you will notice what is said here, "The chief captain was afraid when he knew that he was a Roman because he had bound him." He recognized at once the gravity of the offense. That was old pagan Rome; but under its rule citizens.h.i.+p meant something; it was a sacred thing; back of it stood the strong arm of the Government to give efficacy, power to it. This man was afraid when he realized what he had done; and that is the feeling which outraged citizens.h.i.+p ought everywhere to inspire. It ought to mean something; and there ought to be power somewhere to enforce its meaning.

But it is not of Roman citizens.h.i.+p that I desire to speak at this time, but rather of American citizens.h.i.+p, and of that citizens.h.i.+p as it pertains to ourselves. In the providence of G.o.d we are citizens of this great Republic. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Const.i.tution declares: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Under this provision of the Const.i.tution we are all citizens; and we have earned the right to be citizens. We have lived here as long as any other cla.s.s in the Republic; we have worked as hard as any other cla.s.s to develop the country; and we have fought as bravely as any other cla.s.s in the defense of the Republic. If length of residence, if unstinted toil, if great sacrifices of blood, if the laying of ones self on the countrys altar in the hour of peril, of danger, give any claim to citizens.h.i.+p, then our claim is beyond dispute; for all these things are true of us.

We are _citizens_ of this great Republic: and citizens.h.i.+p is a sacred thing: I hope we realize it. It is a thing to be prized; to be highly esteemed. It has come to us after 250 years of slavery, of unrequited toil; it has come to us after a sanguinary conflict, in which billions of treasure and rivers of blood were poured out; it has come to us as a boon from the nation at a time when it had reached its loftiest moral development; when its moral sense was quickened as it had never been before, and when it stood as it had never stood before upon the great principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, not as glittering generalities, but as great realities: it was at that sublime period in our history, when the national conscience was at work; when the men who were in charge of affairs were men who stood for righteousness; when the great issues before the country were moral issues, issues involving human rights,that the nation saw fit to abolish slavery and to decree the citizens.h.i.+p of all men, black and white alike. When we think of what this citizens.h.i.+p has cost, in blood and treasure; of the n.o.ble men through whose influence it was brought about; and of the fact that it came to us from the Nation when it was at its best, when it was living up to its highest light, and to its n.o.blest conceptions of right and duty,we ought to prize it, to set a high value upon it.

And we ought to show our appreciation of it: (1). By being good citizens; by doing everything in our power to develop ourselves along right lines, intellectually, morally, spiritually, and also materially: and to do everything in our power to promote the general good; everything that will help to make for munic.i.p.al, state, and national righteousness. We are to remember that we are part of a great whole, and that the whole will be affected by our conduct, either for good or bad.