Part 25

“The outrages upon the dead will revive the recollections of the cruelties to which savage tribes subject their prisoners. They were buried, in many cases, naked, with their faces downward; they were left to decay in the open air; their bones were carried off as trophies, sometimes, as the testimony proves, to be used as personal adornments; and one witness deliberately avers that the head of one of our most gallant officers was cut off by a Secessionist, to be turned into a drinking-cup on the occasion of his marriage. Monstrous as this revelation may appear to be, your Committee have been informed, that, during the last two weeks, the skull of a Union soldier has been exhibited in the office of the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives, which had been converted to such a purpose, and which had been found on the person of one of the Rebel prisoners taken in a recent conflict.”[275]

The report sustained the allegations of Mr. Sumner, when he moved the inquiry, besides giving new force to the term “The Barbarism of Slavery.”

TESTIMONY OF COLORED PERSONS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

REMARKS IN THE SENATE, ON THE EMANCIPATION BILL, APRIL 3, 1862.

MR. PRESIDENT,--In addressing the Senate on this bill, urging the duty of ransom, I exposed an early, inhuman, and wicked statute of Maryland, belonging to that offensive mass originally adopted at the time of the cession as the law of the District, and ever since recognized, although never voted on, and having only a surreptitious authority. I refer to that unjust statute making colored persons incompetent to testify, where a white is a party. I quoted the precise words, still the law of the District.[276] No language of mine is strong enough to express the detestation such a contrivance is calculated to arouse in every bosom not entirely given over to injustice.

The time has come for a change. At least, while providing for the release of those now detained in Slavery,--unconstitutionally, as I hold,--we must see that the proceedings are without embarrassment from that outrageous statute. I propose an amendment, and here I have the consent of my friend, the chairman of the Committee [Mr. MORRILL], in the hope of removing this grievance in the inquiries under the bill.

The bill provides for something like a tribunal, as follows:--

“They [the Commissioners] shall have power to subpœna and compel the attendance of witnesses, and to receive testimony and enforce its production, as in civil cases before courts of justice.”

Under this provision the old Maryland statute is left in full force. This should not be.

Mr. Sumner moved to add at the end of this clause, immediately after “courts of justice,” the words “without the exclusion of any witness on account of color.”

Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, called for the yeas and nays, which were ordered, and, being taken, resulted, yeas 26, nays 10. So the amendment was agreed to.

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This was the first step for the civil rights of colored persons, but it was limited to proceedings under the Emancipation Act in the District of Columbia.

* * * * *

July 7th, the Senate having under consideration a Supplementary Bill on Emancipation in the District, Mr. Sumner took occasion to broaden the immunity by moving the following additional section:--

“_And be it further enacted_, That in all judicial proceedings in the District of Columbia there shall be no exclusion of any witness on account of color.”

The yeas and nays were ordered, at the call of Mr. Powell, of Kentucky, and, being taken, resulted, yeas 25, nays 11.

* * * * *

In the House of Representatives, while the bill was under consideration, Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, said: “I have no hope of success; but I feel it to be my duty to move to strike out the words ‘without the exclusion of any witness on account of color,’ where they occur.… I presume it is intended to let a man’s servant come in and swear that he is a disloyal man. I do hope the friends of this bill will not so far outrage the laws of this District as to authorize slaves or free negroes to be witnesses in cases of this kind.” Mr. Thaddeus Stevens said, “I trust that this Committee [of the whole House] will not so far continue an outrage as not to allow any man of credit, whether he be black or white, to be a witness”; and the motion was rejected.[277]

INDEPENDENCE OF HAYTI AND LIBERIA.

SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON THE BILL TO AUTHORIZE THE APPOINTMENT OF DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATIVES TO THE REPUBLICS OF HAYTI AND LIBERIA, APRIL 23, 1862.

Thereupon Zeus, fearing for the safety of our race, sent Hermes with self-respect and justice, that their presence among men might establish order and knit together the bonds of friendship in society. “Must I distribute them,” said Hermes, “as the various arts have been distributed aforetime, only to certain individuals, or must I dispense them to all?” “_To all_,” said Zeus, “_and let all partake of them_.”--PLATO, _Protagoras_, p. 322 C.

_Resolved_, That the independence of Texas [Hayti and Liberia] ought to be acknowledged by the United States, whenever satisfactory information shall be received that it has in successful operation a civil government capable of performing the duties and fulfilling the obligations of an independent power.--RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, _Journal of the Senate_, July 1, 1836.

_Resolved_, That the State of Texas [Hayti and Liberia] having established and maintained an independent government capable of performing those duties, foreign and domestic, which appertain to independent governments, … it is expedient and proper, and in conformity with the Laws of Nations and the practice of this Government in like cases, that the independent political existence of said State be acknowledged by the Government of the United States.--RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, _Journal of the Senate_, January 12 and March 1, 1837.

Every nation that governs itself, under what form soever, without any dependence on a foreign power, is a sovereign state. Its rights are naturally the same as those of any other state.… To give a nation a right to make an immediate figure in this grand society, it is sufficient if it be really sovereign and independent; that is, it must govern itself by its own authority and laws.--VATTEL, _Law of Nations_, Book I. ch. 1, § 4.

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In his Annual Message at the beginning of this session of Congress, December, 1861, the President said: “If any good reason exists why we should persevere longer in withholding our recognition of the independence and sovereignty of Hayti and Liberia, I am unable to discern it. Unwilling, however, to inaugurate a novel policy in regard to them without the approbation of Congress, I submit for your consideration the expediency of an appropriation for maintaining a Chargé d’Affaires near each of those new states. It does not admit of doubt that important commercial advantages might be secured by favorable treaties with them.”

Until this recommendation, Hayti and Liberia had borne the ban of the colored race. The National Government, so long as it was ruled by Slavery, could not tolerate a Black Republic. A few extracts exhibit the indecency of the opposition. Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, announced: “Our policy with regard to Hayti is plain: we never can acknowledge her independence. Let our Government direct all our ministers in South America and Mexico to _protest_ against the independence of Hayti.” Mr. Hamilton, of South Carolina, declared the sentiments of the Southern people to be, “that Haytien independence is not to be tolerated in any form.” Mr. Berrien, of Georgia, said: “Consistently with their own safety, can the people of the South permit the intercourse which would result from establishing relations of any sort with Hayti?” Even Mr. Benton, of Missouri, joined with the rest: “The peace of eleven States in this Union will not permit the fruits of a successful negro insurrection to be exhibited among them.”[278] On the presentation of a petition in the House of Representatives, December 18, 1838, praying for the establishment of international relations with the Republic of Hayti, there was an outburst. Mr. Legaré, of South Carolina, known as an accomplished scholar, exclaimed: “The memorial originates in a design to revolutionize the South and to convulse the Union, and ought, therefore, to be rejected with reprobation. As sure as you live, Sir, if this course is permitted to go on, the sun of this Union will go down,--it will go down in blood, and go down to rise no more. I will vote unhesitatingly against nefarious designs like these. They are treason.” Mr. Wise, of Virginia, spoke in the same tone.[279] Such was the prevailing spirit. The time had come for a change.

December 4, 1861, on motion of Mr. Sumner, so much of the President’s Message as related to the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Governments of Hayti and Liberia was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

December 9th, on motion of Mr. Sumner, all memorials, resolutions of Legislatures, and other papers on the files of the Senate, relating to the recognition of Hayti and Liberia, were taken from the files and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Mr. Sumner stated, that he wished to reach papers as far back as 1852,--that among these was a very important paper, which at the time passed under the eye of Mr. Webster, from the mercantile interest of New England, strongly in favor of the recognition of Hayti.

The subject was carefully considered in committee.

February 4, 1862, Mr. Sumner reported from the Committee a bill, which was read and passed to a second reading, to authorize the President of the United States to appoint diplomatic representatives to the Republics of Hayti and Liberia respectively, each representative so appointed to be accredited as Commissioner and Consul-General, the representative in Hayti to receive the compensation of Commissioner according to the Act of Congress of August 18, 1856, being $7,500, and the representative in Liberia not more than $4,000.

April 23d, on motion of Mr. Sumner, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, when Mr. Sumner spoke as follows.

SPEECH.

MR. PRESIDENT,--The independence of Hayti and Liberia has never been acknowledged by our Government down to this day. It is within the province of the President to do this at any time, either by receiving a diplomatic representative or by sending one. The action of Congress is not necessary, except so far as an appropriation is needed to sustain a mission. But the President has seen fit, in his Annual Message, to invite such action. By this bill Congress will associate itself with him in the acknowledgment, which, viewed only as an act of justice, comity, and good neighborhood, must commend itself to all candid minds.

In all respects Hayti and Liberia fulfil the requirements of International Law. Our acknowledgment can raise no question with any foreign power. Independent in fact, and with a civil government in successful operation, these two Republics are entitled to hospitable recognition in the Family of Nations, according to the rule already established by our Government.

In proposing to appoint diplomatic representatives, we necessarily contemplate the negotiation of treaties and the establishment of friendly relations with these two Republics under the sanctions of International Law, and according to the usage of nations. If it be important that such treaties should be negotiated and such relations be established, then the present bill is entitled to support. Thus far our Government, habitually hospitable to all newly formed republics, has turned aside from Hayti and Liberia, although the former has been an independent power for nearly sixty years, and the latter for nearly fifteen. Our national character has suffered from such conduct, while important commercial relations with these countries have continued without the customary support of treaties or the active protection afforded by the presence of an honored representative. It is time to end this anomalous state of things.

The arguments for the recognition of Hayti loom like her own mountains as the mariner approaches the beautiful island, rising higher and higher, while the head of the last purple peak is lost in the clouds; and the arguments for the recognition of Liberia are not inferior in character.

It was my purpose originally to consider this question in some of its larger aspects, to trace the character and history of the two Republics, to exhibit the struggles in our own country for the acknowledgment of their independence, and to vindicate this act in its manifest relations to civilization. I am happy to believe that such a discussion is unnecessary, and shall therefore content myself with a few considerations exclusively practical in character, and especially in reply to the assertion that diplomatic representatives are not needed in our concerns with these two Republics.

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Hayti is one of the most charming and important islands in the world, possessing remarkable advantages in size, situation, climate, soil, productions, and mineral wealth. In length, from east to west, it is about three hundred and thirty-eight miles; and in breadth, from north to south, it varies from one hundred and forty-five miles to seventeen. Its circumference, without including bays, measures eight hundred and forty-eight miles. Its surface, exclusive of adjacent islands, is estimated at thirty thousand five hundred and twenty-eight square miles,--being about the area of Ireland, and nearly half that of New England. In size it is so considerable as to attract attention among the islands of the world. In situation it is commanding, being at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, and within easy reach of all the islands there. In climate it is salubrious, with natural heats tempered by sea-breezes. In soil, it is rich with tropical luxuriance, various with mountains and plains, watered by numerous rivers, and dotted with lakes. In productions it is abundant beyond even the ordinary measure of such favored regions. The mountains yield mahogany, satin-wood, and lignum-vitæ, while the plains supply all the bountiful returns of the tropics, including bananas, oranges, pine-apples, coffee, cacao, sugar, indigo, and cotton. Among the minerals are gold, silver, platinum, mercury, copper, iron, sulphur, and several kinds of precious stones. Such, in brief, is the physical character of this wonderful island, which, like Ireland, is a “gem of the sea.”

Originally discovered by Christopher Columbus, who named it Hispaniola, or Little Spain, the island was for a long time among the most valued possessions of Spain, from which power the western portion, known as Hayti, passed to France. Throwing off the government of the latter country, the Republic of Hayti for nearly sixty years has maintained its independence before the world, and performed honorably all its duties in the family of nations. At one time it embraced the whole island: at present it occupies a portion only, with a population of six hundred thousand.

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The Republic of Liberia extends along the western coast of Africa for a space of five hundred miles, beginning at the British colony of Sierra Leone, with an average breadth of fifty miles, between latitude 4° 20´ and 7° 20´ north, embracing an area of thirty thousand square miles, being almost precisely the area of Hayti,--so that these two regions, one an island and the other a strip of African sea-coast, are of equal geographical extent. I say nothing of the origin of this republic, although it cannot be contemplated without the conviction that perhaps it is one of the most important colonies ever planted. At last civilization obtains foothold in Africa, almost under the equator.

In soil and productions, if not in climate, this region is hardly less favored than Hayti. Though so near the equator, the mercury seldom rises above ninety degrees in the shade, and never falls below sixty. Most of the productions in one are also found in the other. But Liberia abounds in iron ore. Copper and other metals are said to exist in the interior. It is, however, in sugar, cotton, coffee, and palm-oil that Liberia seems destined to excel. A person familiar with the country reports that it “bids fair to become one of the greatest sugar-producing countries in the world.” The population embraces some fifteen thousand persons, emigrants, or their children, from the United States, with a large native population, held in subjection and already won toward civilization, amounting to more than two hundred thousand.

With two countries like these the argument for treaties is strong, without pursuing the inquiry further. But it becomes irresistible, when we consider the positive demands of our commerce in these quarters. Even in spite of coldness, neglect, and injustice, our commercial relations have grown there to great importance. If assured of the customary protection afforded by treaties and the watchful presence of a diplomatic representative, they must become of greater importance still.

I have in my hands a tabular statement of our commerce and navigation with foreign countries for the year ending June 30, 1860, arranged according to amount, so that the country with the largest commercial intercourse stands first. This authentic testimony has been prepared at the Treasury Department, under my directions, for this occasion. Though most interesting and instructive, it is too minute to be read in debate. Here, under one head, are the exports from the United States; under another head, the imports; and, under other heads, the number of ships and tonnage: the whole so classified that we see at a glance the relative importance of foreign countries in their commercial relations with the United States.[280] Such a statement is in itself an argument.

It is to exhibit the precise position of Hayti and Liberia in the scale that I introduce this table. When it is said that out of seventy-one countries Hayti stands the _twenty-seventh_, and Liberia at least helps to make the _twenty-ninth_, this is not enough. It must be observed that there are no less than ten countries, like Canada and Cuba, which, though enumerated separately, belong to other nationalities. If these are excluded, or added to their proper nationalities, Hayti will rank as _seventeenth_, and Liberia will take her place as _nineteenth_. But if we examine this table in detail, we find the important relative position of these two countries amply sustained. Confining ourselves for the present to Hayti, we have these remarkable results.

Hayti, in exports received from us, stands next to Russia. The exports to Hayti are $2,673,682; while those to Russia amount to $2,786,835. But the imports from Hayti are $2,062,723, while those from Russia are only $1,545,164. In number of vessels employed, Hayti is much the more important to us. Only sixty vessels are employed between the United States and Russia, while four hundred and ninety are employed between the United States and Hayti. So that, in importance of commercial relations, Hayti stands above Russia, where we have been constantly represented by a Minister Plenipotentiary of the highest class, with a Secretary of Legation, and have at this moment no less than eight consuls besides.

According to this table, there are no less than _fifteen_ countries with which the United States maintain diplomatic relations, although lower than Hayti in the scale of commerce and navigation. This is not all. In point of fact, there are at least _three_ other countries, where we are now represented by a Minister Resident, which do not appear in any commercial tables: I refer to Switzerland, Paraguay, and Bolivia. So that there are as many as _eighteen_ countries of less commercial importance than Hayti, with which the United States are now in diplomatic relations.

The exports to Austria, including Venice, where we are represented by a Minister Plenipotentiary of the first class, with a Secretary of Legation and three consuls, are less than one half our exports to Hayti, while the number of ships in this commerce is only forty-five, being four hundred and forty-five less than in our commerce with Hayti. The exports to Peru, where we are represented also by a Minister Plenipotentiary of the first class, with a Secretary of Legation and five consuls, are still less than those to Austria.

In this scale of commerce and navigation Hayti stands above Prussia, where we are represented by a Minister Plenipotentiary, and also above Sweden, Turkey, Central America, Portugal, the Papal States, Japan, Denmark, and Ecuador, where we are represented by Ministers Resident. It also stands above the Sandwich Islands, where we are represented by a Commissioner. Of these there are several whose combined commerce with the United States is inferior to that of Hayti. This is the case with Sweden, Turkey, Portugal, Japan, Denmark, and Ecuador, which altogether do not equal Hayti in commercial relations with the United States.

Our combined exports to Turkey in Europe and Turkey in Asia are nearly two millions less than to Hayti; and yet, with this Mohammedan Government we have felt it important within a few weeks to negotiate a treaty of commerce.

The commerce with China is among the most valuable we possess, and the ships engaged in it are of large size; but in number they are inferior to those engaged in trade with Hayti. And yet at China we have a Minister Plenipotentiary of the first class, with a salary of twelve thousand dollars, an interpreter with a salary of five thousand dollars, two consuls with salaries each of four thousand dollars, one other consul with a salary of three thousand five hundred dollars, two other consuls with salaries each of three thousand dollars, and two other consuls paid by fees.

Perhaps the comparison between Hayti and the Sandwich Islands is the most instructive. Both are islands independent in government,--Hayti with a population of six hundred thousand, the Sandwich Islands with a population of little more than seventy thousand. The exports to Hayti, as we have already seen, are $2,673,682, while the exports to the Sandwich Islands are only $747,462. And the difference in navigation is as great. In commerce with Hayti there are four hundred and ninety ships, with an aggregate of 82,360 tons, while in commerce with the Sandwich Islands there are only eighty-five ships, with an aggregate of 35,368 tons. And yet, at the Sandwich Islands, with this inferior population, inferior commerce, and inferior navigation, we are represented by a Commissioner, with a salary of seven thousand five hundred dollars, one consul with a salary of four thousand dollars, another consul with a salary of three thousand dollars, and still another paid by fees.