CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



143 



and I think I shall adhere to that opinion, 

 though I am open to the arguments the Sena- 

 tor may offer, if he can convince me to the 

 contrary." 



Mr. Sumner : " Mr. President, now we see 

 where the Senator is. lie admits that here in 

 this highest Council Chamber there is, and 

 there should be, perfect equality before the 

 law ; but descend from this Chamber into the 

 hotel, on the railroad, into the common school, 

 and there there is no equality before the law, 

 according to the Senator. He does not com- 

 plain because all are equal here in this Cham- 

 ber. I know not whether he does not com- 

 plain because all are equal in the other Cham- 

 ber. But now I should like to ask the Senator 

 from Georgia, if he will allow me, whether, in 

 his judgment, the colored Representatives 

 from Georgiaand South Carolina in the other 

 Chamber ought not on railroads and at hotels 

 to have the same rights that he has himself? 

 I ask that precise question." 



Mr. Hill : " I will answer that question in 

 this manner: I myself am subject in hotels 

 and upon railroads to the regulations pro- 

 vided by the hotel proprietors for their guests, 

 and by the railroad companies for their pas- 

 sengers. I am entitled, and so is the colored 

 man, to all the security and comfort that either 

 presents to the most favored guest or passen- 

 ger ; but I maintain that proximity to a colored 

 man does not increase my comfort or security, 

 nor does proximity to me on his part increase 

 his ; and therefore it is not a denial of any 

 right in either case." 



Mr. Sumner : " May I ask the Senator if he 

 is excluded from any right on account of his 

 color ? The Senator says he is sometimes ex- 

 cluded from something at hotels or on rail- 

 roads. I ask whether there is any exclusion 

 on account of color, that bears on him? " 



Mr. Hill : " I answer the Senator. I have 

 been excluded from ladies' cars on railroads. 

 I do not know on what account precisely ; I 

 do not know whether it was on account of my 

 color ; but I think it more likely that it was 

 on account of my sex." 



Mr. Sumner: "But the Senator, as I un- 

 derstand, insists that it is proper on account 

 of color. That is his conclusion." 



Mr. Hill: "No ; I insist that it is no denial 

 of a right, provided all the comfort and secu- 

 rity be furnished to passengers alike." 



Mr. Sumner: "The Senator does not seem 

 to see that any rule excluding a man on ac- 

 count of his color is an indignity, an insult, 

 and a wrong ; and he makes himself on this 

 floor the representative of indignity, of in- 

 sult, and of wrong to the colored race. Why, 

 sir, his State has a large colored population, 

 and he turns upon them to deny them their 

 rights." 



Mr. Hill : " If the Senator will allow me, 

 I will say to him that it will take him and 

 others, if there should be any others who so 

 believe, a good while to convince the colored 



people of the State of Georgia who know me, 

 that I would deprive them of any right to 

 which they are entitled, though it were only 

 technical ; but in matters of pure taste 1 can- 

 not get away from the idea that I do them no 

 injustice if I separate them on some occasions 

 from the other race." 



Mr. Sumner : " I insist that by the law of 

 the land all persons without distinction of 

 color shall be equal before the law. Show 

 me, therefore, a legal institution, any thing 

 created or regulated' by law, and I show you 

 what must be opened equally to all without 

 distinction of color. Notoriously, the hotel is 

 a legal institution, originally established by 

 the common law, subject to minute provisions 

 and regulations; notoriously, public convey- 

 ances are in the nature of common carriers, 

 subject to a law of their own ; notoriously, 

 schools are public institutions created and 

 maintained by law ; and now I simply insist 

 that in the enjoyment of those institutions 

 there shall be no exclusion on account of 

 color. 



Mr. Hill : "I must confess, sir, that I can- 

 not see the magnitude of this subject. I ob- 

 ject to this great Government descending to 

 the business of regulating the hotels and com- 

 mon taverns of this country, and the street 

 railroads, stage-coaches, and every thing of 

 that sort. It looks to me to be a petty busi- 

 ness for the Government of the United States, 

 with all deference to the Senator, though he 

 regards it as of greater importance than any 

 other subject before the country." 



Mr. Sumner : " Mr. President, I would not 

 have my country descend ; I would have it 

 ascend. I Avish it now to rise to the heights 

 of the Declaration of Independence. Then 

 and there did we pledge ourselves to the great 

 truth that all men are equal in rights. And 

 now a Senator from Georgia rises on this floor 

 and denies it. He denies it by a subtlety. 

 While pretending to admit it, he Vould over- 

 throw it. He would adopt a substitute for 

 equality. The Senator says that the colored 

 people may have in the cars the same con- 

 veniences. 



" Sir, there never can be an end to this dis- 

 cussion until all men are assured in equal 

 rights. Vain is it for the Senator to make 

 the distinction that he does. He insults a 

 whole race ; he insults half the voting popula- 

 tion of his State ; he insults the Declaration 

 of Independence. 



"And now, Mr. President, I desire to have 

 my amendment read." 



The Chief Clerk read as follows : 



SEC. . That all citizens of the United States, 

 without distinction of race, color, or previous condi- 

 tion of servitude, are entitled to the equal and im- 

 partial enjoyment of any accommodation, advantage, 

 facility, or privilege furnished by common carriers, 

 whether on land or water ; by inn-keepers ; by- 

 licensed owners, managers, or lessees of theatres or 

 other places of public amusement ; by trustees, com- 

 missioners, superintendents, teachers, or other offi- 



