And State Papers 513 



yet fit in point of character and influence to hold 

 such positions, it seems to me that it is worth while 

 putting a premium upon the effort among them to 

 achieve the character and standing which will fit 

 them. 



The question of "negro domination" does not 

 enter into the matter at all. It might as well be 

 asserted that when I was Governor of New York 

 I sought to bring about negro domination in that 

 State because I appointed two colored men of good 

 character and standing to responsible positions 

 one of them to a position paying a salary twice as 

 large as that paid in the office now under considera- 

 tion one of them as a director of the Buffalo ex- 

 position. The question raised by you and Mr. 



in the statements to which I refer, is simply whether 

 it is to be declared that under no circumstances 

 shall any man of color, no matter how upright and 

 honest, no matter how good a citizen, no matter 

 how fair in his dealings with his fellows, be per- 

 mitted to hold any office under our government. 

 I certainly can not assume such an attitude, and 

 you must permit me to say that in my view it is 

 an attitude no man should assume, whether he looks 

 at it from the standpoint of the true interest of 

 the white men of the South or of the colored men 

 of the South not to speak of any other section of 

 the Union. It seems to me that it is a good thing 

 from every standpoint to let the colored man know 

 that if he shows in marked degree the qualities of 

 good citizenship the qualities which in a white 



