Shadow and Light Part 6

Founder of "Colored World" and "Indianapolis Freeman" Conspicuous as a Leader and Enterprising as a Journalist.]

General ----, a leading Democrat of this State, and an unmistakable friend of the negro, referring to the above evidence of good feeling, said he did not see why I, and other reputed leaders, in view of such evidences of friends.h.i.+p, did not induce our people to be fraternal politically. I replied that the effort had once been made, but that the Democratic party, intrenched as it was in large majorities in the South, "by ways that are dark and tricks that are vain," its leaders say they "do not need, neither do they solicit, the colored vote; but if they choose, they may so vote." He said that certainly had a ringing sound of independence and was uninviting as an announcement--an independence, however, that will not forever outlive the vagaries of sound, for it is not unlikely that he will not only vote the ticket, but be earnestly solicited to do so. "For it will happen, during the whirligig of time and action, in my party as well as others, that there will be a change of policies, new issues, local dissatisfaction, friction, contemplated antagonism and the political arithmetic sounded. But I cannot but believe that the clannishness of the Negro has been the boomerang that has knocked him out of much sympathy, being impractical as a political factor and out of harmony with the material policies of the Southern people."

I replied I had thought the highest ideal of patriotism was adherence to measures materially as well as politically that were for the benefit of the whole people.

He said: "I know your party preach that they have a monopoly of wisdom; but the fact is the wisest statesmen of the world are divided in opinion as to the benefits claimed for the leading policies of your party. But how do they benefit you, as a dependent cla.s.s? Your immediate need is employment and good educational facilities. You should be less sentimental and more practical. You may honestly believe in a protective tariff, having for its object the protection of the American working-man, but does it help you when you know that the doors of mills, foundries, and manufactories are shut against you? As to the currency, you are at a disadvantage when you attempt to antagonize the financial views of your employers.

"It reminds me of an incident," he continued, "in my native town in Virginia, not long after reconstruction. There had been a drought and short crop, succeeded by a pretty hard winter. My father, whose politics, you may well judge, I being 'a chip of the old block,' without soliciting money or favor, threw open his cellar, wherein was stowed many bushels of sweet potatoes; invited all the dest.i.tute to come. It is needless to say they came. In the spring Tobey, the Negro minister of the Baptist Church--a man illiterate, but with much native sense--after morning service, said: 'Brethren, there's gwine to be a 'lection here next week, and I wants you all to vote in de light dat G.o.d has gin you to see de light, but I spects to vote wid de taters.' Now, this may seem ludicrous, but Tobey, in that act, was a fit representative of the white man in politics--for every cla.s.s of American citizens except the Negro divide their vote and put it where to them personally it will do the most good."

"Much," I replied, "that you have said is undoubtedly true. But can you wonder at the Negro's cohesion? Is it not a fact that his is the only cla.s.s of citizens that your party deny equal partic.i.p.ation in the franchise, and unjustly discriminate against in the application of the laws? Where better could a change of conduct which you would admire and he so happily embrace, be inaugurated than within your own political household; where could n.o.bility of character be more grandly displayed than by the abolition of these vicious hindrances to the uplifting of the weak and lowly?"

"Be that as it may," he replied, "your race is not in a condition to make friends by opposing the prevailing local policies of their environments."

I have narrated this interview for the reason that it is a fitting type of the views of friends of the Negro of the South who somehow fail to see the difficulty in his fraternizing with them in the midst of so much political persecution and bodily outrage. I referred in the above interview to an effort of colored leaders to a.s.similate with Southern politics.

CHAPTER XI.

In 1876 (twenty-five years ago) I was President of a National Convention held at Nashville, Tenn, and of which H. V. Redfield, an able correspondent of the "Cincinnati Commercial," made the following unduly flattering mention: "Mifflin W. Gibbs, of Arkansas, was selected as President. It may be interesting to know that Gibbs is strongly in favor of Bristoe, now an aspirant for the Presidency. He will likely be a delegate from Arkansas to the National Republican Convention at Cincinnati. He is a lawyer, one of the foremost of his race in Arkansas.

He is rather slender and a genteel-looking man, with something in his features that denotes superiority" ("Though poor in thanks," Redfield, yet I thank thee.) "His speech upon taking the chair, was another event.

It was the third good speech of the day and calculated to leave the believers of internal inferiority in something of a muddle.

"He made a manly plea for equal rights for his race. All they wanted was an equal chance in the battle of life. They did not desire to hinder any man for exercising his political rights as he saw fit, and all they claimed was liberty of thought and action for themselves. He was sorry there was occasion for a convention of black men to consider black men's status. The fact alone was evidence that the race had not been accorded right and justice. Of the treatment of his race in Arkansas he had little to complain of, but spoke bitterly of the murders at Vicksburg, Miss. He gave the Republican party, as administered at Was.h.i.+ngton, several blows under the chin. He complained of bad treatment of colored men by that party, notwithstanding all its professions. He made the bold declaration that all the whites of the South need do to get their votes was to promise equal and exact justice and stand to it. All they wanted was their rights as American citizens and would go into the party that would secure them. He said the question primarily demanding the attention of the convention were educational and political, and he hoped the proceedings would be so orderly as to convince the whites present that we were capable of self-control. His speech had a highly independent flavor and the particular independent pa.s.sages were applauded by whites and blacks alike."

While the call for the convention was not distinctly political, that feature of the proceedings was the most p.r.o.nounced. For at that early day, through an experience the most bitter, the lesson had been learned that politics was not the panacea, but that our affiliation with the Republican party was the main offence. Hence a disposition to fraternize with Southern politicians for race protection and opportunity had many adherents, and voiced by Governor Pinchback and other prominent leaders in the South, who, while preferring to maintain their fealty to the Republican party, were willing to sacrifice that allegiance if they could secure protection and improve conditions for the race. Had the leaders of Southern opinion met these overtures, even part of the way, much of the friction and turbulence of subsequent years would have been avoided. But that there will be a breaking up of the political solidarity of the South, not on sentimental but on material lines, at no distant day all signs promise, and be its status what it may, the Negro will benefit by commingling with the respective parties in political fellows.h.i.+p. Laying down the "old grudge" at the door of opportunity and entering, should the premises be habitable, he could "report progress and ask leave to sit again."

It has been alleged to the discredit of the Negro that he too soon forgets an injury. Nevertheless as a virtue it should redound to his credit. He is swift to forgive and, if necessary, apologize for the shortcomings of his adversary. But human nature seldom appreciates forgiveness, preceded as it is by censure, the subject of which usually repels, and another melancholy phase is often apparent, for the p.r.i.c.ks of conscience for those we have wronged, we seek solace by hating. There are in both parties a fraction of saints, who, notwithstanding his immense contribution by unrequited labor to the wealth of the nation whilst a slave; his fidelity and bravery in every war of the Republic, have for him neither care nor regard; denounce him as an incapable and a bad legacy. He should, nevertheless, be patient, diligent, and hopeful, with appreciation for his friends and for his enemies a consciousness expressed in the Irishman's toast to the Englishman--

"Here's to you, as good as you are; And here's to me, as bad as I am; But as good as you are, And as bad as I am, I'm as good as you are, As bad as I am."

Very ill considered is the opinion held and advocated by some, that he should defer or eschew politics--who say: "Let the Negro be deprived of this right of citizens.h.i.+p until he learns how to exercise it with wisdom and discretion." As well say to the boy, Do not go into the water until you learn to swim! The highest type of civilization is the evolution of mistakes. While education, business, and skilled labor should have the right of way and be primarily cherished, his right to vote and persistent desire to exercise it should never be abandoned, for he will yet enjoy its fullest fruition all over this, our G.o.d-blessed land.

Among the delegates I met at the South Carolina convention in 1871 were the Hon. William H. Grey, H. B. Robinson, and J. H. Johnson, of Arkansas, prominent planters and leaders in that State. I was much impressed with the eloquence of Grey, and the practical ideas advanced by Robinson, the one charmed, the other convinced. Learning that I sought a desirable place to locate in the South, they were enthusiastic in describing the advantages held out by the State of Arkansas. The comparative infancy of its development, its golden prospects, and fraternal amenities. Crossing the Arkansas River in a ferry-boat, in May, 1871, I arrived in Little Rock a stranger to every inhabitant. It was on a Sunday morning. The air refres.h.i.+ng, the sun not yet fervent, a cloudless sky canopied the city; the carol of the canary and mocking bird from treetop and cage was all that entered a peaceful, restful quiet that bespoke a well-governed city. The chiming church bells that soon after summoned wors.h.i.+pers seemed to bid me welcome. The high and humble, in their best attire, wended their way to the respective places of wors.h.i.+p.

Little Rock at that date, not unlike most Western cities in their infancy, and bid for immigration, was extensively laid out, but thinly populated, having less than 12,000 inhabitants. From river front to Twelfth Street, on the south, and to Chester on the west, it was but spa.r.s.ely settled. The streets were unimproved, but the gradual rise from river front gave a natural drainage. Residences and gardens of the more prominent, on the outskirts, gave token of culture and refinement. The nom de plume "City of Roses" seemed fittingly bestowed, for with trellis or encircling with shady bower, the stately doorway of the wealthy, or the cabin of the lowly could be seen the rose, the honeysuckle, or other verdure of perfume and beauty, imparting a grateful fragrance, while "every prospect pleases." My first impressions have not been lessened by lapse of time; generous nature has enabled human appliance to make Little Rock an ideal city.

As knowledge of the local status of a State, as well as common law, must precede admission to the bar, I applied and was kindly permitted to enter the law office of Benjamin & Barnes, at that time the only building on the square now occupied by the post office and the Allis Block. In this for preparatory reading I was very fortunate. I not only found an extensive law library, but the kindness and special interest shown by Sidney M. Barnes was of incalculable benefit. Mr. Barnes was an able jurist, one of nature's n.o.blemen, genial, generous, and patriotic.

A wealthy slaveholder in Kentucky, when the note of civil war was sounded, called together his slaves, gave them their freedom, and at an early date had them enrolled in the Federal army, and went forth himself to fight for the Union. James K. Barnes, his son, now a prominent citizen of Fort Smith, and the able United States Attorney for the Western district of Arkansas, and whose fellows.h.i.+p and kindness has extended through all my political career in Arkansas, is "a worthy son of a n.o.ble sire," having courage of conviction and eloquence in their enunciation. Among the young men then practicing law was Lloyd G.

Wheeler, a graduate from a law school in Chicago, popular and an able lawyer, with considerable practice. In 1872 we joined, under the firm name of Wheeler & Gibbs, opening an office in the Old Bank Building, corner Center and Markam Streets.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HON. JUDSON W. LYONS.

Present Register of the Treasury. Born in Georgia--A Graduate of Howard University--Appointed by President McKinley to the Above Position.]

It is not without considerable trepidation that an infant limb of the law s.h.i.+es his castor into the ring, puts up his s.h.i.+ngle announcing that A, B, or C is an "Attorney and Counsellor at Law." His cerebral column stiffens as, from day to day, he meets members of the bar, who congratulate him upon his advent, and feels his importance as he waits from day to day for the visit of his first client, but collapses when he arrives and with ghostly dread salutes him and prepares to listen with a disturbed sense of an awful responsibility he is about to undertake.

For, side by side with his client's statements there seem to appear in stately majesty all the adjuncts of the law: First, the inquisitive glance of the judge, like a judicial searchlight, scans him as he rises to defend Mr. Only Borrow, charged with larceny. Will he be able to think on his feet at the bar as he did in his chair in his office? Will he succeed or fail in stating his case, with eye and ear of every veteran of the bar intent on his first utterance? How about the jury, that unknown quant.i.ty of capricious predilections? Will they give him attention, or will their eyes find a more congenial resting place?

Unbidden, the panorama insists on prominence. He attempts the most nonchalant air, tells Mr. B. to proceed and state his case. This was not the first time that he had been requested to perform this incipient step of the law's demand, and he does it with such astuteness and flippancy, and how he had been wronged and persecuted by the plaintiff, that tears, unbidden, are ready to glisten in your eyes. Injured innocence and your sworn duty to your profession inspire courage and induce you to take his case. Later on the tyro will have learned that it was highly probable that Mr. B. would not have called on him but for the fact that he was not only out of cash, but out of credit with able and experienced pract.i.tioners.

At the time of my examination for entry to the bar by the committee, of which William G. Whipple was one, I was instructed that the most important acquisition for a member of the bar was ability to secure his fee. Having noted all the points of defence for his honesty, the last, but not the least matter to be considered was the fee, resulting in an exchange of promises and his departure. When the case was called, for reasons not divulged, the plaintiff failed to appear. Mr. Borrow was acquitted; I won my case and am still wooing my fee. The study of the law is not solely of advantage to those who intend adopting it as a profession, for its fundamental principles are interwoven with the best needs of mankind in all his undertakings, making it of value to the preacher or laymen, the merchant or politician. For the young man intending the pursuit of the latter it is quite indispensable. The condition in the South for a quarter of a century giving opportunity for colored men to engage in the professions has not been neglected. In each of the States there are physicians and lawyers practicing with more or less success. With equality of standing as to culture, ability and devotion, the doctor has had the advantage for a growing and lucrative practice. This can be accounted for partly on account of the private administrations of the one and the public career of the other. The physicians has seldom contact with his professional brother in white and escapes much of the difficulty that lies in wait for the colored disciple of Blackstone.

During my practice I found the judges eminently fair in summing up the evidence produced, noting the points and impartially charging the jurors, who were also fair when plaintiff and defendant were of the same race, but who, alas, too often, when the case had been argued by, or the issue was between the representatives of the two races, bowed to the prevailing bias in their verdict. Bishop, in his introduction to his "Criminal Law," has fittingly said: "The responsibilities which devolve on judicial tribunals are admitted. But a judge sitting in court is under no higher obligation to cast aside personal motives and his likes and dislikes of the parties litigant, and to spurn the bribe if proffered than any other official person acting under a jurisdiction to enforce laws not judicial. Happy will be the day when public virtue exists otherwise than in name." It often happens with cases commanding liberal fees and where the litigant has high regard for the legal learning and ability of the colored lawyer, yet conscious of this hindrance to a successful issue of his case, very naturally goes elsewhere for legal a.s.sistance. Hence, as an advocate not having inducement for continued research and opportunity for application of the more intricate elements of the law, confined to petty cases with corresponding fee, he is handicapped in his effort to attain eminence as a jurist. It has been said that great men create circ.u.mstances. But circ.u.mstances unavoidably produce great men. Henry Drummond is quoted as saying: "No matter what its possibilities may be, no matter what seeds of thought or virtue lie latent in its breast, until the appropriate environment presents itself, the correspondence is denied, the development discouraged, the most splendid possibilities of life remain unrealized, and thought and virtue, genius and art, are dead."

It should be the solemn and persistent duty of the race to contend for every right the Magna Charta of the Republic has granted them, but it might a.s.suage the pang of deprivation and stimulate opportunity did he fully know the stages of savagery, slavery, and oceans of blood through which the Anglo-Saxon pa.s.sed to attain the exalted position he now occupies. Much of the jurisprudence we now have responding to and crystallizing the best needs of humanity were garnered in this sanguine and checkered career. It is said that the law is a jealous mistress, demanding intense and entire devotion and unceasing wooing to succeed in winning her favor, or profiting by her decrees. Yet, for student or layman, the study is instructive and enn.o.bling. It is an epitome of ages of human conduct, the products, the yearnings, and strivings of the human heart, as higher conceptions of man's relation to his fellow found echo or inscription in either the common or written law. Locality, nationality, race, s.e.x, religion, or social manner may differ, but the accord of desire for civil liberty--the "torch lit up in the soul by the omnipotent hand of Deity itself"--is ever the same. Const.i.tutional law "was not attained by sudden flight," but it is the product of reform, with success and restraint alternating through generations. It is the ripeness of a thousand years of ever-recurring tillage, blus.h.i.+ng its scarlet rays of blood and conquest ante-dating historic "Runny Meade."

It is well to occasionally have such reminiscent thought; it makes us less pessimistic and gives life to strive and spirit and hope. We cannot unmake human nature, but can certainly improve conditions by self-denial, earnest thought, and wise action.

CHAPTER XII.

Previous to my resolve to settle in the South I had read and learned much of politics and politicians; the first as being environed by abnormal conditions unstable and disquieting--the cla.s.s that had established and controlled the economy of the Southern States; had been deposed in the wage of sanguinary battle on many well contested fields--deposed by an opponent equally brave, and of unlimited resources; defeated, but unsubdued in the strength of conviction in the rightfulness of their cause. A submission of the hand but not of the heart. New const.i.tutions granting all born beneath the flag equality of citizens.h.i.+p and laws in unison adopted, and new officers alien to local feeling were the executors.

It is unnecessary here to remark that if a succession of love feasts had been antic.i.p.ated, they had been indefinitely postponed.

For the officers of the new system were by their whilom predecessors ordered to go "nor stand upon the order of their going," the bullet at times conveying the order. a.s.sa.s.sinations, lynchings, and reprisals by both parties to the feud were of daily occurrence. The future for life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness in busy city or sylvan grove, was not alluring. My subsequent career makes it necessary for me to arise to explain. Taking at the time a calm survey of the situation, an addition to the column of martyrs seemed to me unnecessary. I believed in the principles of the Republican party and as a private I was willing to vote, work, and be slightly crippled; but had not reached the bleeding and dying point. With such conclusions I resolved to come, and confine myself to the pursuit of my profession and give politics a "terrible letting alone." Oh, if abandoned resolutions were a marketable commodity, what emporium sufficiently capacious and who competent to cla.s.sify!

The organization of the Republican party of Arkansas was on the eve of disruption. Its headquarters were in the building and over the law office of Benjamin & Barnes, with whom I was reading. Violent disputes as to party policy, leaders.h.i.+p, and the distribution of the plums of office were of frequent occurrence. I very distinctly remember the day when the climax was reached and "the parting of the ways" determined.

The adherents of Senator Clayton and the State administration on the one part, and Joseph Brooks and his followers on the other, coming down the stairs--some with compressed lip and flas.h.i.+ng eye, others as petulant as the children who say: "I don't want to play in your yard; I don't like you any more." It was the beginning of the overt act that extinguished Republican rule in Arkansas. The factions led by Powell Clayton and Joseph Brooks, respectively, were known as the "Minstrels" and "Brindle Tails."

Incongruity, being the prevailing force, possibly accounted for the contrary character of the names, for there was little euphony in the minstrelsy of the one or a monopoly of brindle appearance in the other, for each faction's contingent, were about equally spotted with the sons of Ham. My friends, Benjamin & Barnes, were prominent as Brindles, and I, being to an extent a novice in the politics of the State, in a position to hear much of the wickedness of the Minstrels and but little of the "piper's lay" in his own behalf, fidelity to my friends, appalled at the alleged infamy of the other fellows, susceptible to encomiums which flattered ambition, I became a Brindle, and an active politician minus a lawyer.

In 1873 I was appointed County Attorney for Pulaski, and after a few months' service resigned to a.s.sume the office of Munic.i.p.al Judge of the City of Little Rock, to which I had been elected. I highly appreciated this, as exceedingly complimentary from a population of 16,000, a large majority of which were not of my race. I entered upon and performed the duties of the office until some time after the culmination of the Brooks and Baxter war in the State. It having been announced that I was the first of my race elected to such an office in the United States, it was not without trepidation that I a.s.sumed the duties that the confidence of my fellow citizens had imposed upon me for the novelty of such an administration attracted attention.

A judge who has to deal with and inflict penalties for violation of law consequent upon the frailties and vices of mankind encounters much to soften or harden his humanity, which may have remained normal but for such contact. His sworn duty to administer the law as he finds it often conflicts with a sense of justice implanted in the human soul, of which the law, imperfect man has devised is often the imperfect vehicle for his guidance; but nevertheless to which his allegiance must be paramount, even when attempting to temper justice with mercy.

Nowhere is so plainly presented as many of the various lights and shadows of human character. Love and faithlessness, sincerity and deceit, n.o.bility and dishonor, kindness and ingrat.i.tude, morality and vice--all the virtues and their ant.i.theses take their place at the bar of the court of justice and await the verdict, while truth and deception strive for conquest; an honest son of toil arrested in a den of infamy whither he has been decoyed and his week's earnings filched; his wife in tears before you; the clash of prejudice when the parties litigant were of opposite races; the favorable expectation of the rich, prominent, and influential when confronted by the poor and lowly; humble and conscientious innocence appalled when rigid law would mulct them in fine and imprisonment; the high and the haughty incensed at discharge of the obscure and indigent. In cases slight, where the justice of leniency was apparent and yet the mandates of the law had to be enforced, I would p.r.o.nounce the penalty and suspend the fine during good behavior. But if the culprit returned, mercy was absent.

An incident in relation to the suspension of the fine will show that I did to others as I would have others do to me: A member of the court was at times irritable and vexatious. During a session there was a misunderstanding, which, upon adjournment, growing in intensity, resulted in my committing an a.s.sault. The chasm, however, was soon bridged with mutual pledges. Nevertheless I requested the chief of police to have charge entered upon docket, to come up at next session of court, whereupon the judge, after expressing regret that the law had been violated, fined Citizen Gibbs and suspended the fine during good behavior, and, as the citizen was not again arraigned, it may be presumed that his conduct was reasonably good, however doubtful may be the presumption.

I was fortunate in having the confidence of the community, always an important adjunct to the bench, for it is not always that the executor of the law has to deal with the humble of no repute. An old resident, wealthy and prominent, was arrested and was to appear before me for trial. During the interim it was several times suggested to me in a friendly way that I had better give the case a letting alone by dismissal, as it would probably be personally dangerous to enforce the law, as he was known to be impulsive and at times violent. I heard the case, which had aggravated features, together with resisting and a.s.saulting an officer, and imposed the highest penalty provided by law.

Those who had thought that such action would give offence little knew the man. It being the last case on the docket for the day, descending from the bench and pa.s.sing, I saluted him, which he pleasantly returned, without a murmur as to the justice of the fine. Subsequently, on several occasions, he placed me under obligations to him for favors. Personally, insignificant as I may have been to him, he recognized in me for the time being a custodian of the majesty of the law, which he knew he had violated. When it shall happen as a rule and not as the exception that men will esteem, applaud and sustain the honest administration of the law, irrespective of the administrator, a great step will have been taken toward a better conservation of const.i.tutional liberty. In Arkansas the political cauldron continued to boil. In Powell Clayton were strongly marked the elements of leaders.h.i.+p, fidelity to friends, oratorical power, honesty of purpose, courage of conviction, with unflinching determination to enforce them. The late Joseph Brooks, an ex-minister of the Methodist Church, and who secularized as a politician, was an orator to be reckoned with. Sincere, scathing, and impressive, his following was large and devoted. Senator Clayton, the present Amba.s.sador to Mexico, has outlived the political bitterness that so long a.s.sailed him, and was lately guest of reception and banquet given him and largely attended by Democrats, chiefly his political opponents.

The divided Republicans held their State convention in 1872. The Clayton faction (the Minstrels) had for their nominee Elisha Baxter, a North Carolinian by birth, and hence to the Southern manor born. This, is was premised, would bring strength to the ticket. Joseph Brooks was the nominee of the Brindle wing of the party, and a battle royal was on.

Although a minority of Democrats respectable in number joined the Brooks faction, the majority stood off with wish for "plague on both your houses," and awaited the issue. It was in my first of twenty-eight years of recurrent canva.s.sing. Many districts of the State at that time being dest.i.tute of contact by railroads, made wagon and buggy travel a necessity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HON. POWELL CLAYTON.

Emba.s.sador to Mexico.

Governor of Arkansas--United States Senator--Honest and Fearless, with a Public and Private Life Beyond Reproach.]

After nominations were made for the various State officers in convention, appointments were made and printed notices posted and read at church and schoolhouse neighborhoods, that there would be "speaking"

at stated points.