“But we are acting outside the Constitution,” interrupted Stoneman.
“Congress has no existence outside the Constitution,” was the quick answer.
The old Commoner scowled, and his beetling brows hid for a moment his eyes. His keen intellect was catching its first glimpse of the intellectual grandeur of the man with whom he was grappling. The facility with which he could see all sides of a question, and the vivid imagination which lit his mental processes, were a revelation. We always underestimate the men we despise.
“Why not out with it?” cried Stoneman, suddenly changing his tack. “You are determined to oppose negro suffrage?”
“I have suggested to Governor Hahn of Louisiana to consider the policy of admitting the more intelligent and those who served in the war. It is only a suggestion. The State alone has the power to confer the ballot.”
“But the truth is this little ‘suggestion’ of yours is only a bone thrown to radical dogs to satisfy our howlings for the moment! In your soul of souls you don’t believe in the equality of man if the man under comparison be a negro?”
“I believe that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which will forever forbid their living together on terms of political and social equality. If such be attempted, one must go to the wall.”
“Very well, pin the Southern white man to the wall. Our party and the Nation will then be safe.”
“That is to say, destroy African slavery and establish white slavery under negro masters! That would be progress with a vengeance.”
A grim smile twitched the old man’s lips as he said: