"Yes, sir," said Mr. Davis; "it is a close white corporation. You may bring all of Europe, but none of Asia and none of Africa into our partnership."
"Let us see," said Mr. Clark, "how that may be. Take the gentleman's own ground that government is a partnership, and those who did not enter into it and take an active part in it can not be citizens. Is a woman a citizen under our Constitution?"
"Not to vote," said Mr. Davis.
"I did not ask about voting," said Mr. Clark. "The gentleman said awhile ago that voting did not constitute citizenship. I want to know if she is a citizen. Can she not sue and be sued, contract, and exercise the rights of a citizen?"
"So can a free negro," said Mr. Davis.
"Then, if a free negro can do all that," said Mr. Clark; "why is he not a citizen?"
"Because he is no part of the governing power; that is the reason,"
Mr. Davis replied.
"I deny that," said Mr. Clark, "because in some of the States he is a part of the governing power. The Senator only begs the question; it only comes back to this, that a nigger is a nigger." [Laughter.]
"That is the whole of it," said Mr. Davis.
[Illustration: Hon. Reverdy Johnson.]