“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed John, as he lay back in his chair and winked at the Colonel, “that’s a good one! What do you think I’ve been doing since I’ve been in the law business in this city? Why, the greenest ward-heeler knows that neither a white nor black man is competent to fill an office if the heads of the department where he is employed wish to get rid of him. The civil service is a good thing, but even that can’t save a man from becoming incompetent when his resignation is desired by anyone in authority. That’s no argument at all. And as for our earning our rights—we didn’t earn them at Wagner and Fort Fisher and at Fort Pillow; we haven’t held the casting vote, and floated you from poverty into affluence.”
“But the South, man!” exclaimed the Colonel, pounding the table before him with his fists until the dust sprang from the covers of the volumes lying there, “the South has rights as well as you. They are white men, man; you can’t expect us to leave them out. All sections must be satisfied, and if you love your country as you should, you will be willing to sacrifice a little for the good of the whole. It won’t hurt you; you can’t miss luxuries and positions that you have never been used to!” The Colonel was shouting at the top of his lungs. John sat calmly waiting for the storm to subside.
“Then what I have heard so often is true, that the South is in the saddle.”
“Eh?” said the Colonel, subsiding limply into his chair and wiping his heated face on his handkerchief. “Well, I might as well own it, to you; I know it will go no farther. It is so in great measure, Langley. That is the reason we want your people to go slow. This is a great country. Each man is for the good of his own section. Can’t blame ’em, can you?”
“No; and neither can you blame us for trying to get the best we can for the good of our race. You’ll find we mean to do it.”
“You mean to do it—yes, but the white man rules in this country every time, John, because he’s born for the business, and it’s just as well for you to keep the few friends you’ve got, and not drive them away because you’re sore over your disappointments. You know nothing about business, you’ve no capital, no money, and we’ve got you every time.”
“Threats do not frighten me, Colonel; nearly nineteen hundred years ago Christ sat at supper with his friends, and one of them, with a kiss still warm on his lips, betrayed him to crucifixion. What have we to expect from our friends?”
“Now, look here, Langley, don’t say hard things, and don’t get mad. I will admit every word that you say. It is all true, d⸺ it!” he exclaimed as he arose to his feet and began walking up and down the floor with rapid strides. “I imagine I should feel even worse than you do if I were one of your race, but you see things are as they are, and why not make the best of a bad matter? Your people can’t help themselves. If you rose in the South and appealed to arms you would soon be exterminated; for of course the South is our brother, and in an uprising of that sort, the National arms would necessarily be directed against the ‘rioters,’ as they would be termed. Individually, I might feel the justice of your cause; others might feel with me; but expediency would make me fight against you. And that brings me to my errand here today. It is the duty of every one of us to wait for justice, and not to countenance excitement and bloodshed. I assure you upon my honor as a man, that if the colored people are only patient for a while longer, this thing will be settled amicably. We have great plans for pacifying the South, and if we have the help of every good citizen we shall sooner be able to bring about a season of peace and prosperity, not only to the colored people, but to the whole country.”
“Talk’s cheap. I’ve heard that old gag so many times that it’s grown stale.”
“But we intend to do the square thing this time.”
“It ain’t in you to do the square thing by us. It is as natural for you to cheat us and maltreat us as it is for boys to pull out the wings and legs of flies. You say now you’ve got no power to stop lynching. If you haven’t the power before election, where will you get it after the votes are in? No, sir; it’s votes you want, and after you get them, and all the subsidies, corporations, and trusts are riding easily on the front seat of the coach for another year, you won’t know us; and robbing and killing the black man can go right on.”
“You talk like a fool, John Langley. You’re jeopardizing the best chance you ever had since Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.”
“That’s all right. Promises are like pie-crust, made to be broken. You may be the best we can do, and the best is d⸺ poor. Colonel, you just make up your mind to one thing: we’re coming high this time. It’s going to cost you something; yes, sir, right smart.”
“I tell you, Langley, we have a hard fight to give your people even the little that they do get. It’s your duty to listen to reason in this matter. What do you want, anyhow?”
“We want our men given something beside boot-blacking in the employment of the state. We want our girls given a chance as clerks; that’s what we want. Anything unreasonable in that?”
“No; that isn’t unreasonable,
