th; at any
rate, no member of the Democratic party ought to utter it."

The debate was continued on the day following. Mr. Rogers, of New
Jersey, having obtained the floor, addressed the House for two hours.
He said: "I hold that there never has been, in the legislation of the
United States, a bill which involved so momentous consequences as that
now under consideration, because nowhere in the history of this
country, from the time that the first reins of party strife were drawn
over the land, was any political party ever known to advocate the
doctrine now advocated by a portion of the party on the other side of
this House, except within the last year, and during the heat and
strife of battle in the land. The wisdom of ages for more than five
thousand years, and the most enlightened governments that ever existed
upon the face of the earth, have handed down to us that grand
principle that all governments of a civilized character have been and
were intended especially for the benefit of white men and white women,
and not for those who belong to the negro, Indian, or mulatto race.

"It is the high prerogative which the political system of this country
has given to the masses, rich and poor, to exercise the right of
suffrage and declare, according to the honest convictions of their
hearts, who shall be the officers to rule over them. There is no
privilege so high, there is no right so grand. It lies at the very
foundation of this Government; and when you introduce into the social
system of this country the right of the African race to compete at the
ballot-box with the intelligent white citizens of this country, you
are disturbing and embittering the whole social system; you rend the
bonds of a common political faith; you break up commercial intercourse
and the free interchanges of trade, and you degrade the people of this
country before the eyes of the envious monarchs of Europe, and fill
our history with a record of degradation and shame.

"Why, then, should we attempt at this time to inflict the system of
negro suffrage upon those who happen to be so unfortunate as to reside
in the District of Columbia? This city bears the name of George
Washington, the father of our country; and as it was founded by him,
so I wish to hand it down to those who shall come after us, preserving
that principle which declares that the sovereignty is in the white
people of the country, for whose benefit this Government was
established. I am