ther men, I have a clear perception of my own. And,
first, we are bound to treat the colored people of this District, in
regard to the matter of voting, precisely as we treat white people.
And I do not hesitate to express the opinion that if the question here
to-day were whether any qualification should be imposed upon white
voters in this District, if they alone were concerned, this House
would not, ay, not ten men upon this floor would, consider whether any
qualifications should be imposed or not.

"Reading and writing, or reading, as a qualification, is demanded, and
an appeal is made to the example of Massachusetts. I wish gentlemen
who now appeal to Massachusetts would often appeal to her in other
matters where I can more conscientiously approve her policy. But it is
a different proposition in Massachusetts as a practical measure. When,
ten years ago, this qualification was imposed upon the people of
Massachusetts, it excluded no person who was then a voter. For two
centuries we have had in Massachusetts a system of public instruction
open to the children of the whole people without money and without
price. Therefore all the people there had had opportunities for
education. Now, why should the example of such a state be quoted to
justify refusing suffrage to men who have been denied the privilege of
education, and whom it has been a crime to teach? Is there no
difference?

"We are to answer for our treatment of the colored people of this
country, and it will prove in the end impracticable to secure to men
of color civil rights unless the persons who claim those rights are
fortified by the political right of voting. With the right of voting,
every thing that a man ought to have or enjoy of civil rights comes to
him. Without the right to vote, he is secure in nothing. I can not
consent, after all the guards and safeguards which may be prepared for
the defense of the colored men in the enjoyment of their rights--I can
not consent that they shall be deprived of the right to protect
themselves. One hundred and eighty-six thousand of them have been in
the army of the United States. They have stood in the place of our
sons and brothers and friends. They have fallen in defense of the
country. They have earned the right to share in the Government; and if
you deny them the elective franchise, I know not how they are to be
protected. Otherwise you furnish the protection which is given to the
lamb when he is commended to the