In this closing chapter I shall try to give more of my personal history
than has been stated in the preceding ones; for in those I spoke only of
matters and things as I saw them, and incidentally mentioned the wrongs
we suffered, the causes leading up to them and the remedy. But in this
chapter, as stated above, I shall confine myself more closely to my own
personal history and experience.
By the winter of 1867-1868, I had, by hard work and strict economy,
since the close of the war, saved up five hundred dollars, with which I
bought out a small business fronting on the levee at Leavenworth,
Kansas, and made money out of it from the day I took possession. I
immediately had improvements made to the extent of two hundred dollars,
and thought I had a bonanza. Being located in an old frame building, I
could get but two hundred dollars insurance on my stock, and it was good
that I got that much, for within sixty days from the time I bought the
place it was destroyed by fire, with its contents. I had the two hundred
dollars only. I then secured another location, and with the assistance
of the firm of Haas & Co., merchants of that city, I was partly on my
feet again, although in debt to them for my stock of merchandise. I
succeeded in paying off my debts and getting a fair living out of the
business, and continued it until the fall of 1870, when I transferred it
to Atchison, Kansas, where I still continued in the same business until
the fall of 1875, when it, too, was destroyed by fire, entailing a loss
of six hundred dollars. I then rented the brick building on the corner
of Fourth and Commercial streets, owned by Hon. C. C. Burnes, and opened
again, and continued the business until the fall of 1878, when I was
forced to close for want of cash. I had bills due me for groceries
amounting to thirty-three hundred dollars, which I could not collect,
due in part to two causes: a very severe winter, and the very dry summer
which followed, in which the farmers’ crops were entire failures. My
liabilities were about one thousand dollars, which I could not meet, and
was forced to the wall. I have never been able to collect over ten per
cent. of those bills, which are now dead by limitation of statutes.
About this time I found myself without money, and had a wife and four
children to support. A friend advanced me money enough to buy two
express teams, one of which I drove, and the driver of the other was
paid one half of the cash he collected. I made a fair living out of that
business, repaid the borrowed money, and had some cash on hand, when I
received the Republican nomination for the Legislature from the Fourth
Legislative District of Kansas, in the fall of 1880. After a hard fought
campaign I was defeated by Hon. George W. Click, by twenty-five votes,
out of a total of nine hundred and fifty. That defeat was a very severe
blow to me, because I had spent, in what is called legitimate election
expense, every dollar that I had saved up.
Soon after the day of election, business grew very dull, and winter set
in early and was very severe, so that from November 6, 1880, to January
10, 1881, I experienced the hardest time I ever saw. I had a family to
support and my mules to feed, as they did not earn money enough to buy
their feed. By the efforts of Senators L. M. Briggs, A. S. Everest, J.
W. Rector, Ira Collins, Richard Blue, and others, I was elected
Doorkeeper of the State Senate, January 10, 1881. That election was a
Godsend to me at that time, for I was hard pressed for cash, so much so,
that I did not have money necessary to pay my fare to Topeka, to be
sworn in, and I borrowed ten dollars from Colonel John A. Martin.
The pay was twenty-one dollars per week, which amount carried me through
the winter, and to the close of the session.
After the adjournment of the Legislature and my return home, General W.
W. Guthrie secured for me the position of foreman of a gang of forty-two
Colored men to work a construction train on the A. & N. Rail Road,
between Atchison, Kansas, and Lincoln, Nebraska. The salary paid me was
fifty dollars per month. I promptly accepted the position, and held it
until August, 1881, when my brother, who was then Register of the United
States Treasury, telegraphed that he could get me a position in the Post
Office Department, at Washington, at a salary of seven hundred and
twenty dollars per annum, with a chance of promotion. This I considered
a permanent job, and one less dangerous, and I accepted it and came on
to Washington.
After one year’s service in the Money Order Division of that Department,
and no promotion or prospect of one, my brother secured an appointment
for me in the Pension Office, at the salary of one thousand dollars per
annum, and I was sworn in, September 22, 1882, as an examiner, which
position I have held ever since. I was promoted to Class One in the fall
of 1886, and to Class Two in the summer of 1889. Of course, I
appreciated these honors, and felt proud of them, probably more than
some other men would have done. And why should I not, when I recall that
I was a slave at the age of twenty-nine years, then freed without a
dollar, could not write my name at the close of the war, but by close
study since then, had reached these positions?
Having served under every Commissioner who has held the office of
Commissioner of Pensions since September, 1882, and having had a good
opportunity for observing the administration of the office by each,
candor compels me to state, that General John C. Black filled that chair
with more dignity, ability, and impartiality, than any of those under
whom I have served. He held no “Star Chamber” investigations. If one
clerk preferred charges against another, he was required to put them in
writing, signing his name; then the accused was furnished a copy of said
charges, and given a chance to be heard in his own defense before action
was taken. If unable to meet and refute said charges, then, and not
until then, was action taken.
General Black was Commissioner in fact, when he occupied that position,
and no underling was allowed to dictate to him his duty. No clerk, high
or low, republican or democrat, could leave his desk at will, and go to
have a chat with the Commissioner, without first obtaining a written
permit to do so. I am sorry that I cannot say the same of others under
whom I have served.
General Black had no pets; every employe was required to perform his
duty without favor and irrespective of party or color. He broke up the
rings which had existed in the office, whereby some got easy places,
little work and big pay, came to the office when they pleased, and left
it when they felt like it.
Up to the beginning of General Black’s term of office, examiners had
been rated according to the number of pension claims submitted, either
for admission, rejection or special investigation. Gun shot wound claims
were always considered as easy cases, much more so, than injury or
disease claims, and an examiner who was lucky enough to draw from the
files a bundle of the former class of claims had an advantage over his
fellow clerks, who drew the latter class, because these gunshot wound
cases required very little work to complete them, while the other
classes would require three or four times as much work, and often
covering from one to seven years time in which to obtain the necessary
evidence to establish the claim. I recall an instance, when I saw a
chief of divisions go to the files, select a bundle of gun-shot wound
claims, bring them to a certain examiner’s desk, lay them down, smile
and walk away. Of course, that examiner gained an advantage over others
by the action of his friend.
Soon after assuming charge of the office, General Black issued his
famous order, number 110, whereby all employes were required to be at
their desks at nine o’clock, A.M., and at one o’clock, P.M., thirty
minutes being allowed for lunch, from twelve thirty P.M., and to remain
at their desks, until four o’clock, P.M., when the office closed. Chiefs
of divisions were required to see that order strictly enforced, and to
report all violators of it, to the Commissioner immediately, and he
would require the violator to write him a letter, explaining the cause
of tardiness. If the excuse given was satisfactory to the Commissioner
that ended it, if not, the violator received a severe reprimand through
letter, directly from the Commissioner. So that order number 110, cured
tardiness effectually in the Pension Office, and that order remains in
force to-day and notwithstanding the great number of orders now in
force, every employe has perfect knowledge of old order, number 110.
Up to the spring of 1885, when said order was issued, many favored
employes failed to appear at their place of duty on time. Some were
thirty minutes, and some an hour late; some would leave the office one,
and sometimes two hours before closing time, and this would occur quite
often during the month. These same employes would apply for their thirty
days annual leave and obtain it, just the same as those who had not been
tardy.
Order, number 110, has been modified in form some what, but its
essential parts are still in force and will remain.
Promotions under General Black’s administration of the Pension Office,
were based upon merit solely, and with respect to Colored men it was
eminently so; for they were Republicans and had no special claims upon a
Democratic administration, and yet I am informed that there were more
Colored men promoted under that administration than under the one
following it. Of course, with other Colored employes, I was quite
scared, when the Democrats carried the country in 1884, thinking that we
would all be discharged, and when we were not, we were very agreeably
surprised. Many white Republican leaders wished it, and some were bold
enough to say that the Colored man would have to go. Among those who
said it was Ex-Senator Ingalls, who stated to me, that he wished the
Democrats would discharge all Republican office holders. I understood
him clearly. He meant it as an aid to solidify the Republican party vote
at the polls. By the failure to discharge the Colored employes, the
thing the Republican leaders most desired, the Democrats made many
friends for their party, and particularly President Cleveland.
Mr. Cleveland’s election in 1884, and assumption of power in March,
1885, however much they regretted it, was a good thing for the
Republican leaders, because they had on hand a lot of old barnacles to
care for, as chiefs of divisions and the like, who, occupying those
positions, were a dead weight to the party, and they had held them so
long, that rings had been formed, whereby none but its members or their
friends stood any chance of promotion, however worthy they might be.
These rings were so well organized, that they could and did defeat the
endorsements of Senators and Members of Congress. When the change came
and these leeches had to step down and out, and new men appointed fresh
from the people, of different views and politics, with no pets, no
favorites and free from ring rule, and whose only duty or desire was to
see the work over which they had charge faithfully performed, then it
was that every employe was required to attend strictly to his duty, and
every one was placed upon a common level.
Some of these deposed chiefs, on account of old age and as a matter of
charity, in some cases, were reduced to clerkships and allowed to
remain; but even then it was hard on them, to be forced to come down to
do clerical work with men whom they had lorded it over, and in some
cases treated unjustly while in power. But after all, the service was
purified by the change, and when the Republicans came to power in March,
1889, they appointed in nearly every case new men from the States to
these chiefships, who were free from rings and cliques, and they ignored
the claims of the old ex-chiefs, who thought they had a monopoly of
these positions, and were bold enough to say so when speaking of them,
as “my old place.”
Of course, the Colored employes were benefited by any change, that put
all on a common level where no favors were shown, and each one was
credited with the amount of work done and nothing more. I have seen men
who had been of the favored class before the change, working hard and
close to retain their present pay in the higher grades to which they had
been promoted over others more deserving. Some of this class of employes
were reduced to a lower grade, and some by hard work and promptness to
duty retained their pay in the higher grades.
My reference to rings relates to the Pension Office exclusively, but I
have been reliably informed that the system obtained also in other
bureaus and departments, especially the Treasury.
Hon. James Tanner, who succeeded General Black, as Commissioner of
Pensions, was an able man and also a good man, and one liked by employes
regardless of politics; and I believe, would have succeeded in the
administration of the office of Commissioner of Pensions, with entire
satisfaction to the country, had he surrounded himself with strong men
as advisers. But he failed to do so and failed as Commissioner, not
because of his inability to discharge the duties of the office, a fact
which can be proven by his previous official life and subsequent
conduct, as an attorney before the various departments of the
Government, but solely because of falling into the hands of weak
advisers.
Mr. Tanner in turn, was succeeded by Hon. G. B. Raum, a man of details
and rules, who reminded me of what an English correspondent of a London
paper, who was with our army during the late war, wrote of General
McClelland, to his home paper, after seeing the General himself
superintending the laying of a pontoon bridge across some river, an act
which any ordinary army officer could have done with ease. The
correspondent said that General McClelland was a man of details,
spending his time, which should have been devoted to a higher calling,
on matters of minor details, which are the duties of subordinate
officers, and therefore could never be a great general.
General Raum, would have been a _great_ success as general
superintendent of the working force of the office, seeing it done well
and adopting rules best suited for its accomplishment. He acted the part
of superintendent well.
There are chiefs and assistants in every division. A chief clerk and
assistant, a captain of the watch, and a superintendent of the building.
With this large list of officers, one would suppose, that any order
issued could be carried out to the letter, without the personal
attention of the Commissioner, but such was not the case. He could be
seen almost any day giving his personal direction to the divisions,
just as though he had no officer in charge competent to carry out his
orders. He visited every part of the building, even to the wash rooms;
for I have seen him in those rooms abusing the laborers about the
spittoons, etc., not being clean, thus ignoring his captain of the
watch, whose special duty it was to look after such work.
General Raum had no pets or favorites to award easy places, and I think
that he was a man who really wanted to see every employe doing his duty.
He worked hard and wanted others to do the same.
With his record before us as General of Volunteers, Member of Congress,
and later on as United States Internal Revenue Commissioner,--all of
which positions he filled with eminent satisfaction to the country,--can
any one doubt for a moment General Raum’s honesty and ability? I think
not.
His administration of the Pension Office, while it was not up to the
high standard attained by General Black, was the equal of any other
under which I have served, and had he relied more upon his subordinates
to attend to the minor details of the office, and devoted his entire
time to higher questions of law governing pensions, his administration
of that office would have been much more esteemed.
Commissioner Raum was succeeded by Judge William Lochren, the present
incumbent, who, like General John C. Black, belongs to that class of men
who disdain to do small things and whose likes and dislikes of men are
not based upon their color. Therefore, he, like General Black, also
fills the chair of Commissioner of Pensions with dignity and ability.
Exhibiting confidence in the ability of his subordinate officers, to
effectively carry out his instructions, the Commissioner relieves
himself of the objectionable duty of going from room to room to watch
the employes.
Judge Lochren is a disciplinarian and insists upon a strict compliance
with the rules laid down for the government of the working force of the
Pension Office, and allows no favoritism to be shown any employe
regardless of politics, sex or color. All are required to perform their
full duty.
A man whom I regard as thoroughly reliable, informed me that he was
present and heard what was said at an interview between Commissioner
Lochren and a certain chief of a division in the Pension Office, who had
recommended a Colored man employed under him for dismissal, without any
cause assigned or charges preferred against him. It appears that charges
of dereliction of duty, inefficiency or insubordination had been filed
against several employes and after an investigation, three or four of
these employes were recommended for dismissal and the papers for the
same were prepared and laid on the Commissioner’s desk for his
signature. By some means, not explained, the recommendation for
dismissal of a Colored man whose name I shall designate as Mr. L., got
with the other papers, which had been agreed upon for dismissal for
_cause_, and Commissioner Lochren approved, and then sent them to the
Secretary of the Interior, who also approved them, and those employes
were dismissed in a few days thereafter, Mr. L., in the lot. Immediately
upon receiving his notice of discharge, Mr. L., sought and obtained an
interview with the Commissioner of Pensions. During this interview it
became clear to Mr. L., that the Commissioner had no personal knowledge
of his case. Mr. L., then presented his certificate of discharge and
politely asked to know the cause for which he was dismissed. Being
unable to state the cause, the Commissioner asked Mr. L., to leave with
him his certificate of discharge and to call next day, which he did.
Pending this conversation, the Commissioner sent for the division chief,
who made the recommendation for Mr. L’s. discharge, and demanded of him
the grounds upon which he had recommended this man’s dismissal. He could
only state that he did it in order to get a place for a Democrat, and
upon being further questioned, he admitted that there were no charges
against Mr. L., that he was a good man and had discharged his duty
satisfactorily. After hearing his reply, the Commissioner turned to this
chief, very abruptly, and said: “How dare you recommend a man for
dismissal against whom no charges have been preferred? I want you to
understand that this thing must not occur again, and that I will have
Mr. L., reinstated immediately.”
It is needless for me to state that Mr. L., was reinstated within five
days from that date and is now on the pay rolls of the Pension Office,
drawing his little stipend of nine hundred dollars per annum.
It sometimes happens that a _small man_ gets the position of chief of a
division, and by reason of the fact that he has none of the aristocratic
blue blood in his veins, but comes from the lower class of white people,
and is therefore filled with the prejudice of his kind, he will try hard
to get rid of Colored clerks under him, by means which are very
questionable. Cases of this kind are rare, but they have occurred under
Republican as well as Democratic administrations and I state this,
because I have been hearing of such cases during the last fourteen
years. Such white men are in all political parties and whenever elevated
to power over Colored men, will deal them a blow in the back when they
have the opportunity to do so under cover.
Now as to dismissals, reductions and promotions, they have occurred
under every administration following a change of political control. They
occurred during President Cleveland’s first term and again under
President Harrison’s administration, and it is quite reasonable to
expect them to occur under the present regime; _because the party in
power, will always find some means by which they are enabled to place
their political friends in good places_. It was the practice under
Republican rule, and it is the practice under Democratic rule and, in my
opinion, it will always be the custom, not only in the Pension Bureau,
but in all the departments of the government, even at the expense of
reducing their opponents to lower grade in pay.
Of the one hundred and twenty-five Colored employes, borne on the
pay-rolls of the United States Pension Office, on November 7, 1892,
there was only one man who claimed to be a Democrat, and he hails from
the South and was then, and is now, a $1400 clerk. There were four or
five Colored employes, who opposed President Harrison’s renomination,
but when he received it they quieted down like good party men, but after
Harrison’s defeat, they commenced to trim sail, as it were, and by March
5, 1893, they had become fullfledged “After Election Democrats.”
So as a matter of fact, we had no special hold upon a Democratic
administration for favors in the shape of promotions. There were one
hundred and twenty-five Colored men on the pay-rolls of the United
States Pension Office, March 5, 1893, and there are now, March 30, 1895,
borne on said rolls, the names of one hundred and twenty-three Colored
employes, showing that we have lost only two men since the Democratic
party regained control.
The records of this office show the following:
Number of Colored employes on the rolls March 5, 1893:
Clerks 92
Labor Roll 33
---
Total 125
Number of Colored employes appointed since March 5, 1893:
Clerks 1
Labor Roll 18
---
Total 19
Number of clerks discharged 7
Number discharged from Labor Roll 14
---
Total 21
Number of clerks reduced 20
Number of clerks promoted 8
Number now on rolls 123
Among the twenty clerks reduced, from a higher to lower grade of pay, my
name occurs, but as it was a political matter purely, and did not
reflect upon my efficiency as a clerk, and only reduced me from fourteen
to twelve hundred dollars, I felt that there was no cause afforded me
to grumble and did not do so. And although being one of the unlucky
number, I am free to say, that Colored employes have been fairly treated
thus far, under Judge Lochren’s administration, and so far as my own
personal treatment goes, I can say truthfully, that I never received
more respect and kindness under any administration, than I have under
the officers of this, from the Commissioner down to my section chief.
Like most people in the States, who have only a vague idea of a
clerkship in the departments of the government at Washington, I thought
a position in one of these departments was a bonanza, and that I could
save at least one half of my salary every month, and that any clerk who
did not do so was a spendthrift, and ought not to be retained. I soon
learned that nearly everything one needed costs more here than the same
article would cost in the States, besides, one is almost compelled to
board and room at a first class place, and pay a higher rate for
whatever article he needed, in order to be classed with respectable
people. If one stopped at a cheap house with second-class people, that
act alone settled his status in Washington society.
There are private and public boarding houses here, which furnish room
and board at from twelve to forty dollars per month, so that one can
take his choice as to place and price, but the usual price paid by
Department clerks for room, board and washing, is about twenty-five
dollars per month. A decent house here, with modern improvements, cannot
be rented for less than twenty-five dollars per month, nor a front room
for less than ten dollars for the same period. One will soon find that
he must dress in the latest style, if he wishes to be on a par with his
fellow clerks, and to do that he is required to go dressed up in his
best clothes every day, thereby making his clothing bill twice or three
times what it would be in the States. Of course, there is no regulation
requiring-clerks to appear at their desks dressed in their best clothes,
but there is an implied understanding, that poorly dressed employes are
to be classed with the lower grade of Washington society, a position not
desired, because it is generally believed that a clerk who is too stingy
to spend money so as to appear at his desk decently dressed, is not a
fit subject for promotion. At any rate, in my opinion and experience,
such persons seldom, if ever, are recommended for a higher grade, and
what I state here applies to lady clerks and gentlemen alike.
So that a new clerk from the States, receiving an appointment here,
thinks for the first few weeks that he is going to save money, and not
only that, but he is going to set an example of economy to his fellow
clerks. But he soon finds that he cannot do it, and if he would command
respect and association, he must do as he sees others do, and like an
adept, he falls in, convinced that his fellow clerks are not
spendthrifts after all. There are several other lessons the new clerk
learns, after he is sworn into the Departmental service, especially if
he came in through examination under Civil Service Rules; that there are
old clerks here, who are competent to teach him many things which he
failed to learn at school, and that the ideas he had previously formed,
touching the ability of government clerks, who were appointed prior to
the passage of the Civil Service Act, were erroneous. To his surprise,
he finds men and women in the Departments here, highly cultivated and
well posted in the very latest literature of the day, and competent to
take a leading part in almost any of the historical and scientific
researches of recent date. So that the newcomer, although having
successfully passed a civil service examination, and received an
appointment based thereon, must take his position at the foot of the
class, as it were, and go to work to even hold that position, for it has
often happened that such clerks have been dropped after six months
service--“cause, Inefficiency,” while older clerks, because of their
efficiency, hold on.
One of the first lessons a new appointee should learn, and I might say
the most important one, is entire and complete subordination, for
without this he cannot succeed. He must make up his mind to lay aside
what he calls his manly instincts and personal independence, and resolve
to submissively obey all orders of his superiors without a murmur, even
though they are not stated exactly in accordance with the rules of
syntax, laid down by Lindley Murray. He will also find that he must so
act as to win the respect and confidence of his superiors in office, and
to so live as to hold them, and to do this, he must be a gentleman away
from the office as well as in it, for if he keeps bad company, the
report of it will eventually reach his superiors, and thereby affect his
standing materially. A new clerk will not be here very long before he
will find that in addition to these other necessary requirements, that
“Influence” counts a good deal, and without it one can make slow headway
singlehanded and alone, trusting to his own ability. To obtain social
standing and influence, one must associate with the better class of
people, and to do that he must be of clean character, if he expects to
obtain _entre_ therein. The various Departments of the government here
are run by old and experienced clerks, who have spent a large part of
their lives in this service, and cannot well be displaced by the new
ones, however intelligent they may be. The fitness of these old clerks
is proved by long, efficient and faithful service. They also very
clearly understand the value of influence, and know just when, where and
how to bring it to bear. They are regular diplomats.
But aside from other considerations, these men have devoted their lives
to the service, grown old in it, and are content, and I might say,
fitted to this kind of work to the exclusion of all other work. They
cannot go out into the world and make a decent living on their own wits,
and therefore should be let alone, because the government has received
the benefit of their best days of service, and should not cast them out
on account of old age, at least, to “go over the hill to the poor
house.”
[Illustration: THE END.]
ENDORSEMENTS.
Probably the most unique work of its kind will be Mr. H. C. Bruce’s
book, “The New Man.” It is ostensibly the author’s autobiography, but he
has made more of it than a simple narrative by interweaving with his own
experience much of the history of the ante-bellum days and very many
vivid descriptions of the habits and customs of the Old South.
One of the most conspicuous features of this book is the entire absence
of the passion usually displayed when former slaves refer to their past
bondage. Yet without this very dispassionateness no history can be
authentic. We may be fascinated by the elegant style of an historian,
but the fascination changes to doubt in the presence of his evident bias
and his expressed prejudice.
Mr. Bruce felt his bondage--all slaves felt it--but he has been fair
enough, and I may add courageous enough, to say that within his
experience and observation, savagery and brutality in the treatment of
slaves were the exception and not the rule. The great wrong was in the
enslavement _per se_ of a fellow-man. Why, he argues, would a man abuse
and over-work and starve his slave, a valuable piece of property, any
more than he would poorly feed or maltreat his horse or his ox? His own
self-interest would require good treatment in order to secure good
results from the labor of his slaves. There were harsh, even brutal
masters, but Mr. Bruce claims that these were usually found among a
class of people who were low bred, and he asserts that the cruelties of
slavery could be as easily traced to this class of white men, as we can
trace to a similar class to-day the proscriptions, and persecutions and
hardships that are suffered by the better element of Colored people.
If left to themselves, Mr. Bruce believes, there would be the best of
feeling between the old aristocrat and his former slave, and the world
would not be periodically shocked by the intelligence of lynching bees
and burnings.
To me, Mr. Bruce’s accounts of the old highway system, with the then
prevailing modes of travel and trade, are as instructive as they are
interesting. But this is only one of the many valuable contributions to
history, with which the book abounds.
Mr. Bruce’s narration of his experiences begins with his childhood, when
he was encouraged by his master to eat and play on his Virginia farm,
and carries the reader through the intervening years, until when at
Brunswick, practically in charge of his master’s business, the war came
and changed a nominal freedom into an actual freedom.
Another prominent feature of the book, is Mr. Bruce’s contention that
the two classes of people in the South should not divide along the line
of race or color, and in this connection he furnishes argument to
support his condemnation of the common blooded blacks and whites alike,
whose bad conduct he asserts has brought shame and disgrace, and misery
upon the better classes of white and Colored people of the South.
All the way through the book sets the reader to thinking and whoever may
peruse its pages will be amply repaid for his time, and the reader may
rest assured that he will not find it a task to read what Mr. Bruce has
written. So far from this he will find that, after reading the first
page, he will have a desire to read the second page, and his interest
will increase to the end of the book.
J. H. N. WARING, M. D.,
WASHINGTON, D. C. Supervisor Public Schools.
WASHINGTON, D. C., _April 19th, 1895_.
I have read in manuscript, Mr. H. C. Bruce’s book, “The New Man,” and
have been greatly interested in its perusal. It gives us a very novel,
and I am sure a truthful glimpse of the life of the slave. I think it
the only book that fairly represents the relations of the master and
slave. Other books have been written on this topic, but they have been
written for the purpose of inflaming prejudice, and the horrors of slave
life appear to be greatly exaggerated. Mr. Bruce, however, has a simple
story to tell and does it well.
This book may be read with profit by the Colored race for the example it
affords. The author was a slave until his twenty-ninth year, but by
diligence and hard work, in the face of all opposition, he has succeeded
in educating himself and gaining positions of honor and trust.
I commend this book to any one who desires to get a true idea of the
old-time slave in the cotton fields of the South.
THOS. FEATHERSTONHAUGH.
Medical Referee, Bureau of Pensions.
THE NEGRO BOND AND FREE.
We have been permitted to examine the manuscript of a projected book,
the subject and the style of which will, we think, prove extremely
interesting to the general public. It is the work of a Colored man, a
resident of this city, and an employe of the Pension Office--Henry C.
Bruce, a brother of Hon. B. K. Bruce, once United States Senator from
Mississippi, and latterly Recorder of Deeds from the District of
Columbia. It is the unpretentious story, simply and directly told, of a
Colored man twenty-nine years a slave. The earlier chapters contain the
record of his life during ante-bellum days, his experiences under
slavery as a child, youth, and a grown man, the joys, the sorrows, the
privations, the pleasures, and the vicissitudes which came to him in
turn. The closing chapters tell of the conditions with which
emancipation confronted him, what helps and hindrances he encountered in
his new career, through what changing fortune he made his way to comfort
and independence.
We doubt whether there is to be found in literature anything of its kind
at once as authentic and as entertaining. The writer is not a
professional Colored man. He is not conspicuous in protest against the
attitude of the white people toward the race. He does not claim to have
been a bleeding martyr during his term of slavery. He does not picture
the old southern proprietor class as monsters and tyrants--quite the
contrary--or pretend that all the virtue, kindness, worth, and loyalty
of that section was to be found in the Negroes. The fact is, that Mr.
Bruce writes of the period during which he lived in bondage in Virginia,
Mississippi, and Missouri, very much as his own master would have
written--truthfully, fairly, philosophically. It is evident that he
cherishes no resentful feeling toward those in whose service he spent
the first half of his life. Indeed, one can see that he has for them the
truest affection and regard. If there be one sentiment which, more than
any other, runs through the whole narrative from beginning to end, it is
the sentiment of pride in the old southern aristocracy, and contempt for
every other type and variety of white man. He is loyal to his own
people, in the highest and truest meaning of loyalty, but for the slave
owners as he knew them, he has the sense of gratitude and justice strong
within him.
The book is full of wisdom and kindness. Here and there are touches of
shrewd observations which the Colored people will do well to ponder and
reflect upon. And not the least valuable and creditable feature of Mr.
Bruce’s work is to be found in the candid, generous, and fair comment he
indulges as to the management of the Pension Office under Messrs. Black,
Raum, and Lochren. It is refreshing, indeed, to find a Colored man
writing so intelligently of slavery during his own term of bondage, and
of race issues and politics, in which for thirty years past he has been
an active, if a modest and unostentatious participant.--_Washington
Post, April 14, 1895._