THE SENATE REPORT ON THE EXODUS OF 1879
Hearing of the commotion among the Negroes in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1879, Senator D. W. Voorhees, of Indiana, offered the following resolution which was accepted:
Whereas, large numbers of Negroes from the Southern States, and especially from the State of North Carolina, are migrating to the Northern States, and especially to the State of Indiana; and,
Whereas, it is currently alleged that they are induced to do so by the unjust and cruel conduct of their white fellow citizens toward them in the South; therefore,
Be it Resolved, That a committee of five members of this body be appointed by its presiding officer, whose duty it shall be to investigate the causes which have led to the aforesaid migration, and to report the same to the Senate; and said committee shall have power to send for persons and papers, compelling the defense of witnesses, and to sit at any time.70
Thereupon Senator William Windom, of Minnesota, offered the following amendment which led to the discussion of all sorts of phases of the race problem and finally to a majority and minority report on the exodus:71
And Be it Therefore Resolved, That in case said committee shall find that said migration of colored people from the South has been caused by cruel and unjust treatment or by the denial or abridgement of personal or political rights, have so far inquired and reported to the Senate, first; what, if any, action of Congress may be necessary to secure to every citizen of the United States the full and free enjoyment of all rights guaranteed by the constitution; second; where the peaceful adjustment of the colored race of all sectional issues may not be best secured by the distribution of the colored race through their partial migration from those States and congressional districts where, by reason of their numerical majority, they are not allowed to freely and peacefully exercise the rights of citizenship; and third; that said committee shall inquire and report as to the expediency and practicability of providing such territory or territories as may be necessary for the use and occupation of persons who may desire to migrate from their present homes in order to secure the free, full, and peaceful enjoyment of their constitutional rights and privileges.72
The Select Committee, appointed by the Senate to investigate the causes which have led to the migration of the Negroes from the Southern States to the Northern States, having duly considered the same, beg leave to submit the following report:73
On the 18th day of December, 1879, the Senate passed the following resolution:
Whereas, large numbers of Negroes from the Southern States are emigrating to the Northern States; and,
Whereas, it is currently alleged that they are induced to do so by the unjust and cruel conduct of their white fellow-citizens towards them in the South, and by the denial or abridgement of their personal and political rights and privileges; therefore,
Be it Resolved, That a committee of five members of this body be appointed by its presiding officer, whose duty it shall be to investigate the causes which have led to the aforesaid emigration, and to report the same to the Senate; and said committee shall have power to send for persons and papers, and to sit at any time.
In obedience to this resolution the committee proceeded to take testimony on the 19th day of January, and continuing from time to time until 153 witnesses had been examined, embracing persons from the States of North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and Indiana. Much of this testimony is of such a character as would not be received in a court of justice, being hearsay, the opinions of witnesses, &c., but we received it with a view to ascertaining, if possible, the real state of facts in regard to the condition of the Southern colored people, their opinions and feelings, and the feelings and opinions of their white neighbors. We think it clearly established from the testimony that the following may be said to be the causes which have induced this migration of the colored people from various portions of the South to Northern States, chiefly to Kansas, and Indiana: That from North Carolina, the State to which we first directed our attention, was undoubtedly induced in a great degree by Northern politicians, and by Negro leaders in their employ, and in the employ of railroad lines.
Examining particularly into the condition of the colored men in that State, it was disclosed by the testimony of whites and blacks, Republicans and Democrats, that the causes of discontent among those people could not have arisen from any deprivation of their political rights or any hardship in their condition. A minute examination into their situation shows that the average rate of wages, according to the age and strength of the hand for field labor, was from eight to fifteen dollars per month, including board and house to live in, garden and truck patches, around the house, fire-wood, and certain other privileges, all rent free.
These, added to the extra labor which could be earned by hands during the season of gathering turpentine and resin, or of picking cotton made the general average of compensation for labor in that State quite equal to if not better than in any Northern State to which these people were going, to say nothing of the climate of North Carolina, which was infinitely better adapted to them.
The closest scrutiny could detect no outrage or violence inflicted upon their political rights in North Carolina for many years past. They all testified that they voted freely; that their votes were counted fairly; that no improper influence whatsoever was exerted over them; and many were acquiring real estate, and were enjoying the same privileges of education for their children, precisely, that the whites were enjoying.
It was also disclosed by the testimony that there existed aid societies in the city of Washington, in the city of Topeka, Kans., Indianapolis, and elsewhere throughout the West, whose avowed object was to furnish aid to colored men migrating to the West and North; and notwithstanding that the agents and members of these societies generally disclaimed that it was their intention to induce any colored men to leave their homes, but only to aid in taking care of them after they had arrived, yet it was established undeniably, not only that the effect of these societies and of the aid extended by them operated to cause the exodus originally, but that they stimulated it directly by publishing and distributing among the colored men circulars artfully designed and calculated to stir up discontent. Every single member, agent, friend, or sympathizer with these societies and their purposes were ascertained to belong to the Republican party, and generally to be active members thereof. Some of the circulars contained the grossest misrepresentation of facts, and in almost all cases the immigrants expected large aid from the government of clothes, or land, or money or free transportation, or something of that kind. Hundreds of them, on given days at various points in the South, crowded to the depots or to the steamboat landings upon a rumor that free transportation was to be furnished to all who would go. It was also disclosed by the testimony on the part of some very candid and intelligent witnesses that their object in promoting this exodus of the colored people was purely political. They thought it would be well to remove a sufficient number of blacks from the South, where their votes could not be made to tell, into close States in the North, and thus turn the scale in favor of the Republican party.
Wages, rents, method of cropping on shares, &c., were inquired into in all of the Southern States mentioned, and the fact ascertained that the aggregate was about the same as in North Carolina. In most of the Southern States, where wages were higher than in North Carolina, expenses were also higher, so that the aggregate,