who are in
harmony with that party on questions about which white men usually
divide, could see their way clear to vote in accordance with their
convictions upon such issues, and would not be obliged to vote against
the party with which they may be in harmony on account of that party's
attitude towards them as a race. "In other words," he said, "it is a
well-known fact that there are thousands of colored men who vote the
Republican ticket at many important elections,--not from choice but
from what they believe to be a necessity. If the views entertained by me
on this subject should be accepted by the Democratic party, as I hope
and believe they will be, that necessity,--real or imaginary,--would no
longer exist, and the gradual division of the colored vote would
necessarily follow."

He went on to say that he had not hesitated to express himself fully,
freely and frankly with members of his own party on the subject, and
that he had informed them of the course he intended to pursue; but that
he had been advised against appointing any colored man to an office in
which white women were employed.

"Now," said the President, "since you have been at the head of an
important bureau in the Treasury Department during the past four years,
a bureau in which a number of white women are employed as clerks, I
desire very much to know what has been your experiences along those
lines." I informed the President that I would take pleasure in giving
him the information desired. I assured him that if my occupancy of that
office had been the occasion of the slightest embarrassment to anyone
connected with the public service,--whether in the office over which I
presided or any other,--that fact had never been brought to my notice.
On the contrary, I had every reason to believe that no one who had
previously occupied the position enjoyed the respect, good-will and
friendship of the clerks and other employees to a greater extent than
was enjoyed by me. My occupancy of that office had more than
demonstrated the fact, if such were necessary, that official position
and social contact were separate and distinct. My contact with the
clerks and other employees of the office was official, not social.
During office hours they were subject to my direction and supervision in
the discharge of their official duties, and I am pleased to say that all
of them, without a single exception, have shown me that courtesy,
deference and respect due to the head o