rs, belongs exclusively to the legislative
department, and not to the judiciary. The failure on the part of the
public to distinguish between the legislative and judicial branches of
the government accounts in a large measure for the criticism that has
been made upon the courts of the South in their dealings with the
criminal Negro. It is well for us to bear in mind that a court cannot
make a law, but can only confine its opinion to the law as it is. It
is a well-known fact that the United States and the several States
composing the same are governed by written constitutions; also, that
in a constitutional government all laws must be uniform in their
operation. Hence, no law can be made that will operate more harshly
upon a Negro than upon a white man who is guilty of the same offense.
The criminal Negro naturally thinks that he is dealt with unjustly in
the court. I have never seen in my practice a Negro who did not think
that a white judge and a white jury were not his enemies, and that
they were looking for false evidence upon which to convict him, and
were not desirous of passing upon his case on the law and evidence as
presented. This, in a large measure, accounts for the enormous fees
paid by Negroes to white attorneys for the simplest trouble they may
get into. They believe that a white man has more influence in a court
than a Negro lawyer, as though the laws were based upon favors to
individuals rather than upon fixed rules of judicial construction. As
for the judiciary of other States, I cannot speak, but for Virginia,
I can and will say, that for the integrity of her judiciary--a fairer
and more impartial set of men cannot be found in this country. Never,
in my life, has anyone of them treated me amiss in their courts, nor
can I point to a single case where snap judgment was meted out to a
man of color, for the simple reason that he was colored. The
experience of my brother members of the Bar in other States seems to
tally with mine in this respect. Though I did once read of a
Mississippi judge who told some colored men who had assembled in his
court to listen to the trial of one of their race that this was a
white man's country, and that Negroes had no business in a court room,
unless there on business. Lest we forget it, we will say it now that
the greatest of all virtues is charity. The numerous complaints we
hear about the maltreatment of the Negro, do not come from within, but
from without. They come from