natural cause. Others because of
lack of merit were reported adversely from committee; still others
reported favorably could not withstand the Congressional debate. A few
that survived the whole ordeal became laws.

There were two preeminent causes for the failure of some of these
bills. The Negro membership in any Congress, in the first place always
an exceedingly small minority, was never a determining factor in the
passage of a measure proposed by one of this particular group.
Secondly, the objects of the suspicion of their party colleagues,[114]
and regarded by them as an experiment in the legislative program of
the nation, these men were not generally able to secure for their
measures sufficient white Republican votes. Considered from this point
of view, the failure of these measures is in no wise an evidence of
the lack of ability and statesmanship.

Of them, James G. Blaine, a Republican leader of fifty years ago, has
spoken in a most praiseworthy manner. Conceding the right of the
Negroes to sit in Congress and attesting the success of their
activities there, he asserted that "they were as a rule studious,
earnest, ambitious men, whose public conduct--as illustrated by Mr.
Revels and Mr. Bruce in the Senate, and by Mr. Rapier, Mr. Lynch and
Mr. Rainey in the House--would be honorable to any race."[115]

ALRUTHEUS A. TAYLOR

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Jefferson F. Long was born in Crawford County, Georgia, March 3,
1836. Some time thereafter he moved to Macon, Bibb County, where,
under the direction of his owner, he learned the tailor's trade. Prior
to his election to the third session of the Forty-first Congress, Mr.
Long conducted, in Macon, a thriving business as a merchant tailor.
His patronage, which consisted largely of that of whites, was much
decreased after his term in Congress, due no doubt to their resentment
of his activities in politics. Mr. Long was a good speaker, a
Christian gentleman, and a man of many fine qualities. Upon his death
in Macon, February 4, 1900, his loss was mourned alike by whites and
Negroes.--Chaplain T. G. Stewart, _Fifty Years in the Gospel
Ministry_, p. 129.

Letter from Mrs. A. L. Rucker, Atlanta, Ga., daughter of Mr. Long.
October, 1921.

[2] Robert C. DeLarge was born at Aiken, South Carolina, March 15,
1842. He received only a limited education and chose to pursue the
occupation of farming. He entered politics in 1868, held several