Senator Tillman Disciplined.
January 26, 1907
Summary
Senate leaders force Senator Tillman to apologize to the people he mocked--though not the black people he had attacked throughout his term.
Transcription
Senator Tillman Disciplined.
It now seems that Senator B.R. Tillman has reached “the end of his tether,” so far as the United States Senate is concerned. He has been permitted to abuse the Negro and assault President Roosevelt in a manner not in keeping with the dignity of the august body, but when he lampooned and satirized individual members of the Senate and spared not even the members of his own party in his use of the bitter invectives for which he is noted, all hands, regardless of party affiliation decided to call a halt and subject the oath-breaking South Carolinian to such a legislative jolt as would tend to bring him to a full realization of a Senator’s powers and limitations.
All of this took place last Monday, when he denominated some of the Senators as artists in a minstrel show. At the close of his remarks, the Senate went into executive session of its presumption is that a record of its proceedings would have proven to be interesting reading. At its conclusion, when the doors were again opened, Senator Tillman was made to apologize. That he did not relish the performance is evident from the curt manner in which he addressed his colleagues. In executive session, he is alleged to have said:
“You may vote to expunge my remarks from the Record or to censure me or even to expel me, but I will not withdraw behind closed doors what I said in the open Senate. I must be given the opportunity to make my explanations or apologies as publicly as I made my speech.”
When the Senate went into open session, he said among other things:
“I did not intend to hurt anybody’s feelings. When I want to hurt a man’s feelings I generally know how to do it, and nobody can make me take it back: but as I didn’t mean to hurt anybody’s feelings, I will take the language out of the Record, and apologize now to all who feel aggrieved. The only thing an honest man can do when he finds he has unintentionally wounded the feelings of his friends is to apologize and then if they won’t accept it, they can lump it.”
That the effect of this sally of wit and exercise of satire will not be soon forgotten, is evident. Senator Tillman has certainly shown to the country at large the weakness of his nature and the unjustness of his cause. The colored people of the country need have little fear of him in the future. He has “cooked his own goose,” so to speak. In the language of that good old hymn, we can thankfully sing:
“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps on the sea, And rides upon the storm.”
It now seems that Senator B.R. Tillman has reached “the end of his tether,” so far as the United States Senate is concerned. He has been permitted to abuse the Negro and assault President Roosevelt in a manner not in keeping with the dignity of the august body, but when he lampooned and satirized individual members of the Senate and spared not even the members of his own party in his use of the bitter invectives for which he is noted, all hands, regardless of party affiliation decided to call a halt and subject the oath-breaking South Carolinian to such a legislative jolt as would tend to bring him to a full realization of a Senator’s powers and limitations.
All of this took place last Monday, when he denominated some of the Senators as artists in a minstrel show. At the close of his remarks, the Senate went into executive session of its presumption is that a record of its proceedings would have proven to be interesting reading. At its conclusion, when the doors were again opened, Senator Tillman was made to apologize. That he did not relish the performance is evident from the curt manner in which he addressed his colleagues. In executive session, he is alleged to have said:
“You may vote to expunge my remarks from the Record or to censure me or even to expel me, but I will not withdraw behind closed doors what I said in the open Senate. I must be given the opportunity to make my explanations or apologies as publicly as I made my speech.”
When the Senate went into open session, he said among other things:
“I did not intend to hurt anybody’s feelings. When I want to hurt a man’s feelings I generally know how to do it, and nobody can make me take it back: but as I didn’t mean to hurt anybody’s feelings, I will take the language out of the Record, and apologize now to all who feel aggrieved. The only thing an honest man can do when he finds he has unintentionally wounded the feelings of his friends is to apologize and then if they won’t accept it, they can lump it.”
That the effect of this sally of wit and exercise of satire will not be soon forgotten, is evident. Senator Tillman has certainly shown to the country at large the weakness of his nature and the unjustness of his cause. The colored people of the country need have little fear of him in the future. He has “cooked his own goose,” so to speak. In the language of that good old hymn, we can thankfully sing:
“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps on the sea, And rides upon the storm.”
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Benton Camper
Citation
“Senator Tillman Disciplined.,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed December 7, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/14.