Tillman’s Satire Stirred Senator
January 26, 1907
Summary
The Planet writes a summary about Senator Tillman’s apology to the Senators who he offended by trying to be “funny”.
Transcription
Tillman’s Satire Stirred Senator
Compared Senate to Minstrel Show and Ridiculed Members.
Apologizes for Being Funny
Washington, Jan. 22.-Few features, of the spectacular were missing from the proceedings of the senate. The Brownsville affair was the subject of controversy, and the day began with the announcement of a compromise resolution, which brought both Republican and Democratic senators together on the basis of ordering an investigation of the facts of the affray, without bringing into question the authority of the president to dismiss the negro troops.
When the “harmony” testimonials were all in Senator Tillman took the floor and delivered a speech in reply to the recent criticism of himself by Senator Spooner. This speech began with a satirical picture of the senate as a minstrel show, which Mr. Tillman later said was his first and last attempt to be “funny,” an attempt which at its conclusion brought a stinging denunciation from Senator Carmack in resentment of allusions to him. This was preceded by a serious reply from Senator Spooner on the attitude taken by Mr. Tillman on the race problem, all finally resulting in a session of nearly two hours behind closed doors.
The secret session was followed by a brief open one, in which Mr. Tillman made a profuse apology to Mr. Carmack, to all senators whom he had brought into his “first essay in the line of humor,” and finally to the entire senate. “I very much regret that I ever undertook to be funny, and I will never do so any more,” Mr. Tillman then withdrew all he had said in his “funny essay,” and said it would not appear in the Record.
In his speech Senator Tillman said the press had denominated him “the burnt-cork artist of the senate,” and be added, if he were “entitled to this appellation, or that of “Pitchfork Ben,” at one end of the minstrel line, certainly “Fire-Alarm Joe” (Senator Foraker) ought not to be ignored at the other. We both do the Orlando and Furioso act admirably.
Senator Culberson was designated as performing a solo on the “bones” in praise of the president; Senator Daniel was called “the brilliant and courtly senator from Virginia, whose specialty is oratory, and who works his rhetoric.”
“Next,” said Mr. Tillman, “we have the dying swan, Smiling Tom of Colorado, the state recently bought at auction by one Guggenheim, and the swan song is a dirge for the dying Democracy of the north, stabbed in its vitals by Ben Pitchfork.
“Next we have the redoubted Tennessean (Carmack), who was once a knight, a very hotspur in the lists, whose spear has rung true and clear upon the visor of the usurper at White House, and who has made the sparks fly in many an onset; but his spear head is broken off, he has been unhorsed. His specialty is a song, ‘Renominate our idol, or give us back our platform.’
“Then comes the star of the troupe, ‘Gumshoe Bill,’ from ‘Old Missouri.’ He can dance the Highland fling on top of a 10-rail fence and never touch the ground, but his greatest feat is walking on eggs without breaking the shells.
“Last we have the artist from the Badger state (Spooner), an acrobat and juggler of international reputation. He is supple, sly and foxy, and, having once been a lawyer, is noted throughout the land for his ability to get on either side of any question and maintain the negative or affirmative in any argument with great force and fervor. He sings bass, alto, soprano or tenor, and is superb in any role.
“Have I ever advocated lynch law at any time or at any place? I answer on my honor, ‘never.’ I have justified for one crime, and only one, and I have consistently and persistently maintained that attitude for the last 14 years. As governor of South Carolina I proclaimed that, although I had taken the oath of office to support the law and enforce it, I would lead a mob to lynch any man, black or white, who had ravished any woman, black or white. This is my attitude calmly and deliberately taken, and justified by my conscience in the sight of God.
“The senator from Wisconsin speaks of ‘lynching bees.’ As far as lynching for rape is concerned, the word is a misnomer. When stern and sad-faced white men put to death a creature in human form who has deflowered a white woman, there is more of the feeling of participation as a funeral. They have avenged the greatest wrong, the blackest crime in all the category of crimes, and they have done it not so much as an act as a warning as to what any man may expect who shall repeat the offense. They are looking to the protection of their own loved ones.”
The south he said, was offering up anywhere from 40 to 100 maidens and matrons to this “modern beast” annually. Race hatred, he said, was growing. The north today had a billion dollars of capital invested in the south, and self interest made it the duty of the north to move to do something to relieve the situation. At his conclusion Senator Tillman was applauded.
Compared Senate to Minstrel Show and Ridiculed Members.
Apologizes for Being Funny
Washington, Jan. 22.-Few features, of the spectacular were missing from the proceedings of the senate. The Brownsville affair was the subject of controversy, and the day began with the announcement of a compromise resolution, which brought both Republican and Democratic senators together on the basis of ordering an investigation of the facts of the affray, without bringing into question the authority of the president to dismiss the negro troops.
When the “harmony” testimonials were all in Senator Tillman took the floor and delivered a speech in reply to the recent criticism of himself by Senator Spooner. This speech began with a satirical picture of the senate as a minstrel show, which Mr. Tillman later said was his first and last attempt to be “funny,” an attempt which at its conclusion brought a stinging denunciation from Senator Carmack in resentment of allusions to him. This was preceded by a serious reply from Senator Spooner on the attitude taken by Mr. Tillman on the race problem, all finally resulting in a session of nearly two hours behind closed doors.
The secret session was followed by a brief open one, in which Mr. Tillman made a profuse apology to Mr. Carmack, to all senators whom he had brought into his “first essay in the line of humor,” and finally to the entire senate. “I very much regret that I ever undertook to be funny, and I will never do so any more,” Mr. Tillman then withdrew all he had said in his “funny essay,” and said it would not appear in the Record.
In his speech Senator Tillman said the press had denominated him “the burnt-cork artist of the senate,” and be added, if he were “entitled to this appellation, or that of “Pitchfork Ben,” at one end of the minstrel line, certainly “Fire-Alarm Joe” (Senator Foraker) ought not to be ignored at the other. We both do the Orlando and Furioso act admirably.
Senator Culberson was designated as performing a solo on the “bones” in praise of the president; Senator Daniel was called “the brilliant and courtly senator from Virginia, whose specialty is oratory, and who works his rhetoric.”
“Next,” said Mr. Tillman, “we have the dying swan, Smiling Tom of Colorado, the state recently bought at auction by one Guggenheim, and the swan song is a dirge for the dying Democracy of the north, stabbed in its vitals by Ben Pitchfork.
“Next we have the redoubted Tennessean (Carmack), who was once a knight, a very hotspur in the lists, whose spear has rung true and clear upon the visor of the usurper at White House, and who has made the sparks fly in many an onset; but his spear head is broken off, he has been unhorsed. His specialty is a song, ‘Renominate our idol, or give us back our platform.’
“Then comes the star of the troupe, ‘Gumshoe Bill,’ from ‘Old Missouri.’ He can dance the Highland fling on top of a 10-rail fence and never touch the ground, but his greatest feat is walking on eggs without breaking the shells.
“Last we have the artist from the Badger state (Spooner), an acrobat and juggler of international reputation. He is supple, sly and foxy, and, having once been a lawyer, is noted throughout the land for his ability to get on either side of any question and maintain the negative or affirmative in any argument with great force and fervor. He sings bass, alto, soprano or tenor, and is superb in any role.
“Have I ever advocated lynch law at any time or at any place? I answer on my honor, ‘never.’ I have justified for one crime, and only one, and I have consistently and persistently maintained that attitude for the last 14 years. As governor of South Carolina I proclaimed that, although I had taken the oath of office to support the law and enforce it, I would lead a mob to lynch any man, black or white, who had ravished any woman, black or white. This is my attitude calmly and deliberately taken, and justified by my conscience in the sight of God.
“The senator from Wisconsin speaks of ‘lynching bees.’ As far as lynching for rape is concerned, the word is a misnomer. When stern and sad-faced white men put to death a creature in human form who has deflowered a white woman, there is more of the feeling of participation as a funeral. They have avenged the greatest wrong, the blackest crime in all the category of crimes, and they have done it not so much as an act as a warning as to what any man may expect who shall repeat the offense. They are looking to the protection of their own loved ones.”
The south he said, was offering up anywhere from 40 to 100 maidens and matrons to this “modern beast” annually. Race hatred, he said, was growing. The north today had a billion dollars of capital invested in the south, and self interest made it the duty of the north to move to do something to relieve the situation. At his conclusion Senator Tillman was applauded.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Benton Camper
Citation
“Tillman’s Satire Stirred Senator,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed May 12, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/15.