The weekly Butte record., 1862-03-15
Speech Of Andrew Johnson. Senator from
Tennessee

The following extract from the speech Of
Hon. Andrew johnson, in the United States
Senate, Is terribly severe on the auiieoer-
cion, or peace" patriots of the country:
lam a Democrat now l have been one all
my life I expect to live and die one; and the
cornerstone Of my Democracy rests upon the
enduring basis of the Union Democrats may
come and 90, but they shall never divert me
from the polar star by which have ever been
guided from early life-the great principles OF
Democracy upon which this Government rests
and which cannot be carried out without the
preservation Of the Union Of these States
! The pretence hitherto employed by many who
are now in the traitors camp has been, = we
are for the Union we are net for dissolution !;
but We are opposed to coercion" How long
Senators. have ven heard that syren song sung
Where are now most of those who sang those
syreu tunes TO Us Look back to The last ses-
sion and inquire where now are the men who
then were singing that song in our ears
Where IS Trusten Polk. who then stood here
so gently craving for peace? lie IS IN the
rebel camp. Where is John c. Breckinrldge!
"A man for whose promotion to the PreSlden-
cy did what could physically, mentally, and
pecuniarily but when be satisfied me that he
was for breaking up this Government, and
would ere long be a traitor to his country, l
dropped him as | would the Senator from In
Giana. Tie was here al the last seSson OF Con
gress and everybody could see then that he
was on the road to the traitors camp. Instead
of sustaining the Government, he, too, was
crying out for peace; but he was bitter
against coercion.
llt,1fD 70 ba laFa n ha IN
Compromise, and the scene in the Senate at
the time, be places the responsibility of that
act where it truthfully belongs as follows:
l sat right behind Mr.. Benz amin, and am
not sure that my worthy friend was not close
by when be refused to vote, and I said to him,
" Mr.. Benjamin, why do you not vote? Why
7 not save this proposition, aud see if we cannot
bring the country to it ?'' He gave me rather
an abrupt answer and said be would control
his own action without consulting me or any
body else. Said |, vote, and show yourself
an honest man." As soon as the vote was ta-
ken, he and others telegraphed South, " We
1 cannot get any compromise" Here were six
/ Southern men refusing to vote, when the
amendment would have been rejected by four
majority If they had voted. Who, then, has
/ brought these evils on the country? Was it
/ Mr. Clark He was acting out his own poll
cy; but with the help we had from the other
! side of the Chamber, if all those on this side
/ had been true to the Constitution, and faithful
/ to their constituents, and had acted with fdel-
/ ty to the country, the amendment OF the Sen
ator from New Hampshire could have been
/ voted down, the defeat of which the Senator
/ from Delaware says would have saved the
coantry Whose fault was it? Who is re-
sponsble for it? Who did it? Southern
traitors, as was said in the speech of the Sena-
tor from California. They did it. They
wanted no compromise They accomplished
tteir object by Withholding their votes; and
hence the country has been involved in the pres
ent difficulty.
We shall present further extracts from Mr..
Johnson's speech, next week. His speech
completely yindcates the Douglas Democracy
and tears the masks from the treacherous faces
Of rebels and their sympathisers, in every phase
they have assumed.