Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-12-27
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Z s5q5. 2, 5s.fjsPE1CIH Of E aa5g 33'4 u, (
SENATOR cow AN,
q 2'FI 21.5o or RESssTLvANIIAlt,, ANIlt,,,., .@,l,2 a,l,
In REPLY TO CHARLES 4 3 SUMNER, " ! u },

l., 1nd :boyg sEY sttuVgI .unIu I.uulGg y.J
| Mr. Cowan-+MF,, President, am not
disposed to allow the speech Of the h9nor7
able Senator from Massachusetts INT, SUM
| nerl to 20 to the country without avery
| brief reply IT that speech be true, and II
Iii be correct picture OF the South, then
| God help us; then this Republic, this un-
| ion is st an end; then the great war which we
| waved for the Union was q folly; then all
! the blood and treasure which we have ex-
ncnded In that war in order TO restore our
selves 70 oe0mpanionshipi with the people Of
1.-THE South have, been equally tollies' Rnt,
t,Mr. Prisldent, Is 1t trueYl Or is NOT inns 9
series of eI7pGrts statements maue w, w
IannonymOusi letter writers, people who are
down there more than likely stealing cot,
/ ton, people who are down there In the en-
Iioymenti of place and power, people VINO
areinterested that the disturbed leonditlon
| of things which exists there now shall al
Eways continue because they, make proht OF
Iit? is there any man who has had any ex-
Eperience In the trial of causes, any man
| who knows anything about the nature OF
i evidence, who does not know that the nom
I orable Senator could have sent his emissar-
les into any one county in the lately re-.
bellious States and gathered up IRON yne
expressions of knaves and toolS ana as
contented single-idead people iar more
Il ...I /.
/ We are told here of the exceptional IN
stances of bad conduct on the part of the
/ people of the South. Why, what large
volume it would take to hold all that! IL a
man were to 90 about any where In the
l Iloyal States and hunt up what he might
| suppose to be reasonable expressions,
heretical expressions how many could ne
find? And yet we are treated to All this
here as if it was the whole OF the evidence
in the case.J One man out Of ten thousatndi
is brutal to a negro, and that Is paradea
here as q type of the whole people Of Tue
L South, whereas nothing is said OF the other
4 nine thousand nine hundred and ninety
I nine men who treat the negro well. One
man expresses great deal of dissatlslacT
tion at the present state OF affairs, and that
is paraded here, while nothing is said OF
the other ten thousand men who are con-
tented TO accept it and make the most OF IT.
| What, then, are we to do? We are to
suppose that the people of the Southern
States lately In rebellion have common
sense; and when their utterances are In ac--
cOrdance with what is common sense and
I the dictate Of their own interest we have a
right to presume it to be true. But accord
ing to what we have just heard, everything
that has come from the people OF these
States and from their public bodies, from
the representatives of these people, is to be
taken as false; and why? Because some
cotton agent, some correspondent of Q rad
ieal newspaper in the North, some Office
holder who has been making profit OF the
state of things there, chooses to say 1t is all
false. s.l.- ..-. .f.-. ... 100. i-
The heresy of State Rights is not destroy
ed there, the hOnOl able Senator says. Have
we not heard from almost all the public
men of the South that that question was
put to the arbitrament OF the sword, that
they have lost, and that they submit Have
they not acquiesced In the laDoiltion o.
slavery--that thing of all others which was
the last, in the opinion of everybody, thai
they would submit to? 100 rs.. sI. -s.
But still further guarantees are wanted
we are not told what they are. What are
they? What Is wanted Everybody adj
mits that the negro ought to have his nat.
ural rights secured to him. l believe all
the moderate, conservative men of thiI
Il Chamber are fully agreed that every man
| should have his natural rights secured
the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit o
happiness; the. protection OF property
limbs, and reputation; that he should hay'
the right to sue and be sued, and to testify
in courts of Justice. The negro has no
hitherto been allowed in the Southern
States to testify in courts of justice, ant
WbyY Because he was a slave, and If hat
been acitizen of the Southern States whel
slavery prevailed there, ] would have resist
ed his right to testify In the courts. A wit
ness, like voter, ought to be tree man
he should not belong to another man. Wha
chance would q litiganC have against tn
master of slaves, If the slaves could testify
1t seems to me that the slave ought not b
testify tor the same reason that the wifi
ought not to testify either for or against tn
husband. Would you ask negro to testi
fy against his master, to go back to tina
master and be subjected to his ill-wlll be
cause of his testimony? Would you ALLOW
him to testify for the master as against
party on the other side? Certainly not,
But now this state of things has passe
away. Now the people of the Souther
States, themselves, SO far as j understan
them. are In favor Of opening the courts
all these classes of people,. And, sir, the
must open them for their own security,
am willing to leave that to themselves; Jhei
own interests viii compel them to allow a
people to testify, unless, they are exclude
BY these disabilities that have heretofor
excluded witnesses from testifying. IL th
honorable Senator from MASSACHUSETTS, an
those who think with him, desire that thes
people should have the right Of spffrag
why not say SO broadly 6,i, 80 ~ - -
Mr.. .Sumner-7I do say so, 90, ' 80! - .',. 60
Mr.. Cowan-Ye Yery; well; that is 50 mtc
that is clear; make il broadly; we may oil
fer from him, but the people will decide.
am perfectly willing to acquiesce IN the
decision; / do not care which way 1t is bt
the people will decide that question, an
they win decide it promptly. If the hof
Ored Senator from Massachusetts, wants [
hold the doctrine that these States are nj
States; that they arenQt constituent men
bers of this Union, let him say so; there
D tribunal to,which that can be referred.
. he wishes to take issue with the Presidei
on these points, let the issue be made fairl
and, squarely, and it will be met. Than
God, in this Government not like that
Russia, which he has eulOgized, there is
!. power above us all; there lisa power 10 who'
: arbitrament and award weean appeal, an
wh0'will settle this thing oonclusiyely, 4
sNowy Mr.. PRESIDENT, Il am for recOnoilii
Tti0ng tWanti 10 have this Union restore
aud Union meansa UniOn BY consent, NJ
by fOrnex IHwOuld like tO,make friends 4
|. all the people. with, whom we have been
enmItH heretofore J. do notwant the col
test to go ON any lOnger.- But are we
make friends with them, and are they to |
rec0neiled 20 Us, and are they TO behave be
= ter by such speeches as have been made
. the honorable Senator here tO-day?, A yel
:. much doubt it,,cI dc, not think be, will in
y IIprove the condition of the Southern hear
Z or the condition of the Southern mind,
thus pafading these exceptional cases
" thb people Of this country, and stimulatiT
n S,ll Z, a flas ofv nacai0ra TT,nrn ths