The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1865-10-25

and odious doctrine. Ii is an acknowledged
doctrine of American politics, and ono which
has been undisputed SINCE the foundation of
our government, that the state has the right
| to fix the suffrage-that the congress of the
United States cannot fix the suffrage of the
states.
The constitution of the United States, in
terms, says that the electors for president and
vice president and members of congress, shall
be the same as those qualified to vote tor the
members of the lower house of the leglsla-
ture of each state, thus giving to each state
the decision of who shall be the electors In
the state, and depriving congress OF the right
to interfere. Therefore 1t was that those
who wished to admit the negroes to suffrage
in the SOUTH determined that those were no
longer states, but,th dIsunion had been con-
summated, with JEFF Davis and his confeder-
stes, who had torn this country assunder and
disrupted the bonds of the Union in the at
tempt to destroy the government and take
those states out of the Union. Some of you
may think, my friends, that this doctrine is
not very dangerous now that JEFF Davis Is I'M
prisoned, his troops disbanded, and the lead
ers driven out of the country, but danger
Gus heresy like that may at any moment rise
up to destroy our government. If once ad-
United, where will 1t stop? They Will nix
the right of suffrage for these seceeded states
and declare that they have been out OF the
Union, and they may 90 so far as to athx them
to other states which congress In Its power
may declare out of the Union, because if
they declare one state out of the Union why
not another! Suppose that there is a whisky
riot and rebellion in the state of Pennsvlva
MIA. Congress may in its omnipotence say it
is rebellion of such magnitude that 1t Is
difficult to suppress 1t, and since Pennsylva-
MIA is guilty of rebellion, she is no longer a
state, and must be readmitted into the Union
and congress has the right to fix the quallh-
cations Of her voters. The many fundamen-
tai principles of our Union, will be subvert-
ed, even as the fundamental principles of a
republican government have been subverted,
by constitution made by these quacks for
Missouri Laughter.
What is there republican remaining in this
constitution And If these same men ara AL
lowed to tinker with the constitution of
the United States, beginning with this whole
sale heresy, can tell you, my friends that
there will be no more repubhcanism In the
constitution of the United States, in very
short time then there Is in this new constitu-
ton which they say was adopted In Nilsson
RI.
Gentlemen, this is not the only principle
announced by the radicals, as they call them
selves, in this and other states in their oppo-
slIlOu 10 tue UOilCy III EGSlioub OOuusUu--
They would not only enfranchise the black
and give him the suffrage, but they would
distra uchlse the white men of the country on
the ground that they have been engaged in
the rebellion. These men desire to put the
black race on top OF the white race in the
south. | know that when the proposition is
stated in these broad terms, IL is sometimes
met with a denial in places where the radical
party are not prepared to declare their real
policy, but you will see in a speech by Mr..
b. Crate Brown, "a senator of this state, the
declaration which | have repeated. He is
one Of the acknowledged leaders OF the party,
and you will find in his elaborate speech, de
livered in St. Louis few weeks ago. of nine
mortal columns, that declaration in favor OF
suffrage for the blacks. 1t is an elaborate ar
gument, probably the best that has ever been
made in it's favor-in this state certainly
You will find that he and all who co operate
with him declare intavor of the disenfranchise-
ment of all who have given aid and comfort,
or have in any way engaged in the rebellion,
which, / suppose, would include pretty near
Is all the people in the gulf states. For those
men there, whether willing or unwilling, In
eli except the border states, have pretty much
all been engaged IN this rebellion in some
shape or other-old and young. Nor is that
all.
They are TO be stripped of their property
the doctrine Of conhscation is TO be every
where enforced by the radical party-they
are TO contisca'e the property of all VINO have
been engaged in this rebelhon-enfranchis
the negroes and desfranchise our own race,
for what purpose?
| never henrd, in reading the history OF con-
fscstion since the world began, of govern
ment realizing anything out of cOnfiscation.
Coufscation means pluuder for provost mar
shals and attorneys. Laus hter. C0nfsca-
ton means to fill the pockets OF some of those
despicable characters who make ii a business
to iced on the misery Of their fellow beings.
1t means not Oae dollar paid into the treas
ury of the government of the United States.
Il means unlimited piunder for party hacks.
Why, feiow-citizens / have been in parts of
this country, during the rebellion, and have
seen cOnhscatIon going on. | have seen
thousands and thousands of bales of cotton,
marked C.S.A., captured by our brave troops
and turned oger to quartermasters and pro-
vost marshals, or something of that sort, and
thai Is the last 1 have ever seen of IL.
Not 100 bales of cotton went, ] am
TOLD into the treasury department, out Ct
thousands seized by Grant in his great move
ment down the Mississippi to Eicksburg,
where thousands and thousands of these bales
of cotton were seized. Why, the very breast
works OF Nlcksbufg contained nearly 100000
bales of cotton, yet the government got none
OF this. The quartermasters. provost mar
shals, or treasury agents or party hacks put
it into their pockets. don't know that they
any better than the people from whom
this property was taken.
But that is not ell. Pains, penalties, pun
ishments and executions are to be hurled at
the heads Of the penitent rebels. The men
who have conceived this device for Furnishing
the rebels were never the men who went out
to fight the rebels. IApplausel They are