The Black Republican., 1865-05-20
THE BLACK REPUBLICAN.


e 4 work cordially and self-sacYi6cingly for tht
r estahiishKent in Louisiana Of civil policJ
+ i that win be harmonious with Rhe progress
' inaBgurated by the uprising and suppression
2 of the rebellion; let as accept the moral oi
i this mighty struggle-the entire destruction
3 of slave labor and its consequent imperfect
, social life, for the benign rewards of free
: labor and its more perfect civilization.
, | We may struggle against the destiny oi
I | the perfect triumph of free labor as we may.
! Under the lead of blind reactionists, or un.
: der the advise Of so-called conservatives, .
we may cling to the heshpots Of Egypt and
palter with treason, but we only prol0ng
the struggles for peace, which we all 80
much desire. see many intelligent gentle
men here tonight who have been for the
last three years, under my own observation,
either Indifferent or absolutely antagonistic
| to any feasible plan Of restoring Louisiana
to harmonious action with the Federal
Government. If the presence of such gen.
tlenen here tonight is to sustain President
Johnson as o representative of free institu-
tions and a hater of treason, then say, God
bless them; but il they are here simply to
cozen the President with any halfway
measures, or make any terms with the enc
mics Of Free State principles better indeed
that they staid away, for they cannot sus-
tain Andrew Johnson-they can only weak
en- and embarrass him.
In this rebellion the Federal Government
has conquered; the irrepressible conflict
has begun and ended; and whether we viii
or no. we must accept the result. No State
will be admitted into the Union except as a
Free State. If the old population, as mass,
resOlutely and ignorantly refuse to be recon
ciled, then the Federal Government must,
of necessity, look to universal suffrage for
its support, and the very persons who
profess and really feel most dislike to negro
equality force it upon the Federal Govern
ment as q necessity of its life. For the last
| two years of this deadly struggle for free
dom, the strong arm of the negro has been
| welded for liberty. In the blue uniform Of
| the Federal soldier, from his scared ranks
| he has witnessed the surrender OF the rebel
| leaders-Taylor, Johnston and Lee; his
| body, in the graves of the battlefield, oCcu-
| pies the same space as the Whlte soldler;
| living. he will have the same consideration
| as the white soldier at the polls. These are
| the sentiments of Andrew Johnson, ex-
| pressed by him in words and deeds; and, be-
| cause believe them to be his am here to-
| night to do honor to his opening Admins
tration. 1t is hard for those wholly edu-
Gated in slave States to give up old tradi-
| tiOns; but it must be done. The rebellion,
! whose military power has been crushed, has
shown the superiority of freedom over all
other civil politics. The elevation of An
drew Johnson to the Presidency supplied a
| worthy successor to the peoples man
Abraham Lincoln-whO preceded him, and
who is so hOnored to-day because he was
the supporter of the masses-he died by
the assassin's hand in the possession of
power that Caesar or Napoleon never
realized, yet even his death seems to be des-
tined by providence to teach us the beauty
of humility /; if it had been otherwise, there
would have been violated the harmonies of
his life. The world closed in on Abraham
Lincoln while resting upon the humble bed
OF hired lodging, and not in the palatial
rooms OF the White House to the last mo-
ment he was identified with the common
people.
With an early life even more humble him
selfthan was Abraham Lincoln-with expe-
rienCe peculiar TO the poor--and struggling
the world over, with heart akin to sympa-
thy with the good, and hater Of treason
man who has spent his life in toll, and the
advocacy of the rights Of the people. Such
man is Andrew Johnson land five would
sustain his administration, let us learn the
spirit OF it from his past life, and follow his
example by devoting our energies to the
restoration of the Government-m making
loyalty the chief aim, and liberty of thought
and OF person the guiding lights.
Judge Warmoth was then introduced, |
and spoke as follows:
speech by Judge WaEmOth.
Fel(O,c- CNize eHs-It gives ME much pleasure |
to meet You here tonight, when the people |
of the whole nation are rejoicing over the
successes of our army and navy, and the |
consequent suppression Of the rebellion and
restoration Of peace. The 100000, armed |
striking with bloody bayonets and swords |
at the National heart, are either dead and |
gone to that place prepared for all men who |
forget God and their country, or on their |
way home with their little papers in their |
pockets, showing "to whom it may. con-
Germ" that they have acknowledged the |
corn" and ask for the clemency of the Gov !
ernment. IApplause.] No more viii the |
flag be hauled down east of the Mississippi
river and in its place Fly that abortion called |
the stars and bars. No more will patriots |
trenble for the safety Of their capital and |
their own homes. No more win foreign na-
tions laugh at the apparent weakness !
of the United States, and mock at the !
calamity they hope win soon oYcrtake |
US. No more viii be heard under this |
flag the screams and sohs of bloOdy-backed !
men, women and children, as the lash of the
cruel slave-oWner is asserting his legal right |
to punish his property. No more Wiu the |
aristocrats in this country, founded upon
whatever species Of property, attempt the |
establishment Of q monarchy, but the |
patriot will sleep quietly in mis- bed without |
fear for his COuntTy's safety, and foreign |
nations win take off their caps to the Ten |
nessoe tailor and tell him he is the repre-
sentative Of great and powerful people, !
and the man, once chained with the chains |
and shackles Of slavery will stand upright |
and free in the midst of Southern chivalry !
and assert his right to life, liberty, property |
and political equality. 1t must be known |
by this time that country with our extent |
of territory-that the power inherent in the |
people, and that people proud-spirited, i'll |
telligent and free, will never submit to the |
establishment of Government based upon |
the ruinS of their liberties
They told rs that popular government |
was failure, but they looked to |
the slave section Of the country |
for their example and did not see the great |
East and West, with twenty-three millions |
of population booming with all of the |
elements of wealth and power, doubling |
their wealth every twenty years, and |
sending thousands of their sons to penetrate |
further into the far West to open It's mex |
haustible mines and fertile lands where the |
freedom OF press and speech was only |
equaled by the antelope that skipped be- |
fore them on their way. {Cheers.(
But we have proved to the world that the |
voice of the people shall be heard, and that |
the wheels Of Government shall be turned |
with their power and the cart driven by the |
one they select for their driver. We have a |
driver now who lived down in Tennessee, |
who is perfectly acquainted with that class |
of individuals when it win be necessary for |
sure you, my felloW-citiZens, after having |
some little acquaintance with that gentle |
man, whenever he gets the brush firmly in |
his hand, ne will not leave a wind |
call on any of their legs He viii cure
the ring bone and the SPAWN, and when |
they come out from his course of grooming |
ard training, they win have their heads and |
tails up, and look exactly like other thor |
oughbreds. He understands the nature of |
them; and like Rarey, he viii, without |
trouble, have them get up and lay down |
where ne says .'presto passm |
/ shall never forget my first acquaintance |
with that gentleman-When Richmond, the |
cradle of rebellion, fell. I was in Washing
ton and as soon as we had celebrated the |
event there, determined to 60 to Richmond. |
/ jpined q party of gentlemen, of whom |
Andy Johnson Was one and we al went to /
Richmond. When we got there, Gen. Welt
eel sent q carriage for US. That carriage |
had belonged to JET. Davis and took US to |
= V..lE