Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1865-12-29
Wongrtssienat.
sPKEcH OF MR.. WILSON OF MASS.
h he Senate, Dec. 81.
pxruAOra


think the dispute whether those States
are in the Union or out Of the Union is lost
time. ! do not choose to discuss that ques-
ton, or raise it | believe our powers are
full, ample, complete, to bring back those
Srates, and restore them, and preserve, also,
the rights and the liberties there of all that
breathe Gods air. do not want to degrade
a single man in the rebel States. do not
want them to degrade others, and | do not
mean that they shall do 1t. / do not believe
the Senator Mr.. Stewart is opposed to this
bill do not think he can oppose it. do
not believe the Senator is in favor Of that
kind Of freedom that turns the emancipated
wofkingmsn out into the highway, then takes
him up as q vagrant and makes a slave OF him
because he cannot get home when they do
not allow him to lease land or buy humbl.
home. They have enacted law in the State
of Mississippi that will not allow the black
man to lease lands or to buy lands ou side Of
the cities. Where in Gods name Is be to go
Into the public highway Then he is va.
grant then he is taken up under the vagrant
laws aud sold into bondage. They have e.
nacted law in the state OF Louisiana that he
must get a home in twenty days, and they
will not sell him land or allow him to lease
land.
We must annul this /; we must see TO II
that tho man made free BY the Constitution
of the United States, sanctioned by the voice
of the American people, lie freeman indeed !;
that he can go where be plesses, work when
and for whom he pleases; that he can sue
and be sued that he can lease and buy and
sell and own property, real and personal (;
that be can go into the schools and educate
himself and his children that the rights and
guarantees Of the good old common law are
his. and that he walks the earth. proud and
erect in the conscious dignity of free man !,
who knows that his cabin, however humble.
is protected by the just and equal laws Of his
country. | am sure the Senator from Nevada
is in favor of that policy of emancipation that
carries with it equality Of civil rights and i'm
munities, rather than that other polio, that
makes the enfranchised bondman serf or
peon. the slave Of society, its soulless laws
and customs.
Having read hundreds Of pages of records
and Of testimony, enough to make the heart
and the soul sick, proposed this bill as a
measure of humanity. desired, before we
entered on the great questions Of public poll
cy, that we should pass simple bill annuling
these cruel laws; that we should do it early,
and the proceed calmly with our Legislation.
That was my motive for bringing this bill in-
to the SsnAie SO early In the session. Many
Of the difficulties occurring in the rebel States
between white men and black men, between
the old masters and the freedmen, grow GU,
of these laws. They are executed in various
parts of the States the military arrest their
execution frequently, and the agents of the
Freedmen's Bureau set them aside. and this
keeps up a continual conflict. II these oh.
noxious State laws were promptly annulled
il would contribute much to the restoration
OF good feeling and harmony, relieve the pub
lie officers from immense labors, and the
freedmen from suffering and sorrow; and this
lie the opinion of the most experienced mer
engaged in the Freedmen's Bureau. i have
had an opportunity to consult with and &c
communicate with many of the agents of the
bureau, with teachers, and persons who un-
derstand the state of affairs in those States.
But, sir, it is apparent now that the bill il
not to pass at present, that it must 60 ovei
for the holidays at any rate. The constitu.
tionsl amendment has been adopted, and
have introduced bill this morning based
upon that amendment, which has been refer
red TO the committee Of which the Senator
from Illinois Mr.. TRuMBELL is chairman
This bill will 90 over; possibly it will no,
be acted upon at all.
We shall probably enter on the discussion
OF the broader question of annulling all the
black laws in the country and putting these
people under the protection of humane, equal
and just lave.
know there has been a studied and sys-
tematic attempt during the last few months
to separate the President of the United States
from the great party that elected him. / am
among those who have never entertained any
such fears, and if there are any persons who
do entertain them, advise them to dismiss
such fears at once. The President is bound
to the men who elected him, by honor, by
principle, and by interest. His fame is to
rest upon the great fact that he shall complete
the great work Abraham Lincoln commenced
the work of restoring broken Union, en-
franchising race, and preserving the cause
of human liberty in America. | am sure
that the President of the United States is az
conscious as any man living that his strength
now, and his fame with posterity, depend up
on his moving right straight forward and on.
ward to the restoration of the Union, and to
the security OF the liberties of all men, and
the security of equal, universal, and impartial
liberty. He found the rebel states on the
18th Of April, when he assumed executive
power. broken, shivered. conquered, subju.
gated. No people since the morning of crea-
tion ever fought drawer battle Than OUT
rebel countrymen, and no men we're ever SO
defeated, SO subjugated, so conquered-con.
quered in the field, their ideas annihilated
forever, their power broken, and their for
tunes lost. No men have been so conquered
and so punished; aud, sir, have it not in
my heart TO seek their lives or their blood.
| believe it to be the sentiment and will o.
the country that we should demsrd the am
plest & israntees for the future that in de.
handing those guarantees we should say
nothing and do nothing to humilste or de.
grade any body. believe that it is in our
power by firm and inaexible adherence to
principle to secure all the guarantees that the
patriotic and liberty-loving men of the coun.
Try require. believe the President of the
United States has labored according TO his
sense Of public duty to prepare the rebel
states for restoration, and to secure the libei
ties of the enslaved people OF the country.
would have acted differently in some things,
knf ~ kaa l0na untktn. 20 nxavant tha Non.