Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1866-03-29

consequently it was not good policy t
break his head or starve him to deatt
Now, though there is the same contemp
for him as a serf that there was before
yet the respect due to his financial wort
is completely taken from him. More thai
that, because Of the course the colored maj
has taken in siding with you and me ant
against his master, they now hate him
Papers are filled with accounts of the treat
ment Of the freedmen by their former own
ers. A negro wearing our uniform is sho
down at sight. Let this be regarded as ;
fixed fact, the freedmen must be protected
by the General Government you mus
screen them. If you do not do it, loaC
of infamy will rest upon this nation, sucl
as has never rested upon any nation since
the dawn of time. Leave them in the
hands of their masters to be crushed anC
all Christendom will stand aghast
The General Government should not
| leave it to the Southern States to deter
mine what the freedmen shall be or what
they shall do. We have the power to de
| termine the condition of the colored man
under three heads:
| First-We have it under the war power
If we had under this power the ability tC
emancipate the slave, we have the same
power to determine what position he shall
occupy in society after his emancipation
If we had the power to arm him with the
musket and clothe him with the blue, we
have the power to define his rights and his
privileges and his immunities. If we had
the power to emancipate him and arm him
we have the power to acknowledge his
-. lo ,hnH
denies it? We had the power to emanci
pate him and we have the power to say
what he shall be and where he shall go
| ask who denies it?
If his emancipation was a war necessity,
his complete protection is peace necessi
ty.
SecOnd-Then again we have the right
not alone by the war power, but we have
it by the amendment of the Constitution
Article l3th first section, declared that
slavery shall be abolished throughout the
entire United States The second section
declares that Congress shall pass all ne.
cessary Legislation for the enforcement OF
this article 1t thus becomes the sworn
duty of Congress to see that slavery is
fully destroyed and liberty completely es-
tablished
1hird-"The United States shall guaran.
tee to every State in this Union republi,
can form of government is this One under
which all men are made equal before the
law, and the will of the majority, consttu-
tionally expressed, is the rule of public &C.
ton. If a minority-and they rebels-in
South Carolina disfranchise aud oppress
the majority by sheer brute force may not
the United States interfere-aye, is it not
their decla ed duty to interpose and die
tate a republican form of government ?
From these three sources the Government
receives full power in all matters affecting
the freedmen in the rebel States Again,
we have solemnly pledged full liberty to
these millions of human beings, and made
ourselves responsible for their unmolested
enjoyment of that liberty
hold in my hand, sir, document that
is read and admired throughout the civil
lied world-the Emancipation Proclama-
ton of President Lincoln. A document
that will be framed in gold, and hung in
American parlors, when Bunker Hill mon
ument shall have crumbled to dust--a doc.
ument that will be read in ages to come,
by generations yet unborn, not only where
the language Of Webster and Burke is
spoken, but in all dialects containing the
word liberty. This instrument was the
battle axe of an angel shifting the pillars
of tyranny-a new orb bursting through
the clouds of a dark and troubled day, il
tinged the hills with new light and filled
the valleys with unutterable joy, for it lif-
ted whole nation of Gods poor children
from chains and serfdom to freedom and
manhood. Thank Heaven for the heart
that resolved it and the hand that wrote it.
When you read that proclamation,
wish you to pause and look we'll at one
clause it contains. What is it? After de-
claring, in his plain, emphatic language
that these cOlored people in such and such
States and parts Of States shall be free, he
adds "Apd the Executive Government IN
cluding the narA and military force, wW re
cOgRize and maintain the freedom of Suci
persons" Will you do it? Will you make
good that pledge When the hand that
penned it is palsied in death, and the man
that wrote it slumbers in the prairie land
where the wild winds sing his requiem
here comes his message pledging the whole
| power of the General Government. both
naval and military, to maintain that proc
| lamatiOn. Shall it be done or will yor
hand those slaves back to their task mas
ters? Will you say to the two hundred
thousand that, when war imperilled the
country, barred their brawny arms for the
struggle-"We have used you take of
your uniform go lie down in the dirt will
the heel of the tyrant again upon you
neck p Can you bid them take off the uni
form of their country and put on the rag,
of serfdom again? Is it in the heart o
this country to say it? This beautiful
country this country of prayers and bibles
where the God ofjustice and love is wor
shipped
|, sir, am for maintaining that pledge t
the uttermost. would have this countr,
extend over these people the egis of it
power, and protect and defend them for ev
ermOre.
Say what you like about "niggerism
and color, and all that. | am for estimat
ing men according to their mental qualities
not by the cuticle of their skin or the shap
of their feet
The hour of one having arrived, on me
tion of Mr.. GRAHAM, the hour Of adjourn
ment was extended until Mr.. LANDoN ha
concluded his remarks
CONCLUSION NEXT WEEK
SHORTLY after Dr. Johnson issued tn