The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-08-16

son, Illinois John McGinnis, ir.,
Michigan; Gen. j Ohm G. Parkhurst,
Minnesota: Richard Price, Wiscon7
sin; George G. Goudy, Iowa; G. D.
Palmer, Kansas; w. A. Upton, Cali
fornia; jackson Temple, Nevada;
Major L. Lowry, Washington Ter.
ritory; Charles L. Egan, 7-t ssd II
81 Gen. Dix, at the conclusion of the
reading of the report, introduced Sen
ator Doolittle, who was received with,
the most enthusiastic applause. DoO-
little, on taking the chair, said: Il
Gentlemen Of the Convention: 80
For being chosen to preside over.
the deliberations of this Convention
[ sincerely thank you. I wish that
its responsibilities had fallen upon
another; but, relying upon that cour-
tesy and generous confidence which
has been extended to the Chair, | en-
ter at once upon its duties with a de-
sire for its;success. Wenare engaged
upon questions in this Convention, in
my opinion, which will prove to be Of
the. greatest importance for Peace; !;
happier, victories, not less renowned
thar war, applause and this Com
ventionr is one of her victories. May
[ not say, a scrowning victory2
[Cheers.] For the first time in
six years, a national Conventions
representing all the States, is
now assembled. Six long, weary
years b As, q Ia .leoke > oh! what
an interval it is Of blood and tears!
During that period we have been en-
gagged in the most gigantic civil war
the world has ever seen, wasting our
resources, drenching a thousand bat.
tle-felds with fraternal blood, and
carrying to fraternal graves our fatha
ers, our sons, and our brothers : but,
thanks be to Almighty God the, war
is over cheers !, and thrice blessed
Peace has come to stay See e'what we
now witness = the North and the
South, the East and the West, join.
ing in fraternal association as friends
Our work would have been already
done cheersl if they could have seen,
as we saw, Massachusetts, and South
Carolina. [applause] with their full
regulations, coming arm-in-arm into
this great Convention. Enthusiastic
applause. If they could have seen
this body, greater in numbers and in
weight of character and brain than
has ever assembled on this continent
under roof, melting to tears Of joy and
gratitude to witness this ceremony,
there would be no struggle. at. thepolls
in the coming election. Applause.
When [ remember that it was Massa-
chusetts and South Carolina that, in
the Convention which named the
Constitution, voted against the aboli-
tion of the slave trade; that it was
Massachusetts which, in 1912, through
some of her men, taught the doctrines
of notification, and South Carolina
which carried them out, and again, In
the form of secession, reasserting
them in 1860; when [ call to mind
that South Carolina fired the first gun
in this contest, and that the veins of
Massachusetts poured out the first
blood in the struggle, and when [ call
to, mind all these memories, I at
the same time ask the. people of this
country to- look in on this Convention
to see these two old States of the
Union coming here in fraternal en-
brace, approaching the common cause
of our country, ready to make COM
mon sacrifices for the good of the
whole nation again Could the whole
people of the United States witness
all this there would remain no further
work for us to perform. Loud
Cheers If the people of Massachu-
setts herself could have witnessed
it, not a single member would be re-
turned to Congress from that State,
great applause, until he had given a
special pledge, that he would do all
in his power to recognize the equality
and dignity of all States under the
Constitution, [cheers, including the
sacred andsunalterable right of every
State under, the Constitution, to re-
presentation In both Houses of Con-
gress. Cheers. Gentlemen of the |
Convention, / shall go into no argu-
this occasion. The distin- |
guished gentleman who proceeded me-
Gen. Dix, has said all | would de-
sire to say, and much better |
than [ could say it. $ i indorse and
take pleasure I'M indorsing the old !
Constitution, sentence by sentence, |
and word by word. iI1We should be |
untiring in our efforts to see to it
that the next Congress, if this shall |
continue to abuse this sacred right of |
representation to equal States, shall |
recognize that right. (Applause) |
When that is done the Union |
is restored. (Cheers.) And. when
the Union is restored, we shall !
be prepared, in my judgement, to enter |
upon nobler career among the nations |
of the earth than has ever yet been
occupied by any Government. upon
which the sun of Heaven has ever
shone. Loud. Cheers, ~ = We shall
stand In the vanguard of liberty and |
civilization, We shall lead the way |
by the light of our examples for all |
the other nations of the earth. Great !
Applause, But without OBTAINING
you any longer, / shall enter at once |