East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1866-02-21

"
the President is such as in the time
of peace certainly ought never to b,
entrusted to any one man. If it b,
asked whether the erection of such .
tribunal within State is warrantec
as measure Of war, the question i'm,
mediately presents itself, whether We
arc still engaged in war. let us not
unnecessarily disturb the commerce
and credit and industry of the ooun.
try by declaring to the American peo-
pie and to the world thats the United
States are still in condition of civil
war. AT present there is no part of
the country In which the authority of
the United States is disputed. Oflen-
ces that may be committed by individ-
Az 10 ;hcnld net wnrk 2 farfeitgre of
The country has entered, or is return
ing to a. state of peace and industry,
and thevrebellioh is in fact at an end.
The measure, therefore, seems to be
as inconsistent with the actual condi-
ton of the country as it is at varience
with the constitution Of the United
States. 70 If passing from general con-
siderati6ns, we examine the bill in de-
tail, tits open to weighty objections.
In time Of war it was eminently
proper that we should provide for
those who were passing suddenly
from condition of bondage to a state
of freedom; but this bill proposes to
make the Freedmen's Bureau, estab-
lished by the act Of 1865 as one of tho
many great and extraordinary militia
ry measures to suppress formidable
rebellion, permanent branch of the
public administration, with it's powers
greatly enlarged. l have no reason
to suppose and | do not understand
it to be alleged that the act of March,
1865, has proved deficient for the pur-
pose or.which it was passed, although
at that time, and for considerable
period thereafter, the Government of
the United States remained unac-
knowledged in most Of the States
whose inhabitants had been involved
in the rebellion. The institution of
slavery, for the military destruction
Of which the Freednen's Bureau wa,
called into existence as an auxiliary
force, has been already effectually and
finally abrogated throughout the
whole country by an amendment of
the constitution Of the United States,
and practically its eradication has re-
ceived the assent and concurrence Of
most Of those States in which it had
ut any time existed. l am not there
fore able to discern in the country
to justify an apprehension
hat the powers and agencies of the
Freedmen's Bureau, which were eff
fective for the protection Of freedmen
and refugees during the actual con-
Of hostilities, and Of African
seTyitude, will now ina. ti1f slavery;
prove Inadequate to the same proper
ends. II / am correct in these views,
there can be no necessity for the en-.
largement of the powers of the Bu-
reau for which provision is made in
tho bill. The third section of the bill
a general unlimited amount
of support to the destitute and suffer-
ing refugees and freedmen and their
wives and children. Succeeding Sec
tions make provision for the rent or
purchase of landed estates for freed-
men, and for the erection, for their
benefit, of suitable buildings for asy-
lums and schools, the expenses to be
betrayed from the treasury of the
whole people. The Congress of the
United States has never heretofore
thought itself competent to establish
any laws beyond the limits of the Dis
trict of Columbia, except for the ben
eft Of our disabled soldiers and sail.
ors. 1t has never founded schools for
any class of our own people, not even
for the orphans of those who have
fallen in defense Of the Union but
has left the care of their education to
the much more competent and efficient
control of the States, of communities,
of private associations and of individ-
uals. 1t has never deemed itself au-
thorized to experd the public money
for the rent or purchase Of homes for
the thousands, not to say millions, Of
the white race, who are honestly toiling
from day to day for their sustenance.
A system for the support of INDECENT
persons in the United States was never
contemplated by the authors of the
Constitution, nor can any good reason
be advanced why, as permanent es-
tablishment, it shor(d be founded for
one class or color of our people more
than for another. Pending the war
many refugees and freedmen received
support from the Government, but il
was never intended that they should
henceforth be fed, clothed, educated
and sheltered by tho United States
The idea on which the slaves were
assisted to freedom was that on be-
coming free they would be self-sus-
tanning population. Any Legislation
that shall imply that they are not ex-
''pected to attain q self-sustainihg con-
dition must have tendency injurious
alike to their character and their pros.
perity. The appointment of an agent
for every county and parish will create
an immense patronage, and the ex.
pense of the. numerous officers and
their clerks TO be appointed by the
President, viii be great in the begin
ming, with a tendency steadily to in,
crease. The appropriations asked by
the Freedmen's Bureau, as now es
tablished, for the year 1866, amount
to s11, ,7l5,000. 1t may be safely esti
mated that the cost to be incurred
under the pending bill will requir'
double that amount---more than tn,
entire sum expended in any one yea
under the administration of the secont
Adams. If the presence of agents il
every parish and county is to be con
silered as a war measure, opposition
or even resistance might be provoked
so that to give effect to this jurisdic