Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1866-05-10
RUTLAND HI AID.
MONDAY, MAY :, 1866,

.rsf,a ,r SENATOR EDMUND.

pndcr discussion a motion 30 recon.
slider the vote hy which tlat body had
.e.used To order the bill Tor the admis-
son Of Colorado into the Union 20 be
qrgrossed for third reading senator
Etmunds mace the speech which we
cory below from the Congressional
Globe At its close Mr. Sumner arose
70 the Senate AMI warmly thanked the
Senator rom Vermont for "the noble
utteranCe they had heard from him"
He has reminded you continued Mr..
Sumner, 'of the true principle on which
you are to pass He has held up before
YOU the dignity of the occasion and has
rallied the Senate to its duty. His
speech ought to produce an effect on his
associates in this Chamber. 1t ought to
remind them that there is a truth which
cannot be put aside for any temporary
expedency."
The point in this speech particularly
deserving of careful consideration, we
think, was that the hands Of a majority
of the peOple-the 'cAite people-of Col
orado should not be so tied up by a con
stitutiOnal provision that they cannot
hereafter, if they should wish it, allow
the blacks the right to vote The con-
stitution of the new state could not be
amended except on a twO-t thirds vote of
the Legislature. Admitting Colorado,
therefore, with the present constitution
Is in effect enabling the handful (Com-
paratively speaking) of voters now in
that territory, not only t. tie their own
hands, but also the hands of all who
may hereafter swell the population Of
The new state, so that a majority of the
whites cannot do justice to the blacks
il they are disposed to. So that in
stead Of protecting the right Of the ma
ority considering the whites only to
! regulate the matter of suffrage in the
\ territory, or state when admitted, it
\ really places that right under the con-
II uol Of the minority. Admitting Colo
ado with her present constitution, in
this view, can hardly be said to be leav-
ing the question of negro suffrage to the
majority of that state to regulate now
and hereafter for themselves.
Mr.. Edmunds spoke as follows:
Mr.. President, as | feel constrained to
vote against this reconsideration and as
the reasons which impel me to that
course are somewhat different in degree
j. not in kind, from those which have
III been advanced by other Senators upon
N ibis floor, / beg the indulgence o. the
H Senate for very few moments while |
state them.
The principal objection which induces
ne to oppose the admission Of this Ter
TtOry at this time, and to oppose 1T in
n spite of the personal respect and esteem
which feel for the distinguished gen.
H .emeu who would otherwise represent
Il her in this body, is found in the nature
Of the constitution itself which she has
Nesented, rather than in the irregular
it7 with which it has been adopted, or
in the want of sufficient population to
| entitie her to admission and presume
that nobody will suppose that misrep,
resent Vermont on this question ',nen
II say that it grows out Of this much dis
cussed word, white
II In my own State from its foundation
when it was an independent State fol
many years, not a member Of the Union
It's constitution from the beginning 10
this day has adhered to what l under
stand to be the principles of the Declar-
alton of Independence thoroughly. 1t
has tolerated no distinctions between
human rights Of one race and another, OF
OF one color and another, or Of one sect
and another While my State, as all
other States do, recognizes distinctions
among men, while it acknowledges the
paramount right and the paramount du'
y OF majority of the whole people tC
determine what are the true qualitlca
aons Of electors, it discards the dOgmS
Of delusion and of wrong which declares
mat these qualifications and distinct
.ons are to rest upon unreal and acci
dental foundations. Its laws always
have, as the laws Of all States do, pro
uoed that lunatics, non conpoteS, crimi
nals, and variety of classes OF person.
upon whom the law under similar cir
Nmstances operates equally everywhere
a'e not entitled to exercise a voice il
NE government Of the State.
NOW, sir, in the case we have before
Us, independent of the question wha
are State rights, Independent ef the pro
priety of anything in the constitution
VI any State which already exists, VI
are called upon, in the exercise Of a con
setutlonal power, to decide US matte
=, propriety for which we are responsi
Se, What is fit and necessary to ne con
Alned IN the constitution OF a STATE
snlch we are about to admit. We hav,
slIlre power over the subject. 1t ap
g4ls to our sense of justice, and to ou
uOty to the country. 1t appeals to tha
SeaSe OF justice and to that duty in tn,
isssons we have derived from the pas
40 tn hopes which we have for the fu
afe' am not to be told, for one, tha
Se rejection of constitution becaus,
imposes the qualification of color up
= It's electors is thing that has neVe
IN done before. As the honorable sen
or lrem Massachusetts said the otheI
sAy, when is the time to begin if it il