Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1866-03-02

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thinks proper to do tit is in bis dis
cretion-the purchase or renting of
land on which toFplace these INDECENT
people; but before any land can be pur--
CHASED OF rented, before any contract
can be made on the subject, there must
be an appropriation made by Congress
This bill contains. no appropriation. If
the President is opposed to the rent or
purchase of land, and Congress passes
bill sppropriating money for that pur-
pose, let him veto 1t if be- thinks it un-
constitutional; but there Is nothing
Unconstitutional in this bill q This bill
does not purchase any land; but it pre-
vents even a contract onthe subject until
another law shall be passed appropriate
ing the money for that purpose.
But, sir, what is the objections to il if
it did appropriate the money! | have
already undertaken to show, and / think
/ have shown, that it was the duty Of the
United States, as an independent nation,
as one of the powers of the earth,
whenever there came into its possession
an unprotected lciass of people, Who
must suffer and perish but for its care, to
provide for and take care of them
When an army is marching through an
enemy's country, and poor and destitute
persons are found within its lines who
must die by starvation if they are not fed
from the supplies of the army, will any
body show me the Constitutional provis-
ion or the act of Congress- that author.
ICES the general commanding to open
his commissariat and feed the starv-
ing multitude And has it not been
done by every one of yous commanders
all through the South 2 Whenever a
starving human being, man, woman or
chi d, no matter whether black or white,
rebel or loyal, came within the lines of
the army, to perish and die unless fed
from our supplies, there has never been
an officer in our service, and, thank
God, there has not been, who did not
relieve that sufferer If you want to
know where the Constitutional power to
do this is, and where the law is, l an.
swer, it is in that common humanity
that belongs to every man fit TO bear the
name, and It is in that power that be.
4 lOuko W 10 do . OhlAotAdu udiiOUs Carly
ing on war upon civilized principles
If we had the right then to feed those
people as we did, have we not the right
to take care of them in the cheapest
way we can ? II, when Gen raj Sher.
mau was passing through Georgia he
found the lands abandoned if their
able bodied owners had entered the
rebel army to fight against us; if the
women and children had fed and left the
land waste, and he had, as is the fact,
thousands of persons hanging upon his
army dependent upon him for supplies,
ask you, Mr.. President, If ii was be-
lieved that it would be cheaper 10
support these people upon these lands
than to buy provisions to feed them,
might we not do so7 May we not re-
sort to whatever means is most judicious
to protect from starvation that multitude
which humanity requires as 60 feed
Nor, sir, is it true that no provision
has been made BY Congress for the edu>
cation of white people. We have given
through all the new States one section of
land in every township for the benefit of
common schools. We have donated
hundreds of thousands of acres of land
to all the States for the establishment of
colleges and seminaries of learning.
How did we get this land7 1t was
purchased by our money, and then we
gave it away for the purposes of educa-
ton. The same right now exists to pro-
vide for these people, and it is not simply
for the black people, but for the white
refugees as well as the black, that this
bill provides - a'+
"The appropriations asked by the
Freedmen's Bureau, as now established,
for the year 1866, amounts to $11 ,745,-
600. 1t may be safely estimated that
the cost to be incurred under the pend
ing bill will require double that amount"
How much was expended last year for
the benefit of refugees and freedmen
not through the Freedman's Bureau, but
through the armyP Have you any means
of knowing2 The President did not tell
US, but presume that far larger sum
in proportion to the number that were
thrown upon our bands was expended
before the creation Of the Freedmen,s
Bureau in feeding and taking care Of
refugees and freedmen than since its
establishment Since that time the
authority of the Government has been
extended over all the rebellious States,
and we have had larger number OF
refugees and freedmen to provide for,
but, in proportion TO the number, I have
no doubt that the expense is less now
than il was before the establishment of
the Bureau.
sa9l1 Concluded To.8aorrosc = aal