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

acres or Dl0Od where death had held hlg
carnival The very men that covered thos
) broad acres with the slain are now voters
; sending men to Congress, and we are talk
ing about them as our law makers | an
afraid we are forgetting who filled tn
whole land with agony and piled up deb
that you and / have to help pay, ant
that children unborn are to be taxed t.
cancel.
All these things seem to be fast depart
ing from the tablet of our memory. w,
had better hold on to that memory littl,
longer
Leaving these general remarks, | come
now to another point-the reconstruction
of this Government. So far as the South
ern States are concerned, the United States
Government has complete and supreme con
troll in the premises over all questions and
over all circumstances
| may not carry conviction with me- but
| have always observed this peculiarly il
the Senate of Pennsylvania, that there is a
willingness to hear the opinions of any
man, if they are respectfully expressed.
Well, sir, the rebel States have no rights
no rights. | don't see how there can be
any difference of opinion about that 1t is
not worth while for us to chop logic upon
the subject. One thing is fact, the gov
ernment that they once had is destroyed, "a nd
their exact condition at the close of the wal
was this: AS so many square miles OF
hill and valley, they were of course in the
nation. AS so many communities, made
up of millions of human beings, they were
i'll the nation and subject to the commands
of this Government, but so far as partic
pating in the administration of that Gov
ernment was concerned, they had no right
or part. They were in it to be ruled by it;
not in it to give dictation or participate in
its rule. When they tore down the stars
and stripes and plunged the land into the
four long years of war that followed
when they swore allegiance to the rebel
tiag-when they left every question to the
arbitrament of the sword, they became al.
lens, and from that time they had no rights,
unless, as Parson Brownlow, a Southern
man himself, says "They have the natur-
al right to be hung and the divine right to
| be damned afterwards"
All they can expect is, de grati0, non de
Jure. All that they should hope-all that
they can ask must be in the name Of mercy,
not in the name of law What do owe
them? What does Pennsylvania owe them?
What does the General Government owe
them, after laboring four years to batter
down the Constitution that once protected
them ? Are they to be allowed all the
| privileges and immunities of that COnstitu-
| tion ? Not bit of it--they have no rights
| 1t is for the General Government to tell
them what to do and what not to do, how
far they may go and when to stop Every
question i'll regard to the white men and in
regard to the colored men in those eleven
| States comes under the control of the Gen
eral Government. The President and Con-
gress have supreme control of the whole
thing. And the President has acted upon
that very principle in numerous instances.
For when the bayonet was wrenched
| from their grasp, what did he do !? He ap-
pointed a Provisional Governor over them
| What did he do afterward Their State
Conventions provided for the mode and
manner of their own amendment But the
President ordered them to hold constitu-
| tional convention he paid no attention to
their Constitution, but ordered them to
hold convention, and prescribed rules for
| their management.
They acknowledged their subjection-
that is the term--SubjectiOn, and a very
mild phrase to meet their demerits He
told them firmly here is one thing you must
| do, you must repudiate your rebel debt
Then again he said, you must endorse this
proposed amendment to the Constitution of
the United States. When they held their
election contrary to the spirit of liberty and
acquiesence in his commands, what fol-
| lowed? He set the election aside, thereby
acting upon my theory that the General
| Government had the entire control over
them.
You understand me-the General Gov
ernment has entire control of all questions
in the District of Co umbia and in the rebe
States-in the District of Columbia in re-
gard to the colored men, and in the rebel
States in regard to both the white and col
ored men.
| Further here are four millions of freed
men. -Four millions! Think of it. More
people than there were in the thirteen col
onies in l776.
Many of them the SONS and daughters OF
Congressman, Senators, Judges and digni
taries at large. -Four millions of them
They are freedmen Now, sir, my affirma
tion is this Those four millions of freed
| HtcU must Ot pIOtttteu itSpcCI yum pic
judices, if you have any. l respect YOU
partisan feelings, if you have any, and
suppose you have but as citizens of Penn
sylvania, as members Of Senate of Penn
sylvania, as citizens of the nineteenth cen
tury, under the obligations that rest upo1
us, in the name of humanity and justice,
say that these four millions of freedmen
must be protected by the United States
Government.
Look at their condition hel pless, ye
not allowed to defend themselves. Tht
very arms they carried home from the bat
tie field are wrested from them by their
masters The Government told those fou
millions to desert their slave masters, t.
shake off their shackles, to take refuge
under the stars and stripes. The Govern
ment told them they should be protected
that it would shield them They took tn,
Government at it's word, and cast thei
cares upon it. Those four millions bull
their hopes upon the word of this grea
country, believing that the country woul'
throw around them its arm of mighty Pre-
lection.
They must be protected because of tn
feeling that exists in the Southern State
on the part of their former masters. be,
that you will look things fairly in the face