, 1866-03-19
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FRFEkNfs SoH


FIRING.
IN the discussion Of the Frccdmen's Burean
bill In the Senate, the following discussion i,
reported: -
W. Hende1ton, OF Missouri, opposed H. sau,.
h 1s tSs ,I|d, " - protect the freedman was to 7e
Mt. Eumne1-Ihat's Bo 80
~. Nu1nbn!l. Of 1nIuo,s, did not think the right
na1fd eoo5eS Psope Of the sou Since tbe dsys
f1ch an nnise'Fl remedy for human woes as Nj.
suffrage. @-t1% "
While we agree with Mr. Trumbull TINT IL
10 lar more important that the hungry should
DC led, and TINT the naked should be clothed,
than that the hungry and naked should vote
wca1so agree with Senators Henderson and
summer that the only way to protect the
freedmen In the enjoyment Of such rights as
VIII enable him to feed and clothe himself by
lis own labor Is 10 give him the ballot. Di-
rcctly the ballot will not feed the negro, but
indirectly 1t Will prevent the white man from
stealing the fruits Of the negro's industry. 1t
VIII prevent the Late masters from enactiup,
as In Mississippi, that no negro shan own or
hire land, and SO will help to feed and clothe
him. It will prevent the whites from enact
ing as In Elcksburg, TINT negro must
pay license fees OF $3.50, before beIor
allowed to do business as car1nau; drsyman.
or hackman, and 90 would nssist the negro to
feed aud clothc himself It would prevent
them from enacting, as they have in Loulsl-
ans, Mississippi, and other parts of the South.
that lie negro must make his contracts for
tie whole year during the first ten days Of
january, or be sold as slave for the remain
n HV11 It
and elothe himself It would prevent the
whites, as IN sou1h Carolina, enactlng thatno
negro shall work except as q servant; that
he shall not leave LIS employers premises
without pass; that be may be whipped BY
his master, If under asc, and by any Jastice Of
Tue Fence, Hanfvod at manhood that no new
master shall hire him without the consent Of
his old one that he may be caught by any
body without protest and returned as a tugi-
tive to his master, and that The expense of
catchtng md returning him shall be deduct
ed from lis wages. All these ameliorations
would bc secured by giving the ballot 10 the
negro, anc they wou1d 60 farther to relieve
him from hunger and nakedness than any
amount OF money that Congress could dis
burse- It would prevent masters from CON-
blning, with or without law, to force colored
labor down below its iair value, and would
thus put bread not only In the co1orcd, but In
the white laborcr's mouth, for Ill labor, like
Wrtcz, seeks the same level, and where black
labor Is lll.paid white labor mus. be also ILL.,
paid. =
In short the extension Of the suffrage to the
colorcd people would reverse all these out
groupings Of oppression would not only IN
cure the abolition Of slavery but The rcsto1a-
tion Of liberty, and would set In motion
train Of causes which would gradually and
surely elevate the poorer classes Of the South,
white and black, substituting education for
ignorance, religion for cruelty and refinement
for barbar1sm.
But especially rs the President has decided
that whether or not 1t were wise, by tic
FFeedmcn's Bureau, TO feed the hungry md
clothe the naked at the South, In either case
1t shall not be done, viii not Mr.. Tfumbull
Introduce or support the proper amendment
to The Constitution Of the United States,
extending the suffrage, either with proper
limitations or universally, rs may b. deemed
| best, but SO that every coIored man North
and South shall have It in hiE power to BE-
come voter. While We would hsve been
! glad to see Senator Trumbull's Freedmcn,s
Bureau bill succeed, bridging orer the chasm
between the enslarcment and the freedom OF
the black man, now That that bridge is
swept awny, Will not our brace of Illinois
Senators Jointly swim the stream, aud plan,
the standard Of universal suffrage on tue
farther shore Senior Yates Is already on
the right side. Where Is Senator Trumbuus