Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1866-04-09

law who shall hold lands, who shall tess
tify, who shall have capacity to make q
contract in q State, then Congress can
also by law declare who without regard
to race or color, shall have the right to
sit as a juror or as a Judge, to hold any
Office, and, finally, to vote in every State
and Territory of the United States.
The best answer, Mr.. President, l
could give to this would be the answer
of President Johnson himAcIf He under
took to reorganize the S<vth. When
he did so, to whom did he extend the
right of suffrage2 TO the hlacks2 No,
sir; but he extended the right Of
suffrage to those authorized to vote
under the laws of the State previous to
the rebellion. When urged to allow 10y
al blacks to vote what was his answer
That he had no power; that it was IN.
constitutional; but he had power to pro.
tect them in their civil rights, and he
did protect them in their civil rights
Then if it be true that protection in civil
right carries with it the right of suffrage,
what becomes of the position he assumed
when he extended civil rights to the
negroes all through the South, as shall
presently show, by orders issued by his
authority, and yet refused TO give them
the right of suffrage, On the ground
that be had no constitutional power to
do it-that it was right vested in the
States, with which he could not interfereg
CITIZENSHIP. 81
But the gift of civil rights does not,
nor never has. in this country carried
with it political rights, or more properly
political privileges. One may be citi-
zen in this country without the right to
vote or the right to hold Office. The
right TO vote and hold Office in the
States depends upon the Legislatures OF
the several States; the right to hold Of
fee under the Federal Government de-
ponds upon the Constitution of the
United States; the President must be q
natural born citizen; a Senator or Rep
resentative must have been citizen of
the United States for a certain number
Of years before he can be elected q
member of either House of Congress;
so that the fact of being citizen does
not qualify q person for holding Office
necessarily, nor does it necessarily au>
thorize him to vote. Women are citi-
zens; children are citizens, but they do
not exercise the elective franchise by
virtue of their citizenship. To be a
citizen of the United States carries with
it some rights. What are they2 Why,
sir, they are those inherent and f6nda-
mental rights which belong to every cit
izen and freeman in all countries; such
as the right contained in this bill, and
they belong to citizenS in all the
States of the Union. The right oil
American citizenship means some
thing. 1t, does not mean, in the case
of foreigner, that yhen he is natural
lied he is TO be left to the mercy of State
legislation. He has right, when duly
naturalized, to go into any State ia the
United States, and submitting to It's laws,
reside there, and the Government should
protect him in this right Il would pro.
tect citizen of the United States, not
only in one of the States of the Union,
but it would protect him in foreign lands.
In the language of Mr. Marcy when
Secretary of State, a citizen in foreign
country is entitled TO the same protec-
ton that is extended by ths Government
TO its own citizens These rights, which
belong to citizens and are known as
naturalrights, are defined by Blackstone,
in his definition of civil liberty, to be no
other than natural liberty, so far re-
strained BY human law, bnt no further,
as is necessary and expedient for the
general advantage of the public. In this
definition Of civil liberty, it ought to be
understood, or rather expressed that the
restraint introduced by the law is equal
to all, as the nature of the law win adj
NIT. Equality of rights is the basis Of
the commonwealth, as is laid down by
Kent himself In speaking of these
rights he says: "The natural right Of
individuals may be said to include the
right of personal security, the right
of personal liberty, and the right to ac~
quire and enjoy PROPERTY"
These rights have Justly been consid
cred, and frequently declared by the
people of this country to be natural, in
herent, and inalienable. What are they
for2 The right of personal security,
personal liberty, and the right to acquire
and enjoy property, and these are de-
clared to be inalienable rights belonging
to every citizen of the United States,
no matter where he may be, as . citizen
of the United States; and, Sir, if it was
not so, American citizenship would be
worth nothing.
What is it worth if it does not protect
the citizens in their rights? How is it.
Sir, that eve.y person. born in the United
States owes allegiance to the Govern.
ment Of the United States? Everything
that he has--his property, his life--maJ
be taken by the Government of the
UEited States in its defense, to maintain
the honor of the nation; and can it be
Sir, that our ancestors struggled through
a long war to set up this Government
and that the people of our day havt
struggled through another war to main.
tain it; that after all we have got q
Government which is all-powerful t.
command its citizens, but has no power
to afford them protection? Ia that all thi
boosted American citizenship amounts
TOT Go tell it, sir, to the father whose
son was starved at Andersonville; Il
the woman whose husband was slain a
Mission Ridge, or to the little boy, whC
leads his blind father through the streets
in your city, who lost his eyes on the
Gulf coast; go tell them that this Gov
eminent, in the defence of which tbs
son and husband fell, and the father los
his eyes, is q Government which has the
right to call those persons to its defense
but has no power to protect its friends
in any right whatever Sir, il can not
be. Such is not the meaning of our Con
stitntion; such is not the meaning o
American citizenship. This Govern
ment, which would 60 to war to protec
it's meanest citizen or inhabitant 10 any
foreign land whose rights were uniuatly
encroached upon, has certainly SONS
power to protect its own citizensin theil
own country.
THE RIGHTS OF CoLoRED PERSONS.
pass from the consideration OF thil
first section of the bill to the second
which ia objected to by the President 81
affording discriminating protection Il
the colored persons. Il says that ne
person shall subject a colored person tc
different punishment than that inflicted
on a white person for the same offense
Does that discriminate in bis favor
Why, sir, the very object of the section
is to prevent discrimination. The effec
is to prevent it, as well as its object and
language.
all remedial statutes are for the re
lief Of persons who need relief, an,
when those needing relief obtain il, the,
stand but upon the precise footing 0
those who do not neesS ii. There are
however, other and serious objections Il
this section. 1t ID said that under it
provisions Judges Of the Courts may b
punished, who are engagedin the execu
ton OF any State statute, and this j
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