Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1866-05-10

our faces once more toward the the arts
of peace, and the hopes OF prosperity,
aud OF equality and fraternity too, l
should hope, We are to begin 4 new era.
There is therefore, eminent fitness &C
cOrdine to the spirit of the times, there
Is great appropriateness that now, when
We have the first opportunity after what
has passed, we should pnt ourselves
right u0On the fundamental principles
OF government; and accordingly there
have been, in this spirit, introduced al
ready in these enabling acts quaifca-
tiOns and requirements which Were new
er introduced before. IL has not been
usual, according to my recollection, to
insert in these enabling acts that "the
constitution when formed shall be re-
publican and not repugnant TO the con-
stitution of the United States and the
principles of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence." That ancient charter Of our
liberties has again been referred to, and
among its principles l believe is the car
dinal one, which has been stated by the
Senator from Massachusetts, of the
equality Of man, and that further prin-
Ciple which has been stated by him,
which that instrument emphatically de-
clares, that the obligation and the right
of those who govern is derived from
those who are governed.
Now, there is offered to us a constitu-
tion which contains in it the funda-
mental declaration that the obligation
to obey law, the power of those who are
to exercise law, does not depend upon
the consent of some portion of the gov
erned at all; but that by reason Of the
accident Of the color of mans skin or
of his race, OF origin, independent of
colOr-beCause / take it the word white
in this constitution means white as a
race distinguished from the negro race
"a portion of the people are to be ex-
cluded from participation in the gov
ernment. We are called upon under
this constitution, | say, to declare, if we
approve it and submit it to this people,
that a provision fundamental in its ma
ture. n this constitution Of that descrip-
tiOn is correct. | cannot consent to the
doctrine. If | rightly understand the
theory Of the formation of government,
it is that constitutions are formed (aside
from the mere framework and machine
ry of government) for the protection of
private rights and the fundamental
rights of minorities and individuals
against the power Of majorities, against
the exercise of arbitrary power or of
tyranny on the part of the Government.
Now, sir, what is there so sacred, what
is there so fundamental in the right Of
the white men to rule the black, that
the white men cannot be trusted with
the power Of welding it by majority ?
What is there in the nature Of this ques-
ton which makes it our duty to say to
the people of Colorado, ave will not
trust q majority Of your voters to repeal
the clause, but we will allow you to put
it in your fundamental law so that the
free will of your majority can never get
it out 7" ] fail to see what there is so
sacred in this right of white suffrs. .re
and in the duty Of the absence of suf-
frage on the part Of the black man, as
to require it to be inserted in the funda-
mental law of the Government.
You will find. sir, and Senators will
find, that this constitution contains the
usual Claus that two thirds Of the Leg
lslature are requisite to amend it in any
partlcLlar. 1t is not therefore, as |
said before, the question whether it is
II 9ht or fit that a State should decide
Tor itself who or what portion of its cit
liens should vote, but it is a fundament-
I al question whether we Will allow a
Territory over which we have control
to impose upon itself an obligation
which it cannot recede from, to exclude
from any Of the political rights Of gov
ernment any class of its citizens, That
is the question | do not know but that
if this were left, as the original enab-
ling act left it to the people Of that Ter
ritory to declare Of themselves when
and under what circumstances the col
! Ored race should be clothed with pOlit-
ical rights, I should not be satisfied.
should then have preferred, indeed, that
we should have some voice in the mat
| ter; but | fail to perceive how we can
be appealed to to give to these people a
| constitution which ties up their own
hands from doing what every one Of my
political brethren says is an act of JUS.
| tiCe.
What is there so sacred in this thing
I LldJ tnlS same constitution uOeS QOb re
uuire the Legislature, by two-thirds OF
its members, to allow any other class OF
citizens to vote? Is it not the subject
of ordinary legislation to declare who
shall vote and under what circumstan.
ces And if so, why is it necessary to
insert in a constitution which cannot be
controlled by q majority Of white men,
that the mere accident of race or color
shall be fundamental objection to any
allowance on the part Of the whites to
the blacks Of the right to vote?
Mr.. President, it appears to, me with
out enlarging upon this topic, that the
aristocracy Of class. the aristocracy OF
caste, is as bad as the aristocracy OF
kings. II is the same evil anti-demo-
cratic spirit precisely as that which an
mates the aristocractes that govern the
monarchies of the Old World only The
form Of the aristOcracy is developed in
different way. For myself, | am d
Democrat 10 the thorough sense OF the
term, as understand it, 1 believe In
the equality of all men. / believe in the
sscredness OF the private rights of all
meu. And yet am asked as political
friend of these gentlemen, as one having
| an ardent political desire that nv party