Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1866-02-02

State, the unit OF society, that it has but on,
will, what follows That whenever more thar
one family is in existence, and the question
arises what shall be done with reference tc
the community Of families, then the familiet
are to be consulted. Hence arises the doc.
trine that there can be no just government
except by the consent Of the governed.
What l maintain next is that you have nc
right TO exclude from this consultation any
one Of the families. for the moment you do 80
you violate the principle Of the Government
Consequently but one voice is needed for the
expression Of the one will Of the family and
the question then arises, whose voice shall il
be? Properly, the voice Of that one who, il
the Government constituted by his agency
and authority be sssailed, is to peril his life
in its defense. Thus is demonstrated the pri-
ority Of right by nature which gives TO the
man the expression Of the voice Of the family
rather than to the woman or the child.
Next, Mr. Speaker. is it not seen that, il
these propositions be true, the right to vote
exists independently Of all human agency in
The sense Of law and the doctrine that the
right Of voting is a conventional right, is not
sustained by reason or history. History shows
only this, that the limitations upon the exer-
else Of the right Of voting are the results OF
conventions. The natural social right is the
right Of the family to speak in all matters
which concern the welfare Of the family as
one family in the great society and family OF
man.
This demonstrates, think, that the negro
has everywhere the same right to vote as the
white man. And maintain still further, that
when you proceed one step from this line you
admit that your Government is failure.
What is the essential quality Of monarchical
and aristocratic governments Simply that by
conventionalities, ny arrangements Of conven-
tions, some persons have been deprived Of the
right of voting. We have attempted to set
up and maintain Government upon the doc
trine OF the equality of man, the universal
right Of all men to participate in the Govern
ment. In accordance with that theory we
must accept the ballot upon the principle OF
equality. 1t is enjoyed by the learned and
the unlearned. the wise and the ignorant, the
virtuous and the vicious
The great experiment is going on. II, be-
fore the war, any man in this country was
disposed to undervalue Government thus
conducted, he should have learned by this
time the wisdom and the strength of a Gov
ernment which embraces and embodies the
Judgment and the will of the whole people.
II the negroes Of the South, four million
strong, had been endowed with the elective
franchise, and had united with the white peo-
pie of that region in the work Of rebellion,
your armies would have been powerless to
subdue that rebellion, and you would to-day
have seen your territory limited by the Poto-
mac and the Ohio.
And if, in the North, suffrage had been
limited, as il is in Great Britain, you could
not have commanded two million six hundred
thousand volunteers for the defense of the
Republic. The unity Of sentiment in the 10y
al States was due to the fact that every m n
felt that the Government was his own. This
only illustrates how strong Government is
when it is founded upon the judgment aud
the will Of the whole people, and how weak
it is when founded upon the judgment and
the will Of part.
| advance still further. l have said that
consider this question as involving other is
sues than the mere matter of suffrage in the
District of Columbia. do not conceal my
opinion from friend or opponent. | am of
those who believe that any restoration of Ell
ther of the eleven States lately engaged in the
rebellion to political power in the Govern
ment Of this country, which is not coupled
with or preceded by the condition that the
negroes Of the South are to vote, opens a way
to the destruction Of this Government from
which there is no escape. declare, after the
gravest deliberation and the calmest reflection,
and | say it with sorrow, looking upon the
country, rent by opposite opinions on this
question, that without such measure as |
suggest for the southern States, this Govern
ment cannot outlast those who are now in
the vigor OF manhood. Why and how will il
fail
1t will fail and fail from the fact that by
restoration without this allessential guaran-
tee we put into the hands of our enemies in
the South two weapons, the blows of which
we shall be powerless to parry. One is the
assumption by the Government OF d vast and
overwhelming weight Of Indebtedness, to be
followed by foreign war. We see to-day
how difficult it is to restrain and control the
people of this country in their desire to ia 9
Just vengeance for the wrongs inflicted upon
them by England and France. Suppose the
power of this Government was intrusted to
the hands Of the late Shareholders, the men
recently engaged in rebellion. Does any man
believe that they are restored to their right
mind, that they will give an ardent support
to the Government? All the testimony is
that they are as alien and hostile to this Gov
ernment as ever, and that they only seek an
opportunity to strike deadly blow.
What opportunity do you give them
They are marshaling to-day in Virginia, in
South Carolina, in Louisiana, their claims
upon this Government. They will demand
81 900. 900 900 for slaves, untold hundreds
Of millions ofdollars for depredations commit
ted by our armies. An aggregate of thou
sands OF millions of claims, or demands hav-
ing the color of claims, will be marshaled
against the Government: and you invite six
ty Representatives, united. bound together
by the ties of interest and of ancient and un-
relenting hostility, to enforce these claims
This Congress, no doubt, is incorruptible
but when there are claims against the Gov
ernment to the amount OF $4,000 900 600,
with the support that such representatives
may afford, twenty-five in the Senate and
sixty in this House, with all the influence Of
this immense demand against the Govern
ment, do you expect to resist them Do
you expect to meet them with paper block
Ade, constitutional amendments, II that is
your expectation, your expectation will not
be realized and when they have involved
the country in an indebtedness of four, five,
or six thousand million dollars, when they