Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-02-27

l the peODle'S President
| lCheersJ And, my friends, the real difference be-
| tween the President and his opponents lies simply
there. lie is of the people, from the people, and he
trusts the people, North, South, East and West,
And why not my fellow -citizens? Is not this fair
fabric OF ours built upon the people, and the man
serts the failure of his Government? The people arc
| to be distinguished from their leaders. The former
never can commit treason; they may be mislcd and
carried away by war, but when the war is over they
quickly resume their allegiance. The leaders you
| may punish, but they are not the people. Then,
those who differ with the President persist in the cf
fort to punish the latter and how? First by contra
yeninE I'll the d3gmas OF the people in and through
! the medium of the kTcedmen's Bureau bill. We hold
| that all the States Of the Union are in the Union,
| and can't be got out of it.
But we have party now. small, heretofore exist
| ing only as society, laughter, who hold that the
| States out of the UniOn How did they get ont
| What is State? corporation. body polite. You
never saw the State; it has no real existence. The
State can do nothing except what it is lawfully
thOrized to do. 1t can't commit murder or larceny
the people of the State but the State can't. We
| hold that the States were always in the Union by
law and will remain So and say that it was always
| fixed opinion Of the American people that the
| States were so IN the Union and couldn't be taken
| out. Applause.
But this party says the State committed suicide a
tei2 dc se Laughter. Then they go a step further
and say the people are conquered and their cry is
victts say, my fellow citizens, that is contrary
| to the opinion of the American people and of the
| President. Cheers and cries of assent why should
| the people want to conquer the people Why should
| people of Maryland or what ambition could Mary
| land have to conquer Little Delaware Laughter.
| A monarchy with large domain, or an aristocracy
for the sake of Its incomes, might want to conquer
| people. but never.
| And they go further and say there are two kinds
| of people coored people and other people great
laughterl and that these OOred people must be
people just like the other people. That might do il
| it were so, but it isn't So (Mr. Cowan here briefly
| animadverted upon the radical doctrine Of equal
civil rights for whites and blacksD Now in order
that this little society might be able to achieve its
purposes with regard to the people everywhere for
| Ruregu Ia1 yharn
even into my State it was necessary to contravene
| the law. That Bureau treated eleven States out
of the UniOn and gave the negro the right to vote,
and set Federal officers every county and parish
| who should seize every one who opposed its pro-
counsel allowed and this mnion of CORRUPT Eyecu
| tive (thank God had who spurned it,
[cheers for the President might have taken your
| Lieutenant Governor and sentenced him to a year
| Imprisonment and thousand dollars fine.
Now, my fellow-citizens, will explain to you very
briefly the features of this bill. 1t always happens
in time of war that people will be thrown cut Of en-
| ployment, and all well organized armies will have a
| the war But more. The war broke \up slavery
that little society didn't do 1t. The war opened the
eyes of the white man to see that slavery was bad,
| and the institution was broken up. Not satisfied
| with the care the army had hitherto extended to
| these people, Freedmens Bureau appointed to
take charge of this thing which the quartermasters
| did before. 1t could have been done just as well
without any municipal legislation, but Congress es-
tablished the Bureau. But then it is found not to
cost enough, and it didn't do enough, and must be
| enlarged.
The Secretary of War is thereupon authorized to
issue clothing, fuel, rations' &c; to treedmGn; how
| many OF them, nobody could tell. Very well. That
| was the first provision
| The Commissioner of the Bureau had the right to
buy lands and rent them to the freedmen buy lands
| for schOohOuses and do a great many other things
for which there Is no Constitutional authority. And
where the judicial process had been interrupted by
the rebellion, there the Bureau was to take charge Of
| every body, whites, negroes Chinese ilndGOS, and
! everybody. Laughter. Coupled with this was the
enormous power Of se2ing the State officers and drag
| glng them before the agents OF this tribunal.
Noy' gentlemen, this was the bill the President
President couid'n sign this bill it was impossible
for him to do lie swOre to support the Constitu-
ton and execute the laws, and ifhe would support
the Constitution he must find in that instrument some
authority for this law. There was no authority, and
| it was simply asking him to perjure himself. An
drew johnson believes the States of the Union to be
free One of the essential elements OF the freedom
of the State is that il shall distribute it, political
power itself. If Pennsy were to come to Mary
land and say you distribute your political power
to suit me, and Maryland did it, she wouldn't be
free State; IA voice-No; don't want the freedmen
Bureau-laughter.l And so if the United State
were TO say to the States You must distribute you
political power as We tell you the States would ceas
to be free.
In Pennsylvania we allow every white male citi
zen, 20 years OF age to vote, and being PennSylva
nian stand for her right to do that. And when
stand for the right of Pennsylvania, / also stant
for the right of Maryland. Cheers for MIR. Cowan.
1t is question for the people to determine, andtha
is the Presidents policy. His business was to rescue
the Stafes from the power OF tle secesSloniSts
made the war that the people OF the South might dt
what they please within Constitutional limits, and
believe in that people. IA yoice-Old Sumner don't.
believe in the Coxes, the Prices, the McLeans ant
the DoOittles. Cheers.
The people may be seduced for while but whor
they come back, they willing to do what is bes
for the Southern people, | am willing to trust them
| The United States Government abandoned then
when the war broke out, and who were they to IOOi
TO for protection? Congress was at one end of thu
avenue talking politics and the President at tht
other scratching his head lLaughter.l Whenever
the people had the power to vote, 1t was always
loyal vote, and it took all manner of machinery t
brlhe them into war with the Government. Wei
they got it. and it rough operation before they
got out. Laughter
If they only behave right now we will be tht
greatest people on the earth. This war has demon
stated that we have Two great powers in this repub
lic lappauSel and it behoOves us in the language o
| alike study Cancellation and fraternal feelings. Lei
us love one another and above all have faith IN the
people as the President has To-day we have differ
ences with England and France. Restore this Union
bring back the people, and their differences vanish
into thin air in instant. Keep the Union as it is
trample upon five millions of 0alr people, and we are
| theweakest Power on the earth. Applause.
Then, gentlemen, the policy Of the President is as
have stated it to you. He believes that the laws a
they if enforced will restore unity and concord
| | am glad to ind that you came here IN such mum,
bers at this call had no doubt the people would
be right but l am sratifed they are right so soon
Mr.. Cowan spoke for about forty minutes, and
took his seat amid loud cheers and cries of Give il
to Stevens J" Give 1t to SteVensP'
| REMARKS OF Mr.. DooIITTLE.
Hon. J. R. Doolittle. United States Senator from
Wisconsin. was next introduced, and was greeted
with most enthusiastic and Iong-continued ap-
plause:
He thanked God the war Of blood was over, and
that peace had come again. TherebelliOn was dead
secession was dead, slavery was dead. Let thC
dead bury their dead He spoke to the living q
the liy ing issue of the hour. The Republic still
lives the Constitution still lives, Liberty and Union
still lives-one and inseparable May they live for
| ever ltfreat cheering
While the war was raging, while rebellion sought
to ranpe under its feet that glorious emblem of the
Union and the Constitution, (ponting to the flag
| there was no man, perhaps who raised his voice
more earnestly in favor Of vigorous prosecution OF
the war than himself: During that long struggle he
4 had one controlling idea-that force must be over
| come by force, that there was argument against
armies but hayonets and bullets-and urged his
trymen everywhere to the conflict until the rebellion
was crushed under foot That Struggle had est most
dearly. Sons, brothers and fathers had gone forth
| to return no more.
| who could say that he had lost no friend in this
| bloody struggle? We knew it had cost him most
dearly his eldest son. the pride of his life now sleeps
| III premature grave made by this rebellion. But
| now that the struggle was past he was for peace
| peace as a reality, not as mockery. lie believed
| the great mass OF the American people pleaded foI
peace as earnestly rs during the they pleaded Or
| its prosecution, The martyred dead were speaking
for peace. If the spirit of the maTtyred President
| We're here it would plead for peace. LApplause.l
EThe martyred Lincoln would plead with the Ameri-
can people to sustain the policy # Andrew johnson
lie did not speak unadvisedy when he said this for
he knew Mr.. johnson was following out the policy OF
| his illustriOus predecessor. This war Andrew
| Baltimore, when he was nominated for Vice Presi-
| dent. There was a delegate from Pennsylvania.
named Thaddeus Stevens prOtraced Kissing at that
| very time in 1864, when Mr.. Lincoln had already
| entered upon this policy of reconstruction, in
| Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee.
| Mr.. johnson had been appointed provisional gov
in the State of Tennessee to execute President
LincOlns policy there, and in view Of al tlse mets
| he was taken up by the grea; Union party That
convention endorsed tqt policy, and make it most
| emphatic, nominated Andrew johnson, because he
had SO fully put it into operation in Tennessee. Who
opposed the nomination. Thaddeus Stevens: misses
because he said, Tennessee was not a State of the
gnlon but that she was foreign State, and that An
drew johnson was an alien and could hold office
under the United States Under the lead of that he
roic old Senator, Preston King that convention deci-
ded that johnson still a citizen of the United
States; Tennessee in the Union, aud he was eligi-
| bic to hold office under the Union.
And yet there are some men who VIII nOw stand
up and say that those that maiutan that Tennessee
Is in the Union and entitled to representation are
traitors to the Union party. 1t is an entire mistake
| They are standing by the Union platform of 1864
policy which in substance is now being carried out
| by Andrew johnson. In his Judgment and he
| thought the facts demonstrated. that Mr. johnson
is the true representative Of the Union cause and the
Union platform; still holds in his hand the flag of the
Union and on that flag every star remains, There
are some men now. who if they occupied the Execu-
tive chair. would fire but twenty guns for a ma
honal salute; but President johnson ordered sa-
lutte of thirty-six guns, and the flag still Yzese1s
/ thirty stars. =
1 p .