The Portland daily press., 1866-01-18

the north so strong, is national. We cannot
have two kinds of liberty, one In the north
and another in the south. There must be the
same liberty foi the poor as for the rich. We
must give not only the name of liberty, but its
meaning. 1t must be American liberty as un-
derstood by the American people. This idea
of American liberty includes six rights; the
right of life and person, the right of labor, the
right of property, the right OF contract, of civ
il protection and equality, and the right of
suffrage. rtrv@rrv eg $780,
MIR. Beecher spoke eloqently of these vari-
Gus rights, of their worth and value, which.
he said, are held by men higher or lower as
they themselves are high or low. The right
of suffrage the speaker held as an inalienable
and natural right To be freeman is to have
right to the instruments which enforce and
secure liberty. A man is not free whose life,
education and family are determined by infiu-
ences above him in which he has no concern.
He admitted that this principle, if carried out,
would extend the suffrage in some directions
which many people regarded as dangerous,
but he was in favor of trusting it fully, of car
rying it to its legitimate conclusions. He
would not, however, insist on the extension of
suffrage as condition of reconstruction. If
he had been President he would have done SO
last Spring; but matters had gone SO far since
that it was unwise to press this requirement
now. That which we SOW in May we do not
sow in August. To 60 back on the steps that
ha.,o X, o,>l
guarantees of the South would be ungracious
Mr.. Beecher stated what, in, his opinion,
we had, and had not a right to expect of the
South. We could not expect that the men
| who have submitted to an overpowering mill
tary force will rejoice at their own downfall
and spring up and kiss the hand which whip
ped them. He did not think it strange that
some Of the Southern men grumbled after de-
feat, and he thought they should be allowed
to grumble the same as boy to cry after he
has been whipped. We must not expect
men educated under different ms buttons and
to political principles totally at defiance with
our own, to readily adopt new ones from the
Northern, men. We must not expect men
who have always regarded negroes as semi
human, to go fer the whole doctrine of suf-
fage and citizenship. Sometimes, too, it
would be well for us to remember the homes
we live in. Northern prejudice against color
was too strong to allow us to be amazed at
Southern injustice arising out of the same
cause. Nor should we expect the people who
have been taught to look upon the negro as a
beast, always to know how to treat him as
man, even when they honestly try. We must
rely on other measures than legal coer-
cion for the protection of the blacks until
such time as men learn their new Duties
Legislation will not alleviate prejudice. 1t
won't change unkind feelings into kind ones.
The South must recover by labor, and it is
only new industry that will bring her back
She is fast finding this out. Her success de-
ponds upon cotton; cotton cannot be had
without black labor and black labor cannot be
had unless negroes are kindly treated. So
self-interest will soon teach them the right
way out of the difficulty. The blacks should
become landlords as fast as possible. The
glory of the North is its diveraified and mi
AutC i1IuuStiy. Lie TtllONdtlOu vi Lne SOuGQ
will be in the same. AG
In conclusion Mr.. Beecher made an earnest
and eloquent appeal for the spirit Of justice,
and love. By justice he did not mean revenge.
Heprotested against vindictive punishment
even OF Jefferson Davis, as uncalled for. The
weakness of secession was sufficiently shown.
The south was one vast smouldering ruin
What the country needed now was not blood,
but we should show foreign governments that
we are strong enough to be magnanimous.-
The martyrs who have fallen on those south
ern fields, could they speak from their graves,
would not invoke unchristian revenge; they
would say: Forgive them, for they knew
not what they did" This portion of the
speakers remarks produced a marked sensa-
tion' sliiSst .4algQ : a4sTtta sac