The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1866-08-23

section by section, separately, SO
that the States could ra6fy one and
reject the other. But here the
States must ratify them altogether,
or none-swallow them whole,
good, bad and Indifferent. Laugh
teri .'
What is this action Of Congress
founded upon9 What are the ideas
that underlyne it9 / can tell you.
There are three of them. l have
no doubt our friend here entertains
them all. [Laughter.] The first
is that it is necessary to reduce the
representation of the Southern
States. Now, my friends, it is not
necessary to reduce them at all r
They are reduced by the very ope-
ration of the war. OF all< lle.
bodied men of the South oi4e fosth
have perished. Of the colored
population of the South, one-forth,
below the Potomac, have already
disappeared. state this upon the
authority of the best generals in
our army-upon the authority, of
Governor Aiken, Of South Carroll
ma, one of the largest shareholders
of the South-of Randall Hunt, of
! New Orleans, who knows well of
weat he speaks-of Captain Ha-
ney, who aided in taking census
in order to ascertain the number OF
the colored population in some Of
the districts of Louisiana. One,
fourth of the colored men south OF
the Potomac have already disap-
peared; and by 1870, when you
come to takeyour new census, your
two-fifths that would have been ad-
rded in consequence OF their free
dom are already gone. And un-
dertake to force negro suffrage in
those States, and in the
course of ten years two
thirds of the negroes will be gone.
Therefore, fellow-citizens, there is
no great fear. 1t the Constitution
shall remain unchanged, and in the
course of q few years you take the
new census for the basis of repre-
sentation in the Southern States,
there is nothing for us to be alarmed
at. The North has been increas-
overwhelmingly increasing
while the South has been decreas.
ing. And if the South had been
increasing at all, it would not have
been with the negroes or rebels
1t would be because Northern men
and Northern soldiers have been
going in BY thousands, and, per.
haps, by hundreds Of thousands, to
: cultivate the fields of the South;
! and if they increase its representa-.
ton, why should we obectG Who
should object to an increase in the
South that comes from our own EN-.
igration from the North 2 But there
will be no increase. Wherefore
this apprehension of the necessity
for the reduction of the representa-.
ton of the South
SENSITIVE ON THE SUBJECT OF BONDS
There is another idea which is
, appealed to-an apprehension by
which they try to frighten the peo-
{ pie of the North, and especially
those who own any Of the bonds b
J the United States-to wit: There il
great danger Of assuming the reb
els debt. I should like to Bee the
first member of Congress who dare
vote for it'll
[The stout individual had by thiI
J, time so far recovered himself as to
gasp, "Better be safe, thought
Mr.. Doolittle-I will say to my
friend, if he should be elected tc
Congress Tderisive laughter an(
vote for an addition to the three Of
four thousand MILLIONS of debt, tt
pay the interest of which we are
burdened with taxes; let him vote
to add the rebel debt to this, an(
on his return there would be dan
ger of his hanging to the first lamp
post in this city or Buffalo. [LOu(
laughter.l 1.-THE individual repeat
ed weakly his previous remark
"Better be safe, thought My
friend, acting on the motto, "Bet
ter be safe, though" would moi
, vote for it. He would be afraid O
that lamp-post. Laughter. But
as l have said, there might be NJ
. objection to this section if it were
; thought necessary, but it cannot
, be voted tor by itself . "r ,t
/ THE RADICHLs DIsTRUsT THE PEOPLE
Now I will tell you the third idef
on which this action Of Congress il
|, / N 1