The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1866-08-15

shows it to be otherwise. "A Vernon
Senator {p y began this species OF legis
lation by resolution that no reconstTuC
| tion should be had; except equal rights
without respect to color, including tn
elective franchise, were allowed. Reso
| lutions to make all equal before the Law
were offered by Stevens, Up. l0) Brig
iham, (p I4,) and FarDsworth, Up. 10,
which were intended, like the first of thu
recent amendments, to. open the way. foi
negro suffrage. Mr. Julian Up. 2429) offer
ed resolution declaring that suffrage
should not be abridged on account of colol
in the Territories OF in new States. The
attempt to stifle this resolution received
only twenty nine votes against seventy
six! When afterward, in the Senate, Mr.
Wade offered general territorial bill OF
the same tenor, (3,476) it was received
with favor. But the District of Colum.
bia, which has been called the negroes
paradise, was the field for these efforts.
Kelley, Julian and Spalding, each pre-
sented laws to allow negro suffrage there.
A vote was had, and bill actually pass
ed in the House, ll6 to 54, Up. 3I0) amid
the cheers of black mob in the gallery.
This was done in defiance of the vote in
the District Of Columbia, certified to
Congress by Mayor Wallach, which show
sd, on a large poll, 6,59l against, and
only 50 for the measure 1t came near
passing the Senate (3,434) the most rad
ical proposition of Senator Morrill, being
lost by only four minority. 1t was then
dropped amid the confusion of closing
the session: la..re resg --
/ said that some 1900 pages Of the
Globe was taken up with discussions ex-
clusiyely about the negro Perhaps one
third of this number was in reference to
suffrage in the District and the remainder
on freedmen's bureaus and negro repre-
sentation. So great was this radical do.
votion to the negroes, that on q question
of precedence raised by Mr.. LIE Blonde,
between them and our suffering finances,
the negro gained it by thirty-one major
ity Q,45S.)
On the question of negro representa-
ton in Congress, the resolutions of the
radicals began early and kept up until
they eliminated in the amendment to
which i have alluded. General Schenck
(Globe 81 offered the first in the series,
apportioning representatives according
to the voters; Mr. Pike followed (p. 1851,
Mr.. Blaine next (p, 1869, then Mr.. Orth
(p. 235), Mr.. Stevens and Mr.. Broomall,
until the sky was dark with futtering
focks of amendments. They were all
caught and sent to the Committee of
Fifteen. 4- ,. D.. o..
-Four and twenty blackbirds baked i'll a pie y
When the pie was opened D.
The birds began to sing
Wasn't that pretty dish
To set before kingt" QLaughter)
But King Caucus digested them, and
from its report we have new amend
ment to the Constitution. AT first, the
basis began on voters, when it was found
out by a calculating New Englander,
that Vermont, for instance, had more
people and less voters than California;
but each had three members.
Vermont had Of people 35S, ,ll0; Cali
fornia had Of people 3l4 1863; Vermont
had of voters but 81 900, while California
had 2O7 900; SO that Mhile Celi19rnift
would only keep her three This was a
pretty dish SO that New England was
not ready to swap off her women and
children, lunatIcs, &c, for freedmen, in
the exclusion of all except voters from
the basis She was willing to lose her
Goldfish bouhties, provided she got salt
for them free. Laughter She was
willing to see madden introduced for ag-
ricultural growth, by the Government,
free. (Globe, 73i) She was willing to
favor coinage Of five cent pieces and
make them q tender to the amount of a
dollar Laughter She was willing
to abolish liquor from the Capitol, and
make various other sacrifices, but never
would she trade Off her women and
children, counted in the ratio, for the
satisfaction of depriving the South of
six congressman on the new basis.
AT length New England succeeded,
aud the amendment took its present
form, that all persons shonld be counted,
but not males over age deprived of voting
by reason of color! This is the meaning
of it. 1t is a menace to the South: IF
you don't allow negroes to vote they
shall not be counted in the basis of rep.
resentation. Minors, women lunutlcs,
conyicls, nOu.yotcrS and negro voters
shall be counted, but negroes without
suffrage, never Agree to this basis, or
stay out Now am uotPTepared TO say,
but that something should bo done TO
reform the basis but ! am prepared to
say that do not approve of any plan
which changes the organic law while a
third IF the StatesIto be affected by it are
kept aloof from the Congress which pro.
poses the amendment by a threat Of
Federal disfranchisement, nor any plan
which takes any other basis than the
whole population. [Cheersl ]
I,PGE very Iarrn majority OF the