Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1866-03-03

the GOVerDm3pts -
d. Is the military support o. the ooss
eminent required now4in tennessee An
aid Of your Bureanf
A. It 10.
q. Do YOU believe that the affairs Of
The Bureau could be safely administered
there without the military support of the
Governmensf
A. do not.
That is all desire to read from the
testimony of Gen. Fisk in relation Of
the assumption in this message that it
is intended to provide for the education
and support of four millions black peo-
pie, whenthe evidence shows that far more
whites than blacks are provided for; that
the Bureau has been means ofeconomy
to the Government, and that the expenses
offeeding refugees and freedmen has been
reduced from $97, 600 to $4,000 In one
district in four months.
will now proceed to notice the next
objection which the President made to
the bill. I regret to be compelled to oc-
cupy go much time. II / had had an
opportunity of arranging my papers be-
fore speaking, would not have inflicted
so long speech upon the Senate; but as
had not time to arrange them, l nee
essarily speak in desultory way, and,
doubtless, will repeat myself very much
before 1 conclude.
In. addition to the objections already
stated, = says the President, ssthe eth
section of this bill proposes to take away
land from it's former owners, without any
legal proceedings first had"
i regret that a statement like that
should inadvertently (for it must have
been inadvertent,} have found place in
this veto message The fifth section of
The. bill does not propose to take away
land from any body. i will read it, and
we shall see what it is:
"Thst the occupants of land under
Major General Sherman's field order,
dated at Savannah, January Is, 1865,
are hereby confirmed in their possess
ion." % a
( Is not this different thing from
taking away land from any body2 Do
You take thing away from another per-
son when you have it in your possession
already2 Here are certain occupants
upon lands in pursuance of an order OF
one of the Major Generals of Your army,
and it is proposed by an act of Congress
TO protect them there temporarily in that
possession. Is that taking away land
from somebody? will read what the
President says in reference to that sec
ton, and then / will read the whole ssc7
ton: -
In addition to the objections already
stated, the fifth section of the bill pro-
poses to take away lands from it's former
owners without legal proceedings being
first had, contrary to that provision OF
the Constitution which declares that no
person shall be deprived of life, liberty
or property without due process of law.
IL does not appear that part OF the
lands to which this section refers may
not be owned by minors, or persons of
pnsound mind, or by those who have
been faithful to all their obligations as
citizens of the United States. IF any
portion of the land is held by such per-
sons, it is not competent for any person
to deprive them of it. II, on the other
hand, it is found that the property is La
Bile to con6scstion, even then it cannot
be appropriated to public purposes until,
by due process of law, it shall have been
declared forfeited to the Government. !"
This 10 what the President says. Now,
I will read the section itself /;
"SEo. s. And be IL further enacted,
That the occupants of land under Ma
ior General &hermans special field or
der, dated at Savannah, January Is,
1863, are hereby conhrmeu IN TneIf pos
session for the period of three years
from date Of said order, and no person
shall be disturbed in or ousted FROM
said possession during said three years,
unless settlement shall be made with
said occupant by the former owner, his
heirs or assigns, satisfactory to the
Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bu-
reau: Provided, That whenever the for
mer owners of lands occupied under
General Sherman's field order, shall
make application for restoration of said
lands, the Commissioner is hereby an
thorized, upon the agreement and with
the written consent of said occupants,
to procure other lands for them by rent
or purchase, not exceeding forty acres
for each occupant, upon the terms and
conditions named in section four of this
act, or to set apart for them, out of the
public lands assigned for that purpose
in section four of this act, forty acres
each, upon the same terms and condi-
tons"
Now, it will be seen that this fifth sec
ton, SO far from taking land from any
body, provides simply for protecting the
occupants of the land for three years
from the 18th of January, 1865, little
less than two years from this time. If
the section does anything, il simply pre-
vents the restoration of this property to
it's former owners within that period, ex-
cept upon terms to be entered into, sat-
isfactory to the Commissioner, between
the occupant and the former owner.
This is all there is of it. 1t is q very
different thing from taking away land
from its former owners. The President
says it is unconstitutional to take land
from person except by due process of
law, and that this section violates the
provision of the Constitution which de-
clares that no person shall be deprived
of life, liberty, or property without due
process of law. Now, what are the facts
about these lands 2 General Sherman
gas marching with o Union army
through the State of Georgia, from At
lanta to the sea coast. When he ar
rived at Savannah there was following
his army a large number of persons
whom he had been feeding by ths way,
who were dependent on him for subsist-
ence, and he found q large tract of
country entirely abandoned and waste.
He issued an order authorizing and d.
recting these followers of his army, the
negroes, to settle upon these abandoned
lands and guaranteeing to them military
protection. The possession which they
took was to be temporary. 1t is so
stated in the order, in which he says:
In order to carry out this system of
settlement, general officer will be de-
tailed as inspector of settlements and
plantations, whose duty it shall be to
visit the settlements, to regulate their
police and general management, and
who will furnish personally to each head
of family, subjeet,to the approval of the
President of the United States, a pos-
sessory title in writing, giving as near as
possible the description of boundaries,
and who shall adjust all claims or con-
fiicts that may arise under the same,
subject to the like approval, treating
such titles altogether as possessory."