The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-02-08
Therefore, if you should take away the
right which now is and always has

stead of getting 10 States, which is ne
cesSary to ratifY this amendment, you
might possibly get five. / venture to
say youc ould notge five in this Union.
And that is an answer, in the opinion
of the Committee, to all that has been
said on this subject. But it grants no
right. It says, however, to the State
of South Carolina and other slave
States,' true, we leave where 1t has been
left for eighty years the right to fix the
elective, franchise, but you must not
abuse lit; If you do, the Constitution
will continuesto inhictit until you shall
have corrected your actions.
Now, any man who knows anything
about the condition of aspiration and
ambition for power which exists in the
slave States knows that one of their
chief objects is to rule this country. 1t
was to ruin it IL they could, not rule it.
now their great ambition will be to rule
it. Ifa State abuses the elective fran
chise, and takes it from those who are
the only loyal people there, the Consti-
tuition says to such a State, You shall
lose power in the halls Of the nation,
and you shall remain where you are,
shriveled and dried-up .nonentty, in
stead of being the lords Of creation, as
you have been, SO far as America Is con-
cerned, for years past. -. -, 5...ii..s e {,
Now, sir, Isay no more strong induce
ment could ever be held QUITO them, no
more severe punishment could eyer be
inflicted upon them as States. If they
exclude the colored population they will
lose at least IS Represe sentatives. in this
hall. IF they adopt 1t they will have
50 votes. Take it away from them and
they will have only from 45 to 4S votes,
all told, in this hall; and then, sir, let
them have all the Copperhead assist
ance they can get, and liberty will still
be triumphant. Now, prefer that to
an immediate declaration that all shall
be represented; for if you maket them all
voters and let them into this hall, not
one beneficial act for the benefit of the
freedmen or for the benefit of the coun-
try could ever be passed. Their 81
votes, with the representatives of the
Five Points and other dark corners,
would be sufficient to oyerrule the
friends of progress here, and this natton
would be in the hands of the Secession
lists at the very next Congressional cleo
ton, and at the very next Presidential
election. ~ .,.-t,'l.
do not, therefore, want to grant
them this privilege, at least for some
wears. / want, in the meantime, that
our christian men shall go among the.
freedmen and teach them what their
duties are as citizens; they know them
now much better than their masters,
uOp6. LltlE I1d6IG1S WIZ AuhO nv
tice of what they learn. say want
our christian, men to go among them,
the philahthropists of the north, the
honest Methodists, my friends, the
hardshell Baptists, and all others and
then, four or five years hence, when
freemen shall have boen made free in
deed, when they shall have become
Intelligent enough, and there are sutfi-
cient loyal; men there to- control the
REPRESENTATION from those States, Ishan
De glad to see them admitted here. But
1 do not want them to have representa-
toni say it plainly-I do not want
them to have the right of suffrage be-
work, of regenerating the constitution
and laws of this country according to
theprincipleso of the Declaration of Inde-
Hence j, object to the amendment of
my friend from Ohio, (Mr. Schenck'l--
He says that if we allow these people
representation in proportion us they ex-
them to extend tito the colored race
Well, that is the very objection. They
will give the suffrage to their mentals,
their house servants, those they can
control, and elect whom they please to
make our laws. That is not the kind
of increase of suffrage I want, i want
all such men cut off from it. But when
they have said to all the freedmen, to
the former slaves, "You are men and
you shall be represented, y then let them
come here. shall not be here to see
them, as did their masters, who few
years since drew pistols and daggers
upon me when i was making such
speech as this, yet free people will be
here represented, and they will take
care of themselves.
But 1 have another objection to the
amendment of my friend from Ohio.
His proposition is. to apportion repre-
sentation according to the male citizens
of the States. Why has he put in that
word "male?n 1t was never in the Con-
stitution of the United States before.
Why make a crusade against women
in the Constitution of the nation?-
Laughter. Is my friend as much afraid
oftheir rivalry as the gentlemen on the
other side of the House are afraid of the
rivalry of the negro? [Laughter.l j.
do not think we ought to dishgure the
Constitution with such a provision. /
find that every unmarried man Is lop-
posed to the proposition. Whether mar
ried men have particular reason for
dreading interference from that quar-
ter know not. Laughter.l l certain
ly' shall never vote to insert the word
finale" or the word "white" in the
National Constitution. Let these things
be attended to by the States,
E Now, sir, there is another fatal objec-
ton to the proposition of my friend
from Ohio If ihaye been rightly in
formed as to the number, there are from
15ito 20 Representative in the Northern
States founded upon those who are not
citizens of the United States. In New
York, think, there are three or four
Representatives founded upon the for
eign population, three certainly. And
so it is in Wisconsin, Iowa, and other
Northern States. There are 15 or 20
Northern Represantatiyes that would
be lost by thatamendment and given to
the South whenever they grant the
elective franchise to the negro.
Now, sir, while have not any par
Tticular regard for any foreigner who
goes againstme, yet LIDO n ot think it
would be wise to put into the Constitu-
ton or send to the people proposition
to amend the Constitution which would
take such Representatives from those
States, and which therefore they will
never adopt. 1 have no hope that any
such proposition would ever be adopt
ed. Let us try to be PRACTICAL On the
5th day of December last 1 introduced n
proposition to amend the Constitution,
founding representation upon the yo-
ting basis and excluding the foreign
population, as the proposition of my
friend from Ohio does. 1t was dear to
my heart, for 1 had been gestating it for
three months. Laughter.l But when
i came to consult the Committee of Fif-
teen and found that the States would
cannot my friend from Ohio give up his
darling, too? Laughter.
had another proposition, which
hope may again be brought forward.
It's this:
Ali National and State laws shall be equal
y yaPpliea6leSo every citizen, and no dtscFtm-
ination shall be made on account OF race or