Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-04-30
XXXTXth CONGRESS- First Session
WASHINGTON. April %.
HOUSE.


The House met to-day for general debate on tho
Presidents annual message.
Mr.. SU0FIELD, OF Pennsylvania addressed the
House on the subject Of reconstruction. The
premises which he assumes was, that the dis
loyal population of the South would not exceed five
millions; that this population was SO distributed
that if the late seeded States were admitted with
conditions they would be able to elect twenty-six
Senators and eighty-four Representatives thus per-
mittng one-seventh of the whole population of the
United States to control more than one third of its
Legislative power, and that this control would be
used for the destruction Of the Government. He
urged that the seeded States came back to the
Union only by coercion; that it was forced bridal;
that the original cause of secession, hatred of the
North and its anti-slaVery majOrties was much
stronger now than in 1861. They did not even pro-
fess themselves 10 be in favor of the Union, though
untruthiul men from the North prevarlcated for
them. Ii they could, they wou revive the Con-
federacy at once, and they would their power to
provoke war with Great Britain or France, hoping
Lh sreby to secure their own independence For
this state Of things three remedies have been pro-
posed First to disfranchise the Leading rebels;
second, TO neutr'liz their vo'es by inlranchisng
the blacks and third, to make the population minus
the disranchZ Zed classes, or the number Of voters
the basis of representation.
He advocated the third proposition, claiming that
ii was the Republican plan OF reconstruction. The
delay in reconstruction may be attrbut d to the op
position of the Democrats. They fought against all
reconstruction that did not allow the return OF their
long mpuTned friends, more numerous and more
malevOe ent than before. But there was no need Of
greathaste. Tue rebels had been for iui fsur years
out upon plsgue-infected seas, aud could they not
now tarry at quarantine for single session The
Presidents policy, as indir ated by his CORE pond
ence with his Provisional GOvernois, was not incOn
siStent with his plan; His breath was even now the
la " Of the land. The Democrats were pursuing
him with unreenting friends ip and il they finally
seducei him his friends could rejoice that the post
is at least secure. The Presidents patriotic
Thoughts of the last FIVE years would still live,
although only to reprove him. The proposition to
limit loyal Representa- ives from ,he South, he
(Mr Sch,fed) remarked, was snare. just as
Sar ha1h anO mt o. n u adj IN
unarmPd MON vesseis, replacing it with the pirate
emb bem W en- be bad secured hsYictims. " !. . q,
Mr.; SCHO!lELD rep led at length 10 the Lead
ing objecG n made to the Republican plaa of re-
cOnstructi n contrasting il with the policy advocat-
cd by the position. If the latter were to succeed
the ConfeueIates wnuld have sixty votes IN the
Electoral College, and would need only seventy
seven more to elect II President. of these they
claimed thirty Que from semi-cOntedeTate states,
and expected the Democrat. Of New York, New
Jersey and g mn ,cticut to make up, the remaining
forty-siA. Tue Government would then be run en-
tire ia the rterests of the rebels, and then would
os nsa GSt ns pds S q tS %S
namely to compel the rebels to become the rulers OF
the nation.
the appointment Of the committee on ReconstI uc-
tun, and otis action in reporting some constit luton
al amendments aud large mass OF testimony he said
he proposed to direct his attention to the report
made by that COMMITTEES on the 9Th OF last month,
and ajOntresOlut0n then reported for the admission
OF The State of Tennessee: lie must not be consd-
men 10 Congress in regard t. some matters intro
duced in that report. Two things were to
be I observed in The joint resolution re-
miitee ndorsed the Constitution of Tennessee as
Republican in fom and Otherwise declaring that the
only means by which the State could have any rep
resentation in Congress was to be through the law
making power of the United States. The COnstitu-
tion OF the State of Tennessee pro crbed who should
be entitled to the elective franchise, and itwould be
found that the word white" was used in almost
ery section. The elective franchise was limited 10
white loyal citizens of the state those VINO had
been engaged in the rebellion being disfranchsed.-
The colored population of Tennessee were more han
one-fourth of the whole population, and taking the
relative contributions Of Tennessee to the FeIeral
and rebel armies as data, the loyal white population
did not exceed one fourth Of the WHOLE If thatone
fourth wer to have exclusive contiol Of the State
| there would be no Repubicanisn, He held, howev-
ef that the Civil Rights bill giving Siyil rights to
would be nothing effected by giving them thercivil
| rights unles they possessed the political
power to protect those rights; If these peo,
| be the power TO take away the elective franchise
from them? citizen had right TO vote, and there
was no power under the government to deprive
him of that right. But this jointresolution would
only permit very small portion Of the white popu-
ation Of Tennessee 70 vote, and would exclude the
| colored population altogether; There was no ee-
not Republican in form which excluded large part
Of It's citizens from participation in it,. Congress had
centrO the matter and 1t was its duty to declare
that no Constitution OF q governmentwas republi-
can in form that excluded portion OF its citizens
| condtionally from elective franchise.
MT. HARDlNGE discussed the question Of re-
constl uctiOn from tho opposition point Of view He
said there had been two rebeions in the country,
| one at the North and one at the South. Although
differing widely on some points, they had been yet
| To overthrow the Constitution and dissolve the
IJnion The rebellion at the South was ended, the
| people had abandoned and repudiated seces-
sion, they returned to their allegiance now