The daily Mississippi clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1866, 1866-04-20
TELEGRAPHIC
SPEECH OF
PRESIDENT JOHNSON.

respects to the President, President John
son said confess that i'll the peculiar po-
sition of public affairs, your presence ana adj
dress give encouragement and confidence to |
me in my efforts to discharge the duties en- |
cumbent on me as Chief Magistrate of the |
Republic, and in what have TO say shall |
address you in the character of citizens, |
sailors and soldiers. (Applause). We are |
to-day involved in one of the most critical |
and trying situations that have occurred |
since the Government came INTO existence.
Our nation has another test stlll |
to undergo, and that is to give evidence |
to the nations of the earth. and to its own
citizens, that it has the power to restore IN
ternal peace, that il has strength enough TO
put down treachery and treason within its
own borders. (Cheers) We have com
menced an ordeal, and l trust in God, we
will pass through it successfully. (Cheers)
feel complimented by the allusion of one
present to the fact that in the Senate,
in 1860 and 1861, when the nation was
entering on this ordeal raised
my hands against treason, treachery ana
traitors CHEERS and cries OF good.)
stand here to-day holding to and maintain
ing the same position which | then enun-
ciated (Cheers) / stand here to day OPP
posing traitors and their treason, whoever
they be, in the South or in the North,
cloud cheers) | stand here to day as then
stood, nsing all my powers, mental and
physical, to preserve the nation III going
through the third phase of its existence.
The organized forces and combined powers
that recently stood arrayed against you are
disbanded and driven from the field. But 1t
does not follow that there are still no enemies
against our present form Of government and
our free institutions (applause.) L then
stood in the Senate of the United States,
denying the doctrine of separation and Sc
cessiOn. | denied then, as | do now, that
any State has the right of its own will to
separate itself from the other States, and
the right to destroy the Union and break up
the government, and | think | have given
some evidence that l have been sincere and
in earnest, and now | want to know why it
is, that the whole train of of slanderers and
calumnators have been barking and snap
ping at my heels (cheers0 Why is it they
have arrayed themselves against me! Is it
because ] stand on the side of the people!
and when | say the people, / include sailors
and soldiers (cheers). Why is it that they are
aTrayed in traducing and falsitying, and
calumniatingme! Where were they during
the rebellion just ended answer at home
in bed. Laughter) In the Senate |
raised my voice against it, and when it was
believed that it would be to the interest of
the nation and would assist in putting down
the rebellion did not leave my place in the
Senate, place of emOlument, ease and dis
tinction, and take my position where the
enemy could be reached and where mems
lives we're in danger! CHEERS and cries of
that's 500 While ! was thus exposed, per-
sonally and publicly, some of my present
traducers and calumniators were far re-
moved from the foe and We're enjoying
and comfort. (Cheers) All these fCul
whelos of sin have been turned loose against
me. | care not for all that they may tell
you, sirs, to-day. Although pretty well adj
vanced in life, | feel that | shall live long
enough to live down the whole pack of ira
! ducas and infamous slanderers. (Applause.)
They have turned the whole pack loose to
| lower me i'll your estimation. Verify they
| can do it, Tray, Blanche and Sweetheart,
| little dogs and all, come along swapping and
| snaIling at my heels, but | heed them not.
| (Cheers) The American people, citizens,
| soldiers and sailors know that from my ad-
| vert in public life to the present time, have
| always stood unwaVeringly the advocate.
ana defender of their rights and interests
| (Cheers) We are now i'll the nations third
ordeal. We are not yet through. We de
MED that States could go out of the Union.
| We denied the doctrine of secession and we
| have demonstrated that We were right. We
demonstrated it by the strong arm.
Yes, the soldiers and the sailors, God
| bless them, have demonstrated by their pat
| riDtism and strong arms that States have
not the power to leave the Union. Applause ]
| What followed! The Confederate armies
were overpowered and disbanded and there
| was Il willingness on the part of the people
| of those States to come back in obedience to
the law, and acknowledge the supremacy Of
| the Constitution of our fathers. For what
| have we passed through this third Ordeal!-
| 1t was to prove the principle that no
| State had the power to break up the Govern
ment. 1t was to put down rebellion. The
rebellion has been put down, and for what?
| Was it to destroy the States! Verify, never!
| For what have all these lives been sacrificed
and all this treasure been expended! Was
it to destroy the States! No 1t was for the
| purpose of preserving the Union of the
| States. That is what we have been contend
ing for and to establish the fact that the
nation can lift its own head above and be-
| yond internal wars, and treason and traitors
| at home When the rebellion in Massachu-
| sets was put down, did that put Massachu
sets out of the Union, and destroy the
State! When the rebellion in Pennsylvania
was pnt down. did that destroy the State
and put it out of the Unionl So, when the
great rebellion was put down and the Con
stitution and laws of the country restored
the States being engaged in the rebellion be
ing crushed, the laws restored and the Con
stitution acknowledged in them, they stood
in the Union and under the Constitution g
portion of this glorious and bright galaxy o.
States. In passing through this ordeal
much has been done in them, under the di.
rection of my lamented predecessor. We
| commenced the work of reform-we succeed
ed before | came here in restoring the rela
lions which had existed between Tennessee
and the rest of the Union, with one eXcep
ton, the relation of representation. | came
to Washington, and under extraordinary
circumstances, succeeded to the Presidential
chair. The Congress of the United State
had adjourned without prescribing any plan
| then proceeded l had done in my owl
State, i'll reconstructing the government, t.
restore the other States; and how did we be
gin! We found that the people had NJ
courts, and we said to the Judges distric
attorneys and marshals 90 down and hole
your courts, the people need the tribunals o
; Justice to be opened. Was there anything
; wrong in that The courts were opened
what else! We looked out and saw tina
the people down there had no mails the,
had been cut off by the operations of the re
belliOn. We said to the Postmaster General
let the people have fair chances for mails
! and let them again begin to understan,
what We all felt, that we are again one
! people We looked out again and saw tina
there was a blockade, that the custom
houses We're all closed. We said open tn
doors of the custom houses and remove tn
blockade let the pursuits of peace go on
and it was done. We thus travelled on
step by step, opening the custom houses
| appointing collectors, establishing mail ia
cilities and restoring all the railroads tina
had been interrupted during the rebellion
Was there anything undertaken to be don
= | here that was not authorized by the Con
l stitution, that was not justified by tn
: great necessities of the case, and that has no
been clearly consistent with the Constitu
l ton and with the generous spirit of on
(aha NlnA,
done! One other thing remained to SHOW
the civilized world that we had passed sue
cessfully through the third ordeal of on
national existence, and proved that on
government was popular. great prin
ciple was to be restored, which was estab
: lished in our revolution. When our father
l were contending against the power of Grea
Britain, what was one of the prncipa
causes of their complaint? 1t was that the,
, were denied representation. They com
planned of taxation without representation
(cheers) One of the great principles lait
down by our fathers, and which fired thei
hearts, was that there should be no tax
alton without representation. How then
! | does the matter stand! Who has BEEF
| usurping powerl Who has been defeatin.
the operation of the Constitutions VIVA
l now remains to be done to complete tn
. | restoration of these Statss to all their fol
| mer relations under the Federal Govern
, ment, and to finish the great ordeal through
which we have been passing. 1t is to ad
! nit representation! (cheers). When w
: say admit representation, what do W
| mean. We simply mean represen
tation in the constitutional and tn
law abiding sense which was understood,
at the beginning of the government
, The Constitution declares in express term
: that the Senate and House of Representa-
tives, each acting for itself, shall be tn
| judge of the returns of elections and tn
qualifications of its own members. 1t i
for each House to settle that question unde
the Constitution and under the solemn