The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1866-04-26

: into public life to the present moment,
| have always stood unwaverinely the sd
tvocate and defender of their rights and
interests. Cheers
We are now in the nations third or
deal We are not vet through. We
denied that States could go out of the
union We denied the doctrine of seces-
sion. and we have demonstrated that We
were right We demonstrated il by the
strong arm Yes, the soldiers and the
sailors. God bless them. have demon
strated bv their patriotism and strong
arms that States have not the power to
leave the Union. Applause. What
followed The Confederate armies were
orerpowered ard disbauded. and there
was a willingness on the part OF the peo-
pie of those States to come back, in
obedience to the laws, and acknowledge
the supremacy OF the Constitution of our
fathers.
For what havewe passed through this
third ordeal? 1t was to prove the prin-
ciple that no State had the power to
break up the Government. 1t was to
put down the rebellion. The rebellion
has been put down, aud for what! Was
it to destroy the States? Verify, never
For what have all these lives been sac
rifced. aud all this treasure expended !?
Was it far the purpose of destroying the
States? No; it was for the purpose of
preserving the union of the States That
is what we have been contending for.
and to establish the fact that the nation
can lift its head above and beyond inter
nal wars and treason, and traitors at
home When rebellion in Massachusetts
was put down, did that put Massachusetts
out of the Union. and destroy the State?
When the rebellion in Pennsylvania was
| put down. did that destroy the State and
put it out of the Union? So, when the
recent great rebellion was put down. and
the Constitution and laws of the country
restored, did they not stand in the Union
| part of the glorious and bright galaxy
of States? [Lond caeers.l
In passing through this ordeal, what
has been done in them under the direc
ton of my lamented predecessor? We
succeeded before l came here in restor-
ing the relations between Tennessee and
the rest of the Union, with one exception,
and that was the relation of representa-
ton.
/ came to Washington. and under ex-
traordinary circumstances. succeeded to
the Presidential chair. The Congress
of the United States had adjourned with
out prescribing any plan. / then pro
ceeded. as had done in my own State,
in the reconstruction ofthe Government.
to restore the other States. and how did
we begin? We found that the people
had no courts, and we said to the Judges,
District Attorneys, and Marshais, go
down and hold your courts. The peo
pie need the tribunals of Justice to be
opened
Was there anything wrong in that p
The courts were opened " hat elS,.
We looked out and saw that the Eaoi,is
down there had no mails Tney haG
been interrupted and cut off by the op
Grafton of the rebellion We said TO IT,
Postmaster General, let the people have |
facilities tor mail communication. and |
let them again begin 10 understand what /
we all feel and thnk-that we are one
people We look out again and saw that /
there was blockade, that the custom /
Houses were all closed. We said open |
the doors of the Custom House, and re /
move the blockade. Let the pursuits OF /
peace go on, and it was done. We thus /
travelled on step by step, opening Gus
tom Houses and appointing collectors, /
and establishing mail facilities, and re-
storing all the relations that had been
interrupted by the rebellion. Was there
anything undertaken to be done here T
that was not authorized by the Constitu
ton I! that was not justified by the great
necessity of the case? that has not been
clearly consonant with the Constitution?
with the generous spirit of our Govern
ment? Cheers
What remained to be done? One 9th
er thing remained to show tie civilized
world that we bad passed successfully
through the ordeal of our national ex
istence; and prove that our Government
was perpetual A great principle was
to be sustained which was established in
our Revolution when our fathers were
centending against the power of Great
Britain. What was one of the principal
causes of their complaint? 1t was that
they were denied representation. They
complained Of taxation without repre-
sentation. ICheersl One of the great
principles laid down by our fathers, and
which fred their hearts. was that there
should he no taxation without represen-
tation. How then does the matter stand ?
Who has been usurping the power2 Who
has been defeating the operation of the
Constitution And what now remains
to be done to complete the restoration of
these States to all their former relations
under the Federal Government, and to
finish the great ordeal through which we
have been passing 1t is to admit rep
resentation. cheers and when We say
admit representation. what do we mean ?
We mean representation in the constitu
tional and law abiding sense, which was
existing at the beginning of the Govern
ment
The Constitution declares in express !
terms that each house. the Senate and
House of Representatives,, each acting I
for itself. shall be the Judge of the re- I
turns. election and qualifications of its :
own members 1t is for each house to
settle that question under the Constitu-
ton, and under the solemn sanction of
an OATH And can we believe that either {
House would admit any member into its
body. to participate in the legislation of
the country, who was not qualified p
They have the power-not the two houses {
frr Il.