The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1866-01-25
XXXIXth Congress- First Session
WASHINGTON, jan. 1S.
SENATE.

q ion), from the Committee on Com.
A merce, reported without amendment
the House bill TO extend the time foi
the Withdrawal of goods from bonded
y warehouses aud public stores.
g Mr.. HOWE'S joint resolution fol
I the appointment of Provisional Go.
:, vernors in the Southern States wa,
then taken up.
A joint resolution was reported ant
passed, distributing the writings oi
Madison among the State aud COVER
mental departments.
The bill for the admission of Colo
I RADIO as n State was reported.
c Mr.. NESMITH, of Oregon, Dem,
favored the reconstruction policy oI
PresidcntJohuson, opposed negro suf.
irage, and advocated a generous poll.
! cy toward the South.
Mr.. WADE, of Ohio, (Union), fol.
lowed. Argues against admitting the
, Southern States at present. Mr.
, Wade spoke at great leJgth, and said
he had no intention to say anything
on this subject; he preferred to wait
Tor the report of the committee to
e whom the matter had been entrusted
but as the Senator from Wisconsin,
Mr.. Doolit,lc-had, in his elaborate
speech yesterday failed TO touch up.
on some of the most important parts
OF the subject, he felt constrained to
sny'somcthing Mr.. Doolittlc begun
by informing us that Mr.. Lincoln had
Icntcred upon n policy in regard to the
admission of some of these States du
ring the period Of the last Congress.
! believe that question was agitatcd
before us, and all the arguments pre-
scntcd failed to convince me that the
States could be admitted. Tho arpu.
ments entirely failed TO convince me
that the time had come when il was
safe to admit any of these, therefore.
! contcndcd against IL, and for that
and those with whom | acted are ac-
cuscd of being n little captious, or MS
more said, TO be fillibustering against
the will of the majority think Mr..
johnson has made n great improve
mcDt on this subject over his predc-
cessor, although he has not yet touch
ed upon u c point where think the
difficulty bcgins. Mr.. Lincoln ad- |
vised us to admit Louisiana into the
United States, while probably more
than onc-half her territory was tram.
lplcd beneath the hostile foot of the
enemy aud our flag did not cover half
her territory, aud perhaps half the
population of the State. | did not
think IL was safe 10 admit Louisiana
On such terms. | had not seen any
thing in their conduct or proceeding 3,
to warrant me in saying that such
course would be safe. You will re.
collect MIR. Lincoln did not require
Anything more from them than that
onc-tcnth part should take certain
oath. MIR. johnson has made an i'm.
proycmcnt, n great one, upon this, for
he does require that they shall abol.
.ish slavery. Ho requires that they
shall ropudiatc the rebel dobt--hc re-
quircs that they shall rcnounce the
right of sccession--he requires that
they shall agree to the constitutional
amendment abolishing slavery forev.
er. Thcse--in my judgmcnt--arc
great improvements on the system of
Mr. Lincoln. Had Mr. Lincoln, at
that time, required these or had the
states come up to il, | believe that |
then would have yielded to his wish.
es and given him my support. But,
sir, | have never had but one pnlnr
star to my action, and that adhere
to whether in majority or minority
| never intend to be tempted from il |
one single inch, | have fixed my ewes
upon tho great principles of ctcr.
nal justice and right and il has borne
me triumphantly through all Difficult |
ties in my legislative career. When |
first had seat in this body, | can
triumphontly say | have stood upon
this iloor when | had ten men to sup.
port me against the entire Senate and
and when the principles | advocated
was, unfortunately, more unpopular
than these | announce to-day. How
was the whole Senate startled by The |
idea of universal emancipation Ton q,
anosn, or even hvc years ago. Talk
about unpopular doctrinos--attemu,
to in'imtdo'e by the in,ima,ion that l \
shall bo found in minority among
the people, | know them better than
| know that | tread the great path.
way of rectitude and right, think
| can say with Paul, we have fought
u good fight; We are not entirely
through with it, admit; we have a
little further to go in the Same direc.
tion but our path is, fortunately, ca.
sior than it has been, | give the
President credit for all he has done,
and honor him for the manner in
which h, has insisted on tho great
guarantees ! have already alluded to.
He has commenced, as il were, TO
complete this work of freedom right !;
he has laid the foundation deep upon
the rock of justice and right; he has
demanded that before the law all men
shall be equal he has demanded that
slavery shall bo abolished, | agree
with him so far aud honor him. lie
stands firmly where he does, but il
has failed TO pu. the keystone upon
the arch that he has built; and if you
leave 1t where it is, it will go to ruin,
! want, when this question is once
settled, to be entirely done with it,
| don't want etcrnally to be fighting
over this question--slavery aud dis
tinotions among the rights aud priyi,
lcges of the American people. l say
to President johnson, TO the Demo.
cratic party, and to the people of the
| United States, | never will yield the
controversy until all mon shall stand
upon an equal footing-equal before
the law In every resnoct MLon tha.,