The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-03-11


. Jurors and suitors to take care Of themselves
may be marched of with bayonets at hii
back-in the hands of negro soldiers, too
and tried and fined and imprisoned by the
agent Of this Bureau, who has, perhaps
scarcely sense enough 10 get out Of The
rain. Laughter. And that would be q
nice spectacle for any respectable and law
abiding community to witness
What respect would the community have
for the judges and their authority when
treated with this sort Of indignityi And
the Governor Of a State, and every official,
in fact, may be treated in the same way; so
that if, in the opinion Of any Of these petit
tyrants, these agents If the Bureau, the
Governor of a State has violated the law Of
the Freedmen's Bureau so as to deserve i'm
prisonment for year, ne may 50 order it,
and deprive the State Of its Executiye-in
fact, the State might lose all its officials in
the same way, aud then, according TO the
theory Of the Sumner and Stevens school,
such States would be out Of the Union, If
not so before. Now, I ask of you, as free
men ana as fair men, who of you would
favor the passage Of s5 infamous law as
this-a law which authorizes and requires
such outrages as l have named to be COM
mltted? few days ago, in the city Of
Louisville, KY, some policemen were taken
up and fined and imprisoned, So the papers
| say, having arrested same negroes under
the orders Of the city court, aud one Of those
officers was amongst the very first soldiers
! IN Kentucky who Joined the United States
army in the suppression of the rebellion
| Such is the practical operation of the law as
1t now stands; what it would be under this
new bill, heaven only knows.
! And when an arrest is made by the agent
| of the Bureau no power on earth can order
| a release except the President of the United
| States, and however outrageous the arrest
| may be, the army stands at the agents
| back to protect him and to enforce it. The
| courts, National and State, are powerless to
interfere, aud from the decision Of the agent,
no matter how much may be involved, or
what he may decide as to the property or the
liberty OF the white people, the appeal lies
nowhere, by the provisions of this bill
And though court may try and determine
a cause between a negro and a white per
son, the agent Oithe Bureau may retry, re-
decide the case, and enforce his decision in
! defiance a the court, for the army is ever at
his beck and call. SO the Bureau has orig
lnal and appellate jurisdiction Of all matters
| and things, decided and undecided, in which
| a negro has an interest. A difficulty may
occur between negO and any member Of
your family, and the agent may fine and
| lnprison II he will, and there is no remedy;
anu III the tAUIGloG ol ALlS unlimited lurls-
dictiOn, the discretion, the will of the agent.
furnishes the law IN every case, for there
are no rules laid down for his guidance.
With far more than sovereign power he is
left to act as he phases. And now, who
dares stand up before the people aud de-
nOunce Andrew johnson as a traitor for
refusing TO approve this infamous and ac-
cursed bill Who would so degrade him
self a. to take upon him this iuIamy? In
my humble judgment, if the President had
not vetoed this bill, he would have deserved /
the eXecratiOns Of all honest and liberty
loving people. and we may well fear for
the liberties Of the people when such a law
rs this can find approval in any Of the de
pErtments of tho Government.
/ only wish that those who so fiercelv as
sail the opponents Of this bill We're sent
down to the Southern States to enforce il; in
that case l would withdraw sll opposition
and leave them and their precious Bureau
TO take care of themselves. And apart from |
the fact that this bill is unconstitutional in |
is provisions, and oppressive in its opera
uOGs, II would bring ruin TO that race in |
whose name and ,Or whose benefit all these
outrages would be committed. 1t would |
naturally and inevitably induce q war be- |
tween the white and the black races, for no
community Of Americans anywhere would !
submit to such Outrages and expressions as |
have named, and it would be a shame and |
a disgrace 10 that Government for which we |
have done and suffered so much; in fact, |
Government that does not and will not pro-
teot those who give allegiance TO It is not |
1T to live under, and ought TO be destroyed, |
and go down at once. LApplaUse.l
So far have not alluded 10 the cost Of adj |
ministeriug this law. The President said |
in his veto message, that under the old law |
the Bureau had cost the Government over |
100000 per year. In addition to the |
expenditures allowed in that bill, the bill |
vetoed authorizes the agents TO purchase |
farms, to build houses, hamlets, aud towns, |
to build school-hOuses for the negroes, to fur
nish them with teachers, to supply them |
with provisions, with medicines, and with |
doctors, all at the expense OF the people al
ready so burdened with taxes. One hun /
dred, two hundred millions of dollars might /
be 50 expended, as there is no limit save |
what the agents of the Bureau my deem /
necessary and proper. And so the negro |
was to be set free because he was man,
and TO be taken care of, fed and clothed, be-
cause he is no man. Laughter.
Now, our country Is flied with manned,
disabled, and SCARED veterans who sup |
pressed thus rebellion, and with the helpless
widows and orphans of those who fell IN the
effort. Helpless and destitute soldiers with
one leg hobble and crawl over the country
picking up a precariOus subsistence, and
yet those Pharisees who would expend un-
told millions to take care of the black race,
never cast thought upon those living
braves, or the helpless widows and orphans
the dead ones have left behind them.
So much for this Freedmen's Bureau Bill.
From my heart | thank Andrew johnson,
as my people do, for standing between us
and the mischief this bill would bring up
on US.
Andrew johnson contends that the South
ern people oughtto have voice in Congress,
and think so. [Applause. He is OF the
opinion that every loyal man, legally elect
ed in the insurrectiOnary States, should be
at once admitted on the floors OF Congress.
During the war that was the theory OF Mr..
Lincoln, and now that the war Is over his
successor should not abandon it.
In his Emancipation Proclamation OF Sep
tember 22d, 1862, which is framed and held
sacred by all the country, Mr.. lincoln said;
"The Executive will, on the lst day Of
January, 1868, designate the States and /
parts Of States, if any, in which the people
thereof respectively shall then DO IN rebel
lion against the United States, and the fact
that any State, or the people thereof, shall
on that day be in good faith represented IN |
the Congress Of the United States, by mem
bers chosen thereto at elections wherein the 1
majority of qualified voters Of such States
shall have participated, shall, in the abb
sence Of strong countervailing testimony, /
be deemed conclusive evidence that such |
State, and the people thereof are not IN re-
bellion against the United States
Now, this is the language Of Mr.. Lincoln, |
and who will say that be considered the |
rebel States out Of the Union? He speaks /
of them as States in the Union, but as States /
in rebellion, and he says that their having /
representatives in Congress, elected by /
msJority of the people, shall be conclusive /
evidence not that the States are IN the |
Union, nor that they have the right to be /
admitted into the Union, but that they are /
no longer in rebellion against the Govern
ment.
Aud so with representatives, thus elected; 4
10 being conclusive evidence that the rebel
lion was at an end in such State, IN Mr..
Lincoln's opinion, all the relations between 1
the United States ana that State would have 1
been restored. Mr.. Lincoln never alluded |
10 those States as either dead or out OF the /
Union, but as States in the Union, and alive. /
That sCus the Liuculn-JOhns0n policy. 10 /
IS to-day the policy of Andy johnson. That /
wss also the policy Of the Sumner-Stevens !
school at the time that proclamation was /
published and long after all the ordinances I
II secession were adopted ana the war ubu 4
lasted a year and a half II these States .
were in the Union then and alive, what /
have they done since, and what has any I
body done since, or what has occurred TO |
kill them or 10 take them cut Of the tEionr /
l viii tell you the whole thing IA q word /
Those States must be held as dead or out Of I
he Union that political power and the I
offices Of the country may be in the hands I
Of the leaders Of the Republican party. l
That Is the secret Of this whole effort 70 dis
solve the Union and to overturn the Gov !
eminent. These men have abandoned the |
Linceln-Johnson policy, and now abuse the |
President because he does not do the same /
| thing.
Ny UouHtrymen, DO not speak TO you TO-
night as q partisan. Il is true that I have
given 70 the Republican party a hearty sup
port during the prosecution Of the war. I
went II blind and asked no questions, and
| looked with s licion NJ on any man who
| talked OF eonst tutioual rights. The Re-
| publican party having saved the Govern
meut. had glorious future before il, but
1 the war being gloriously and trinmphautly
ldet, the leaders Of that party turn 10 de-
/ stToy WAIST that party and our armies had
| saved. do not come here 60 abuse the lie
| publican party, or any party. Though no
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