Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1867-03-27
CONGRESSIONAL.
AIN 10 rue STARVING SOUTH

| In House 81 HcpFt8chidUpcS MdIct lbH, lohf'
Mr.. CHMRMAN in discussing this question |
shall assume that there are thousands OF our fellow
citizens within the lately rebeous States who are
now and for few months Co come will be, suffer
| ing for the want of food We have q report from
the hrsiian soldier, General Howard, that such
| is the fact and may say that ia private CONVEX
/ sation with that gentleman lac assured me Of the
necessity ol material aid and tlc propricty Of leg
| islativc action. ! am told boy my friend from Ohio
| mir BiSGuAMl that since 1t has been utimated
/ that General Howard not in favor of this APP
| preparation be has received letter from him. stat
| ing that mo- person is authorized TO make such a
declaration
/ will read a statement respecting the condition
/ of the poor OF the South from the New York
/ Times
TIM CRy or ANGuIsH.-'We have neither
money nor corn. Can and will you let me have
fifty bushels till | can make crop2 will surely
pay YOU. | have fifteen freedmen hired and we
can get no corn. II your Christian people could
see our sufIerinas feel that the sympathetic tear
would come to their eyes. Only think for mo-
ment last year we had eleven weeks and no rain.
Our corn fcl in the fields and there is nothing but
ahiect want before us
$50 writes Mir H. Edmonds Of Ridrcway.
Fairfield district South Carolina, iu letter re-
/ ceived Yesterday by the Southern Famine Relief
/ Commission Of this city. His appeal comes with
the Endorsement of Rev Richard Fuller. y. D., Of
Baltimore, to whom he is personally known His
letter represents distress that reaches through
nearly every district OF South Carolina, and in
cludes not fewer than hundred Thousand people
Planters have no seed TO put into the ground and
no bread TO feed the lsnorcrs needed TO prepare
the ground for a crop Whole families are known
TO have lived on corn husks for weeks.
What is true OF South Carolina rs also true Of
large sections of middle and northern Georgia. and
OF more than half the counties Of Alabama. some
sections of North Carolina aud Mississippi are In
the same condition, though not 10 the same extent
But tits believed, on the authority of much pains
taking inquiry that there are at least three hundred
thousand people u the above States who must
have relief from the bcncvolcnty disposed people
Of the North 20 prevent suffering which the heart
shrinks from contemplating. The South is too
deeply impoverished TO feed her own starving pop
ulation, and the bread and the sycd must come
from the North.
The Simultaneous appeal appointed TO be made
from all the pulpits throughout the country to-
morrow should be responded Co with generosity
that will give the Commission 500 600 TO expend
in its timely and benevolent work. Mr. Jam s
NJ. Brown, No Gil Wall street, is the treasurer,
aud will see that the money !. faithfully applied to
the uses for which il is contributed
Now, sir such being their condition ] am in
favor OF the resolution. Sir. the amendment pro-
posed by the gentleman from Massachusetts,, Mr..
BUTLER to which ! am opposed, as / am also
equally opposed 90 the substitute for the same of
presented with the idea that it would meet the APP
prova Of the House, but rather with the intention
Of defeating the original measure. | for one do
not like such Legislative fncssing. ! prefer 20
meet question upon It's merits fairly and square
H. The gentleman well knew when he introduced
the substitute that he was placing members of the
House in a dsagreeable if not in false position.
The constituency which we represent do not de-
maud the passage of such a proposition The
people who are TO be aided thereby do not demand
il. IL is unwse TO vote for it, and by voting
against it the gentleman well knows that may
subject ourselves to the calumuies OF demagogues
being recrcant to the interest and false to the
necessities Of those widows and orphans who have
| nothing left on earth but the fair fame of father.
and brothers who gave mp their lives ON the altar
4 OF their country. Sir, such proposition partake,
more Of the arts Of the politician than the high and
| manly purposes of the statesman. | shall vote iol
| the original resolution without fear that ms con
stituents will blame for a want of sympathy OF
| generosity on the one hand, or for undue eXtraya
gance in the expenditure of the public money on
| the other My sympathy for the heroic dead is a,
great as that of the gentleman from Massachusetts
The soldiers memory is sacred to me as it is tC
him, and when the proper time comes | trust
shall not be far behind the honorable gcntlcmal
in relieving the necessities of their widows and or
phans, both from my private purse and from tn
public chest say with him, God bless the nobl
soldiers who, through rivers Of blood have save,
our beloved country, and borne our flag alolt 81
| successfully that il now loats over every sea, th
hope Of the oppressed and the fear Of the oppres
sor God bless their widows and orphan children
and pasied be the hand and dumb the tongue tina
would not by act and word conduce to their com
fort and, support.
Sir, am equally opposed to the proposition
introduced this morning by the gentleman fron
Massachusetts, an additional substitute. As
gathered from the reading Of IT by the Clerk,
provides that the military commanders Of the va
rious districts may assess those owning over on
hundred and sixty acres Of land or having an in
come Of more than S6oO per annum TO an amour
sufficient 10 feed the starving poor of the South
1t seems to me to be thrust forward as an easy
cheap. ana may say Illegal method Of ollcctuat
ing the gentleman's QuiNotc scheme Of genera
coniscaton. The scheme cannot be justified uu
der the Constitution, or in the present condition
OF the country under the laws Of war, or undo
that principle Of sovereignty which is above tn
Constitution and enables every Government to DE-
that which may be necessary in order to protec
the national life
when the gentleman from Massachusetts TNir
BurLrR1 was at New Orleans, where he so wei
and so faithfully and so gloriously served hi
country, he could under the laws Of war take tn
properly Of the rebel citizen and apply it either &
The preservation Of the health of the city or th
lives Of the people. If the gentleman claims tina
the Southern States are now under the eXclusiv
and absolute control of Congress and that hi
measure IS IN the nature OF tax, then IT Is illega
and unjust, because it is indefinite unequal, an
without apportionment. II he justiies it upon th
doctrine OF sovereignty superior to the Constitu
ton then it is Illegal, unwise, and unjust becaus
it is partial in its operation, and to be applie
without condemnation or any Of the ordinary pro
cedures OF law
/ know it has been said upon the floor Of thi
House and more especially 10y gentlemen upol
the other side that the recent legislation of Con
gress providing for the more effective govern
ment OF the rebeilious States is unconstitutional
that II cannot be justified by the Constitution, o
under the laws OF war, because war is no longe
existing, and hence is improper and cannot b
sustained.
Passing over that clause Of the Constitution
which says that Congress shall guaranty to ever
State and the people thereof q republican form O
government, | strike higher ground, and iustil
the law upon the doctrine of sovereignty, that in
herent and necessary power which rests on ever
Government earth. The decalogue, in which
it is written by the finger Of God, Thou shall
not kill " is the law for the guidance of every in
diNidual soul, And yet who does not know tina
when man is called upon 10 defend his own lif
that right is superior even 10 the divine command
1t is SO with nations. Let me Illustrate Whcl
Napoleon offered TO eede the territory of louisi
ana to the United States, President Jefferson wa
troubled because he could find no authority in Tia
Constitution, or in the Federalist which eNpouud