Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1867-08-07
Speech Of Speaker Oolfax.

Hon. Schuyler Colfax was serenaded a
the National Hotel on the night of j il,
10th. After several choice airs by the band
the honorable gentleman came to the balco-
ny and responded as follows, being frequently
interrupted with loud expressions of ap
prevail
FettO,o Cttizeas:-There are two kinds OF
serenades In Washington-the first when
members arrive to enter ON the discharge ot
their duties, and the last when, after the
close OF their labors, they are about TO start
Tor their homes. As Holy Writ declares
that he who taketh Oft his armour has more
right to be proud than he who puteth 1t on,
value TINS mark OF your regard more high
| ~ because, our work being completed, you
mean by 1t, Wen done, good anu faithful
servants. Applause. Congress sincerely
desired TO avoid this Midsummer session.
They passed the Military Reconstruction
| bills last March. The President vetoed them
| on the explicit ground that they made the
military commander supreme aud absolute
over the people OF the late reDeilious States.
Congress accepted his construction of them
and repassed them over his veto. They
were cordially endorsed by the loyal people
of the North, and acqulesced In more read
lily than had been expected by the people OF
the South. Soon 1t became apparent that
under them loyalty would triumph In most
OF the Southern Otates, and then the Pres
ldent vetoed his own veto, and promulgated
u decision OF the Attorney General that uu-
der these laws the military commanders
We're mere policemen, subordinate to The
PrOylslOuaI Government over which they
had been placed the army but posse conf
atutuS, to en1Orce The DEGREES ot the Rebel
Governors anu Mayors, and that every Reb,l
was to he his own register. Ine people
surprised at these decisions, appea.ed TO the
Congress, In which they placed such desery-
ed confidence, to reasseA Ue, and IRON Maine
to California they came hltner to resume
their legislative authority, and to SO declare
the meaning of their legislation that no le-
gal sophistries OF any Attorney General
could nIystItv 1t. etoed again. they re-
passed by vote of tour to oae, and 1t has
gone on the statute book as one OF the laws
which the President, by his constitutional
oath, must take care to have faithfully ex-
ecuted. Some, know, condemn Congress
tor having done too much IN It's past legis-
lation aud some having done too little; but |
L think it has struck the golden mean, firm
and yet prudent, courageous without due
excitement, inhexible and yet wise. The |
President in his last veto denounces this |
military despotism, he calls it, and de-
clares that Congress has subjected the South |
TO tyranny most lntolerable. We have
heard these charges OF military despotlsm
before, during the wal, from the party which
so bitterly opposed his election three years
ago. Every act tending TO strengthen the
Government, such as the SUSPENSION OF the
hoJeds corpus trials by court martial, &C.,
was denounced as military despotism; but
the people rendered their verdict, and 1t
could not be reversed. Instead of tyranny,
the key note OF the Congressional policy Is
protection to all, and the vIndlcatIon and
of loyalty, and God helping us we
shall stand by it until it Is crowned with tri-
umph. Applause. | will use no word of
disrespect toward the President, for although
differing with him in policy as wide as the
poles, L respect the office which he ills, and
prefer argument to lnyectlve. w hen 4 lis
tened yesterday to Mr.. NJ Pherson, the
Clerk of the House, as he read the bold and
defiant message of the President, | could
not but feel that in the whole of it he ar
raigned himself far more than the Congress
which he addressed. All parties agree that
he spoke correctly when, In his North Car
1lina proclamation ot May, 1862, he declar-
ed that all the civil Governments of the
South had been destroyed by the rebellion.
He then, without calling Congress together
went on with the work OF reconstruction In
he absence ef all law upon the subject
Has Congress made State Governments sub
ordinate to the military power? SO did the
President But be ordered conventions by
MS executive fiat, and recognized their con-
;titutions without their being submitted to
he people. Congress required the people,
jhe registered voters, to call the Convention
themselves and then to approve or reject /,
heir work by popular vote. lApplause. !
Has Congress required the RATIFICATION of
Amendment! So did the {
President Has Congress established test {
oath? So did the President. Our crime is,
presume, that we provided that those
whom the nation had made free should have 9
he freeman's ballot for their protection,
While the President did not But the re-
uts of his policy strikingly contrast with Z
he result of ours. The nation looked on |
o see what fruits would result from his ac- {
ion, and what they were. In nearly every }
State the Rebel power resumed its authority
md became dominant In their executive, ]
legislative and judicial departments-the 9
agrant and labor laws virtually reenslaving :.
he emancpated, followed by murders, out = =
ages, riots, and massacres, crowned the y
whole Loyal men. were under foot, and !,
he reviyifed spirit of rebellion was trium-
'hant With our duty to our country and
n our oaths we could not affirm and legal h
ze the policy, and hence the legislative ac- :;
ion We have since taken. 4
Approved in the past we have been. L Il
annOt doubt even a more triumphant IN h
hereafter Applause The
PRESIDENT appeals to the ballot-box; SO do
tand or fall In 1862, in the darkest hour Il
the war, amid disaster and reverse, the il
allot-box sustained US, and returned Re- Il
m hlicap majority IN Conpress Tn 1864 we