Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1867-05-22

slave labor. In Pennsylvania, every
man, woman and child who does work
may recover wages. Suppose, for in
stance, l should find a carpenter walk
ing idly around, and l should say to
him, 81 I'm glad to see you. My fence
has been blown down. How long do
you think 1t will take you to put it
up7" 'Only a little time" the carpen-
ter would reply. Then l desire that
you do it," The work is finished; the
carpenter wants his money. Then l
say, 81 did not think of hiring you; 1
was doing nothing and could have done
it myself; but l, being a little old and
stiff, and you young, l thought you
would do it as an act of friendship"
The carpenter says, Il cannot live on
friendship; 1 must have money" and
if the old curmudgeon refuses TO pay
him, he walks 10 a magistrate, makes
proof that he was asked to do the
work, that he did it, and that the
wages asked were but fair, and a judg-
ment is given him. If defendant sees
ft to appeal it, he will have to pay the
costs anyhow, when it comes before q
Jury, and he viii, in the end. be com.
PEELED to pay the debt. And so with
any child that is asked to do work, and
they do it, you are compelled to pay
them, whatever their complexion may
be. Applause. Thus the industry of
every man, woman and child is stimu-
lated and rewarded.
We have, too, our common school
system, opened to children of every
grade and color, where they are taught
at least spelling, reading, writing, and
the simple rules of arithmetic, which
are the keys TO all knowledge. He who
possesses them can, with the aid of the
pine-knot at night, in the lonely cabin,
master all branches of mathematics
He can, at least, keep his daily accounts
with the world, and know whether
efforts are made to defraud him of his
earnings. He who can read, can, If he
will, be the associate of the poet and
the philosopher, and can call to his aid
the history of all science; for every
thing in the history of ancient history
and literature has been translated into
BUR own rich mother tongue. He may
summon 10 his counsel Shakespeare and
Milton; nay, leaving these, through
good King James Bible, may mingle
with the apostle and the prophet, and
read the word of God for himself.
While, by the system Of oppression,
you destroy all aspiration or enterprise
in the individual, our system of ciyili-
-~zation, provides for such poor and
friendless children a free education,
giving them a fair start in this world.
This reminds me of what a philanthro-
pic friend'of mine did. We were pas
sing around Independence Square,
arm in arm. Suddenly his arm was
withdrawn +; he put his eane under the
back of a gold-bug that was struggling
to get upon its feet, and gave it a slight
toss which turned it over. "Now,"
said he, ego, poor thing, you have just
as good q chance in the world as any
bug of your kind.D So, men of Ten
nessee, must you and those who organ
ize your State, do. You must secure
honest wages for honest labor. They
must offer to every child in this Chris
tan country the opportunity TO learn
to read the Ten Commandments, the
Beatitudes, the Lords Prayer, the
Constitution of the United States and
the laws of this State. NoState, l care
not what others say, will be admitted
into the American Union, chat does not
surely guarantee in its constitution.
equal rights before the law, and a sys-
tenn OF common schools, whereby the
poor child may be able, through sim
pie instruction, to give to its great
country the fair results of its genius.
There Is no desire in the Radical
party to Cypress any living man. The
question has been asked me, since COM
ing South, whether the Military bill,
under which the States are to be admit
ted to the Union, viii be a fnality. /
can tell them that they would have
been admitted had they accepted the
Constitutional Amendment. and that
it would have been a 6nalIty. You
could not have prevented Conservative
Republicans from uniting with the
Democrats in adopting that Amend
ment, and on that ground l cast my
vote Tor the admission of Tennessee
When the Southern people who had
inside the war, seized upon your school
fund, and your bank stock, and the
rolling stock of our railroads, and were
arming all your beautiful cities and
towns, the most terrible civil war ofall
history was inaugurated. The same
people who misled you, who drenched
land with blood-who robbed US
of the fsirest and most beautiful of our
loved ones-assumed that they were
the parties who were to settle the
terms Demonstration, and they spurn-
ed the.C constitutional Amendment. If
they proceed to organize their States,
under the Military bill, giving to the
people the right to vote for members
of the State Convention, and frame con-
situations republican and uniform, secu-
ring the equality of rights before the law
providing for a general school system
by generous grants of land already
made to them by che United States for
that purpose, they viii be admitted,
and that will be a inality. But If the
Fortieth Congress, more Radical than
the Thirty-ninth-it has a short ses-
sion, and | know. its temper-if they
find that the conquered still claim the
night to declare terms or reconstruction, /
they had bdher read TRod1sus Stevens
speech on Reconstruction. Applause. l.
The Southern people can prevent the
Military bill from becoming a fnality.
The Radical party means that it shall
be a fnality, and the earnest men
among them pray God that this stife
and bitterness may soon end, and that
when the Fortieth Congress closes, the
nation shall be q Union. perfect in all
its parts, and that each State shall rec
ognize the rights of man because he is g
man, and not because his complexion
is beautiful or otherwise ; and that
from the broad limits of our country.
over its hills and valleys, there shall be
a generous system of education by
which the power of intellect shall be
developed hope, ambition, and aspi-
ration shall be promoted, and by which
peace, virtue and prosperity shall abide
in each and every home, and the
world shall look upon US as its exam
plar and reformer; and if the sages who
fashioned our institutions, snd the SOL
diers who recently died In their defense
are permitted to look down upon us,
the former will bless us for having per-
fected their labors, and the latter will
find that, though they were mar
tyrs, their mortal blood was the seed