Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1867-03-06
Speech of General Garfield,
On House Bill No. ..II43, 10 Provide for
| the more E6ectuaI Government of
the InsurrectOry States.
HOUSE OF Rep. Feb. s. Is


stand out prominently, and which
should control our action upon thi
measure.
And first, call attention to the fac
that from the collapse of the rebellion
to the present hour the Congress of tbs
United States has undertaken to re
store the States lately in rebellion BY
cooperation with their people, anC
that our efforts in that direction have
proved a complete and disastrous fail
ure. We commenced, sir, by waving
nine-tenths of all the powers We haC
over these people under the influences
of mercy. 1t was clearly the right ol
the victorious Government to indict
try, convict, and hang every rebel
traitor South for the bloody conspiracy
against the Republic.
In accordance with the law passed
by the First Congress that met under
the Constitution, and approved by
Washington, We might have punished
with death by hanging every rebel OF
the South. We might have confsca-
ted the last dollar of the last rebel to
aid in paying the cost of the war. Or
adopted more merciful policy, we
might have declared that no man who
voluntarily went into the rebellion
should ever again enjoy the rights of 8
citizen of the United States. They
had forfeited every right of citizen
ship by becoming traitors and public
enemies. What the conquering sover-
eign would do with them was for Con-
gress to declare.
Now, with all these powers in its
hands Congress declared that it would
do nothing for vengeance, but every
thing for liberty and safety. The rep.
resentstives of the nation said to the
people of the South, join with ms in
giving liberty and justice to that race
which you have so long outraged, make
it safe for the free loyal men to live
among you, bow to the authority of
our common country, and we will for
give the carnage, the desolation, the
losses, and the unutterable woes you
have brought upon the nation, and you
shall come back to your places in the
Union with no other personal disa-
bility than this: that your leaders
shall not again rule as except by the
consent of two thirds of both Honses
of Congress. That was the position
which this Congress submitted during
its last session I; and am here to affirm
to-day that so magnanimous, 30 merci-
full a position has never been submitted
by sovereignty to rebels since the day
when God offered forgivness to the fal-
len sons of men.
The constitutional amendment did
not come up to the full height of the
great occasion it did not meet all that
l desired in the way of guarantees to
liberty; but if the rebel States had
adopted it as Tennessee did, l should
have felt bound to let them in on the
same terms prescribed for Tennessee.
l have also been in favor of waiting, to
give them full time to deliberate and
act. They have deliberated they have
acted. The last one of the sinful ten
has at last, with contempt and scorn,
flung back into our teeth the magnani-
nous offer of nation. 1t is now our
turn to act. They would not cooper
ate with US in rebuilding what they des-
troyed. We must remove the rubbish
and rebuild from the bottom.
Whether they are willing or not we
must compel obedience to the Union,
a.-9 damand protection for its humblest
citizen wfs0Esxsr the Ass aeAts.-He'
must SO exert the power of the nation
that it shall be deemed both safe and
honorable to have been loyal in the
midst of treason. We must see to it
that the frightful carnival of blood
now raging in the South shall continue
no longer. ... . OIL. ....-
We must make it possible for the
humblest citizen of the United States,
from whatever State he may come, to
travel in safety from the Ohio river to
the Gulf. In short, We must plant lib
erty on the ruins of slavery and estab-
lish law and peace where anarchy and
violence now reign. 1 believe, sir,
the time has come when we must lay
the heavy hand of military authority
upon these rebel communities, and
hold them in its grasp till their mad.
ness is past, and until clothed and in
their right minds" they come bowing
to the authority of the Union, and take
their places Loyalty in the family circle
of the States
Now, Mr.. Speaker, am aware that
this is severe and stringent measure.
| do not hesitate to say that 1 give my
assent to its main features with many
misgiyiDgs. l am not uomindful of
the grave suggestion of the gentleman
from New York Mr.. Raymond in ref
erence to the history of such legisla-
ton in other countries and other ages.
l remember, too, that upon the walls
of Imperial Rome, q Pratorian guard
announced that the world was for sale
to the highest bidder, and that the le-
gion knocked down the Imperial pur-
pie to Nero, the highest bidder. l beg
to remind the gentleman that this is
not proposition to commit the liber-
ties of the Republic into the hands of
the military. 1t is a new article of war
commanding the army to return to its
work of putting down the rebellion
by maintaining the honor and keeping
the peace of the nation. If the officers
of our army should need such a sug-
gestion, let them remember that no
people on the face of the earth have
shown themselves so able TO pull down
their idols as the American people
However much honored and beloved
man may be. if the day ever comes
when he shows himself untrue to lib
erty, they viii pluck him out of their
very hearts and trample him indignant
ly under their feet. We have seen
this ia the military history of the last
FIVE years, in the political history of the
last campaign. q
Now, We propose for a short time to
assign our Army to this duty for speci-
6c and benifcent purposes, namely, to
keep the peace until we can exercise
the high functions enjoined upon US in
the Constitution, of giving to these
States Republican governments, based
upon the will of the whole loyal peo-
pie. The generals of our Army enjoy
in wonderful degree the confidence of
the nation, but if for any cause the
most honored among them should lay
his hands unlawfully upon the liberty
of the humblest citizen he would be
trampeled under the feet of millions
OF indignant freemen. We are not, as
some gentlemen seem to suppose,
stretching out helpless hands to the
Army for aid, but We are commanding
them, as public servants, to do this
work in the interest of liberty.
/ have spoken only of the general
purpose of this bill. 1 desire to say
that 1 am not satisfied with the manner
in which it is proposed to pass it
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