Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1868-03-04
Northern Radicals and South.
ern Radicals"
SPEECH OF
Hon. HENRY WILSON,
OF MASSACHUSETTS,
IN THE SENATE OF TIE UNITED sTArxs JIrrA,y u rs
Mr.. WILSON said
OF MASSACHUSETTS

/
Mr.. PRESIDENT: When the honor.
able Senator from Wisconsin, in the
morning hour of Thursday submitted
! his motion to instruct the Committee
on the Judiciary to report the recon
structlOn bill with a provision which
would enable the rebels to defeat the
4 new constitutions of the States lately
IN rebellion, [ rose to ask him to post
pone the delivery of his speech until
after the close of the morning hour.
| The Senator petulantly refused to be
interrupted, and preci pitated the Sen.
ate into the debate upon the reference
of the pending bill, When I sought
to postpone the debate for an hour |
was not aware that it had been an,
nounced, perhaps authoritatively, that
the honorable Senator was to deliver
on that day the greatest speech OF
! his senatorial career, embracing a
| thorough exposition of the policy of
the administration, and laying out
| the platform Of the conservative
party IN the next presidential cam
palgn-" Had l known that it was
expected that the Senator would that
day deliver the greatest effort of his
senatorial career, which he had been
several weeks in preparing, l could
not have been so unlind as to have
lntcrposed an objection. | therefore
ask the honorable Senator'S pardon,
and perhaps | ought to ask the pardon
OF the Senate for attempting to keep
from them, even for few moments,
this exposition of the policy of the
Administration and the platform on
which conservatism Is expected to
stand in the impending presidential
contest.
Thirteen years ago | took my seat
in the Senate of the United Suites
These thirteen years have been crowd
ed and eventful years. The Senate
Chamber has been the theatre of a
gigantic struggle between the repre-
sentatives of brutal and degrading
barbarism and humane and Chris
tian civilization. Words have been
uttered and deeds have been wrought
on the one side that will live in the
memories of mankind, and words have
been uttered and deeds have been
wrought on the other side that will
blacken the pages that bear them
down to after generations. During
these years this Chamber has rang
with fiery menaces of disunion, pas
sionate threatlngs Of evil war, and
wicked appeals to the darkest pas
sions of human nature. | have listen
ed to the utterance of the dominating
Davis, the clustering Toombs, the
pompous Mason, the INSCRIPTIONS
Slidell, the insincere Benjamin, the
plausible Breckenridge, and their com
peers IN crIms against country, against
liberty, against Justice and humanity.
But / remember no words of theirs
more unpatriotic, more false to the
rights of struggling humanity, or
more wicked than the scope and spirit
of the speech of the Senator from
Wisconsin. | listened attentivelv.
sIr, to the speech of the Senator in
support Of his proposition to prevent
the rebel States from being restored
to their practical relations 10 the I'm
ion according to the existing laws Of
the land As / listened to that Sen
ator's arraignment of the men from
whose ranks he has broken, his re-
proachful utterances against the mil
lions we have made free, and his ex-
position Of the purposes of the reac-
tionarv politicians he now assumes to
lead, | could not but indulge the hope
that whatever punishments God in
His providence may mete out to this
nation he viii not again intiIct upon
US President who shall abandon the
principles and betray the party that
shall clothe him with executive power
The treachery of President Johnson,
by .educing the weak and corrupting
the plant, has wrought work ofdemor
alization in the public affairs of the
country the effects of which will be
felt by the nation long after the pub
lie men Of this generation have passed
away.
The Senator from Wisconsin de-
mands the immediate abandonment of
the well-settled policy of reconstruc-
ton. The congressional policy of
restoration IS almost an accomplished
fact. Nine States. by maiorities
tktl4t Liit- 10 lAEat d i!s Al Il AAA4AAio--
votes, have chosen conventions to re-
wise their cons titutious. The congen-
tion of Alabama have framed q con
stitution, and 1t viii be adopted early
next week by IN overwhelming popu-
lar majority. The conventions Of
eight States are now in session, and
within thirty days they will present
to the people constitutions modelled
upon tn. constitutions Of the most en-
liEhtened conmmouwealths. On the
10th Of February distant Texas elects
delegates TO a convention, and recent
intelligence leads Us to hope that this
the most doubtful Of the States VIII
accept the plan Of restoration submit
ted to 1t by the laws OF the land
The Senator. in the interest Of unre-
Pentant rebels. now proposes. IN face
Of the wonderful success Of the policy
oi reconstructlou-a success no man
IN this Chamber foresaw or hoped for
on 80 - oF N--~l v-Is-1 the hill WAS