The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1868-01-10
The Democratic Record.

I Senator Stewart, of Nevada, fired {
centre shot in his brief reply to Gar
rett Davis, of Kentucky, when he
said, few days ago:
In the first place, Congress found
organizafipns in : existence in the
South that RereNia rebel hands-that
we're prosecuting loyal men-that
were obstructing the process OF law.
In fact there we're no loyal govern
nents in the South. How did we COM
nence? We commenced by attempt
ng to relieve the difficulty without
legro suffrage. We passed the civil
lights bill. The President vetoed it.
It was opposed in the South; it was
declared unconstitutional by the
Judges in the South it was not exc
cuted. Civil rights were denied tol
the negroes, which all the Democrats
now say they ought to have. They
say they will give them civil rights.
Why did they not give them civil
rights under the civil rights bill, and
execute that law? The President
had vetoed it, and the reasoning of
his veto message was followed by
those who had charge of the execution
of the law.
We then passed Freedmen's Bu-
reau bill. That wassinoperative ex-
cept in the immediate presence fthe
military commanders. The objec-
ton made to these measures was that
they were unconstitutional. All ad-
mitted the justice Of the civil rights
bill, but it was opposed on technical
grounds. Congress then sought
to remedy that difficulty, and
how2 By proposing a constitution
al amendment that denied the pow
CT of the State organizations to
deprive any citizen of his civil
rights, with other provisions. This
vas Osubmitteds TO the States; and
this was rejected by the rebels,
rejected by the johnson party, and
rejected by the Democrats. They
said they would not give black men
in the South civil rights that they
would not have them protected; that
they would not give them the aid of
the machinery of the Government;
that they would not allow loyal men
to be protected in the South. In
other words, they repudiated every
PROPOSITION for constitutionally guar-
anteeing to each citizen his civil
rights. What was to be done next 2
There were in the South large mass
Of people, black and white, who were
loyal to this Government, who were
opposed by the unjust refusal on the
part of the Democratic party and
those operating with them, who were
denied their civil rights, to whom
there were no protection. 1t then be-
came necessary either to provide loya
cove rnment, OF surrender the South
ern country to the hands of rebels or
rebel sympathizers, leaving loyal men
unprotected by any law--lesving them
to the generosity Of the rebels, who
had been exasperaied against the ne
gro and against the Southern loyalists
by our action in suppressiDg the re-
beliion and liberating slaves. Were
we to turn oGT friends--those who had
been true to the Union--over to the
tender mercies Of hose who had maGe
war upon the ,Union;Ito turn them
over to the tender mercies OF their
exasperated enemies, who refused to
sanction any law whereby they were
to be protected in their civil rights ?
Congress passed reconstruction acts,
whereby they zeonferred,the right of
suffrage, not upon the blacks alone,
but upon the whites, excluding q very
small class, whereby they placed
in the hands of the oppressed and the
prosecuted the power of self-protec-
ton. You say that this was usurpa-
ton. l am sorry that the President
of the United States has used that
argument in view Of his own conduct;
in view of the fact that he undertook
to set up government himself, with
restrictions which involved the exer-
else of the identical power that Con-
gress has exercised. There is no
party that can say it is free from the
exercise OF this power.