The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1868-02-06

lI3 80 80 ssls = e -
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half wav measure had Seea sparsed BY
the rebels themselves, and they hsd moth
ing 10 do but to begin the work Of re-
construction themselves: and la Febsua-
~. 1867. Congress fo- the arss tine en-
tered upon the execution Of the guxran-
tee provided for in the Conasitasiou By
the passage of the nrss rscoassrucsion
law. A sapplementary bill vas found
necessary in March. smother ooe in Ju.
", aud believe another b fouad neces-
sary as this time; but the power 10 with
Congress. Whatever il shall deem
necessary. whether it BE- in the way of
colored suffrage, whether it bs in the
way Of military powcr-whatever Con-
gress shall deem accessory In the exc
cution OF this guaraneee 10 conclusive
upon the courts. upon eyery State, and
upon the people Of this nation. Sir,
when Congress entered upon this work
it had becuue apparent 10 all men th at
loyal republican State governments could
not be erectei AMI maintained upon the
basis Of the white population We had
work of reconstruction through the con
stitntional amendment by leaving the
snffrag. with the white men, and by leay.
ing with the white people OF the South
the Questio: as to when the colored peo-
pie should exercise the right of suffrage,
II ever; hat when it Was found that
those white men were as rebellious as
ever. that they hated this Government
more bitterly than ever; when it was
found that they Prosecuted the loyal
men, both white and black, in their
midst; when it was found that northern
men who had gone down there were
driven out by social tyranny. by . thou.
sand annoyances, by the Insecurity of
life and property, then It became appar-
ent TO ali men Of intelligence that recon
struction could not take place upon the
basis OF the white population, and some
thing else must be done. Now. Sir,
what was there left to dof Either we
must hold these people continually by
military power, or We must use such
machinery upon such . new basis "a
would enable loyal republican State gov
ernments to be raised up and in the
last resort, and will say Congress
waited long, the nation waited long, az
perience had to come to the rescue Of
reason before the thing was dooe-in the
last resort. and as the last thing 10 he
done, Congress determined to dig
through all the rubbish. dig through the
soil and the shifting sands, and ge down
to the eternal rock. and there. upon the
basis OF the everlasting principis OF
equal and exact justice 10 all men,
we have planted the column OF re-
and, Sir, I. will arise
slowly but surely, and ..the gates of hell
shall not prevail againat il" Whatever
dangers we sppreheud from the intro
iaction Of the right Of suffrage Of 7OO,-
300 men. just emerged from Slavery,
sere put aside in tho presence OF .
greater danger. Why, Sir. lot me say
frankly to my friend from Wisconsin
hat l approached universal. coiored sur-
rage in the South relactansly Not be-
cause / adhered 10 the miserable dogma
hat this was the white mae'a C46ca.
nent. but bec.uss p71sw, 70 whom
nan ll.sl1ge relation had been denied,
10 had been made the bssess and most
,iect slaves, with poll ical power. And
, the Senator has referred to speech
hica made in Indiana in 1865, allow
.e to sho. the principle that then actu.
ted me for in that speech said:
.In regard 70 the question Of admisaiax ~ irsea
On Of Inc saasssrn Ssssss ~ vote, wAils admit
ii have Us rixif 10 vsss vissess Assisesn q ed
OF race vet oeiisvs shst in SIC cas- of 10000
.,ss u,s as,rf ,n ,f sses ss.y ~.
roux xht N the exercise Of puitsesl p vG
Sach vas nv feeling at tses time. for
lad not then been determined, by tho
CODY experience Of the last two years
ra. we could not recoastrucs upon the