Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1868-08-26

they had peculiar and special know
ledge. [Laughter.] They had deniolish-
ed the old Union State Governments and
they had created revolutionary Govern
ment; they had seen that 60 to the wall;
they had built Southern Confederacy,
and over that they flung out its Haunting
rag in rivalry with the star-spangled ban
ner of America and they should form
this State Government for Georgia.
| Now there are two theories, one or the
other of which must be true. The South
ern theory of the situation is that the
edict of secession passed by Georgia, took
her out of the Union and out of the lin,
its Of our Federal dominions. Upon. this
theory, when we conquered that State,
her soil and her people were as subject
to the absolute will of the conqueror as
would be the soil and people of conquered
Mexico or any other foreign Power SUBJ
dued by our army If this was their
condition, then it was not for them to say
whether they would have State Govern
ment or not it was not for then, to say
whether they would ever belong to the
Union or not as an independent tstate It
was for US to say. It was for the con-
queror to dictate terms to the conquered
not for the conquered to dictate terms
to the conqueror ["You are right. u
Then, upon their theory, Georgia had no
more rightto establish state government,
to come back into the Union, than the peo-
| pie of Mexico had right to demand ad'
mission into tie: Union when Scott plant
ed his standard on the halls of Montezu-
ma. @ --.s. r al
Again, the other theory is-the North
ern theory is-the constitutional theory
is-that the ordinance of secession was a
nullity; that it was no protection to the
rebels of the South and, although we
choose, as we Lad the right to do, to ex
ercise as against them, belligerent rights
the rights and power of sovereign
over his rebel citizens-yet they acquir-
ed by the ordinance of secession no priv
ilege and no protection.
What is the result of that doctrine !?
The result of that doctrine is that when
the war eLded they were so many SUBJ
dued and conquered traitors, taken in
the crime, taken with the blood upon
their. garments Sensation They
had forfeited life, liberty, property, civil
Government, and everything that belongs
to man. [Great applause cries
'sThat's sol" s'You have got it l'']
Upon this theory, very clearly, the peo
pie of Georgia had no right to form
government and say it had right to come
back into the Union. Now, [ don't care
which theory the Democrats take for the
purposes of this argument, because either
one cuts their throat from ear to ear.
[Great applause and laughter.
This is, then, an end to this pretext
that Georgia could settle this question. =
Rebels may say when war shall begin,
where it shall begin, how it shall begin,
how it shall be managed, but the Govern
ment must say how it shall end [cheers,
and what shall be the condition of the
conquered. That's the idea p Ap
plause. 1t is about time, after hundreds
of thousands of lives have been saci ifce d
after we have baptised and fe. t. lized
the rebel soil with the best blood of the
the courage and the nerve, and the good
sense, to stand up and talk the truth up
on this subject. [Sensation, applause
and cheers.
tits clear, then, that Georgia could not
reconstruct government without our
consent. Now the only party interested
is the Government of the United States.
They, as rebel States, could not do it.
The general government must do it.
And, then, We come to consider the
further question. How? By what de-
partment, and through what department
and agency the United States shall act to
the.end of establishing these state govern
ments? And this brings us to the only
question upon which any of the depart
ments of the government have ever held
different opinions. The Supreme Court
of the United States, the President of
the United States, the Congress of the
United States, all have concurred in say
| ing that the result of the war was to leave
Georgia without any civil government
and that the people of Georgia were pow
erless as government in the place of the
one which they had destroyed. The
Supreme Court of the United States de
cided what necessarily leads to this con-
clusion, in the prize cases decided in
1862, when they decided that the whole
people of Georgia, without reference to
their private conduct, were to be regard
ad as public enemies, but although they
were to be regarded as public enemies,
they were not the less traitors to the gov
ernment of the United States
| Andrew johnson had taken up this
subject and treated it with the fullness
and wisdom that is peculiar to him
self. Laughter.1 He had said, in his
proclamation, which he issued immediate.
| ly after the surrender Of Lee and John
ston, that this rebellion had, in its pro
gress swept away all civil government in
the rebel states, and that the government
of the United States owed it as duty tc
that sectien of the country to establish
local sta tie governments there, and he
Andrew johnson (being the United
States) undertook to do it. Laughter.
| And he did it-"in a horn" [Great
laughter, and cries of "And he did Ii
with horn'l Yes, both. [ accept the
amendment. TShouts of laughter ] Hf
did it both ways. The President OF the
United States, as such clearly had nc
authority over the subject. Our people
/ ,nbor +bau framed our government, were