Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1868-02-07

Gus an offer. Indeed, the terms Of settle
ment contained in these several reconstruc
ton bills are more generous than were ever
offered to vanquished foe before. A mag
nanimous people demand neither the lives
Il or property Of their late enemies; but they
do insist that they shall only be restored &c
political power ia the Union upon the con
ditions prescribed by the loyal people Of the
country.
These, sir, are in brief my reasons for ad-
Yocating this bill, and l propose now to ad-
vert to a few Arguments can hardly say q
few, because it seems to me there Is but a
single argument advanced on the other side
against this bill The whole cry j. that this
4 bill is unconstitutional Sir, all tie recon
4 struction bills that have been passed by this
and the preceding Congress have been de-
I nouneed by gentlemen on the ether side as
unconstitutional This is the old cry repeat
ed. We heard it at the beginning Of the
/ war. We were then told Il vas unconstitu-
tional to coeFce a State; that it was unconstl-
tntional to call out armies and defend the
capital of the nation; that it was uuc0nstltu-
1 tional to draft men into the armies of the
/ United States; that ID was unconstitutional
\ to issue money TO pay the soldiers who were
/ drafted, that IL was unconstitutional and
/ wrong to arm the negro. Ia short, every
measure that was ever advocated by the
/ Republican party in these Halls for the sup
! preston Of this infamous rebellion has been
/ denounced BY the Democratic party as un-
constitutional. They seem TO assume, or
4 rather they do assume, that they are the es-
/ pecial guardians and protectors Of the Con-
stitution / desire, in the brief moments
I that are left me, to point to some Of their
! own acts in regard to the Constitution.
| 1t viii be remembered, in 1880, when the
/ conscience Of the people had become aroused
| by the aggressive spirit of slavery, and had
/ brought into life and being party that
! planted itself upon the ground Of opposition
| to the extension Of that institution, that
| John j. CTittenden, a Senator from Ken
| tucky, offered in the other branch of Con
/ gress a series of resolutions to perpetuate
/ the curse of human bondage He proposed
TO place in the Constitution of the United
Statesthat word which James Madison re-
fused to permit to go in. He was willing
not only TO insert the word slave in the
Constitution but TO dedicate the whole Of
that vast empire south of IS so 10 the
curse Of slavery. That was Democratic doc
trine then. The Constitution might, by
their consent, be changed, provided it would
be to the interest Of the slave power.
We 90 a step further. After the Mont
g0mery constitution had been adopted there
was a portion Of the Democratic party that
was wiling to run the line north of Pennsyl-
vauia and to exclude New England from
the Union. They proposed to take in
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and
as many western States as chose to come in,
and adopt the Montgomery constitution for
the purpose, as they said, Of leaving New
England out in the cold
Sir, let me say that New England viii not
be kept 0ur IN the cold. and the reason of il
in brief Is this, that she is true now TO the
cause of human liberty as she was when the
Mayfower landed her precious cargo upon
her shores and
"The sounding aisles Of the dim woods rang
To the anthem Of the free.
But, sir, IN answer TO gentlemen upon
the other side who claim that the Demo
cratic party Is the great protector and deisu-
der Of the Constitution, want to point out
to gentlemen upon all sides Of this House
this significant fact, that when the great
unconstitutional work Of this century was
undertaken, namely, organized rebellion in
ten States for the purpose Of breaking up
and destroying this Union, never during all
that time was there promulgated from a
/ Democratic State convention or from a
.
/ thOritative cuunciatIOn expressive Of their
( Indignation az the great unconstitutional
I work that the rebels were engaged in: no.
/ not one. And permit me 10 say now that
/ if that party had denounced that great IN
! constitutional work with half the zeal and
/ half the energy with which they have de
/ uounced the measures that were necessary
/ 70 put down the rebellion, and that are nee
/ essary to keep It down, the war would have
/ ended year sooner than II did, SI,00O, ,0d0.-
\ 600 Of debt would have been saved to the
I Government, and many firesides would now
( have chairs occupied that are vacant. This
/ was the policy of that party that has as
sumed to act as the special defenders ofthe
/ Constitution. Let me add another item on
/ this point. | remember that Ia the latter
/ part Of June, 1868, the news spread abroad
1 throughout the North that General Lee
was advancing upon the State of Pennsylya-
MIA, and soon that news was confirmed, and
| the invaders stood upon the soil Of Pe1nsyl-
/ vauia. At that very time there was Demo
cratic State convention sitting ia the capi-
/ t0l at Harrisburg, and although the enemy
was ready to carry destruction and devasta-
ton throughout the broad limits Of the
I Commonwealth, and indeed, the whole
I North, if it had been in bis power, not one
Z
I denunciation Of the unconstitutional work
its leaders we're engaged in went out from
that convention; and yet, sir, this is the
party that processes TO speak for the Con-
stitulion.
Mr.. BOYER. Mr. Speaker
Mr. K0ONTZ My time IS nearly out.
l would ike to yield to my colleague, but
cannot
Sir, I think have effectuaHy answered
the claim that the Democratic party has set
I up to be considered the special guardian and
/ protector Of the Constitution Of the United
States We maintain that the power we
have had ever since the war began, the
power that belonged to the remaining Or
ganized States Of this Union to crush and
destroy the rebellion, remains with Us until
every vestige Of treason Is destroyed And
if the provisional governments in these
/ States, created without any authority Of Law
are to be made instruments to reinstate trea-
son 10 the high places of this Government,
then they must Just as surely fall as did the
military power Of the rebellion before the
I inviucible armies Of the Republic. We claim
that this bill is necessary TO a proper en-
I forcement of the reconstruction acts hereto
fore passed and to just and fair settle
ment Of this yexed question.
la conclusion, sir, permit me to say that
we are now engaged IN rebuilding the foun-
dations of this great Government that have
been shaken by the fierce tempest Of civil
war Treason did its work in attempting
to pull down and destroy, let II be the work
of loyal hands to build up, beautify, and
. I "a . q. -g I