Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1868-07-02

IL put the question TO the gentleman
liz bayonets may not prevent me
from voting, and stand between
them and the exercise Of the right
of suhTrage2
Mr. Bingham, That is another
and very different question, sir, and
that is the very thing that was
done
Mr. Eldridge. That was the
very thing that was done in these
States.
Mr. Bingham That was the
very thing that was done for four
long years by that party that fol
lowed the black banner of treason
under the lead Of gentlemen who
called themselves the confederate
States of America, and who seem
to find an ally in the gentleman
lflom Wisconsin, from the question
which he propounds to me. sir,
/ l deny, sir, that American freeman
have ever under the laws Of Con
gress or by the will Of the great
body of the American people been
deferred from voting according to
their will and pleasure in accord
ance with the requirements and
subject to the limitations Of the
/ Constitution Of the United States.
ITwerty-four thousand men in Flor
ida, constituting threef fourths of the
/ freemen of the United States, enti-
tied either under its ancient consti-
tuition or under our own laws of re-
construction to vote, and consti-
tuting the body of that people, act
| ed under no coercion whatever
| The man is inexcusable who under
takes to raise any such question
here. 1t was in the power Of the
people of Florida to sit quietly in
their homes, and there was no one
TO make them afraid or to drag
them to the polls. On the contra
Iry, they went voluntarily for the
purpose of restoring that State
broken and blasted by armed rebel
lion, to its former place in the
Union, and to give to its people
their proper political power in the
councils of the nation,
Mr.. Beck. | would ask the gen
tleman whether in this very bill yor
are not seeking to impose upon the
people of Alabama constitution
which not only General Meade, but
this House, has declared was reject
ed by the people of that State in
the manner provided by your owh
law, namely, by staying away from
the polls ?
Mr.. Bingham Not at all. It
never was any part of the law to
which the gentleman refers that
those men who stayed away and
would not vote either one way or
the other should deprive seventy
eight Thousand qualified electors of
the right Of petition nor was it, as
my honorable colleague (Mr Shell
labarger) right well knows, ever the
intention of any gentleman upon
this floor who had anything to do
with framing those bills to put it in
| the power Of set Of men lately in
rebellion to take away from the
rel resentatives of the people in
Congress assembled the right at any
time to alter, amend or repeal their
own laws in theinterest Of the com
mon country, in the interest of the
loyal people. Seventy-eight thous-
and freemen in Alabama voted for
thatconstitution and the gentleman
from Kentucky, when he turns back
the records Of his country, will find
that the party with which he is in
some sort of alliance upon this
floor, deemed it important, in vio-
lation Of every provision of the
| Constitution, to admit q foreign
State into this Union after the treaty
making power had rejected it, rep
resented by only twelve thousand
voters, by joint resolution did adj
nit the then foreign State of Texas,
But that was in the interest of that
Democracy which made merchan-
disc of men; and this movement
| to- day is in the interest of that De-
mocracy which secures freedom to
all men and equal rights Of suffrage,
irrespective of social position, IT.
respective of complexion, irrespect-
live of wealth, upon the simple CON
dition of citizenship, adherence and
! Loyalty to the Constitution and laws
of the United States within the sew.
eral States Of the Union. This is
the marked distinction between the
positions occupied by that party
which the people have broken up
and destroyed, and that great party
which to-day represents the intellect
and the heart and the conscience,
not only of America, but of the
civilized world.
And this brings me now to the
point which l was approaching when
the gentleman interrupted me. l
desire to reply to the remarks of
the gentleman from New York,
| { Mr.. Brooks, my associate on the
| Committee on Reconstruction. lie
undertook to limit the meaning OF
the few opening remarks which |
made by incorporating into those
remarks the words, "Fhe sole pur
pose, the only purpose, the whole
purpose of admitting Florida is to
secure the ratification of the four
teenth article of amendment to the
! Constitution of the United States. "
Mr.. Speaker, before ! referred to
the fourteenth amendment, | had
uttered words which excluded every
such conclusion as the gentleman
| has seen fit to draw from my re-