Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-09-04

or 10 do about Il; aud, Il Il undertakes ia
do anything about II, II 10 simply tramp
ling down the Constitution itself;
Hear what the Court says; The Con
gress can neither limit the effect OF thii
pardon. nor exclude from it's exercise
any class of offenders. The benign pre-
roeative Of mercy reposed In him cannot
be fsttered by any legislative restrictions
Such being the case, the inquiry arises
as TO the effect and operation OF the par
don. On this point all the authorities
concur. A pardon reaches both the
punishment prescribed for the ofense
and the guilt OF the offenders; and when
the pardon is full It releases the punish
ment and blots out Of existence the guilt,
so that, in the eye OF the law, an offender
| is as innocent as IL he had never com
mitted an offense, II granted before the
conviction, il prevents any OF the penal
ties and disabilities consequent upon
conviction from attaching; II granted
after conviction, il removes the penalties
and disabilities, and restores him TO all
his civil rights, and makes him, as il
were, new man, and gives new credit
and capacity" [Cbeers This is the
language of the Supreme Court
| And when you hear those demagogues
now. days say the power TO pardon is in
Congress, and not in the President, re-
member what the Supreme Court says
about it
The power to pardon all offenses is the
power which gives peace, amnesty, and
restoration Of rights to the mass Of the
people Of the South. In this power TO
pardon is the power Of reconciliation.
In this power to pardon is reconstruction.
[Cheers 1t was in the exercise of this
power, under the Constitution, that Mr..
Lincoln began the restoration policy iu
1863. After his death, in 1865. Mr.
johnson renewed it to all the States and
people of the South. Cheers. In pur-
suance OF these terms Of amnesty they
reorganized their governments. But
when the Congress of the United
States, in 1866, sought to uproot
and overturn this constitutional policy,
and substitute in its stead the Radical
policy which declares itself to be outside
the Constitution, and bases itself upon
the ruins Of the States and upon the half
civilized negro basis, they acted in viola.
ton, not only of the Constitution, but in
violation ofcivilizst;on ITSELF One word
more and l am done. ["Heave ahead. ]
How much do you think it has cost us
annually for the last three years 10 con-
sequence of the Radicals having over
turned the policy of Mr.. Lincoln and
Mr.. johnson in reconstruction? Had
M. Johnson's policy been carried out in
1865, our army, Gen. Grant said, might,
with q few exceptions, have been with
drawn from the Southern States. In the
very report from which i read, he says,
I'VE need keep no troops except at the
forts, and very few are necessary"
Two.thirds If not three-fourths of all
the armies we had in the South \
ern States might have been
withdrawn. The Freedmen's Bureau
[groans1 could have been entirely abol-
ished. What do you think, fellow-citi-
gems of Illinois, the army which we have
been compelled to keep in the Southern
States in consequences Of the Radical
reconstruction policy has cost us2 Un-
doubtedly it has cost us nearly half our
whole army expenses to keep the army in
these States in order to enforce this ne
gro suffrage, Radical reconstruction pol.
ley. Why, fellow-citizens, do / say this 2
Because the white people Of the South
were not willing to have negro suffrage
forced upon them, it was necessary that an
army should be kept in the South for the
purpose of forcing it upon them at the
point of the bsyonet, and therefore the
necessity of keeping the army there.
General Grant told me in the State of
Wisconsin, in August or September, 1865,
that if Copgsess undertook to force negro
suffrage upon the South as basis of re-
construction, it would be necessary to
keep standing army there to pre-
vent q war of races. Therefore the
army has been kept there, and the
Bureau, also, which for
the last two years has been a kind
of Radical machine for the purpose of
organizing the negroes to vote the Radi.
cal ticket, aud to elect these carpet bag
gers to ofice [Great applause The
Freedmen's Bureau, together with the
army which has been kept there, has
probably cost nearly one half of all our
army expenses. and what do you think
they have been2 Take last year, for in
stance. / believe it is stated on good
that the expenses of the War
department have been at the rate Of about
Sll 900, 900 monthly, or $3.50, 900 900 per
yesr. Why, fellow citizens, nearly one
half of this is to be charged to keeping
he army in the South to force this
negro suffrage down the throats of
an unwilling people. Think of this. $780,
900. 600; certainly more than $40, 900, 900
These expenses we have to pay from
year to year out of the taxes which are
wrung out of the people-taxes upon all
our industry, taxes upon our clothing,
taxes upon our bed and board, taxes upon
all that we see and all we have, taxes in
every possible form, taxes from the era
die, and taxes into the grave. All these
taxes are wrung out OF us for the purpose
of paying of the interest on our public
debt, and also paying the expenses of the
army from year to year.
Now how much would that amount to
per man, woman md child, say $50 900,
600 Year, There are, we will say, 30
600, 900 to 5000, 900 of people-itis safe
10 say that. 1t costs us, then, about 81 so
for every man, woman aud child, each
and every year. How many people are
there in Illinois2 About 1000 900. That
would cost you nesrly S3,000,0O annu-
ally in the State of illinois for your share
of keeping this army in the South, of this
Freedmen's Bureau in the South, and for
the purpose of forcing negro suffrage
down the threats Of that people, when you
will not consent to have negro suffrage
here among yourselves. Applause.
How much are the whole expenses of
your State administration in Ilinois2
suppose your whole State expenses of
administration in Illinois would not ex-
coed one million dollara You nrohahlv