The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-06-04
sPEECE.UF GOV, JOSEPH e. BROW.
OF GEORGIA.

| CUhlUclIl. I,
spEECssoF GOV. JOSEPH e. BROWN
OF GEORGIA. Il
bclivcrcd.at the National Republican
Convention, May Goth, 1868.
Mr., Chalrn n: rs it has been ar
noanccd that the committee will be
ready to re!jort in few minutes,
think it might be- improper that
should enter into any discussion Of the
questions involved at this time, aud /
could not do justice to myself or sec
ton II ! attempted 70: speak without
time to-, rayiew, to some cxtelt.; tho
! Cquestions .i,,toived'zI do not wish, sir,
to intruds upon the proceedings Of this
I convention. Il came here; as has well
been femarked,i reconstructed rebel.
| Was an original secessionist. SAN
open ttnafession is, good for the -: SOUL
s:E'AssI remarked be4ore:Iileft my seat,
7 f'was'an original 'secessionfst.' / was
born IN the State. '9f South !Carolina,
and grewpp fairly imbued with tbe doe
.trines Of Calhoun, who was then in the
full glow of his meridian: Yearly .iul-
bibed the estate" Kghts"'% doctrines,
anf.dflii anf.dflii suppose that I; as ,religious1y be-
EeyeA that they were. correct as you be-
1:Iievcd That your doctrines were correct.
7 l'helieve that I had seen for eight years,
! before the unfortunate struggle VIC
I have just passed through, that: the is,
Sues which disordered the North and
t South:must ultimately. be- settled by the
sword. There Mas no common tribunal
whose judgment we would respect. II
the Supreme Court decided a question
Bearing upon this great issue, the party
Eagainst whom the decision was made,
fretused to abide by5it, because you re:
gardcd it as political. But knew that
the time must be when it must come
N'hch Mr.. clay lived "a good mar
that great paci6ca.or, we were able to
avert this issue. But Mr.. Clay was
called from Ills field Of usefulness, aud
Mr.. Webster died, aud Mr.. Calhoun
slept with his fathers; and when the
STORM again rose there was no one who
could pour oil upon the troubled waters
and: stop the deluge. Secession was
the result! went with it cordially, as
a State Rights man, and I stood by it
as long as there was any chance to sus-
tain it. When the President Of the
Confederate States abandoned the
great estate Rights doctrine that VIC
commenced and were agreed upon, |
differed with him. When he adopted
his conscript measures, which gave the
entire control Of the whole army of the
Confederate States and Of every officer
down to the lowest private in the army
AN error, sir, you did not commit, l
took issue with him, but we went
through the strugyle--not to attempt
now to review its hlstory-but We ofthe
South fell, and you Of the North were
the conquerors; and think I had
sense enough at the ond Of the struggle
to know when I was whipped.
The President Of the United States,
after the surrender of Gen. Johnston,
ordered my arrest and imprisohment-
After my release, your courts were open,
and [ was left free to act. [ felt then
! that the time had come when | should
uakc my choice between this Govern
mcnt and some other land and Govern
mcnt. l still love my own native land
the best. And with your construction
of the constitution established by the
sword, [ still preferred the Government
Of the United States to any other rec
ognized government.
The natural inquiry then was, what
is my interest, and what is my duty !?
1 believed it was my interest, and my
choice, to remain in this government.
If l remained here, l must seek the
amnesty of the government for the past,
and l must ask its protection for the fu-
ture. If it yielded me that | WAS bound
in honor to return to my allegiance and
make a good citizen it l could. Hence
I have advocated every measure from
that time until this for reconstruction
When the President Of the United
States proposed his plan, I advised our
people to accept it, because We had fall
len, and we had no other power to ne
gotiate with but him. He did MT call
Congress together. When Congress,
which had the legitimate control Of this
question, proposed the Constitutional
Amendment to the Southern States,
| advised such friends as sought my
opinion upon the question that it was
hotter to accept it, But the feeling
was so overwhelming against it that no
] voice could stand it..
Then there was the Constitutional
Amendment. There was but one issue
| in it, and that was the suffrage question,
and that Congress left with the States
to settle themselves. IF we voted the
black race We must count them in our
representation if VIC refuse to vote
them we could not count them. That
was right. With reference to the Fed
cral debt, there was no question there.
There was but one other important
question connected with it, and that
was this provision that disqualified me,
and others with mc, from holding Office.
That was no living issue. I, and 9th.
ers like me, will soon pass from the
stage, aud if we did not, there are 9TH