The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1869-12-30
REMARKS OF JUDGE THBRMAN ON
THE GEORGIA BILL ,.-t..f 4


THE GEORGIA BILL. at.t .f-
In the debate upon the Georgia re-
construction bill. in the Mnited States
Senate, week before last, Senator
Morton moved to amend by previd-
ing Isl @ - ~-<--
=. That the Legislature Eof Georgia.
| shall be provisional only and until il
| it has ratified the Fourteenth and. FIT
! teenth Amendments of the Constitu-
ton ofthe United States, and SENATOR
and Representatives in Congress from
the State of Georgia have been admit
| ted, TO their seats" ,gra.5r,i>ss. E
On this amendment, Judge Thur
man said:; ,gf ......z -! -au
MR..PREsIDENT: IL do not propose
now, if ever, to take up the time of
the Senate with any general discussion
of this bill. What | shall say will be
strictly confined to the amendment of
fered by the Senator from Indiana,
and will be very brief upon that.
The difference between the, Senator
from Wisconsin and the Senator from
Indiana is simply this THAT the Sem
atof from Indiana says what he means ;
the Senator from Wisconsin will not
say on the record what he means. l
Mr.. President, am opposed either
the one course or the other. What
L begtto call the attention of the SEN
ate to is this: that this is not ques-
ton simply which concerns the State
of Georgia /; this is not, as the Senator
from Missouri and the Senator from
Indiana seem to suppose, a question
of the merits or of the dement's of the
people of Georgia this is. not ques.
tion as to what conditions might
properly be imposed upon Georgia, if
Georgia stood affected alone by those
conditions; but this is question
whether you shall impose an amend
ment to the Constitution upon the en-
tire people of the United States by
coercing Georgia into the adoption of
that amendment. The question is
whether you shall force that. amend
ment on the people of Ohio, notwith-
standing their fifty thousand majority
against it, by coercing Georgia against
her will to adopt it. There is not a
member of the Senate who does not
know that if Mississippi and Texas
and Virginia and Georgia were left
to their free, unbiased judgement on
this amendment, not one of them
would think of adopting it; and,every;
Senator well knows that without the
votes of all four of those States the
amendment cannot become part of
the Constitution. n tig .eia.
What, then, is the effect of coercing
Georgia to adopt. it7 When you
strangle her, when you deprive her
citizens Of the free election which the
Constitution gives them to say what
shall be part of the Constitution of
the Union, when you force her to vote
into the. urn to be counted in favor of
tie ainandment, you forca that amend
ment on the people of Ohio, on the
people of Indiana, on the people of
Illinois, on the whole people, how
ever much they may be opposed to
its adoption. Ny State has voted up
on the amendment; her Legislature
hasvoted upon it and rejected it !; and
when you compel Georgia against the
will Of her people to adopt this amend
ment you nullify the vote of the State
of Ohio on this great question of
amending the Constitution. There
fore, Mr.. President, not simply in the
name of the people of Georgia, but in
the name of all the people, / protest
against this mode ofcoercing the peo-
pie Of the United States to adopt an
amendment to their Constitution.
The sole power that is given by the
Constitution to Congress is to pro-
pose amendments. It is then for
every. State, of Its own free will, with
out coersion, without compulsion, to
say whether it will accept your prop
osition or not; and it is simply idle
and frivolous to say that a State freely
and voluntarily accepts your proposi-
ton of amendment to the Constitution
when you say in the same breath to
the State, elf you do not accept it, !
you shall have no rights In this Union (; |
you shall be taxed without represen-
tation; you shall be governed by mil
itary instead of. civil law; the civil |
courts shall be trampled down, and |
drum-head conrt=alar{ials shall take
their place; every right that is sacred |
to an American; every right that is |
sacred to q freeman. shall be at the |
mercy of military tribunals and |
drum-head court-martials, unless you
of your own free will, forsooth, of |
your free choice, forsoath, agree to
alter the fundamental law of the
landw
Call that free choicei Call that a
free election, accepting or rejecting
an amendment to the Constitution
Why, sir,,1 should be insulting the in
telligence ofthe Senate if were to
discuss such a proposition as that.
No, sir: you give no free choice to
Georgia; you give no free choice to
any one of these States when you at
tach these c9nditiens, when you say
to them, with your hands on their
" Accept this amendment or
else continue to be deprived of the,
most sacred rights of the American
people," But, as | said before, it is
not simply question as to Georgia
it is question as to Ohio as we'll as
Georgia and your decision on this
proposition affects my State just as
much as it affects the State of Georgia
every bit as much. If this is to be-
come part of the Constitution 1t will
be q part Of the Constitution in Ohio