The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1870-01-19

requirements of law in regard to the adj
mission of that state These gentlemen.
will take the oath prescribed by the act of
July g. 1862. ,a -ar -=r sony /
The report was agreed to. @
Mr.. Cliff and Mr.. PRICE appearedand
qualified" - 5l5I i
Then, sir, Georgia complied with every |
requirement of Congress, and this House /
without one dissenting voice recognized as
State in the Union with all the rights of |
othor States, and her Representatives oe- /
eupled seats on this floor during the second |
and third sessions of The Fortieth Con- |
gress. t1aE
What, then, is the object of the bill now |
before the House? Let its title answer +: |
AN act to promote the reconstruction Of !
the State of Georgia" But in July of |
last year this House declared that Georgia |
was already reconstructed What right, |
then, has this House, even under the re-
construction laws, to insist on reconstruct
ing the State of Georgia any more than on
the reconstruction of Ohio? But we are
told that the Georgia Legislature denied
negroes the right to seat as members, and
therefore that Congress has the right to
abolish her State government and not the
Army and Navy under the control of Gov
ernor Bullock to enforce the provisions of
| tins act The seventh section thus reads
SEC. Z. ATd be it further enacted, That upon the
applieatio lon Of the Governor OF Georgia the Presi
| tary or naval forces of the United States as may
be necessary to enforce and execute the proceed
| ing provisions of this act.
This section places the Army and Navy
OF the United States under the control of
the Governor of Georgia And who is
this individual upon whose application
| the President shall employ such military
| I, =,
carry out the provisions of this act A
northern man by birth, he gave aid and
assistance to the rebellion took part
against the kith and kin of his own freside
to espouse the cause of the stranger A
northern man by birth, who. according to
hls own adminsion, could not take the
Iron-clad oath in consequence of his iden-
| hty with the southern army while max
ing war against the Army of his own ma
tive section. An apostate to the North
| IN the hour of her darkest need, he now
abandons and betrays the South in the
hour of her defeat. And this is the man
who IS to be given power to require the
President to place at Army and Navy of
the United States at his back and bid
ing.
l do not propose, sir, to discuss this
bill IN detail, for in whole and part it pro-
poses usurpation. .- i
Mr. Speaker, the State of Georgia has
conferred the right to vote upon negroes,
while the State of Ohio has refused to do
so by majority of more than fifty thous
and votes. Why, then, not undertake to
reconstruct Ohio as well as Georgia
When are your pretended powers of recon
struction TO cease? If you can vote a
State in on one day and out on the next
upon any pretext you may choose to set
up, Is it not evident that the Union can
never have stability, and that this inees-
, SAINT tinkering must finally endin anarchy
! Sir, deny that Congress has any right to
interfere in the contested-eiectio cases in
; the Legislature of Georgia or of any other
: State. But instead of making an argu-
! ment upon that subject myself I prefer to
quote what was well said by one of my
; colleagues Mr.. SCHENCK at the spring
? stating that the Legislature of Georges
, had expelled portion of the members OF
I, account of color, he says:
\ 'fBut then suppose Ohio, or Pennsylvania, O
u Massachusetts had done something equivalent Z
e it, how are we to remedy it! It IS claimed tina
We are to throw ourselves upon the doctrine tina
Georgia has never been reconstructed. Butw
are estoPped from doing that from the very fac
= that reconstruction.
n Again he says
10 II do not pretend that tho court decide th
"A question in regard 70 the eligibility Of members
( of the returns and qualifications Of its own men
n bers.
Ie If then, as is conceded, each house {
, the Georgia Legislature. as of the Legis
2s lature of Ohio and of the House of Con
3e gress, Isl the judge of the qualifications an
,e returns of its own members, by what rul
J. of right can Congress break down th
le government of State and put the bayo
Br net at the throats of her people becaus
the Legislature of a State acts as she ha
legally the right to do
Suppose it be true that the Georgi
of Legislature did oust certain members en-
at titled to their seats, what is the rightly
a remedy2 An appeal to the people. Thu
Is is the only remedy possessed by a men
u Der of this House when wrongfully depnl
he ed of his seat. That was the remed
Cd resorted to by the gentleman from Ne
u. York, Mr. BRooKs, by the gentlema
of from Indiana, Mn. VOORHEES, and by Il
th humble individual who has now the hont
of to address this House, and in each cas-
he the people remedied the wrong by sendir
back the member robbed of his seat by g
ur overwhelming majority The people 10y
ey justice, and in a legal manner they a
or sure to resent the commission of gre
re wrong The true remedy, then, is to /
We the Georgia contested cases go back to Il
We people of that State and by the people /
l ? them be decided.
a. Again, Mr.. Speaker, is it entire
ce modestly in this honorable body to plai
Georgia under martial law because b
n Legislature is accused of having unfair
ii. decided certain election cases ? Why, 81
as it was only the other day the followir
K resolution, offered by the chairman of Il
,es Election Committee, TMr. PAINE WI
,s- literally laughed out of this House. W
,es read from the Globe of December 2, 1S6
Is Mr.. PAINE. submit the following resolutic
NJ and demand the previous question:
rs "hesoLDed, That the trial Of a eontested-cie
-: ton case is Judicial proceeding, and ought u
of other judicial proceedings, be exempted from p
ire sonal and partisan considerations and inhuenci
Mr.. FAKas6oETH. Is that a new doctrine or
of '1SGT. BEgANn. move TO lay the resolution
eh S,dr. Cox. demand the yeas aad nays on t
he motion,
We point take is that the question is not privi
sll ed one, and cannot be entertained without uni
ii 'sThe spEGEER. The Chair decides that this
ne not aquestion Of privilege and that the resoiui
ess cannot be entertained without suspension Of
II "Mr PAINE. move to suspend ths rules in
lch der that TIE resolution may be entertained
ded because this resolution is the best thing L
ever came from my coliSASueB lA4Aul
ard teri
,ad MI Brooks, Idernand the yeas and nays
~, suspending the rules.
zen ''tyhe yeas and nays were ordered.
lth Ar. Paine. II nottoo late win withdraw the
3au | olution
"0o "AIr. Cox. 1 object. s
"'The Speaker. The gentleman from Riscon
ties r Pa6nel has right 20 withdraw the resolnti
the and it is not now before the House" .--s
: or And the honorable gentleman frc
,on Massachusetts, Mr.. Dawes who was
M years chairman of the Election Comm
- tee, IN a lecture delivered by him in I
~ % city of New York since the adjeurnmt
-,a4 of the spring session of this Congress,
- - Procedure in Contested-Election Case
q used the following language:
"All traces ola Judicial character In these ?
ceedings are fast fading away, and the precede
: are losing oil sanction. Each case is coming
OF be mere partisan struggle. At the dictate OF
,ro- ty maiorities the committee must fight not fof
the law and the evidence; and he viii best N
.. | the expectations Of his appointment who can
rdl- upon the record the best reasons for the cou
in thus pursued"
.rn- With such record will the Hol
wn. punish Georgia for doing what is dc
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