Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-03-17

discord Of angry passions. ard
| be that loyal man white or Dlack,
/ that great party of our republic
will he consistent with the record
| has already made for pOsterity, and
! throw around him the same impartial
| security in his pursuit Of liberty and
| hgDDiness, If a certain class Of the /
/ south had accepted in good faith the
/ benevolent OVerture5 which were OF
fered to them with no niggard hand to-
/ day would not find our land harassed
| with leuds and contention. re-
| marked. Mr.. President, that rose to 4
| plead for the protection Of defense
| less race. who now send their |
! delegation to the seat OF Gov
| ernment to sue for that which |
| this Congress alone can secure TO them,
| and here let me say that the people oI |
! the North owe to the colOred race a |
deep obligation, which it is no easy |
/ matter to fulfill. When the Federal |
armies were threatened by death and |
| disaster, and sOmbre overhung the |
! length and breadth Of the republic, |
and the very air was pregnant with
rumors of foreign intervention; IN
| those dark days of defeat, whose
/ memories even yet haunt US as an ugly
/ dream-from what source did our ma
ton, in its seeming death thrOes, gain
| additional and new-fOund power? lt
WAS the sable sons Of the South
! that yalientlv rushed to the rescue,
and but Tor their intrepidlty and ar
dent daring, many a Northern nre-
side would miss to-day paJernal coun-
sci or a brothers. love. Sir, L repeat
| the fact. that the cOlOred race saved
To the noble women Of New England
and the Middle States men on whom
they lean to-day for security aad
safety, Many OF MY race, representa-
tive5 of these men on the
| field of battle, sleep in count
| less graves Of the South, IL
those quiet resting places OF our
honored dead could speak to-day,
what a mighty voice, like 70 the rush
ing OF a mighty wind, would come
up from those sepulchral hOmesP
Could we resist the eloquent plead
ings of their appeal? All, sir, think
that this question OF Imme-
diate and ample protection for
the loyal people Of George EOald
lose It's legal technlcallties, and we
would cease to hesitate in our pro-
visions for their instant relief. Again
l regret this delay on ether grounds.
The tagnt Is frequently hung at US
that a Nemesis more terrible than
the Greek persOnatiOn Of the anger OF
the Gods awaits her hour of direful
retributiOn. We are told that at no
distant day q great uprising OF the
American people will demand that
these reconstruction acts of Con-
gress be undOne and DiGtted for
ever from the annals of legisla-
tive eaactments. l inquire, sir, if
this delay in affording protection
: to lOyali5ts OF the State of Georgia does
! not lend an uncomfortable significance
: to this Doasting sneer with which we
: so often meet. Delay is perllOus at
/, best, for It Is true In legislation as IN
: physic, that the longer we procrastl-
nate TO apply proper remedies more
! critical becomes the malady that we
! seek to heal. The land wants such as
: dare, with Vigor, execute the laws.
: Her feStered members must be lanced
: and tended, not as bad surgeon that
: for pity spares the part corrupted till
! gangrene spread and all the body per
; ishes, for TO be merciful unto the bad
! ! is cruelty to the good,
: Mr.. Revels then reviewed the state
, of affairs in Georgia, stating that at
3 the election in November, 1861, for
members to the State Convention,
o $4,000 white and S0,000 eolored votes
: were DOlled, and d number of eOlOred
# delegates elected. A constitution was
: framed and ratified, and a legislature
{ elected under it was convened. After
r all this, suppOsing they had passed
# beyond Congressional control, the
7 rebel element in legislation asserted
Q itself, and many OF those whose DIS
= abilities had been removed by the
state Convention, which comprised a
. number of cOlored members, joined
: in the declaration made by that Legis-
! Iature. that any man having more
!. than an eighth of African blood in his
: veins is ineligible to office. These very
4 men, to whom the Republican party
# extended all the rights and privileges
4 of citizenship, of which they had de-
) priyed themselves, denied political
i equality to q large majority of their
# fellow citizens. Twenty-eight mem
= bers were expelled. On December %,
A 1869. an act of Congress was passed
"a recurring the reassembling of persons
4 declared elected by the military com
q mander, and the restoration of eX-
i Uelied members and registration o.
= others. All conditions had now beer
complied with, and having ratified
y the I4th and 10th amendments
/. Georgia presented herself for recOgnt
=, ton. Bingham's amendment pro
iys posed to legalize the organization o
n 1865, and would legaiize the act of the
If Legislature In appointing a Judg,
of who decided in favor of elias
II distinction in the State a
" Americans of future protection
q for Ioyal GeOrgians. He desired thes,
n terms should commence from the dat
n of the present Legislature. He asked
i this in the name of 100000 white ant
n cOlored Georgians, and reminded tn
b. Senate that he who permitted opposi
d ton shared the crime.
IS Upon the conclusion of his remarks
It, Mr.. Revels received the eongratula
Id tions of many Republican Senators
Id and others, and then the immense au
st dience in the galleries, which includes
re many persons of color, slowly dis
IN persed.
of Mr.. Morton, in complimenting Nj
Id Revels on his speech, expressed tn
", opinion that in the change by whic
o. that gentleman Occu3iou Tic pt1CO I
of Jeff. Davis the Senate had lost moth
gs ing in intelligence, while IL ha
Ia gained much in patriotism and 10y
as ATTY. He proceeded to argue that tn
er government of Georgia was prov
ch sional and would so continue until ac
ld ually represented in Congress. Re
ID. erence from opposite theory Wa
Id that the State had been denie
At representation when she was entitie
Of to Fl. and been treated badly by Con
I gress. He claimed that the reeol
nv struction legislation Of Congress sin
lgs ply exercised the power Of guarantee
ey ing a republican form Of government
srs but had neither assumed to give
ed, particular construction to the Consi
ate tuition of a State, as did Mr.. Bin
ne hams amendment, in declaring Il
ow length of terms of present State OF
ich GERS. He also argued that a substanti
nd reason for the report of the Judicial
md Committee in 1869 against the ADM
ION sion of Hill, as Senator from Georgl
of was that the organization Of the Leg
an lature was void from the beginnin
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