The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1870-06-08
Senator Sawyer's Views on
Universal Amnesty.


The Congressional Globe brings
US the full ver6atim report Of tho
hot debate in the United States
Senate, on Tuesday last, on The
subject of universal amnesty. We
take the following passages from
the able speech delivered on that
occasion by Sawyer:
After alluding to Senator Nor.
tons denunciation of those who
favored amnesty as unsound Re.
publicans, Senator Sawyer said:
For one, [ recognize no mans
right to read me out of the Re.
publican party until he shows that
[ stand on ground which is not
Republican. Mere denunciation,
mere assertion that I am acting
in the interest Of rebels or rebel
lion, has no effect upon me. Iteel
no particular anxiety to avoid
pleasing the rebel if I do right and
act as q Republican. | think it
might be more wise and statesman
like if some senators should re-
member that their chief mission
is not to make the rebels hate
them. But there are some sena.
tors here who seem to conceive
that consistency requires them so
to act that the rebels shall enter
tain toward them now precisely
the same opinion that they enter
tained when the war was fragrant.
Sir, that is not my position. When
the war was fragrant I hated re-
bellion; when the war was flag
rant, to the extent Of my power I
resisted rebellion but let me say,
Mr.. President, when the war was
fragrant [ did not hate rebels, and
l do not hate rebels nor anybody
else now. 1t is not the mission of
the Republican party to hate the
men who created and who carried
on the rebellion. 1t was the mis-
sion Of the Republican party to
suppress the rebellion and it has
been and is yet the mission of the
Republican party to reorganize
this government on . more solid
and enduring basis than that upon
which it has ever stood before.
But, sir; let me tell the senator
from Indiana that the foundation
upon which he would reorgapize
this government, the foundation
upon which he would reconstruct
the States lately in rebellion, is a
foundation as unstable as water.
The rebellion took into its vortex
the whole Southern population,
with exceptions absolutely insig-
nifcant in number. All classes
were bound up in sympathy with
it. Every man, woman and child,
with, as [ said, insignificant ex-
ceptions, had but one aspiration so
far as the political situation was
concerned and that was that the
Southern Confcderacy and the
cause of the rebellion might tri-
umph. Here and there q man Of
generally very slight political or
social significance among his fel-
lows was, or professed to be, a
loyal man; but the number was
so small that to carry on the gov
ernment in those States by their
aid, and by their aid alone, is a
proposition perfectly absurd to any
man who knows the people.
I can understand, too, that those
who would govern these States as
subject provinces, who would con-
tinue to keep over them the strong
arm Of power, who would destroy
the vital principle of the American
Republican Republic, which is To-
cal self government, administration
Of local interests by local agents
| say / can understand how those
who would upset all this principle
and theory of government, who
would destroy this chief element
Of strength in the American sys-
tenn, should advocate the contin-
uance Of that system which should
hold the grip upon the throats Of
the great majority Of the white
population. That is the only
theory on which 1 can understand
it; but if our purpose is to forget
the war, if our purpose is to estab-
lish in the breasts Of the Southern
people a love for the institutions
of the United States, if our purpose
is to strengthen the government
in those States, and to have a real
Union, we must take the people
Of those States with all their in
frmities upon them; we must
incorporate them into the body
polite Of the United States, as
equal constituent members. We
must recollect that a man in South
Carolina, a citizen of the United
States, must be placed on precisely
the same platform, and covered by
the same protection, endowed with
the same political privileges, as a
man in Massachusetts, or Michi~
gan.
When you shut out any one