Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-12-29
ny HON. TOM. FITCH
ON THE AM RSTY BILL

On The AMNESTY BILL.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2O.-The House
resumed the consideration OF the Am
nesty Bill.
Mr.. FITcH-lt may be, Mr.. Speaker,
that the adoption of more vigorous and
yengeful measures toward the leaders
Of the rebellion five years ago, would
have furnished greater security against
future treason than we now possess ;
but certainly 1t is too late at this DAY
to inaugurate q policy which might
once have struck terror where now 1t
can only provoke hatred.
If we had sent a corps of surveyors
and a multitude Of settlers in the rear
of our armies ; II we had followed con-
quest BY co~nfiscation Of the lands, and
confiscation by immediate armed &C.
eupatiou; If we had disqualified from
holding office and disfranchised from
voting every man In OF out OF the con-
'federate army who participated In the
rebellion, we would have perhaps done
no more than under the p~recedents of
history which have been cited here we
had a right to do. But ut the close Of
the war the nation deliberately inarl-
gurated q wiser, a more liberal, a less
relentless policy. We gave to our
conquered foes their lives, their llber.
ties, and their lands; we permitted
them to retain the citizenship they had
disdained and the protection they had
despised; we inflicted no penalties
upon them; we condoned the offenses
they had committed, and we eXacted
from them scarcely any greater guar
antees for the future than were given
by loyal citizens.
We reserved only the right to ex-
clude from Office that class of per-
sons described in the third section
of the fourteenth article of amend
ments to the Federal Constitution, and
this disqualification we practically
promised to remove so SOON as the pub
lie necessities would permit. Now,
sir, l am one Of those who believe that
this policy Of forgiveness has been,
upon the whole, a wise policy. | con-
cede, as was stated by the gentleman
from Tennessee, MIR. MAYNARD, that
there have been instances of outrage In
the South. 1t Is, alas, true that Rob
ert +. Lee went to his grave publicly
honored by reconstructed Virginia. 1t
Is true that Surratt lectures OH assas-
slnation to delighted Maryland audi
euces. 1t is true, unfortunately, that
Jefferson Davis lives.
But, sir, these arc but Isolated ILL
stances of the embers of a great con-
fagration cleaning sullcnly here and
there through the ashes of d%esolation.
Generally We have order restored; we
have law triumphant; we have the
country reconstructed; we have pros
perity reviving; we have n flag re-
spected We have peace over the land.
Why should we now, IN tho midst OF
peace and prosperity, abandon that
course of clemency which we elected
to pursue when tile clangor Of battle
was still sounding in or ears? Why
should we now inaugurate the fag-end
of the policy of retribution that we
gave up while the clamors Of war were
around us? We have surrendered to
our former foes every essential power
and privilege We might have retained
from them why should we cling to
the right to impose a petty penalty
when we AN NO longer infiict a great
punishment?
Suppose, sir, rs has been stated here,
that the result of 4 removal of disa-
bilitics will be to render some thou
sands of Democratic politicians eligible
to ofice-what have we to fear from
that? Between eligibility to occupy
and ability to procure public place
there Is, rs we are constantly reminded,
Il very wide gulf:
will not Insult the integrity or the
Intelligence of Southern Republicans
by assuming that 1t is only the ineligl-
bility Of tile leaders Of the rebellion
that prevents them from occupying
their former places upon this floor.
Why, sir, suppose that the worst con-
sequences predicted should follow {;
suppose that the revolving wheel OF
politics should here and there throw a
rebel leader into place; what shall we
gain by excluding the brains and
Courage of the rebellion, to welcome
its social debris, to admit those who
were its syoophants and its sympa:
thizers, rather than Its statesmen and
its warriors? If the champions of the
"lost cause" were here they would be
powerless for evil 1t would be but
barren and broken scepters they could
hold In their grasp. They would be
utterly impotent to change the IRE
yersible verdict of the a
Better for the country, | say, that
John c. Breckenridge should advocate
the distractions Of secession In the
United States Senate to empty galle-
ries and vacant chairs, than that q
Senator, without either his brains, his
culture, or his taste, should insult the
country with an offer to eHhume the
bones Of our heroes from the nights Of
Arlington. Sir, If we could put light
again into the brave eyes that were
closed forever in the sulphurous smoke
of battle, if the earth could give back
the gallant hearts that throbbed out
their lives In red libations to liberty,
If we could marshal once more the
namelcss dead who have battled above
the clouds of Lookout mountain, who
diverted the current Of the Mississippi,
who anthemed their battle hymns be-
fore the gates Of burning Richmond,
who carried our banner, flying, still
triumphant, over every inch of Amer
lean soil, they would shy, as with ono
voice, that the spirit Of amnesty and
forgiveness which could permit their
honorable insultsr to represent a great
commonwealth in the National Senate
might well afford their more truly
honorable assailants al opportunity to
achieve a few county cl~erkships.
Suppose that the consequences pre-
dicted by my honorable friend from
Tennessee MIR. Maynard] should re-
suit; suppose that We should have
here ex-members of the ex-Confeder-
ate Congress {; suppose that, In conse-
quence of a general removal of politi-
cll disabilities, treason would be ena-
bled to place q dozen Of its unwise ELL
logists and obstinate adherents upon
this floor; could their feeble voices
summon from the tomb Of history and
invest once more with power those
ghastly forms of oppression that have
been trampled to ashes under the iron
heels of our legions? Could their
H. L. -I.1-