Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1870-04-21

Senate, Wednesday, March II
1870, ON the Georgia Rec cOnstruC
tiOn Bill.
ami
Mr.. REvELs. Mr.. President,
: rise at this particular juncture i
the discussion Of the Georgia bill
with feelings which perhaps neve
before entered into the experienc
Of any member of this body.
rise, too, with misgivings as to til,
propriety of lifting my voice at thi
earlyypepod after my admission
into the Senate. Perhaps it wer,
wiser for me, SC, inexperienced il
the details of Senatorial duties, tc
have remained a passive listener ir
the progress of this debate; but
when | remember that my term is
short, and that the issues with which
this bill is fraught are momentous
in their present and future inhu-
ence upon the weil-being of my
race, | would seem Indifferent to
the Importance of the hour and rec
reant to the high trust imposed up
on me if hesitate to lend my voice
on behalf of the loyal people of the
South. l therefore waive all tho It's
as to the propriety of taking Il part
in this discussion. When ques-
tions arise which bear upon the
safety and protection of the loyal
white and colored population of
those States lately in rebellion, |
cannot allow any thought as to
mere propriety to enter into my
consideration of duty The re-
sponsibilities of being the exponent
of such a constituency as 1 have
the honor to represent, are fully
appreciated by me. | bear about
me daily the keensst sense of their
weight, and that feeling prompts
me now to lift my voice for the
first time in this Council Chamber
of the Nation; and, sir, stand to-
day on this floor to appeal for pro
lection from the strong arm Of the
Government for her loyal children,
irrespective Of color or race, who
are citizens of the Southern States,
and particularly of the State of
Georgia.
/ am well aware, sir, that the idea
IS abroad that ar antagonism ex-
sts between the whites and blacks;
that that race which the nation
taised frol,az the degrauation ofsla-
very, and endowed with the full
and unqualified rights and privi-
-eges Of citizenship, are intent up,
on power, at whatever price it can
be gained. 1t has been the we'll
considered purpose and aim of a
class not confined to the South to
spread this charge over the land,
md their efforts are as vigorous to-
lay to educate the people Of this
nation into that belief as they we're
It the close of the war. 1t was not
Uncommon to find this same class
wen during the rebellion, pregnos-
icating a servile war. 1t may have
,een that "the wish was father to
he thought" And, sir, as the
ecogni4ed representative of my
lowntrodden people, | deny the
harge and hurl it back into the
eeth of those who make it, and
Who, believe, have not true and ]
onscientious desire to further the {
interests of the whole South. Ger /
ainly no one possessing any per {
onal knowledge of the colored {
of my own or other l
tates, need be reminded of the no. 6
lie conduct of that people under {
he most trying circumstances of
he late war, when they were beyond t
he protection ofthe Federal forces. t
While the Confederate army press Y
d into its ranks every white male l
apable of bearing arms, the moth {
RS, wives, daughters and sisters of G
he Southern soldiers were left de-
enseless and in the power of the I
lacks, upon whom the chains of Z
Iavery were still riveted; and to t
ind those chains still closer was e
le real issue for which SO much {
fe and property was sacrificed. !
And now, sir, ask how did that t
ice act? Did they in those days C
confederate weakness and i'm v
otcnce evince the malignity of '
l ich 1--WE hear so much ?. Grant t
Ig, for the sake of argument, that 6
icy were ignorant and bcsotted, a
hich / do not believe, yet with Il
! their supposed ignorance and Il
'eduhty, they in their way under ii
ood as fully as you or l the aw n
i import of the contest. They Il
1ew if the gallant corps Of nation 0
soldiers were beaten back and tt
eir flag trailed in the dust that it "
as the presage of still heavier IL
ondage. They longed, too, as al
cir fathers did before them, for al
e advent Of that epoch over which 81
as shed the hallowed light of in CT
,iration itself. They desired, too,
th their fathers, to welcome the CT
ct Of the stranger shod with the m
.aceful preparation Of good news. dI
cary years of bondage had told to
cir tale of sorrow to the court N
Heaven. In the councils of the ii
eat Father of all they knew the 81
judication of their-case, albeit de- tn
yed for years, in which patient pl
fering had nearly exhausted it. 81
If, would in the end bring to Ill
IL |