Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-04-26
THE SOUTH.
Enforcement of the Fourteenth
Amendment.
speech Of Hon. A. e. Garrett, OF Ten
nessee, i'm the House Of ExePnssent.'
attVes, April 8, 1871.

MIR. SPEAKER: l had hoped that il
would not become necessary to me, dur
ing the present session of Congress. TO
ask the indulgence of this House to listen
to any remarks of mine, nor would I now
ask its indulgence but for the reason that
the people of Tennessee, a portion of
whom | have the honor to represent up
on this floor, as well as the people of the
whole country, are to be seriously affect
ed by the passage of The bill under con-
sideration. / will remark here that a
measure fraught with more danger to the
peace, liberty, and welfare of the Amer
lean people has not been proposed by
any partisan legislation. 1t does seem to
! me, sir, that the party in power might be
satisfied with the Innovations already
made upon the Constitution of our
fathers without forcing upon the country
this GROWING act of Capitalization.
ask gentlemen here, who ever heard
OF such extraordinary powers as this bill
proposes TO place in the hands of the
President of the United States being in
trusted to one man in any civilized coun-
tyG No king, prince, or potentate was
ever, by the consent of his subjects, in
trusted with such extraordinary powers
as those you propose by this bill to place
in the hands of President of the United
States. ra.aE ..a -.
As the constitutIonality of the bill has
been SO fully and so ably discussed,
propose to confine my remarks to plain
statement of facts as they have existed
and do now exist in the South as well as
in other portions of the United States.
/ have scarcely been able to keep my seat
and listen to the ISLANDERS and falsehoods
charged upon the Democratic party AID
the people of the South by the other side
of the House since The opening of this
debate; being satifed in my own mind,
however, that the gentlemen making
the charges were in ignorance of
the facts as they exist in the South, l
propose, as briefly as possible, to state
some of them as they have come to my
knowledge since the war. Those people,
sir, have borne with scarcely murmur
such oppression and insult as no other
people have ever borne in the history of
civilized governments. know of what
/ speak, and l hope the House will in.
dulge me in a few remarks personal to
myself. As this is my first attempt to
address you, it might be proper for you
to know my former political status and
what | was doing during the war of
1S6l-65. l am a native Tenuesseeau,
born Snd educated there, a Union man,
and Federal soldier for four years of
The war. never did a disloyal act nor
spoke disloyal word In my whole life,
but in good faith sacrificed property,
health, friends and pleasure to do battle
for the Constitution and the Union.
stood by the Constitution and the Union
in its darkest hours, and will carry the
wounds received in its defense to my
grave. claim no honor for all the sacri.
fees made; but, sir, claim the main.
tensnce of the Union In good faith under
the Constitution of the United States.
And, sir, claim the right to be heard
in the American Congress in explanation
and defense of the Southern people,
among whom love to live. While they
fought on the other side in the war, |
know they were honest, brave and true
No people, sir, have ever been slandered,
abused and misrepresented as those I'M
fortunate Souiherners have; and would
be recreant to a noble nature, would be
recreant to Christianity, would be recre-
ant to liberty and humanity, as well as to
the trust imposed in me, were not to
correct the falsehOods and ISLANDERS heaped
upon those people. 1t is an act of simple
justice, sir, nothing more; and in dis
charging this duty must be permitted to
say that have no personal ends to serve.
As remarked before, sir, | say again
that spent some four years of the prime
of my life in the service of the country
to maintain the Constitution and the Union
of States hereunder. / cannot, there
fore, Mr.. Speaker, after the sacrifices
made, sit quietly here and see the little
that is left of the Constitution of my
fathe's trampled under foot by reckless
party to serve partisan ends, without first
warning you against such an act and
without entering my solemn protest |
against it. If such laws as this bill pro- |
poses are to be passed by this House, of |
what use, then, sir, ask, are written |
constitutions Il is perfectly clear to my |
mind that if this bill becomes a law it |
will deprive the whole people of the |
United States Of the last great right guar
anteed to them by the Constitution we |
were taught to reverence, including the |
great right of habeas corpus and the right |
of trial by jury.
We in the South, sir, have enjoyed but |
few of the rights guaranteed by the Con- |
stitution Of the United States, since the
beginning of the war. Notwithstanding |
the pledges made by the President of the |
United States, as well as the generals in |
the army, to the rebels in arms and TO |
the whole country, that if they would |
lay down their arms and return to their |
loyalty to the Government they should |
have all the rights of citizens of the Uni |
ted States, all of which pledges have been |
violated, ba3ely violated by the party in |
power. State constitutions, State govern
ments, and State judiciaries have been |
overthrow, military dictstors aud mill |
tarY commissions established in their |
stead, and citizens arrested without war
rant, imprisoned without trial, 'tried, |
convicted, and executed" by drum-head |
court martial, in violation of the COnsti-
tuition; worthless aud merciless carpet
baggers aud strangers fOisted into power |
and kept thee by unconstitutional and |
arbitrary measures.
The people South have borne ali this |
sir; yea, they have borne more, they have |
borne the carpet Dagger and scalawsg, |
who were sent among them Us incendia-
ries and sustained by military despots,
who were sent among us for the sole pur-
pose of stirring up strife and bitterness
between the two sections of the country
that rotten, corrupt party might be sus-
tsined in power. And now, sir, after four
years of war aud six years of profound
peace, making ten years in ali that this |
party have appropriated to the pllsging |
and plundering the labor of this country, |
and during the whole Of these ten years,
they have succeeded in covering up their /
crimes by crying ''Rebel! REBEL"
And now that the excitement of the |
people is beginning to calm, and reason
resume its swsy, and you no longer see
any hope of re- aiming power in the Gov
eminent by your deception, fraud, and |
-, E,,,,.,., l,lyo to,r ,,>o,, 81, i