The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1871-02-09
FRANK p. BLAIR.
On the constifutionaI Amendments and
1sse' Reconstruction.

| ON the Constitutional Amendments and
Reconstruction. srs
Previous to the election for Senator
by the Missouri Legislature, resolu-
ton was offered by Mr.. Pope, Radical,
of St. Louis, endorsing the thir-
teenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth
amendments to the Federal Consti-
tuition and the reconstruction pol
/ icy of Congress, thinking that, in the
consideration OF these radical meas
nres, General Blair, who was the
prominent Democratic candidate for
fU. S. Senator would "put his foot in
il" and thereby loose the support OF
the Liberal Republicans. But5he met
the questions, openly, boldly, and
I frankly. On the motion to refer this
4 resolution to the committee on Fed
4 teraIIrelations, Mr. Blair said:
4 MB. SPEAKER: I intimated the
other day that thought it was not
difficult to trace the origin of this res
Pollution, to the one who contrived and
f'thc one who wrote it. The gentleman
himself afterward stated or intimated
that inasmuch as ! was designated as
one of the candidates before the Dem
ocratic caucus, that it was intended TO
test my opinions; and about the time
that tie resolution appeared in the
House, several distinguished gentle
| men appeared in this city, one of
them Count Rodman's representative
| from the Nirth District Hon. D. P.
Dyer. The other distinguished gen.
Flemen who has been Senator, from
this State, and is now, believe, seek
ing the Nomination from the gentle
men on the other side for that posi-
tion, addressed a number of his friends
in this House, think upon Friday
night, and those who have read his
| speech will observe that it is nothing
more than an extension of the resolu-
tion offered by the gentlemen. So I
believe, that / have brought home
this resolution to the gentleman who
contrived it ). and the gentleman him
self has ackno owldged its purpose. In
reference to the Questions in that res
olution 1 have never had dany conceal
ment, Every gentleman upon this
fioor-for doubt not that every one
upon it is as intelligent as the gentle
man, my colleague ,(Mr.. Pope9, from
st. Louis-and do not question that
they understand my position as wen
as that gentleman does: / never have
since I have been. public man sought
to conceal any sentiment of my heart.
In reference to the question, of the
first amendment that he speaks Of
the thirteenth-emancipating slaves,
every ybody in Missouri knows thatI
was for that long before he or the par
ty with whom he acts. fCheers.l
/ The Democratic party nominated me
with a full knowledge that those were
my sentiments, and I believe that that
amendment was accepted in good
faith by the people of the South, who
were most deeply interested in it. 1t
VIII be recolleeted that when the war
closed this was one of the demands
made, may say, by the people of this
country that the institution of slavery,
supposed to have been largely instru-
mental in bringing about the war,
that it should cease to exist, and the
people of the South, with that prac--
tical good sense that has always char
acterized them, saw that it was no
longer possible, even if desirable, to
maintain the institution of slavery
and they consented, so tar as 1 know,
without dissenting voice to fincor-
porate that amendment in the Consti-
tion of the United States by giving
their assent to the propositions which
had been previously made by Con-
gress. But the reconstruction acts
which make a part of the gentleman's
programme here, puts the thirteenth
amendment in this position they
were either States when they assented
to it, and their assent was binding
and made it part of the Constitution
of the United States, or not; or they
were not states and could not assent,
and 1T is not now q part of the Con-
-stifutiorl. The gentleman and his
party, after accepting their assent to
TINS constitutional amendment, denied
that they were states in the e nion,
and went about to reconstruct them.
Never was there greater perfidy on
the part of any party in the world. If
they were not States entitled to rep
resentation, how could they unite in
asserting 10 q portion of the organic
law ofour country How could they
participate in moulding and making
a constitution for o government of
which they were no part? Now this
is the dilemma in which that Congress
found itself and finds itself. And
what title had they; what title had
the Congress to interfere to recon-
struct states that had themselves the
high prerogatiye of asserting and as
sisting in making the Constitution of
the United States p The Reconstruct
tion acts were passed and were clear
lyr unconstitutional, and SO decided
by the Supreme Court of the United
States unconstitutional in interfer-
ing with the right of suffrage in the
States; depriving one class OF men of
suffrage, and comforting it upon an
other, when our constitution directly
gave the right to the States to regu-
late the subject of suffrage. This case
was decided by. the Supreme Court
of the United States in the case of
Cummings against the State of Mis-
souri,, which distinctly declares that
that attempt to deprive the citizens of
their right to the ballot was ec post
facto bill of attainder, and uncon-
stitutional, null and void. That was
the decision which stands to-day.
Again, ip the case of Milligan and
Bowles, who were tried and convicted
and sentenced to death by military
commission in the State of Indiana.
Then war was waging, but when the
courts were open the Supreme Court
/ decided that where the courts were
open, and they decided unanimously,
that no military commission could try
any one except those who were in the
military service. Now, those are two
great points upon which reconstruc-
tion In the South stosd-one was the
disfranchisement of those who were
previously entitled to the ballot, and
the other,eonferring the ballot upon
those who never had any title to it
previously in this State, declared in
the case of Cummings against the
State of Missouri to be unconstitu-H
tiopal, and the means by which this
law was enforced, the military arm,
the bayonet, the arrest of all citizens
L for Resistance of Observation-Disclosures law