The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1872-08-10
Speaker Blaine to Senator Sum-
KaeF.
AUGUSTA, Me-, July 81.

DEAR SIR-Your letter published in
the papers of this morning will create
profound pain and regret among your
former political friends throughout New
England. Your power to injure Gene
raj Grantwas exllaustedin your remark
able speech in the Senate. Your power
to iniure yourself was not exercised I'M
til you announced an open alliance with
the Southern secessiOnists i'll their eff
forts to destroy the Republican party
of the nation.
Ihave but recently read, with much
interest, the circumstantial and minute
account given by you in the fourth vol
ume of your works OF the manner IN
which you were struck down in the
Senate chamber in 1856 for defending
the rights of the negro. The Democrat
ic party throughout the South, and ac-
cording to your own showing, to some
extent in the North also, approved OF
that assault upon you. Mr.. ,Toombs, OF
Georgia. openly ANNOUNCED his approval
of it in the Senate, andJefersOn DAVIS
four months after it's occurrence, wrote
q letter to South Carolina in fulsOme
eulogy ofBro0ks for. having so nearly
taken your life.
1t is safe to say that every man i'll the
South who rejOiced over the attempt to
murder you, was afterward f0undin the
rebel conspiracy to murder the nation.
It is still safer to say that every one OF
them who survived is, to-day your fel-
low-laborer in the support of Horace
Greeley. In 1856 he would, indeed, have
been q rash prophet who would have
predicted your fast alliance sixteen years
after with Messrs. T0Ombs and Davis
in their efforts to TeinState their own
party in power.
In all the startling mutations OF
American politics, nothing so marvel
lous has ever occurred as the fellowship
of Robert TOombs, Jefferson Davis and
Charles Sumner in a joint effort to drive
the Republican party from power and
hand over the government to the prac-
teal control Of those who recently
sought to destroy it.
1t is of no avail for you to take refuge
behind the Republican record of Horace
Greeley. .COnceding, for the sake of ar
gument, as / do not in fact believe, that
Horace Greeley would remain firm in
his Republican principles, he would be
powerless against the Congress that
would come into power with him III the
event of his election.
f We have had a recent and striking IL
lustratiOn in the case OF Johnson OF the
inability Of the President to enforce his
policy or even Il measure against the
will of Congress !; what more power
would there be in Horace Greeley to en-
force a Republican policy against a
Democratic Congress than there was In
Andrew johnson to enforce a Demo
cratic policy against a Republican Con
gress ? and besides Horace Greedy has
.ooI-: -, LS, Lotion of o0annfanan foIy-
en- the ground practically against the
Republican doctrine so often enforced
by himself, of the duty of the national
government to secure the rights of
every citizen to the protection of life,
person and property.
In Mr.. Greeley's letter accepting the
Cincinnati nomination, he pleaseS every
Ku-KIux villain in the south by repeat
ing the Democratic cant about local
self-gOVernment, and inVeighing, III
good rebel p~arlance, against cent1al1za-
ton, finally declaring that there shall
be no federal subversiOn of the internal
policy of the States and municipalities.
but that each shall be left free to en-
force the rights and promote the well
being of it's inhabitants by such means
as the Judgment of its own people may
prescribe. The meaning of all this III
plain English is, that no matter how
the colored citizens of the South may
be abused, wronged and oppressed,
Congress shall not interfere for thei1
protection, but leave them to the ten
der mercies of the local self-gOvern-
ment administered by white rebels,
Do you,a as a friend to the eolored men,
approve of this positionsOf Mr.. Greeley
You can not forget, Mr.. Sumner, how
often during the late session of Congress
YOU conferred withme as to the posi-
bility of having your civil rights bill
passed by the House. It was intro
duced by your personal friend, Mr.
Hooper, and nothing prevented its pas
sage by the House except the rance
rOus and factious hostility to the Dem
ocratic members. IF / have correctly
examined the Globe, Democratic mem
bers on seventeen differentoccasions re-
sisted the passage of the civil rights
bill bY a parliamentary process known
as fIihusfering. They would not ever
allow ito come to vote.
Two intelligent cOlored members
from South Carolina (Elli0ttand Rainy,
begged of the Democratic side of the
House to allow the civil rights bill to be
voted on, and they were answered witt
adenial so absolute thabit amounted tt
d seornful jeer Of the rights of thu
cOlored man, and now you lend YOU
influence to the reelection OF these
Democratic members who T co-Ope'
rating with you in the support of Mr.
Greeley.
Do you not know, Nh. Summer, ana
| will you not, as acandid man, acknoWl
edge that with these men IN power IL
| Congress the rights of the e0l0red mel
are absolutely sacrificed so far as those
| rights depend on federal legislation
| Still further the rights of the coioreC
men in this country are secured, 1T Sc
cured at all, by three great constitution
al amendments-the thirteenth, four
teenth and fifteenth. To give these
| amendments fill scope and effect legis
1atiOn by Congress is impepatiyely re
| qnired, as You have so often and so elo
duentIy demonstrated but the Demo
cratic naFty are on record in The mos
| consDie1ous manner against any legis
Iation on the subject.
twas only in the month Of February
last that my colleague, Dir. Peters
offered q resolution I'M the House o
Representatives affirming the yalidit,
Of the constitutional amendments, ant
of such reasonable legislation of Con
gress ag may be necessary to make then
in their letter and spirit most effeettlal
This resolution, very mild and guarded
as You will see, was adopted by 12
yeas to IS nays. Only eight of the yea
were Democrats all of the nays WeIi
| Democrats. The resolution of Mr.. Pc
tiers was followeda week later by ON
offered by Mr.. Stevenson, Of Ohio. a
fellows -