The Portland daily press., 1883-05-07
"reminiscences of Lincoln.
How Slavery Was Destroyed.
schuyler colfax in congregatlonalist j

lSchuyler Colfsx in CongregatOnalist J
Mr.. Lincoln had struck at slavery in his
proclamation with the battle-ax of the war
power, the solemn steps towards which cul
mination were referred to in my recent arti-
Gle. But anti-slavery men, in Congress and
among the people, were unwilling to allow
this great act TO be hazarded upon future
Judicial decisions as to the extent of the
Presidents power in such mighty crisis.
was an open secret then, that the great
senator from Massachusetts,, Charles Sum
ner believed that congressional act of
emancipation could constitutionally be
passed, and that there was peril in risking
success ON the ratification of a constitution
al amendment by three-quarters of all the
States, Southern as we'll as Northern. In
the consultations then held by the Presi-
dents supporters, it was however insisted,
and successfully, that ga bond must be TAX
en- of fate'' itself, as one speaker stated it;
and that, as law for abolition passed by
one congress might be repealed by another
congress, the destruction of so powerful an
institution as American slavery must rest on
nothing less substantial than the national
constitution. Then. if we should, at any
future date, go out of power in the muta-
ton of parties, nothing less than two-thirds
OF both branches of congress with three
quarters of all the States coneurring, could
in any way, unseitle our work
Senator Sumner was one of the earliest,
after this was decided, to indicate the Ian
guage he desired to have placed in the Con-
stitution, thus:
Everywhere within the limits Of the United
States, and OF each State or Territory thereof,
all persons are equal before the law, so that no
person can hold another as slave.
And / must incorporate here very few
sentences from his mastery Grafton on the
subject, as illustrating, better than any
words of another, his position on this mo-
mentous question. Said he:
By single brief sentence Congress may
sweep slavery out OF existence. Bat, even un-
der the most favorable circumstances, it is i'm
possible to say when the amendment can be-
come part of the Constitution. Too tardily,
fear. for all the good that is sought. There
fore, / am not content with this measure alone.
1t postpones till tomorrow what ought to be
done today
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps In this petty pace from day TO day,
All, sir, it would be a glad sight to see that
Constitution which we have all sworn to SUP
port, interpreted generously, nobly, gloriously
for freedom, so that everywhere within its in
fuence the chains should drop from the slave.
Whatever may be the judgment Of the Senate
am consOled by the thought that the most
homely text containing such rule will be
more beautiful far than any words OF poetry OF
eloquence and that ii will endure TO be read
with gratitude when the rising dome of the
Capitol, with the statue Of Liberty which sur.
mounts it, has crumbled into dust.
Congress, however, preferred different
phraseOlogy from that suggested by Mr..
Sumner, so that the 18th Amendment now
stands in the Constitution in the following
language; fNeither slavery nor involunta-
ry servitude, except as a punishment for
crime, whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted, shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdie.
tion.''
Its passage in the Senate was easily
achieved. On the 9Th of April, 1864, that
body adopted 1t by the overwhelming vote Of
50 to 6 Garrett, Davis, Hendricks, McDou-
gal, Powell, Riddle, Salisbury voting MOL.
But it encountered more determined and
dangerous opposition In the House Of Req
resentatives. Two months afterwards, in
June, on the question Of its passage there,
bly, less than two-thirds vote, and 1t was
therefore declared by the speaker TO be re-
jected.
Fortunately, however, Mr.. Ashley Of Ohio,
just before the result was announced
changed his vote from the affirmative to the
negative. And subsequently, when other
business was pending, he entered motion
to reconsider. A volley Of points Of order
from the pro-slavery members followed, but
in vain. He had ''yoted on the prevailing
side," and was therefore entitled TO move a
reconsideration; and the motion, having
been received when other business was be-
fore the House, conld not be acted upon at
the time. 1t therefore went over" till such
time as the majority Of the House should
see fit to call it up for action. That did not
occur, Of course, at that session; and, for
tunately again, there was another session OF
the same Congress yet to be held.
Before that session convened in Decem-
Der, 1854, the Presidential election Of that
year had been held. Mr.. Lincoln had been
reelected overwhelmingly. The people had
spoken nightly. Sherman had marched TO
the sea gloriously. The overthrow Of the
Rebellion was beyond all question. And on
the 31st Of January, 1865, the same House
which had rejected the amendment passed 1t
by 119 to SO Il votes over two-Chirds). Abra-
ham Lincoln afiixed.his signature to it Feb
ruary /; although protesting to the enroll
ment committee that 1t was needless, as the
constitution authorized "two-thirds of Con-
gress" to submit amendments TO the States.
The Presidents own State Of Illinois de-
lighted him by telegram that very night
that 1t had, first of all others, ratified this
great amendment. Rhode Island and Mich
igan won the next place Of honor by ratify-
ing it the following day. But months elapsed
before the requisite number was obtained.
Finally, on the 18th Of December, 1865,
Secretary Seward issued the official procIa-
nation that twenty-seven States, being just
three ourths Of the entire number Of thirty
six States, had ratified it, and that it had
therefore become part Of the Constitution.
1t is worthy Of note that Georgia was the
twenty. seventh State, its ratification occur
ing December 6; and that five States after
wards ratified it-Oregon, California, Flori-
da, New Jersey and Iowa, the last one on
January "A, 1866.
At the last the glad word was spoken by the
nation, and thenceforward in our land "the
sun could not rise ON master nor set on
slave" j cannot conclude without brief
allusion to few who can never be forgotten
when the past rises before my vision.
First, as entitled to precedence as among
the congressional opponents of slavery in the
day Of its power, were the veterans, John
Quincy Adams, Joshua r. Giddings and
owen Lovejoy, who spoke faithfully for free
dom In the earlier years, fearless of oboquy
or terrorism-"who waited long, but died
without the sight'
Next / see that trio of illustrions Senators