Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1883-01-11


"As to the rest, the Constitution. conceive
sis the strength and shield of the nation in
''its hour of peril. and must not be construed
$50 as fatally to hamper honest endeavor in
''its behalf. Clemency on the lips of ar
american senator to the malignant enemy
''of the republic is cruelty to its friends, and
THAT is expedient which is demanded for the
''present safety and future security of free
institutions. ! premise this much as the
''stand point of the debate, and in this spirit
81 approach the general topics" At the
stage of the war when these remarks were
made they would have done honor to Charles
Sumner or Henry Wilson for radicalism, but
before the war closed every honest friend OF
the Union would have endorsed them as wise
and fit for the exigency in which they were
uttered. In the same spirit we're remarks
made in July, 1864, occasioned BY the disa-
greement of the two Houses in regard to the
cOnscription law, and the suggestion of Mr..
Carlile Of Virginia to adjourn without per-
fecting the law. Mr.. Morrill, said: "For
lone, sir, stand here to protest against such
"counsels. l stand here to say to these gen.
''tlemen that do not propose to adjourn for
''the next thirty days unless the government
''of the country is made strong, unless they
''have all they desire to give them the
Strength and reinforcements necessary to
''maintain their positions at the great military
''centers where they are, and where none
''knows better than the honorable senator
''from Virginia that rebellion is to die if the
"American people stand firm and give to
"Grant and to Sherman the recruits that are
necessary and which are calculated and
designed to be furnished by this BILL" 1t
that he stood undaunted and resolute to en-
ploy every power of the government, at all
times and in all legitimate ways, to subdue
the rebels. His whole soul was in arms
against them. He never weakened in his
confidence in the ability of the government
to protect itself, nor doubted under the
clamOr Of weak counsels that it would achieve
victory. The war is over, peace reigns in
AhS - WIS "belC hch ettukkIcu III UiOOu loT
mastery, its wounds are rapidly healing, but
let not the memory of those who, in the
national halls of legislation stood fast for
the right during the dark days of the rebel
this government stands.
One of the first steps taken in the emanci-
patton Of the slaves was the passage of an
act by Congress to abolish slavery in the
was introduced in the Senate by Mr.. Wilson
Of Massachusetts and referred to the Com
mittee on the District of Columbia. of which
Mr.. Morrill, was a member. The bill after
the Senate by Mr.. Morrill,. and by him man.
aged and championed until its final passage
on April 3, 1862. The final proclamation of
emancipation by President Lincoln was issued
January l, 1868, nine months after Mr.. Nor
ril's bill passed the Senate. This bill led the
way for the great act of emancipation of all
the colored bondmen in the country. The
opponents of the bill fought it on that ground,
also on the ground that it would be inimical
to the Union cause. Mr.. Bayard of Della
ware in labored speech opposing it said :
"When see a bill pressed here which in
evolves, no matter in what shape you put it,
'the distinct idea of advancing the notion Of
"the equality of all men without regard to
''race. and when I see other propositions
"involving the same doctrine in my opinion,
II cannot but say that every measure which
''tends in that direction, in my Judgment
''places barrier against the restoration of
''the Union" But in spite of the direful
forebodings Of its assailants the bill passed
and the first link in the chain of slavery was
broken.
Mr.. Morrills career as a senator continued
to be marked by the same high sense of duty
during the period of reconstruction As before
His voice was always on the side of justice
to the oppressed, equal rights for all before
the law. education and opportunity for the
colored race to work out their own destiny
like the whites.
He voted for the bill making greenbacks a
legal tender, for all the war loans, and had
the pleasure before leaving Congress OF seeing
the faith of the government with its creditors
kept inviolate, its debt and interest bill inn
mensely reduced, its credit unsurpassed by
that of any other nation on the globe, and
its flag respected on every sea and in every
port the world over.
HIS PLACE UPox COMMITTEES.
When he began his career in the Senate he
was placed nearly at the foot of the Com
mittee on Commerce and the Committee on
the District of Columbia. Upon both COM
mittees he served faithfully, but it was
beyond the power Of Congress, during his
term Of service. to prevent the commerce Of
the country sinking under the combined
attacks of rebel cruisers and British
monopoly on the ocean. As a member OF
the Committee on the District OF Columbia,
he did eminent service, aiding powerfully in
driving slavery from the capital of the
nation, and lifting the city of Washington
from its mean condition at the time the re-
publcans first came into control of the
government to place worthy of its position
as the political centre of the Union. In 1865
he became Chairman of the Committee or