Year: 1868

midst and surrounding them, and de-
priving them OF all political rights,
should not have members of Congress on
} their account. / say the justice OF ths
second clause has never been successful
~ impugned by any argument, | care
not how ingenious il. may DO. Whas


was the third clause? 1t was that the
leaders Of the South, those men who had
once taken an official oath to support the
Constitution of the United States, and
had afterward Committed perjury Ly
going into the rebellion, should be made
ineligible to any office under the Gov
eTnment ofthe United States or of State.


1t was very small Acknowledgement.


IL was intended 10 withhold power from
those sleaders by whose fundamentally
we had lost nearly half miiIion lives
and untold treasure. The Justice oftbnt
disfranchisement Gould not be dispreved.
And what WAS the fourth clause Of the
amendment? That this governments
shonld never assume nor pay any psrt OF
the redel debt, that it should never pay
the rebels for their slaves. This was
bitterly opposed in the North q. wen a.
in the South. How could any man o.
pose that amendment unless he was Id
favor OF this Government assuming 4
portion or all of the rebel debt and in fa-
vor OF paying the rebels for their slaves.
When the Democratic party North and
South opposed that most important and


perhaps hereafter to be regarded ss vital
, amendment thanlwere committing them-
selves in principle, rs they had been be-
fore by declaration, to the doctrine that
this Government was bound to pay for
the slaves, and that it was Just AM right
that we should assume and pay tho Yebsf
debt.


This amendment, az have he fore said.
was rejected, and when Congress assem-
bled in December, 1886, they were CEN
frontedby the fact thaithis proposition Of
compromise had been rejected; every
halfway measure had been spurnsd BY
the rebels themselves, and they had
nothing left to do hut to Begin the work
OF reconstruction themselves; and in


February, 1857, Congress for the first
time entered upon the execution Of the
guarantee provided for in the Constitu-
tion by the passage Of the first recsn-
struetion law. A supplementary bill
was found necessary in March, another
in July, and l believe another is found
necessary at this time; but the power ID
with Congress. Whatever iI shall
deem necessary, whether IL bs In
the way of colored suffrage, whether
it be in the way of military power
whatever Congress shall deem necessary


in the execution of this guarantee is cenI
elusive upon the courts, upon every State,


and upon the people of this nation.


Sir, when Congress entered upon tbis
! work it hsd become apparent to sll men
that the loyal State government could
not be erected and naintsined upon tbs
, basis of the white population. We lad
tried them. Congress had attempted the
work of reconstruction though the con-
!. stitutional amendment Ly leaving the
! suffrage with the white men, and by
leaving with the white people of the
South the question as to when the col
|, ored people should exercise the right of
suffrage, If ever; but when it wss found
that those white men we're as rebellous
!, as ever, that they hated this Govern
! ment more bitterly than ever; when it
, was found that they prosecuted the loyl-
al men, both white and black, in their
midst; when it was found that North
ern men who had gone down there were
driven out by social tyranny, by thous:
and annoyances, by the, insecurity OF life
and property, then it became apparent to
all men of intelligence that reconstruc-
ton could not take place upon this basis
of white population, and somthing else
must be done.


Now, sir, what was there left to do
Either we must hold these people con :
tinually by military power or we must
use such machinery uron such new
basis as would enable loyal republican
State government to lie raised up: and
in the last resort-and l will ray Congress
waited long, the nation waited long, ex-
perience had TO come TO tie rescue Of
reason before the thing was dons--in the
the last resort, and as the last thing to
be done, Congress determined to dig
through all the Tnbbish, dig through the
soil and the shifting sands, and so down


to the eternal loCk, and there, upen the
basis OF the everlasting principle of equal
and exact justice TO Gil men, we have
planted the column of reconstruction
and, sir, it will srise slowly but surely,
"the gates of hell shall not prevail sgainst
it," Whatever dangers we arrrsEehded
from the introduction of tie right Of
suffrage of seven hundred thousand
men, just emerged from slavery, were
put aside in the presence Of q greater
Il danger. Why, sir, let me say frankly To
my friend from Wisconsin that l an
preached universal colored suffrage in
the South reluctantly, Not lecause /
adhered to the miserable dogma that
this was the white mans Government, !,
but l entertained fears ahottat onoe en-
trusting a large body of meh Just from
slavery, to whom education has been
denied by law, to whom the marriage
relation had been denied, whb had been
made the basest and most abjsst slaves,
4 with political power. And Rs the Sena-
tor has referred to a speech which I
made i'm Indiana in 1850, allow me to
show the principle that actuated me; for
in that speech / said:


"In nreguard to the question OF admitting the
| freedmen of ths southern States 10 vote, while
| admit the equal rights of all men, and that in
| time all men will have the right to vote with
out distinction of color or race, / yet believe
| that in the case of four millions OF slaves Just
freed nom bondage there should be period Of
probat on and preparation Alefore they aIS
| brought 10 the exercise OF political power"
Such was my feelings at the time, for
ii had not then been determined by the
bloody experience Of the last tive years
that We could not reconstruct upon the


basis of the white population, and such
was the opinion Of great majority of
the people of the North; and il was not
until year and a half after that time
that Congress came to the conclusio&
that there was no way left but TO resort
to cOlored suffrage and suffrage to ell
men except those who were disqualified
by the commission of high srines and
misdemeanors.


Mr.. President. we hear much said in
the course of this debate and through
the press about the violation of the Con-
stitution. II is said that in the recer-
structiou measures of Congress we have
gone outside OF the Copslitution,
and the remark of some distinguished
statesman of the Republican party is
quoted to that effect. Sir, ifany Leading
Republican has ever said so he spoke for
himself, not foranother. i deny thes. NJ
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