Year: 1865

Cne government into the hands OF It's ene-


mics.


1 believe that the President is earnest
ly determined to seek the good of the


whole country and of all the races in it:


that he has full claim to that confidence


which we declared that we reposed in him;
and that what we as Union men cannot
Isucceed in doing in harmony and cooper


alton with him and his administration, we


shall fail of doing altogether. My sup
! port of him, therefore, will be no half


hearted support, but a jealous and thor


oughly hearty cooperation, with no ul-
terror purpose or thought of separation
on issues likely to arise 1t is by the
cordial harmony of Mr.. j ohnson and the
Union members of Congress that the
country is to be carried safely through
its present perils, and division between
them would place us IN imminent danger
of shipwreck. We may have diverse
opinions as to the true solution of this


knotty problem of reconstruction, and


during the proper period for discussion


we may and ought to discuss them with
candor, with fullness and with tolerant
/ spirit; but when this Is done and the


time for action arrives, it will be the


business of Congress and the Executive


TO agree upon the plan to be adopted, and
| that which Is in this manner honestly de-
termined by devotedly Union men,
shall believe, as / have before said, to be
the best attainable result, whether it
| agree with my views or not. In short, [


believe that under no circumstances
should We risk the transfer of the power
/ of this Government to the hands of those
who have been disloyal during the war,
| by any divisions among ourselves, until all
| the questions which grow out of the war
are permanently and finally decided.
Having thus stated what | think is the
true doctrine Of political organization,
ard indicated the great danger of losing
/ all for which we have been striving, by
such divisions as those at which I hint, [
am now prepared eeZstataL nv priyate
views upon reconstruction, and the claim
OF the freedmen to political privileges IN
the Southern States, leaving to you the
responsibility of your action in regard
thereto


1 presume we shall agree in regarding
the four general principles asserted in the
| : HFanueil Hall Address" as those which
should guide the determination of our
relations to both whites and blacks in
the rebel States. That there may be no
mistake In reference to this, | quote
them:


First. The principle must be put be-
yond all question, that the Republic has
direct claim upon the allegiance of eV-
cry citizen from which no State can alb
solve him, and to his obedience to the
laws of the Republic, anything in the con-
stitution or laws of any State to the con-
trary notwithstanding.


Second. The public faith is pledged
to every person of color in the rebel States,
to secure to them and their posterity for
ever a complete and veritable freedom
/ Having provided them this freedom, Sc
cured their aid on the faith of this prom
Use. and by successful war and actual
4 military occupation of the country, hav-
4 ing obtained the power to secure the re-
suit, we are -dishonored it we fail to make
it good to them.


'Third. The system of slavery must
/ be abolished and prohibited by paramount
and irreversible law. Throughout the
rebel States there must be, In the words
Of Webster, impressed upon the soil
itself an inability to bear up but free


men.


ssFourth The systems of the States


must be truly republican"


The application made of the last prin-
ciple in the address, / do not regard as


sound, but [ shall perhaps agree more
| fully with you than you do with the ad-
dress, when [ assent that in republican
community political privileges of any
kind can never be rightly or safely based
npon hereditary caste.


| How then, it will naturally be asked,


can there be any practical difference be-


tween us as to the mode of carrying out


these principles 1t is foundln the views


we take of the mutual relations OF the
two races in the South. You, judging
from this distance, say, Deliver the four


million of freed people into the hands
of their former oppressors, now EN- blttered
by their defeat, and they will make their
condition worse than before" /, starting


from the same principles, and after four
years of close and thoughtful observation
of the races where they are, say l am un-
; willingly forced to the conviction that the
effect of the war has not been simply to


''embitter" their relations, but to develop


a rooted antagonism which makes their


permanent fusion in one political commu-
nifty an absolute impossibiliUy. The sole
difference between us then is in the de-
gree of hostility we find existing between
; the races, and its probable permanence.-


You assume that the extension of the


right of suffrage to the blacks, leaving
them intermixed with the whites, will
cure all the trouble l believe that it
outer darkness of which Milton speaks,
, where


And by decision more embroils the Fray
Yet. as [ believe, with you, that the
/ right of life and liberty are inalienable
/ and more than admit the danger of Ia
boring class at the entire mercy of those
} who formerly owned them as slaves, you


will say / am bound to furnish some So
, luton of the problem which shall not
DENY the right or incur the peril. So
r am. and the only real solution which
can see is the peaceable separation of the
t races. But, you will reply, foreign col
: onization will break down hopelessly un-
! der the very vastness of the labor, even
E if it were not tyranical enough to expel
these unfortunate people from the land OF
| their birth / grant the full weight OF
t the objection, and therefore say the solu-
} ton is thus narrowed down to peacea.
BILE separation of the races on the soil
: where they now are.


The essential point in the discussion
: thus appears to be the actual relations OF
the two races in the Southern States as q
, question of fact, and the probable future
, consequences of those relations as q ques-
Upon the question of fact 1 think
: NAV with all modesty claim that my an
! tecedents and my opportunities of obser-
walton entitle my testimony to have some
, weight, even with the most radical anti
slavery men of the North.


The antagonism of which have spo-
ken is not entirely one-sided. On the
] mart of the former master 1T takes the
| form of an indomitable pride, which ut
terlv refuses to entertain the idea of po-
Ilitieal social equality, mingled with ha,