Year: 1862




Speech of Andrew Johnson, Senator from


Tennessee.


The following extracts from the speech of
Hon. Andrew Johnson, in the United States
Senate, is terribly severe on the auti-coer
cion," or peace" patriots of the country:


| am Democrat now l have been one all
my life | expect to live and die one ; and the
cornerstone of my Democracy rests upon the
enduring basis Of the Union. Democrats NAV
come and go, but they shall never divert me
from the polar star by which have ever been
guided from early hfe-the great principles OF
Democracy upon which this Government rests.
and which cannot be carried ont without The
preservation of the Union of these States
The pretence hitherto employed by many who
are now in the traitors camp has been, we
are for the | mon we are net for dissolution !:
bat we are opposed to coercion" How long.
Senators have you heard that syren song sung
Where are now most of those who sang those
syren tunes 10 US? Look back to the last ses-
Sion, and inquire where now are the men who
then were singing that song in our ears
Where is Trusten Polk. who then stood here
so gently craving for peace? He is in the
rebel camp. Where is John c. Breckenridge?
"A man for whose promotion to the Presiden-
cy did what could physically. mentally, and
pecuniarily; but when he satisfied me that he
was for breaking up this Government, and
would ere long be traitor to his country.
dropped him as | would the Senator from In
diana. He was here at the last sesson of Con
gress and everybody could see then that he
was on the road to the traitors camp. Instead
of sustaining the Government. he, too. was
crying out for peace; but he was bitter
against coercion.


| sat right behind Mr.. Bcnjlmin, and l am
not sure that my worthy friend was not close
by when he refused to vote, and said to him.
d" Mr. Benjamin, why do you not vote? Why
not save this proposition, and see if we cannot
bring the country to it ?" He gave me rather
an abrupt answer. and said he would control
his own action without consulting me or any
body else. Said |. vote, and. show yourself
an honest man" As soon as the vote was Ia
ken, he and others telegraphed South. We
cannot get any compromise" Here were six
Southern men refusing to vote, when the
amendment would have been rejected by four
majority If they had voted. Who. then, has
brought these evils on the country? Was it
Mr.. Clark? He was acting out his own poll
cy; but with the help we had from the other
side Of the Chamber, if all those on this side
had been true to the Constitution, and faithful
to their constituents, and had acted with fidel-
ity to the country. the amendment of the Sen
ator from New Hampshire could have been
voted down, the defeat of which the Senator
from Delaware says would have saved the
country. Whose fault was it? Who is re-
sponsibe for it? Who did it? Southern
traitors. as was said in the speech of the Sena-
tor from California They did it. They
wanted no compromise They accomplished
their object by Withholding their votes and
hence the country has been involved in he pres
ent difficulty.


THE REFUSAL OF THE REBELS TO COMPROMISE.


When we had it in our power to vote down
the amendment Of the Senator from new Hamp-
shire, and adopt the Crittenden resolutions.
certain Southern Senators prevented it and
yet, even at late day of the session, after
they had seeded, the Crittenden proposition
was only lost by one vote. If rebellion and
bloodshed and murder have followed, to whose
skirts does the responsibility attach? | sum-
med up all these facts myself in speech during
the last session but have preferred to read
from the speech of the Senator from California,
he being better authority. and having present
cd the facts better than l could.


What else was done at the very same ses-
sion? The House of Representatives passed
and sent to this body, proposition to amend
the Constitution of the United States, so as to
prohibit Congress from ever hereafter interer-
ing with the institution of slavery in the State.
making the restriction a part of the organic
law Of the land. That constitutional amend
ment came here after the Senators from seven
States had seeded and yet it was passed bv q
two-thrd vote in the Senate. Have you ever
heard of any one of the States which had then
seeded. or which have since seeded. taking
up that amendment to the Constitution, and
saying they would ratify it, and make ii a part
of that instrument No. Does not the whole
history of the rebellion tell you that it was
revolution that the leaders wanted that they
started for that they intended to have? The
facts to which have referred show how the
Crittenden Compromise might have been car
ried and when the Senators from tie slave
States were reduced to one-fourth of the mem
bers of this body. the two Houses passed a
proposition to amend the Constitution, so as to
guarantee to the States perfect security in
regard to the institution Of slavery in all future
time. and prohibiting Congress from legislating
upon the subject.


But what more was done? After Southern
Senators had treacherously abandoned the
Constitution, and deserted their posts here.
Congress passed bills for the organization of
three new Territories. Dacotah. Nevada. and
Colorado; and in the sixth section of each of
those bills. after conferring, affirmativev, power
on the Territorial Legislature. it weat on to
exclude certain powers. by using negative
form of expression; and it provided. among
other things, that the Legislature should have
no power to legislate so as to impair the right
to private property that it should lay no tax
discriminating against one description of prop
eriy il favor Of another leaving the power On