Year: 1867

i" % Ctdte uuieSS Impartial suffrage
we're tolerated in each. That is the


principle that was promulgated in the
Senate; that is the principle that has
been promulgated here; and few days
previous to taking that vote, it was
voted in this House that impartial suf.
frage should be the rule within every
, one of the Territories within the limits
! of the United States.


Well, sir, the insurgent States of
which l have been speaking are no bet


ter than territories in their position.


Are We to wait until this amendment
be ratified by them or made a part of
the Constitution by the States repre-


sented in Congress, and then make that


the direct basis of reconstruction?-


Shall South Carolina, upon the terms


that are required by that amendment,


come here and ask for admission as a


State into this Union, and her Repre-
sentatives be allowed upon this floor !?


Shall she be allowed to come here and


act as if she were State while she ex-
cludes from suffrage her colored popu-
lation, which is equal to her white pop
ulation Is she to be admitted to rep
resentation simply upon conforming to
the terms of the amendment, exercising
the right herself to exclude colored suf-
frage! Would this House dare to vote
to admit her as State into this Union
under such circumstances Would it
not be an absurdity in our action that
would make this Congress a laughing
stock in the eye of the whole country if
rebel South Carolina should be placed
upon better or any other footing than
loyal Colorado and Nebraska is placed
Impartial suffrage is required of each
of those Territories as condition-prec-
edent to their becoming States and
shall Sonth Carolina, upon this basis of
reconsti uction, become part of the
Union upon different terms and princi-
pies entirely from those implied by the
votes We have just given?


My own judgment is that neither this
House nor the Senate will ever support
such proposition as that. Sir, this
nation has advanced in one years time,
and will not now, canrot believe, sus-
tain the position assumed by the Re-
construction Committee in the originsl
bill to which the one under considera-
tion is substitute.


Suppose, Mr.. Speaker, we carry out
this idea of making the constitutional
amendment the direct basis upon which
reconstruction shall depend; the States
that were restored or reestablished un-
der the policy of the President went
into the hands, as civil powers, of the
very men that Grant and Sherman dis
armed in the final struggle. While
they we're thus being disarmed of their
military power the President of the Un-
tied States was arming them with civil
power by his plan of restoration. Such
was the condition of every one of tho
States which he had remodeled and in
which he had established governments,
and such is their condition to-day
Every one of them, so far as they had
any governmental action, was then man.
ifesting its hostility to the Government
of the United States There was but
one of the rebellious States that was an
exception to this rule, and that State
was not reorganized under his policy
| refer to the State of Tennessee That
State was reorganized aud formed a
State government before he became
President of the United States. And
sir, where it is attempted to be argued
that Tennessee is precedent for action
in these other eases the analogy fails.
There there was loyalty there there
was devotion to the Government al
thor gh, let me say, | did not vote for
the readmission of Tennessee because
that State failed to acknowledge one
great principle that now, at this session
of Congress, is sustained by large ma
|jorities at both ends of the Capitol,
namely, impartial suffrage But the
State was in the hands of loyal men
it had exhibited its devotion to Govern
ment and its readiness to obey the laws
its Legislature had ratified the amend
meDt propo ed to the Constitution pro-
hibiting slavery. and the one passed or
proposed last session, and Congress
therefore readmitted Tennessee and re-
ceived her Representatives


But, sir, take this policy of recon-
struction ba ed upon the adoption of
this constitutional amendment, and
what then South Carolina, because
there is no power to dictate to that
State a change in its constitution, comes
here with the same constitution that it
now has, comes here with the same men
in power that are now in power and
have been for year past, and with the
same laws and despotic rules that are
now crushing down the loyal men of
that State; and we must admit South
Carolina in her present condition


That is the position that has been
urged here and is alleged to have been
urged in various congressional districts
Throughout the country. We will find
ourselves with our hands tied, and CON-
pelled to foist and fasten upon the gov
ernmeht Of this country this State gov
ernment O most odious character
and this is only one of these State gov
ernDents of the same character 1
have mentioned it merely as an exam
pie There never was a committal of
tbs branch of Congress to any such po-
sition. | deny it emphatically.


Mr.. Speaker, l spoke in the outset


very briefly Of this bill. l have read it
and reread it. l confess that the sec.
i IL &C 4l;s LII i