Year: 1866

CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK.


You may pass free thro the world until
your time shall come to be called hence,
but during that time you may have this
consoling reflection, if it is any consola-
tion to you, that your own hands we're
REDEEMED by the blood of your own breth-
ren for the purpose of destroying this
country, and that you yourselves have
written in blood the verdict against you,
and that verdict is that this mark of treas
on shall remain upon you so long as you
live, and never again shall you be III
trusted with public or political trust by
the people of the United States Govern
ment. That belongs TO loyal men, not to
you.


Then, my fellow -countrymen, we pre-
sented the issue on our side in the form
of an amendment to the Constitution of
the United States. The Congress Of the
United States have examined this ques-
tion for some eight months-and they did
wisely TO deliberate in reference to it
have presented, according to the forms of
the Constitution, a proposition for its own
amendment. That proposition, when it
becomes part of the Constitution, is the
fixed law of the land The bare MAORI.
ties of Congress cannot repeal it, No
President can veto it or revoke it. 1t
becomes then a part of the law he has
sworn to support, that he has sworn to
execute aud maintain, and the cold veto
power carnot then be employed by the
man who is so faithful to the exercise of
that power which is delegated to him.


What are these propositions? The first
one is, that all persons born iu this coun
try, except Indians not tax payers, shall
be citizens of the United States, as well
as those born in foreign lands who come
mere and take the cath OF allegiance
We arc all citizens A citizen is entitled
to certain privileges aud rights Those
rights are called civil rights. Certain
other rights can be conferred upon them,
called political rights This fact of be
ing a citizen gives him the right of rec
locomotion, to own property, to sue and
be sued, aud have his rights decided the
same as anybody else in this country. |
believe there is no man IN this country
who lives and is a nan of proper feeling,
who would object to any man no matter
What his color might be- woman or child,
being a citizen of the United States, and
haging right to claim that protection Of
that starry old emblem Of the unity OF
our great aud glorious country. lCheers.


This first, section Of this amendment
coniers this right upon the people, ez-
eept upon Indians not paying taxes. And
now it does seem to me that a man who
could in his heart ssy that poor man.
because he was a colorcd man, that served
faithfully IN the army of the United
States, should never be called citizen
should never have the right to go into
the courts of his country End there con-
tend for his rights as other men should
never enjoy the privilege of going from
one State to another should never have
the privilege of collecting his debts;
should never have the security of life or
the protection Of his property aud the
rights that are cast upon citizen by his
merely being citizen. The man who
would refuse that to one who had sus-
tanned the flag aud the Constitution Of his
country--that man is fitted for an asso-
citation of traitors, with Andrew johnson
at its head. [Chccrs.


The next proposition in this amend
ment to the Constitution of the United
States is this 1t is cqualizing the rep
resentation between the different States.
According to our present basis Of repre-
sentation, each State Is now entitled to
representatives according to its popula-
tiou, counting one member to every 1885,
D00 voters. That is the number, / be-
Iieve, Judge TrumbullY IA little over
that, believed Well, We will say over
that. | think it is little something
over, but say upon that basis, they, the
rebels, have gained, in their representa-
tioh, by the rebellion, Because, while
slavery existed, the slaves counted as only
three -ffths. Fire slaves counted as three
white men in the basis of representation.
But now, inasmuch as slavery is abolish
cd, under the present law and under the
present Constitution, unless that Consti-
tuition is changed, the representation is
upon the whole population, The FIVE
slaves who counted only. as three white
men will now count as five white men,
Now We propose to change that Consti-
tutlon so as to make the representative
basis equal.


But let us see how it will be dong. In
Illinois. in 1860, we had seventeen hun
dred thousand population, ! believe. In