Year: 1866

around them; the hccatombs of their uu


slam the stern patriotism of the men of II


other States, exhibited by unlimited cxre


dlture ana of blood, ard their lore of Il


Union SO sincere aud deepscated that il


seen they will hazard all to maintain il. itavt


convinced the South that as II practical doc


trine secession is extinguislictl forever


State secession. then, abandoned and slave
ry abolished lay the Southern States them
selves. or with their consent, upon what
statesmanlikc ground can such States be dc


MED all the rights which the constitution
secures to States OF the Union All admit


that TO doso ut ticcarlicst period is dcman.
ded l,y every constellation of duty and pol
icy. and nouc deny that the actual interest
of the country is 10 a great extent involved
in, such admission. The staple productions
of the Southern States are as important to
Z the other States as1tn, themselves. Those
staples largely entty into the warts of al. 1
alike, and they are ALSO most important to


the financial credit Of the government These
staples will never lie produced lis in the past


until real peace. resting as it can aione rest


on The equal and uniform operation of the !
constitution and laws on all is attained. To
suppose that brave and sensitive people


will give an undivided attention to the in
crease of mere material wealth willie retain


ed in II state of practical infariority and


degradation is mere folly. They desire to


be again in the Union, to enjoy the benefits
of the constitution, and they invoke you to


receive them. They have adopted constitu-
tions free from any intrinsic objection. and


have agreed to every stipulation thought by


the President to he necessary for the protec


ton and benefit of all: and in the opinion


OF the undersigned, they are amply sufficient.


Why exact, us a preliminary condition to


representation, more! What more is sup


posed advisables First, the repndiation of


therebel debt; second, the denial of all OBJ


legations to pay for manumitted slaves:


third, the inviolability of our own debt. If


these provisions are deemed necessary they


cannot be defeated, if the South were dis
posed to defeat them, by the admission into
Congress of their representatives Nothing
is more probable in the opinion of the un-
dersignesi, than that the South would adopt
them: but those measures the Committee


connect with other conditions. which we
think the people of the South will never


adopt. They are asked to disfranchise
h numerous class of their citizens, and also to
agree to diminish their representation in
/ Congress, and, of course. in the electoral col
lege, or to admit to the right of Suffrage


their c0Iored males of twentv-Onc years of


age and upwards. class now in condition
OF almost utter Ignorance, thus placing them


on the same political footing with white cit
liens of that age. For reasons so obvious
that the dullest may discover them the right
is not directly asserted of granting suffrage
to the negro. That would be obnoxious to
m ,st of tine original States. so much so that
their consent was not to be anticipated


But the plan praposed zhecause OF the limi-
ted number ofnegroes in such States, will


have no effect on their representation, and
it il thorsiit may therefore be adopted,
while in the Southern States it will matefi-
ally lessen their number. That such States
will assent to the measure can hardly be ex-


pected. The effect, then, if not the purpose
Of the measure is forever to deny representa-
tives to such States, or, if they consent to


the condition, to weaken their representa-
tive power and thus probably secure q con-


tinuance of such a party in power as now
| controls the legislation of the government


The measure, IN its terms and its effect.
whether designed or not, is to degrade the
Southern States 70 consent to it will I've to
consent to their own dishonor. The manner
of presenting the proposed constitutional
amendment, in the opinion of the under
signed, is impolitic and without precedent
The several amendments suggested have no
connection with each other each, if adopted,


would have its appropriate effect ifthe 9TH
ers were rejected, and each, therefore, should
be submitted as separate article, without
suhjecting it 10 the contingency of re-
lection if the States should refuse to rat
ify the rest. Each by ITSELF if an advi-


sable measure, should be submitted to
the people, and not in such connection


with those which they may think unneces


sary and dangerous as to force them to re-


iect ALL The reputation of the rebel debt


all obligation to compensate for the loss of


slave property, and the inviolability of the


debts of the government, no matter how con-


tracted are provided for by some of the sec


tions of the amendment. We have no doubt
that these measures would meet the approval


of all the States; but these no State can


sanction without sanctioning Others which


we believe will not be done by the Southern


States or by some of the Northern States. To
force negro suffrage upon any State by means


of the penalty of loss of part of its repre-


sentation will not only, we think, be impos-


ing disparaging provision, but is virtually


to interfere with the clear right ofcach State


to regulate suffrage for itself without the
control of the government of the United


States Whether that control be exerted di-


rectly or indirectly, it willbe considered, as


we think it is, Il fatal blow to the right


which every State in the past has held vital
. the right to regulate her franchise. To pun
,ol, 10 80


lar way. so as to give to all classes of the pco-


pie the privilege of suffrage, is but seeking
to accomplish incidentally what, if It should


be done at all. should be done directly. No


reason, in the view of the undersigned, can


he suggested for the course adopted than a


belief that such direct interference, would


not be sanctioned by the Northern States,


while as regards such States the actual re-
commenaatinn, because of the small proper
tion of negroes within their limits, will not


in the least lessen their representative power


in Congress or their influence in the Presi-


dental election; and they may, therefore,


sanction it. The very inequality Of its oper-


alton upon the State renders the measure, in
our opinion, most unjust, and, looking to the


peace and quiet of the country, most impo-


litic. The mode advised is also without
precedent. When the constitution wasadop-


ted it was thought to be defective in not


sufficiently protecting certain rights of the
States and the people. With view of sup
| plying remedy for this effect, on the 4th of


March, 1889. various amendments, by q reso-
luton constitutionally passed, weresubmitted
for ratification to the States These were


twelve in number. Several of them were


even less independent of each other than are


those recommended by 'he committee But


it did not occur to the men of that day


that it was right to force the States to


adopt or reject all Each vas there


fore presented as separate article. The


language of the resolution was that the