Year: 1866

the freSluent or any Otner man standing
in high official position. They are but
, poor, mortal men. at last, and a Senator
Of the United States has no right to yield


his opinions to mortal men. He is sent
) here for no such purpose. l like
/ to have the aid of the Executive, acoor
, ding to the constitutional idea, to advise


me as TO the measures and principles
that he thinks ought to be adopted; and
no man will listen to him with more
, willing ear than myself; but unless his
advice squares with my sense of duty. |
, discard it as a Senator as would


that of any other man standing in any
other position.


Sir. the great question that now de
wolves upon us to settle is one from which
. we cannot shrink: it is for Congress. and


nobody else to settle. If we settle 1t and


it be wrong, we cannot justify ourselves
hy saving that we took the advice of the


President of the United States, or Of Mr.
Lincoln. who Is now dead. Although
his memory is revered by all, his eounsels
will be no justification to us if we make
mistake upon this great and perilous
question that is looming up before US its
i portentous magnitude l say, Senators,
look to yourselves, take counsel with



your duty to God and your country. and
look less abroad and less to great men.


because if there was ever question be-
fore you that was peculiarly your own it
is this. Where in the Constitution can
be found any authority given to the Pres
ident to provide for bringing States into
this Union ? Nowhere; but we, the rep
resentatives of the people of the United
States in Congress assembled, sent here
to do their will under the Constitution of
the United States, are the only tribu-
nal to decide as to the admis-
sion of State. We are the only body
that ought in a free government to de-
clare upon what PRINCIPLES State that is
outside of the legislative department
shall be admitted to participate in it. 1
do not care for that purpose whether the
community is a territory of the United
States, or State which has forfeited all
right or ability to act for itself Such
questions are ours; thev do not belong
to the President of the United States =
and if they did this free government, of
which we boast so much. would be the
most concentrated despotism upon the
face of the earth. While we encroach
not a hair upon the province of the Ex-
ecutive, let US stand firmly upon our ba-
sis under the Constitution, and do that
/. which is our duty before the people of
the United States.


Now, Mr.. President, word upon the
subject which the Senator from Wiscon-
sin did not touch. Here are four million
people to be ostracized from this govern
meat, to be made serfs forever, unless
some way be contrived by which their
rights shall be guaranteed. | was one of
those who early advocated the bring
ing of colored men into the army and in
voking their aid in putting down the re-
bellion. Over and over again | urged 1t
upon the Executive. as a member of the
Committee on the Conduct of the War,
and in my private capacity, and in every
/ other way. long before that policy took
effect | feel that according to the pow
ers with which | was invested l did as
much as could TO bring the Executive
and Congress up to the mark of invoking
/ to the aid of the Union the colOred peo-
pie in the army and navy and wherever
else they could assis: us. What was i'm
piled in all that? Did it not force upon
me duty? Would l lend my voice and
nv vote to seduce or compel the people
to ieopardize their lives in defence of their
country, and then turn them over to the
mercy of their enemies?


! Sir, the man who would do it, deliber
ately and knowingly, is the meanest OF
all Gods creation. Having tempted them
into the struggle, having induced them
to fight through the war and hazard
! their lives i'll your defense, having by
| this course incensed the rebel population
against them, will you desert them? will
YOU desert them and leave them in the
hands of their ViDdictive enemies to be
/ DESTROYED The Senator from Wisconsin
did not allude to them all his sympathy
was with the rebels, the men who en-
deavored to destroy your Con-titution,
[ the men who buried three or four hun
dred thousand of your sons. My friend
from Nevada. Mr.. Stewartl sympathizes
with th7m, too. The brave coloFed men,
weak and uninhuential in themselves,
4 but who gave you the strongest aid, and
I without whom | do not know that you
could have got through successfully, have
no part in these gentlemen's sympathies.
Those who slew our brethren, scoundrel
/ traitors to God and man, are now the OBJ
! iects of their sympathy. In all their
long speeches they cannot think of the
four millions whom we brought on our
side, and who imperiled their lives to
! give US important aid They synpathize
! with those who instead of sympathy de-
/ serve a halter


There is another question which the
Senator from Wisconsin did not touch. l
do not remember that he said single
word as to the temper and disposition of
the people whom he seeks now to bring
to the Government All he had to say
was that a promise had been extorted
from them that they would abolish slave
~, or that they had abolished it in
form. but how are you going to guaran-
/ tee that? What provision have they
made to make that secure? l shall nev


or desert them. Ny honor, my sense of
! Justice, is aroused upon this subject. l
/ have invoked their aid in the army; l
have agreed to protect them in their free
dom, and so far as my exertions go they
shall be, what ever else may come. He
said nothing about all this; ne did not
tell us precisely what it was that he would
| do, and now, after having listened to his
! elaborate speech. l do not know whether
he would let these States right in now
without any further inquiry on the sub
! iect or not. He argued to show that
| these States had never been out of the
/ Union, but that the moment the insur-
rection was put down or suppressed they
were in their original place, and appa-
rently had nothing else to do than to
come up here and legislate for us; and
for all his speech told US, our old enemies
on this floor, whom we banished for trea-
son, may come back here to day if their
| people see fit to. send them.


Permit me now, sir, to say a word on
| tho ouastion of constitutional law as TO
whether the seeded States were out of
the Union or in it.. agree with Mr..
Lincoln in thinking that in settling the
question before US it is not very material
to decide this point; for if, as he said,
their relation to the Union is such that
they cannot participate in the Govern
ment without the action of Congress, it
matters little whether you call them out
side of the Union or in it; the question:
will principally turn upon whether their
/ tenner and DISPOSITION IS such that it is