Year: 1870

Mr.. Thurman had not intended TO
say word on this subject. have AL
ready talked to the Senate to-day more
than desired to talk and never
have any disposition, | will say with
out any afectation, to speak merely to
hear myself talk. But since have ia
ken the floor to point out what con-
slider to be defects Of this amendment,
will say few words upon the gefer-
al merits of the bill itself, and then sub
init, so fsr os / nm concerned, to the
will Of the majority


know that the bill is destined to
pass, and have no disposition to waste
time, but, at the same time, as would
not wish to consume unnecessarily the
time and weary out the patience ofthe
Senate, l beg Senators to recollect,
some Of whom have been in minorities
as we'll as we are to-day, that Senator,
however much he may differ from the
majority of the Senate, may owe IL to
his self-respect or to those whom he
represents to announce his dissent, not
simply by the vote he gives, but also in
the form Of address to the body and
felt entirely justified in calling the at
tention Of the Senate TO this bill.


The State OF Georgia elected n Legis-
lature under your reconstruction acts
That Legislature performed every sin
gle requirement of those acts SO your
President tells us in his message, and
so the Senator from Illinois LMr Trum-
bull in the views that he published at
the last session of the Fortieth Con-
gress, made perfectly manifest by ref
erence TO official documents The State
then, according to your reconstruction
laws, was entitled to the admission OF
its Senators and Representatives in
Congress. The IIouee Of Representa-
tiyes admitted its members in that
branch of Congress. The Senate did
not it referred the credentials of the
Senators elect to the Committee on
the Judiciary, and no action was taken
finally upon their credentials.


Here, then, was Georgia, having COM
piled with every requirement of the re-
Senators and Representatives and her
Representatives admitted in the other
branch Of the Fortieth Congress, and
holding their seats until that Congress
expired-I say that Georgia did all that
your acts required, ratifying the Four
teenth Amendment among the rest
and yet now it is proposed to take
Georgia in hand again and why to
take her in hand ? Two reasons have
beer given for it, and but two, that
know of. One reason is that her Leg
islature, after she had complied with
every requisition of the reconstruction
acts, decided that colored men were
net entitled to seats in that Legisla-
ture, not entitled to hold Office in Geor-
gia, and therefore, tho colored mem
bers were expelled from their seats !;
and in the next place, that certain
persons held seats in that body who
were not entitled under the Fourteenth
Amendment to the Constitution
have looked at the testimony before
the committee of the House of Repre-
sentatives on that subject, and nobody
says that there were any moye than
from three TO fve Of those men in the
Legislature, consisting, believe, Of
two hundred and nineteen members
suppose, then, even If those persons
were disqualified, although commit
tee reported that they were not dis
qualified, and the Legislature decided
that they were not disqualified, if you
could 60 behind their decision nobody
would be willing to oyerturn the gov
ernment of Georgia because out of tho
two hundred and nineteen members of
the Legislature, four or five persons
disqualified under this amendment of
the Constitution had held seats in that
body.


But then it is said that the negro
members were expelled from that boz
dy. First, what is the fact about that7
The leading Republican of Georgia,
the leading spirit in supporting the re-
construction acts, as everybody knows,
was Governor Brown. He was the first
man, believe, Of any eminence in the
State who took ground in favor of the
reconstruction acts Ile spoke, be-
lieve, all over that State in their favor
and when the Constitution was formed
he addressed the people at various
times and in various places in support
of that Constitution. Everywhere that
he spoke, as am assured-and GER
tainly once, for have this speech in
my possession everywhere, in order
to recommend that constitution to the
people of Georgia, he told them-he
one of the most eminent lawyers of
that State-he, man who had beer
the Governor of that State he, the
leader in the reconstruction move
ment in that Sta.e-everywhere he
told the people of that State that if
that constitution were adopted ne
groes would be entitled to vote, but
would not be entitled to hold office.


The right TO vote does not neceSsari