Year: 1871

necessities of the Government itsel


We owe also to the freedmen a deb


of gratitude which we shall not b


able soon to discharge. In the earl
|part of the war they were the guides


the spies and the workers Of on


armies, and in the latter part of tn


war they became a portion of ou


military force. They were a sourc


of decentralization to the enemy a


well as of strength to us, and it ma,


well be doubted whether, withou


their assistance, the Union coul,


have been preserved.


Permit me to give you an inciden


which was related in my hearing b,


member of Congress who himsel


had been a soldier in the armies O


the Union. Two Union officers


who were Democrats in their polit


ical opinions, were taken prisoners


Although removed to a point wher


they were more than a hundred mile


from the Union lines, they decided


to take the chances of escape rathel


than remain in a Southern prison


They pushed on all night, and a


break of day came upon a large


stack of corn in which they hid them


selves until darkness should agair
favor their fight. They remained


buried in the stack until sunrise
when two negroes came to the stacl


and began to husk the corn. They


saw that it was only a question Of


time as to their being husked out


They had a whispered consultation


They had formerly held that negro


slaves were cowardly, treacherous


and unreliable, but the honest in


stincts of their nature, with the dan


ger to which they were exposed con.
quered their Democratic prejudices
and one of them putting his head in
sight, spoke to the negroes. One
of these looked up and exclaimed
"Golly, massa! dat you dar9" The
officer admitted that it was, and ex.
planned, briefly as possible, the stu.
alton. The negroes advised them
to remain concealed where they were
until night, promising not to husk
into their nest. After a while the
master of the men came along to
see how the work was progressing.
"Boys," said he, shave you seen any
Yankee soldiers coming this wayY'
"Ho" they replied, yankee sol
diers come dis way, we take car of
demm Which was more literally
true than their master would have
enjoyed knowing. When a black
boy brought the men their dinner,
they shared it with the concealed
officers, and the following night gui-
ded them on their way as far as they
could and return for their next days
work. This process of assistance
was repeated until the officers were
safe within our own lines. They
thus had an opportunity to learn, by
an experience of their own, the way
in which fugitive slaves escaped in
former days-days, thank God! now
never to return. When they re-
joined their fellow-soldiers, they
were heard to declare that out of
the hundred black men, women and
who knew they were escap-
ing, they had reason to believe that
not one had ever betrayed them.


What a shame it would be, what a
stain upon the page of our history,
If the Government should leave un-
protected men who rendered such
faithful service as this. If Moses,
when he had persuaded the children
of Israel across the Red Sea and in
to the desert, and when their chill
dren had begun to cry to him for
bread, had deserted them, and sto-
len back by night to the place of
Pharoah's daughter, hoping for a
life of ease and security there, that
would have been a crime which
Heaven could have forgiven in COM
parison with what ours would be,
if we should abandon these mil
lions of loyal and trusting hearts in
the hour of their need.


1t is objected, that we have not
the constitutional power to protect
citizens in the enjoyment of life,
liberty, and property of the States.
What CONFESSIONS this!-a con-
fession that no other civilized coun-
try would make, and that, with Gods
help, we will not make. The peo
Pile of the United States have add
ed three Amendments to the Con-
stitution for the-very purpose of Sc
curing to all classes of the people
great natural rights. Each of these
amendments closes with the declar-
alton that Congress shall have pow
er to enforce its provisions by ap-
propriate legislation. The Four
teenth Amendment, especially, de-
clares that no State shall deny to
any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection Of its laws.
Now, l believe the lawyers will sus-
tain me in the proposition, that
when crimes against life, liberty,
md property are committed in any
State, and cannot be punished under
State law, when juries refuse to con-
Fict, when judges will not charge
in accordance with law, when grand
uries refuse to indict, and attorneys
refuse to prosecute, and when the
whole public sentiment is such that
these officers are sustained by it in
heir neglect of duty-that is sub
denial of protection on the
part of the State. And, then, if
ever, is the proper time for that ap-
propriate legislation which the
Fourteenth Amendment declares
Congress shall have power to EN-
ploy for the enforcement of its pro-



In view of what / have thus pre-
,ented it becomes q matter of the
highest Importance to ascertain the
positions of the two par
'ies which claim our suffrages upon
'hisquestion ofthe equal protection
IF the law.


l need not say that the republican
party by hundred records and
has made itself the ally
IF this great doctrine. The resolu-
ion adopted by the Republican
party at Columbus upon this point
'tirs us like the blast of bugle:


1--WE not only recognize the Thir-
,eenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth