A LIBRARY Of- UUiNunizv C ; lIlH I'iiil liii 013 785 647 5 pHSJ E 666 .S72 Copy 2 THE TRIBUNE TRACTS.— No. 2. THE 615J3 SOUTHERN LOYALISTS' CONVENTION. CALL FOR A CONVENTION OF SOUTHERN UNIONISTS, TO MEET AT INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA, ON MONDAY, THE THIRD DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1806. To the Loyal Unionists of the South : The great issue is upon us ! The majority in Congress, and its supporters, firmly declare that " the rights of the ciiizen enumerated in the Con- stitution, and established by the supreme lato, tnust be maintained inviolate." Rebels and rebel sympathizers assert that " the rights of the citizen must be left to the States alone, and under such regulations as the respective States choose voluntarily to prescribe." We have seen this doctrine of State sove- reignty carried out in its practical results, «ntil all authority in Congress was denied, the Union temporarily destroyed, the constitutional rights of the citizen of the South nearly annihilated, and the land desolated by civil war. The time has come when the restructure of Southern State governments must be laid on constitutional principles, or the despotism, grown up under an atrocious leadership, be permitted to'remain. We know of no other plan than that Congress, under its constitutional powers, shall now exercise its authority to establish the prin- ciple whereby protection is made co-extensive with citizenship. We maintain that no State, either by its or- ganic law or legislation, cau make transgression on the rights of tlie citizen legitimate. We de- mand and ask you to concur in demanding pro- tection to every citizen of the great Republic on the basis of equality before the law; and further, that no State government should be re- cognized as legitimate under the Constitution in so far as it does not by its organic law make impartial protection full and complete. Under the doctrine of " State sovereignty," with rebels in the foreground, controlling South- ern Legislatures, and embittered by disappoint- ment in their schemes to destroy the Union, there will be no safety for the loyal element of the Soul h. Our reliance for protection is now on Congress, and the great Union party that has stood, and is standing, by the nationality, bj the constitutional rights of the citizen, and by the beneficent principles of free government. For the purpose of bringing the loyal Union. ists of the South into conjunctive action with the true friends of republican government in the North, we invite you to send delegates in goodly numbers from all the Southern States, including Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, to meet at Independence llall, in the city of Philadelphia, on the first Monday of September next. It is proposed that we should meet at that time to recommend measures for the establishment of such govern- ment in the South as accords with and protects the rights of citizens. We trust this call will be responded to by numerous delegations of such as represent the true loyalty of the South. That kind of government which gives full pro- tection to all the rights of citizens, such as our fathers intended, w,e claim as our birthright. Either the lovers of constitutional liberty must rule the nation, or r€ft)els and their sympathizers be permitted to misrule it. Shall loyalty or disloyalty have the keeping of the destinies of the nation ? Let the responses to this call which is now in circulation for signatures, and is bein"- numerously signed, answer. Notice is given that gentlemen at a distance can have their names attached to it by sending a request by letter, directed to D. H. Bingham, Esq., of Wash' ington, D. C. W. B. STOKES, Tennessee. JOS. S. FOWLER, Tennessee. JAMES GETTYS, Tennessee. NAT. B. OWENS, Tennessee. A. J. HAMILTON, Texas. GEO. W. PASCHAL, Texas. LORENZO SHERWOOD. Tex.is C. B SABIN, Texas. G. W. ASHBURN, Georgia. HENRY G. COLE, Georgia. ■S7 V >, J. W. McCLURG, Jlissouri. JOHX R. KELSO, Missouri. J. F. BEXJAMIX, Missouri. GEO. W. ANDERSOX, Missouri. JOHX B. TROTH, Fairfax Co., Va. J. M. STEWART, Alexandria, Ya. WM. N. BERKLEY. Alexandria, Ya. ALLEX C. HARMOX, Alexandria, Va. LEWIS McKEXZIE, Yir<,nnia. J. W. HUXXICUTT, Virginia. JOHN C. UXDERWOOD, Virginia. BURXHAM WARDWELL, Viroinia. ALEX. M. DAVIS, Virginia. MICHAEL IIAHX, Louisiana. A. P. DOSTIE, Louisiana. W. P. JUDD, Louisiana. J. HAWKIXS, Louisiana. EUGEXE STAES, Louisiana. BYROX LAFLIN, Xorth Carolina. DAXIEL R. GOODLOE, Xorth Carolina. GEORGE REESE, Alabama. D. H. BIXGIIAM, Alabama. M. J. SAFFOLD, Alabama. J. H. LARCOMBE, Alabama. THOMAS W. COXWAY, Louisiana. JAMES GRAHAM, Louisiana. R. T. VAX HORX, Missouri. W. J. COWIXG, Virffinia. JOHX MIXOR BOTTS. Virginia. JOHX F. LEWIS, Virginia. FRAXIvLIX STEARXS, Virginia. W. R. HILLYER, Florida. PHILLIP FJiAZAR, Florida. JOHX B. CROWX, Virginia. J. W. BABE, Arkansas. T. McKIXLEY, Tennessee. THOS. C. FLETCHER, Missouri. CHARLES E. MOSS, Missouri. A. D. CAR:\I0X, Missouri. J. E. BRYANT, Georgia. R. KIXG CUTLER, Louisiana. HEXRY C. DIBBLE, Louisiana. GUY DUPLAXTIER, Louisiana. A. P. FIELD, Louisiana. RUFUS WAPLES, Louisiana. JUDGE E. HEISTAXD, Louisiana. WESTOX FLIXT, Missouri. R. O. SIDXEY, Mississippi. Washington, July 4, 1866. CIRCULAR LETTER. W.^SHixGTON, D. C, 10th of July, 1866. Sir : — The undersigned have been appointed, V the signers of the accompanying call, a com- Ittee to address you in their behalf, and urge ou to prompt and energetic efforts in the ap- oiutment of delegates from your State and see- on, to meet delegates from the other Southern tates, in Philadelphia, on the first Monday in eptember next. By the strong ties of common atferings in the past, and the dangers present nd future which surround us, we appeal to you, nee more, to come to the rescue in a moment of mminent danger to yourselves and our country. We had all hoped that when treason was beatect' in the field, and her armed traitors captive to the Government which they had wickedly sought to destroy, we of the South who, through four long years of untold sufferings and horrors, ad- hered to her fortunes and her banner amidst all the changes and vicissitudes of war, would at ' least receive protection to all the constituiional rights of American citizens. We relied confi- dently on the sense of justice and gratitude of the loyal citizens of the United States, through their Senators and Representatives in Congress, to guard, in the most efi'ectual manner, our future peace and securitj- against the malevolence, vin- dictiveness, hate, and disloyalty of the late rebels. This confidence, we believe, has not been mis- placed. We relied, too, as we had a right to rely, on the earnest and efficient co-operation of the Executive of the Xation, placed in power by the great Union party of the country because of his supposed devotion to the Government, and his abhorrence of treason, and desire to see "'intelligent conscious traitors" punished and made disreputable. We confidently expected his hearty co-operation with the political de- partment of the Government in providing such governments in the States lately in rebellion as would protect the country from conspirators in official positions against its peace ; and secure to loyal citizens life, liberty, and property, together with the inestimable privilege of impressing upon the minds of others his conscientious con- victions of truth, by speech or through the me- dium of the press. We also had reason to hope that the freedman as well as the loyal white man in the South would find ample protection for all h'lS rights as an American citizen, by actual military force if necessary, until equal laws and corrected public sentiment would place them on a firm and enduring basis. In these hopes, pre- dicated on the oft-repeated declarations of the President, we have been grievously disappointed — cruelly deceived. We have neither seen treason made odious nor traitors disreputable by any act of the Executive of the Nation. We have seen traitors — leading, iiitelligent, conscious traitors — bearing away from the national capital with exultation, in the same pocket, indemnity for the past and indorsement and security fur the future, in the form of special pardons and appointments to Federal office ; while leading intelligent Unionists were made conscious that fidelity to the Government was not the passport to Executive favor, but, on the contrary, servile subserviency to the President and his " policy," as against the deliberate and matured judgment of the loyal people of the United States, and the constitutional power of the Senators and Repre- sentatives in Congress, was the only condition required of applicants for favor, whose claims thus sustained were, in no instance, impaired hy treasonable antecedents. We have seen our States that remained in re- bellion to the close of the war, without an excep- tion, remitted to the control of a rebel magis- tracy, elected by rebels to the exclusion of the * ' I friends of the Union. With one voice wc can testify to the encouragement given to traitors and treasonable sentiments in the South in the jiast twelve months, and the deep gloom and despondency which has settled upon the minds and hearts of the loval people in those States. "When the effects of the President's policy was first felt to be pernicious and ruinous, we were iustified — certaiuly excusable — in believing that it was but an error in judgment which would be corrected by him with promptitude as soon ns discovered. We had well hoped that he would hold to a just accountability those who, we be- lieved, had so grossly abused his clemency and apparent magnanimity. They have, doubtless, imderstood him far better than we. The entire course of the rebels seems to meet his unqualified assent and approbation. The election of an un- pardoned rebel to the chief magistracy of a rebel State, who, in his first message to the legislature, denounced the war on the part of the United States against the rebellion as the most imholy and disgraceful in character ever prac- tised by a Christian nation, had the eflVct of pro- curing his speedy pardon. The entire control by late rebels and present conspirators against the peace of the country of eleven States — men who cherish the most deadly hatred of all lovers of the Government, and are threatening them with ■siolence, as in the beginning of the rebeliion ; who denounce the loyal people of the loyal States, and heap invectives on their loyal Sen- ators and Representatives in Congress, who, they pray, may be forcibly ejected by the bayo- net from the halls of the National Capitol, and the Government administered by the will of the President; — these, and such as these, together with their Northern sympathizers, are esteemed fit associates and counselors of the Chief Magis- trate of the nation, and constitute the material out of which a new party — the Johnson party — is to be formed to guide the country through its l^resent perils and mould its future destinies. The leaders of this movement are well iinder- stood by the loyal country. The President and his friends, well knowing that he has forever forfeited the confidence of the great Union party which elected him, have madly determined to organize a new party of this " speckled progeny of many conjunctions." The effect has been to consolidate and crj'stallize the Union party. It stands to-day more compact, powerful, and con- fident than at any period of its existence. Its triumph in the approaching fall elections is not only certain, but will be overwhelming. What is the duty of the Unconditional Union men of the South, and what is to be their position ? Our dutj- is to act with the friends of the Gov- ernment, who are our friends, and our onli/ friends. We must take our position with the loyal people and Congress of the nation, against the machinations of the new coalition of rebels and their Northern sympathizers. We can have no aflSliation with those who de- ride and hate us because of our love of the Union now and in the past, and who, there is abundant reason to believe, are at this moment again con- spiring to overthrow the Government. If those who are to constitute this new partj- should attain power and possess themselves of the control of tlie Government, what considera- tion may we expect at their hands, what mercy can we hope? They have proved faithless to ever}' pledge and obligation, however sacred, both before and since the rebellion. The most solemn oaths are used by them as a mere cloak for treachery ; and magnanimitj- and mercy, on the part of an outraged Government and its friends, are impudently iind insultingly derided the moment they are relieved from dread of puni.shment. No history furnishes an example of such incorrigible guilt and shameless men- dacity. To'thc Union party, and to that alone, we look for relief from our present unhappy condition, and for permanent security in the future. The part}' is powerful enough for success without our aid, but it is none the less our duty to sig- nalize our devotion to the principles of republi- can liberty, which that party is so nobly sus- taining, by active affirmative co-operation on our part. Moreover, if we wish the support, the countenance and protecting care of the Union party to shield us from the dangers which now threaten us, we must not be afraid to make known to them our condition and dire necessities. It is scarcely too much to say that the Southern Unionists, though too weak for self-protection, hold in their hands the key to the solution of the question of the reorganization of civil State gov- vernments in the South. We know it has been said that we have been ignored by all parties in and out of Congress — that we are being ground to death between the upper and nether mill- stones. Let it be remembered that, as a party in the South, we have made no effort to make known our wants, our condition, our hopes, or sufferings. We do assure you that it is the wish, the ar- dent desire and intention of Congress, to give us protection and security, when fully advised of our needs. Let us then perform our duty to ourselves and our country, by meeting together for con- sultation upon our present condition and future interests, and present to the country the united voice of the down-trodden Unionists of the South; presenting a fearless and truthful statement of facts, which shall command the attention and challenge the confidence and spnpathy of every friend of the Government and of human liberty throughout the land. It may be that fear of the same despotism over the minds and consciences of men that existed in the beginning of the rebellion, and reigned supreme in the South during its continu- ance, will again assert its power, and condemn to extreme punishment those who may dare to respond to our call. We have but to say that whatever danger threatens, and whatever sacri- fices are involved, we mxtst aid in breaking the shackles that bind us. If the enemies of free government do not yet nnderstand that the rights of American citizen- ship are to be paramoimt and supreme over the hellish spirit born of slavery and nurtured bj' bigotry, ignorance, and prejudice, they will learn it in the throes and struggles of the next civil commotion which they and their abettors inaugurate. One other step, and they will have placed themselves forever without the pale of forgive- ness. The fiat has gone forth. The people of the United States have resolved that this shall he a Government of freedom and equal riyhts for all ; and woe to those who shall hereafter resist this solemn judgment, lie who is guilty of a second rebellion to this Government will appeal in vain for pardon. Let us act boldly as becomes free men ; and if we should thereby incur dan- ger, the country will understand and appreciate the shameless hypocrisy of those who prate of their loyalty and right to readmission into the Union in one breath, and, in the next, excite a brutalized mob to violence upon a citizen for exercising the constitutional right of meeting his fellow-citizens to petition the political power of the nation for a redress of grievances. Let us do our duty, and trust to God and our loj-al countrymen for vindication and protection. We urge you to lose no time in making your nominations, by public meetings or otherwise, as may be most convenient to j^ou. You can scarcely conceive the importance which gentle- men from every part of the country attach to this proposed meeting of Southern Unionists. "We venture to say that we have, in a great measure, our destiny in our own hands. It is earnestly hoped that we will wisely use the power we possess. Your obedient servants, A. J. HAMILTON, of Texas, M. J. SAFFOLD, of Alabama, WM. B. STOKES, ol Tennessee. Committee. SOUTHERN LOYALISTS' CON- VENTION. First Day. The Delegates to the Southern Loyalists' Con- vention assembled at Independence Square on Monday, September 3d, Ibttti, when they were met by the Conference Delegates from the Northern States and escorted by the Union League of Philadelphia to their League House on Broad Street, and Charles Gibbons, Esq., on behalf of the League deUvered the following Address of Welcome: ADDRESS OF CHARLES GIBBONS, ESQ. Men of the South: The members of the Union League of Philadelphia greet you as fellow-loyalists and citizens of the United States. On their behalf and by their authority I wel- come you here tu-daj' as friends and brethren. There is no stain of loyal blood on your hands. Your souls are free from the guilt of treason against our common country. We know some- thing — perhaps but little — of the sacrifices you have made, of the persecution you have endured, of the heavy afflictions you have been through, all the dreary years of the Rebellion, for your fidelity to the Constitution and your devotion to the American Union. Many of your homes have been desolated, your pleasant places laid waste, and your wives and helpless children driven into exile, with breaking hearts, in penury and anguish, by the fiendish hate of traitors, who sought to make your loyalty a crime and to tear the United States from the map of nations ! Through all this persecution — unparalleled in the history of modern times — " in perils by your own countrymen, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painful- ness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness," you have held fast your integrity, as the world knows and God knows. With unshaken faith in the ultimate triumph of good over evil, you have watched through the long night of your sorrow for the coming of that hotter day when the flag of your country would be your sure protection in the enjoyment of your civil rights, when treason should be made infamous ; when traitors should be punished and the rod of political power which was smiting you should be placed in your own hands. Brothers ! during all these years of your separation from us, we too have been in sorrow ! Our homes in the North have been filled with lamentation for the fathers and the sons slain in battle or starved to death by thousands in the prison-pens of Vir- ginia and Georgia. The bodies of three hundred thousand Northern men, loyal and faithful in their lives, victims of treason, slavery, and rebellion, now fill that horrid gap that divided the loyalty of the North from the loyalty of the South ! While the war was raging round your homes, although our sympathy was intensified by our own sorrows, it could not express itself in words but it flashed from a million Northern bayonets, and was pronounced by the mouths of Northern cannon, and thus it spoke in deeds! Earnestly stirring our souls to their very depths, it will live forever in secret association with our own heroic dead ! These " Boys in Blue," sons of the North, who " raillied round the flaj; " and advanced it, through fire and blood, till its power was supreme throughout the land ! these "Boys in Bkie," part of your escort to-day, and their comrades everywhere, have written it on the tablets of their hearts, never to be effaced, that treason is infamous 1 For if it be not, what honor have they more than traitors? It is so written in every family Bible that contains a record of the death of a Union soldier or a Union refugee; it is inscribed on every hearthstone of the North, where the little orphan child vainly awaits the return of his father from the war; these Philadelphia firemen, fearless and ready men in every danger, tender and considerate men in their care of the wounded soldiers and * their helpless children ; these mechanics and business men, and laboring men, every one of whom would scorn to eat the bread of ofHcial patronage at the price of his manhood ; these trusty citizens of other Slates who unite with us in our welcome to-day, all meet you and greet 3"ou with that sentiment that glows in their loyal hearts, and binds together by a cliain of sympathy that no adA'ersity can break — " Treason is infamous." But our sympathy would not be full or cordial if it halted here. It goes much further. It is the honest sentiment of the North, held and uttered in the interests of Union, of peace, and of Christianitj-, that when the South returns to her dutj', she must come in new robes, with new covenants for liberty, equality, and justice, led by her own loyal Unionists, who are free from the guilt of treason. For what hope have we in the future, or what security have you if unpunished and impenitent traitors shall he remstated in power by the arbitrary and besotted will of one man, under a Constitution which they have deliberately forsworn. The answer is already wiitten in the blood of the murdered loj'alists of New Orleans. Men of the South, you are here on a high and solemn mission, having for its object the re-establish- ment of the American Union on the broad and sure foundations of equal and exact justice to all men. It can stand upon none other. We have no right to presume that the Great Ruler of the universe has permitted us to prevail over our enemies only to renew in other forms the oppression which in His providence has been overthrown. "We cannot be so unmindful of all the lessons of the past as to be led by vagrant politicians into another compromise with crime, instead of lifting up from desperation those who have been its victims. Welcome, then, loj'al brethren of the South, on your noble mission to the t'ity of Philadelphia. Here, where the founders of Pennsylvania inaugurated his " holy experiment" of a Government based on the equality of man ; here, where, a century later, the Representatives of the Thirteen Colonies imanimously declared it as a self-evident truth that " all men are created equal ; " here, where the Constitution was formed and the Union consummated ; here, where the Government was administered justly and in its purity by that illustrious man whose Name alone strikes everj- living dead ; here, in Philadelphia, you are welcome, thrice welcome ! Gov. A. J. ILvMiLTOX, of Texas, on behalf of the Southern Loyalists, responded. REPLY OF GOV. HAMILTOX. Sir: In behalf of the assembly of Loyalists of the South, it becomes my pleasing duty to ac- knowledge and respond to the welcome that you have just pronounced in behalf of the Union League, and other associations of the City of Philadelphia, a duU' that v.'ould be unmixed with pleasure, were it not that I cannot but remember the cost of our assembly. I thank you, Sir, in the name of the Loyalists of the South, for the manner in which you have characterized this devotion to the Union. It is but just; I feel it in my heart. Spare me, fellow-citizens, the re- cital of the scenes through which we have passed. Let me at once direct myself to the present oc- casion — the cause of our assembling. We had well hoped that after the triumph of the armies of the Government of the United States in tbe| suppression of rebellion against the authority of ' the Government, that those of us who had suf- fered so long and so patiently, would have some indemnity for the past. If not that, at least se- curity for the future. We had fondly hoped that we would be permitted to return peaceably to our old habitations, to renew our associations with friends from whom wc had been so long parted ; that we could once more embrace our wives and children, from whom many of us had been long separated ; that after the glorious is- sues of the war of the Rebellion, no one would be longer permitted to molest or make us afraid. But these hopes proved delusive. The experience of twelve months has taught us in bitterness of heart that what we considered a contest of prin- ciple as well as of arms, has but resulted in a measure of physical strength between the North and the South, and that to-daj' the spirit that animated the Rebellion, and called it to the con- test of arms with the only pure Republic under Heaven, is as rampant to-day as the day when it first attacked the Government of our land. The prosecution of all who gave adhesion to the Government of the South, and periled life and property, is as rampant, as incorrigible, as de- pendent, as destructive, as vindictive, and cruel as it was, at any period during the Rebel- lion. Seeing this, feeling its realization that so far as being remitted back to the peaceful homes, that we were but remitted back to the control of the same clement that sought our destruction. A few of us in that condition from the South had happened to be up at the National CapitoL casting about what we should do, characterized by a desire for the preservation of the Govern- ment. We deemed the time propitious to call upon the Unionists of the South to send delegates to meet and consult together as to the condition of ourselves and of our common people. We believed we saw not only danger to ourselves, but a cloud, though not larger than the hand of man, on the verge of the horizon. We deter- mined to make the call. The question recurred, where will we meet? We knew well there %va3 uo congenial spot of soil in all the South. Where could we go ? Instinctively our eyec turned to the goodly City of Philadelphia, the place where civil, constitutional liberty upon the American continent had its birth ; there, in the City of Franklin ; there, in the shade of old Liberty Hall, Independence Hall, if we might not meet and consult there with the approving smiles of its citizens, where, under heaven, more propitious ? We have come, assured before we left our 6 Homes, that we would meet a welcome, but, as much as we had heard of the hospitalities of this goodly citj', fai'-faiiifd as it is, it has far out- stripped our expectations. For this welcome. Sir, in the name of the loved men here assem- bled in convention, as loyal citizens that repre- sent every man, woman, and child, white and black, in the South, we tender you our hearty tlianks. We come to this Convention because we real- ize the fact in our condition at home that no principle, so far as it has ajtplication to the Ad- ministration is concerned, has been settled by the late contest. We realized that our fond hope that this Government would be such a govern- ment as our fathers intended when they framed it, giving not only freedom to ever}' lunnan being within it, but placing it on a sure foundation better than libertj-, actual protection to every citizen. The result was not to be the principle upon which the Government was to be admin- istered, but that we were left in the old condi- tion to be remitted back to the tender mercies of the State which at their will and tender discre- tion might strike down the principles of human rights, and no protecting power be found in them. It is because, Sir, wc believe the time was propitious to bring back the people of the Government to the primitive ideas of the Re- public, to organize a party, or rather to improve the organization of the party devoted to the Eepublican principles, to bring it back upon the old platform of the Constitutional rights of every citizen in our land, that this convention has been oonvened. We invoke the assistance, prayers, and counsel of all our brethren everywhere through- out the United States. We ask all loyal dele- gations from the loyal States that came here, to give us the hand of welcome, not only to meet us, but to help us to remodel our Government in a purer, nobler faith than ever before — to prove to the President, Cabinet, and to his counselors everywhere, that the people of the United States, North and South, who are the loyalists to gov- ei'n, will be satisfied with nothing less than actual security and individual equality and equal rights under the Constitution, as our forefathers gave it. If we can be met in this, Sir, our hearts are with you. Our fortunes have long since been expended ; we have none. Sept. 3, 1866, 1 o'clock. The delegates having met pursuant to the oall, the Convention was called to order by the Hon. W. B. Stokes, of Tennessee, who said: Gentlemen of the Convention: I now pro- ceed to announce the meeting of the true loyal men of the South. A few months ago, a few Union men in the City of Washington, feeling that the time had come when the true loyal men )i the South should convene and declare their condition, their situation, both political, moral and social, issued a call for the loyal people of the South to assemble in Convention, in the ( ity of Philadelpliia, on this the 3d day of September. I will now proceed to read the call. The call having been read, the hon. gentleman remarked : At the time tliis call was made it was believed by those who made it that the time had come when the loyal people of the South should take action. Hence the call was made. It had been clearly demonstrated, and it is being demonstrated every day more clearly, that the call was made none too soon — that the crisis had come. There are to-day but two political parties in the nation, and the qucsticm now before the American peo- ple is whether the loj-al people — the men who have carried the flag — who have preserved civil and religious libertj^ in the nation, shall rule, or whether the power shall be with those who would betray it. You have met here to-day, fellow-citizens, to perform one of the greatest works that has ever been performed in this nation. I hope and trust and believe that you are men of discretion, that you are men of judgment, and I know that you are men of patriotism. I know that you will stand by your country and by its flag. We are here to-daj' iVom every State in the South. The loyal men of the Korth are also here and ready to go hand in hand with us to meet this great political party, at the head of which the Execu- tive of the nation has placed himself We will be enough for them, and we will meet this partj' at the ballot-box ; and I know that when the time comes the loj'al men of the nation will rise in their might and strength. I will not detain you longer, as I am anxious that the business for which the Convention met should progress. I desire to see the Convention organ- ize and go about its work, and when we do go about it I trust that we will do so as men, and about its work, and so as men, act fearlessly, knowing that we are traveling in the right road. The Convention was organized by calling the Hon. Thomas J. Durant, of Louisiana, to the chair, who, on motion of Dr. R. O. Sidney, of Mississippi, was unanimously elected temporary chairman. Being conducted to the chair, Mr. Durant addressed the Convention as follow^ For this exalted and unmerited complSent from the loyal men of the South, I thank you, with sentiments of the deepest gratitude. The honor which you have conferred upon me will long live in my recollection, and in after years shall linger among the greenest spots in memory's waste. For more protracted discourse, this is neither time nor place ; but now and here we should rather and more appropriately proceed at once to the execution of the patriotic and solemn duty which has gathered us together from the near and more distans regions of our beloved South. I will therefore invite you to make such motions as shall complete that temporary organ- ization which is necessary for the preliminary purposes of this Convention. I presume it will be, in the first place, the appointment of one or more secretaries temporarily, to record your proceedings. Weston Flint of Missouri, Thomas W. Conway of Louisiana, C. G. Baylor of Georgia, A. M f'rane of Arizona, A. W. Campbell of West Virginia, Judge Lanmau of Tennessee, and Albert JMace of Maryland, were nominated, and no objection being made, were confirmed as temporary Secretaries of the Convention. Mr. Stokes — In accordance, gentlemen of the Convention, with a custom, never, I hope, to be deviated from in the deliberations of any Con- vention of the loyal men of oxir countrj', these proceedings should be opened by an invocation for the mercy of Divine Providence upon our delib- erations. In accordance as I am informed, gen- j tlemen, with a desire of the great majority of the I Convention, and of the gentlemen who kindly I acted as a preliminary Committee to facilitate our arrangements and proceedings, I will call upon the reverend gentleman who has been des- ignated for the pui'pose to perform that function — the Rev. J. W. Jackson of this Citv. PRAYER BY THE REV. MR. .lACKSOX. O Lord, our Heavenly Father, the mighty Ruler of the Universe, Creator of all men, we approach Thea in the name and pleading the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, the atoning sacrifice and the interceding High Priest for all men. In Thy good Providence, these men of the South, faith- ful to the Government of their Fathers — to the principles of civil and religious liberty em- bodied in the National charter proclaiming the civil rights of all men — have met in this birth- plabe of the Nation to confer together in relation to the great questions growing out of the bloody strife of over four years of rebellion inaugurated in the interests of the monstrous iniquity of American Slavery. Bless the deliberations of this body. Inspire the understandings of Thy servants that their speech may be such as becometh men deliberat- ing in the fear of God over the imperiled intei*- ests of Constitutional Government. We give Thee humble and hearty thanks that Thou has preserved their lives in the midst of past dangers too terrible for human speech to portray. For the sake of the union of these States upon the principles of liberty and equality they have hazarded property, personal liberty, yea, even life itself Many of them have pined in dun- geons, fled to caves and caverns of the earth, wan- dered awaj" from the homes of their childhood, the graves of their ancestry ; accepting willingly bonds, scourgings, imprisonments, exile, deaths, rather than the surrender of their Constitutional birthright — the inheritance of a continent conse- crated to Republican government imder one flag. They weep for brothers fallen in the con- flict. They tremble before the future threatening the loss of all for which patriots have suff'ered and died. Lift up their bowed down heads; strengthen their hearts, for the Lord God Omnip- otent reigneth. Thou wilt not permit that the dead fallen in a struggle so holy, shall have died in vain. The voice of the brother's blood, mar- tyr's for liberty and law, crieth to Thee from the ground — and precious shall their blood be in thy sight. Thou wilt hear; Thou wilt judge the poor of Thy people ; Thou wilt save the chil- dren of the needy ; Thou wilt break in pieces the power of the oppressor ! Oh, God, Thou hast been good unto this nation, and for all Thy goodness how terribly have they requited Thee ; with a high hand and an out- stretched arm, have we sinned against Thee, framing iniquity by law ; oppressing the poor, robbing the hireling of his wages, perverting judg- ment and justice, and degrading Thine image into a thing to be bought and sold in the market-place. But Thou, leading us by Thine own right hand and strong arm, hast delivered us ; Thou didst make the path of justice the only way of the na- tion's safety, and the wrath of man to praise Thee in the unloosing of every yoke, the break- ing of every bond. Now, 0, God ! we look to Thee. Warned by Thy judgments, incline our hearts to learn righteousness. Teach us as a people that righteousness exalteth a nation and that sin is a reproach to any people ; that Gov- ernments are ordained by Thee to be a terror to evil-doers, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil, to be a praise to them that do well ; that if we obey not Thy voice Thou wilt cast us off. Teach this people to whom Thou hast committed government, as to none other, to execute righteous judgment in Thy fear, and by righteous legislation to secure to all people to whom, in Thy providence. Thou hast appointed this land for a heritage, the blessing of equal and exact justice before the law. Bless this one government by the people, of the people, and for the people, in its executive, legislative, and judicial departments, that they to whom are committed the authority and interests of a great nation may lead peaceable and quiet lives in all godliness and honesty, learning the will of the people in the will of God. Inspire the entire people with a love of country that many waters cannot cpiench, nor the floods drown. Keep us a nation faithful to the interests of humanity in in the preservation of that form of government whose perpetuity can only be secured by equal and exact justice to all. Oh, our Father, we commit to Thee all our national and social interests. The earth is Thine and the kingdoms thereof. Endue these Thy servants in Convention assembled plenteously with heavenly gifts ; grant, them in health and prosperity, long to live, and finally, after this life, to attain everlasting joy and felicity. Pre- serve the lives and health of their families dur- ing their absence. Overrule all strife and debate among us as a people to the honor and glory of Thj^ great name, to the establishment of justice, the insurance of domestic tranquillity, the promo- tion of the public welfare, and to the security of the blessings of civil and religious liberty to all classes of the people and to their posterity for- ever. Amen. Then followed the Lord's Prayer, resijonded to by the Convention. The roll of the States was then called, and the following members were named as the Com- mittee on Credentials: COMMITTEE ON CREDENTIALS. Texas Hon. J AS. H. BELL. Tennessee Gen. HORACE H. THOMAS. Louisiana WM. R. CRANE. Virginia GEORGE R. GILMER. W. Virginia.... Ges. R. S. NORTHCOTT Georgia G. W. ASHBURN. Alabama D. H. BINGHAM. Kentucky R. C. GWATHNEY. Mississippi JOSEPH W. FIELD. .Missouri Col, F. T. LEDERGERBER. Arkansas Gen. A. A. C. RODGERS. X. Carolina. . . .11. K. FURNISS. .\fariiland Gen. A. W. DEXNISON. Delaware JOHN H. ADAMS. Florida C. L. ROBINSON. J), of Columbia . I). C. FORNEY. 9ERGEANT-AT-AR.MS. On motion of a delegate, AVilliam 11. Heydt, Sergeant-at-Arms of tl)e Tennessee Legislature, was appointi.'d Serijeant-at-Arms of tins Con- vention. COMMITTEE OX PERMANENT OaG.v:>'IZ.l.TION. Mr. Miller, Missouri, moved that a Committee on Permanent Organization, to con.^ist of one jnember from each State represented, be ap- j)ointed in the ?am'.' mannor as the Committee on Ci'edentials. COMMITTEE ON PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. Geo. Rye, Norfolk, Virginia ; Gen. Madison Miller, Missouri; Henry Stockbridge, Mary- land; Cornelius Curtis, Florida ; Jerome Hinds. Alabama; James L. Dunning, Georgia; R. O. Sidney, Mississippi; C. Caldwell, Texas; Jolin II. Atkinson, West Virginia; Max (.'ohnlieim, District Columbia; A.J. Fletcher, Tennessee; II. Vv'. Ilawes, Kentucky; II. C. Warmoutli, Louisiana; David II. Goodloe, North Caroliiui ; John A. AUderdice, Delaware ; George Rodgers, Arkansas. The Convention then adjourned to meet at 10 o'clock to-morrow. Second Bay. The Convention assembled at 10 o'clock, the temporary chairman, Hon. Thos. J. Duraut, (tf Louisiana, iu the chair. 'I'he Rev. M. Matlack offered the following prayer : Almighty God, our Father who srt in Heaven ! AVe recog- nize Thee as the Father of the spirits of a!l raeu. We recognize ourselves as a common bd>tii-rlioi"l. We recog- nize a community in the family of men that makes it proper for all, however inclined and governed, to sa.v, Uur Father who art in Heaven ! We come with gratitnde in our hearts; we come with an humble trust. We have occasion of rejoicing; we have reason icr reverence, for earnest solemnity, lor deep solici- tude, and we ask Tliy guidance. We pray Thee that our nation may lonrn to deal justly and love mercy and walk hnmbly before Thee. W'u pray that this convocation m»y help to develop a stn'i-neut I which shall recognize that "righteousness exalteth a na tion, while sin is a reproach to any people." We ask Thy blessing on our deliberations. We recognize in those who are present, men who were tried, ami, by Thy might strengthening them, have sustained every test of loyalty, and are here to testify their devotion to God, as well as to prepare fur securing the permanent blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to themselves, and to all men forever. Oh, do Tliou regard them favorably, and direct their minds, aiding them to follow out such lines of action as shall conduce to the most permanent and glorious rasult.s. We ask these blessings in the name and for the sake of the dear Uedeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen. The Chairman then announced the order of business as follows : Gentlemen of the Convention : The first business in the orders of the day will be the re- port of the committee appointed yesterday on the credentials of members. The report of the committee is therefore now called for report of the committee on credentials. G. W. Ashburn, of Georgia, chairman on the committee on credentials, presented a report, as follows : Resolvd, That the Convention receive the re- port of the members from each State as final as to the qualifications of its members. Texas, 15 ; Louisiana, bl ; Tennessee, 81 ; Vir- ginia, 61 ; West Virginia, 51 ; Georgia, 9; Ala- bama, 4; Kentucky, 13; Mississippi, 3, Mis- souri, oU ; Arkansas, 2; North Carolina, (i ; Maryland, 60, Delaware, 6 ; Florida, 7 ; District of Columbia, 27. Total, 456. The report was adopted. IMr Fletcher, of Tennessee, from committee on permanent organization, reported the follow- ing as officers of the Convention : president, Hon. James Speed, of Kentucky. vice-presidents, E. M. Pease, of Texas. Anth'j:iy Fernandez, of Louisiana. Joseph W. Field, of Miss ssippi. D. II. Bingham of Louisiana. Colonel O. R. Hart, of Florida. Gov. Wm. G. Brownlow, of Tennessee. Joseph H. Glover, of Kentucky. George P. Strong, of Missouri. H. C. Cole, of Georgia. Rev. Hope Beauty, of South Carolina. Hon. John Minor Botts, of Virginia. Gov. A. J. Bore'.nan, of West Virginia. Gen. Joseph Gerhardt, District of Columbia. Hon. J. A. J. Creswell, of Jlaryland. A. A. C. Rodgers, of Arkansas. Thos. B. Goursey, of Delaware. secretaries, , Col. Weston Flint, of Missouri. • Samuel C. Mercer, of Tennessee. John T. Ensor, of Maryland. Henry W. Davis, of Mississippi. Col. Charles C. Gill, of Kentucky. C. (i. Ba-,loiv of Georgia. J. W. "Wynone, of North Carolina. John n. Adams, of Delaware. Judge N. F. Saffold, of Alabama. J. N. Boyd, of AVest Virginia. Jesse StanccU, of Texas. Peter A. Fennerty, of Arkansas. E. Iliestand, of Louisiana. John W. Price, of Florida. S. P. Brown, District of Columbia. CHArL.Aix : Rev. John B. Newman, D. D., of Louisiana. The report was adopted unanimously, and the President, tlie Hon. James Speed, of Kentucky, was conducted to the chair by the Hon. A. J. Hamilton, of Texas, and Lysander Hill, of Vir- ginia. Judge SafFold, of Alabama, requested leave to withdraw his name as one of the Secretaries, which was agreed to. The President then spoke as follows : ADDRESS OF THE HON. JA3TES SPEED, OF KENTUCKY. Gentlemen- of the Convextiox, Lotal Mex of THE SOUTHERX StATES HERE ASSEMBLED : I thank you most cordially for your kindness in calling me to preside over your deliberations. I fee! that you could have called worthier men than I am. I take the position, however, and will till it to the best of my ability. In my time, gentlemen. I have received some honors, and have borne them meekly ; but I feel in my heart that the honor conferred on me this day by this Convention, voluntarily associated — Southern men, devoted to their country and to freedom — as the highest honor I have ever yet received. Though the position I hold to-day to many may seem a humble one, yet I feel, as you feel, that we are assembled here upon a grand and a great mission, and at a great time. Why are we here, gentlemen? Why is it that so many of us have come from the furthest portions of this country, not at the request or upon the suggestion of those in power, but of our own accord and at our own expense — why is it, I say, that we are here to-day? Why is it that we have come to the good old City of Philadelphia ; and above all. why is it that when we did come here the hearts of this loyal people were stirred, and they turned almost by millions to greet us ■with this spectacle ? Did they come out shnply to see '• a reed shaken by the wind ? " Did they come out simply for the purpose of seeing men, brave men, who are to-day what men ought to be to-morrow, who have had their trials in the past and expect to meet others in the future ? They turned out to receive us and greet us somewhat upon our personal account, it maj- be, but mainly and chiefly because we are the representatives of a great truth. It was not to us as men so much as it was to the principles which we represent; because in our past lives we had shown devotion to principle, and because we were here for the purpose of rene\\'ing upon 2 the altar of liberty, in this ancient State anJ among these loyal people, our pledges, and declaring our purpose to stand bj- the in-iuciple.s upon which tliis Government is founded. I beg yoii, gentlemen, in the deliberations of this Convention, to bear this great fact in mind. Lot it control j-our thoughts and actions. Let your thoughts and your actions be free, firm, clear, out-sp(jken, but dignified, loving and mer- c ful. Wliat principle is it then tliat we represent ? Why is it that we are here ? Why is it that we received such an ovation upon our coming? What is it and how is it that the people of this great nation are stirred now as they have rarely been stirred heretofore ? Just think of it ! Last June, eigiiteen months ago. in this country, more than one million of men were arrayed in arms against each other. The passions which lead to bloodshed, the passions which were consequent upon the flowing of human blood, then swayed and controlled alike individuals and communities. The whole country was awake, and as it were on tiptoe, hearkening- to the tread of great armies, listening to thi> echoes of battles coming in, or expecting more severe battles to follow. Then the country was stirred ; then the country was aroused ; but the great armj- of the Republic, that army which had consecrated itself to Constitutional liberty and the establishment of freedom — that nobli> band of patriots and of warriors have performed the task assigned them ; nobl^- did they do their work. They disarmed traitors, dispersed the hostile bands, destroyed the organized power of rebels, and took the arms from the hands of traitors and enemies. That band of patriots and warriors has been dispersed, and now they sit in this crowd, without epaulettes, without badge, without uniform. Their occupation yields to the ballot-box — yields to the regular ordeal and peaceful agencies of this Government, for the purpose of accomplishing the remainder of : the work. The soldiers of our army, in common ' with all good men, never wish to see war again. I But the soldiers of our army, as all good men, I while they wish never to see war again, while 1 they wish to see peace, they wish peace estab- lished upon principles permanent and sure; not i a seeming peace; they wish principles established j which have their origin, because of their truth, j in the bosom of God himself. That is, the ' principles of equal justice and equal rights, and '< equal security to every human being within the jurisdiction of the United States. With South- ern men who have seen this great sin of Slavery — which some said was the corner-stone of ; Republican institutions — and say, with Southern men, who have seen Slavery, do know not onlj- historically, but we do know experimentally : that it must perish from the face of the earth. We are here, then, and the country feels every - where that we are here in the interest of trutii in this country ; all the country feels, our j adversaries feel, that since this Rebellion was i put down a Convention has sat in this place with which von and I could not act. I wis 10 glad, however, to see it. And why was that here ? It was here, in part, hecausu the great cry came up from the white man of the South, " My constitutional and my natural rights are denied me." This was the great complaint, and if sincerely made on both sides, vitterly antago- nistic the one to the otlier. "Which is right? That is for tlus Convention to saj\ Upon that question, if upon none other, as Southern men speak out your minds. Speak the truth as you feel it ; speak the truth as you know it ; speak the truth as you feel for your country ; speak the truth as you love permanent peace, as you hope to establish the institutions of this Gov- ernment, so that our children and our children's children shall enjoy a peace that we have not known. I tell you, unless we do this, there can be no peace. Gentlemen, I say that but a short time ago, a Convention was held in this cit}\ That Convention, to my mind, did mudi that was good ; but it was not wholly unmixed good. That Convention, as I read its Jiistory, came Jiere and simply recorded, in abject submission, the commands of one man. That Convention did his commands; the loyal Congress of the United States refused to do it. Aye, and if you ever have a Congress in these United States of America, that does not resolutely and firmly refuse, as the present Congress has done, to be merely a recording secretary of the tyrant of the White House, American liberty is gone for ever. To my mind, it is as important that Congress should be commended in this particular for that reason, independently of the merits of the question, and for the reason that they have fought for themselves, that they have spoken for themselves, and that they have stood up against all sorts of influences for that which they believed and knew to be right. I am sorry for the dead silence, sorry for the want of freedom of thought and of speech that marked that Convention. Still, as I have said, its proceedings were not unmixed with good. What good sprang from that Convention ? Gentlemen, you all know that we have had an old defiant party, long the ruler of this country — quondam Democratic, quondam Copperhead. To my ap- prehension the vain characteristic of that party has been that it has been crusted all over with prejudice, covering up the light of truth and the light of day. I know their prejudice, for the most part, has been this, that Slavery was a divine institution, that it was a thing that should not be discussed or spoken of; it was a household god. This was the conduct of this old defiant and proud party. At the August Convention the men of tliat party constituted a vast majority of the Convention. Now, mark gentlemen, one of the resolutions of that Convention distinctly said that Slavery was abolished, and must never be reestablished. I ask you if this old Demo- cratic idea has not struck its colors and bowed in submission to this Republican party '? There is some good in that. It marks an event in the progress of liuinan freedom. That this old, purblind party upon this subject has at last got this prejudice broken, and that it has come in, slowly and reluctantly it may be, but that it has gone so far as to acknowledge the fact that Slavery is abolished and ought not to be re- sumed. But further, we of the Republican part^', we of the Union party, have gone further than that. In June, 18G4, in the Convention at Baltimore which nominated Mr. Lincoln for the Presidency and Mr. Johnson for the Vice-Presi- dency, it was announced that Slavery should be extirpated, taken out of our Constitution, root and branch, body and soul, every lineament and every fiber of it. Mark, gentlemen, the difference between tlie two. One is to extirpate, not simply to cut off the head or the limb of the terrible monster, but all the fearful consequences and incidents that resulted from Slavery. What are they '! An equal representation. As long as Slavery remained, as long as there is a man, no matter wliat his color, unrepresented in the Government, aye, as long as there is a man who, because of his color, cannot stand equal with his fellow-man in all the Courts of justice. All these incidents the great Republican party pledged themselves, if possible, should be extir- pated. Oh, you Southern men ! when you were at that time, as it were, in the prison-house of the South, when you heard this pledge, it came as the sweetest, surest note of hope that you had. We men of the South that were in that last and almost hopeless contest — we men of the South now here in this old city, under the sound and within hearing of that bell that first proclaimed freedom to all the nations of the world — here, where the Declaration of Indepen- dence was announced, that was afterwards bap- tized in the blood of the Revolution — here, where the Constitution of the United States sprung from the blood of the Revolution — here, we men of the South come to conjure this nation, come to conjure the men that made that declaration, in God's name, to fulfill it. There are, gentlemen of the Convention, other subjects which in my estimation should come before us and be considered by the Convention. I speak, of course, for myself, and for myself alone, when I call your attention to the subjects upon which, I think, more than all others, you ought to take action. It is said that the Southern States have abolished Slavery. I call the atten- tion of the Convention to the fact that every Southern State, North Carolina, I believe, alone excepted, have not of themselves, abolished Slavery, but have announced in their constitution that Slavery has been abolished by the military power of the United States, and ought not to be reestablished. I want to call the attention of the Convention to this peculiar language. When I first saw this expression several Southern gentlemen were in conversation with me and 1 was assured by them that the language had been carefully selected with the view that it might never be said of them that they had assented to the abolition of Slavery and that hereafter, when represented in the Congress of the United States, they might demand of the 11 ■Crovernment compensation for their emancipated slaves. It is not necessary for me to say before this Convention that they have no just right to any compensation. Although if they will assume the vast debt which has been incurred by the Government of the United States because of their treason and rebellion we will pay them for their slaves. But independently of that, upon principle, they are not entitled to any compensa- tion. Then, gentlemen, this Convention ought to say to the people of this nation, if j-ou would be secure and safe in this matter, fix it in the Constitution of the United States, whei'e no •department of this Government can repeal it, that emancipated slaves are never to be paid for. Again, the Southern people, when they assem- bled and made their several State Constitutions, provided that the Rebel debt was not to be paid. Every Southerner knows with what reluctance they did that. It required the positive command of the President and all the power of the Government to exact that enactment from them. That enactment will be repealed by State action. They can, by State action, undo what they have done, and assume the payment of the debt which they have now under coercion repudiated. ^Y^ite it down in the fundamental law of the land, and let the loyal people see that it is thus written down that no money shall ever be paid •out of the coffers of the people, either North or South, for the overthrow and destruction of this Government. Upon these subjects, and more particularly on the subject of equal justice in representation, I think that this Convention ought to speak. These Southern men complain that their constitutional and national rights are infringed. If they complain fairly, say so. If they ask more than justice, deny it. They have no right to it. If they ask that the vote and power of one white man in South Carolina shall equal the vote and power of two white men in Pennsylvania, and you think it unjust, say so. If they ask less than justice, give them full measm-e, but if they ask more than justice, deny them. The disfranchisement of the Rebels and the enfranchisement of the Blacks is also a subject which should come before this Conven- tion, and upon that subject, gentlemen, I have onlytosaj-: " Do nothing in anger. Do nothing in hatred. Do nothing from ill-will or revenge, but do that which justice and right, mercy and love shall dictate." Their work, and theirs alone, will endure for ever. That which is done in justice and mercy will be eternal. Let love — love for mankind, not love for this or that man, and for this or that party be j'our guide, your motive in what j'ou may do, and such action will pour a hotter fire upon the heads and consciences of those who oppose you than all that can be done through spite or ill-will, or from a feeling of revenge. I am of those who believe that love — love for God and love for man — is the only law of the world. I believe that he who manifests that love will act more thoroughly and effectually than can the bad and vile of this world by any exhibition of passion and violence. Trusting, gentlemen of the Con- vention, that j-ou will be deliberate but earnest in your deliberations, and that you will maintain such order as I know you feel inclined to do, 1 again thank you for the honor which you have shown me. Resolutions were offered and adopted inviting Gen. John W. Geary, Gen. B. F. Butler, Gen. Burnside, Hon. Mayor McMichael, Hon. B. F. Wade, and other Senators and Representatives in Congress, to seats on the platform. Resolutions were adopted for the appointment of a committee, to be composed of one delegate from each State, to prepare an address of the Convention to the People. Also a like commit- tee of one delegate from each State to prepare resolutions for the consideration of the Conven- tion. COMMITTEE ON ADDRESS. Texas, the Hon. W. Paschal ; Louisiana, the Hon. William S. Fish ; Tennessee, Dr. A. W. Hawkins ; Virginia, J. A. W. Hunnicutt ; West- ern Virginia, John H. Atkinson; Georgia, G. W. Ashburn ; Alabama, M. J. Stackpole ; Kentucky, Dr. Thomas W. Coldstock ; Mississippi, R. B. Sidney; Missouri, the Hon. Samuel Knox; Ar- kansas, ; North Carolina, the Hon. Danl. R. Goodloe ; Maryland, the Hon. J. A. J. Creswell ; Delaware, John A. Alderdice ; Flo- rida, the Hon. Philip Frazer ; District of Colum- bia, A. D. C. Forney. r COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. Texas, Gov. A. J. Hamilton ; Louisiana, the Hon. Thomas J. Durant ; Tennessee, the Hon. Wm. B. Stokes ; Virginia, Lysander Ilill ; West Virginia, A. N. Campbell ; Georgia ; Capt. J. E. Bryant ; Alabama, Albert Griffin ; Kentucky, Dr. R. J. Breckinridge ; Mississippi, James W. Field ; Missouri, Gov. Thomas C. Fletcher ; Arkansas, Gen. A. H. Rogers; North Carolina, the Hon. A. H. Jones ; Maryland, Charles C. Fulton ; Delaware, Jacob Moore ; Florida, Col. C. B. Hart ; District of Columbia, Dr. Boyd. The President then read the following tele- gram, which he had just received : To the President of the Loyalists in Conven- tion assembled: Cincinnati, Sept. 3, IStifi. — At an enthusiastic meeting of the citizens of Cincin- nati, it was resolved that we send our heartfelt greetings to our brethren in Philadelphia assem- bled. A motion was made and adopted to extend the invitation to Miss Anna Dickinson to take a seat on the platform. A letter was read from the Union League Club of New York City, inviting the Convention of Southern delegates to attend and participate in a mass meeting in that city soon after the adjourn- ment of the Convention. On motion of Gen. Hamilton, of Texas, the invitation was accepted, and a Committee of five appointed to respond to the invitation and fi.K the time for the meeting. 12 ^.ij.w^. The Committee consists of the following gen- tlemen : Gov. Hamilton of Texas, (tov. Boreman of West Virginia, C. W. Butz of Virginia, Judge Bond of Maryland, and the Hon. Horace Maynard of Tennessee. On motion of the Hon. II. 0. TTarmouth, of Louisiana, it was ordered that a Committee of one from each ytate be appointed to procure a statement of the condition in which the loyal jnen of the non-reconstructed States have been placed by^ Andrew^ Johnson's _ reconstruction policy. '" The Coumiittee was appointed as follows : COMMITTEE ON RECONSTRUCTION. Texas, James II. Bell ; Loui.'iiana, the Hon. II. 0. Warmouth : (leorgia, C. G. Baylor ; Alabama, ('apt. D. II. Bingham; Mississippi, R. O. Sidney; Arkansas, J. W. Bate ; North Carolina, A. W. Fougeray ; Florida, Col. Hunt. ' The letters which have been received by Capt. B. H. Bingham, Secretary of the Committee, who issued the call for the Convention iu relation to the condition of affairs in the South, were, on 5uotion of Mr. Albert Griffin, of Alabama, refer- red to the above Committee. The Hon. Hugh R. Bond, of Maryland, oflered the following resolution, and asked that it be re- ferred to the Committee on Resolutions : Resolved, That this Convention urge the loyal men of the North to support Congress in demand- iug of the Southern States the guarantee of the Constitutional Amendment passed by Con- gres.s, and to call upon the patriotic men of the Loyal States to use their exertions to secure the ratification of this amendment by the States; and that we believe that the justice we mete shall be the measure of our safety ; and in our opinion there can be no permanent peace or security for the loyal men of the south wdthout a return to negro suflrage. The resolution was referred to tlie Committee on Resolutions. Mr. Butts (Va.) offered the following resolu- tion : Resolved, That we now receive the delegates from tiie States who have sent their gallant sons to welcome us to the City of Philadelphia, in the following order, viz. : New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, California, Oregon, Nevada, Nebraska, Maine, New Jdampshire, Kan- sas, and Colorado. Mr. Barr (Tenn.) moved to amend by substi- tuting the following: Resohed, That a committee of five be appointed by the President to wait upon the Northern delegations and invite them to se.ats in this body. Gov. Fletcher moved further to amend the re- solution, by providing that a committee of five members be appointed by the President to con- fer with the delegations from the Northern States and perfect arrangements with them to unite with the delegations from all the States and Ter- ritories who are now in the city. The Chair announced the fallowing gentlemen as constituting the committee under the above resolution: Governor Fletcher, of Missouri ; Hon. John Minor Botts, of Virginia ; Col. Nunez, of Kentucky ; W. T. Willey, of West Virginia ; and Hon. N. B. Smithers, of Delaware. Senator Creswell (Md.) offered the following resolution, adopted by the Marj-land delegation at a meeting last evening, and requested that it be referred to the Committee on Resolutions : Resolved, That the Union party of the Southern States accept, in all its length and breadth, the political platform offered to the nation in the amendments to the Constitution, passed by our ^ late wise and patriotic Congress, and oppose the addition of any further requirements for the im- mediate admission of the late rebellious States. Mr. E. Hiestand, of Louisiana, offered the fol- lowing resolution : Resolved, That we, as the representatives of the loyal States lately in rebellion against the Government, demand of the President of the United States the publication of the testimony taken before the Military Commission appointed by Brevet Major-Gen. Baird, commanding the Department of Louisiana, to examine into the causes of the massacre of loyal men in the city of New Orleans, on the 30th day of July last, as well as the report made by the said commission, in order that the people of the United States may see the manner in which said massacre was resolved upon and deliberately executed by the reconstructed Rebels of the South. Referred to the Committee on Resolutions. Mr. C. G. Baylor, of Georgia, said : " I am re- quested by the Georgia delegation to report the following resolutions as the platform of our prin- ciples " : Resolved, That we forgive and forget the WTong of secession, but do not propose to make it meri- torious; we propose to ignore it, but not to re- ward it ; we propose to accept and rewai'd men who stand upon their own merits, and not on the wrong of secession ; we propose to admit into this delegation those who, renewing in good faith the dogma of State authority as opposed to National authority, are also willing to stand on the Republican doctrine of impartial .suffrage and equality before the law. Signed by C. G. Baylor, H. S. Cole, G. W. Ashburn, and S. E. Br\-ant. The resolution was referred. The Louisiana and Alabama delegations made similar statements. General Hamilton, on behalf of the Texas delegation, announced that they endorsed the same sentiments. Mr. Lysander Hill stated that the majority of the A'irginia delegation also endorsed these sen- timents. 13 Gen. R. S. Northcott, from West Virginia, offered the following, which was adopted : Resolved, That suffrage is a sacred privilege, not au inalienable right, but a privilege whicli should be conferred on none but the loyal and intelligent. The resolution was referred. Mr. Hill, of Virginia, offered the following : Resolved, That we cordially endorse the action of Congress on the question of Reconstruction, so far as it has gone, but that we desire on this occasion to express, in the most unqualified manner, our deep conviction that the only set- tlement of our national difficulties which can guarantee the stability of the Government and insure protection to the liberties and rights of all men, must be based upon impartial manhood suffrage ; without it, the Unionists of the South are in a minority and are at the mercy of traitors; with it, they are a strong majority and can en- force allegiance to the laws. Every considera- tion of justice, expediency, and consistency with the principles upon which our Government was founded demands it, and we call upon the loyal North, in their coming elections, to instruct our Congress, when it shall meet again, to add to the Constitution this last and most effectual guarantee of the permanence of our Republic. The resolution was referred to the Committee on Resolutions. Mr. Mullins, of Tennessee, offered the follow- ing resolution : Resolved, That the vote on all questions brought before this Convention sh;ill be taken by States, and that each State shall be allowed the number of representatives that such State had in Con- gress in the years 1859 and 1860. Mr. Hamilton (Tenn.) hoped tlie resolution would not prevail. Mr. Mullins asked what other rule could be adopted to govern this body. Tennessee being largely represented here could vote down four or live States. He would submit to any proper amendment. A delegate from Maryland moved to amend by allowing votes to all the delegates in the Con- vention. Mr. Sands (Md.) wanted to do justice to all men ; but this was one of the mo^t important days, days big with fate, that now dawned upon the world. He would appeal to gentlemen from what wore called unreconstructed States, and ask them what the Convention could do for them ? They could not give them the bayonet, that was in the hands of the commander-in-chief of the army and navy, who would sooner draw it against them than against the rebels. [Applause.] Mr. Mullins (Tenn.) — That is not the question before the house. Mr. Stokes (Tenn.) hojied his friend from Maryland (Sands) would yield the floor in order that he might make an appeal to his friend from Tennessee i Mullins) to withdraw his resolution. Mr. Mullins. — If it will give him any satisfac- tion on earth, he may consider it withdrawn. Mr. Fletcher, of Tennessee, offered the follow- ing resolution, which was adopted : Rc.iolved, That a committee of five be appointed to prepare an address to the American people, showing the effect upon the loj-al people of Tennessee of the policy promulgated by the President. GRANT AND FARRA G UT. The Secretary read a dispatch from Detroit announcing that Grant and Farragut had left the Presidential party, which created the wildest enthusiasm, the entire Convention rising and waving their hats, and giving three cheers for Grant and Faragut. On motion, the Convention then adjourned till to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock. Third Bay. Wednesday, Sept. 5, 1866. The Convention was called to order by the the President at lOi^ o'clock, and after prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. Dr. J. P. Newman, The President announced that he yesterdaj- received a communication from his Honor Morton McMichael, Mayor of the city of Philadelphia, but by some accident it had not been presented to the Convention. The communication was read, as follows: September 3, 1866. To the Delegates composing tlie Convention of Loyal Southern Unionists : Gentlemen : — At a special meeting of the Select and Common Councils, held this day, the follow- ing preamble and resolutions were adopted : RESOLUTIONS OF WELCOME. Whereax, A Convention of Southern Unionists is to assemble in this city to-day for the purpose of devising ways and means to give the States lately in rebellion their proper status in the American Union ; and W/iereas, Said Convention will be composed of Southern men who remained true to the Govern- ment of the United States during the recent war : and ]Vherea.tate to the convention recently gathered at Philadelphia asserted that the people here were ;ill loyal, that they " accepted the situation" in Sfood faith, that they were disposed to treat all classes of our population with equal candor and justice, and that they were inclined to respect ;dl laws and obligations which the regularly con- etituted law-makers and the Constitution of the country imposed upon them. Eut the p}-css and the /icople by their acts eii:phatically contradict, all tlu se representations. Thej' do not " accept the situation." They wage constant and bitter war against it. Even N( I'thern men, who are here in official capacities or wiih capital to in- vest, are compelled to subject themselves in all their words and deeds to the "Froo-ustaan bed' of '■ Southern opinion," or they are ostracised entirely from social and civil life. Jlinisters ot our holy religion and teachers who come hern solely to elevate the lowlj- from the degradation into which they have been plunged, are not only almost entirely ignored, but they are actually despised, and often suffer insult and abuse. Th(5 illustrious Senators and Representatives in Con- gress who reflect the well-nigh unanimous senti- ment of the great North and West, and who by unparalleled majorities enact laws and ordinances for the government of the country, are stig-ma- tized as a gang of lawless, unprincipled " fac- tionists" who are bent on the destruction of the Government and the country. Such are a few indications of the kind of loyalty exhibited by this people. Gentlemen, delegates of the Convention, our sympathies are with you in your sublime work. We are both pnined and ashamed that South Carolina must be a blank at your incomparably important gathering. We admire the patriotism and the courage exhibited on your part in tak- ing this sublime step. We know the hazard of all political as well as social position which you incur at home by this demonstration, and even the peril of life itself to which you subject your- selves. Be firm in the right, be true to your country, to humanity, and to God, and our benedictions, and those of millions like us who are sighing for the rights and blessings which you propose to confer upon us, will follow you ever. WILLIAM J. BROADIE, President, JAMES H. HAYNE, Secretary, U. L. A. Council Ko. 1. JOHN W. WRIGHT, President, JAMES WILLIAMS, Secretary, U. L A Cou7icil A'o. 3. WM. B. NASH, President, JAMES EDWARD, Secretary, U. L. A. Council No. 5, Columbia, S. C Col. W. S. Pope, of Missouri, offered the fol- lowing resolutions : Resolved, That the one great and only practical issue before the people at the present time and in the coming elections is the indoi-sement or defeat of the Constitutional amendment proposed to the people by the Thirty-ninth Congress. Resolved, That as citizens of the United States and of our several States, we will give all the assistance in our power to the adoption of the Constitutional amendment. Resolved, That white we may and do regard impartial suffrage as necessary to the most per- fect form of republican government in each 16 State, we are opposed to making lefore the peo- ple any new ffcfieral issue other than that pro- posed by Congress. Resolved, That our great object in coming here was to encourage our Northern friends in the tooble cause they are pursuing, and to call upon them to return members to the next Congress who will continue to uphold the right of loijal men in reorganizing and ruling both the recently rebellious States and the whole Government. Referred to the Committee on Resolutions. Captain Charles L. "Watrous, of Virginia, offered a resolution, as follows : WliereoK, "We believe that the safety of the Republic rests on the intelligence of its citizens, therefore be it Resolved, That it is the deliberate conviction of this Convention that free schools must per- form an indispensable work in the regeneration of the South, and ought to be provided for by every State. Referred. Mr. George W. Sands, of Maryland, offered the following resolution, which was adoj^ted: Resolved, That the Convention deeply sympa- thizes with all nationalities struggling to assert their inalienable rights to self-government, and lieartily indorses all legislation looking to the modification of our neutrality laws as may in future prevent their use in the interests of tyranny. The resolution was referred. Mr. Patterson, of Tennessee, offered the fol- lowing- Resolved, That we sympathize with all nations throughout the world in their exertions to secure civil and religious liberty, and especially at this time with long-oppressed and down-trodden Ire- land, in her struggle for a place among the nations of the earth; And that we recommend such change or modi- fication of our neutrality laws as shall r.o lunger render them the fit instrument for treachery and tj'ranny. Referred. Mr. J. "\V. Fields, of Mississippi, offered a resol- ution, which was referred. Whereas, Notwithstanding there has been great diversity of opinion relative to the source from which the powers contained in tlie Consti- tution of the United States have been derived; whether from the people of the United States as constituting one communitj', or from the people as citizens of the several States ; yet, the great and important ends proposed in its preamble, to wit, the national defense, the estalilishraent of justic.', South, but who knows that the universal expression is in favor of a proposition of that kind ? I am j-et to find a loyal man from those States who has not declared lime and again that that is their only salvation. Now let us look at this in another point of view. I am an American citizen, and I love this Government as firmly as any man can love it. I love its honor, its institutions. I love its freedom, and I feel that it is guilt}- of injustice if it stains its fair fame and honor, and we will all have to pay the direful penalty. Take our history up to the present, as it stands to-day. We see that a terrible trial visited this country, and that 19 300,000 black men were induced to present their bodies as a part of the bulwark to our liberties. They poured out their blood in the contest. They manifested a patriotism as lofty and imselfish as can be conceived, and wiien we consider the white man has enjoyed all the immunities and the full protection of the Gov- ernment, that the}- enjoj-ed all the favored blessings it could bestow, seems to rise higher in the scale of patriots. For many j-ears they have been under the heel of a master, and kept in a state of servitude ; with the oflicers of the law pursuing and hunting them down, and dragging them back into slavery. All the acquaintance they had with the Government was in feeling its power to retain them in it. But when the contest came they rallied around the flag, they ! guided the lost soldier from the swamp, and ^ assisted him in escaping from the prisons of the South. They have fed our men in the hour of hunger, and displayed in a thousand ways the purest of patriotism. Is it now to be permitted ! that these men, so true in a contest so bitter, shall be trampled upon and cruelly treated by the enemies of our Union, while we can interpose i the legis of justice ? If this is neglected, we will be guilty of a foul injustice that vi-e ought to be ashamed of. I want to know if our friends here are not prepared to throw oiY a little bit of prejudice, if they have any ? I know many of them have an idea that there maj- be some terrible consequences to result from this bugbear of negro suffrage that they talk about. I stand uj) here as a representative of the white race, and say that I believe we are their superiors. I do not believe they can hurt us, and the idea that we should have laws placed upon our statute books saying that thej' shall not make an equal race in lifj with us, I say is ridiculous and an insult to the white people. The negro's instincts have been a great deal better than the white man's. Why, sir, I cannot find any negro to believe that Andrew Johnson is an angel of light. If they had a negro Convention, they would never have that man on the ticket. They always believed that he was false, and I have it from the best authority that they always doubted his honesty and integritj*. The white man, not as ydse as the ignorant black man, took him up and elevated him to the office — to his olHce — as I have said before, not by the grace of God, but by the grace of assassination. He his to-day President, and rules the nation. The best policy that can be adopted by our friends, jS'orth and South, is to stand boldly and squarely up for principle. You can talk about the loss of a few votes, and the effect upon the elections or that sort of thing as j'ou will, but I tell you wiien you come up boldly, and fairly adopt the princi- ples of the Declaration of Independence, then j-ou will find that that policy will be adopted all over the South as well. Look at it. I assert here that nearly every candidate for Congress, who walked boldly up and took this position, is returned by a majority of thousands, while those who were weak-kneed were elected barely " by the skin of their teeth." Take the policy of the reconstructed States. Virginia was re- constructed under very favorable circumstances but a short time ago, and no parchment laws could have disfranchised them more thoroughly. They had a small number of white people to stand by and execute the laws and a large number of black men that they did not allow to help them to execute the laws, and a large majority of white men that would not allow them to execute them. By and by they will find their liberties in the hands of the disloyal, and that the loyal men cannot be elected. If they had given the black men the bsillot, they, and a small number of white men, could have aided in the enforcement of the law, and to-day you would have had loyal men in the Govern- ment, and probably my friend in the chair (Mr. Botts) might have been in Congress instead of those that we now see attempting to gain admission. There is not one single motive of expediency but what says to ^-ou, " Gentlemen, you must do justice; j'ou must honor your flag; you must keep untarnished the honor and moral- ity of your Government;" and I take it that this Government was formed to establish justice and to secure the blessings of liberty. This vs not a question whether our colored friends shall vote; but it is a question [The remainder of the sentence was drowned by loud cheering for General Butler, who at that moment walked up the hall and took a seat on the dais]. Mr. Chairman, here is the strongest practical illus- tration of the question which occupies the hearts of the people; there stands old Ben Butler. We know that it Is not to Benjamin F. Butler as a man, but it is because he stands here representing that principle of loj^alty and universal freedom which I am advocating before you now. I t-ell our friends here that if, in this Presidential campaign, they follow iqD our trai- torous Chief Magistrate, they will find a reception all over the Xorth and West such as they never yet conceived of. Our Western friends chose leaders that understand this question ; and the poor, honest soldier, who is not looking for a Senatorship or for seats as members of Congress, but for the good of the nation, and who desires to see to it that we shall not be again called to the field, goes for this very principle. They know it is necessary for our peace, and our friends in the North I know will welcome you it you adopt it. I have no fears for the result of this great question. We only place it as a rule of reconstruction for the rebellious States. I do not believe our noble Senators and Representa- tives that I see around me in this house, are pre- pared to come up and tell you and me that they are ever going to recognize Andrew Johnson's Provisional Government. If they do, they will raise such a storm of indignation that Andrew Johnson will wish that he had never been born. [Applause.] Thcj' have got too far to be be- trayed in this manner, and the lessons of six or eight j-ears back have been such that they will repudiate this temporizing policy. They are 20 accustomed to strong meat, and they require it for their safety and their peace. Be bold and fearless, and I know tlie Northern people well enough to be able to say that they will stand by you. [Applause.] They will see that you get what you ask. Come up squarely. Look at the effect of the temporizing policy that is now com- ing on. I ask ever}' man to bear witness that iu three years, if this policy is carried on, we will have a war of races as the results of the acts of these rebellious [Southerners so constantly com- mitted in various sections of the country. You cannot arm three or four hundred thousand men against a community and then turn them loose in that community and expect to find them favorably received. The negro is a docile man. He loves peace and quiet ; he loves to live quietly and contented!}'. He is naturally more indus- trious, at least, thau our miserable Rebels that want to trample his rights under their feet. If they let him alone he will be a good citizen, and do more to develop the South than all the Rebels that ever lived. I tell you, further, that if you do not take some such course to enable him to protect himself he will take the matter into his own hand, and God pity the Rebels when that day comes ! You may help the President in his efforts to assist Rebel white men, but we will never submit to be made instruments to crush out a class of men whose on\j fault is tliat they have been too faithful. Kow long would it take, with a few more examples besides Kew Orleans — how easj' it would be, to see the whole South in a flame ? and, then, how are we to stop it ? And yet that is the price you have got to pay for it. I have heard a great deal about the effect it would have upon the Republican l)arty in case we should do certain things.* T\'e have thou- sands of men who are determined to be trifled with no longer; who have fought on our side and now desire to fight with us. If we refuse thi.s, it will be said that the Republican party was afraid, and Andrew Johnson will say they they dure not do what they came here to do. [Applause.] If, when your call professes to favor the equality of all men before the law, you go home yielding to outside pressure, Mr. John- son can justly say that you are " poor whites," and dare not say what you want, and he will have good reason to say so. Let us see what this Congressional policy is. You are not to let a Rebel or two sit in Congress ; that is all. It will not affect the non-reconstructed States at all ; but it leaves j'ourselves and your families in the hands of the wickedest traitors, and if you accede to that policy I would ask you how you are going to avoid it '? These are the consider- ations that we offer to you and to the men of the North. We ask you if j'ou arc prepared to sus- tain it? I tell you that every just and good man can stand upon this platform, and he need never be ashamed of it. [Applause.] Alen came up here to say, "We are in favor of the principle, but for God's sake don't spiak it out." l)o j-ou believe j-ou will receive a single voter ))y having it out who would vote with you with- out if? I do not believe the people are prepared to say that they will desirt loyalt}', truth, union, justice and freedom merely because they are- afraid the black man will have absolute and per feet justice done him. [Applause.] I do not believe you would affect a single election in the North by means of it ; and I am not so certain that you would not lose a great many if you do not adopt it. [Applause.] The day of com- promises has passed away ; the day has passed away when our people would take up candidates for the Presidency on that ground. No man will get the confidence of the people that has not got nerve and backbone ; and I tell you, gentlemen, they will stand up to the occasion. On motion, the resolution offered by Mr. Moss, of JMissouri, ■« as referred to the Committee on Resolutions. An invitation from the Union League of Phila- delphia, was read and accepted, extended to all the members to participate in a grand banquet at 6 p. M. (this evening), at the Union League House. Mr. Smithers, of Delaware, from the Commit- tee appointed to meet the Committee of the Northern delegation, reported that upon confer- ence it had been agreed that the Convention should meet at 7+ o'clock this evening and pro- ceed to Union League Hall, there to meet in JIass assemblage and fuse with the Northern deleg.;tion. [Applause.] He also reported that it was understood that upon arriving there the Loyal League of Phila- delphia, would ajipoint a presiding ofiicer for both bodies, the officers of the respective bodies acting under his supervision. [Applause.] The report was unanimousl}' adopted, and the Convention tlien adjourned imtil to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock. Fourlh Day. Philadelphia, Sept. 6, 1866. The Convention met in National Hall at 10| o'clock A. M. Praj^er was o.'^ercd by the Rev. Dr. Bedell. Gen. John II. Hammond, Chairman of the Com- mittee of five appointed by the Chair to respond to the resolutions of welcome iDresented by the Hon. Morton McMichael, Mayor of Philadelphia, on beliaif of the municipal authorities, which resohitions recognize the sacrifices made and sufferings endured by the Union men of the South in behalf of Liberty and the Union, and which extend to the Convention a mo;;t cordial welcome and the hospitalities of the city, reported the following as the response of the Comuiittee. Resolved, That the sentiments uttered in the preamble are honorable and patriotic iu th^- liipeal of the Loyal Men of the South to their Fellou:-Citizens of the United States. The representatives of 8,000,000 of American citizens appeal for protection and justice to their * friends and brothers in the tStatesthat have been spared the cruelties ct the Eebellion and the di- rect horrors of civil war Here, on the spot where Freedom was proffered aud pledged by the Fathers of the Republic, we implore your help against a reorganized oppression, whose sole object is to remit the control ot our destinies to the contrivers ot the Rebellion after they have been vanquished in honorable battle ; thus at once to punish us for our devotion to our coun- try, and to intrench themselves in the official fortifications of the Government. Others have related the thrilling stor^' of our wrongs from reading and observation. We come before you as unchallenged witnesses, and speak from personal knowledge our sad experience. If you fail us, we are more utterly deserted and betrayed than if the contest had been decided against us; for, in that case even victorious Slavery would have found profit in the speedy pardon of those who had been among its bravest f6es. Unexpected perfidy in the highest place in the Government, accidentally filled by one who adds cruelty to ingratitude, and forgives the guilty as he proscribes the innocent, has stimu- lated the almost extinguished revenge of the beaten conspirators, and now the Rebels, who offered to yield everything to save their own lives, are seeking to consign us to bloody graves. Where we expected a benefactor, we find a per- secutor. Having lost our champion, we return to you who can make Presidents and punish traitors. Our last hope, under God, is in the unity and firmness of tiie States that elected Abraham Lincoln and defeated Jefferson Davis. The best 1 statement of our case is the appalling yet im- conscious confession of Andrew Johnson, who, in savage hatred of his own record, proclaims his purpose to clothe four millions of traitors with the power to impoverish and degrade eight mil- lions of loyal men. Our wrongs bear alike on all races, and our tyrants, unchecked by jou, will award the same fate to white and black. We can remain as we are only as inferiors and victims. We may ^y from our homes, but we should fear to trust our fate with those who, after denouncing and defeat- ing treason, refuse to right those who have ,^_ bravely assisted them in the good work. Till P' we are wholly rescued, there is neither peace ; for you, nor prosperity for us. We cannot better define at once our wrongs and our wants than by declaring that since Andrew Johnson affiliated with his e:irly .'!:lan- derers and our constant enemies, his hand has been laid heavily upon every earnest loyalist in the South. History, the just judgment of the present, and the certain confirmation of the future, invite and command us tc declare : That, after neglecting liis o\vu remedies for restoring the Tnion, he \\m resorted to the weapons of traitors to bruLae and beat down patriots ; That, after declaring tht.; none but the loyal should govern the reconstructed South, he has jiractised upon the maxim that none but traitors shall rule ; That, while in the North he has removed con- scientious men fi-om office, and filled many of the vacancies with the sjmipathizers of treason, in the South he has removed the proved and trust- ed patriot and selected the unqualified and con- victed traitor ; That, after brave men, who had fought for the old flag, have been nominated for positions, their names have been recalled, and avowed Rebels substituted ; That every original Unionist in the South, who stands fast to Andrew Johnson's covenants, from 1861 to 1805, has been ostracised ; That he has corrupted the local courts by offering premiums for the defiance of the laws of Congre.-s, and by openly discouraging the observance of the oath against treason ; That, while refusing to punish one single con- spicuous traitor, though thousands had earned the penalty of death, more than a thousand of devoted Union citizens have been murdered in cold blood since the surrender of Lee, and in no case have their assassins been brought to judg- ment ; That he has pardoned some of the worst of the Rebel criminals North and South, including some who have taken human life under circum- stances of unparalleled atrocity ; That, while denouncing and fettering the opera- tions of the Freedmen's Bureau, he, with a full knowledge of the falsehood, has charged that the black men are lazy and rebellious, and has con- cealed the fact that more whites than blacks have been protected and fed by that noble organiza- tion, and that while declaring that it was cor- ruptly managed and expensive to the Govern- ment, he has connived at a system of profligacy in the use of the public patronage and public money wholly without parallel, save when the traitors bankrupted the Treasury, and sought to disorganize and scatter the army and the money only to make it more easj- to capture the Gov- ernment ; That, while declaring against the injustice of leaving eleven States unrepresented, he has re- fused to authorize the liberal plan of Congress, simply because it recognizes the loyal majority and refuses to perpetuate the traitor minority, That in every State south of Mason and Dixon's line his "policy" has wrought the most dep or- able consequences — social, moral, and political. It has emboldened returned Rebels to threaten civil war in Maryland, JMissouri, West Virginia, and Tennessee, unless the patriots who sa\ed and sealed these States to the old flacr surrender 23 before their arroa:ant demands. It, has corrupted high State otlicials, elected by Union men and sworn to enforce the laws against returned Rebels, and made them the mere instruments of the author of the Rebellion. It has encouraged a new alienation between the sections, and by impeding emigration to the South, has erected a formidable barrier against free and friendly in- tercourse in the North and West. It has allow- ed the Rebel soldiery to ))ersecute the teachers of the colored schools, and to burn the churclics in which the freednien have worshipped the living Ood. That a system so barbarous should have culminated in the frightful riot at Memphis, and the still more appalling massacre at New Orleans, was as natural as that a bloody war should flow from the teachings of John ('. Calhoun and Jef- ferson Davis. Andrew Johnson is responsible for all these unspeakable cruelties, and as he provolfed so he justifies and applauds them. Sending his agents and emissaries into this re- fined and patriotic metropolis, to insist upon making his reckless policy a test upon a Christian people, be forgot that the protection extended to the 14th of August Convention in Philadelphia was not onl}^ denied to the free [leople of New Orleans on the 30th of July, when they assembled to discuss how best to protect themselves, but denied amid the slaughter of hundreds of inno- cent men. No page in the record of his recent outrages upon human justice and constitutional law is more revolting than that which convicts him of refusing to arrest the preparations for that savage carnival, and not only of refusing to punish its authors, but of toiling to throw the guilty responsibility upon unoffending and inno- cent freednien. The infatuated tyrant that stood ready to crush his own people, in Tennessee, when they were struggling to maintain a Gov- ernment erected by himself, against his and other traitors' persecutions, was even more eager to illustrate his savage policy, by clothing with the most despotic power the rioters of New Or- leans. Notwithstanding this heartless desertion and cruel persecution by Andrew Johnson, the States of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Western Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, imbued with Democratic Republican principles — principles which the Fathers ot the Republic designed for all America — are now making determined battle with the enemies of free Constitutional Govern- ment, and, by the blessing of God, these St.ates will soon range themselves in line with the former free States, and illustrate the wisdom and beneficence of the great Charter of Amer- ican Liberty b}'' their increasing population, wealth, and prosperity in the remaining ten States. Th3 seeds of oligiirchy, planted in the Constitution by its slavery feature, h ive grown to be a monstrous power, wliose recognition thus wrung from the reluctant framers of tJiat great instrument enabled these St:itos to entrjnch them.elves behind the perverted doctrine of State-3 rights, and sheltered by a claim of ( 'onsti- tutional obligation to maintain Slavery in the States to present to the American Govera-uent the alternatives of oligarchy with slavery, or I Democratic-Republican governments without slavery. A forbearing Government bowing to a sujtposed constitutional behest, acquiesced in the former alternative. The hand of Ihe Gov- ernment was stayed for eighty years. The prin- ciples of constitutional liberty languished for want of Government support, Oligarciiy ma- tured its power with subtle design. Its history for eighty years is rejilete with unparalleled in- juries and usurpations; it developed only the ai!,-ricultnral localities, geographically distinct from the free-labor localities, and leas than one- third of the whole, with African slaves. It had 4,i>00,00() of human beings as chattels, yet made them the l)asis of unjust power for themselves in Federal and State Ciovernments. To maintain their enslavement, it excluded millions of free white laborers from the richest agricultural lands of the world, forced thein to remain in- active and unproductive on the mineral, manu- facturing, and lumber localities, comprising two- thirds of the whole South in scpiare miles and real undeveloped wealth, simj)ly beeause the localities were agriculturally too ]ioor for slave Labor, and condemned them to agriculture on this unagricultural territory, and consigned them to unwilling ignorance and poverty by denying capital and strangling enterprise. It repelled the capital, energy, will, and skill of the Free States from the free-labor localities, by un- mitigated intolerance and proscription — thus guarding the approaches to their slave domain against democrai^y. Statute books groaned under despotic laws against unlawful and insur- rectionary assemblies, aimed at the constitutional guaranties of the right to peaceably assemble and petition for a redress of grievances. It proscribed democratic literature as incendiary, nnllitied constitutional guaranties of freedom and free speech and a free press. It deprived citizens of the other States of their jtrivileges and immunities in the States — an injury and usurpation alike unjust to Northern citizens and ; destructive of the best interests of the States I tiiemselves. Alarmed at the progress of democ- j racy in the face of every discouragement, at last ; it sought immunity by secession and war. The i heart sickens with contemplation of the four years that followed, forced loans, impressments, I conscriptions with bloody hands and bayonets; ] the murder of aged Union men who had long laid aside the implements of labor, but had been summoned anew to the field by the conscription of their sons to supi)ort their children and grandchildren, reduced from comfort to the verge of starvation ; the slaughter of noble youths ; types of j)liysical manhood forced into an unholy war a^-ainst those with whom thev wore identified by every interest ; long months of incarceration in Rebel bastiles ; banishment from hoTnes and heartlistones, are but a partial recital of the long catalogue of horrors. But Democrats North and South combined defeated them. They Ijst. What did they lose ? The cause of oligarchy ? They lost African Slavery 24 by name only. Soon as the tocsin of war ceased, soon as the clang of arms was hushed, they raise the cry of immediate admission, and with that watchword seek to organize under new forms a contest to periietuate their unbridled sway. They rehabilitate witli their sweepinsf control of all local and State organizations. The Federal Executive, easily seduced, yields a willing obedi- ence to his old masters ; aided by his unscrupu- lous disregard of Constitution and laws, by his merciless proscription of true democratic opinion, and by all his appliancesof despotic power, the\' now defiantl}- enter the lists in the loyal North, and seek to wring from freemen an indorsement of their wicked designs. Every foul agency is at work to aecomjdish this result. Falsely pro- fessing to assent to the abolition of slavery, they are contriving to continue its detestable power by legislative acts against pretended vagrants; they know that any form of servitude will an- swer their unholy purpose. They pronoimce the four years' war a brilliant sword scene in the great revolutionary drama. Prescriptive public sentiment holds high carnival, and profit- ing by the exertions of the Presidential pilgrim, breathes out threatenin.gs of slaughter against loyalty, ignores and tienounces all legal restraints, and assails with the tongue of malignant slander the constitutiontiUy chosen representatives of the people. To still the voice of Liberty, dangerous alone to tyrants, midnight conflagrations, assas- sinations, and murders in open day are called to their aid ; a reign of terror through all these ten States makes loyalty stand silent in the presence of treason, or whispt r with bated breath. Strong men hesitate openly to speak for liberty, and de- cline to attend a Convention at Philadelphia for fear of destruction. But all Southern men are not yet awed into submission to treason, and we have assembled from all these States determined that liberty when endangered shall find amontli- piece, and that the Government of the people, b}- the people, for tlie peo]jle, shall not perish from the earth. We are here to consult together how best to provide for a union of truly Republican | States, to seek to resume S() stars to the old flag. ' We are here to see that 10 of these stars, opaque \ bodies paling their ineffectual fires beneath the gloom of darkness, of oligarcical tyranny and oppression. We wisli them to be brilliant stars, emblems of constitutional liberty, glitterisig orbs i sparkling with the life-giving }).-inciples of the ' model Republic, fitting ornaments of the glorious ; banner of freedom. Our last and only hope is in the unity and fortitude of the loyal peo])le of | America in the support and vindication of the XXXlXth Congress, and the oleclion of a con- trolling Union majority in the succeeding or j XLth Congress. While the article amending the National Constitution oilers the most liberal conditions to the authors of tho Rel)ellion, and i does not come up to the measure of our expecta- tions, we believe its ratification would bo the commencement of a complete and lasting protec- tion to all our people ; and, therefore, we accept it as the best present remedy, av.d appeal to our brothers and friends in the North and the West to make it their watchword in the coming elec- tions. The tokens are auspicious of overwhelm- ing success. However little the verdict of the ballot-box may affect the reckless man in thi Presidential chair, we cannot doubt that th'3 traitors and .sympathizers wiU recognize that verdict as the surest indication Ihat the mighty power which crushed the Rebellion is still alive, and that those who attempt to oppose or defy it will do so at the risk of their own destruction. Our confidence in the overruling providence of God prompts the prediction and intensifies the belief that when this warning is sufficiently taught to these mi.sguided and reckless men, th? liberated millions of the rebellious South will be proffered those rights and franchises which maybe necessary to adjust and settle tliis mighty controversy in the spirit of the most enlarged and Christian philanthropy. GEORGE W. PASCHAL, of Texas, Chairnmn. R. O. SIDNEY, of :\Iississippi. -TOHNH. ATKINSON, of W est Virginia. JOHN A. ALLDERDICE, of Delaware. A. W. HAWKINS, of Tennessee. SAMUEL KNOX, of Mis.«ouri. W^RIGHT R. FISH, of Louisiana. MILTON J SAFFOLD, of Alabama. PHILIP WAZE. of Florida. I>. R. GOODLOE, of North Carolina. D. C. FORNEY, of District of Columbia, •fOHN A. J CRESWELL, of Maryland. G. W. ASHBURN, of Georgia. J. Minor Botts (Va.) — Mr. President : I rise- to say that the address just read receives my most cordial approval. There is but a single- line to which, in my opinion, any objection can be taken. To leave it out will not impair the force of the address, while its appearance in it^ I think, wid be liable to misinterpretation. I regard it as the most grave indictment that has ever been brought by any grand jury in tho country, and its severity consists in its truth. I have simply risen for the purpose of moving its unanimous adoption by this Convention. la doing so, however, I desire to point out the Una b}' which I make objection, and which, I think, should be omitted. It is this, " That the .South- ern States have proscribed Democratic literaturo^ as incendiary," while, in my opinion, Democratic literature, on the contrary, is the only literati:re they have tolerated. I hope there will be no objection made by any member of the Conven- tion to leading that single line out, and then adopting ilie balance of the address. Tho Uon. A. J. Hamilton (Texas).— Mr. Pres- ident, the Committee on Resolutions beg leave to make a report. The President. — There is a motion pending. I'ir. Tucker, of Virginia. — Mr. President : I rise to move that the action of thi? Convention on the adoption of this address be postponed imtil to-morrow morning. [Cries of "' No ^ 25 "Xo," "No."] In the mean time, I move that it be printed, so that I can have an opportunity to study it, as the gentleman has had who rose and stated that there was but a single line in it to which he objected. Xo man or set of men can act intelligently upon a document of that kind, which is to go fortli to the public of this country, without having examined it, and I will not commit myself to any such paper under such circumstances. I do not choose to be led here by cheers or anything else. I do not come up here to be treated as were the men who came here from certain States a few days ago. Mr. President : "We did not come up here solely to inform the country- and tlie world that Andrew Johnson is a traitor and usurper — the world knew it. We have something else that we want to saj- to the country and the world, and I want an opportunity as well as the gentleman from A'irginia [Mr. Eotts], who had a chance to examine the document, before I vote upon it. Address proposed hj the delegates from the IJnrecon-itructe I States as a substitute for the one reported by the Committee. Mr. Sherwood (Texas). — I rise, Sir, for the purpose of commending every sentiment that has been put forth in this address of the Cora- 1 mittee. No man in this Convention can express ' a higher estimate of the merits of that address than myself. I have considered every word of it so far as it has gone. There is one assump- tion put forth in that report which I now wish to bring to the attention of this Convention. It is this : that there are 8,000,000 of men in the South who are loyal. I ask the Convention to J note that statement. I agree with the address, but I go further. If you extend jirotection over the people of the South, there will be 10,000,000 out of the 12,000,000 who are loyal [applause] — lo3-al to the Constitution of the United States. While it is assumed in this address that there are 8,000,000 out of the l-2,00(i,000 in the South who ar3 loyal, who have all the natural motives to be loyal, and who have come up here to ex- press their loyalty, I hope that they will not be shackled by their condition, either of color or caste. [Applause.] Now, Mi-. President, while I indorse every sentiment of tliat address, I rise for the purpose of offering a substitute, not that I disagree with anything in it, but because it is like the Hibernian blanket, of most excel- lent quality, but a little too sliort at both ends. I will now proceed to read what I offer as a sub- stitute for that most excellent address, and sug- gest that the address which has been read should be printed and circulated through the land. With the exception I have stated, I have no earthly objection to it otherwise than that it does not cover the whole case. [Applause. • ries of "Go on the stand."' "Read it from the stand."] Mr. Sherwood then tof)k the stand and read a long addres-, setting forth the wants and rights of the people of the Cotton States. TUB CONVENTION- OF SOUTHERN UNIONISTS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES: ' The Unionists of the Soutli, in presenting a Platform, have endeavored to avoid all things that might excite cavil, or affect the sensibilitiea of any lover of Free (;overnment. We stand on, the constitutional rights of the citizen ; those i rights specified anil enumerated in tlie great ■ charter of American Liberty, in the following- ! form — . , '• Securitii to Life, Pcrso?i, arid Propert//. Fres- ' dom of the Presx ; Freedom of Opinion ; and Freedom in the Exireiae of Religion. Fair and I impartial Trial b>/ Jury under such regulations as I to make the administration of justice complete. \ Unobstructed commerce between the States, and the right of the citizens of each State to pans into and sojourn in anif other State, and to enjog the imnm- nities and j^rinleges of the citizens of .inch other State. Exemption from any order of nobility or government through privileged class : Tlie gvAir- anty of Republican Government to every State and to all the People thereof, making the preservation and mainteiiance of the above enumerated rights, unless forfeited by crime, the constitutional tent and definition of vihat is Republican Government. These natui-al, cardinal, fundamental rights of ■ the citizen were established in political form by the Constitution of the United States. Theii- preservation was declared by our Fathers, to be ■ " the paramount object in the institution of Govern- ment ; " with the further declaration, that " whe^i government becomes subversive of these rightt, it is the duty of the people to alter or modify such gov- ernment." The practical vindication of these rights, personal and political, has become the Platform of the Unionists of ihe South. We can- not mistake, in our assumption, that their pre.'- ervation in the broadest and most l.beral sense, is the only practical basis on which national dissensions can possibly be healed, or permanent peace established. In some of the States these rights have been substantially, even liberally maintained. In others they have been but partially preserved. In proportion as they have been justly reijarded in the respective States, have the Peojde re- mained socially and politically contented; in- vited popttlation ; achieved material prosper- ity; accumidated wealth: and adv;inced tin.- cause of education and popular intelligence. In such proportion as they have been trans- gressed, political and social discontent have prevailed ; population repelled ; enterprise paralyzed; material prosperiiy retarded; the cause of popular edtieation and intelligence im- peded, and the condition of the masses degraded. In proportion as the people of the different States have looked at their government frame- work through the medium of these rigits, with an eye careful to their ju'eservation. have they manifested attachment to Republican govern meat ; taken pride in the idea of a great nation- ality ; been appreciative of the wisdom of theii- 26 Tatbers, and finn in maintaining what their Fathers established. In such detijree as the peo- ple of the respective States have failed to com- prehend the true theory of government, based on the preservation of these rights, have they mani- fested political jierversity ; abjured the Repub- lican principle; became seditious; and as a se- quence of such degeneracy, inflicted distresses on the nation through political crime to which history scarcely affords a parallel. It is under this con- dition of the antagonistic forces of the Union, still continuing, that the Unionists of the South, ■WHITE AND BLACK, in the Struggle for political ex- istence in connection with the preservation of these rights, now take the appeal to the power of the nation against local despotism. DECLARATION OF WAR AGAIKST KEREL IDEAS. ' Against the political ideas of the rebeUion, we declare unceasing war. It needs only an epitome of the secession program, as advocated in the jiolitical literature and journals of the rebels during the war, to exhibit it? full-blown atrocity. It was assumed by the rebellion daring the war, that " democracy, in its philosophic sense, was in- compatible tvith slavery and the whole system of Southern society : " that " R publican government ivas a failure:" that " the real civilization of a . country was in its aristocracy, which should be made permanent by laws of e7itail and primogeniture : " that " a govermnent of majorities must be abro- gated:" that "they should seek at 07U'e to eradicate every vestige of radical democracy, every feature iendhig to make the government of the Confederacy a popular government : " that " an hereditary sen- ate and executive were the political form best suited to the genius, and most expresnve of the political ideas of the South : " and tinally, that " they had no objections to royalty lohen restrained by constitu- tional barriers." These political ideas, destructive of all repub- lican government, in connection with the scheme of making Slavery perpetual, formed the animus of the rebellion. The declaration that '• Democ- racy, in its philosophic sense, was incompatible with Slavery," affords the clue to the whole line of argument and reasoning upon which the rebel- lion was r.aised up. The apostacy of Alexander H. Stevens, in passing from the principles of the ■Constitution to the " corner-stone " policy of the •traitors, is an exact illustration of the other lead- ing conspivators. They all alike, mentally, con- sciously, and wickedly, passed tlirough this course of apo.jtucy from reiiublican princii)k'. There was one reason, and one aLone, that led to the apos- tacy : th.al was, the Constitution and its benefi- cent principles stood in the way of Slavery per- ])etuation. In comparison with this, the Consti- tution was nothins: ; protective Republican Government nothing; the common political riirhts of the bulk of the People nothing ; for nothing ■was intended to be acknowledged or tolerated by the conspirators, as political right, that v/as not made subordinate to the interests of Slavery. The doctrine of " state sovereignty " and its ex- travagant postulates was raised up as an avail- able pretext, and hypocritically put forth as the base-line in the workings and plottings of incipient treason. No class understood better the protec- tive character and features of the Constitution than the intelligent leaders of secession. Thej' studied it continually. They discussed it in season and out of season : but, they discussed it always in connection with their plottings and contrivances to pervert and overthrow it. No class knew better that there was, and could be, no legitimate State sovereignty in opposition to, or in conflict with the Constitution. No class knew better, when hyjjocritically urging their theory of '' State rights" that every conceivable personal and political right, compatible with re- publican government, had been provided for and established by tliis supreme law ; and, that no State right could have existence that did not harmonize with the instrument. Neither treason, nor the palliators of treason will be allowed to stultify the understanding of the leading traitors, by finding excuses for them in their hypocritical subterfuge, " State rights," which they merely converted into a lever to work the plans of re- bellion. It is essential to the welfare of the na- tion that the exact motives for the attempt at revolution should be stamped on the history of the war. If republican ideas and constitutional liberty prevail, treason caanot fail to be made odious through the motives that led to the attempt of revolution. Through thirty years of diligent hypocrisy they worked to mislead and debauch tlfie political mind of the South ; to cajole and terrorize it into the plans of rebellion ; and to train it to the purpose of repudiating re- publican government in order to make Slavery the " corner stone " of Southern institutions. FORCE AND HYPOCRISY USED TO EFFECT SECESSION. AVhen this triple conspiracy against the Constitution, against the nationality, and against the political rights of .Southern masses, had matured its prejiarations, tlu leaders entered on the execution of the plan for carrying the States out of the Union — not by any calm and dispassionate ap[)eal to the people on the ground of rights invaded, for no rights had been invaded. The ultimate plan of secession was connected with incipient military organization. The active treason carei'ully secured in advance the arms and munitions in each of the States, and placed them in the hands and under the conti'ol of such only as would wield them on the side of rebellion. The States were carried out through force and violence. Nothwlthstand- ing the seeming ac(]uiescence of the majority, it was an acquiescence arising from the condition of unarmed lielplessness. In addition to force, every daceplive calculation was paraded before the public to show tlie strength of rebellion. It was confidently stated that negotiations had been matured whereby it was made certain that England and P'rance wovdd intervene in favor of the South in case it was necessary to secure its- independence. It was urged that the leaders of '27 the Democratic party North had bargained with the leaders in the South for peaceable secession ; that they had given the pledge that no coercive measures of the general government would be allowed. It was stated and believed tliat there ■were sixty thousand men in New York who •would take the side of the South and prevent the passage of New England troops across the Hudson. Nothing was left undone to underrate the power of the general government, or to make it appear contemptible on account of the alleged pusillanimity of its supporters. The belief was widely inculcated that the independ- ence of the South was certain. Under this belief, a majority of the Southern people gave in their adhesion to the new government. As is natural for all people, the greater portion sought protection under what they fallaciously supposed to be the side of power. The delusion was kept up by contumacy in the North. The traitors, measuring the political morality of their friends in the North by their own standard, actually believed, and propagated the belief throughout the South, that the North would divide and fight the general government instead of the rebellion. It was thus the rebellion was commenced and the war protracted. Ultimatelj-, the people of the South were fearfully taught the truth, and tmdeceived as to the power of the contending forces. In time they will become fully advised as to the nature of the conflict. A rebellion that originated on false pretences and lived for a time on its hypocrisy will be analyzed by Southern people when civil liberty is established, and they are made to comprehend the conspiracj' against their rights. Thisis what the conspirators are afraid of. Most of all tilings they dread to face the Southern masses on the accusation of intent to overthrow republican government. This would make treason odious, for they would etand responsible, with no palliating excuse, for all the evils and bloodshed of the war. STRENGTH OF REPUBLIC,\JS" GOVERNMENT. The strength of republican government has thus far been vindicated. The rebel apostacy and warfare in the South, encouraged by the apologists of treason in the North, and assisted by the advocates of government through a privileged class in Europe, have not shaken it, nor have they shaken the confidence of its true supporters. It has withstood a shock that would have overturned the strongest dynasty in Europe. It has resisted the whole combinatitm of anti-republican influence, domestic and foreign. The assault upon it has been attended with a reboimd that tore the manacles from four million people, who, but yesterday, were slaves. The attack made in the interest of Slavery has changed, and transformed Slavery into citizen- ship. Thus far it has triumphed. The question is now before us whether it can go steadily on and consummate the great plan of free protective government, whereby every human being within its jurisdiction shall be placed on the platform of equal rights, before the law. As a sequence of the rebellion, we are to deal with political questions under the political powers of the Government — powers which were provided to meet emergencies of the character now existing. These powers, extraordinary and extreme in their character, have hitherto lain dormant for the reason that no cxigenc}' had arisen to call them into requisition. They are what Mr. Madison characterized as " a harmless superfluitj- in the Constitution in case they should not be needed ; "' or, in other words, would remain dormant in case rebellion and conspiracy did uot call them into exercise. STATUS OF THE SECEDED STATES AND CONSPIRATORS. What is now the political condition or status of the seceded States; and, where is the power lodged to deal with them '! These are questions of vital interest, present and future, to the whole Union. Eleven States, as States, in political form severed themselves from all con- nection with the Constitution. They established State government, in form, in opposition to it. They formed a confederacy, so called, instituted a confederate government, Je facto, with admin- istrative, legislative, and judicial departments. They organized an army and navy, instituted prize courts, made captures, condemnations, and were acloiowledged by foreign powers as legitimate belligerents. "\Vhat is of most im- portance in dealing with the leading conspirators, are the facts, that they voluntarily abjured the Constitution and the Union government, re- nounced their allegiance, declared themselves alien to it, and swore allegiance to a government at war with the United >tates. This was the attitude of the seceded States and the conspirators when the result of arms decided a four years' conflict, leaving the confederate and rebel State governments alike demolished, and the peo])le of those States without any civil government whatsoever. CONSTITUTION.VL rROVISIONS TO MEET EMERGENCIES. It would have been strange indeed if tin- penetrative foresight of the framers of the Constitution h d failed to provide the power to deal with emergencies of this character. Fortu- nately, we are not left to eke out a power by inference or implication. We can go directly to the lodgment of this power as prescribed by the Supreme Law. It matters not from what cause or causes the State governments had been broken down. It is sufhcient that none existed, and that the States stood in a territorial condition, or something lower still, having r.o government but military rule. The power to re-institute State governments in these cases is lodged specifically and exclusivel^y in Congress. The Constitution provides that "the United States shall guarantee a republican form of government to every State in the Union. To Congress is confided the power to make all laws necessary 28 and proper to carry into execution this, as well as all other provisions of the Constitution ; with the furtlier provision, that the Constitution and laws made in pursuance thereof shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State bound thereby, anything- in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." This provision, guaranteeing republican gov- ernment, has grown, under our emergencies, to be one of its most imi)ortant requirements. It indicates the wisdom and foresight of the framers in guarding against events or contin- gencies of a destructive nature. Mr. Madison, in commenting on this provision, says: " In a confederacy, founded on republican principles, and composed of republican mem- bers, the superintending government ought clearly to possess the autlioritj- to defend the system against aristocratic or monarchial innovations. But, a right implies a remedy, and where else could the remedy be deposited than where the Constitution has placed it? It may possibly be asked what need there could be for such a provision, and whether it may not become a pretext for alterations in the State governments without the concurrence of the States themselves. These questions admit of ready answers. If the interposition of the general Government should not be needed, the provisions for such an event would be a harmless superfluity only in the Constitu- tion. But who can say what experiments may be produced by the cajjrice of particular States, by the ambition of enterprising leaders, or by the intrigues and influence of foreign powers'?" Had the framers of the Constitution distinctly foreseen what has happened in the last six years as to "the caprice of particular States, the ambition of enterprising leaders, or the intrigues and influence of foreign powers," they could not have provided the power to deal with them more distinctly than they have done. The lodgment of this power in Congress was as wise as it is now known to have been necessary ; for where else, as Mr. Madison puts the inquiry, could it have been deposited? The President assumes that this power is in him. We pronounce this assumption an unqualified, if not an inex- cusable usurpation: — contrary to the plain provisions of the Constitution ; contrary to the coteniporaneous views of those wlio framed it ; and contrary to all the prudential policy that runs through the governmental framewoi-k of our whole republican system. The declaration by the President that " the Cooi.itiiuiion had been rolled vp and deposited in a pigeon hole during the four years' war " was a most pernicious mistake. // teas the rebel lonstrnction onhj that h ad been laid away. Treason and its apologists have throughout contended that "the general Government had no right to coerce a State." Under their doctrine of State rights and State sovcreigntv, insurrection and rebellion was but another name for impunity. The assumption that the war power embraced in the Constilution could be wielded against foreign i)Owers only, and not against domestic enemies, would but ill accord with the ideas of the Fathers who supposed they liad provided for " defending their system of republican gov- j ernment" against all enemies, foreign and ' domestic. Ihe defenders of the Union who stood by the country and Government in their peril, will be slow to acknowledge, as true, the Executive imputation that the defence of the country and Government was not in accordance with the Constitution. EMANCIPATION A POLITICAL AS "VVELL AS A MILITARY NECESSITY. When the leaders of the rebellion made the declaration that " democracy, in its philosophic sense, was incompatible with Slavery," and the further declaration, in effect, that in order to perpetuate Slavery, it had become a political neee:3slty to abrogate democratic or republican governmenc in the South, the jjeneral Government was obliged to accept the issue. The unabridged and unbridled power of intolerant Slavery on the one hand, or protective republican govern- ment to be maintained on the other, formed the issue. The contending parties imderstood pre- ^ cisely alike what the issue was; what the opposing principles contended for ; and conscious alike that one or the other must go under. The political ideas in which the rebellion originated, and the destructive war it commenced have not only vindicated the just policy of emancipation, but have proved and established its political, as as well as its vd'.itari/ necessity. EMANCIPATION ALSO AN INDUSTRIAL NECESSITY. In addition to the militar}- and political necessit}' for emancipation, imposed by the rebellion, there was an industrial necessity of equal importance. In the opinion of this Convention the material interests of the South will be as much benefited by emancipation as the cause of republican liberty. For Ijug years Southern surpluses have been invested in slaves. This added nothing to their capacity as a pro- ducing force, while it virtually robbed all other enterprises of capital with which to raise up diversified industries. It left a large portion of the population without profitable employment. The consequence has been deficiency in Southern production. The labor-saving inventions con- nected with mechanical industry whereby production in other sections has been multiplied in manifold degree, have been introduced in the South to but limited extent. The comparision between States, before the war, illustrates the disparity of production between those having, or not having systems of diversified industry. From the report of the Secretary of the Treasurv on the finances for 1850-7, the average- 29 per capita product to each inhabitant of the respective States mentioned stood thus : Massachusetts.... $166 Louisiania. . . . $65 Rhode Island 164 S.Carolina 56 New Jersey 120 N.Carolina... 49 Connecticut 156 Alabama 56 New York 112 Virginia 59 Vermont 96 Florida 55 Pennsylvania 99 Georgia 61 New Hampshire. . 117 Arkansas 52 The above comparison is drawn between States that have nearly equal advantages in marketing their productions. The statement Includes the productions arising from agri- culture, mining and manufactures, without including the gains of trade and commerce. Were these added, the disparity would be much ncreased. There has been a cause, other than '.he absorption of Southern surp'uses in slave /"opertj-, that has prevented the growth of riechanical industry in the South. To sustain Slavery it was thought necessary to strike down the principle of civil liberty. Had it not been for this, capital and skilled labor might have gone in from other States and countries; but, have been repelled for the solo reason that they would not go, and never will go where public opinion is intolerant, or regulated by threatenings and violence. The South has been depressed in production under a false system of political economy, and an equally destructive spirit of intolerance. Should the future of the South be divested of both these evils, the increase in population, capital and production would be astonishing. We anticipate the time when the South will find its remedy in a just and liberal policy, the basis for which has been laid by emancipation. Viewing things in this light, the Convention tenders its congratulations to the people of the Union, and more especially to the people of the South, that Slavery is irredeemably destroyed. We only i egret that the intolerant spirit engendered by it has not also passed away. RESPOXSIBILITY AND EMBARK VSSMIENT THROWN UPON CONGRESS. The close of the war has thrown upon the general government a manifold degree of respon- sibility, and owing to the course of the E.xecu- tive, a manifold deo-ree of embarrassment. With a class of the rebels and the'.r followers, enraged at the destruction of Slavery, and disappointed in their schemes to destoj- the Union, their re- sentment knows m> bounds. Defeat has abated niithing of the violence or spirit of assassination tliat has grown up under the execrable practices of the coercionists. The white Unionists are the especial objects of their hatred and malice. The freedmen are still looked upon as the property of former masters, that by so ne possible change of political power may again be reduced to ser- vitude. Threatenings and violence are still the order of the day; still employed to suppress the Union sentiment ; and are made nearly as effectual in most places in exciting the fears of the well disposed as during the war, or the reign of ter- ror that imraediatel}' preceded it. Evidence is brought from all parts of the South that violence is on the increase, coupled with the determina- tion that no party shall be formed to act in con- cert with the majority in Congress, or with the party that elected it. This is precisely the char- acter of the so-called " conservulive Unioni.wi " that has been reanimated into murderous activity by the encouragement given through the Presi- dent and his policy. Aside from this reckless class, brutalized in rufhanism hy lone habit, the bulk of the people, if placed on the side of power, with the Presi- dent and Congress acting in concert, would most willingly join in producing order and enforcing protection. It is painful to know that this can- not be accomplished until such time as the exec- utive shall see fit to act in conjunction with the Law-making power, for it is useless to pass laws when the executive stands between those laws and their faithful execution. The condition of the South is peculiar. With rebel animosities of long standing, and hatred that knows no bounds toward Union men, it is easy for the most common mind to see and know that nothing but governmental power, firmly exercised, can give protection. It is most unfortunate that the outspoken men of the South who stood by the government during the war, has fallen into dis- repute with the President. He regards them as Southern radicals. They are so. They never thought well of the political ideas of the rebels , nor do they discover any material improvement in them yet. The President, on many occasions, has characterized the Unionists of the South as a contumacious element, bent on sowing sedition, but what seems most objectionable with the President they are disposed to affiliate with the ma- jority in Congress and the Union party, and more esi)t'cially to stand by the constitutional rights of the citizen in opposition to the President's Policy, which they regard as an unmistakable usurpation, as mischievous in effect as it is ob- noxious in legality. COSFLICTIXG CLAIMS OF POWER BY CON- GRESS AND THE EXECUTIVE. The present Congress and the Executive were elected by the great party that has toiled to pre- serve the Government, the Constitution, and the Union. The one was elected as the Law-making- power, the tribunal of States, that has confidecl to it the power to declare war ; to put araiies into the field; to direct the purposes and objects for which theii shall be employed ; to disband them at pleasure; to conclude peace; to es'ablish citi- zenship and give it protection, and to make all IsLVis'^ necessary and proper" to carry into exe- cution every provision of the Constitution. The other was elected, as the Constitution provides, to carry into execution the laws and regulations prescribed by Congress. Tliese departments of the Government are entirely distinct. To one 30 is committed the entire political, or Law-making power. The other lias no political power what- soever, excepting a qualitied negative through the veto. "When it is considered that the welfare of ten States, the Constitutional rights of citi- zenship, and the Constitutional principles upon which the government is to be administered, hang in the balance between these conliicting claims of power, there are reasons, higher than party ism, why statesmen should be deliberate and prudent. The Executive cannot trench on the jjower of Congress, or take anj' persistent step to divest that body of its legitimate prerogatives, without both a violation of the Constitution and his official oath : nor does the Constitution leave Congress with a bare negative protest in defend- ing its claims to power. To that body is con- fided the high power of impeachment in cases of official dereliction, usurpation, or corruption. Congress cannot allow another department of the government to usurp its powers without a viola- tion of its official oath ; for it stands as the tribu- nal, armed with the power of impeachment, to restrain and constrain all other departments to act within the limitation of their respective spheres. Congress creates, modifies, and re- creates in the forms of law duties for both the executive and judicial departments, and, as the Constitution provides, these laws are binding on the respective " departments, and every olhccr thereof" There is "no shadow of imperialism in connection with our governmental framework. The Constitution and laws passed in pursuance are the supreme authority, and the President's vocation is to see that they are faithfully exe- cuted. We admit the right of expatriation. The leaders of the rebellion, according to the rules and usuages of all nations, placed themselves in the category of alien enemies by abjuring alle- giance to the United States, and swearing alle- giance to a government at war with our own. It was, and still is a question for the Law-making or political power, having in charge the " gen- eral welfare," to treat them as it sees fit ; to hold them, if " proper and necessary," to the position they assumed ; as aliens, to be deprived of all political rights; as traitors, to be judicially pun- ished; or, as rebels, with alien disabilities, to be tolerated or not according to good or bad be- liavior. They started as traitors, progressed to the position of alien enemies in form, and placed themselves by their crimes and abjura- tion in a condition to be dealt with by the politi- cal power precisely as the political power should elect. The political power has not yet made its election, and it is as incompetent for the Execu- tive to forestall the power of Congress by special pardon, as it would be to restore them to the rights of citizenship, should Congress elect to place them under the ban of political disability. The power of the " superintending government to defend the system," as Mr. ^Lidi-;on describes it, is not to be measured by comity to traitors adorned with tlie additional character of alien or pvxblic enemies ; but it is to be measured by such necessity alone as secures the peace of the country by securing the rights of citizenship to all such as have not forfeited their rights by crime. On political questions within the juris- diction of the political authority, the political authority is exclusive. The executive and judi- cial must follow, and cannot precede it. " None but the Law-making power can trench on legis- lative ground." " The superintending government," in carry- ing out the requirement guaranteeing republican government, wields a power that may be both military and political. The Constitution deals with States as States, or with States in a ter- ritorial condition ; and it matters not what they are called when the government has been usurp- ed, perverted into an engine to crush the rights of the citizen, or where it has been entirely de- molished. The constitutional right of the polit- ical power to interfere commences with its ne- cessity. It holds the military power subordinate, and directs when and against whom it shall be employed ; can command its assistance to repel usurpation, to overcome armed treason, or sub- jugate public enemies. The law of force ceases with military necessity; but the political power, which holds the military subordinate, must de- termine when such necessity has ceased. In re-establishing the political relations of a State government where it has been usurped, perverted, or demolished, the superintending government must exercise a power purely polit- ical. Its power must be exercised in accordance with the Constitution, with nothing in the instru- ment omitted or oversti'ained. Such political power superintends, or directs as it pleases, according to necessity, the whole political organ- ization of the State. The enabling act may be as imperative as Congress chooses to make it for the purpose of compelling conformity to the Constitution. The recognition of the State gov- ernment, w^en formed, must be submitted to Cono-i'ess for determination as to whether it is in conformity with the Constitution ; or, in other words, whether it is republican government within the constitutional test and definition of what is republican government. P'rom what source the President derives his power to take the initiative, or to direct the incidents and process of re-establishing State governments in the seceded States, is not perceived by this Con- vention. As commander-in-chief of the army and navy it cannot exist, for as such he is sub ordinate to the political power. As executive chief magistrate ho is equally void of such power. Were there no political questions to be deter- mined as to the status of rebels or freedmen, or any questions growing out of the altered relations between the classes ; nor any questions as to the expediency of allowing white rebels to determine the rights of colored Unionists, or manner and degree of protection, it would still make no dift'erence. The political disability of the Pres- ident would be the same, for he has no authority in any aspect of the case. It is needless to sa}- 31 he could not deleg-ate to pi'ovisional governors a ' power which neither the Constitution nor laws j .rcseiited in that conven- tion. It had one article in its creed, and that •was — the nsurpalion of the President ! It had manifold objects to achieve by forcing the usur- pation as a fina'ity. One was, to compel the recognition of the illegitimate State governments built on nsurpafion, and which are precisyly as hostile to the principles of the Constitution as they were before they seceded, or during the ■war. Another was, to break down the majority in Congres-! and the party that elected it ; and to inaugurate a Congress with rebel ideas, to be sustained by the identical forces in combination that composed the eonsevative convention at Chicago and the rebel Congress at Richmond in 186-1. The President and his support rs seem determined to force this party, mainly composed of rebels and the apologists of treason, into per- manent power. He intends to subjugate the party that nurtured him into the foreground, sustained him as long as he stood by principle, and only abandoned him when he had taken the last step in apostacy by going entirely over to the rebels. "We would respectfully suggest to his excellency that he has undertaken a conquest that will prove difiicult and troublesome. It would have been quite as easy for him to have kept on in the line of duty in subduing the bal- ance of the rebellion, as it will be to subordinate the Union party to the behests of treason. If, in his late Philadelphia Convention, the Presi- dent has thrown his glove, in the form of a threat of " another civil war," thh Convention takes it up. APPEAL TO TUE PEOPLE OF THE NOP.Tn. T\'e appeal to every lover of justice and bene- ficent government in the North — to every advo- cate of such government as should be provided in the South. We state to you sincerely and truthfully, that had the rebels, after the military surrender, paid to the Unionists in good faith : "Now, let us burji all pant animosities ;" "v^e pro- pose to let h'j-ffoiics he bi/-f/07>cs;" "loe fill noiv cheerfully c/ire our svpport in r/ood faith to the ?tntional f/ovcrnment ;" " toe will now aim to hriiuf about a state of things wliercb>j property and life shall b-^ made secure, and even/ human being shall he protected in lis rights;" "we now propose to cast aside all virulence of partyisni, and to join in the adoption of such course, and such comity, as will encourage and invite populatio7i, capital, and enterprise, and maki the South fourish on its in- dustries ;" — not a Union man in all the South but who would have met them on this ground. JVot a Union man in the South but wlio is ready to meet them on this ground to-day. Had the President said this, and said firmly, " This must be the basis of reconciliation;'" "this must be the ground work of reconstruction," not a Union man in the South but who would have clung to him with afi'ectionate iidelity, and each and all of them would have joined in the prayer, " God help you lo accomplish it P' At one time, soon after the surrender of Lee, the above programme for healing the dissensions of the South looked l)i'opitious. The old leaders of secession took the alarm. We now call upon the recollection of those Icadars who sounded the tocsin at Mont- gomery, Alabama, to tlieir kindred spirits of the South. " lie m.ust never acknowledge that seces- sion was wrong." " lUe must never admit that our right to srpiaration was iinfounded." " Whatever our mijifortunes, v;e must vindicate the principle.' we professed, and stand hg them." This was the instruction in substance. It was spread with the speed of electricity throughout the South. It was caught np and propagated by nearly all the rebel press. Immediately following, every device, social and political, was put in active requisition to make treason popular and Union- ism odious. We have no words to address to the heartless contrivers of the late Philadelphia Convention, or to those of the North who have sympathized with and been t'ae persistent apologists of trea- son. We deplore the losses of Southern Union- ists, whose eight hundred millions, or more, have been confiscated, sacrificed, and destroyed by rebels. We commiserate the condition of the widowhood and orphanage of the South, made such by the relentless conscription that forced their protectors, against their will, into the rebel service. We have an abiding sympathy v/ith the bulk of the Southern population, white and black, that either is, or can be brought into a frame of mind that would make it an clement of national strength; but with the incorrigible portion of the rebel element that still persists in making the loyalty of the South odiov.s and treason pop- ular, we have no terms to make. Those of the South v.'ho have suffered for their fidelty to pr'.n- ciple can suffer still ; but when the time comes that they are permanently and hopelessly sacri- ficed in order to carry out the plans of the politi- cally vitiated forces in combination, there will be an end of the union of these States. To that por- tion of the people of the North who take pride in a great nationality, who would maintain the public faith inviolate, who look upon protection to the rights of the citizen as the first object of gov- ernment, and justice to all as the principle that gives strength and stability to political institu- tions, we say, prayerfully, God help you to be firm. It will be in time to appease rebels when 33 tTiey manifest a willingness to hare government •established on the golden rulo, ami consent to be just It will be in time to elevate tr;;ason and degrade loyalty when your assent is obtained to the demolition of republican government. During the last six years we have been pain- fully instructed by the teaclihigs of calamity. Car distresses have sprung entirely from and can be traced to a A^iolatiou of natural and politi- cal right. We declare with equal confidence that «11 the substantial good achieved by tiie people of this nation, industrial, educational, and politi- cal; all our national strength and stability in government, have grown out of the maintenance of constitutional right. We are not such politi- cal infidels as to believe that national quietude, material prosperity, or the jwipular welfare can be promoted by the perversion of these rights. AVe declare, as the opinion of this Convention, that not less than thirty millions of our popula- tion possess all the natural motives, and are ii.- terested by all thej^hold dear, to maintain th-^se rights. We further declare, distinctly, our pur- pose to assist in bringing into politi: al affili'ition, and also into military organization, eve-'y man of whatever race or color, who will vote /or these rights ; fight for tliem if need be ; vfi'h the fur- ther declai-ation, that rebels and tht apologists of treason in their present frame c' mind, shall never be permitted to rule this nation imder any circumstances whatsoever. PEOTECTIYE POVER O? COXGRESS. All the constitutional rigMs of the citizen are placed under the guardia'iship of the political power of the nation. Tl-is power is purely pro- tective. It was made politically supreme for the express purpose of protection. It can pass all laws nccesxarti and proper to carry into execu- tion all provisions c/the Constitution. Obsolete Slavery can nowiook back to the time when its aid was invoked to make the rights of prop- erty more secn.-e under the fugitive slave law. Colored citizenship can now invoke its aid to pass all laws necessary and proper to give efTec- tive proteclion to its rights, irrespective of the nature of the means, so be it, that the means are necessary and proper to accomplish the object. The jurist may look back to the Judiciary Act of 1790, and see how carefully the rights of prop- erty in litigation were guarded against the ob- struction to justice by local and clanish preju- dice. This was done by according to the privilege of removing causes for adjudication, iu certain cases, from State to Federal courts. The words necessary and proper received a judicial interpre- tation by the Supreme Court of the United States, in deducing the power of Congress under the Constitution to establish a National Bank. What- ever is necessary and proper, as a means to b(! adopted, to carrj' into effect or execution any provision of the Constitution, is a question, as decided by the Supreme Court, for tlie exclusive consideration of Congress. Some of these powers have lain dormant, the exia;eucies not havinir arisen, until recently, to call them into requisi- tion. The rebellion, the war, and its results, as well as the changed relation of classes, have made many things necessary and projnr tliat would not have been deemed so had tlie relations of the States and inhabitants remained undisturbed. It would be strange, indeed, if the rights and in- terests of four niillicm people had not as strong- claims upon Congress for all moans effective in giving protection, as Slavery had in the adoption of the fugitive slave law; as a litigant in court has under the judiciary act, or as corporators Jiad in the establishment of a United States Bank. WJienever it can be shown tliat it is necessa-y and proper for Congress to make our political system homogeneous by prescribing a uniform rule of suflrage for all the States, the n).-nibers of this Convention will be prepared to show that Congress has the power to do it. Whenever it is shown that it is necessary and proper, as a means of protect! cm, for Congress to prescribe a rule of suffrage for the people of the rebellious States, we will also be i>r»pared to show clearly its constitutionality. POLITICAL ATTITUDE OF CONGRESS. The present position of the majority in C«r.- gress is this : \st. The constitxitional rights of the citiziij>s, as established by the Constitution, mustbemton- tained inviolate under the clause which in>^^t3 Congress with power to make all laws necdmary and proper to carry into execution the provifciona> of the instrument. 2d. These rights being established by the su- preme law of the land, there is no power, legis- lative, executive, or judicial. State or National, that has authority to transgress or invadjs them ; and protection to these rights must be made co- extensive with American citizenship. 2d. If the maintenance of these righ-ss involves, the political necessity of disfranchising; traitorvS to the Constitution and governmeD.tvthen such traitors must be disfranchised. ith. The public faith must be kept inviolate ; the defenders of the nation must be affectionately remembered and honored ; and the widowhooj, and orphanage that lost its protectors infightisg the battles of the Union must, be cherished an^ sustained. 5fh. The rebel war debt, trjtttorously contracted to overthrow the Constitution and government, must be forever rcpudiatett by constitutional, pro- visions, and in such form; tl>at no change of par-, ties in political power shall ever be able to re- vive it. 6th. The emancipation of slaves having be- come a military, as well as political nt>cessity in upholding the principles of repulilican govern- ment, it is unjust, unwise, and impolitic to award compensation, thereby inflicting additional bur- dens of thousands of millions on the already overburdened industrj' of the nation. Congress and the people are not unmindful of the facts, that while the spirit born of Slavery Si has grievously impaired the common I'ig-hts of the citizen and disparaged the masses, it has inflicted injuries on the people such as no nation could endure that wns not endowed with natural resources of most unlimited extent. Were we to estimate the investment of Southern surpluses in slaves whereby mechanical and other necessary industries in the South were paralyzed; the deficiency in Southern production resulting therefrom ; the rebel war debt 'and the destruc- tion of property consequent on the war; the Union war debt -with the vast amount to be paid in interest; the destruction of industrial labor; to say notliing of rcpublicati ideas debauched and made politically vicious; the sacrifices would amount nearly to the entire value of the property of the Union in 18<;o. Such is the result of Slavery, that contaminate; nearly every thing it touched; and such the political economy attempted to be built upon it. The unconditional loyal Unionists of the South who concur in the idea that constitutional protection is of paramount importance, and the rights of the citizen the first object of govern- ment, forego all claims for slaves emancipated, and cheerfully tender them as an humble offering to the great cause of republican liberty. THE DISPOSITION OF COIJGKESS. In speaking of the majority in Congress and its disposition towards the people of the South, we arrogate nothing in saying that we know precisely the sentiments entertained by that body. There is not an intelligent man in the United States, North or South, but who knows there is nothing of a political nature so much desired by Congress as that the South should be politically restored at the earliest day possible that it can be accomplished on the basi-f of protective State governments. There is prevailing .through the South to-day the same spirit of 4id enough of the calamities resulting from this l^id of union. Kebel ideas in one section and Republican ideas in another will be certain to work the same politicl divergence that taught us -we had no union. It matters not how many civil wars it may cost, tl>e rebel ideas that producid the revolt must be extin- guished. They n^ght have been virtually extinguished to-day, \ad the President acted up to .the rational plan f)f making the rights of citizenship instead of rebel representation in Congress the baeis of renonstruction. There is one sovereign higher than 'Jie President ; higher even than Congress, and tlwt sovereign will be obeyed. It deals with States as imperiously as it has dealt with rebels, an^ nothing of an executive, political or judicial nature in the Union but what is subordinate to it. That sovereign is the Constitution. It is. as beneficent as it is inexorable. It is as mild as i\ is supreme. It constitutes the only plan ever devised by statesmen and political pliilosophers whei'eby government was founded on the golden rule. This Constitution is the embodiment of republi- can ideas and political truth, firmly ingrained in the sentiments and attachments of the bulk of the American people, and admired by the liberalists the world over. Much as it has been praised and extolled, it would be praised and extolled in a manifold degree were its beneficent principles more widely and truly comprehended. The Unionists of the South represented in this Convention have sent three hundred thousand troops into the Union army to u2:)hold it. Should the occasion again occur, they will send twice that number to maintain it, and to maintain all the rights of citizenship under it. The Union soldiers of the South send greeting to the noble veterans of the North, and propose this joint pledge — "No sacrilegious hand shall be permitted 35 to despoil this charier of liberty of a single feature that adorns the instrument !" REMINISCENCES OP INDEPENDENCE HALL. The members of this Convention are assembled here to-day to assert and maintain the constitu- tional risjhts ot the citizen. We are well aware, as assured in the columns of the special organ of the President, that a convention of this character " would not be tolerated or allowed to assemble in the South." The reason of this is found in the re-animation of rebel atrocity by encouragement through the President's policy. The complexion of the case is only an illustration of the axiom, that " where civil liberty does not exist, tyranny and oppression are sure to prevail." How different in this land, made sacred by the reminiscences of the early patriots. In this city — here in Independence Hall, where the voice of our Fathers proclaimed a new theory of government, founded on the protective principle, the Unionists of the South may still assemble. Under a cheering welcome from the heart of the North, they can re-assert the doctrines of their sires. In imagination, the .associations connected with this venerable place bring those departed spirits before us. There sat Hancock, in calm dignity, presiding over a Congress about to utter the greatest words ever politically spoken. There sat Lee and there Pinckney. There sat Adams and there Carroll. There stood the five great men as they unrolled the immortal document that asserted and proclaimed the inalienable rights of humanity. There stands the bell that rung out the first great peal of American Libei-ty — and there — outside, stood the assembled citizens breathlessly waiting for the signal that was to indicate that the great declaration had passed. Strange indeed, that we, the common inheritors of the political rights, vindicated and established by our revolutionary fathers, should be compelled to return to this birth-place of Liberty to proclaim anew its doctrines, while at the same time we are con- strained, in humiliation, to note and mark the political degeneracy of the Soutlu Humiliating as the task is, there is one consoling satisfaction. The ground on which Independence Hall stands is still sacred to Liberty. The people of the State who have it in keeping are uncomtaminated with the vice of political apostacy. When this place shall be defiled by treason to the principles of the Constitution, and those having it in keeping shall become degenerate, then, and not till then, will the rebel declaration come true — that " liepuhlican government is a failure." Mr. Tucker, Virginia — Mr. President, I would like to say concerning the motion of Mr. Sher- wood — 1 The Chair — Mr. Tucker has not the floor. Several gentlemen now arose and endeavored to obtain a hearing. The Chair — rapping all down — Gov, Brown- low, of Tennessee, has the floor. Gov. Brownlow, bowing his acknowledgments, said: Mr. Chairman — I have but one remark to make, sir. My first connection with politics in this country, commenced in 1828, when in Ten- nessee. I was one of a corporal's guard who es- poused the cause of John Quincy Adams. From that day to this I have been in conventions — State Conventions, Southern Conventions, Na- tional Conventions — and I have voted for and against addresses and documents of this kind, many and many a time. The address read this morning by the gentleman from Maryland (Sen- ator Creswell), I regard as the most able and appropriate document I ever read. I have no objection to the amendment of my friend, Mr. Botts, because in my judgment it makes the document more severe ; and, on the whole, I ara for adopting it without dotting an I or crossing aT. Mr. Botts — I would beg my friend's leave to say that I made no mention of amending by striking out the words I refer to, I would only suggest that I would like it better, and in order that there is to be no misunderstanding, 1 would sufrsrest that the word " true " be inserted be- fore the word Democracy. Gov. Brownlow — We are able to adopt it as it is. We are not prepared to stay here for nights and days, and I hope we will contribute toward a fund for the i)ubr_cation of li\000,000 ofecopies. in type big and clear enough, and that Andy Johnson, drunk or sober, may read it. I move the previous question. I have been in many conventions — State Conventions, National Con- ventions, Southern Conventions — I have voted for all kinds of addresses and documents of this kind, many, many times. The address read this morning by the gentleman from Maryland, is the most able and proper document I have ever heard or seen. The amendment offered by Mr. Botts was adopted. The question was then taken on the substitute for the address of the Committee, offered by Mr. Sherwood, of Texas, and decided in the neg- ative. The vote was then taken on the address re- ported by the Committee. The address was adopted. Gov. A. J. Hamilton, of Texas, as Chairman of the Committee, reported the following: The Committee on Resolutions beg leave to submit the following resolutions embodying the views of a majority of the Committee, which do not contain all the enunciation of principles desired by a minority of the Committee, but who, in a generous and conciliatory spirit, have united in submitting this report. i RESOLUTIONS. 1. Resolved, That the loyal people of the South cordially unite with the loyal people of the North in thanksgiving to Almighty God, through whose will a rebellion unparalleled for its cause- lessness, its cruelty, and its criminality, has been overruled to the vindication of the suprem- 36 acy of the Federal Constitution over every State and Territory' of the Republic. 2. Resolved, That we demand now, as we have •demanded at all times since the cessation of hos- 'tilities, that the restoration of the States in "which we live, to their old relations with tk« Union on the simplest and easiest conditions •consistent with the protection of our lives, prop- •erty, and political riijhts, now in jeopardy from ihe unquenched enmity of Rebels lately in arms. 3. Resolved, Thas the unhappy policy of An- -drew Johnson, President of the United States, "is, in its effects upon the loyal people of the South, unjust, oppressive, and intolerable, and •acoordingly, however ardently we desire to see our respective States once more represented in "the Congress of the Nation, we would deplore ~their restoration on the inadequate conditions prescribed by the President as tending not to ■abate, but only to magnify the perils and sor- rows of our condition. 4. Resolved, That the welcome we hive re- -ceived from the loyal citizens of Philadelphia, Tinder the roof of the time-honored hall in "which the Declaration of Independence was ^adopted, inspires us v.-ith an animating hope that ^he principles of just and equal government, ■wtich were made the foundation of the Republic -"st its origin, shall become the corner-stone of •the Cc«tstitution. 5. Resolved, That, with pride in the patriot- ism of Congress, with gratitude for the fearless -and persistent support they have given to the ■cause of loyalty, and their efforts to restore all ~t.he States to their former condition as States in i,he American Union, we will stand bj- the posi- "tions taken by them, and use all means consist- •ent with a peaceful and lawful course, to secure "the ratification of the amendments to the Consti- tution of the United States, as proposed by Con- gress at its recent session, and regret that the Congress, in its wisdom, did not provide by law for the greater security of the loyal people in 4he;States not yet admitted to representation. *J5, Resolved, That the political power of the Government of the United States in the admin- istration of public affairs, is, by its Constitution, •<>onfided to the popular or law-making depart- tnent of the (Jovernment. 'V. R-esolved, That the pollLical status of the States lately in rebellion to the United States 'Crovernment, and the rights of the people of «uch States, are political questions, and are therefore clearly within the control of Congress, to the exclusion of, and independent of any and •every other department of the government. S. Resolved, That there is no right, political, legal, or constitutional, in any State to secede or withdraw from the Union ; but they may, by wicked and unauthorized revolutions and force, -sever the relations which they have sustained to the Union ; and when thej^ do, they assume the ■attitude of public enemies at war with the United i5tates ; they subject themselves to all the rules .and principles of international law, and the laws of war applicable to belligerents, according to modern usage. 9. Resolved, That we are unalterably in favor of the union of the States, and earnestly desire the legal and speedy restoration of all the States to their proper places in the Union, and the establishment in each of them of influences of patriotism and justice, by which the whole na- tion shall be combined to carry forward tri- umphantly the principles of freedom and pro- gress, until all men of all races shall, everywhere beneath the flag of our country, have accorded to them freely all that their virtues, industry, intelligence and energy may entitle them to at- tain. 10. Resolved, That the organizations in the un- represented States assuming to be State govern- ments, not having been legally established, are not legitimate governments until recognized by Congress. (Adopted.) 11. Resolved, That we cherish with tender hearts the memory of the virtues, patriotism, sublime faith, upright Christian life, and gener- ous nature of the Martyr-President, Abraham Lincoln. (Adopted.) 12. Resolved, That we are in favor of universal liberty the world over, and feel the deepest sym- pathy with the oppressed people of all countries in their struggle for freedom, and the right of all men to divide and control for themselves the character of the government imder which they live. 13. Resolved, That the lasting gratitude of the nation is due to the men who bore the battle, and in covering themselves with imperishable glory have saved to the world the hope of free government ; and relying on " the invincible soldiers and sailors" who made the grand army and navy of the Republic to be true to the prin- ciples for which they fought, we pledge them that we will stand by them in maintaining the honor duo the saviors of the nation and in secur- ing the fruits of their victories. 14. Resolved, That, remembering with pro- found gratitude and love the precepts of Washington, we should accustom ourselves to consider the Union as the primary object of patriotic desire, which has heretofore sustained us with great power in our love of the Union when so many of our neighbors in the South were waging war for its destruction, our deep and abiding love for the Father of His Country and for the Union is more deeply engraven on our hearts than ever. Mr. Grisham (Tenn.) — I move the previous question upon the adoption of those resolutions. The motion was put and agreed to. Mr. Stokes (Tenn.) — Mr. President, after the adoption of those resolutions a Committee will report an Address and Resolutions from the non-reconstructed States, separate and apart from the other. I desire to make this announce- ment in order that t»iey may have an ojjportunity of presenting them at the proper time. 37 The resolutions were read a second time, each of them being acted upon severally, and they were unanimously adopted. Mr. 11. Maynard (Tenn.), after the eleventh resolution was again read, suggested that the Convention manifest their approval by rising in silence. The President — I hope the Convention will accept the suggestion. When the question was put the entire body rose upon their feet. The President — I pronounce the resolution unanimously adopted. A communication was presented to the Chair and read, wherein the greetings of the Loyal Radical State Convention < f Kansas were sent to the Southern and other Conventions sitting in Philadelphia, and stating that the prayers of all loj-al hearts are offered in behalf of the success of the principles and objects in which they were engaged. It bore the signature of the President of that body. Resolutions were received passed at a meeting of Northern delegates, welcoming and cheering their fellow-citizens who are assembled in Con- vention at Philadelphia, and recognizing in the Southern Unionists now assembled here the true representatives of the men who, with so much patriotism, held to the Union in the late struggle for national existence, and supported the cause of freedom in the very hot-bed of rebellion. They extend their hearty sympathy, not as a charitable donation, but as a deserving encouragement for the performance of their 1 patriotic duties, which they have a right to claim from every loyal man in the country. They recommend the granting of rights to those who have labored in the cause of the country and of freedom as a guarantee to their political power, and rejoicing in the hope that liberal and impartial justice will dictate it, at the same time calling upon all Unionists, white and black, to peril everything for the life of the Republic. The President announced the receipt of a communication from the loyal men of Southern Alabama, which was read. It was thus: ADDRESS FROM ALABAMA. To the Hon. the Chairman of the " Loyal Southern Convention," assembled at the City of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, Sept. 3, 1866. Sir: I am requested by a large number of loyal Unionists of Northern Alabama, residents of Marion, Walker, Winston, Morgan and Frank- lin Counties, to speak for them by letter to the Chairman of the Convention. They have instructed me to say that they are now, as ever, true and loyal men to the ])rescnt Constitution . That they accept and fully support the policy laid down by the Congress of the United States in the Civil Rights r>ill, and the provisions of the proposed amendment to the Constitution. They pledge to the Union Republican party of the nation their unwavering support in the consummation of its glorious work of recon- structing this Government on an everlasting basis of Freedom, Justice and Equality. They thank the loyal masses of the North,, and especially do they thank the soldiers and sailors of the armj' and navy of the National Government for the suppression of the late Rebellion; waged for the sole purpose of establishing a slave oligarchy in the South, which would have been more horrible and i oppressive, if possible, to the loyal whites of the ' South than actual Slavery ; and eternal woe for the colored man and his posterity; and they thank Almighty God for their deliverance. They renew their faith and allegiance to the- Federal Union, and pledge their lives, property and sacred honors to the support of the Great National Union Republican Partj-— which has in its keeping the precious chr.rter of our- liberties — the Federal Constitution. They denounce the restoration policy of Mr. Johnson, especially as they believe it is calculated to give strength to the enemies of the Republic; and weaken its friends. That they look upon the late Johnson ConTen* tion at Philadelphia as a first step taken in the- grand plot now laid by traitors North and South: to accomplish the overthrow of the Republic. That they have come to this conclusion very reluctantly; but passing events since the sur- render of the rebel armies have forcibly con- vinced them of its truth, and that it would be- suicidal to admit the Southern States as at present organized into the legislative council of the nation. ' They assure their loyal friends of the Nortla that the same elements which " fired the Southern, heart" and were princij>al instigators of the- Southern Rebellion, and immediately after tht- surrender apparently " accepted the situation" in good faith, have become emboldened by the- course of President Johnson and his policy, and are to-day not only demanding their admission back to seats in Congress with a spii-it of vindictiveness which is utterly disgusting, but they are trying again to "tire the Southern heart" by proclaiming that "negro equality" is. to be forced upon tliem unless they aid Mr. Johnson in destroj'ing the loyal Republican party which they term " Radical," and declare to the people that if V.t. Johnson's policy meets with a rebuke this fall, that war must settle the question — and the3-tell them '• .Mo)iss denounced as Rump, acting without autliority. The policy of the President, backed by his great patronage and increased power, assured them in the liope of being placed in absolute power in their States and restored ultimatelj- to their merited influence in the national Legislature. Those who had remained faithful in their allegiance were de- nounced as traitors and as unworthy the confi- dence or respect of the country, and those who did not indorse the Executive policy were persecuted in the name of the President, with the added malice of unsuccessful revolution.. The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial offices of the States filled with ex-Rebel oflicors of high position and rank, elevated in consideration of services rendered and sacrifices for the Confed- eracy, burning under the effect of recent defeat, produced in great measure by the loyalists of the South, lannched fit them every shaft of persecution and intolerance. Almost every Union man, who by appointment or otherwise held office or place, has been summarily removed to give p]ace to men who had distinguished themselves in the Confederate service ; and so anxious and determined were they in removing every element of power from Union men that forms of law were disregarded. State officers in Louisiana, for instance, upon the most flimsy pretext, were superseded by illegal appointment and ejected by force without trial or forms of law. The Legislatures vent their indignation on the colored people b}- the enactment of what are kindly termed "labor laws," which as absolutely maintain Slavery, with the exception of bu3'ing and selling the people, as the previous enactments for that purpose. As an instance, the laws passed by some of our legislatures provide that all persons engaged in agricultural pursuits as laborers shall be required during the first ten days of the month of January of each year to make contracts for the ensuing year, and in case of failure such laborer shall be arrested by the civil authorities and hired out ; and however much the laborer may be dissatisfied, he dare not leave under the penalt}- of being apprehended and forced to labor upon the public ^ works, without compensation, until he will consent to return to his employer. It is punished with fine and imprisonment to entice or persuade away, feed, harbor or secrete any such laborer. In this way thej' are compelled to contract within a limit of ten days, punished by legal 48 ■enslavement for violating a simple contract, and prevented from obtaining shelter, food and employment. By severest penalties he has been made a serf in the name of freedom, and suffers all tlie evils of the institution of Slavery, without receiving that care which the master, from a sense of his own interest, would give to his bondsmen. By the act of some of our legislatures, it is made a trespass for any man to enter upon tlie plantation of another without the consent of the owner or agent, and punisha- ble with fine and iiin)risonHieat. Tlic object of this law is evidently to prevent laborers from leaving the plantations upon which they are compelled to engage. It is also made lawful for the employer to fine and punish this employe for failing to labor to suit the employer or disobey any orders. The interpretation of laws and decisions by the courts has been characterized by the same unwholesome and intolerant spirit. The laws passed in tlie days of Slavery for its protection are enforced with the same exactness to-day as ten years ago. Citizens have been arrested on the charge of having told negroes that thej' were riglitfullj' entitled to vote ; thrown into prison, retained for months, tried by a judge, without a jury, refused time to send for witnesses or counsel, convicted and sen- tenced to punishment in the Penitentiary. There J8 no redress of any grievances or atrocities perpetrated upon Union men, or deserters from the rebel armies during the war. It is even necessary to plead special orders from a Confed- erate officer, for it is said that all citizens belonged by law to the militia, and, as both the State and Confederate Governments had repeat- edly ordered the militia to apprehend deserters at any time or place, it is held that the acts passed to screen Confederate officers and soldiers from the consequences of acts committed in obedience to orders covers all acts committed against deserters or conscripts in the attempt of apprehension. As against Union men, however, tlie law is strictly construed by the courts. The slightest infraction by a conscript in flying to our lines, or by a deserter starving in his cave, is sure to meet with speedy judicial retri- bution. Did a man resist a conscript officer to the death, it is murder. Did a conscript officer arrest women and children and keep them for forty hours in a fierce storm without food and subjected to the grossest indignities and violence, producing the death of some and periling the lives of others, " it is done in obedience to military authority," and the rebel goes unpun- ^ ished. In short, in all act'ons where cause occurred during the war there is plenty of law against the Union man, but none for him. In causes occurring at the present time the fierce hatred of the men who were right, while disunionists were wrong, is sufficient to prevent them passing the triple guard with which treason has surrounded her temple of injustice, viz., disloyal magistrates, disloyal grand juries, disloyal petit juries, to say nothing of the disloyal agencies of Government. Union men are ostracised and prescribed sociallj' in most parts of the South. Soldiers of the Union army are compelled in many cases to discard the blue which they have worn with honor in order to protect themselves from insult and violence. Ministers of the Gospel are silenced and excommunicated from the churches on account of their constant and steadfast loyalty to the Republic. Disloyal men have military associations which are known in Virginia as the Legion of Honor — in South Carolina and Louis- iana as relief societies — all of them composed of Confederate soldiers, and presided over and controlled b}' their former leaders and chieftains, and used for the purpose of fostering the animus of resistance to our Government and keeping alive the hope of Southern independence. Their object is to monopolize all places of trust and power, preserve the exclusiveness of the South, and at the proper time, when some hoped-for feud may divide the people of the North, it will again throw its sword in the scale and achieve her long-cherished disunion purpose. Loyal men are taunted and threatened in private and denounced in public assemblages. Bowed down and crushed by the foul spirit of a prevailing and clamorous disloyal population, many of our people are selling their estates for whatever they can get to procure money to enable them to leave and come North. During the continuance of the war, rebels feared that punishment would be meted out to them for the wrong done to Union men should they fail -ti their object. Thi.s fear was a protection, es- pecially during 1863 and 1864. Now, even this guarantee is taken away; for our persecutors are the vicegerents of the national power at the South. The Union man is discarded and abjured. He has to look forward to a life of continual persecution for himself and serfdom for his children. The free North offers the only refuge. Without protection for the present and future, there is no hope but in exile. The strongest evidence of the intolerance of the disunionists is lately given in the action of the civil authorities of the City of New Orleans toward a convention composed of gentlemen of known loyalty- On the 30th of July last, in pursuance of a proclamation of Rufus K. Howell, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, the Convention which framed the organic law under which the Civil Government of Louisiana assumed to act, and which ad- journed subject to call of its president, met at the Capitol of the State, in the City of New Orleans. From the time of the Governor's request for the Convention to reassemble, the press of the city, owned and controlled bj- ex-generals and colonels and oth^r officers of the rebel army, and by those in sympathy with them, attacked with the greatest violence the Convention as a body, and members as individ- uals, descending to most violent and abusive language, for the purpose of influencinsf the 49 iiiinds of returned rebel soldiery and their adherents against the Convention and its mem- bers. Public meetings were held in the city, at which the most violent and incendiary speeches were made against the assembling of the Con- vention. The Mayor of the city, by means of his police, put in circulation the report of his determination to suppress that body if it should attempt to meet in the City of New Orleans. The Judge of the Criminal Court made a charge 1)0 the Grand Jury, in which he discussed and indorsed the policy of Andrew Johnson, and instructed them to find bills of indictment against those gentlemen who should respond to the call of the President of the Convention and the Governor of the State. Having thus inflamed the public mind against the Convention by every means in his power, and invoked the aid of a corrupt Judge and a disloyal Grand Jury. th° foreman of which was an ex-colonel of the rebel army, the Mayor of the city addressed a letter to Major-General Baird, commanding the De- partment of Louisiana, in which he used the following language: "It is my intention to disperse this unlawful assembly if found within corporate limits of the city, provided they meet without the sanction of the military authorities." Thus claiming the authority as Mayor of the city to pass upon the legality of a convention which had made the government under which he held his office and whose Constitution he had ■sworn to support, and claiming the right and as- sorting his determination to disperse it in case it ehould be found within the corporate limits of the city. It would be supposed, after the able and manly reply of General Baird to this letter, that the determination officially expressed would not have been further contemplated. That offi- cer, after having informed the Mayor that the Convention had not asked for any such authority or sanction, and when asked " If I intended to furnish the Convention with a military guard, I have replied, 'No; the Mayor of the city with hia police will amply protect its sifting.' " If these persons assemble, as you say is intend- ed, it will be, I presume, in virtue of the univer- sally conceded right of all loyal citizens of the United States to meet peaceably and discuss freely questions concerning their civil govern- ments, a right which is not restricted by the fact that the movement proposed might terminate in a change of existing institutions. If the assem- blage in question has the legal right to remodel the State Government it should be protected in so doing. If it has not, then its labors must be looked vipon as a harmless pleasantry to which no one ought to object. As to your conception of the duty imposed by your oath of office, I re- gret to differ with you entirel}'. I cannot under- stand how the Mayor of a city can undertake to decide so important and delicate a question as the legal authority upon which a Convention claiming to represent the people of an entire State bases its action." 7 Your Committee are informed that this reply of Gen. Baird, was the cause of a personal inter view between the Lieutenant-Governor and the General, when it was agreed that whatever war- rant of arrest might be issued should be submit- ted to him before any attempt was made to have it executed, and that upon the indorsement of the General's objections, the matter should be referred to the President of the United States for his action. This fact being known, produced a feeling of security on the part of the members of the Convention, and on the morning of the 30th of July, appeared a proclamation of the Mayor requesting the people to remain away from the Convention that peace and order might be preserved ; it was believed at the time that this was issued with the sincere desire to pre- serve the peace, but the sequel will show that it was only a mantle to cover the real design. At 12 o'clock the night before the police were with- drawn from their beats, and assembled at their respective station-houses ; and, besides the weapons usually used by policemen, each was given a large-sized navy revolver. Thus armed, they were held at the station-houses to await orders. In addition to these measui-es o!hers had been taken by Harry T. Hays, Sheriff of the Parish of Orleans, and one ex-General of the Rebel army, pardoned by the President to enable him to assume that office, he had reorganized a portion of his old brigade as deputy sheriff's, and they were ordered to be in readiness on that oc- casion. They were doubly armed with revolvers, and prepared to act with all the efficiency of military discipline. From early in the morning the streets of New Orleans were \inusually crowd- ed ; the Union men were assembling in the Con- vention hall, and many were in the street. In front of the building, at the corner of Dryades Street and Canal, were stationed a large number of young men, in citizen's dress, recognized as members of Rebel military organizations, evi- dently waiting for the signal of attack, and whose subsequent conduct proves conclusively that they, too, were armed and stationed there for a bloody purpose. At 12 o'clock the Convention met, arjd after a short session adjourned for one hour, io give time for the absent members to appear. Your Committee are informed that it was the in- tention of the members of the Convention to re- cord the names of those who might be present during the day and to then adjourn until a day subsequent to the elections, to fill the vacancies which were already ordered by the Governor of the State. Near one o'clock the bells of the city tolled a signal, and the police, joined by hun- dreds of •returned Rebel soldiers in citizen's dress, attacked, without anj' provocation, the people collected in front of the Capitol ; they being mostly unarmed, were forced to retreat. Met by another body of jiolice and citizens, they were compelled to submit to unheard of and un- paralleled butchery. The street in front of the Capitol being thus cleared, an attack was made upon the hall whei etlie convention had assembled. The members and audience were fouuJ seated 50 ia accordance with the request of the Rev. Mr. Horton, Dr. A. P. Dostie, and others. Without any attempt at arrest, without one word of provo- cation, the assailants opened upon tliem a volley. Driven back upon the walls, with no means of escape, and with dead and wounded men all around them, their otters of surrender answered by pistol shots, the besieged, in their despera- tion, seized the chairs of the hall, drove their assailants, who had by this time emptied their revolvers, from the room. These attacks were repeated until every man had been either killed or wounded, or had effected his escape. "While this was going on, in the streets of the city for several squares around the building was a scene of carnage, and whoever was seen with a dusky skin or of well-known loj'alty by any of the city officials or by their supporters, the Union-hating mob, was either killed or wounded ; every bearer of a flag of truce from the hall of the Convention was met with wounds and death. Many of the victims after being murdered, were subjected to the most brutal lacerations and indignities. It is a fact, worthy of notice, that the mob was not an ordinary one. It was not composed of the dregs of the populace, but of men who claimed to be and are i-egarded as the most respectable citizens of New Orleans. Men of high standing in the communities were there, some dressed as policemen, and some as firemen, while others, without any attempt at disguise, M'ere openly using their influence to excite the masses to still greater fury. The instances of brutality charac- terizing this revolting massacre, are too many and too horrible to recite in a document of this kind, but the history of the age in no land, civil- ized and uncivilized, will narrate a tale more merciless, unprovoked, and unnecessary blood- "shed. It was the expressed intention of Gen. JBaird to have the United States troops in close •prGximity to the Capitol in order that the public peace might be preserved. This intention had been communicated by him to the Lieutenant- •Goveraor, who, without authority, and in con- tempt of the Governor of the State, assumed to confer "vrith the General on the course to be pur- sued. This official, when informed of the Gen- eral's design, took occasion to tell him that the Convention would meet at 6 o'clock in the eve- ning, knowing well that the hour fixed upon was 12 o'clock M. Tims deceived. Gen. Baird was surprised to learn when the reports of the mas- sacre were carried to him that the Convention had met at 12 o'clock and had adjourned. All the circumstances connnected with this tragic event, the expressed intention of tlie Mayor to disperse the Convention unless it met with the sanction of the military autliorities, the with- drawal ot the police from their beats in the city 12 hours before that appointed for assembling of the Convention, the arming of them with re- volvers, the signal given at 1 o'clock, and the prompt arrival of all the police of the city, in- cluding (JOO or 700 special policemen sworn in for the occasion, the presence of the Mayor dur- ing the tumult, the deception practiced by the Lieutenant-Governor to keep troops out of the city, all clearly prove that the bloody tragedy was, as Gen. Sheridan states, " a premeditated massacre." And from the brutal manner in which over four hundred Union men were killed and wounded, from the fact that not one single policeman or participant in the murderous affair has been arrested, from the fact that the same men whose hands are yet red with the blood of the patriot soldiers of the Republic, and crim- soned anew in that of the martyrs of the 30th of July, are still retained in office and power in that city, it is clear that there is no security for the lives, the liberty or property of loyal citi- zens. It is a part of the history of this massacre that indictments were found by the Gmnd Jury of the parish, composed of ex-Rebel soldiers and their sympathizers, against the survivors of the Convention, for having disturbed the peace of the communitj-, and that, to day, many of them are under heavy bonds to appear and answer the charge ; nor did this seem to satisfy the judge of the Criminal Court, for the grand jury was brought before him on the following day and instructed to find bills of indictment against the members of the Convention and spectators, charging them with murder, giving the princi- ple in law, and applying it in this case, that who- ever is engaged in an unlawful proceeding from which death ensues to a human being, is guilty of murder, and alleging that as the Convention had no right to meet, and the police had killed many men on the day of its meeting, the sur- vivors were therefore guily of murder. The state of affairs which led to the massacre. is believed to be the legitimate result of the re- construction policy of Andrew Johnson ; for it is an indisputable fact that upon the recejition of Gen. Baird's reply to Mayor Monroe, a dele- gation was sent to Washington to confer with the President of the United States, and that after the conference with that functionary a dispatch was sent to New Orleans informing the Mayor that he would be sustained by the President in his determination to suppress the Convention. The President, ignoring the provision of the Constitution which authorizes the Executive of the nation to suppress insurrection in a State only when called upon by the Legislature of said State, or in case of its not being in session by the Executive of said State, ignoring the Gover- nor and all rules of official intercourse between the State and the National Governments, sent a dispatch in which he used the following lan- guage : " To Andrew J. Ilerron, Attorney Gen- eral of Louisiana (on the day of the massacre). You will call on Gen. Sheridan, and whoever else may be in command, for sufficient force to sustain the civil authorities in suppressing all illegal or unlawful assemblies." This placed Gen, Sheridan and the United States troops under the command of an Attorney-General of a now re- constructed State whose greatest merit may be said to consist in the fact that he had served four j-ears as an officer of high rank in the Rebel army, giving him the power which the Gov- 51 ernor himself would not "exercise, and allowing him to say whether a convention of loyal citizens was unlawful, and compelling Gen. Sheridan to enforce, by the strong arm of the Government, his interposition. It might have been urged at first with some show of plausibility, in the Presi dent's defense, that he was misinformed as to the real status of the Convention and the actual facts of its bloody dispersion ; but after weeks have elapsed, after Gen. Sheridan's full report, charac- terizing the so-called riot as a "premeditated massacre ; " after the report of the jMilitary Com- mission appointed by Gen. Baird to investigate the affair ; after the exodus of so many well-known Unionists of Louisiana, on account of the total want of Government protection, this pica can no longer be urged ; and when it is moreover re- membered that not a single arrest of the guilt}- parties has been made, and that the same par- doned, perjured Mayor, with his murderous Rebel police, has been permitted to continue the exercise of the power he has so grossly abused, can it be claimed, even by the most credulous or the most charitable, that the President is not responsible for the bloodshed of that day ? But why continue the recital of this horrible record ? We have before us evidence from every portion of the South, proving the extent and in- creasing violence of the spirit of intolerance and persecution above set forth. This Conven- tion is in possession of information that Union men dare not attend this Convention for fear of violence upon their return. Gentlemen of this Convention h«ve while in this city here i-eceived notices warning them not to return home. We have omitted the relation of acts of ferocity and barbarism too horrible to relate, and the recital of which would scarcely be credited by a hu- mane and civilized people. We submit to the impartial judgment of the American people, if these State Governments, thus ruled by a dis- union oligarchy and based upon the political disfranchisement of 3,000,000 of colored citizens, and the social disfranchisement of the entire lo3-al white citizens, are republican in form , of doubtful legal existence they are undoubtedly despotic, and despotic in the interest of treason, as we of the South kno^' but too well. This view of the condition of the South before the war, and of the events which have transpired since, brings us to the consideration of the confirmed, consoli- dated, intolerant, and defiant power of disimion which now controls every department of the non- reconstructed States. All the restraining influences in favor of the Union existing before the war have perished from the land, save the public light kept alive by the loyalists. The armed efforts to overthrow the Government having been treated simply as an unsuccessful but heroic act, the leaders of the Eebellion stand justified in the eyes of their own people. This is the basis of their moral justifica- tion. They possess the lands of the South through the favoritism of the military despotism en- throned at Richmond. During the war they ab- sorbed by contracts and speculation the wealth of our section. They have been confirmed in the possession of this ill-gotten wealth by the par- doning power of the Executive, by the provisions of the National Bank Act, requiring local resi- dences for Directors ; they possess control of the entire financial power of the States, and therewith the lands, the cotton, the tobacco, and railroad wealth, and wielding the banking influence of the country, and speaking by authority of the Presi- dent as the supporters of his dynasty and admin- istration policy, they dominafe with an absolute power. If a conflict of arms for the gratification of sectional and party hatred coidd be, as we have seen, precipitated, notwithstanding the restraining influences which existed previous to the late war, what guarantee have we against a repetition of the blood}- experiment in politics, now that the entire South is more intensely eec- tionalized than ever, overawed bj-the fearful array of power which surrounds tljeBi ! Abandoned by the President and impoverished by the ruthless rule which has so long oppressed them, how can the Union men of the South hope unaided to main- tain their ground '? The remedy which is pro- posed in the President's policy will only increase our sufierings and ojien the way to perpetuating the tyrann}- of oppressors. The admission of these representatives of these treasonable committees into Congress, carries with it the admission of their vote in the Electoral College. They will, on many vital questions of legislature, hold the balance of power in Presidential elections. The effect of their vote in Congress, it is true, can be neutralized by keeping in the Halls of National Legislature a solid body of men with whom it will be impossible for the agents of treason to affiliate, but the same check c^mnot be applied in the Electoral College. The hope of -wielding the united Southern vote in the next Presidential election has already corrupted the fountains of national justice at the capital. An open and shameless coalition has been formed, which needs oulv for its consummation the success of the President's policy. Into that coalition have been already drawn, by one influence or another, men heretofore identified with the dearest affection of the American people. Thus the work of po- litical corruption will go on ; the South, com- pact, defiant, and sectionalizcd, with its anti. republican institutions, resting on negro serfdom as tlie corner-stone ; the North, torn by faction and distracted by the ambition of aspiring poli- ticians and contending parties. This conflict of sections will progress, transferred from the bat- tle-fields to the hulls of the National Legisla- ture. The spirit of disunion will seek to gain by the ballot what it failed to achieve by the sword ; the second open-armed attempt at separation will be simply a question of time and favorable opportunity. There is but one way to destroy this principle of sectionalism in the South ; it is by overturning the corner-stone on which it rests. This work cannot be left to the voluntary act of the disunion class, because their aristocratic, anti- American instincts will find their natural gratification in tlie secondarj' form of Slaver}-. If the question of emancipation had been left to the voluntary action of these States, does any one suppose they would have adopted the Con- stitutional Amendment ? AVould their chosen representatives have voted in Congress for the Civil Rights Bill ? Can we look to a landed oligarcliy for measures of liberation for the peo- ple ? Fellow-countrymen, it is our duty to tell yon that nothing can be expected from the dis- union element in the interest of fi-eedom, right, or union, "We are driven to make this declara- tion after having exhausted every means to in- duce these desperate men to do justice. We are forced to this conclusion by that blind and intolerant spirit which had abused the magna- nimity of the nation, and returned all our deeds and words of charity and forgiveness with in- gratitude and persecution. The time has come when the States of the South must be governed by those who love the Union and glory in its fame, or by those who hate it. There can 1^ no middle ground. Our enemies and yours would not permit us to occupy middle ground, if we desired to do so. They claim to rule. They claim to rule over u9 by virtue of their treason. They claim to degrade, debase, and proscribe us because of our patriot- ism. Acting in conjunction with the noble and generous spirit of Christian charity, under which the North was willing to receive back those who had wronged us, the Union men of the South met their neighbors and friends and kindred, irilling to forgive and forget the past. We de- clare that all our efforts, as well as those of the Government, have been met with hypo risy or ingratitude. In making this final aiipe:;l to the country, we declare that the disunion leaders v( the South are again the deliberate, want(jn ag- gressors. They offer, as a pretext for our perse- cution, that the representatives of the American people in Congress have proposed, in a sjjirit of ijijustice and proscription, to inflict the South with mere partisan legislation. • Speaking here to-day in the name of the loyal- ists of the South, we affirm, Congress, in order to avoid discord and conflict, has actually abstained from doing much which it ought to have done, and possesses the power to do. We affirm that the loyalists of the South look to Congress with aiFectionate gratitude and confidence as the only means to save us from persecution, exile, and death itself ; and we also declare that there can be no security for us or our children. There can be no safety for the country against the fell spirit of Slavery, now organized in the form of .serfdom, unless tl;e Government, bj- national and appropriate legislation, enforced by national authority, shall confer on every citizen in the States we represent the American birtliright of impartial suffrage and equality before the law. This is the one all-sufficient remedy. This is our great need and pressing necessity. This is the only policy which will destroy sectionalism by bringing into effective power a prejionderat- ing force on the side of loj-alty. It will lead to an enduring pacification, because based on the eternal principles of justice. It is a policy which will finally regenerate the South itself, because it will introduce and establish there a divine principle of moral politics, which, under God's blessing, will, in elevating humanity, absorb and purify the unchristian hate and selfish passions of men. It will bless those who give as well as those who receive. It will be the crowning act of glory to our free Republic, and when done, will be received, as was the act of Emancipation, with joy and praise throughout the world as the final realization of the promises of the Declara- tion of American Independence. H. C. WARMOUTH, of Louisiana, C hairman. C. G. BAYLOR, of Georgia, D. H. BINGHAM, of Alabama, A. W TOURGEE. of North Carolina, R. 0. SIDNEY, of Mississippi, JAMES H. BELL, of Texas,^ JOHN HAWXHURST, Virginia, ' Committee. DEBA TE UPON THE REPORT hV RELA- TION TO IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE. Mr. Warmouth. — I am instructed by the Com- mittee on Unreconstructed States, in considera- tion of the fact that this is a report expressing our condition and our needs, to express the hope that this Convention will consent to allow the delegates from those States only to consider and act upon the report. [Applause.] In their name, therefore, 1 move that the consideration of and action upon this report, with the consent of the Convention, be confined to the delegates from the Unreconstructed States. Mr. Goodloe, of North Carolina, said that while sympathizing with the people of those States, he could not support any measure which insisted that the Government of the United States should impose negro suffrage upon the South. A point of order was raised to the effect that there was a motion before the house to which Mr. Goodloe was not speaking. Mr Sidney, of Mississippi, said that the reso- lution adopted last night provided Fpecifically that this matter should be considered only by delegates from the Unreconstructed States. A Delegate sa'd it was understood that the proceedings should be printed with those of the regular Convention, with the express under- standing that they were the sentiments of the delegates from the Unrecon.^tructed States. The Chairman stated that although he had not been present last evening, it was his under- standing that the proceedings were to be only conducted b}- delegates from those States. Mr. Bryant (Ga.) suggested that every dele- gate who desired to record his name against the adoption of the report should be allowed to do so A delegate from ilarjdand had prayed this Convention, in God's name, to exempt Maryland from the great jndrjmcnt that was pronounced 53 yesterday, and he should have an opportunity to record his name against it. The Hon. Daniel R. Goodloe (N. C ) said that he was in favor of impartial suffrage for all men. The loyal people of the South desired it and ought to have it He could not agree with some gentlemen here who had insisted that negro suffrage was not needed. He had listened yes- terday to the eloquent speeches of a Northern lady, an intelligent colored man, and a gifted New York editor, and had been convinced that impartial sufii-age and equal rights to all were the only hope of the South. The South de- manded it, but they need not endeavor to make those who did not sanction negro suffrage swal- low that doctrine. Let them alone, and in two or three years they would come around and be with the Radical party of the South. He moved to strike out the concluding part of the ad- dress. •*- Capt. A. W. Tourgee, of North Carolina — Mr. President: I, too, come from North Carolina, but I do not come here to represent a potential constituency. I come here with definite instruc- tions from nearly two thousand Union men ujion this very point. Impartial suffrage is a neces- sity for us. My constituency declare that there are but two possible safeguards. One is the dis- franchisement of all rebels, and the other the absolute and unconditional enfranchise- ment of all loyal men. [Applause.] The first we consider impracticable, because the disfran- chisement of this great mass of disloyal men will establish a banditti more dangerous than that of Corsica. Our only hope, our only salva- tion, therefore, is in the enfranchisement of all loyal men. [Applause.] I have used my hand and my voice in sustaining the cause of liberty and freedom in North Carolina. I have stood before the people of that State and said what I say here to-day. I have pledged mj-self, come weal or come woe, so to stand and so to speak in North Carolina just so long as there was a rebel in the State, God and the rebellion willing. [Applause.] If the enfranchisement of all loyal men in North Carolina cannot eave it, nothing can save it. I came here to present this fact for your consideration. During the last three months over twelve hundred Union men, princi- pally soldiers, men who had joined our armies and done good service in putting down the rebellion, have been driven out of North Caro- lina. Men have sold everything they had for merely a nominal value to get money to go to the West, because they could not live in that State. I can go to North Carolina and put my hand upon hundreds of men who have been threatened with death unless they left the State. There is more than a sjjirit of mere temporary policy in this demand for impartial suffrage. There is the absolute and unconditional fact be- fore us that it is the only mode by which the designs of rebels can be check-mated. No other plan will ever give the Union men of the South a majority there. Gentlemen say that they do not care whether the rebels enfranchise the negro or not, but are willing that they should. They may be in favor of having the club taken out of their own hands and permitting their own brains to be beaten out with it, but I am not. If the negro is ever to be enfranchised, if the salvation of the Unionists of the South require that it should be done by them and done now. we are bound to come here and ask for it — and to ask for all we need. Shall we accept the crumbs and not ask for the loaf? Shall we eay. . " Give us this day or daily crumbs," when we ' must have bread ? We mnst have justice and equality, not justice merely for the black man, ' but justice, liberty, protection, and salvation for the white man as well. [Applause.] Gentlemen say that this .o the question of the Delegate from North Carolina (Mr. GoocUoe) — I say that the negroes will vote while Andrew Johnson is President. The Administration party this fall will roll uj) such an immense minority, and the chances of the Johnson party will be so excessively select, that their only hope will be to take up the sword which we have dropped, and cut our own heads with it. If we do not enfranchise the negroes, the disloyal element of the South will say to them, " We have always been 3'our best friends, look how those Yanl>ees treat you. We have been identified at the North and at the South as the friends of suffrage." Gentlemen may squirm and wriggle and kick on the question of suffrage, but I tell j-ou there is no better chance of avoid- ing this issue than there is of avoiding the issues of judgment. [Applause.] The only question now is whether we mil decide this issue for our- selves, and decide our own weal or woe thereby, or whether we will point out to our enemies their only hope and salvation. [Great applause.] Dr. P. B. Randolph, of Louisiana — ^Mr. Presi- dent : As the only reprcBentative of that despised race legally entitled to seats in this Convention, I stand before j'ou and emplore you, in the name of the thousands who have fallen upon many a bloody battle-field, to stand, in this hour of the nation's peril, by those who stood by you when that proud flag was trailed in the dust. [Ap- plause.] The time has passed when the Repub- lican party of the United States can sacrifice principle upon the altar of expediency. If we of Louisiana were surrounded as you are by patri- otic hearts, we might not press this issue ; but to-day we, men of Louisiana, whose voices have been heard in this Convention, dare not return to our wives and homes for fear of the gibbet or the bullet; and unless you stand by us on this question of the rights of man in this our trial hour, we may never be able to return. Sir, I as- sure you that the enfranchisement of the negro is coming, just as sure as the sun rises in the east, and unless you hasten that event, unless you do your duty by us, the enemy, who is al- ready biding for us, will secure our enfranchise- ment. Our hearts are with you, but I assure you that the negroes of the South will act with that party who shall give us our rights in the brief- est possible space of time. What have we done, Mr. President, that our friends should go back upon us '? What have we done that your lips should be sealed? What crime have we com- mitted ? Have we not stood by that flag ? Have we not fought with you in its defense ? Have we not done our duty as citizens of this Repub- lic 1 Have you ever found a negro a traitor ? [Great applause, and cries of, " No, no."] If AbraJiam Lincoln was living to-day, he would be (or the enfranchisement of my people ; and I thank God that there are men to-day acting with the dominant party — with noble, manly, stalwart forms, with hearts beating where hearts ought to beat, who are ready to face this issue, and who cry aloud to the nation for justice, and seek the good of humanity irrespective of conventions or political parties. They may be few, but they are increasing every day. " We are going up to Gideon, to battle for the Lord, We are com- ing. Father Abraham, five hundred thousand more " [Applause.] This, as I have already said, is the trial of the nation. I say that we negroes deserve your sympathy. You may pity those who are murdered or stricken down, but how much do you pity them ? I remember that some years ago an old lady was crossing the ferry at Lrooklyn. She had a lot of bonnet- frames in her hand, which the wind blew over- board. Everybody said, " I'm sorry ; but a Frenchman standing by said, " I'm sorry ten dollars' worth, how sorry are you?" If you commiserate our condition, if you realize that all classes of the South, black and white, are in danger, why do j'ou not prove your sympathy by your acts. [Applause.] The men of Louisi- ana are outcasts from our homes and firesides. Throughout that State the rebels rule triumph- ant. It la everywhere a matter of disgrace to be a black man , it is a matter of scorn to be a Unionist, but to be a black man, a Unionist, and an educator of his people, is to be guilty of the greatest crime under heaven. If you put out the eyes of a man and deprive him of the sunlight, you are committing a great crime against him, but if you withhold our rights from us, what are you doing? Men from the South, I will tell you, you are closing up hundreds of schools; you are driving thousands of black children from the school-houses; you are going to let loose a reign of vandalism more atrocious than the world has ever seen ; you are striking a blow at the very heart of civilization ; you are enslav- ing the freedmen ; you are hastening the reign of anarchy and confusion. The time has come when the American party of progress must stand squarely up to the principles which it enunciates and face the music, let the consequences be what they may. [Applau-e.] Therefore, as the only negro — black as night if you please — in this Convention, I appeal to you, as the representa- tive of four million of people, to stand up and do us justice. If you do not, you will regret it. If, when the time comes when we do vote, we, like you, will remember our Iriends, and not for- get our foes. [Great applause.] Mr. J. W. Hunnicutt, of Virginia — Mr. Presi- dent, I have been endeavoring to get the floor for nearly five days, so as to say a few words to the gentlemen of the Convention. I may pre- mise what little I have to say with the declara- tion, that when I left Richmond last week to come here, it was not with the intention of stand- ing up here to represent Henry A. Wise or the RichiHond Dispatch or the Richmond Examiner. I came here to represent the loyal men, the loyal white and black men of Virginia, and, with the blessing of God, I will do it as foithfuUy as may be in my power. For five days I have listened to the temporizing policy which has been fol- lowed here. In my opinion, this is the time fin- brave men, not cowards ; tills is the day for gen- 55 nine statesmanship, and tliis is the opportunity for it to display its powers to the greatest ad- A'antage. The speaker said, that lie had been forced to leave his origin;d locality in 18(52 on account of the rebellion ; but he had gone back in 1805, willing and anxious to conciliate with former enemies of the Government. lie had supposed them humbled. But such was not the case; they were more vindictive every da}'. A delegate from Louisiana having obtained the floor, said, that the gentleman from Virginia was out of order, inasmuch as his remarks wei'e not confined to the question. Mr. Ilunnicutt was allowed to proceed. He favored the adoption of the resolutions without the crossing of a ^ or dotting of an /. As for negro suffrage, the Convention had said it must, shall, and will come. He came here from the white loyalists and black loj'alists of Virginia, ■who had contributed the funds ($100) wherewith to send him here to represent them. He de- clared himself the fi'iend of the white man as well as the black man, and he would return whence he came believing that if assassinated the blood of the martyrs would be th« seed of the church. He urged his hearers to go kome after the adjournment and advocate their cause else- where, and concluded by reannouncing himself the advocate of equal rights. GOVERNOR Hamilton's speech. The able report which has been read to the Convention this morning relieves me, as I think it does every gentleman who has spoken, or may speak upon the subject, from the necessity of making an argument based upon the condition ■of the non-reconstructed States. It sets forth j clearly and truthfully the present moral, social i and political state of those people. Being j relieved from that argument, we are brought ' down to the direct question as to the remedy to be applied for existing evils. The Committee having in charge the duty of reporting upon this subject has presented to this Convention what, in my judgment, will be one of the most complete and radical remedies — indeed, the only remedy that can reach the case. With that report, with the conclusion at which the Com- mittee has arrived, I most heartily concur. I will not detain the Convention by arraying the claims of these people, under the Constitution and principles of the Government, to the right which we demand for them ; nor will I, on the other hand, base my advocacy of the exercise of this right on their part purely upon the expediency that might be ])ressed upon them for the protection of the white man, but upon the indestructible Constitution and v.'ell-recognized right of every freeman in this land. Expediency in this case goes hand in hand with principle, and if we are not hypocrites, we will aj^knowledge this right. A gentleman asked nie this morning, as if it were a question hard to answer, how do you propose under the influence of the present Executive of the United States, if Congress shall propose this right for this class of our citizens, that they shall exercise it under the protection of the law and without fear of vio- lence? The gentleman who put that question ought to have reflected that it formed its own answer. If we had an Executive who regarded sufficiently the solemn obligations of his Consti- tutional oath to administer the laws of the Goverumeut for tbj protection of the citizen, tliere would not be so much necessity so far as life, liberty and property are concerned, to give to the late slaves of the countrj- — the freedmen — this inestimable privilege, by means of which we believe thej' will be able to pi-otect themselves in the future. But what shall be said if it be admitted that the Prcf-ident of the United States would disregard the obligations of ids oath and the laws of the land, in pursuance of an act of Congress made for the exjtress purpose of pro- tecting these people when they shall be invested with this right of suffrage until they are irreversibly invested with the exercise of that right ? Are we to pause in our duty because in our judgment the President of the United States is not likely to discharge his? What will be the remedy, you ask, if he shall fail to do his duty ? I believe, gentlemen of this Convention and citizens of Philadelphia, that the President of the United States will be made to understand before we have got to the end of this trouble that there is a power above him. Not the power of mob violence, such as he sanctioned in the emporium of the South a few daj-s past, but a constitutional power which will be vindicated by the representatives of the American people That is an incontrover- Let us as American citizens accept the challenge. If the glove is thrown at my feet, I cheerfully take it up. Let me pass to the question of the capacity of this people to exercise this high privilege. That is a question that ought not to be discussed unless you propose to discuss it in reference to every white man who exercises it. If the noble representatives of that race wlio have mingled their voices with ours during the deliberations of this Convention will furnish evidence of their capacity, I would hate to be contrasted as a specimen of my race with the specimens of the other race if I was not of an equal standard with those who have been held in Slavery for 200 years, and, under laws penal in their char- acter, made to repress education and culture on their part. But there is one thing that history will write in the great struggle between the opposing spirits of freedom and Slavery, that they did know better than their masters on which side justice and right battled. If we needed any other evidence, they have earned, sir, by their blood, ujMin a hundred historical battle-fields, their riglit to participate in the oldigations and privileges of the Government. He who believes that Government can be carried on successfully with this injustice long continued, has not read the history of the past live years aright. Sir^ the liglitning-flash of a in Congress assembled tible argument. 56 revolutiou has struck the tomb of ignorance and prejudice, in ■svhich for so many yea-s the true spirit of republican equality and liberty has been buried. It has burst open the doors of the tomb, and the spirit of liberty has lea{)ed to its feet; it is now striding South with a step as steady and as rapid as the step of Time, fronting ignorance on the one hand and bigotry on the other. But in her might she will hurl them back into a darker age, and proclaim herself the champion of republican equality and liberty here, and its advocates throughout the civilized world. We do not propose that the honored dead fallen in this struggle shall be condemned to have fought in vain, but in the language of the immortS President now no more, we declare " that they shall not have died in vain." This nation under God shall have a new birth. This Government was created for the people, and by the whole people shall not perish from the earth. "We wlio are here assembled, without patronage or power, unawed and uninfluenced by parties past or present, without the hope of reward, clothed in the panoply of truth and in the fear of God, — whose chastening hand has been laid heavilj' on us for the sins of the past, — unfurl our banner to the breeze, on the folds of which, inscribed in eternal light, are "life, liberty, equality and fraternity." JUDGE S.XFFOLU'S ADDRESS. Judge Saffold, of Alabama, said that no one should surpass him in the maintenance of equal rights. No one could claim to rise higher above the prejudices which held so many North and •South victims to injustice and 4,000,000 of ■people in the chains of Slaver^'. But the great question presenting itself to the American people to-da}- was how justice should be done to these ■1,000,000 of slaves. The battle of freedom had been waged for the last eighty years by those who were bound together by a common principle. The members of this Convention were but allies from the South who had been welcomed by the noble army of freedmen. They could help them, but it should at the same time be remembered that we could harm them and their cause. The pulse of the nation would not bear another plank in the platform erected by Congress. If the men who held the pulse of the nation were light, then the men who to-day had advocated the position assumed in the report were alien dsnemies to the 4,000,000. To whom did these injured people look fur protection and justice ? It was to the representatives of the great loyal 2vorth. But in what State of the North would the popular vote confer upon this people their just and equal rights? In what political plat- form could there be incorporated this new plank ? He begged gentlemen to pause and consider the character of that great emancipator who like Moses led the Israelites through the Ued Sea. Had not (Jod opened a path through the great sea of waters, Slavery would not have been stricken down. No man should surpass him in the advocacy of the principles inscribed upon I their banner — the principles of justice and equal- I ity and fraternitj- ; none surpass him in the effort to secure to those people their just rights: but expediency was sometimes so nearly allied to great principles that the practical statesman stays his hand before he sacrifices the one for the other. He had listened yesterday to an eloquent address from a woman, who had con- ^^nced them that the great God of power could implant in a casket of jewels a brilliant intellect as well as in man, but he could not but think that while she might understand the great Northern heart, she did not understand the pulse of the nation as Avell as some with whom she e^identl}' differed. A mistake on this great question mia'ht result in the passage of the might ^ _ legislative power of the Government into the hands of (he enemies of the country. The Constitutional Amendment is a broad platform, comprehensive of the great principles upon which thoy stand. "Wore they as weak allies to undertake to prescribe the campaign of a great army ? K so, thej' were stepping beyond the bounds of prudence. They would beside sacrifice the substance of a great cause for the vain effort to catch a shadow. Thej- should reflect. From whom were they to expect the great boon they seek? Fortunately this was a country where power was exercised through the representatives of the people. The people of Philadelphia, or of Pennsylvania, could not control the great question. It is the whole people represented in Congress, and if the legislative power was transferred to the oligarchal part}-, the King of Macedon has obtained a seat in the Amphictyonic Council. America, enlightened America ! that rests upon the intelligence of the people, has perish ed . If Congress granted universal suffrage, it would carry out a great beneficent pi"incipl(t of the Constitution. That was not the question among them. It was, how could that right be granted ? Doctors differed upon that question. A member inquired whether they were going to withhold it. Saffold replied that in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois prejudice and ignorance stand ready to deny this great pri'vilege. A Delegate said the opponents of this question of universal suflrage had given them a fair opportunity to discuss it. He inquired if they would not bo ashamed to ow"n that the friends of this principle dare not listen. He claimed that they should give him a respectful hearing and not disgi-ace themselves. Mr. Saffold qualified his remarks by saying such was the report of some of the most honor- able representatives from the North a few days ago. It was not his declaration. It was said he was hissed in the audience. The}' misappre- hended him — anj' man who was guilty of that. He was from Alabama, where many thousands would manifest their loyalty if they dared, and who would favor negro suflrage ; but they are held in a kind of bondage by those who delude and hold power over enexpse of bureaus and them. The financial other things are iirged 57 as arguments against their existence, and tlie minds of the ignorant are prevailed upon. The question still came uppermost. Were the people to maintain "liberty, equality and fraternity," or relapse into degradation? It was not princi- ple he contended against. He held they should devise means to prevent the downward tendency of oligarchy and degradation. The triumph of those principles would undoubtedly take place, but they might retard it bj- precipitate and unwise action. The previous question was called, but, by the request of the President jijro tern, (the lion. John Minor Botts, of Virginia), the call was with- drawn, to permit him to express a few observa- tions to the Convention. ADDRESS OF JOHN" M. BOTTS. The Chair asks the indulgence of the Conven- tion for a few moments. Being obliged to leave on the two o'clock train, he desired to have an opportimity of explaining his own position. I am so hoarse, having spoken the other night at the Union League Club, to a million of men, more or less, that I am afraid I shall hardly succeed in making myself heard. I would gladly have avoided this position. When I came to this Convention I had no anticipation of the course of proceedure that would take place. When the permanent President asked me to take the chair, [ did so without that knowledge. I beg now to say, that while I know I shall be covered with denunciations from the press of my own State for standing here and listening to the remarks that have been indulged in here, I take pleasure and pride in saying that I am neither ashamed nor afraid to hear the arguments and solicita- tions of the white man or the black man, the man or the woman, the educated or the unedu- dated. I would listen to the arguments, and the reasons and supplictions of the humblest negro in the land as quickly as I would to the most ex- cellent of the whites [applause] ; and if I had the power to redress the grievances of the negro, I would accord it to him as soon as to the white man. But, gentlemen, I think I may say that I have been for the last thirty -five or forty j-cars somewhat in the character of a i-epresentative Union man in my State [Applause] : and while I approve of all the first portion of the able re- port that has been presented, yet Inmst disclaim — on my own part, and on the part of the 30,000 loyal men of the State of Virginia, whose princi- ples I think I represent — my responsibility for the action proposed to be taken by the latter part of the platform. I am in favor of free thought and free speech ; and I am the last man in the world to deny it to others, for 1 have al- ways claimed the right to exercise it mys.df. I have no objection to every gentleman on this floor, and everywhere else, ex^n-essinic his opin- ions; I have no desire to trammel any opinion; and I have less desire to trammel any State in establishing the suffrage it wants for itself. If Texas, or any other State, wants universal suff- rage, in the name of God let them have it. If 8 Missouri or Louisiana, or any other State, wantii universal suffrage, let them establish it for them- selves ; but if Virginia does not want it, it must not be forced on her. And when you tek me te declare to the Congress of the United States that it has the power to establish suffrage in any State in this Union, and ask Congress to exerci.se the power, I am obliged to say, that my study of the Constitution for forty years utterly dis proves any such power. Can there be a doubt in your minds as to the opinion of Congress upon this subject? Do jou doubt that, with their present organization, having a majority of two- thirds in both bodies, they would have intro- duced such a measure if they had the power. They have proposed such a Constitutional amend- ment, by which it is proposed to leave to each State to decide this question for themselves. There is no such power in Congress, and you are not in convention for the purpose of mak ing a Constitution or offering amendments to it ; and your recommendations will go for nothing. I do not object to your action. I only mean to disclaim any responsibility upon myself, for the action of this Convention. I say consci-- entiously that out of thirty thousand loyal men in the State of Virginia, you could not get three hundred of them to go to the polls and vote for it. [A voice — "They are not loj'al men."] I take occasion to say that that gentleman who appreciates the loyalty of anj^ man by a singl? issue, has a very different opinion from other gentlemen on this subject. I came up here, gen- tlemen, for a very different purpose ; I came up here as a supplicant to Congress, to extend priv- ileges to the Avhite Union men of the South. I came here to be relieved from the serfdom to which I have to submit in the Southern country, and I think it would be quite time enough when we have obtained our own privileges to under- take to confer them upon others. [A voice — " If you leave it to the States, you mil never get relief"] I have no hesitation in expressing my belief — and I do not care what any gentleman' from Texas or Louisiana, or elsewhere, may say. I On this subject in relation to the colored peo- ple being allowed to vote, in the present temper of the public mind, j'ou have only to look at the events that transpired at Memphis and New Or- leans to know that they will not be allowed to vote unless they are protected ; and the only way to secure them the privilege of voting is to con- fer rights upon loyal men to govern these States, and confer upon them such power as will enable them to give the necessary protection. Univer- sal suffraq^c will, sooner or later, and in good time, be conferred upon the negroes of the South; but, in my judgment, the time has not yet arrived, nor is this the time. I believe ii" this Convention could give to the negroes ot~ the South the right of suffrage, before they would be permitted to exercise it, they would be shot down in the streets, and their houso burned over their heads. [A voice — " That" ^ done now."] As I said. I need only refer to the scenes of Memphis and Xew Orle-.uis to prove 68 it. In regard to the remarks of the gentleman ■who has just taken his seat, that the action of this day will interfere with the success of our friends in the Kortliern States, I beg leave to assert that it will have no such effect. I regard this as a mere expression of individual opinion on the part of certain gentlemen. The Conven- tion assembled here has clearly defined its posi- tion, and most of the leading representative gen- tlemen from my Slate ratify and adopt it. [A delegate here called for the previous question.] Mr. B. continued : May I be indulged in saying, that I came to this Convention at the request of a large number of friends, and I prepared reso- lutions expressive of my own opinions, and what J believed to be their opinions, which 1 did not ])resent to tjiis Convention, for the i-eason that there was such an accumulation of resolutions presented to that Committee that I knew they could not be acted upon, intending that if there was nothing better, 1 should offer my own. I therefore hope that these resolutions will be .iidopted as part of the proceedings of the Con- vention. Judge Sherwood, of Texas : I believe the mat- ter under consideration is the report of the Com mittee on Unreconstructed States. Mr. Botts (Virginia) moved that the resolution be printed. After some few remarks, the Convention cou- eented to hear Mr. Bott's resolutions read. RESOLUTIONS OF ME. BOTTS, OF j VIRGINIA. First, Renolvfd, That the Union of the States Avas intended by its framers, as it was at the time declared to be, a perpetual Union, and there is no right in any State, or number of States, to •withdraw or withhold the performance of its or their obligations to the rest of the States. Second. That any attempt to break up the Union, by an ordinance of secession or otherwise, by force, constitutes the offense of treason, and that all parties voluntarily engaged tlierein, are necessarily guilty of the felonious and most odious crime known to the laws of the nations of the earth Third. That every citizen of the United States -owes a ])rimary obligation of allegiance to the Government and whole people of the United States, and that any such citizen voluntarily taking the oath of allegiance to any other gov- ernment (either de jure or de facto), ov otherwise, voluntfirily making himself a citizen thereof, necessarily alienates himself from the Govern- ment of the United States, forfeits all claim to its protection, and all claims to a further jiartici- pation in the government of the country he has sought to destroy ; and his right to citizenship can only lie restored by tlie law-making power of the United States. Fourth. That all naturalized citizens who had obtained a claim to the protection of the United States by a sworn allegiance to the Constitution, and afterward, under any pretext, voluntarily took up arms against the I'nited Stale-, or in any manner voluntarily afforded aid and comfort, or sj-mpathy and assistance to the late rebellion, addad perjuri/ to treason, and should be forever prohibited by law from exercising any of the functions or enjoying any of the privileges of citizenship. Fifth. That whilst we do not ask the revoca- tion of any pardon that has been granted by the President, nevertheless we regard the power to pardon so great a crime as that of treason to the Republic, before trial and conviction, as at least of doubtful authority, and one that may, in the future, be attended with the most dangerous consequences to the stability of the Government and the freedom of the people ; and that the free exercise of that power, as recently witnessed with such disastrous consequenoes to the peace and tranquillity of the country, should not be al- lowed to ripen into a precedent, to be followed hereafter; and we, therefore, earnestly recom- mend that steps should be taken to bring the question before the judicial tribimals of the country, and, if necessary, that the Constitution should be so amended as to prohibit it io the future. Sixth. That whilst the absurd pretension of " State Sovereignty " has been forever destroyed by the results of the late rebellion, neverthelesa the " rights of the States," so essential to the preservation of the structure of the Govern- ment, remain untouched and unimpaired, and are held sacred by every friend of his country. Seventh. That the safety of the Republic, the weltare of the people, the peace of the countrj-, require and demand that all legislative, execu- tive, and judicial offices of the country, whether in State or Federal Governments, should be con- fided to those only who have proved faithful and trne to the requirements of the Constitution, and to the integrity and perpetuation of the Govern- ment formed by our Fathers ; and that those who have proven false to their oaths, false to the trust reposed in them, and false to the obligations of patriotism and honor, are unfit and unworthy custodians of the public honor, public peace, public safety, and public welfare ; and as a con- dition of their restoration to citizenship, they should be declared incapable of holding any political office whatever, at least for a term of years, if not forever. Eighth. That sugar-coat it as you may, there is at last but one issue that has been or can be made in the approaching contest, and that is — • whether the worst enemies of the country, who labored to destroy it, and the Copperheads who sympathized in the war that was made against the institutitms of human freedom, and rendered all the aid they dared to extend, shall be restor- ed to power, or whether those devoted to loyalty, who sacrificed their blood and treasure, and hazarded all for its preservation, shall be intrust- ed with its future safety and control. Niiith. That as between the two, no matter what differences may exist between us on minor matters, we ))laee the safety and integrity of the Nation far above and beyond all other questions, 59 and both individually and collectively we freely md unanimously declare, that in such a contest ao room is left for hesitation or doubt in our uinds ; that he who helps to lift the traitor into 30wer is himself a traitor in deed, if not in heart, md therefore all our efforts will be directed to :he success of the loyal and patriotic, and to the jverwhelming discomfiture and defeat of the ?nemies of the country, and all their associates, comforters, aiders, and abettors. Tenth. That the experience of all Southern LTnion men here assembled justify' them in de- •laring that the Freedmen's Bureau in the hands ii discreet and intelligent subordinates, in the jresent temper and spirit of our people, is an nstitution indispensable to the security and wel- "are of the lately emancipated colored race, and aas proved itself of incalculable benefit to the mffering poor of the white race, and is accept- ible to those who desire to see equal and impar- :ial justice to all classes and to all races. Eleventh. That the emancipated people of the South are entitled to the same protection, in life, iberty, and property, as is extended to others, md that the best, if not the only means of secur- ng this protection will be for Congress to take iuch steps as will place the State governments n the hands of the loyal men of the respective States, who have no disposition to oppress them, md who ^-ill make such laws as will aflFord equal Drotection to all in common. Twelfth. That whilst many radical propositions nay have been submitted to the late Congress, ive know of no radical measure that was adopted 3y that body ; and that no clap-trap words, with (vhich the Democracy have always kept a full rtock on hand, to apply to their opponents, such IS "Federalists " at one time, "Hartford Conven- 'ionists" at another, "Abolitionists" at another, :hen "Suhmissionists," and now " Radical," can aave any terror for loj'al men who have any :laims to manhood ; and that the more radical [Congress may have shown itself to be in the :ause of loyalty, the more acceptable were they to all loyal men, and in this only did it give in- :lication of radicalism. Thirteenth. That if the States lately in rebel- lion are not now represented in Congress, it is because the representatives of those States vol- untarily and treacherously abandoned their seats, became citizens of another government, for the time being, at war with this ; and because, when the opportunity was afforded them of again oc- cupying their original seats, the subdued Rebel spirit of the South broke out afresh, and they chose to add insult to treachery, by selecting such persons as representatives, from almost every localitj', who had made themselves prom- inent and obnoxious by their active participation in the rebellion, with the full knowledge that they could not comply with the law, and would necessarily be excluded from the halls of legisla- tion. A more glaring exhibition of contempt for the law, and defiance of the authorities could not well have been presented ; and if there was any reason for, or power to exclude them from the legislative bodies of the nation, whilst they were in open arms against the Government, the same reason and the same power still exists to exclude them, so long as the spirit of insubordination and hostility to the Government is made painfully manifest by their every act, both public and pri- vate, and in their hourly conduct in the ordinary walks of life ; inasmuch as to admit them to par- ticipate in the legislation of the country, would be adding power to the mil to destroy the Gov- ernment. Fourteenth That nothing could better display the uusubdued spirit, the unrelenting hostility of unrepentent rebels, than that those who were but yesterday in arms against the country should to-day crave pardon for their crimes, and to- morrow impudently assume to dictate terms on which alone they will return to their duties and obligations as citizens of the United States, — those terms their restoration to power and the control of the Government. Fifteenth. That the amendment to the Consti- tution now pending, meets with our approval, and will receive our support ; the first section of which declares a simple truism (since universal freedom prevails) that all persons born or natur- alized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. The second we regard as indispensable to justice and equality among the several States ; and the third, is objectionable only because it does not go far enough, and only excludes those who have added perjury to treason from holding office, thereby apparently making the offense of perjury greater than the crime of treason ; and the fourth, declaring in regard to the national and rebel debts what has already received the unanimous vote of the late (so-called) Philadel- phia Convention ! Sixteenth. That the solemn farce, the stage- trick played off at the late Copper-rebel meet- ing held in this citj' (called a Convention), of linking arm in arm the lion and the unicorn, amidst the shouts of the multitude, was disre- putable to the gravity of a great State occasion ; when the true representative men of the South assembled, such as A'allandigham, Wood, Dean, & Co., were altogether excluded from the hall, and the Southern delegates were required to take back seats, and for the first time in a Democratic bodj-, to hold their tongues, sit like automatons at a dumb show, to thank God that the " divine institution had been destroyed ; " " that the Union was more sacred than before the rebel- lion ; " that " there was no right to any State, or combination of States, to secede ; " " that none but loyal men must be elected, or admitted into Congress ; " that the Constitution and laws of the United States are the supreme law of the land ; '' " that the Union of the States is j)erpetual, and its government of supreme authority ; " "that there is no purpose or desire on the part of the South to re-establish Slavery ; " " that the Rebel debt must be repudiated," and " that the national 60 if