^^°iment his great heart ever conceived, or his eloquent lips ever uttered, "that no earthly power could induce him to do it." I will quote the extract. In reply to Senator Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, he said — "I am extremely sorry to hear the Senator from Missis- sippi say that he requires, first the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific, and, also, that he is not 152- satisfied with that, but requires, if I understood him cor- rectly, a positive provision for the admission of slavery south of that line. And now, sir, coming- from a slave State, as 1 do, I owe it to myself, I owe it to truth, I owe it to the sub- ject, to say that no earthly power could induce me to vote for a specific measure for the introduction of slavery where it had not before existed, either south or north of that line. Coming*, as I do, from a slave State, it is my solemn, deliber- ate, and well matured determination that no power — no earthly power — shall compel me to vote for the positive in- troduction of slavery either south or north' of that line. While 5-0U reproach, and justly, our British ancestors for the introduction of this institution upon the continent of North America, I am, for one, unwilling that the posterity of the present inhabitants of California and New Mexico shall reproach us for doing- what we reproach Great Britain for doing- for us." Need any of the men of to-day in this House hesitate or fear to stand as firmly in opposition to the extension of sla- very as the g-reat Kentucky statesman stood only ten years ag-o? To the same effect spoke the distinguished Senator from the slave State of Delaware, the late John M. Clayton. In a speech in the Senate of the United States, August 3, 1848, he said — "Does any man expect that, from this time forth to the end of the republic, the North will ever again consent to ex- tend slavery by act of Congress into any free territory, and thus increase that alleg-ed inequality of representation in the other House, arising- out of the enumeration of three- fifths of slaves in the apportionment of its members, which has ever been the foundation of their most bitter complaints? Try that question when )^ou may in that House, an over- •whelming- majority will ever appear ag-ainst such an extension. I have never voted for such an act of Cong-ress, because, in my deliberate opinion, it would be wrong-, and never could be justified, except as a measure to be resorted to in an extreme case, involving- the very existence of the Union. "I am no advocate of slavery, or of its extension. Like my friend from Maryland (Mr. Johnson), I hold no slaves, and I fully concur in the opinion which he expressed a year ago, 'that slavery is a moral, social, and political evil — to be removed, however, only by those who are immediately interested in it.' These are the deliberate opinions of thou- sands and tens of thousands in Maryland, Virg-inia, Delaware, — 153 — and Kentucky — all slaveholding- States. . . . Opinions g-o far beyond ours in the non-slaveholding- States. They view slavery as aneradicable curse, and will never consent, in any EVENT, to its extension, unless where the Constitution car- ries it. "Sir, it is time the South understood her true position. She can no longer control this question. He who supposes that a threat of disunion will alarm the potent men of the North labors under a great mistake. To them disunion has no terrors." Mr. Chairman, every concession made by the majority of any people in any government, to the minority, under menaces and threats, but emboldens and makes that minority more exacting- and imperious in their demands. All past compromises, as they were called — concessions, as they were in fact — to the slave interest, prove the truth of this declar- ation. So domineering has this slave interest become, be- cause of these concessions, that they now threaten the utter destruction of the g-overnment, unless every demand they make is immediately complied with. Indeed, it has been seriously intimated that Abraham Lincoln, who has been selected by the people as their Chief Magistrate for the ensu- ing four years from the fourth of March next, will never be inaugurated in this capital ; that the city of Washington will be in the hands of traitors before that time, and the seat of government of the proposed Democratic slave empire. In ansv>/-er to this, sir, I have just this to say : that in any event — yes, sir, in any event — Mr. Lincoln will be inaugurated President of the United States in this city, and that this capital, with all its magnificent structures and its venerable traditions, will remain the seat of government of this Repub- lic ; I mean, sir, that it will remain the seat of government of those loyal States who. come what may, with patriotic fidelity v/ill remain true to the old Constitution, and faith- fully adhere to the principles upon which the government was founded. The eighteen millions of freemen in the North will never allow it to be otherwise. Should the conspirators, how- ever, ever succeed — which is hardly within the rang-e of human probability — in establishing their proposed slave empire, Washington City will never be its capital. So long-, sir, as it shall remain a capital at all, the banner of liberty. — 154 — with its stars and stripes, shall float from its dome, or none — the black banner of slavery and disunion, never! Mr. Chairman, our duty, as the representatives of the people, is to meet like men this off-recurring" and exciting question which is again presented for our consideration. Not selfishly, as maintaining consistency; not hastily, through fear; not in anger, or red-hot wrath; but calmly, firmly, courteously, in view of the great responsibility resting upon each member, and the momentous consequences that may follow the casting of a single vote. Sir, I would not knowingly or willingly do or say one word that would have a tendency to light up the torch of civil and servile war, for I feel that the two will be insepa- rable — that the one cannot come without the other; and I pray Heaven that such a calamity may not only be spared my own kindred, but the people of every Southern State. I am for peace; the great body of the citizens with whom it is my pride and pleasure to act are for peace — they are men of peace. And no language that I can command will more forcibly express the sentiments of the entire constituency whom I have the honor to represent than the following lines from our own Quaker poet, John G. Whittier. They were writ- ten a short time after the John Brown raid at Harper's Ferry. His execution was the occasion which called them forth. I endorse every line and every thought, and appl}' them to-day ■ — as he then applied them to Virginia — to all the Southern States, so far as interfering in an}' unlawful manner with their local affairs. " Perish with him the folly That seeks through evil good, Long live the; generous purpose Unstained with human blood ! Not the raid of midnight terror. But the thought which underlies ; Not the outlaw's pride of daring But the Christian's sacrifice. — 155 — ** Oh. I never may yon blue-ridged hills The northern rifle hear, Nor see the light of blazing homes Flash on the negro's spear. But let the free-winged angel Truth Their guarded passes scale, To teach that right is more than might And justice more than mail I *' So vainly shall Virginia set Her battle in array ; In vain her trampling squadrons knead The winter snow with clay. She may strike the pouncing eagle But she dare not harm the dove ; And every gate she bars to Hate Shall open wide to Love ! " Mr. Chairman, we should have had peace if we had had an Executive with firmness and courage, one who at a proper time would have driven traitors from his Cabinet, and called to his councils Union-loving and patriotic men, instead of entering into secret negotiations with the conspirators. Sir, one of the most melancholy spectacles this genera- tion has been called to witness, and, I may add, one of the most melancholy I hope they may ever live to witness, has been the utter failure of James Buchanan to administer this Government. Called to the Chief Magistracy by the voice of a generous and confiding people, he found the nation in a state of prosperity which it had never known, with an overflowing Treasury, and a large majority of his political friends in both houses of Congress. He is now to retire from the position to which, in an evil hour, he was unfortunately elevated, utterly disgraced. His party defeated, the Treasury bank- rupt, the business of the country prostrate, and the whole nation convulsed by the action of a band of conspirators who, if not with his complicity, with the complicity, at least, of a majority of his late Cabinet, were attempting, and to-day are determined, if possible, to destroy the Government, which he and they had alike sworn to maintain and defend. — 156 — He has failed as no President has ever failed before him, and failed only because destitute of that firmnes"3 and moral integ-rity necessary (when surrounded as he has been by the most unscrupulous) to discharg-e the plain and unmistakable duties imposed upon him by the Constitution. His vacilla- tion and want of courage has driven the country from a state of unexampled prosperity and peace to the very brink of ruin and civil war, and we are to-day in a condition that no other . nation with such an executive head could be in for a single hour without revolution. Our only hope is in the loyalty and patriotism of the people. This, I trust, will enable us to withstand the storm until the fourth of March, when the Government will, I am sure, pass into other and better hands. With the retirement of Mr. Buchanan, we have also the destruction of the political organization of which, for so many years, he has been a leader. This party, claiming to be Democratic, has been one of the most wonderful organiza- tions known in the history of this or any other country hav- ing a popular form of government. Professing the broadest liberalism, the greatest veneration for constitutional liberty, and assuming to recognize to the fullest extent the binding obligations of all compacts and compromises, as well as a most sacred regard for the rights of all men, its leaders have not scrupled to apologize for the vilest despotism, nor hesitated to trample upon the Constitution as upon all compacts and compromises, and every right of human nature. They have not hesitated, until the break-up at Charleston and Baltimore, at supporting any and every demand, however monstrous, when made by the slave barons. In past years the resources of this wonderful party seemed inexhaustible and its power invincible No matter what its leader said or did, the party was successiul. It defied and in turn prostrated all parties which contested its claims for power, and in its triumphal march all opposition and combinations fell before it as by the hand of magic. So blinded were the people by its fair promises and captivating name. But to-day, thanks to a free press and free speech, all this is changed, and its prestige is gone, its glory has departed, its hold upon the heart of the people is broken, and the sceptre of power is about to pass — 157 — from Its hands into those of a young- and generous party, rep- resenting- the republican principles of Jefferson. Mr. Chairman. There are thirty millions of people in this country; of this number twenty-five millions, at least, are opposed to the extension of slavery into any national Territory, and would never vote at the ballot box to sanction such a proposition, much less ag-ree to give it additional guarantees, and make it perpetual by an amendment to the Constitution. This immense moral power, with all the civi- lized and Christian world to sympathize with it, wielded peacefully and constitutionally against slavery, as I trust it ever will be, cannot fail eventually to put it in the course of ultimate extinction, and ere long the citizens of the slave States, in their own way, will put away this evil and wrong from among them. This is the faith and hope of the Repub- lican party, and, as I have said before, I will keep this faith or none. If, however, civil war is forced upon the nation for the purpose of extending and making slavery perpetual, he must indeed be blind who does not see that the system will go out in blood. Twenty-five millions of people who not only have no interest in slavery, but whose pecuniary interests are against it, as well as their political and religious views, will never submit to the dictation of a privileged class numbering less than half a million. May God in his mercy avert the catastrophe of civil and servile war. But if it must come, I pray that the doom of slavery, which will be inevitable, may not also prove the doom of the slave masters; that we may not see re-enacted in any part of our country the bloody hor- rors of St. Domingo; for, as Jefferson said, "the Almighty has no attributes that can take sides v/ith the slave masters in such a contest." Mr. Chairman. If it were possible for the people of the United States to permit the Union to be dissolved and allow a Southern confederacy to be permanently established it would be a confederated despotism more intolerant than any govern- ment of the nineteenth century. Those who have heretofore been the boasted champions of what thej' have been pleased to call democracy, do not hesitate now to declare, in case of the — 158 — establlsliment of a Southern confederacy that everything- like democracy is to be ig-nored. Popular g-overnment is a failure! exclaim the leaders of this Southern revolution, who, until now, have been loudest in declaiming for the sovereignty of the people. Popular government is a failure! respond the mad disunion pro-slavery democracy. Popular government is a fail- ure! is echoed back by many of the so-called conservatives, who a few months ago were clamorous for "the preservation of the Union and the enforcement of the laws." Popular govern- ment is a failure! say the slave barons, who are attempting to establish a slave empire, and who insist that a government must be established which shall prohibit free speech and a free press, for with them these are also a failure. Popular government is a failure! shout this band of conspirators of all former political parties and all religious creeds, who unite in demanding that a strong military government shall be estab- lished, excluding all from a voice in its deliberations who have not a pecuniary interest in maintaining the institution of slavery. They desire a government in which the slave masters shall govern as the Bourbons in Europe claimed to have gov- erned, by the grace of God, and that the poor whites shall submit. And, as I said in some remarks which I made upon this subject at the last session, this despotism will have to be resisted, "or the poor whites of the South will first be dis- franchised, then classed socially as they are to-day, to a great extent, with the servile race, and at last they and their chil- dren will be melted down in the slave population forever." The men who are seeking the destruction of this Union and the establishment of such a government are the identical men who for the past twenty-five years have dictated the policy, controlled the political action of all their conventions, and finally destroyed the old Democratic party in all the free States. What wonder that the Northern wing of this old party should have been repudiated by the people, when their leaders surrendered to the demands of this slave interest, and while professing democracy, abandoned the principles of Jefferson and joined in an effort to make this a slave empire. — 159 — Thos. S. Grimke, of South Carolina, one of the noblest and truest of men, in a speech of g-reat power and eloquence, while denouncing" the nullification movement of Calhoun in 1833, referred to the certainty of slave insurrections, as also the ultimate loss of liberty to the poor whites in case of civil war, which he reg-arded as certain to follow an attempt to enforce the doctrines of nullification. He said — "These insurrections would be followed by depreciation of property, not only in negroes, but of all kinds of wealth, and at the same time the necessities of war would require an amount of taxation that could be enforced only by a military g-overnment, under which even the liberties of the whites will soon perish." If there is disunion and civil war, it will be no fault of the Northern people. If there should be servile insurrections, the people of the free States cannot be justly charged with inciting" it. It will be the fault of the very men who, in their madness to sustain slavery, have inflamed not only the minds of the whites, but of the slave population also. A traveler returning- to France under the reign of Louis XVI., after an absence of many years, was asked what changes he found. " Nothing," he answered, " save that the people are now saying in the streets what was formerly only said at the dinner tables and in the drawing rooms of the lead- ing men in Paris." The traveler was right. " The idea of liberty had gone down to the people. Philosophy in a deep and thrilling voice had told the injured of their rights as men; it had re- minded them of their many galling wrongs. Habit still made them suffer in silence, but the seeds of future vengeance were sown." That vengeance was the French revolution. The slaves in the South, waiting upon their masters at the dinner tables, at all political meetings, indeed every- where, hear the Republican party denounced and Mr. Lincoln called their friend. They hear their masters declare that he is to liberate them by force if necessary, and place them on a social and political equality with the whites. The slave catches up their thoughts; vague notions of freedom take possession of him; he meditates upon it; he communicates it from cabin to cabin, from plantation to plantation, and thus 160 are the seeds of insurrections sown by the slave masters, and insurrections in time are sure to follow, whether the South is in or out of the Union. But, Mr. Chairman, I am asked how I propose to adjust our present difficulties. I answer, by accommodating* our- selves to the log-ic of events; by jaelding- to that which is in- evitable, and obeying" the deliberately expressed will of the nation. The people of the United States are not only tired, but disg"usted with these everlasting- diplomatic tricks called "compromises," patched up by slave barons and political quacks on the one side, and commercial timidity and northern flunkeyism on the other. We have had enoug"h of these crafty tricks, which have decided nothing"; which, instead of settling" the difficulty, have postponed but to ag"gravate it, leaving" the ever-recurring" dispute to be ag-ain "settled "by the next g"eneration. The difficulties that environ us to-day are as well understood as they can be after another contest of twenty-five years. The truth is, slavery is g^asping* for breath; it is strug"g"ling" for a new lease of life; it demands g"uarantees that shall make the lease perpetual, but if you will not g"ive that, it will "compromise" with less. But whether you accede to its demands or not, the log"ic of events tells me unmistakably that slavery must die. The judg"ment of the civilized and Christian world decrees it. Emancipa- tion is the sentiment of all nations, and we cannot resist it if we would, and oug"ht not to do it if we could. What the people of this country want, what they expect and demand at our hands, is not new truces with slavery, btit a permanent settlement of this question in the only way it ever can be settled to g"ive peace and contentment to the country, and that is, to settle it, wherever the national jurisdiction extends, by the just rule of rig"ht and liberty. Shall we meet and solve this problem like men, fairly, honorably, and without dissimulation, and as the better promptings of our hearts dictate; or shall we skulk and dodge like the tricksters of an hour? Shall we meet the question like statesmen, leg-islating" for the generations to come as well as our own, or shall we shift the responsibility, with all. — 161 — its accumulated complications, upon those who must succeed us? Mr. Chairman, the people of the United States have been earnestly strug-g-ling-, in one form or another, with this g-iant evil of slavery for nearly half a century; and though often betrayed by their leaders into what were called "com- promises," the faith of the masses has remained unshaken, and they have continued hopeful. Though often defeated in their political struggles for obtaining possession of the govern- ment, the}^ have always been loyal, and never threatened or attempted rebellion or revolution. This struggle between the people on the one side, and a privileged class on the other, has been such a struggle as the world has never witnessed, because it has been conducted peacefully and lawfully. No war, no desolated homes, no hatred, but a generous, noble, self-sacrificing struggle, that must challenge the admiration of the world, accomplished as it has been, by peaceful citizens, in the mode and manner prescribed by the Constitution, by the silent but all-potent power of the ballot. No man could have been a disinterested witness to this grand struggle, and beheld its first triumph without feeling that " peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." With the old watch- word of "Freedom and Peace," we have conquered, and to- day the liberty-loving men of all nations join in hailing with pride the advancing chief, the chosen of the people. The consequences of this peaceful victory no man can foresee. The effect of its example on the nations will be incalculable, even though we should have some trouble with those who are seeking to destroy the Government because they cannot long-er administer it. It will reinstate us where we were in the days of Washington, in the respect and affections of the people of Europe, and the American Government, if true to the ideas upon which the triumph of which I am speaking- has been achieved, will from this time forward hold the first position among the powers of the earth, and as a nation and people, we shall, as we ought, hold the first place in history for many generations to come. If, however, we should fail, from any cause, to carry out in g-ood faith, this grand decree of the people; if through fear deceptive compromises are forced 11 — 162 — upon us, and the people are ag"ain betrayed under the pretense of appeasing" those whose whole history gives us the as- surance that they will be satisfied with nothing" short of hav- ing" slaver}^ recognized as property by constitutional provision, those who aid in accomplishing" this great wrong" will deserve, as they will receive, the condemnation of all liberty-loving" men. But I am told that the people demand that such con- cessions and compromises shall be granted. Sir, I deny it. I have seen no evidence of it and do not believe it. I g"rant you, sir, that there are some who demand it; the leaders of the party which have just been driven from power by an indig- nant people, demand it, and are supported in their imperious demands by almost the entire slave interest of the country; but the great body of the people, the millions, not only do not demand it, but I tell you, sir, that they will never tolerate it. Sir, I should be loath to believe that those who, through so many long and weary years, have struggled hopefully on amid disasters and defeats, the desertions of pretended friends and false leaders, could, in the hour of their triumph, advise a surrender to the minority, and consent to abandon that cause which alone made success in the late campaign possible. I cannot believe that the people, under the menace of dis- union and revolution, will ever take a step backward, that they will, in so cowardly a manner, give up ever}^ principle for which they have been so heroically battling for years. No, no; this grand array of millions which has withstood so many defeats while battling for the right, will march on and march on under the banner of "Peace," conquering and to conquer. No earthly power can stay it. In its triumphal progress it will know no barrier but justice, no restraint but the just restraints of the Constitution. Missouri compromises and all other compromise lines which you may establish in your puny efforts to secure new guarantees to slavery, will fade like the baseless fabric of a vision before its advancing tread. This Government was not organized for the purpose of making slavery universal and perpetual; but to "establish JUSTICE, INSURE DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY, PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE, PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE, AND — 163 — secure; the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." This was the cherished purpose of the fathers when they launched this great ship of state, the Constitution, upon the yet troubled waters which were crimsoned with the blood of the Revolution. They firmly believed that she would weather every storm. In this faith they laid them down to rest, and committed to those who should come after them its direction and g-overnment. Shall we, their sons, falter and desert her now, when storms and tempests beat against her, or shall we, like true mariners, stand firmly at the post of duty and danger? Shall we, with the very dawn of the morning beam- ing upon us, give up all, and, without a struggle, let the tempest and darkness close around her and engulf all in one common ruin? or shall we cling to the good old ship, and put a new commander upon her deck, who will g-o back to the old chart, put her head to the storm, and man her with freemen instead of slaves? Mr. Chairman, to a patriot and lover of his country there would seem to be but one course. The voices of the people echo but one cry, but one command, and that is: "Save the good ship Constitution from her present peril!'* If we fail to do this we are not the men for the hour. If need be, party ties must be severed and party divisions for- gotten; sectional animosities must cease, and a union of all freedom-loving men secured tor the sake of liberty and the Union. If while the coming- dawn foreshadows the deliver- ance of all nations and the freedom of every race, we alone are found destroying the most perfect form of government ever given to man, in a struggle to make slavery perpetual, of all men we will be the most guilty. Shall history record this, the darkest of crimes, against our names? Shall our children execrate our memories because we were traitors and cowards, and, for an hour of promised peace and commercial prosperity, consented to our own and their degradation and the endless bondage of millions? Shall it be said that while thrones throughout Europe are falling, and long oppressed races are everywhere claiming and asserting- their God-given rights; while a free press is proclaiming that this is the gol- 164 den age of justice that precedes the year of a universal jubilee, when the people of all nations will be marching- to the joyful sound of liberty and independence — shall it be said of us, I say, that, under our direction, the Republic established by Washing-ton, alone is relapsing- into despotism? At a time when the sons of strug-g-ling humanity are loosing- the bonds which have bound them for ag-es, and, in obedience to the Divine command, are "permitting the oppressed to go free," shall the freemen of this country consent to rerivet the chains of the slave, and thus aid those who are seeking permanently to establish and extend this despotism throughout all the free Territories of the nation? While Italy, after a struggle of centuries, under the guidance of her brave Garibaldi (who is to Italy to-day what Washington was to us), is marching in unity to secure the enjoyment of constitutional liberty, and Hungary and Ger- many are keeping step to the universal march of nations, while Russia is emancipating her millions of slaves, and all peoples, under every form of government, are advancing toward the dawn of that civilization which liberty always brings, shall the people of the United States, who have the grandest government committed to their keeping which the world has ever seen, alone be found struggling to make the rule of slavery universal? Can an American representative in such an hour as this, either from motives of personal ambition or sordid pecuniary interest, consent to foster strife, division, and discord, and without hesitancy or remorse give his vote to drive back both citizens and government toward the night of despotism and barbarism? God grant, sir, that ever}^ representative may pause and consider well the momentous consequences of every vote he may be called upon to cast before giving it in favor of any of the numerous compromise schemes and proposed constitu- tional amendments which are sought to be forced upon us, and which, if adopted, will be but another step, so far as the action of this body can decree it, toward making slavery con- stitutional and perpetual in this so-called land of liberty. IMPORTANT LETTER FROM HON. J. M. ASHLEY. Washington, May 24, 1861. Editor Blade: I protested in my former letter, as I ag-ain protest in this, and as I hope the Blade and the peo- ple everywhere will protest, against our soldiers being- used for the accursed purpose of slave-catching-, either in this city or elsewhere. They did not volunteer for that purpose, and it is an assumption of power for which there is no authority. No military officer has any leg-al or moral rig-ht to g-ive such commands or issue such proclamations. I know of two soldiers in this city, who, when placed on g-uard, gave notice to the officer in command that they would not comply with such an order if issued; that they would not only go to the guard-house and be court-martialed, but would submit to any punishment before they would do a thing so infamous. I honor these truly brave men, as will every one who reads this. They ought to be in command instead of being in the ranks. I regret to say, however, that quite a number of fugitives have been captured and returned by the troops in and about Washington. So long has the North been accustomed to do the "dirty work" of the slave barons that even now, when these men are in rebellion against the government, some of the northern volunteers become slave- catchers at the bidding of these traitors with whom the government is at war. The sardonic impudence, which en- ables these traitors to come into the military camps of the nation, and order the soldiers of the Republic to aid them in capturing and returning their fugitives to slavery, would be truly refreshing were it not for the doughfaceism it still betrays, and the disgrace and humiliation it must bring upon us at home and abroad. A case of this kind occurred here the other day. A slave escaped from Virginia, a State at war with the government of the United States. This slave IS called property in Virginia and in all the States in rebellion (165) - —166 — against the g-overnment. If they are property, then instead of it being the duty of the government (it never can be made the duty of the soldier) to catch and return these slaves, it is their duty, and the duty of every soldier, not only to pre- vent their claimants from capturing them, but it is their duty to hold them just as they would any property, that can be used by the rebels to destroy the lives and property of citizens and the government. The rebels are using these black men to build fortifications and to do a thousand things for which we use only white men. They are made as useful by the rebels as if they were soldiers. Why should we not accept their services rather than turn them back to the enemy, and at the end of the war liberate all the men with their wives and children who not only refused to fight or aid in any way in resisting the government, but absolutely ran into our camps and demanded to work for the maintenance of the government ? But I am digressing from the relation of a fact into an argument as to our duty. That is so clear, I will not add another word. The claimant of this slave followed him into this city and found him. The slave, strange to say, attempted to get away from his master and ran to the quarters of a Pennsylvania regi- ment, where he was brought up standing by the bayonets of the soldiers, who detained him until his pretended master came up. The poor slave could hardly believe what he saw, and in a supplicating tone said, "Why, gentlemen, you are not going to let this man take me off in this way, are you ? " This brave (?) band of so-called national defenders did not heed his appeal, but in violation of every principle of honor, to say nothing of duty and the demands of humanity, they detained him until the man claiming him brought a carriage and secured him and took him back. This is a fact which I know, alas, to be too true, and I blush for my country to say that it is not the first one. In God's name are we to be forever thus humiliated and disgraced ? I trust the united voice of the nation will demand that no such infamous act shall be repeated by any portion of the army, and that every soldier who shall hereafter be guilty of such an act, shall be -167 — drummed out of the service disgraced, and thus be declared too infamous to associate with the soldiers of the republic. If any one or two of these very soldiers had gone into Virginia on that very day, and this slave master had had them in his power, the chances are ten to one that he would have had them hanged by his order, as a number of northern men have been by slave masters. If they did not share this fate, they would hardly have escaped being tied up by his order to a whipping-post and this very slave ordered to give them from ten to one hundred lashes, just as the whim or caprice of the slave baron might deem necessary to convert them from their supposed hatred of slavery (because living in the North) to a love for it. For it is well known that those who profess to love slavery and do the bidding of slave masters are never hanged, burned, whipped, robbed or driven out of the South. Those who do not love slavery above kindred, country and God, as the rebels love it, are subject to tortures, imprisonments, ban- ishments, or death. No man in the South need have any fears if he will but fall down, and worship loud enough, the god of slavery. If he interpose any conditions or doubts, however, he is worse than an unbeliever, and" an unbelief in the divinity of slavery is a greater crime in the eyes of the slave baron than any offense, not even excepting murder, and they are generally dealt with by the Christian process of tarring and feathers, whipping and hanging. If this infamous oligarchy thus treat men and women born on their own soil, and guilty of no crime, what ought northern men to ex- pect who do not yield to every demand of these men, how- ever monstrous ? No northern man, however, need have any trouble with the slave barons of the South, if he will only consent to obey implicitly the demands they make upon him. And if this nation would but submit to all the demands of the southern oligarchy to-day, there need be no war, no loss of life, and no expenditure of hundreds of millions. Have you heard of any cowardly doughface lately de- manding that twent^'-iive millions of free men shall submit to the mild and easy yoke of the three hundred thousand slave barons of the South? Do you know of any who will — 168 — say now what the so-called "Peace Commissioners" said, when they were in "Washing-ton in secret session, bowing like slaves before the eyes of their masters and declaring as some of them did, "that they did not want any backbone, that they intended to do whatever their southern brothers asked, for they knew that they would only ask for that which was honorable and right." By the by, what has become of all northern compro- misers, who were members of the "Peace Congress?" I hear nothing of them or from them. I certainly hope that their extraordinary mental labors while here attempting to secure a peace by an unconditional surrender, has not pro- duced a softening of the brain. Above all, I sincerely trust that the war has not frightened them any worse than they appeared to be frightened when closeted in secret, misrepre- senting and betraying the people by voting with such traitors as John Tyler & Co. If they are as badly frightened now as they claimed to be then, they have probably left the country. If they have, I shall regret it very much, for we shall need (now that it is so scarce) some such doughy ma- terial for future use. These frightened old fossils voted with the southern rebels, first to exclude the public from their deliberations and then to exclude all reporters for the press, hoping thereby to prevent the public from ever getting at the record of their base and cowardly acts, only so far as they should consent to make it up for their inspection. Fortunately for the people and the future of the country, there were earnest and competent men, members of that body, who kept a faithful record of every word and act, and I am happy to state that it will soon be given to the public. When it is published I have no doubt but what we shall hear from some of the "Peace Commissioners" in efforts to explain certain votes and speeches. While I cannot help regretting that bad and corrupt men have forced our country to a civil war, I cannot but rejoice to know that the logic of events has stripped bare the logic of northern doughfaced poli- ticians and proved how false were all their declarations. More than a year ago, I declared in the House of Rep- resentatives, that in case of Mr. Lincoln's election the South — 169 — "would be m rebellion ag"ainst the g"overnment and enemies of the Constitution and the Union." I said further, that which is now generally admitted by all parties, although these words were then thought to be too strong, ' ' that we never should have peace until the present noisy advocates of slavery here and elsewhere were reduced to insignificance and silence, and everywhere beneath the national ensign the rights of humanity were fully recognized and respected, and our lawmakers and general and state governments should again be directed by the genius of universal eman- cipation." I insisted last winter in all my letters to you and others, that, compromise or no compromise, there would be war, and that we might as vv^ell prepare for it first as last. If I have not understood this question from the first, then I never have and never can understand any political question, and I think my votes on all the cunningly devised propositions of traitors and doughfaces, which, in the last Congress were attempted to be forced upon the people, justify me in saying this much of myself. One of the most important of all political questions ever presented for the consideration of any administration in this country, is about to be forced upon this administration, and I rejoice that it must come now. I have long contemplated it, and find but one course of action practicable or honorable. I allude to the disposition of the slaves, who, as our army penetrates into the South, will desert from the camps and plantations of the rebels and join our ranks. If we send them back we strengthen the enemy» If we permit them to come, we destroy the enemy. They are using these slaves to erect fortifications to destroy our troops, using them to raise grain, etc., to support their armies. Shall the government use its military power to weaken itself and strengthen its enemies ? Would any nation en- gaged in a war with another nation thus act ? These ques- tions answer themselves. Then again, if the slaves are once fairly convinced that the North, whom they have been taught by their masters to believe were their friends, are as hostile to them as their masters, we will have done just what these southern traitors ask. If we take the only practical course. — 170 — the backbone of this rebellion is already broken, and the in- tegrity of the nation will be maintained. On our part this is not a war for the conquest or subju- gation of the South, or the enslavement of any people, but a war for their liberation rather — a war to relieve them of the military despotism and mob law with which they are cursed, a war for the preservation of the Union and our national ex- istence as a free government. A cause so holy and so just cannot fail to enlist the sym- pathies of the people of all nations, and if the Administra- tion but discharges its duty, as I have faith it will, that cause will triumph. Depend upon it, however, that the peo- ple of the United States will never consent to fight against the slave barons and at the same time fight to make slavery perpetual. You cannot make a free people fight for and against a great crime at the same time. You cannot put down this rebellion and at the same time build up and main- tain that which caused the rebellion. Every man concedes that if there had been no slaver)^ in the nation, there would have been no such rebellion as we have to-day . Every man knows that if slavery is strengthened by any act of the government, either by fighting to maintain it, or by com- promising to give it a new lease of life, just such rebellions as we now have, are as certain to follow if the slave barons are defeated by the people in another election. Who, then, is willing and anxious to strengthen slavery to-day, by fight- ing for it or giving to it new constitutional guarantees? Where are the compromisers? If there are any, let us hear from them, that we may know who and where they are • — that the people may write down opposite their names that which shall properly characterize their weakness and DEPRAVITY. I leave for Fortress Monroe to-morrow. If I can, I will write you from there. J. M. A. ADDRKSS OF HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY. Delivered at College Hall in the City of Toledo, Tuesday Evening, Nov. 26, 1861. CORRESPONDENCE. Hon. J. M, Ashley — Dear Sir: The utidersig-ned request jou to address the citizens of Toledo on the subject of the present rebellion, at College Hall, at such time as suits your convenience, prior to your leaving" for Washington. Toledo, Nov. 19, 1861. R. C. Lemmon, Charles Kent, A. W. Gleason, M. R. Waite, Valentine Braun, W. Baker, James Myers, Jonathan Wynn, D. A. Pease, Alex. Reed, Horace Thatcher, Lyman Parcher, Wm. Kraus, a. H. Hathaway, W. W. Jones, F. A. Jones, Peleg T. Clark, Dan. Segur, and many others. Toledo, Nov. 21, 1861. Gentlemen: In reply to your favor of the 19th inst., inviting me to address the people of this city on the subject of the present rebellion, I will name Tuesday evening next, Nov. 26. Respectfully, J. M. Ashley. To R. C. Lemmon, Esq., and others. Letter from Hon. N. W, Cuney, Galveston, Texas. After giving Mr. Ashley's patriotic letter on page ;i6S, and his speech on page 173 a careful perusal, I am free to say that in so much as his utterances on the subject of the manumission of the slaves of the South antedated Mr. Lincoln's proclamation, they had much to do with influencing- the administration with a trend of opinion, favorable to the consummation of what I consider the most g-lorious and human act of any administration in our history. Mr. Ashley's presentation of facts is cogent- and accurate, his deductions logical, and the spirit of truth and fairness apparent from start to finish, as all f airminded men will attest. In my opinion there can be no question, with the intelligent reader, of how Mr. Ashley stood over thirty years ago on the subject of slavery, and no one acquainted with his public record of later years, will deny him his proper place in history and in the hearts of the colored people. N. W. Cuney (171) N. W. CUNEY. 172- The demand for this speech has been so great that the first edition was soon exhausted, and a larger one is now issued to supply the continued demand. The following" are a few of the many commendatory notices taken from leading- Union papers: "We have read this thrilling speech with unmingled satisfaction. Of all the expositions of the causes of the rebellion, and the consequences which are to follow in its train, this is by far the richest in fact, the clearest in state- ment, and the ablest and most demonstrative in argument, of anything that the rebellion has called forth. Nothing but its length precludes its publication in the Telegraph, and want of time prevents a longer notice this week. " We thank the author for the copy of the address sent to us, and we thank him again and again, in the name of all loyal and right-minded men, for the true and manly senti- ments to which he has given a voice in fitting words, that will make it one of the few speeches which will outlive their authors." — Meigs Co. (Ohio) Tei^egraph. "The speech delivered by Hon. J. M. Ashley, at Col- lege Hall, Toledo, by request of a number of his con- stituents, on the Causes of the Rebellion, is one of the best expositions that has yet appeared. It is convincing in argu- ment, mild in tone, replete with historical facts, and should be read by every man, especially by such as entertain any doubt as to the origin and purposes of the Rebellion." — Ohio State Journae. "An able and valuable speech." — N. Y. Evening Post. Letter from Bishop J. A. Handy, D. D., Washing-ton, D. C. No one could have listened to tLe address of the Hon. J. M. Ashley, of Toledo, Ohio, Nov., 1861, without being- thrilled. No oue to-day can rise up from its reading- -without the conviction that it exposes the causes which made the Rebellion possible. The duty of the nation now is to see to it, that this great country shall be pre- served free, and that a government of the whole people, for the whole people, by the whole people, shall not perish from the earth. The dreadful results of dismemberment were averted, and the two J. A. HANDY. doctrines presented to the people before the war, are settled. The doctrine of the South was, that the Government of the United States is a federal union of sovereign States. The doctrine of the] rest of the country was that it is a national republic. While the war did not change the facts as to the doctrine held, it settled the issue. Incidentally slavery went out, and the slave walked out of chattel- hood up into manhood, a citizen— a member of the body politic— while all the States entwined around one common centre, the national Constitution. J. A. Handv. THE REBELLION — ITS CAUSES AND CON- SEQUENCES. Mr. President and Gentlemen : In response to an in- vitation from a number of my fellow-citizens, I appear before you to-nig"ht to present as briefly as I can my views of the rebellion, its causes and consequences. And here let me say that the observations which I propose to make, will be in the main, but a recitation of historial facts. Facts are stubborn thing's, and I prefer to use them in examining* the questicfn upon which I am to speak to-night, rather than to resort to declamation. I do it as a duty, and to demonstrate to you bej^ond all dispute that the cause for which we were fig^hting- is the cause of Justice, Union, and Constitutional Liberty. If I could not do this I would ask no man to join the army, for I could not ask a man to enter the army to fight for injustice and oppression. THIS REBELLION WITHOUT PARALLEL. I need hardly say to you that we are in the midst of a rebellion unlike any which has preceded it, in the history of the world. There have been many rebellions and revolutions since the establishment of civilized governments, but this is the first attempted revolution having for its avowed object the extension and perpetuity of human slavery. All rebellions which have preceded this have been professedly to secure the rights and liberties of the people. Therefore of all rebellions this is the most causeless and criminal. The seeds of this rebellion were first sown as long ago as the year 1620, when a Dutch ship entered the mouth of James River in the then infant colony of Virginia, and com- mitted the infamous crime of selling twenty black men as slaves. The British Government fostered and protected by law the seed then sown, and added yearly to it, more than an hundredfold, by fresh importations up to the date of the establishment of our independence. (173) 174 — JEFFERSON AND THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. The leading- men of the Revolution saw, and, like true men, acknowleged the inhumanity, the injustice and the crime of slavery. Jefferson said, when speaking- of it, that "he trembled for his country when he thought of the negro and remembered that God was just." In the original draft of the Declaration of Independence he charg-ed as one of the grievances of which we justly complained at the hands of the mother country, that of forcing- slavery upon us. These are his precise words : "He has wag-ed a cruel war ag-ainst human nature itself, violating- the most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people, who never offended him, capti- vating- and carrying- them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur a miserable death in transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian King- of Great Britain, determined to keep open a market where men shall be bought and sold. •He has prostituted his negative by suppressing every legis- lative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable com- merce, and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting these very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people on whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another." That this truthful count in the indictment against Great Britain was stricken out of the Declaration of Independence on demand of the slave barons, I regret, as all liberty-loving men have regretted, but that it was stricken out, and at such a time and under the circumstances, tells you better than I can tell you, of the danger which imperils the life of a nation that fosters and protects a privileged class. FEELING AGAINST SLAVERY SINCE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INDEPENDENCE. Since the establishment of our independence, the exis- tence and growing strength of this slaveholding privileged class, has been a source of anxious solicitude on the part of — 175 — leading" patriots and statesmen, not only in the North, but also in the South. To the careful study and investig-ation of the question which has caused the present rebellion I have given all the early years of my life, and with most men who have impartially examined it, I have been satisfied for many years, that the day was speedily approaching-, when the question was to be settled by the American people whether slavery, to use the language of President Lincoln — " should be put where the. people would rest in the belief that it was in the course of ultimate extinction," or the United States become a slaveholding empire. That I have been disappointed in some of my conclusions touching the final disposition of this question and the ultimate action of the slave barons themselves, I am frank to admit. Certainly ten or twelve years ago I did not suppose it possible that the old Democratic party, to which I then belonged, and which I venerated for its great leaders and liberal principles, could ever be divided and defeated as it has been, by the slave barons, and I felt confident until after I took my seat in Congress for the first time, that whatever disposition might be made of this question, it would at last find a peaceful solution. Before the close of the 36th Con- gress, I changed my mind and came reluctantly to the con- clusion, that .nothing but the direct interposition of Provi- dence, could save us as a nation and a people from a bloody civil and perhaps servile war. In the first speech which I made in that Congress, speaking of the slave baron conspir- ators, I said that — "Their professed devotion to law and order — the decis- ions of courts and their fidelity to the Constitution and the Union simply meant that they would obey such laws as they desired enacted, submit to such decisions of courts as they could dictate, and be faithful to the Constitution and the Union so long only as they were entrusted by the people with the administration of the government and the interpretation of the Constitution." And I added : "When this ceases, as I trust and believe it will cease, on the 4th of March, 1861, their fidelity to law will cease, their love of the Union will cease, and their new-born veneration for that ' AUGUST TRIBUNAL ' of which we have heard so much of late — the Supreme Court — will also cease; and they will 176- be, if their threats are put into execution, in open rebellion ag-ainst the Government, and enemies of the Constitution and the Union." COMPROMISES UNAVAILING. No careful observer of events, could have failed to fore- see for the past few years, that both in the North and in the South, public opinion has been graduallj^ but surely under- going- such a chang-e on the subject of slavery, that sooner or later the question would have to be met and fairly settled. All compromises in the shape of the most humiliating- con- cessions made b}" the North to the South had failed to satisfy the imperious demands of the slave barons, and I need hardly add that the present rebellion and attempted revolution was inevitable without absolute submission on the part of the North. The chang-e of public opinion throug-hout the two sections is in itself a revolution. On the part of the loyal citizens it has been a revolution of peace and g-ood-will by the mode pointed out and prescribed by the Constitution, a revolution by means of the ballot-box. On the part of the conspirators and rebels it has been from the first a revolution of force and fraud, and now ends in an appeal to arms. LIBERTY AND SLAVERY THE ONLY QUESTIONS INVOLVED. It is, then, as I shall show you, a contest that has for its motive power on one side liberty, and on the other slavery. It presents a question to which there can be but two sides, and he who is not for liberty and the Union is against them. Politicians and even cabinet ministers may declare as they have done and are doing-, that there is no connection between slavery and this rebellion, but I tell you, and hope before I take my seat to prove to those of you who do not now acknowledg-e it, that slavery is the g-erm from which this rebellion sprang- — the motive power and mainspring- of its action — and that, but for slavery, there had been no such rebellion in the United States to-day. Most of you understand this, I trust, already — the leading- men of Europe understand it, and I believe the time is close at hand, when compromising- — 177 — editors and politicians will be unable long-er to deceive any respectable number of the people. SI^AVKRY TH:e CAUSE OF THK REBELWON AS PROVED BY SOUTHERN MEN. For more than thirty years the slave barons of the South have been plotting- treason and preparing- for this rebellion. In the convention which passed the ordinance of secession in South Carolina, this was openly proclaimed, and the boast repeatedly made that for thirty years they had been looking- to the consummation of the treason they were then enacting-. I will read you two or three extracts from the speeches made by their leading- men in that convention. Mr. Rhett said : " It is nothing- produced by Mr. Lincoln's election or the non-execution of the fugitive slave law. It is a matter which has been g-athering- head for thirty years." Mr. Parker said: "It is no spasmodic effort that hJes come suddenly upon us, but it has been gradually culminating for a long series of years." Mr. English said: "Most of us have had this subject under consideration for the past thirty years." Mr. Keitt said: "I have been engaged in this movement ever since I entered political life." This testimony ought at least to be good as against the conspirators and their Northern allies. If their own statements are to be credited, from the day General Jackson crushed the South Carolina nullification rebellion of 1831-3 to the outbreak of the rebellion of 1861, the slave barons of the rebel States have been conspiring to destroy this government. To the truth of history I appeal to make good their own declarations and to sustain this charge. Calhoun's defection in 1836. During the second administration of General Jackson, the hostility of Calhoun to that great and good man, became open and undisguised, and when Mr. Van Buren was nomi- 12 ^178— nated for the Presidency in 1836, by the friends of General Jackson, Mr. Calhoun and his friends, although claiming to be Democrats, opposed his election, and South Carolina under his lead, voted for Mr. Mangum of North Carolina, then, and for many years thereafter, a "Whig U. S. Senator from that State. This defection of Calhoun and his friends alarmed all the Northern Presidential aspirants and the whole race of •small politicians who always hang upon their skirts for the sake of place and power. This alarm must have become almost a panic, for even Mr. Van Buren, who was triumph- antly elected in 1836 and desired a re-election, became quite as anxious as Buchanan and that class of Northern Presi- dential candidates to conciliate Mr. Calhoun and the small but powerful class of whom he was the chosen representative. GENERAL JACKSON'S PROPHECY. General Jackson said when he put down the nullifiers of 1832, that their next effort to break up the Union would be on the slavery question. That prophetic prediction is now a historical fact. The Northern Presidential aspirants of both the old parties, and all the leading politicians, under- stood this matter well, and under the pretext of saving the Union, they united in declaring that such concessions as the South asked on the slavery question ought to be granted. MR. VANBUREN'S concession, AND ITS EFFECT. These concessions were agreed upon by politicians on the plea of saving the Union, so when Mr. Van Buren was inaugurated, he seized that occasion to give in his adhesion to the demands of the slave baron conspirators, by declaring that if Congress passed an}'- law designed to interfere with slavery in the District of Columbia, he would veto it. This shameless pledge, unasked as it was by any Democratic con- vention, or, indeed, by any body of men, publicly, startled the thinking men of the nation, who saw in it a bold and unscrupulous bid for the united vote of the slave interest. This movement was not without its desired effect, for Mr. Calhoun returned nominally to the Democratic party, sup- — 179 — ported Mr. VanBuren's administration, and South Carolina voted for him in 1840, when he was defeated by General Harrison. THK ATHERTON " GAG " ON THE RIGHT OP PETITION. The Atherton "gfagf," as it was justly termed, a rule known as the 21st rule, was adopted by the House of Repre- sentatives on demand of the slave barons. This rule refused to allow any petitions from the people on the subject of slavery to be received by their own representatives, and completed the humiliation of the North during- the administration of Mr. Van Buren, and opened wide the g-ate which led to the fatal road down which we have been traveling as a nation and people at a frig-htful pace ever since. EFFECT OF THE DEATH OF GENERAI, HARRISON. The death of General Harrison in one short month after his inaug"uration, and the accession of John Tyler, then "Vice- President, to the Presidency, afforded an opportunity which was eagerly embraced by the slave baron nullifiers, to take possession of the Government and administer it for their ex- clusive benefit. That John Tyler proved a traitor to the party which elected him, is recorded in history. That he is a traitor to his country to-day, wili, be recorded in his- tory. This weak and unscrupulous man became the willing tool of the slave baron conspirators, and permitted them to dictate and control the policy of his administration. CAI.HOUN AS secretary OF STATE. On the death of Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia, who suc- ceeded to the office of Secretary of State, after the resignation of Mr. Webster, John C. Calhoun, the admitted chief and ablest of the slave baron conspirators, was called by Mr. Tyler from his seat in the Senate of the United States to take Mr. Upshur's place. You who are familiar with political history, will remember that when Mr. Calhoun went into that office, he astonished and shocked the moral sense of the civilized world, by declaring that he onlv accepted the position in 180 order that he mlg-ht with g-reater certainty consummate the g-rand scheme of the slave barons, to retain control of the country by the successive annexations of Texas, Cuba, Mexico, and Central America, or to divide it in case of failure. He did not hesitate to make public and defend his scheme of annexing" Texas to secure it to slavery. In his dispatches to our Ministers in England and France he de- clared this to be the policy of our g-overnment. That Mr. Calhoun was a bold and able man all admit, and he went at his work with a directness of purpose that places in unen- viable contrast the dodg-ing- and cowardly conduct of North- ern statesmen, who, while professing- to represent the inter- ests of free labor and the rights of man, did not hesitate to sacrifice them without scruple at the bidding of the slave barons. WARNING OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. John Quincy Adams warned the nation oefore Mr. Calhoun became Secretary of State of this scheme. But the North was so absorbed in the pursuit of wealth and new en- terprises that it did not heed the warning of that able, pure and far-sighted statesman, and by the votes of Northern men claiming to represent free labor Texas was annexed with slavery, and this part of Mr. Calhoun's scheme to strengthen and perpetuate the rule of a privileged class and increase their influence in the Government was consummated on the night of the 3d of March which closed the memorable ad- ministration of John Tyler. CAMPAIGN OF 1844 AND DKFEAT OP HENRY CLAY. By the management of Mr. Calhoun the question of the annexation of Texas was made to enter largely into the cam- paign of 1844. It decided the fate of candidates in the Baltimore convention of that year and defeated Henry Clay because he yielded to the importunities of slave barons and wrote the never-to-be-forgotten Alabama letter. Although I had not then attained my majority, I attended the Demo- cratic convention which met in Baltimore in 1844 and wit- nessed the political movements by which the slave barons — 181 — triumphed in that convention. I did not then fully compre- hend how or why Mr. van Buren was there defeated, when every Democratic State convention in the United State, with but three or four exceptions (and those the smallest States), had instructed its delegates to vote for the re-nomination of Van Buren and Johnson, the old ticket defeated by Harrison and Tyler in 1840. I never fully comprehended it until after the Presidential election of 1848; then, after making- the mat- ter a subject of diligent search and inquiry, I became satis- fied that the slave barons were the power behind the throne, and that none but a spurious Democracy could sustain and defend the rightfulness of human slavery. In 1850 the country had forced upon it the so-called com- promises of that year. The action o f Southern conventions and the position assumed by Southern statesmen and parties in many of the States in 1851, and the action of the Demo- cratic and Whig national conventions of 1852, confirmed me in my convictions, and I declined longer to act with the party of my choice. INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT HISTORICAL INCIDENT. There is a historical incident of importance connected with the canvass of the year 1844 to which I wish to call your special attention as throwing some light on the present movement. In order that we may understand the matter clearly, I invite you to go back with me and look into the Democratic national convention of 1844, and also the Tyler convention, composed of government officials and slave-baron conspirators. Both of these conventions assembled on the same day in the city of Baltimore. The Democratic National Convention was regularly called by the Democratic National Committee. The Tyler Convention was called by the direc- tion of Mr. Calhoun. Although I then thought, as everybody seemed to think, that the Tyler movement was a great farce and a good joke, the sequel will prove that it was one of the most important and wily moves of the conspirators. This convention nominated John Tyler for President, and adjourned without making any nomination for Vice-President. In the regular Democratic convention there was a bitter contest -182 — over the adoption of the rules. Hon. R. M. Sanders, of North Carolina, moved the adoption of the rule known as the two- thirds rule. The honest Van Buren men opposed and the conspirators and their allies supported the motion and finally carried it. The convention was thus placed completely in the power of the conspirators, althoug-h they were largely in the minority. You know the history of that convention. Mr. Van Buren had written a letter ag-ainst the annexation of Texas, and for that he was defeated in a convention where nearly four-fifths of the delegates were instructed to vote for him. Thus you see how formidable these conspirators were so long ago as 1844. After three or four days balloting, in which these men, with consummate tact, so divided their votes be- tween Cass, Buchanan, Woodbury and others, as to prevent a nomination and to blind the country to their true purposes, the convention at last yielded, utterly worn out, and the con- spirators succeeded by threats and promises in fairly driving the convention, a majority of which had voted to nominate Mr. Van Buren, into the nomination of James K. Polk, and forcing it to adopt such a platform as they dictated. This accomplished, the master spirit who moved the main springs of both conventions, now set himself to work to secure an endorsement from Polk of their pro-slavery schemes. For this purpose a distinguished Southerner was dispatched on a secret mission to Knoxville, Tennessee, to see Mr. Polk and present him the alternative of adopting their policy or of being defeated. He was told that unless he gave in his adhesion to their schemes, an electoral ticket with John Tyler at its head would be formed and voted for in all the States, securing by the patronage of the government and the influence of the conspirators, sufficient strength in each of the close or pivotal States to hold the balance of power, and by thus dividing the Democratic vote, Mr. Clay would obtain a plurality and be elected. Mr. Polk saw this clearly and, as subsequent events proved, yielded to their demands. On the return of the messenger to whom I have referred, Mr. Tyler withdrew from the canvass, and the whole power and patronage of his administration were openly — 183— used to secure the election of Mr. Polk, who, with all this combination to favor him, was barely elected, and would have been defeated without it. I have thus shown you that the farce, as it was called, of nominating- John Tyler was not so g-reat a farce after all, but that it was one of the shrewdest and most successful moves ever made by a desperate minority on the political chessboard in this country. One of the first acts of Mr. Polk after his accession to power, was to comply with the programme of the nullifiers, who demanded a new org-an in place of the Globe, which was edited by Francis P. B.lair, the bosom friend of Jackson and the enemy of the nullifiers. For this purpose the Madisonian, the late Tyler org-an, was purchased, its name cnanged to the Union, and Mr. Ritchie, the editor of the Richmond Enquirer, then, as now, the org-an of the con- spirators, was selected as its editor-in-chief. Mr. Calhoun, and all the nullifying" conspirators, who were driven from the Democratic party by General Jackson, were now received into full fellowship, and from that day to the meeting- of the Charleston- Baltimore Convention, these men dictated and controlled its policy. CAUSES OF ALARM THAT WERE OVERLOOKED BY THE NORTH. The cession to Great Britain of one-half of the territorj- of Oreg-on, tog-ether with the beautiful island of Vancouvei:, in violation of the Democratic platform of 1844, and the public pledg-e of Mr. Polk who, with the entire party, decliied our title to the whole " clear and indisputable," the war with Mexico, the acquisition of California, and the offer by thns g-overnment to Spain, of two hundred millions of dollars for the island of Cuba, were acts which, separately, oug"ht to have alarmed the country as to the ultimate desig-ns of the slave barons, but when taken in connection with all the acts of the Polk administration, oug-ht to have aroused every patriot in the nation, as one man, to resent and prevent its treasonable schemes. — 184- EFPEC'frOFTHE ELECTION OF GENERAL TAYLOR UPON THE SOUTH. HIS DEATH AND THE CONSEQUENCES. The election of General Taylor in 1848 was a severe and unexpected blow to the hopes of the nullifiers. That stern old patriot could neither be intimidated nor persuaded to favor their schemes, and the celebrated batch of compromises known as the " Omnibus Bill," was defeated in the House of Representatives by his influence. Unfortunately for the country in this important crisis of our history, General Taylor died and Mr. Fillmore became the acting- President. Under his administration the compromise measures which had just been defeated under General Taylor, were revived and passed in separate bills. I need not now refer to the means by which the passag-e of these odious and obnoxious acts was obtained, nor to the motives which prompted Northern men to g-ive them their support — suf6.ce it to say, these acts bore their legitimate fruit, and justly destroyed both the men and the parties that supported and indorsed them. FIRST SCHEME TO ORGANIZE A SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. On the 7th of May, 1849, at the city of Jackson, in the State of Mississippi, a meeting* of slave baron conspirators was held upon the sug-g-estion of Mr. Calhoun. The scheme to form a Southern Confederacy there took form and shape and the secession party was formally org-anized. The pro- g"ramme then laid down, the conspirators of 1860-61 have attempted to carry out, CALHOUN'S DEATH. JEFF. DAVIS HIS SUCCESSOR AS CHIEF CONSPIRATOR. Mr. Calhoun died about the close of the long- session of the ever-memorable compromise Cong-ress. Immediately after his death, Jefferson Davis and his confederates in the Senate and House of Representatives met tog-ether in the city of Washington and agreed upon a constitution for a Southern Confederacy. That constitution was, in the main, just such a constitution as the traitors have adopted at — 185 — Montg-omery, Alabama, except that the constitution agreed upon in 1850 specially provided for the acquisition of Cuba, Mexico and Central America, while the Montg-omery consti- tution is silent on these points. At the meeting- to which I have alluded, Mr. Davis was selected by the conspirators as the first President of the new Confederacy. GEN. QUITMAN AND OTHERS OPENLY ADVOCATE SECESSION. I intend in a moment or two to quote larg-ely from General Quitman, of Miss.,* because, after the death of Mr. Calhoun, he was regarded by me as the ablest and boldest man in the South who was eng-aged in the then contemplated rebellion. He was a politician of the strictest Southern rights school, a defender of every filibustering conspiracy, a professed believer in the doctrine of the divine right of the stronger to enslave the weaker, and an open advocate of a Southern confederacy. He was the intimate friend of Calhoun and the most active and untiring of the secession leaders. It is now over two years since his death, but the present and future policy of the conspirators, so far as can be judged, is exactly what he urged. Let me now read to you some important extracts from a few of the many letters written and received by him, more than ten years ago. These letters speak for themselves and develop fully the policy of the conspirators. General Quitman, on the 28th of September, 1850, only eighteen days after the passage of the compromises of that year, thus writes to ex-Governor McRae, of Mississippi, then a member of Congress: "I have not acted without first looking at the ground before me, and I take the privilege of communicating to you in confidence, thus early, a hasty programme of our future movements. First, then, I believe there is no effective remedy for the evils before us but secession. . . "My idea is, that the legislature should call a convention of delegates, elected by the people, fully empowered to take into consideration our federal relations, and to change or annul them, to adopt one organic law to suit such new rela- ••= The quotations here made from the writing-s of leading' Southern cousp'^atcs may be found in the "Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman, Majo.. General U. S. A, and Governor of the State of Mississippi, by J. F. H. Claiborne. Harper & Brothers, publishers. 2 vols., 1860." Books which ought to be in the hands of every Northern apologist for this pro-slavery rebellion. — 186 — tions as they might establish, to provide for making- com- pacts with other States, and that in the meanwhile an effective MILITARY SYSTEM be established, and patrol duties most rigidly enforced." "In the meantime, every patriot should leave no point untouched, where his influence can be exerted. Cheer on THE FAITHFUL, STRENGTHEN THE WEAK, DISARM THE SUBMIS- sioNisTs; send a fiery cross through the land; and every gallant son of Mississippi to the rescue." You will see by this that while the North was being humiliated and demoralized by shamelessly surrendering to the demands of the slave barons, they were secretly plotting the overthrow of the nation. On the 29th of September of that year (only nineteen days after the passage of the compromise measures which we were told were to be the last, and that the South would never again exact any additional guaranties for slavery). General Quitman, in writing to Governor Seabrook, of South Carolina, said: " Without having fully digested a programme of measures which I shall recommend to the Legislature, it may be of service to you to know that I propose to call a regular con- vention, to take into consideration our federal relations, with FULL POWERS TO ANNUL THE FEDERAL COMPACT, ESTAB- LISH RELATIONS WITH OTHER STATES, AND ADAPT OUR ORGANIC LAW TO SUCH NEW RELATIONS." " Having no hope of an effectual remed}^ for existing and prospective evils but in separation from the Northern States, my view of State action will look to ' secession.' " On the I7th of December, 1850, Governor Seabrook, in answering General Quitman, said: "I candidly confess to you that I am advocating the immediate action of the legislature in order to suggest the first Monday in December next for the time, and Montgomery, Alabama, as the place of meeting of Congress. I am rejoiced that the House resolved to suggest to our Southern States the propriety of meeting in Congress at Montgomery on the 2d of January, 1852. . . . "For arming the State $350,000 has been put at the disposal of the Governor. . " I shall be happy to know that the time and place of the proposed Congress will be agreeable to Mississippi. " If our movement be seconded bvher, I have good reason — 187 — for the belief that Alabama, Florida and Arkansas will soon follow the PATRIOTIC example." General Quitman thus writes to Colonel John S. Preston of South Carolina, on the 29th of March, 1850: "The plan proposed by the address of the Central Com- mittee, which I have forwarded to 3^ou, is, that the Committee DEMAND REDRESS for past ag-g-ressions and guaranties against future assaults upon our rights; and in the meantime to provide for meeting our sympathizing sister States in a Southern Congress. The proposed redress is: ' ' 1st. A repeal of the law suppressing the slave trade in the District of Columbia. "2nd. Opening of the Territories to the admission of slaves. "3d. The permission of slavery in California, south of 36 deg. 30 min." "The guaranties to be amendments to the Constitution explicitly protecting slavery from hostile interference by Congress or States, and to restore equal taxation, direct and indirect." " In case the address and guaranties be refused, the State to make formal propositions to her Southern sisters for a separate confederacy, and to unite with any number of them sufficient to secure nationai, independence." "I concur with you in the opinion that the political equality of the slaveholding States is incompatible with the present confederation as construed and acted on by the MAJORITY, and that the present Union and slavery cannot CO- exist." Governor Means, of South Carolina, thus writes to Gen- eral Quitman on the 15th of May, 1851: "There is now not the slightest doubt that the next legislature will call the convention together at a period dur- ing the ensuing year, and when that convention meets the State will secede. . . . We are anxious for co-operation, and also desire that some other State should take the lead, but from recent developments we are satisfied that South Carolina is the only State in which sufficient unanimity exists to commence the movement. We will therefore lead off, even if we are to stand alone." Colonel Gregg, of South Carolina, in writing to General Quitman on the 15th of May, 1851, thus encourages the — 188 — secession party, wlio were straining- every nerve to elect Jefferson Davis Governor of Mississippi on the direct issue of secession: "Let them (the secessionists) contend manfully for success, and if beaten in the election they will form a minority so powerful in moral influence, that when South Carolina secedes, the first drop of bi.ood that is shkd will cause an irresistible popular impulse in their favor, and the submis- siONiSTS will be crushed. Let the example be set in Missis- sippi, and it will be followed in Alabama and Georg-ia. Imparting- and receiving courage from each other's efforts, the Southern rights men will be ready to carry everything before them, in all the three States, the moment the first BLOW IS STRUCK IN SoUTH CAROLINA." General Quitman thus writes to Governor Means, of South Carolina, on the 25th of May, 1851: "Experience has fully demonstrated that united action cannot be had; the frontier slave States are even now indi- cating a disposition to cling to the Union at all hazard of their slave institution. They will not in my opinion unite in an effective remedy, unless forced to choose between a Northern and Southern confederacy." On the 9th of June, 1851, Governor Seabrook, of South Carolina, thus writes to General Quitman: "The course of the convention will depend somewhat on our sister Southern States. If they affirm the right of seces- sion and the non-existence of a power to prevent a State from exercising it. . . . Should South Carolina strike a decisive blow, may she confidently rely on the undivided sup- port of her present friends in your State?" And again on the 15th of July of the same year, Gover- nor Seabrook thus discourses to General Quitman: " If this scheme fail, what then? Let the State proclaim to the world that at a time to be designated, say six months, she will withdraw from the Union. If Mississippi be not pre- pared to follow her example, a simple annunciation on her part that any hostile attempt, direct or indirect, by Congress, to prevent her (South Carolina) from exercising- the rights of an independent nation, or to keep her in the Confederacy, would be considered by your Commonwealth a subversion of the fundamental principles on which the States confederated, and consequently a full release from her obligations in the Union." 189 CONSPIRACY TO SECEDE OP LONG STANDING. You see by these quotations that this conspiracy is of no recent date. Ten or fifteen years ago, General Quitman conceived and confided to others the scheme which the rebels of 1861 have attempted to enact, and I lay these facts before you for your serious reflection, and to prove to you that the destruction of our Constitution and Union has been seriously contemplated for many years, and that, too, without refer- ence to any of the pretended grievances now complained of by the South. DISUNION CANDIDATES FIRST NOMINATED IN SOUTHERN STATES. In 1851 open and avowed disunion candidates were nominated and run for governors in the States of Georgia and Mississippi, and one or two other Southern States. In Mississippi, Jefferson Davis, who was then a Democratic United States Senator from that State, resigned his seat in the Senate, went home to Mississippi, and became the dis- union candidate for governor, on an open and avowed dis- union platform. Senator Foote, also a Democratic Senator from that State, resigned his seat and became the Union candidate. Davis was defeated by a small vote, as were also the open disunion candidates in all the States, except in the State of South Carolina, which elects her governor and State officers by the legislature. DEATH OP THE WHIG PARTY. In 1852 General Pierce was elected President over General Scott. In this contest the Whig party breathed its last, because false to the principles of freedom. The success of the so-called Democratic party with Pierce as its chief was almost as fatal. It lingered along in a sickly condition until 1860, when it, too, gave up the ghost. JEFF. DAVIS SPCRETARY OF WAR, AND HIS ACTS. Jefferson Davis was selected by President Pierce for his Secretary of War, although it was well known to Mr. Pierce, and to the whole country, that Mr. Davis was an avowed — 190 — secessionist, and had just been defeated for Governor of Mississippi on that issue. Davis, by his position, was enabled to advance the schemes of the conspirators by appointments, by favoritism in the army, and by his counsels in the Cabinet. And in 1856, had Fremont been elected, Davis would have attempted to seize the g"overnment. BUCHANAN AS PRESIDENT, AND HIS CABINET. Unfortunately for the country, Buchanan was elected President, and a majority of the Cabinet he called around him were either avowed secessionists, or willing" instruments in the hands of the conspirators. By this act of Mr. Buchanan, the old Democratic party was completely demor- alized by the domination of the disunion element in its coun- sels, so that at the Charleston-Baltimore Convention, it was disrupted and the org-anization divided and defeated. DEATH STRUGGI,E OF THE SI.AVE BARONS TO CONTROL, LEGISLATION. The long- and bitter contest for the Speakership of the House of Representatives, at the opening- of the 36th Con- g-ress, was the death struggle of the slave barons to keep possession of the legislative department of the government during the residue of Mr. Buchanan's term of office, so that in case of defeat in the Presidential election of 1860, which the conspirators had then resolved upon — unless they could dictate the candidate at Charleston, they might by having control of the House committees, as they had of the com- mittees in the Senate, be fully prepared for every movement necessary to consummate their treason. PLANS OF THE CONSPIRATORS LAST WINTER. It is now conceded by those whom it is admitted ought to know, that the conspirators discussed and agreed upon a plan for a provisional government last winter at Washington; that their plan was to seize the Capitol and public archives, and prevent b}^ force the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln at the seat of government; and by thus getting possession of the — 191 — National Capitol and inaug-urating- Mr. Davis at Washing- ton, they hoped to secure an early recog-nition of their • g-overnment by some of the resident foreig-n ministers, many of whom they believed then and still believe to be favorable to their schemes. SYMPATHY BETWEEN THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS AND SOUTHERN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. And here let me mention a fact worthy of note. The foreig-n resident ministers at Washing-ton are mostly from the aristocratic and wealthy European families, and sympa- thize and associate with that class everywhere. A majority of the Southern Senators and Representatives, while professing- to be democrats, are if possible more aristo- cratic than these foreig-n ministers. The result is, that their social intercourse at Washing-ton is almost exclusively with Southern members, who do not hesitate openly to denounce all Northern men as cowards, poltroons and money-getters, who can be bought as cheap as their own slaves. CHARACTER AND POSITION OF NORTHERN MEMBERS. The great body of Northern Senators and Representa- tives are poor, and owing to the short time they remain or expect to remain in Congress, they do not, with few excep- tions, care to form the acquaintance of foreign ministers. So you see that our government at home has not only been controlled, and our foreign policy cunningly shaped by Southern men, but the minds of the resident foreign minis- ters have been prepared for this rebellion, and also for its suc- cess; and this is the secret of the ill-disguised sympathy of so many resident foreign ministers with the rebels. This infamous conspiracy was defeated by unlooked-for dissensions in its own ranks, and by no sagacity, foresight or precaution on the part of Mr. Buchanan or the represen- tatives of the people. MAJOR ANDERSON AND THE REBELS — HIS REMOVAL TO FORT SUMTER. Fortunately for the cause of the Union, but unfortunately for the conspirators, dissensions arose in the cabinet on the - -192 — question of reinforcing- Fort Sumter. Major Anderson, a loyal and patriotic citizen of Kentucky, with about seventy men, forced this unexpected question upon the. President and ■ Cabinet. You all remember that Major Anderson was in command at Fort Moultrie; that his position was such that a land attack by the rebels could not be prevented. He had no orders from his g-overnment to remove to Fort Sumter, and could obtain no reinforcements, althoug"h he asked for them. So he assumed the responsibility in the face of a g"overnment which he must have reg^arded as false to its highest duties, and whose commands he also knew he must obey. The conspirators in Charleston had approached Major Anderson in every conceivable manner; they had feasted and flattered him; but he could not be seduced from his allegfiance. He was watched by them, and could make no movement. The public arms and property of the government in the city of Charleston they would not permit him to touch, and he saw that if any movement was made to save the honor of the g"overnment, it would have to be done by strategy and on his own responsibility — a responsibility which you and I most heartily thank him for having assumed. [Applause.] He was invited to dine with a number of the chief conspirators on Christmas last, and accepted. After dinner, toasts and speeches were the order of the evening. All the power of the conspirators was exhausted to induce the Major to become a traitor, but to no purpose. Report has it that he feigned intoxication so well, that he was conveyed in a carriage to his headquarters at Fort Moultrie. The rebel conspirators returned to concoct new schemes to seduce this loyal and patriotic soldier, and while they were thus conspiring, in the darkness of night he quietly gave his orders, and a few small boats are made ready; all the provisions and munitions they can carry are put on board, and after spiking the cannon in Fort Moultrie, he and his little band of brave spirits step on board their boats, and with muffled oars pull off to Fort Sumter, and when the conspirators awoke in the morning, the National flag was seen floating from that supposed impreg- nable fortress. [Loud applause.] When the rebels saw this, — 193 — they were amazed, and swore more terribly than "our army in Flanders." The telegraph soon brought this glorious news to Washington, and I need not tell you how it made glad the hearts of all true Union men. Party was thought of no longer. The rebels telegraphed to Mr. Buchanan and demanded an order for Major Anderson's immediate return from Fort Sumter to Fort Moultrie, and to our shame be it told that many Northern men united with the rebels in seconding their demands. Among this class of men none was more offensively conspicuous than Senator Bright, of Indiana. SECRETARY CASS RESIGNS. On the simple proposition of reinforcing Major Anderson and preserving the national honor, a division arose in the cabinet — a majority voting with the President not to rein- force. You will agree with me, I know, when I say that every man who so voted was either a rebel conspirator or a tool in their hands. When this disgraceful decision was made, General Cass, to his honor be it said, refused longer to remain in the cabinet of a President who proved himself to be either a traitor or a coward, and perhaps both. [Applause.] COBB, FI.OYD AND THOMPSON FOLLOW — DIX, HOLT, STANTON AND KING APPOINTED. This unexpected resignation of Secretary Cass was soon followed by the resignation of the traitor Cobb, and subse- quently by the resignation of Floyd and Thompson, owing to the disclosures made by a confidential clerk of the theft of the $800,000 of Indian bonds. Happily for the country, Dix and Holt, Stanton and King, loyal and true Democrats, were called to fill these unexpected vacancies in the cabinet, and thus the scheme to seize Washington City and inaugu- rate their rebel government there was defeated, because the patriot Holt was Secretary of War, and a majority of the cabinet were now true to the Union. [Applause.] 13 — 194 — ABANDONMENT OF THE PLAN OP LAST WINTER. Being" thus unexpectedly foiled, the conspirators aban- doned their desig-n of seizing- Washington, and preventing the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, and resorted to every ex- pedient to deceive the country, and throw the people off their guard as to their real intentions. For this purpose, the most noisy and unscrupulous did not hesitate to declare in the House and at the public hotels, that Mr. Lincoln was the constitutionally elected President, and should be inaugurated if it had to be done over their lifeless bodies. JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE THEN AND NOW. Mr. Breckenridge also united with them in declaring publicly that he would not only count the electoral votes as prescribed by law (you will remember that the secession papers North and South declared that they would not be counted), and proclaim Mr. Lincoln the constitutionally elected President, but that he intended to take his seat in the Senate of the United States, to which he had just been elected by the loyal State of Kentucky, and swear to support the Constitution and the Constitutional Government, and I saw him with uplifted hand take that oath. This deception blinded many of the Northern represen- tatives and people, who unitedly praised Mr. Breckenridge for his patriotism and loyalty. How worthily it was be- stowed, let his subsequent conduct in the Senate and else- where, and his present position speak. INAUGURATION OP MR. LINCOLN. At last the 4th of March came, and Mr. Lincoln was peacefully inaugurated on the eastern portico of the national Capitol, in the presence of thousands of loyal citizens and friends , THE CONSPIRATORS AND THE NEW PRESIDENT. The conspirators now resorted to new stratagems to deceive and mislead the government. They approached Mr. Lincoln as Union men, professing devotion to the Consti- tution and great anxiety for the success of his administra- — 195 — tion. But they all, with one voice, united in declaring- that any attempt on the part of the gfovernment to send soldiers to any part of the South to protect the national property, would precipitate them all into a revolution. The President was told that he must not attempt to reinforce Fort Sumter — that he must not send troops to protect the Norfolk Navy Yard with its millions of property, that troops must not be sent to Harper's Ferry to g-uard the National Armor}^ and if he did, the whole State of Virginia would be driven into a revolution. For six long* and weary weeks these men de- ceived and prevented the government from doing- as I think it would have done, but for them. I need not tell jou. how I protested against the government listening to the counsels of these men — much less heeding them. You know the result — the Norfolk Navy Yard was lost, Harper's Ferry was lost, and the very Capitol of the nation was imperiled. THE CABINET AND PRESIDENT — PATRIOTISM OP THE LATTER. The cabinet under the advice of General Scott, voted to withdraw Major Anderson from Fort Sumter and thus sur- render it to the rebels. On the part of some of our best military men, this course was urged because the Buchanan administration had permitted the fort to be so environed with armed batteries, that it was said reinforcements could not be put into the fort with less than 40,000 men. In this trying emergency, everything now depended on the decision of the President, and nobly did he meet the responsibility. You and I honor him for his decision. He said : " Never by an order from MY HAND, WHILE I AM PRESIDENT, SHALL THE STARS AND Stripes be struck to a rebel foe !" [Long applause.] This impulsive and patriotic declaration of the President, in my judgment saved the life of the nation, and whatever blunders he may have committed, or shall hereafter commit, this brave and noble act ought to excuse, and with me, shall excuse a multitude of mistakes. "star of THE WEST" FIRED UPON BY THE REBELS. "When asked what he proposed to do, he answered, that **THE world WILL EXPECT US TO PROVISION OUR SOLDIERS, — 196 — WHILE IN THE) FAITHFUL DISCHARGE OF THEIR DUTY, AND I INTEND TO NOTIFY THE AUTHORITIES AT CHARLESTON THAT THE TROOPS IN FORT SuMTER WILL BE FULLY PROVISIONED BY SENDING AN UNARMED VESSEL TO THE FORT." The vessel waS despatched, and when within sig"ht of the fort she was fired upon from the rebel batteries, and compelled to put to sea. SUMTER COMPELLED TO SURRENDER. Thus day after day all hope of a peaceable solution of our difficulties was dispelled, and when all hope of reinfor- cing" the fort seemed to be given up and Major Anderson only had one or two days' rations of salt pork for his hand- ful of men, at the expiration of which time the rebels knew he must surrender, they opened their fire upon that patriotic band, and compelled them to surrender. This act sealed the doom of the traitors. The North, heretofore divided, was now united, and every patriotic Union man gave up party for country. CALL FOR TROOPS BY THE PRESIDENT AND THE RESPONSE. I need not detail to you the stirring events which fol- lowed — the call of the President for 75,000 men, and the alacrity with which hundreds of thousands of all parties patriotically volunteered to defend the Constitution and the Union. Until then, I did not know how full the nation was of the old leaven of 1776. Until then. I had no idea of the immense moral power of the bayonet. EXTRA SESSION OF CONGRESS. The President called Congress together on the 4th of July, and asked for 400,000 men and $400,000,000 of money to put down the rebellion, and we gave him 500,000 men and $500,000,000. How the citizens in the loyal States have responded to the call of Congress and the President, you know. Never, in all the history of the world, from the days of Alexander and Csesar to Napoleon, has any nation of eighteen millions of people been able to put an army of 500,000 men into the field, armed and equipped, as we have done, in five months. This fact, of itself, is a guarantee of our success if the government but does its duty. — 197- CONDUCT OF RKBEIy MSMBBRS. The conduct of Breckenridg-e, Brig-lit and others, in the Senate, of Burnet and others in the House after the new administration came into power, is proof positive that these men were either in sympathy or complicity with the traitors who were conspiring- to destroy the government, at the very moment they, with uplifted hand, were swearing" to support and defend it. REBEL TESTIMONY THAT SLAVERY IS THE CAUSE OE THE REBELLION. I might quote by the hour from speeches of the leading- rebels since the outbreak of this rebellion, to sustain the position which I have so elaborately fortified by fact after fact; but I am sure you will ag-ree with me, that it is unneces- sary. I will only detain you long- enough on this point to make two or three short quotations which I think it important to submit in this connection. The first is from Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice-President of the rebel g-overnment. Mr. Stephens I suppose you all know to be one of the fairest and most conservative men in the entire South, and a man of the first order of talents. In speaking- of the principles on which the Southern Confederacy was formed this summer, he said: " That its foundations were laid — that its corner-stone rested on the great truth that slavery, subordination to the superior race — was the negro's natural condition; that the confederacy was founded on these principles, and that this stone, which was rejected by the first builders, had, in their new edifice, become the chief stone of the corner," The foundation stone upon which Washington and the patriots of the Revolution built, is rejected by the leaders in this rebellion, and if Mr. Stephens speaks truly, the founda- tion upon which the conspirators build, is slavery. Yet in the face of such statements, and all the facts I have enumer- ated, politicians and newspaper editors attempt to deceive and mislead the people by declaring that slavery has nothing whatever to do with this rebellion. Senator Brown, of Mississippi, a colleague of Jefferson Davis, openly declared that he not only demanded a Southern — 198 — Confederacy, but that he wanted " Cuba, Mexico, and Central America for the planting- and spread of slavery, so that like the relig-ion of our divine Master, it may spread to the uttermost ends of the earth." Mr. Clay, of Alabama, declared in a speech at Mont- g"omery, last winter, that, "A cordon of free States must never be permitted to surround the God-given institution of slavery — the beautiful tree must not be thus girdled that it may wither and die." And the leading organ of the conspirators for May of this year, BeBow's Review, not only declares "tliat the foundation of the new Confederacy had for its corner-stone, slavery," but defends and justifies the enslavement everywhere of the entire laboring population, declaring "that Th:^ SOCIAL, CONDITION OF ENGI.AND AND THE WORLD WOULD BE INFINITELY BETTER IF THE LABORING CLASSES WERE DOMESTIC SLAVES." NORTHERN POLITICIANS TO BLAME FOR CONCEALING FACTS FROM THE PEOPLE. Are these startling- facts new to you? They are old familiar acquaintances of mine, and I have repeated most of them over and over again, many times in this Congressional District. Do you ask in wonder, how such unholy combina- tions could be made against the very life of the Nation, without exciting- the open hostility of every patriot and true Union man in the Republic ? I answer that it has been and is mainly, the fault of Northern politicians who have either been ignorantof the existence of such treasonable movements, or with a guilty knowledge have kept them from the people. It is not, however, improbable that the great body of Northern representatives have been entirely ignorant for the past twenty years of these acts, although often acting and voting with the conspirators and in aid of their ulterior designs. This could not well be otherwise as long- as the two sections should adhere to their present policy, or rather their want of policy in selecting- and continuing their repre- sentatives at Washington. The South selects her best men, -199 — men of talents and ability, who are true to her interest, and retains them as long* as they are faithful. They thus become acquainted with the entire working's of the g"overnment. The North sends with rare exceptions an entire new set of men every two or four years. Many of these men are not only without ability, but what is still more lamentable, men who, under the pretext of party necessity, sacrifice the interest of their own constituents. If rejected by the people at the close of one term for their treachery, a pro-slavery adminis- tration has always provided them with some compensation for their services, and thus from year to year, the North has been used and disgraced, simply because of the inefficiency OR WANT OF FIDELITY of its representatives. The South understands this matter better. She selects men who are not only true, but able; and retains them in position until they become familiar with the working-s of every department of the g"overnment, and in time they not only become representative men, but absolutely control, as they have done for years, the entire leg"islation of the country, althoug-h their section is larg-ely in the minority. A CHANGE MUST BE MADE. The North will have to chang-e this custom and adopt such a one as prudence and common-sense dictates. States- men are not extemporized out of the ablest men in a day. Our greatest generals worked their way up gradually from the ranks, and our safest and best railroad men commenced at the foot of the ladder. All American statesmen, worthy of the name, have come up from the ranks of the people, and the South has produced the largest number, simply because she has pursued the policy of retaining her representatives until by education and experience, they became statesmen. Do you suppose that a Northern conspiracy against the government could have been as successfully inaugurated and put into execution as this Southern conspiracy has been — that we could have held Northern conventions, elected North- ern State governors on the direct issue of dissolving the Union or compelling the South to adopt such a National Constitution as we might dictate, without the entire South — 200 — "being" familiar with every movement, and unitedly prepared to resist it? In addition to all this, do you believe the South would ever have been g'uilty of voting- for Northern men who were her open and undisguised enemies? that they would ever have placed them, as we have done, in the most honorable and responsible positions in the g-overnment? I ask if you believe it possible for the North with all her boasted knowl- edge, to have done all the South has done for the past twenty years, without being- understood in every movement, not only by every Southern representative, but by the entire Southern population, which would have instructed their representa- tives to meet and defeat the issue upon the threshold, not with compromise, but with open, manly, persistent opposition, and exposure of the traitors eng-aged in it? But this secession movement has been openly advocated for years, and its champions have been placed by Northern votes and Northern Presidents not only in the cabinets but in the most honorable and responsible positions of the gov- ernment. If able and true men pointed out the danger, as did John Quincy Adams, their voices would be drowned by the din of commerce and the cry of demagogues, who either for the sake of party or office, or the promise of office, would in proportion to their ignorance, denounce with increased vehemence, all such statements as unqualifiedly false and only made to injure their party. For the sake of party and the hope of securing some petty office for two or four years, ignorant and corrupt men have usurped in the name of the people the management of political conventions, and the great interests of the country have been made subordinate to the ambitions of men whose whole lives gave assurances of their unfitness for responsible positions. Because of this state of things, the North, although superior in point of wealth, population and intelligence have been made the "hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the South. Do you ask when this state of things shall forever cease ? I answer that it will cease as this rebellion will cease, whenever a united people earnestly wills it, and not before. — 201 — THE NORTH INDICTED AT THE BAK OF PUBLIC OPINION. That the overprudent, the timid and the indifferent, with the trickster and demag-ogue, will join with cowardly Hunkerism in condemning- the manner in which I am treating- this subject I do not doubt, and I do not object. In my opinion, this is no time for honeyed phrases, and I have therefore called thing-s by their rig-ht names. This is a war about slavery and you and I know it. The South declare that our unconstitutional interference with slavery is the cause of this rebellion. For this we are indicted at the bar of public opinion and required to plead "g-uilty" or "not g-uilty." Instead of responding- promptly, and manfully, and truthfully, "not g-uilty," all Hunkerdom holds its breath for fear of offending- its Southern brethren, and demands that we shall plead to anything- else rather than tha.t with which we are charg-ed in the rebel indictment. Will any lawyer tell me how we are to defend ourselves? "What shall be our reply to this charg-e? We may plead all our sins of omission and. commission, but that will not do. Silence on the only distinct charg-e made in the indictment ag-ainst us is an admission of our g-uilt. It is all any rebel can ask. It is substantial^ say- ing- to the world that the South is rig-ht and the North is wrong-. Therefore for one I plead "not g-uilty," and "put myself upon the country." Suppose, instead of the charge of improper interference with slavery, the North were charg-ed in the rebel indictment with unconstitutionally interfering v/ith the rights of the South on the question of the tariff, or Pacific Railroad, or the question of representation, or any one of the many questions which have divided political parties in this country? Would prudent but timid friends be found then, as now, uniting with the political trickster and the demagogue in seconding the demand of Hunkerism that we should not only not plead to that with which we were charged, but that we should not even discuss or publicly allude to the matter at issue? How can a statesman who is guided by the principles of justice, or even by political expediency, demand of any rational people anything so irrational or idiotic as debate and answer to charges without any reference to the subject matter of the charges? 202 If this rebellion had resulted from a conspiracy on the part of the great body of railroad corporations, or banks, or manufacturing- interests, in the United States, because the General or State Governments had refused to comply with their demands, do you suppose there would have been any such hesitation on the part of the government as to their duty as there has been towards the present rebels? The old bank of the United States had a capital of only fifty millions of dollars, and yet General Jackson thought its continued existence dangerous to the liberties of the people, because he knew it subsidized the public press, controlled party conven- tions, and, with its gold, corrupted statesmen and divided the nation's chosen guardians and counselors. He thereupon crushed it, and the nation applauded him. The number of rebel slave barons in the United States does not exceed 250,000 men, all told. Of this number not more than 200,000 are voters, and yet they claim that their capital in slaves is worth two thousand millions of dollars. If fifty millions of dollars in the hands of a bank were dangerous to the liberties of the people, how much more dangerous are two thousand millions of dollars in the hands of slave barons, wh» are enemies to the government? For the protection of this property, as they claim it to be, they have demanded special legislation and constitutional guarantees which the people would not grant, and because of the refusal, this small but powerful class have made this war upon the government. Suppose the great majorit}^ of the bankers of the United States (and the bank stockholders are a more numerous class than the rebel slave barons) were to combine and demand an amend- ment to the Constitution, granting them perpetual char- ters, with the right to suspend specie payment whenever, in their opinion, the interests of the banks demanded it, and suppose the people should refuse to give them such a dan- gerous grant of power, and, because of this refusal, they should unite in a conspiracy to destroy the government by making war upon it as the rebel slave barons are now doing, what would you, as practical men do, if they, instead of the slave barons, were the rebels? I know what you would demand, and it would be done — the leading conspirators — 203 — would be arrested and their property confiscated to pay the expenses of putting" down the rebellion, and thus make it im- possible for them to g-et up another such rebellion. I would do the same with the railroad conspirators, who have more wealth and more men interested with them than all the slave baron rebels. I would do the same with any combina- tion of men under the same circumstances. The banking-, railroad and manufacturing- interests of the United States each separatel}^ controls more wealth than all the conspirators now eng-aged in the rebellion, and their institutions are of more importance to commerce, to civilization and g-ood government, than all the slave barons, whether loya.1 or rebel; and yet, if any one or all of these interests were to combine against the g-overnment, what would be their fate? Would there be any division among- us on the question of conducting- the war ag-ainst them? Why, then, as practical men, should we hesitate as to the course to be pursued tov.''ards rebel slave barons? The truth is, prejudice has blinded us, as a nation, so that we will not see our duty, and this is the secret of our inefficiency and our reverses. How many men are there before me who would hesitate at confiscating- the entire wealth of all the corporations in the country — whether banks, rail- roads or manufactories — if they were combined and in rebel- lion against the government and they believed such action was necessary to save the nation's life? If you would do this, would you not also confiscate and deprive the present slave baron conspirators of every slave they possessed, if 3'ou believed it necessary for the preservation of the Consti- tution and the Union? I have no doubt of it. THE ONLY QUESTION BETWEEN KADICAL AND CON- SERVATIVE MEN. The only question, then, is a difference of opinion as to the time when this necessity begins. When, in the judgment of each man individually, that time has come, we are unani- mous. At present some are convinced that the time is now — others think differently — all, I doubt not, honestly. Instead, therefore, of finding fault and denouncing each other for -204 — lionest differences ot opinion, would it not be better ror all tO" maintain their opinions without criminating- each other and without denouncing" the g-overnment, which is undoubtedly honestly endeavoring- to do its duty? We are so constituted that we must see differently. If twenty men were selected from this audience to-night and a proposition was submitted to them, which to each was entirely new, whether in philoso- phy or politics, you know that their opinions would not only differ widely, but that some would be much quicker than others in coming to their conclusions. If, then, Union men differ on the proper disposition of this slavery controversy, let us agree to disagree, but stand firmly by the government. Is not the man who forms an honest judg-ment and frankly expresses it, entitled to the confidence of all true men, rather than he who either forms no ["opinions at all, or if he does, fears to express them? In short, is not the; man who, ip HE BIvUNDERS, does SO ON THE SIDE OP HUMANITY AND JUSTICE, BETTER ENTITLED TO THE RESPECT AND CONPIDENCE OP MEN THAN THE MAN WHO IS HEARTLESSLY INDIPPERENT OR CRAPTILY' SILENT? RECAPITULATION OF PROOF. I have demonstrated, I trust, to your satisfaction, by facts which cannot be controverted, that slavery, and sla- very ALONE, is the cause of this rebellion. I have shown you that every compromise and humiliating- concession made by the North to the South but emboldened and made more insulting the demands of the conspirators. They demanded at the Charleston and Baltimore conventions the uncondi- tional surrender of the Douglas Democrats, and because this was refused, broke up both. Their representatives pro- claimed LAST WINTER IN BOTH HouSES OP COMGRESS, THAT IF THE Northern representatives were to sign and seal a BOND ON A BLANK SHEET OP PAPER, AND AUTHORIZE THE CON- SPIRATORS TO FILL UP THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OP OUR SUR- RENDER, THEY WOULD NOT ACCEPT IT. They publicly declared that if the people elected any other man for President than the one dictated by themselves, they would secede and break up the Union, thus refusing longer to adhere to the demo- — 205 — cratic principle that the majority shall g-overn. I have shown you by their own public declarations, that the election of Mr. Lincoln was not the cause, but only a pretext for this rebellion; that for thirty years the traitors have been foment- ing- treason, and have been awaiting- a favorable opportunity to inaug-urate it. I have shown that but for the fatal folly and wicked indifference of the North, this rebellion would never have come upon us. That we have fed and fostered the viper which is now at our throats, every candid, reflect- ing- Northern man must admit. When it was an infant, or even when it was but half-g-rown, the nation mig-ht easily have destroyed it, but now by our own fault and g-uilt it has g-rown until it has become formidable and defiant. For years wc nursed it most tenderly and g-ave it all the succor and food it demanded. Not, outrag-ed justice demands either that we shall destroy it, or be ourselves destroyed by it. There is a law of compensation, a law which is above all human enact- ments, irrepealable because Divine, which proclaims that " THE NATION OR PEOPLE WHO DO NOT RULE IN RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL PERISH FROM THE EARTH," and I believe we are now passing" through the trying* ordeal which will either establish us a nation of freemen, ruling- in rig-hteousness, or destro}' us. STATE SOVEREIGNTY. You have heard a g-reat deal about ' ' State Sovereignty " and the "sacred soil of Virginia" and other States, and the " right of secession." I will not now detain you with a dis- cussion on the abstract right of secession. Last winter I examined this subject thoroughly in a speech which I made in the House, and I have nothing now to add to or take from what I then said. The claim set up by these conspirators, that a State is "sovereign" and owns the soil v/ithin its geographical limits, is an assumption as arrogant as it is ignorant. No State op the American Union is sovereign OR has any ownership of the soil, except that which the Constitution and laws op the United States give her. The National Constitution guarantees to each State a re- publican form of government, with a right to make its own municipal laws, subject only to that Constitution. — 206 — The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land, anything- in the laws or constitutions of the States to the contrary, notwithstanding. The assumed "right of secession" is an absurd and visionary dream of a monomaniac. As well mig"ht a man say he would release himself from any contract he had made, because he had determined not to pay his honest debts. Such a doctrine will do only for pirates. As well might Lucas County, Ohio, set up that she; is a "sovereign" count}^, and therefore has the "right" to secede from both the National and State Governments, and establish herself as an independent nation. If this were true, our National Constitution would not be worth the paper on which it is written. ABSURD doctrine; OF MR. BUCHANAN. Absurd, however, as this doctrine is, it is not half so absurd as the course pursued by Buchanan, who, while permitting" our national fortifications to be environed by rebel batteries, formally announced in his last message to Congress that not only was there no "right of secession" under the Constitu- tion, BUT THAT AI.I. ATTEMPTS ON THE PART OP THE NaTIONAI, Government to restrain or prevent a State from seced- ing WERE ALSO UNCONSTITUTIONAL. WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE EFFECTS IF THIS QUESTION HAD BEEN SETTLED IN THE MISSOURI CONTROVERSY. Had the nation heeded the warning voices of her purest patriots and statesmen at the time of the Missouri controversy, that State would never have been admitted into the Union with slavery, and the so-called Missouri compromise would never have been made. The deadly viper \/ould then have received its death-blow, and the nation been delivered from the rule of the slave barons. Slavery would not then have been nationalized by Congressional protection. There would have been no cruel, bloody and costly war in Florida for the enslavement of negroes, half-breeds and Indians, who were free when we purchased the territory fiom Spain, and whose rights we guaranteed by the treaty of purchase and unblush- — 207 — ing-ly violated by that war. There- would have been no war made upon the weak and distressed republic of Mexico for the purpose of wresting- free territory from her, on which to plant human' slavery. There would have been no ceding- of one-half of Oregon to Great Britain to prevent the erection of free States out of that territory. The compromises of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska acts of 1854, and the justly infamous Lecompton Constitution of 1857, would never have disgraced the records of our country. In short, the crimes and murders in Kansas which have been committed, never could have been committed — much less could this wicked rebellion have been born. A BOLD, EARNEST, VIGOROUS POLICY DEMANDED. Our duty as a nation, in connection with this rebellion, has seemed to me from the first so plain that I have been not a little amazed at the apparent hesitancy and want of policy on our part. You know I have claimed, and still claim, that we cannot march into the South with our armies and suc- cessfully strike down the conspirators with one hand while UPHOLDING THE CAUSE OF THE REBELLION WITH THE OTHER. From the first I have insisted on the adoption of a bold, earnest and vig-orous policy. I have insisted that all persons who are not unqualifiedly for the g-overnment, whether in or out of office, should be treated as its enemies — that every person who was even suspected of disloyalty, should be dismissed from the army and from every branch of the public service, and I have classed, and shall continue to class, every man whether at the North or South, who is for the government with an "if" or a "but," as a traitor. [Applause.] Thus far in this controversy we have acted with the tenderest solicitude for the welfare of rebel slave barons. We have sanctioned the taking- of his horse, his cattle, his money and his life, but seldom his man chattels. On this point we have been inconsistent and vacillating-, while the rebels have been consistent and defiant. I know it is said by those who have counseled the policy or rather want of policy which we have thus far pursued, that "the war will be the end op SLAVERY," and that so far from having- any objections, they — 208 — ^would be g-lad to see it. This may be true, but 3'ou and I know that the overthrow of slavery will not only end the war, but, beyond all doubt, save the Union an-d preserve con- stitutional liberty, by making- us what we oug-ht to be, a liomog-eneous people. It is claimed by many that the people should not criticise the acts of the g-overment at such a time as the present. I dissent from this theory. If the people do not demand from the g-overnment what they want, pra}' how is the g-overnment to know the wishes and sentiments of the people which it professes to represent? I have supported and voted for every necessary measure asked by the Administration, and shall continue to do so as long- as these demands seem to me right. Of that I am to be the judg^e, and not another for me. As I never have been, so I never shall be, the blind fol- lower either of men or parties. [Applause.] In the present controversy I have made everything- subordinate to the one g-reat wish of my heart — the preservation of the Constitu- tion and the Union. Neither men nor party, the allurements of power, nor the hope of future preferment have swayed or shall sway me in the discharg-e of my duty. As I have done since I have had the honor to represent you, so I shall con- tinue to vote and act on all questions as thoug-h there were, as now there oug-ht to be, but one party in the country, and that the party for the Constitution and the Union. In such a contest as the present, men are nothing-; parties are but as dust in the balance; but the Lfe of the nation is above all price, and must be preserved. I have, as all have, the strong-est motives for standing- firmly by the President, for he is certainly an honest and earnest man, and these are noble and indispensable qualifications. Believing- the Presi- dent to be thus earnest and honest, I can, as you can, afford to overlook many of the blunders and mistakes which, of necessity, he must commit in his present embarrassing- posi- tion. But while I say this, I will not consent to remain silent and quietly permit any policy to be adopted which, in my judg-ment, would be fatal to the success of that cause which all true patriots have first at heart. The old adage lias it that " it will do no harm to watch even an honest 209 man," and all history proclaims that " eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." [Applause.] CONSEQUENCES OP THE REBELLION. The consequences of this rebellion are difficult of solution. No man can tell when or how it will end, and any theory relating- to it must be continually modified by constantly chang-ing- events. It requires no prophet, however, to foresee that unless we change our policy we shall have the whole outside world against us. We may have them for us by simply doing that which our own self-preservation demands. It has been our policy as a nation for many years to recognize DE FACTO rebel governments, if they gave evidence of their ability to maintain a government. We cannot, then, justly complain if foreign nations do the same with us. If England, France and Spain, recognize the confederate government by the 4th of March next, as the moneyed and commercial classes of those countries are now demanding, what will be the result? Of necessity, a violation of our blockade and probably a foreign war. That there is a hostile feeling towards us among the aristocratic classes of the countries named, all understand. In addition, the commercial and manufacturing interests of Great Britain and France are favorable to an early recognition of the rebel government in order that free trade treaties may be secured, and they may obtain the Southern cotton and sell in return their manu- factured fabrics. These two interests combined exercise a wonderful control in those governments. Indeed, commerce itself, which is a mighty power in the world, will soon de- maind that its interests shall no longer be obstructed by this war. Here is this demand of the aristocracy (who hate our government) and the manufacturing and commercial classes against the great mass of their people, who love liberty and Republican institutions, and believe we are fighting to maintain them. As soon, however, as the mass of the moral and religious people of England and France shall be made to believe that the North is fighting to maintain slavery as it IS, and the South are only fighting to secure additional 14 — 210 — constitutional guarantees for the protection of slavery, tliey will say it is a "distinction without a difference," and will unite with the privileg-ed classes in demanding- an early recognition of the rebel government. And whenever their people are thus united, the independence of the rebel States will be acknowledged by their governments. Thus far in this controversy we have done much to alienate all foreign sympathy, and unless we change our policy we shall, in my judgment, lose the support of all the liberty-loving people of Europe. If this be lost, we surely can expect no support from the aristocratic element. As a nation we are in a criti- cal condition, and it depends alone upon our own action whether we are to draw to us the support of the moral and Christian powers of the world, or permit them to become in- different or openly hostile. EFFECT OF A FOREIGN RECOGNITION OF THE REBELS UPON THE NORTH. As soon as the governments of England and France shall have recognized the rebel confederacy, a powerful anti-war and anti-tax party will spring up in the North in favor of peace and the recognition of the independence of the traitors. Thus, we shall be divided at home and at war with the great military powers abroad, unless we yield. We have those among us now who contend that we cannot put down this rebellion. How many shall we then have who will openly demand the separation of the States? They will say, "If you could not put down this rebellion single-handed, how can you expect to do it with England and France in the balance against you? " They tell us now that if we withdraw our armies from Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri, the secessionists will at once carry those States over to the rebel government, and I am not sure but they would. How certainly would it be the case if we were compelled to with- draw our armies to fight a foreign enem}-. Let us look the truth squarely in the face. We may have a united nation of thirty millions of free men and the whole moral power of the world to sustain us, if we but will it, or we may alienate this power and be broken into fragments, never again to be united. — 211 — \ UNION OF sentime;nt and effort necessary. With these facts before us, what is our dut}-? You know -what I think. Let us then, forg-etting- all past differences, unite earnestly in adopting- the only practical solution of this question — that of striking- the enemy in his most vulnerable point. [Applause.] In this grand battle let us cling- with unfaltering- faith and hope to the flag- of our fathers, and fight on and fight ever, without concealment of our purposes, and without again compromising with wrong, until we lift the whole Union, " one and indivisible," above the ruin which to-night environs it — and the nation, thus purified, invigo- rated, and strengthened by the stern ordeal of battle, shall again shine out as the beacon light of liberty to the oppressed of the world, with no spot to darken her fair escutcheon, but shining out as beautiful as the morning, giving light and hope and joy to the struggling millions of the earth. [Applause.] To fight for such a government an'd such principles I have asked men all over my district to volunteer in the liberating ar.my of the Republic. Who would not feel proud to belong to such an army? Who does not feel thank- ful that Providence has cast his lot where he may be an actor in such a contest? For — "We are living, we are dwelling, In a grand and awful time. In an age on ages telling, To be living is sublime. Will ye play, then, will ye dally, With your music and your wine? Up! It is Jehovah's rally ! God's own arm hath need of thine ! '* Fellow-citizens, I have spoken to you to-night freely and frankly. Much that I have said might have been omitted, and my own convictions and opinions, had I chosen, could have been entirely concealed. I have felt it be my duty, however, as I did last spring, when I apprised you in my letters of the formidable proportions of this rebellion, and the danger that beset the life of the nation, to call your 212 attention to the facts upon which. I then based my opinions. I leave these facts with you for 3'our judg-ment. When you have fully and impartially examined them, as I have, I will have no fear of your verdict. In a day or two more I go to Washington, and I confess to you that I never went to the discharge of a duty with more distrust in my own abili- ties nor with a more sincere desire for the aid and counsel of friends and the guidance of Him "who doeth all things •well." Earnestly desiring above all things the restoration of peace, the Union and the Constitution, I shall continue to urge a vigorous prosecution of the war, to resist all attempts at compromise or surrender to the enemy by patching up a peace, knowing full well, as I do, that no peace can be honor- able or enduring which is made over the prostrate form of Justice. [Applause.] Confident that the nation or people who do not rule in righteousness shall perish from the earth, I believe every citizen has a sacred duty to perform, in this trying hour of our country's peril, which is to aid by everj^ means in his power in restoring the government to the princi- ples and policy of its founders. I believe that the first and highest duty of government is to secure every loyal inhabi- tant in his person, his liberty, and his property, "protecting all and granting special favors to none." This is the sum and substance of my political faith. It is an exceedingly simple one, but is all the platform I ask, and I intend, with God's blessing, to be faithful to it in the midst of this rebel- lion, the dissolution of parties and the desertion of men, so that for my own honor and that of my children it shall never be truthfully said or written of me that I was an apostate to that faith, or that I abandoned the sacred cause of Liberty for the sake of place and power. [Long continued ap- plause.] SPBBCH OF HON. J. M. ASHLEY, OF OHIO, In ths House of Representatives, Aprii, 11, "1862. ON THE BILI. FOR THE REI.EASE OP CERTAIN PERSONS HEX,D TO SERVICE OR LABOR IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. INITIATE EMANCIPATION." Mr. Ashley said:' Mr. Chairman: I intend to vote for this bill as a national duty, and not as the representative of a locality. I shall vote for it without apolog-y, and without disclaimer. I have no excuses to offer here, or elsewhere, for doing- an act which even-handed justice demands. From the first I have been earnest and persistent in pressing- this question of emancipation. It became my pleasing* duty, in obedience to the request of the District Committee, to meet and confer with the senator who had charge of this subject in the other branch of the national legislature, and I may say, I trust, Letter from Prof. J, P. Shorter, A. M., LL. D., Wilberforce, O. On page 329 will be found a copy of the bill for the Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia, as originally introduced by Mr. ^_. Ashley, with a brief history of its amendment and final passage, so as to compesnate loyal slave-owners. This speech and his masterly effort on page 333 in favor of the Thirteenth Constitutional Amend- ment, prohibiting slavery in the United States forever, will be read with unflagging interest. As we look back, we are amazed whea reading Mr. Ashley's unanswerable arguments, his denunciations and prophecies. All can see that he had that clear vision, which is only given to him whose heart is in the right place, and who is born to be " a leader of hopes forlorn that must be led." And this is not strange nor miraculous, for, as the poet has beautifully expressed it, "When the heart goes before like a lamp and il- lumines the pathway, many things are made clear, that else lie hidden in darkness." J. P. Shorter. (213) -214 — "without impropriety, that the Senate could not well have confided it to a truer and more earnest friend of the measure. After several meeting's and consultations with leading" members of both Houses, and citizens of the District, we ag-reed upon a bill, which was approved by each committee, and ordered to be reported in both Houses. This was the bill which I reported to the House on the 12th day of March last. I deem it due to myself, in this connection, to say that the bill then reported by me was not in all respects what I could desire; and I need hardly add that some of the Senate amendments are of a character to make it still more objec- tionable. But 1 am a practical man, and shall support this bill as the best we can get at this time. I have been shown a number of amendments which some of my friends on this side of the House desire to offer, and which I would prefer to the provisions which are proposed to be amended; but if offered I shall vote ag-ainst them, as their adoption would greatly delay, if not endanger the passage of the bill at this session, because their adoption would necessarily return the bill to the Senate for their concurrence. I trust, therefore, that all friends of. emancipation will decide to accept the Senate bill as it is, and .vote against all amendments, so that the practical end aimed at by the earnest men of this House, the immediate liberation of all slaves in this District, shall at once be accomplished. The object to be attained, and not its particular mode of attainment, is what we ought all to have most at heart. If I must tax the loyal people of the nation $1,000,000 before the slaves at the national capital can be ransomed, I will do it. I would make a bridge of gold over which they might pass to freedom, on the anniversary of the fall of Sumter, if it could not be more justly accomplished. The people of the United States must be relieved from all respon- sibility for the existence or longer continuance of human slavery at the capital of the Republic. The only question which I conceive I am called upon as a representative to decide is, has Congress the power and is it our duty to pass such a bill as the one before us? Part of the sixteenth clause of the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution reads thus: — 215 — " Congress shall have power to exercise exclusive leg-is- lation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceed- ing- ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of g-overn- ment of the United States." Mr. Chairman, I need not go into a labored argument to show that Congress has power to banish slavery from this district. It is not necessary to be a constitutional lawyer to comprehend the extent of the power here granted. The meaning is plain enough. The clause confers upon Congress all the legislative power that can be exercised by both National and State Governments combined. If Congress cannot abolish slavery in this District, no power on earth can. A few years ago, one of freedom's distinguished orators startled the country by declaring "that Congress had no MORE POWER TO MAKE A SI,AVE THAN TO MAKE A KING. " If, then, there is, as I claim, no constitutional power in Congress to reduce any man or race to slavery, it certainly will not be claimed that Congress has the power to legaljze such regula- tions as exist to-day, touching persons held as slaves in this district, by re-enacting" the slave laws of Maryland, and thus doing by indirection what no sane man claims authority to do directly. I know it is claimed by some that if Congress has power to abolish, it must necessarily have power to establish slavery. I will not insult the intelligence of this House by discussing such a proposition. If Congress could not constitutionally re-enact the slave laws of Maryland for this District, then slavery could not exist even for a single hour after the cession of the territory became complete. But whether slavery constitutionally exists in this district or not, that it does exist is a fact, and because it exists and has existed by the sufferance and sanction of the National Government, for which the erttire people of the United States are justly responsible, it is more than ever the imperative duty of this Congress to abolish at once and forever so unnatural and unjustifiable a wrong. And, sir, if it be necessary to employ g"old to do it, let gold be employed. Gold — which has corrupted statesmen, perverted justice, and enslaved men, can never be more righteously used than when it contributes to re-establish justice and ransom slaves. -216 — It is claimed by the opponents of emancipation that the proper and natural condition of all colored races is that of slavery to the white race; that the people of color, not only in this district, but throug-hout the country, are unfit for freedom; that they cannot take care of themselves, and must, of necessity, if liberated, become a public charg-e. We are asked with apparent horror, and an air of sincerity, "if we intend to let this slave population loose among- the whites;" and we are told if we do that, it will be destructive alike of the interests of both races; that the prejudices agfainst per- sons of color are so implacable they cannot live in peace, and a war of races will be the inevitable result of freeing" them among the whites — evils far more to be dreaded than any which can ensue from their continued enslavement. I have no such apprehension. Experience teaches me that all such fears are g-roundless. While I deny the doctrine that the normal condition of any race is that of slavery, or that there can be rig-htfully such a thing- as property in man, under any government or constitution, I will not and cannot believe that the restoration of any race to freedom will produce antagonisms that shall culminate in a war between those whose relationships are changed from that of gross injustice and oppression to that of self-dependence and freedom. God made of one blood all the nations that dwell together on the face of the earth, and gave man "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth;" but man over man,, never. The distinction here made between persons and animals is clear and marked. It is the distinction recognized in the jurisprudence of all civilized and Christian nations; and when a slave baron stands up here, and claims that his title to his fellowman rests upon the same recognized rights that give him a title to his horse, I see and feel the blighting effects of slavery, and realize the justice of the remarks which I submitted on this floor two years ago, when I said that— "I exempt, with pleasure, from any sweeping denuncia- tions which I may make, thousands of good and true men — 217 — who find themselves born to this inheritance, and whose whole lives give assurance to the world that their hearts are better than the system. Intrust a class of men in any society or government with absolute power over a servile race, and the bad men will not only use it and abuse it, as I shall show, but, by their clamorous cry of danger to the State, will perpetrate and give sanction to outrages that good and true men will be powerless to prevent. It is not that southern men and slaveholders are worse than other men, but because they are no better, that it is unsafe, if it were not in itself an indefensible wrong, to intrust them with absolute power over any part of the human race." Sir, the origin and authority for all the dominion man of right possesses in this world comes direct from the Father of all, and has been so recognized, not only by the great English commentator, but by the law-givers of every civilized nation on earth. There is no right outside of His authority^ much less in violation of it. The great epic poet of England writes — " He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl. Dominion absolute ; that right we hold By his donation ; but man over man He made not lord ; such title to himself Reserving, human left from human free." I ask the indulgence of the House while I read a few ex- tracts from the writings of the great men of the past, which will suffice to show how slavery was regarded by them. "Slavery is a system of the most complete injustice." — Plato. "Slavery is a system of outrage and robbery." — Soc- rates." " By the grand laws of nature all men are born free, and this law is universall}- binding upon all men." " Eternal justice is the basis of all human laws." "Whatever is just is also the true law ; nor can this true law be abrogated by any written enactment," "If there be such a power in the decrees and commands of fools, that the nature of things is changed by their votes» v/hy do they not decree that what is bad and pernicious shall be regarded as good and wholesome, or why, if the law can make wrong right, can it not make bad good ? " — 218 — "Those who have made pernicious and unjust decrees, have made anything- rather than laws." — Cicero. *'The law which supports slavery and opposes liberty must necessarily be condemned as cruel, for every feeling- of human nature advocates liberty. Slavery is introduced by human wickedness ; but God advocates liberty by the nature which he has implanted in the breast of every man." — FORTESCUE. "If neither captivity nor contract can, by the plain law of nature and reason, reduce the parent to a state of slavery, much less can they reduce the offspring-." "The primary aim of society is to protect individuals in the enjoyment of those absolute rig-hts which were vested in them by the immutable laws of nature. Hence it follows that the first and prime end of human laws is to maintain those absolute rig-hts of individuals." "If any human law shall require us to commit crime, we are bound to transg-ress that human law, or else we must offend both the natural and divine." — Blackstone. "What the Parliament doth shall be holden for naug-ht whenever it shall enact that which is contrary to the rig-hts of nature." — Lord Coke. "The essence of all law is justice. What is not justice is not law, and what is not law ought not to be obeyed." — Hampden. "No man is by nature the property of another. The rig-hts of nature must be some way forfeited before they can justly be taken away." — Dr. Johnson. "If you have the rig-ht to make another man a slave, he has the rig-ht to make you a slave." — Dr. Price. "It is injustice to permit slavery to remain a sing-le hour." — Pitt. " American slavery is the vilest that ever saw the sun ; it constitutes the sum of all villainies." — John Wesley. "Man cannot have property in man. Slavery is a nuisance, to be put down, not compromised with, and to be assailed without cessation and without merc}^, by every blow that can be leveled at the monster." "Ireland and Irishmen should be foremost in seeking- to effect the emancipation of mankind." " The Americans alleg-ed that they had not perpetrated the crime (that of enslaving- the blacks), but inherited it from England. This, however, fact as it was, was still a paltry apology for America, who asserting liberty for herself, still used the brand and the lash against others." — Daniel O'CONNELL. "In regard to a regulation of slavery, my detestation of its existence induces me to know no such thing- as a reg-ula- — 219 — tion of robbery or a restriction of murder. Personal freedom is a rig-ht of which he who deprives a fellow-creature is criminal in so depriving- him, and he who withholds is no less crimi- nal in withholding-." — Charles James Fox. "I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America, if I could have conceived that thereby I was found- ing- a land of slavery." — LaFayette. "I never mean, unless some particular circumstances should compel me to it, to possess another slave by purchase, it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this country may be abolished by law. ' ' But there is only one proper and effectual mode b}^ which it can be accomplished, and that is by legislative authority, and this, as far as my suffrag-e will go, shall never be want- ing." — Washington. "The abolition of domestic slaverj^ is the g-reatest object of desire in these colonies, where it was unhappily introduced in their infant state." — Jefferson. " It is wrong- to admit into the Constitution the idea that there can be property in man."— Madison. "We have found that this evil has preyed upon the very vitals of the Union, and has been prejudicial to all the States in which it has existed." — Monroe. " Is it not amazing that at a time when the rig-hts of humanity are defined and understood with precision, in a country above all others fond of liberty, that in such an ag-e and in such a country, we find men professing- a religion the most mild, humane, g-entle and g-enerous adopting such a principle as repugnant to humanity as it is inconsistent with the Bible, and destructive to liberty? " — Patrick Henry. " Sir, I envy neither the heart nor the head of that man from the North who rises here to defend slavery on principle." — John Randolph. " The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are writ- ten as with a sunbeam in the whole volume of human nature by the hand of Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power." — Alexander Hamilton. " Little can be added to what has been said and written on the subject of slavery. I concur 'in the opinion that it ought not to be introduced or permitted in any of the new States, and that it ought to be gradually diminished and finally abolished in all of them." — John Jay. "It is among the evils of slavery, that it taints the very sources of moral principle. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice ; for what can be more false and more heartless than this doctrine, which makes the first and holiest rights — 220 — of liumaiiity depend upon the color of the skin ? " — John QuiNCY Adams. Thus, sir, spoke some few of the great men of the past, and the just principles by them proclaimed control and direct to- day all the civilized governments of Europe. Shall the American g-overnment be less just than monarchical govern- ments ? Shall we alone cling" to slavery and the dead past, while all Christian nations are keeping* step to the march of human prog^ress, and the demands of a higher civilization ? L5o- ing- to give, or will it be rather as to your ability to pay the principal? I take it that that would be the first inquiry. He would ask you, "What will be the condition of your country and government thirty or forty j^ears hence?" If you could answer him, as you might truthfully answer him were this amendment adopted, "Sir, in thirty or forty years we shall not be indebted, at home or abroad, a single dollar, and then will we be the most powerful and populous, the most enter- prising and wealthy nation in the world." If you could tell him this, and add, as you may, that in thirty or forty years we will show the world a government whose sovereignty on the North American continent will not be questioned from ocean to ocean, and from the Isthmus of Panama to the ice- bound regions of the North; and tell him, also, that our sys- tem of free labor, guaranteed by the national Constitution to all generations of men, with free schools and colleges, and a free press, with churches no longer fettered with the mana- cles of the slave-master, with manufactures and commerce exceeding in vastness anything which had ever been known, and a nation of men unrivaled in culture, enterprise and wealth, and more devotedly attached to their country than the people of any other nation, because of the constitutional guarantee of the government to protect the rights of all and secure the liberty and equality of its people; if you could tell him this, and that such a race of free men would make the South and the entire nation what New England is to-day, your Secretary could have all the money he wanted, and on his own terms. WHAT SAY THE UNION SOLDIERS ? Mr. Speaker, what say the soldiers of the Union army to the proposition before us? Shall not their voices be heard and their wishes be respected by their representatives in the American Congress? Sir, there are no men in the republic to whose wishes and judgment I would more willingly defer on this ques- tion than to the brave men who are periling life and all for country; to the men who have vanquished the enem}- wher- — 354 — ever they have met them, saved the nation, and by their heroism on the battlefield, and their fidelity to principle at the ballot-box, made the passag-e of this amendment possible. Almost ever}^ letter I receive from the brave men who are in the army from my District contains the anxious inquiry, "what of the constitutional amendment; will it pass?" And I doubt not that the same question has been asked by the constituents at home and soldiers in the field of four-fifths of the Representatives upon this floor. What shall be our of&cial answer? Shall the g"lad news go forth to cheer alike the soldier and the citizen and the friends of the g"overn- ment everywhere, that the deliberately expressed will of the people is to be respected and enacted into law; that on this great question there are no long-er party divisions, but that practicall}^ the representatives are as united as the people, in demanding the passage of this constitutional amendment? If this shall be our answer, a shout will go up from our brave men in front of Richmond, at Savannah, and all along the Union lines, and throughout the entire country, such as never before arose from the hearts and lips of men on the passage of any act by the American Congress. A MEMORABLE YEAR. Mr. Speaker, the year which has just closed has been a year of anxiety and also a year of joy. The ordeal through which as a nation we have passed, has been a terrible one. I speak of the ordeal on the battlefield and at the ballot-box. We have presented to the world a sublime spectacle. We have tested our strength, and know the constancy and cour- age of our men. Such disinterestedness, such heroism and devotion to country, the world has never witnessed. Conse- crated by a dispensation of fire and blood, the children of the republic have grown to the full stature of manhood. Stand- ing here, in the nation's council halls, in the beginning of a new year, on the threshold of a new era, and in the presence of such events, let us comprehend the duty of true statesmen, and while legislating for the present, legislate also for the generations of men which are to succeed us. The eyes of the — 355 — wise and g-ood in all civilized nations are upon us. The men who embrace and defend the democratic idea in Europe are patiently and anxiously waiting- to have us authoritatively proclaim to the world that liberty is the sig-n in which we conquer; that henceforth freedom is to be the animating- principle of our g-overnment and the life of our Constitution. DUTY OF THE STATESMAN. Mr. speaker, while the Union soldier fig-hts to vanquish the enemies of the g-overnment, the duty of the true states- man is to provide that the enemy, once vanquished, shall never ag-ain be permitted for the same cause to reorg-anize and make war upon the nation. Pass this joint resolution,' submitting- to the people for their ratification or rejection this proposed amendment to the national Constitution, and I am sure the nation will adopt it with shouts of acclamation, and when once adopted, you know, sir, and I know, and the enemies of this g-overnment know, that we shall have peace, and that no such rebellion will ever be possible ag-ain. Pass this amendment, and the g-loomy shadow of slavery will never ag-ain darken the fair fame of our country or tarnish the g-lory of democratic institutions in the land of Washing- ton. Pass this amendment, and the brig-htest page in the history of the Thirty-eig-hth Congress, now so near its close, will be the one on which is recorded the names of the req- uisite number of members voting in its favor. Refuse to pass it, and the saddest page in the history of the Thirty- eighth Congress will be the one on which is recorded its de- feat. Sir, I feel as if no member of this House will ever live ta witness an hour more memorable in our history than the one in which each for himself shall make a record on the ques- tion now before us. I implore gentlemen to forget party, and remember that we are making a record, not only for ourselves individually, but for the nation and the cause of free government throughout the world. While members of the Thirty-eighth Congress we cannot change the record which each must now make, and those who do not return to the next Congress can never reverse their votes of to-day, but — 356 — must forever stand recorded, if voting- ag-ainst tlie amend- ment, among- those voting- to justify the rebellion and per- petuate its cause. The g-enius of history, with iron pen, is waiting to record our verdict where it will remain forever for all the coming- g-enerations of men to approve or condemn. God g-rant that the verdict may be one over which the friends of liberty, im- partial and universal, in this country and Europe, and in every land beneath the sun, may rejoice; a verdict which shall declare that America is free; a verdict which shall add another day of jubilee, and the brig-htest of all to our n-ational calendar. If this verdict is not g-iven by the present Cong-ress, I know, and you all know, it will be g-iven by the next Cong-ress, and that, too, with alacrity. The decree has g-one forth; the people have pronounced it; and now is the g-olden hour in which we may all unite, if we will, and in- aug-urate a new era in our history. Let no man put forth his puny hand to stay the certain approach of the. hour in which this act shall pass, or of the g-rand jubilee which shall follow its enactment into law. Let no member of this House attempt to postpone this g-reat measure, with the hope of being- able to circumvent, by some petty scheme of com- promise, the plainly written decree of Omnipotence. Let no loyal man, in such an hour as this, record his vote ag-ainst this just proposition, and thus vote to prolong- the rebellion and perpetuate the despotism of American slavery in this Republic. The following- resolutions explain themselves. They show how thoroughly Mr. Sumner and Mr. Ashley were in accord on the great questions of that day. United States Senate. ] Saturday, February 4, 1865. j Mr. Sumner introduced the following resolutions: THE THREE fourths' VOTE OF RATIFICATION. Mr. Sumner: I send to the Chair resolutions which I ask to have read and printed. I shall call them up at a future day. — 357 — The resolutions were read, as follows. Concurrent resolutions declaring- the rule in ascertaining- the three-fourths of the several States required in the ratifi- cation of a constitutional amendment: Whereas Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses, has proposed an amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting slavery throug-hout the United States, which, according" to the existing requirement of the Constitution, will be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the Con- stitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States; and whereas, in the present condition of the countr}', with certain States in arms against the National Government, it becomes necessary to determine what number of States constitutes the three-fourths required by the Constitution: Therefore, Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring-), That the rule followed in ascertaining the two- thirds of both Houses proposing- the amendment to the Con- stitution should be followed in ascertaining" the three-fourths of the several States ratifying the amendment; that, as in the first case, the two-thirds are founded on the simple fact of representation in the two Houses, so in the second case, the three-fourths must be founded on the simple fact of representation in the g-overnment of the country and the support thereof; and that any other rule establishes one basis for the proposition of the amendment, and another for its ratification, placing" one on a simple fact, and the other on a claim of right, while it also recog-nizes the power of rebels in arms to interpose a veto upon the National Government in one of its highest functions. Resolved, That all acts, executive and leg-islative, in pur- suance of the Constitution, and all treaties made under the authority of the United States, are valid, to all intents and purposes throughout the United States, although certain States in rebellion fail to participate therein, and that the same rule is equally applicable to an amendment of the Con- stitution. Resolved, That the amendment of the Constitution, pro- hibiting" slavery throughout the United States, will be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the Constitution, whenever ratified by three-fourths of the States, de facto, exercising the powers and prerogatives of the United States under the Constitution thereof. Resolved, That any other rule requiring" the participa- tion of the rebel States, while illogical and unreasonable, is dangerous in its consequences, inasmuch as all recent presi- -358 — dential proclamations, including- that of emancipation, also all the recent acts of Congress, including- those creating the national debt and establishing- a national currency, and also all recent treaties, including- the treaty with Great Britain for the extinction of the slave trade, have been made, enacted, or ratified, respectively, without any participation of the rebel States. Resolved, That any other rule must tend to postpone the g-reat day when the prohibition of slaver}^ will be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the Constitution of the United States; but the rule herewith declared will assure the immediate ratification of the prohibition, and the consumma- tion of the national desires. The resolutions were ordered to be printed. Letter from W. S. Scarboroug-li, A. M., LL. D., Pit. D., Wilberforce, O. la aa interview •wiiich we find reported in the Tolkdo Blade, Mr. Ashley says " that from my first nieeting-with Whit« tier ia 1850, no one of all the great anti-slavery leaders exercised a strong-er or healthier influence on my life." Every reader of this volume ■will recog-nize how thoroughly Whittier's philoso- phy and gentleness took firm hold of Mr. Ashley's head and heart. Of all his early anti-slavery speeches before us, running W. S. SCARBOROUGH, back to 1S54, a majority are strengthened and embellished by striking- quotations from Whittier. During- the darkest hours of our country's history, when many faltered and deserted our standard, Mr. Ashley stood erect and firm, never failing-, never faltering, and " like a prophet sent to free this world from every bond and stain," he unfurled the true republican banner on which was writ: "Freedom, THE BIKTHRIGHT OP THE HUMAN RACE." " ThE NATION OF PEOPLE WHO DO NOT RULE IN RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL PERISH FROM THE EARTH." Were there no other reason for stamping the speeches in this book with moral power and intellectual force, the quo- tations made from Whittier, and the proclaiming- of those maxims of freedom, would be enough. W. S. Scarborough. COPY OF THE FIRST RECONSTRUCTION BILL, Introduced in Congress by Mr. Ashley. A LETTER OF HISTORIC VALUE. The Publication Committee obtained from Mr. Ashley a copy of his first reconstruction bill, and by special request, the following- brief statement of the inside history of its preparation. The subjoined correspondence, with copy of the orig-inal reconstruction bill, tog-ether with the recorded yea and nay vote by which his first reconstruction bill was laid on the table, will be of historic interest to the reader. November 22, 1892. Hon. J. M. Ashley, Toledo, Ohio. Dear Sir : It appears to us, that your speeches in Con- g-ress and in California, on the subject of reconstruction, ought to be accompanied with a copy of at least one of the bills introduced by you, for the reorg-anization of the South- ern States. If you can furnish us with a copy of one of the reconstruction bills prepared by you, with the history of such bill, so as to make the record more complete than we now have it, we will be under renewed oblig-ations. 1 have the honor to be, Very respecfuUy yours, for God and the race, Chairman. (359) -— 360 — < Dear Sir : My first bill for the government of the States and districts in rebellion, was prepared in June, 1861, before leaving- home, to attend the extra session of Cong-ress, con- vened by President Lincoln, July 4th of that year. This fact tells its own story. It will tell you, that I then had no doubt of our ability to crush the rebellion at an early day. I need not add, that it took us longer than I, at that time, supposed. In one of my reconstruction speeches in Congress which I sent you, I give in brief the history of the first reconstruc- tion bill and its fate. Immediately after the House was organized, in July, 1861, I invited the Republican members of the Committee on Territories to meet me at my rooms in Washington, for con- sultation. At that meeting I laid before them my bill for the re- organization and government of the rebel States. I soon learned that not one of my Republican colleagues on the committee were then prepared to say that they would vote for my bill. Thereupon, I resolved to submit my pro- posed bill to Governor Chase (Secretary of the Treasury), and to Senator Sumner, Henry Winter Davis, and other per- sonal friends, for their opinions. After securing their gen- eral approval to the 'central proposition embodied in the bill, viz.: "That Congress had power under the Constitu- tion, to legislate for the government of States and districts in rebellion," I went to work to convert one by one, the Re- publican members of my committee. On the 23d of December, 1861, at the regular session, I caused a resolution to be introduced in the House, which passed, "instructing the Committee on Territories [of which I was chairman] to inquire into the legality and expediency of establishing territorial governments within the limits of disloyal States or districts in rebellion, and to report by bill or otherwise." Not long after this, all the Republican members of my committee save one (Mr. Wheeler of New York, Vice-Presi- dent under Hayes), came to my support, and united with me in reporting the bill, as it appears in the printed copy enclosed. — 361 — No such bill had ever before been presented to the Con- gress of the United States. No occasion had ever before arisen for such a bill. In undertaking* to legislate for new and unknown conditions, we had to blaze our way through a wilderness of legal and political complications. Timid men hesitated, and men who never move, or who when they do move, walk only in beaten paths, were frightened. So when by direction of a majority of the Committee on Terri- tories, my bill was reported to the House, on the twelfth of March, 1862, it was on motion of Mr. Pendleton, of Ohio, laid on the table, some twenty Republicans voting against me, and with the Democrats, to table it. The MINORITY of the Territorial Committee denounced this bill in terms that, in the light of history, seem weak and superficial. The only statement made by them in their minority re- ports, which contained the shadow of what proved to be the truth, was the declaration, "that the bill was intended to emancipate at once, and forever, all slaves, and to seize all public lands belonging to the rebel States, and lease or give such lands, and forfeited or confiscated estates, to slaves so emancipated." That was undoubtedly my purpose, and there are to-day, thousands of thinking men, who now believe that Congress was criminally guilty, because it failed to do this act of prudence and justice. Even here at home, I was charged by men who called themselves Republicans, with recognizing and confirming by my reconstruction bill, the secession of all the rebel States, and much more of the same sort of shallow sophistry and amazing logic. In a day or two after my bill had been laid on the table. Senator Colomore, of Vermont (who was opposed to my plan of reconstruction), came to my seat in the House, and said, "Ashley, where do you find a precedent for your bill, to estab- lish such governments as you propose, for the States in rebel- lion?" I answered him sharply and with some feeling, by say- ing: " Sir, we make precedents here," and added, "before we get through with this rebellion, we will compel all loyal men in Congress to vote for measures far more radical than my bill; " and so we did. — 362 — But experience has taug-lit us, that the reconstruction, measures finally enacted by Cong-ress, were not as safe, nor as desirable, as raj orig-inal bill, which provided for putting- the rebel States in territorial condition, until Cong-ress should provide by law for their reorg-anization, a copy of which I now send you, so that you may publish it if you like. I was a member of the select Committee on "Reconstruc- tion," of which Henry "Winter Davis, of Maryland, was chair- man, and voted in that committee and in the House, for the re- construction bill as it finally passed. It was the best, and in fact all the bill we could g-et that Committee to report. But I thought then, and think now, that we fell short of our duty to the black man. Yours truly, J. M. Ashley. Rev. Benjamin "W. Arnett, D. D., Chairman Publication Committee. United States House of Representatives, ] Washington, D. C. >- Committee Room on Territories, March 8, 1862. ) The Committee on Territories, to whom was referred a resolution passed by the House on the 23d of December, 1861, instructing" them ' ' to inquire into the leg-ality and expediency of establishing- territorial g-overnments within the limits of dislo^^al States or districts in rebellion, and report by bill or otherwise," have had the same under careful consideration, and submit the following- bill providing- for temporary civil g-overnments over the districts of country now in rebellion ag-ainst the United States, with the recommendation that it do pass. J. M. Ashley. F. C. Beaman. A. Scott Sloan. Owen Lovejoy. G. F. Bailey. — obo — A BiLjL, TO Establish Temporary Provisional Governments OVER THE Districts of Country in Rebellion against THE United States. March 12, 1862. — Read twice and laid on the table. Whereas a conspiracy has been for many years in prog-- ress and has resulted in insurrection and rebellion in that part of the United States heretofore known and desig-nated as the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Eastern Virginia ; and whereas, by the act of rebellion against the United States, as well as by an attempted alliance with foreign powers to wage war against said government, and granting letters of marque and reprisal, the said States violated the national Constitu- tion, which is the supreme law of the land, and which declares that no State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and shall not without the consent of Congress lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State or with a foreign power; and whereas said acts of nullification, rebel- lion, and levying war against the United States, and their alliance under a confederated government have terminated and of right- ought to terminate, the legal existence of said .State governments; and whereas the loyal citizens residing in the aforesaid rebellious districts, on account of the over- throw of the State governments and the tribunals of justice, both State and Federal, therein, as well as the loyal citizens of other parts of the United States, are deprived of all ade- quate redress for injuries to their persons and propert}-, and of all civil remedies for the redress of grievances; and where- as the sovereignty of the United States over the district of country now in rebellion is supreme by the express terms of the Constitution; and whereas the establishment of a hostile despotic government within any part of the territory of the United States is incompatible with the stability, safety, and dignity of the Government of the United States and also with the principles of constitutional liberty: Therefore, — 364 — Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives OP THE United States of America in Congress ASSEMBI.ED, That the President be, and he is hereby author- ized and required to take possession of and to occupy the insurrectionary States named, and to institute, establish, and protect with the military and naval forces of the United States, a temporary civil g-overnment, with such names, and within such g-eog-raphical boundaries as he may by proclama- tion designate; that said civil g-overnment shall be main- tained and continued in each of the districts thus named and desig-nated until such time as the loyal people residing" therein shall form new State g-overnments, republican in form, as prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, and apply for and obtain admission into the Union as States. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the tempo- rary governments hereby authorized for each of said dis- tricts shall consist of an executive, a leg"islative, and judicial department. The executive power shall be vested in a governor, whose powers and duties shall be the same as those conferred by act of Cong-ress upon the g-overnor of the Territory of "Washington; and in addition he shall, during the continuance of the rebellion, have power to do such acts as may be necessary to secure the due enforcement of the laws and decrees of the United States or of the provisional government. The legislative power shall be vested in a coun- cil of not less than seven, nor more than thirteen, as the President may determine. The judicial power shall be vested in a superior court, and such inferior courts as the council may establish. The superior court shall consist of three judges, a majority of whom shall constitute the provisional court of each district; and Congress shall have power at any time to remove any one or all officers created by this act; and the term of office of the governor and all other* officers whose creation and appointment are hereby authorized, shall con- tinue until otherwise directed by Congress; and each of the officers designated by this act shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the legisla- tive authority of said districts shall be vested in the governor ^65 — and leg-islative council, whose powers and duties shall extend to all rig"htful subjects of Icg-islation, not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States and the pro- visions of this act; but no act shall be passed by said council establishing-, protecting-, or recognizing- the existence of sla- very, nor shall said temporary g-overnment, or any;depart- ment thereof, g-ive, sanction, or declare the right of one man to property in another in either of said districts; and no law or act of said g^overnor or legislative council shall be valid which is disapproved by Cong-ress. The legislative council shall assemble, after their first appointment, at such time and place as the President may desig-nate, and afterwards at such time and place as the governor and legislative council may fix by law; they shall select from one of their own number a speaker, who shall be their presiding officer, and they may elect a clerk and sergeant-at-arms, who shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the council, and the clerk and sergeant-at-arms so appointed may be allowed such assistants as in the opinion of the legislative council may be necessary, and the compensation of said clerk and sergeant- at-arms and their assistants shall be such, as the legislative council may by law prescribe, not to exceed four dollars per day. If, from any cause, a vacancy occurs in any of the of- fices hereby authorized to be appointed by the President, the governor or acting governor of the district shall forthwith notify the President, and an appointment shall be made by him to fill such vacancy immediately. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, that the governor and legislative council are hereby authorized to take posses- sion of all abandoned, forfeited, or confiscated estates within the limits of said districts, in the name and on behalf of the President and the Congress of the United States, and to lease the realty thereof, on such terms and for such time, not to exceed five years, as the governor and legislative council may by law prescribe: Provided, that all leases shall be to actual occupants, who are loyal, and have not been in rebellion against the government of the United States: And provided further, that all leases shall be for limited quantities, not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres to any — 366 — person, it being- the intent and purpose of this act to estab- lish justice and promote the peace, safety and welfare of the inhabitants by securing- all in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the fruits of their own labor. Skc. 5. And be; it further enacted, that it shall be the duty of the governor and legislative council of each dis- trict to establish schools for the moral and intellectual culture of all the inhabitants, to provide by law for the attendance of all children over seven and under fourteen years of age, not less than three months in each year; and to prescribe and fix the number of hours, not to exceed twelve, which shall constitute a day's work for field hands and laborers. Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, that all public lands in each of said districts, held by said recent States at the time of their act of secession, shall be seized, occupied, and held b^^ ■'"he governor of the districts in which they may be located, in tne name of the President of the United States, until otherwise disposed of by Congress. That all public lands thus acquired and which may become vested in the United States by confiscation or forfeiture by the provisions of any law now in force, or which may hereafter be passed, shall be held for the use of the soldiers, sailors, and marines, reg"ular and volunteer, who have been or may be called into the service of the United States to crush the existing- rebellion, and who shall be honorably discharged at the close of the war, and the widows and minor children of such as may be killed in battle or die in the service, or die of wounds received, or by diseases con- tracted in the service, and for the purpose of compensating- such loyal citizens of said recent States as may sustain damages or losses by reason of the said revolt, or by the pro- visions of this act, to be distributed and apportioned as Con- gress may hereafter provide. Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, that the superior court hereby authorized shall hold such terms and at such times and places as a majority of the judges may from time to time determine, and they may appoint a clerk and establish and modify rules of practice within each district, and shall exercise such jurisdiction, and hear and determine all such causes and matters within their respective districts as are by — 367 — law cog*nizable by the circuit and district courts of the United States or the territorial courts and also such as may by act of Congress or the provisional leg-islature of the dis- trict be made cognizable by the said court, and the final judgments or decrees of said courts shall be subject to rever- sals, affirmation, or revision on appeals or writs of error by the Supreme Court of the United States, in like manner and under the same regulations as from the circuit court of the United States, where the value in controversy to be ascer- tained by the oath or affirmation of either party or other competent witnesses shall exceed one thousand dollars. Sec. 8. And be; it further enacted, that all loyal persons, and all who may be admitted by the legislative council to the privileges of electors in said districts, shall be qualified to serve as grand or petit jurors of the county in which they reside, and they shall, until the legislative coun- cil for each district otherwise direct, be selected in such manner as the judges of said superior court respectively shall prescribe: Provided, that no person who has heretofore held office, or a commission, either civil or military, under the government of the United States, or any one of the States, or any lawyer or any person who has taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, or any pro- fessed minister of the gospel who has been, now is, or may hereafter be, in open rebellion against the National Govern- ment, or who, in any manner, has given or may give aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States, shall act as juror, or be entitled to the privileges of an elector, or be eligible to any office under the General Government, or in either of said districts. Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, that there shall be appointed within each district organized as aforesaid, a secretary, a marshal, and a district attorney, who shall exer- cise the powers, discharge the duties, and receive the com- pensation for like offices created by act of Congress estab- lishing the territorial government of Washington; and the governor of each of said districts shall receive for his ser- vices $2,500 per annum, each member of the council $1,000 and the judges $2,000 each per annum. — 368 — Sec. 10. And be) it further enacted, That the Presi- dent may, hj proclamation, until Congress shall otherwise direct, establish such ports of entry and delivery within the districts of any provisional g-overnment authorized by this act as he may deem necessary, and appoint collectors and all other needed officers now for other ports in like manner appointed; may also appoint or authorize the appointment of such other officers as are usual in such ports; and all such officers shall have the same powers and discharge such duties as like officers in other ports of the United States. The col- lector for each port shall receive $1,500 per annum, but no additional officer shall receive more than $1,000 per annum, and all provisions of law relating- to other ports of entry in the United States shall be applied, so far as practicable, to the ports hereby authorized. Sec. 11. And be it further enacted. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby repealed. Mr. Pendleton. I move to lay the bill upon the table. Mr. Bingham, of Ohio. I demand the yeas and nays upon that motion. The yeas and nays were ordered. The question was taken; and it was decided in the affir- mative — yeas 65, nays 56; as follows: Yeas — Messrs. Ancona, Joseph Bailey, Biddle, Francis P. Blair, Jacob B. Blair, Georg-e H. Browne, William G. Brown, Calvert, Casey, Clements, Cobb, Colfax, Corning", Cravens, Crisfield, Crittenden, Delano, Diven, Dunlap, Dunn, English, Fisher, Granger, Gridpr, Gurley, Ilaig-ht, Harding", Harrison, William Kellog, Killing"er, Law, Lazear, Leary, Lehman, McKnight, Mallory, May, Menzies, Morris, Nixon, Noble, Noell, Norton, Pendleton, Perry, Timothy G. Phelps, Porter, Alexander H. Rice, Richardson, Sheffield, Shella- barg-er, Shiel, JohnB. Steele, Stratton, Benjamin F. Thomas, Francis Thomas, Train, Wadsworth, Ward, Webster, Wheeler, Whaley, Clinton A. White, Wickliff, and Wood — 65. Nays — Messrs. Aldrich, Arnold, Ashley, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, Buffinton, Camp- — 369 — bell, Chamberlin, Clark, Frederick A. Conkling, Koscoe Conkling-, Cutler, Davis, Duell, Edg-erton, Edwards, Eliot, Fessenden, Franchot, Frank, Hale, Hooper, Horton, Hutcliins, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg-, Lansing, Loomis, Love- joy, McPherson, Mitchell, Moorhead, Anson P. Morrill, Justin S. Morrill, Pike, Pomeroy, John H. Rice, Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedgwick, Sloan, Stevens, Trowbridge, Van Valkenburgh, Wall, Charles W. Walton, E. P. Walton, Wilson, Windom, and Worcester — 56. So the bill was laid upon the table. GENERAL ASHLEY'S SPEECH At San Francisco, California, September 17th, 1865. FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO BULLETIN, " We give in our columns to-day, tlie speecli made by Gen- eral Ashley at Piatt's Hall, last night. In speaking of this terse, sound, practical common sense production of Mr. Ashley's, we cannot do better than to give the language of the Alta Californian, the most conservative newspaper of the West: " ' The speech of General Ashley last evening, at Piatt's Hall, was a great oration, splendid in its ability, and powerful in its effect. The auditory were charmed with the eloquence, and impressed with the nobleness of the man before them. There was no tinsel, no trickery of speech, no flimsiness or tawdriness of rhetoric. The applause was frequent, pro- longed and enthusiastic, and it represented no doubt the general sentiment of the Union people of San Francisco — that is the sentiment of admiration for such a speech. His eminent position and his oratorical ability give attraction to everything he may say, and render his remarks worthy of attentive perusal.' " MR. ASHLEY ON RECONSTRUCTION. In accordance with the announcement, the Hon. J. M. Ashley, Congressman from Ohio, and Chairman of the Com- mittee on Territories in the House of Representatives, ad- dressed the citizens of San Francisco in Piatt's Hall last even- ing. A very large audience was present. Collector James (370) — 371 — was appointed Chairman, and Louis R. Lull, Secretary. Mr. Ashley was introduced to the audience by Col. James with a few complimentary remarks, in which he was g-iven the credit of having- done more than any other man to carry throug-h Congress the constitutional amendment forever prohibiting' slavery in the United States. Among- the many distinguished persons who have visited our State of late, none was more worthy of our regard and admiration than he. He would ad- dress us this evening- upon questions of general and local in- terest, and whatever may be his views, we could be assured that they came from a clear head and a ripe experience, and would be deserving of our careful consideration. On stepping- to the desk, Mr. Ashley was received with prolonged cheers by the audience, and after quiet was re- stored, he spoke as follows: speech op mr. ashi.ey. Mr. President, and Ladies and Genti^emen of San Francisco : I thank my friend for his very flattering- introduc- tion, and trust I shall not disappoint you. He has been pleased to refer in complimentary terms to my political record, to all of which I can only say that when the smoke of the bat- tle has cleared off, and the prejudices and passions of the hour shall have passed, and the motives of men can be read in the clear light of history, I hope my record will be one of Avhich neither my friends nor my children will have cause to feel ashzmcd. If in our great anti-slavery struggle, or during the war for the preservation of the nation, it shall be found that I contributed to the triumph of both, whether by clearing away the underbrush or by occasionally felling some of the larger timber, I shall be amply compensated for all such labor and for the unmeasured abuse of which I have been the recipient. But in this practical age it is not so much what a man has done, as what he can do which interests the public in him. On this point I think I may say with safety, that I am sure the States and Territories west of the Missouri will receive no detriment because of my visit. — 372 — Mr. President, one week ag"o yesterday afternoon, as I passed from the Pacific through the Golden Gate into .your magnificent harbor, and beheld for the first time your beau- tiful city, I felt as if one of the earliest dreams of my boy- hood had been realized, and that I had been fully compen- sated for the toil and hazard of an overland trip from the Mis- souri river by stage to Denver, Salt Lake and Montana, thence down the Snake through Idaho to the Columbia River many hundred miles on horseback and buckboard, thence down the Columbia to Portland, Oregon, and across to Olympia and Puget Sound, and from Victoria bj steamer here. When a boy I had read the account given by Lewis and Clark of their explorations, and I longed to see the great plains, the wonderful rivers and still more wonderful moun- tains, which I find they have so faithfully described. In my journey I passed over many points of interest made historic by them and by Fremont, Stevens, Mullen, Lander and others, but interesting and wonderful as many of these localities were to me, none have impressed me more favorably than your beautiful seven-hilled city of less than twenty years' growth. If a man who had never heard of San Francisco should enter your harbor as I did, and see shipping from all parts of the world so numerous as to make a perfect forest of masts, and witness the bustle and activity of business, and be told that 3^our population exceeded 125,000 he would naturallj^ con- clude that he was entering one of the oldest and most wealthy cities on the continent. I cannot tell you how this sight stirred my heart with national pride as I beheld in all that I saw the results of American genius and American enterprise. When the great railroad of the continent, forty miles of which I am told is now ironed and which with such com- mendable zeal you are pushing forward so rapidly, shall have been completed, and our eastern cities of the Atlantic are united with your metropolis by iron bands, one of the dreams of my early manhood will be realized. Thanks to the energy with which you are pushing forward the Pacific division, soon the shrill whistle of the iron horse will awaken echoes through the canons and gorges oi the mountains, as it passes over and descends to the plains on the eastern slope — 373 — of the Sierra Nevadas. When this is accomplished it will be a proud day for California, because to you will be due the credit of having" demonstrated to the world the practicability of this g-reat enterprise, around which so man}' hopes, present and prospective, cling". Next in importance to this coast is the mining interests of California, and of the States and Territories west of the Rocky Mountains. I have visited most of the mining" dis- tricts, and my observations have confirmed my judgment that no policy could be more suicidal than to sell the mines. [Ap- plause.] The speaker dwelt at some leng"th upon the subject, and repeated his conviction after a thorough examination of the mining districts and frequent conversations with the miners — many of whom had spent 16 years in developing" this coast — ■ that no greater blunder and no greater wrong- could be com- mitted by the gfovernment than to deprive them of the mines by g"eneral sale. It would put a stop to prospecting", retard the development of the mines, and he was satisfied would not add $20,000,000 to the coffers of the government. The in- come tax accruing" from the present system of mining would bring" a larger amount to the treasury in 10 years than the entire proceeds of the sale of the mines. Capitalists would combine, and both the miner and the g"overnment would be defrauded. The result of the sale of our mines would be to reduce them to the condition of the Mexican mines, which certainly no one desired to see. [Applause.] Taking" leave of this subject the speaker proceeded as follows: And now, fellow-citizens, permit me to pass to the con- sideration of a subject which oug"ht to interest every loyal man in the nation. The last rebel army has been defeated and disbanded. The Union arm}' has returned home in triumph beneath its torn and blood-stained banners. In its march, the seared and weather-beaten veterans shook the very earth beneath their tread. I saw them, as they passed in their two days' review through the National Capital, and you know that in every city and hamlet they were greeted with shouts and tears, and — 374 — received the homag-e and benediction of the nation. [Ap- plause.] At their country's call more than a million men volun- tarily left their quiet and peaceful homes to peril, and, if need be, to yield up their lives to save the nation's life. To- day the remnant of thi^ patriotic and heroic army are return- ing" to their homes to assume ag-ain the peaceful and respon- sible duties of American citizens. This is a spectacle the g-lory and grandeur of which dazzles the world with its splendor, and is worthy to be written in the Book of Life by the recording" angel. [Applause.] With the return of this army ends the strug"g"le to main- tain our national existence by force o£ arms, and a strug"g-le unlike any in our history I'S to take its place. Who shall be authorized to reorganize loyal State g"overnments in the late rebel States? Shall it be loyal men or disloj^al men? Shall educated treason be clothed with the power or uneducated loyalty? Shall the men who for the past four years have labored with mig"ht and main to destroy the g"overnment, and whose hands are red with the blood of my loyal countrymen, be entrusted with full power to g"overn not only themselves and the loyal men of the South, but, by uniting" with their late Northern allies, g"overn us also? These are practical questions, it seems to me — and questions of tr,anscendent importance to us as a free people. If the loyal men of the nation would answer them as the returned Union soldiers have answered them, I should have no anxiety for the future. If one question could be satisfac- torily answered, there would be no serious disag"reement among" loyal men. That question is this — What, during" the war, has been, and what is now the leg"al status of the late rebel States? I hold, that, when the people of the thirteen colonies adopt- ed our present national Constitution, the old confederation was abolished, and the United States became a nation; that the national "Constitution is the supreme law of the land, any- thing" in the constitutions, laws or judicial decisions of the States to the contrary notwithstanding";" that the National Government thus crea,ted is clothed with full powers for its self-preservation; that the Government of the United States — 375 — is a g"Overnment of the people and not a g-overnment of thirty- six sovereig-n States; but a g-overnment of the people residing- in territorial subdivisions -which we call States, and -which have State g-overnments, org-anized in subordination to, and in conformity -with the national Constitution; that the people ■who maintain such State governments, and they alone, are constitutionally clothed -with the power of g-overning- the na- tion. [Applause.] I hold that when the people of the States recently in rebellion confederated tog-ether in violation of the national Constitution, and org-anized and maintained by force of arms a DE FACTO hostile government, and the rebellion assumed proportions formidable enough to claim and to have conceded to it by the United States and by the great powers of Europe, belligerent rights, from that hour constitutional State govern- ments in each of the States so confederated together ceased to exist, and until State governments are organized in each of said States in subordination to the national Constitution, and are recognized by Congress, there can be no constitutional State governments in such States. [Applause.] I hold that whenever the people residing in any one or more States neo-lect or refuse to maintain constitutional State governments, whether it be by abolishing their State constitutions and refusing to ordain new ones, or by con- federating together with other States, or with foreign powers, to make war upon the nation, from that moment the governing power, whether for national or State purposes, which was lodged by the national Constitution and laws of the United States in the people of such State or States, ter- minates, and remains in the people residing in the States which maintain constitutional governments. In other words, that the sovereignty of the nation cannot be destroyed or im- paired within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, by the action, or the refusal to act of any one or more States. [Applause.] I hold that the people of any State may alter or abolish their State constitutions and governments whenever they see fit to do so, and they may refuse to establish others, and that there is no power in the National Government to compel the majority of the people in any State to maintain a State — 376 — g-overnment or to elect Senators or Representatives to Con- gress, or to vote for Presidential electors. Nevertheless, the sovereignty of the United States over the territory and peo- ple within such State or States remains unimpaired; the laws of the United States are legally in full force, and the alle- giance of every citizen residing within the territorial limits of the nation, whether in organized or unorganized States, is due to the United States, whatever may be the action of a majority of the people in any State. [Applause.] Those who can see in these propositions a recognition of the right of secession are remarkable logicians. The speaker then spoke for nearly half an hour in de- fense of these propositions, and continued as follows: If, in our efforts to reorganize loyal State governments in the late rebel States, we permit the question of loyal suf- frage to remain an open question, widespread agitation is inevitable, and I fear disaster and defeat, not only to the Union cause in most of the rebel States, but in some of the loyal States also. If however, all loyal men, without distinc- tion of race or color, are invited and permitted to vote for delegates to the proposed constitutional conventions, which are to be or ought to be held in each of the late rebel States, and for the acceptance or rejection of any constitution which may be framed by such conventions, whatever the result, there can be no violent agitation or formidable division of the Union party. [Applause.] If the loyal whites and loyal blacks of the South, in reorganizing loyalj State governments, see fit to limit the right of the elective franchise to the blacks who can read and write the English lang"ua^e and to all "who have been in the military -or rival service of the United States," whether they can read and write or not, I think a majority of the Union party would acquiesce -- certainly much of the excitement which will follow if the colored soldiers are excluded would be avoided. But if the loyal blacks, including all the black soldiers, are to be excluded, and none but the loyal whites and those professedly loyal, together with all the pardoned and unrepentant rebels in these States, are to vote for delegates to conventions to reorganize lo3'al State governments, there will be dissatisfaction among the loyal — 377 — men of the nation, and justly; and for one I fear the conse- quences. [Applause.] If President Johnson should to- morrow issue instructions to his recently appointed pro- visional g-overnors in the rebel States requiring- them to in- vite and see that all loyal black men were not only permitted, but protected, in voting* for delegates, and for or against accepting" any State constitution which might be framed by such conv^entions, nineteen-twentieths of all the professed Union men in the North now opposing negro suffrage would give in their adhesion to the plan, while all thenhangers-oD. of the party would at once become vociferous in its f avor» [Applause.] Every party, as every army, has its camp-followers. The Republican and Union party, since it came into power, has. had its full share of them. We have thousands of men in the Union party, who, on this negro suffrage question, are skirmishing along, near enough to the main column of our advancing army to rush in and claim the benefit of a victory if we obtain one, and yet close enough to the rear to beat a hasty retreat if we should be defeated, to enable them to join the enemy without any perceptible change of base. This. is political strateg-y. [Laughter and applause.] I once asked a man in Washington how it came that he was retained in ofi&ce for so many years, under so many dif- ferent administrations. "By Heavens!" he exclaimed with, an air of triumph, and much apparent satisfaction, "I would like to see the people elect a President oftener than I can change." Do you suppose any man ever will be elected President who can issue proclamations faster than the flun- kies and camp-followers of his party will approve them? If you do, I do not. [Laughter.] You all remember how many editors and politicians were indifferent to, or opposed the demand of the anti-slavery men for an emancipation policy, before it was adopted by Mr. Lincoln. As soon, however, as the proclamation was issued, there was a sudden and general conversion, and these very men were the first to appear at every public meeting to give in their adhesion, and to rush into every nominating conven- tion and take the front seats .without a scruple, and demand the best offices without a blush. [Laughter and applause.] — 378 — If Mr. Johnson should, to-day, issue such a proclamation as the loyal suffrage men of the nation have asked him to issue, and such a proclamation as I hope he will yet issue — for I hold he is not committed against 'it — I do not believe ten men occupying- respectable positions in the Union party, either as editors, or Senators and Representatives in Con- gress, could be found to oppose him in such a movement. Mr. Lincoln once said to me, that he had more to fear from a class of men who crawled in the back door, approved whatever they supposed to be his policy while denouncing and slandering the anti-slavery men, whom he knew and admitted to be the most steadfast Union men, as well as his most reliable friends. This same class of camp followers were the first to rush in person to the presidential mansion, and fawningly approve the new policy, the moment the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. They flooded the mails with their letters of commendation, and filled five columns of their papers in laudation of the new policy, for every one used by anti-slavery papers. So it would be now, if the President would issue a proclamation to-morrow in favor of loyal suffrage without regard to the race or color of the voter. The opposition in the Union party would not have force or courage enough to make a ripple on the face of the smoothest water. [Applause.] All I demand in the reorganization of State governments in the rebel States, is justice — justice alike to loyal white and loyal black — justice to the late rebels also— ^justice tem- pered with mercy, if you will, but, nevertheless, justice — that justice which secures the personal rights of all, by plac- ing in their hands the ballot — the only sure weapon, in a republic, of protection and defense to the poor man, whether white or black. To me the ballot is the political stone " cut out of the mountain without hands, which shall fill the whole earth, break every j'-oke and let the oppressed go free." ''Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." [Applause.] And here I may be pardoned if I digress a few moments anjj refer to some unfriendly criticisms which have been made by Eastern papers upon extracts which purport to have been — 379 — copied from a speech made by me on the evening- before I left Ohio. I have never seen the paper from home containing- the speech referred to, and only since I reached your city have I read what purported to be extracts from it, and the criticisms made upon them. Perhaps I ought also to say that I did not expect the few remarks which I made on that night, at a private business meeting-, to appear in any publication, as a speech. I supposed a notice of the meeting- would probably appear, and that some reference, in g-eneral terms, might perhaps be made editorially to what was said — nothing- more. If I had known that what I said about my interviews with the President on the loyal suffrag-e question was to ap- pear as a speech, I would have asked the privilege of read- ing- and correcting- the manuscript or proof, if it needed cor- recting — as speeches not unfrequently do, even when spoken with studied deliberation and reduced to writing- by the best reporters, to say nothing- of the occasional necessity of cor- recting- tj-pographical blunders in the best reg-ulated printing establishments. Part of what I have seen quoted is substantially correct. I did say that "the President assured me that he was anxious to secure to all men their rights, without regard to color." I also said, and on this point I hope I may never have cause to change my impresssions, "that from all the conver- sations I had with the President, I was satisfied that he de- sired so to administer the government as to reflect the wishes and sentiments of the Union men of the nation," What I said when speaking of the future action of the anti-slaver}' men and danger of division, and the eventual defeat of the Union party if the loyal suffrage policy was not adopted, I believe to be true and so repeat it now. I said substantiall}^ "^that the anti-slavery men of the United States had destroyed the old "Whig and Democratic parties; that all along the political coast the wrecks of Northern statesmen were lying thicker than the blockade run- ners from England; that, true to the principles of freedom and philanthropy thoroughh^ implanted in their characters, they would remember the terrible ordeal through which they passed for more than thirty years, and be ever faithful to — 380 — their convictions; tliat as they had, during- many long-, weary years of discourag-ements and apparent defeats, labored with a fidelity that never tired, and a determination which never faltered, to impress their anti-slavery ideas upon the mind and heart of the nation, so for the next third of a century, or long-er, if necessary, they would consecrate them- selves to the g-reat work of securing- the complete enfranchise- ment of the men whom their labors had liberated from the thraldom of slavery; [applause] that if statesmen and par- ties stood in the way of success, such statesmen would be destroyed and such parties perish, and g-o into common graves, as the pro-slavery statesmen of the North and the old Whig- and Democratic parties had gone before them, because false to freedom." [Applause.] I did not say this in a violent or threatening manner, as I am reported to have done, but with sadness and apprehen- sion, rather. I believe that by the adoption of the policy which I have indicated, a division and conflict such as then appeared, and now seems inevitable, might be avoided, and the political homogeneity of the nation, and the oneness in principle and purpose of the Republican party, be secured. [Applause.] I knew that the adoption of this policy would make, as the emancipation policy had made, the Republican party a unit; and I believed, if it was not adopted, that the old war- worn veterans of the anti-slavery army would blow a blast upon their bug-les which would call around them a million of men, who never followed presidents or parties for position or plunder; that they would camp on, the battlefield, as they did during their thirty years of anti-slavery warfare, and with the banner of impartial suffrage to all loyal men, white and black, flj'ing over their heads, that they would, sooner or later, vanquish all opposition, by destroying men and parties^ and come off, as they had in their conflict with the rebels, conquerors and more than conquerors. [Applause.] I believed then, and believe now, that divisions among Union men would bring certain defeat, and I am sure the loyal men of this nation cannot be defeated without my going down with them. In my anxiety to avoid this, I pointed to the disasters of the past and warned as a friend, rather than — 381 — threatened as an enemj'. The g-oodbook says, "Faithful are the reproofs of a friend, but the kisses of enemies are deceitful. ' ' I do not disg-uise the fact that I am anxious for the future of the Republican party. I have labored too long" and earnestly to secure its triumph to be indifferent to its future now. It is only the camp-followers and plunderers who are indifferent to political revolutions. Any change is better for such men than stability. Divisions and sudden political changes may throw such men to the surface — without these, they remain mere camp-followers and the blind partisans of power. It would not be necessary, if the persistent repetition of a falsehood did not sometijnes cause it to be accepted as true, unless contradicted, for me to 'refer to a remark reported to have been make by the President in reply to what I said, ■when urg-ing- him to adopt in his reconstruction policy, *' universal loyal suffrage, "or, in other words, negro suffrage. It is said that he bade me, or those with me, " g-ood morn- ing," with an intimation that he did not desire to have any- thing- more from us on the question of neg-ro suffrage. I do not know how the story obtained currency, nor do I care, for that matter. Certainly neither to me, nor to any gentlemen with me, did the President, either by word or act ever express displeasure at anything- said during- any of my interviews with him on the question of negro suffrage. My relations with the President are of the most friendly character, and I ex- pect them to remain of that character while he continues to represent the loyal men of the nation. I know him and his Cabinet well. His Cabinet is made up of able, tried and true men. [Applause.] A majority of them have held responsi- ble public positions during the past four years, and all have rendered important services in aiding to carry the nation safely through the terrible war just closed. They are en- titled to the nation's confidence and the nation's gratitude. [Applause.] Their experience ought to render their services invaluable. If the loyal men of the nation cannot trust the President, with such a Cabinet co-operating with him, I do not know whom they can trust. At all events, until Mr. Johnson proves false to the party which elected him, I shall support his administration. It does not seem to me possible, in view of the fact that the slave barons always hated and — 382 — feared him — in view of the splendid record he has made since the war, and the pledges he has made in public and private, that he can now hesitate to follow the logic of events. When I remember all that he has said, and the pledge which he voluntarily made to the black men at Nashville, when he promised them to be their Moses, to lead them out of the house of bondage, I cannot believe that he will now turn back to the worship of the Golden Calf, or that he will ever again fall down before the Moloch of slavery. That I shall differ, and that many of you will differ with the President, his Cabinet and with Congress, on some of the new ^questions which must necessarily arise, is more than probable. I am not a believer in the infallibility of Presidents or parties, and I expect to do some thinking for myself, as these new questions arise. After a full and free discussion of them, and when they shall have been passed upon by Con- gress and the co-ordinate departments of the government, it will be time enough to talk of proscribing men in a party sense, for opinion's sake, if they refuse to acquiesce. In the mean- time I propose, without impugning the motives of any Union man, or disparaging those who differ with me, to do all I can to have my views adopted by the administration. [Ap- plause.] I am free to say, however, that I am committed to no theory or policy which I will not gladly abandon for a better one; no preconceived notions on matters of expediency that I will not yield with alacrity to accomplish that which I have most at h-eart, the unity of the republic and the domi- nation in the government of the men who saved the nation's life. In party matters I have enough to do to fight the com- mon enemy, without making war upon Union men because they may differ with me on some of the new and perplexing questions which the war has forced upon us. While a mem- ber OF THE Republican party, I shall defend its settled POLICY, support its REGULARLY NOMINATED CANDIDATES AND ACQUIESCE IN THI{ FAIRLY EXPRESSED WILL OF THE MAJORITY OP THE PARTY ON ALL POLITICAL QUESTIONS, IF I CAN DO SO CONSCIENTIOUSLY. If I CANNOT, I SHALL OPENLY WITHDRAW FROM THE ORGANIZATION. I have always labored for the triumph of ideas rather than for the triumph of men, and I — 383 — hope that during- the residue of my public life, whether it be long- or short, I may continue as I beg-an. In any event, my friends may rest assured that I will never join the bush- whackers or camp-followers for the sake of place and power. Whatever other faults I may have, fawning- at the foot of power for place and plunder has never been, and I trust never will be, one of them. The speaker here reverted to the past and spoke of the terrible conflict of the last four years, the panorama of which often passed before his eyes; and when he thoug-ht of all the delays, mistakes and blunders that had been made by the government, the awful disasters to our armies, the keeping- in power of incompetent or traitorous g-enerals; and notwith- standing- all these discourag-ements, he heard the cry of a consecrated people still coming- up, rising- and swelling- over the tumult and carnage, "We are coming. Father Abraham, six hundred thousand more;" when he reflected upon those untold sacrifices of a brave and loyal people, he did not wish to see anything left undone to gain the object for which they had suffered. [Applause.] I trust, said he, we all realize the fact that in reorganiz- ing civil society in the late rebel States, a broad, liberal and wise statesmanship is needed. I am for the most liberal policy consistent with the safety and stability of the nation. In laying the foundations of republican commonwealths, great prudence ought to mark our every step. We should see to it that every State is so organized as to secure the equality before the law of every American citizen, so that the politi- cal communities thus organized shall be a source of strength to the nation instead of a source of weakness. [Applause.] I know that the brightest jewel in the diadem of the conqueror is mercy; yet mercy without justice, mercy with- out discrimination, history and revelation alike teach us gives no security to governments. [Applause.] I would pardon many — perhaps too many. I would rather err on the side of mercy, than err on the other side. I am so anxious for a nation of men homogeneous in aim and purpose, that I would go far to win back an erring brother to his former love of the Union and Constitution of our fathers; to the love of that old flag which is to-day the emblem of our national — 384 — power and national glory ; that flag- which is to become the flag- of an ocean-bound republic — the flag- of destiny and of empire, before which all nations shall stand with uncovered heads. Thanks to the God of nations and of men, in speak- ing- to-nig-ht of that flag-, as it floats on the land and on the sea we can truthfully say : " No more its flaming- emblems wave To bar from hope the trembling- slave ; No more its radiant g-lories shine To blast with woe one child of Thine." [Applause.] Recognizing- the new and responsible duties which the war has imposed upon us as American citizens, let us go for- ward to the discharge of those duties in a forgiving spirit and with thankful hearts ; let us go again to the old altars, and take with us our children and our erring and repentant brothers also, and swear before Him who liveth forever and forever that come what may, divisions, dissensions, rebel- lions, interventions and foreign wars — that living or dying, no other flag shall ever float above our homes or graves. [Prolonged applause.]* '■'Col. James, who presided at this meeting-, was at the time collector of the Port of San Francisco, to which position he had been appointed by President Lincoln. la a short time President Johnson removed Col. James for the offense of presiding. SPKKCH OF HON. J. M. ASHLEY, OF OHIO, Delivered at Sacramento, California, Friday Evening, September 29, 1865. Governor Low, who had served in Congress with Mr. Ashley, introduced him in a few well-chosen complimentary remarks, after which Mr. Ashley spoke as follows: Ladies and Gentlemen op Sacramento: I am g-reatly oblig-ed to mj friend, the g-overnor, for his very flattering" introduction and for his generous indorsement of my course in Congress. To-morrow I set my face homeward. On the map it looks like a distant journey, yet Ohio, you know, is in the very heart of the republic. I cannot speak of that great State without feeling emotions of patriotic pride. When I remember all that Ohio has done on the battlefield, in the Cabinet and in the nation's council halls, to make her name ever memorable in history, and to crown with g^lory the struggle of the past four years, I feel that to be one of her Representatives in Cong-ress is an honor of which any man should be proud, and I only wish I were a more worthy representative of such a noble commonwealth. [Applause.] I am told by some of your leading- citizens that I am to g-o over the main trunk of the Pacific Railroad as far as the rails are laid, some forty miles. I trust when I again visit California, as I hope to do, that I may find all your brightest anticipations in connection with this great enterprise fully realized. "Wherever I have gone In your State my visit has been made so pleasant that I regret it could not be prolonged for ten da^-s or two weeks more. But time and tide waiteth for no man, and the snows on mountains and plains will not wait for me while wife and children are waiting and 25 ( 385 ) — 386 — anxiously waiting. I go home to tell our people that all the stories told of California are true, and that all have not been told. .From your "Big Trees," which are more wonderful than the cedars of Lebanon, to your golden gateway of the Pacific, a crimson-hued russet-tinted halo everywhere gilds mountain, plain and tree, and I am charmed with a climate which is softer, and landscapes more beautiful than any which have greeted me in all my journeyings over half the continent. With a commerce at San Francisco which now rivals and bids fair to exceed all the great cities of the Atlantic except New York and Philadelphia, and with an in- exhaustible supply of iron, copper, quicksilver and gold, and agricultural wealth far exceeding my expectations, I am con- fident that with all these, and completion of the Pacific Railroad, the future of California cannot be doubtful. [Ap- plause.] Mr. Ashley then proceeded to the consideration of the question of reconstruction, on which he had been invited to speak. He said: On reflection, I am prepared to repeat and to reaf&rm the propositions which I made in my speech at San Francisco. Let me read from the Bulletin of the 18th, which I hold in my hand. [The reader will find these propositions on pages 374-5.] After reading with deliberation the propositions which he made in San Francisco, he said: Mr. President, I desire also to add another proposition in order, if possible, to prevent any misrepresentation of my position. I hold that no State can, either by legislative act, or by a convention of the people, constitutionally pass an ordi- nance of secession, or ordain a new State constitution and government hostile to the United States; that if such acts of secession are passed and hostile State governments organized they are illegal, and the citizens of the United States residing within the limits of such State do not owe allegiance to such government; but if a majority of the qualified electors of a State unite with its constituted author- ities, and pass an ordinance of secession, or ordain a new State government by abolishing their old State constitution — 387 — and adopting- a new one unknown to the national Constitution, and attempt to maintain such unconstitutional g-overnment by force, they do in fact des1;roy their constitutional State government. [Applause.] To me, these propositions are fundamentally rig-ht; they embody, as I interpret the national Constitution, the founda- tion principles upon which the corner-stones of our national political edifice were laid, and upon which it was built and must stand. During- the past four eventful years, had we recognized, as true, the doctrine that our national super- structure rested upon the Calhoun assumption of State sovereig-nty with the rig-ht of nullification and secession, we should have learned to our sorrow that we had builded upon the sand, and that "when the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds of the rebellion blew and beat upon it," that it must fall, as it would have fallen, if the nation had hesitated to strike the hydra-headed monster of secession and rebellion with shot and shell to its death, and thus bury as they did in one common grave, the great rebellion with this fallacious and false political heresy. [Applause.] To the impartial consideration of these propositions, said Mr. Ashley, I invite your careful attention and invoke your considerate judgment. [He then made an argument in favor of these propositions, which we would like to see some able man of the opposition answer.] In closing this part of his speech he said, that President Lincoln and all the departments of the National Government, including Congress and the Supreme Court, have fully recog- nized and acted upon this theory. In fact the whole policy of the government during the war, has been but a recogni- tion of the ideas which I have submitted in these proposi- tion. Mr. Johnson, by appointing provisional governors for each of the late rebel States, has admitted the fact that the constitu- tional State governments of these States are destroyed, and that new constitutional State governments must be organized and recognized by Congress, before the people of such States can again be constitutionally clothed as political organiza- — 388 — tions with local self-g-overnment or with part of the g-overn- ing- power of the nation. [Applause.] If constitutional State g-overnments still exist in the late rebel States, by what authority does the President appoint provisional g-overnors in such States, direct the holding* of State conventions to ordain new State constitutions and governments, and prescribe who shall vote and be voted for, and that in the new g-overnments thus to be org-anized, they MUST recog-nize the fact that slavery is abolished? [Ap- plause.] If constitutional State g-overnments have existed dur- ing* the war in the late rebel States, and now exist, can the President appoint provisional g-overnors and order constitu- tional conventions to assemble in such States for the estab- lishment of NEW State g-overnments such as he may think proper, without regard to the provisions of their old State constitutions which prescribe the mode and manner of call- ing conventions to alter or amend their constitutions? If he can, wh}' can he not do the same thing in Ohio or Cali- fornia? [Applause.] The truth is, that in the late rebel States there are no constitutional State governments which Congress can recog- nize, while in California and Ohio there are constitutional State governments which Congress does recognize. [Ap- plause.] I repeat what I said at San Francisco — "that any one "who can see in these propositions and the argument which I have made a recognition of the right of secession is a remarkable logician." It is illegal to commit murder, but if murder is com- mitted, do I recognize the right, because I concede the fact? [Applause.] If the people of one or more States destroy their consti-^i tutional State governments and establish others unknown tol the national Constitution, and enter into alliances with other States and foreign powers — and make war upon the National Government, do I recognize their right to do so, because I concede that they have done so in fact? I deny the right — • all loyal men deny the right, but can I or can you deny the fact? : — 389 — [From the consideration of the above propositions, Mr. A. passed to the discussion of a question new and interesting- to the loyal men of the nation; he urg-ed that great care should be used in guarding against any assumption of rebel debt by the States lately in rebellion, and insisted that something- like the following proposition should be incorporated in the several constitutions of the reorganized States:] "All debts contracted, whether State, city or municipal, by the constituted authorities prior to the Act of Secession, shall be valid against this State under this constitution; but no engagement entered into or debt contracted by the late rebel, confederate or State authorities, or by any city, county or municipality, within this State, in aid of the rebel- lion or to maintain State or local civil governments hostile to the United States, shall ever be paid by this State, or by any city, county or municipality within this State." [Applause.] Mr. A. said that many might think this precaution unnecessary, but for his part, next to securing* impartial suf- frage for the loyal men of the South, white and black, he regarded the adoption of this proposition as most important, to prevent the possibility of political combinations being" made for the purpose of forcing the repudiation of our war debt or the assumption of the rebel debt. State and con- federate, by the United States. [Applause.] In my judgment, Congress, with whom this whole ques- tion of reconstruction constitutionally rests, should require as a condition to the admission of Senators and Representa- tives from the reorganized States the adoption in their new constitutions of some proposition of this kind, and I am not sure that it ought not to be put in the form of a covenant between each State and the National Government, and made forever irrevocable without the consent of the Congress of the United States. The nation ought to demand, and I believe will demand, some such security for the future. Nine-tenths of the rebel debt. State and confederate, is probably held by the people of the late rebel States and in Europe. Undoubtedly the late confederates would prefer to have their debt paid, rather than help pay ours. In my opinion if Congress does not provide against the possibility of — Se- this question being- raised, the Southern politicians will make a combination with their late Northern allies, who are now almost to a man committed, either directly or indirectly, to the scheme of repudiation, and insist upon the incorporation of their war debt with ours or the repudiation of our war debt also. When the proposition is made, as it will be, unless we now positively prohibit it, to assume the confederate debt, and if not, to repudiate our own, the simple discussion of the question will impair our national credit to the amount of millions. I need not argue this point. It is self evident. [Applause.] Three-fourths of the legai, indebtedness of the late rebel States is probably held by Northern capitalists. I mean the bonds issued prior to the rebellion. Cong-ress ought to see to it, that in the reorganization of the late rebel States, they assum:^ by positive constitu- tional PROVISION the debt of the State prior to the rebellion, and by a provision equally positive, that they forever prohibit the payment of the rebel debt or any part thereof. This is due to the Northern men who are the holders of the bonds issued by these States before the rebellion. It is due like- wise to the loyal people of the South, that they be not taxed to pay any part of the rebel debt. It is due also to the nation as the only indemnity for the past which it can now obtain. [Applause.] If 5'ou own a thousand-dollar bond of the State of South Carolina, issued before the rebellion, you may have some hope, after her reorganization, of receiving the interest due on that bond, and perhaps at its maturitj^, the principal, provided the State of South Carolina, after her reorganization and recognition by Congress, does not assume her proportion of the rebel confederate debt, and the debt contracted after secession by her as a State, in aid of the rebellion or to maintain her local and rebel State governments. If she is permitted to assume her proportion of the con- federate debt, and the debt contracted by her rebel State authorities, your bond for one thousand dollars would not be worth the paper on which it is written, and so with all the States recentlv in rebellion. — 391 — The assumption of any part of the confederate debt by the late rebel States would not only lessen their ability to pay their leg-al indebtedness, but lessen also the ability of their people to aid in the payment of the national debt, which can- not be repudiated without national dishonor. [Applause.] Before I left Washing"ton I heard more than one scheme talked over for the incorporation of part of the confederate debt with ours. This is the steppingf-stone to repudiation, and I warn the loyal men of the nation to be prepared for the efEorts which will be made to consummate this dang-erous scheme. Many think there is no dang-er in this direction, but I tell you that there is dang-er. In audacity anything- may be ex- pected of the men who plunged this nation into the recent terrible war. Their late Northern allies are equally des- perate, and there would be no security for national fidelity and national honor, if these two factions unite and obtain control of the National Government. [Applause, long- con- tinued.] SPEKCH OF HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY, OF OHIO, In the House op Representatives, May 29, 1866. impartiai, suffrage the only safe basis op reconstruc- tion. The House having" under consideration the bill to restore to the States lately in insurrection their full political rights — Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, said : Mr. Speaker. Unless the members of this Cong-ress who represent the loyal people of this country approach the prop- osition before us, providing- for the restoration of the late rebel States, in a proper spirit and with mutual concessions, I fear we shall fail to accomplish the g-r^at work committed to our hands. I desire to approach its consideration with charity for all and malice toward none. I know that I ap- proach it in a forg-iving- spirit and with a thankful heart. With thankfulness, because the din of war has been hushed and the national conflagration extinguished. In a forgiving- spirit, because I know how much there is to be f org-iven if we would reunite dissevered and broken ties, secure the perpet- ual unity of the nation, and bind up its millions of bleeding- and broken hearts. In all the votes which I have given or may give on the propositions for reconstruction, in all I have said or may say, I shall keep steadily in view the one great desire of my heart, which outweighs and overshadows all others, and before which the petty schemes of parties and of men dwindle into insignificance and appear to me criminal. That desire is to see the States recently in rebellion restored to all the rights, privileges and dignities of States of the American Union at the earliest day consistent with the national safety, and (392) — 393 — upon such terms as shall secure the power, unity, and g"lory of the republic. How can this most desirable result best be accomplished? In answering" this interrogatory the first question which presents itself to every reflecting* mind is this: Has the g'ov- ernment of the United States as at present org-anized the constitutional power to demand or exact from the people in the late rebel States any conditions prior to the recog-nition of their recently reorg-anized State g"overnments and the admission of their Senators and Representatives in Cong-ress? If so, is it expedient to exact of them the terms or conditions proposed by the committee of fifteen, or such conditions of a like character as may finally be ag^reed upon by the two Houses of Cong-ress, as conditions precedent to their resump- tion, as States, of all constitutional relations to the National Government which were severed by their acts of rebellion and war? I claim that we have the power, and that it is not only our rig'ht but our duty to demand such conditions as the majority of the loyal representatives of this Congress may deem req- uisite for the safety and security of the nation. I believe we have the constitutional power, because I believe the States represented in this Hall during- the war and now are the g-ov- ernment. If I did not believe this I could not vote for any of the propositions before the House or any proposition of a like character. From the first I have held that when the people of the late rebel States abolished their constitutional State g-overn- ments and confederated tog-ether in violation of the national Constitution and org-anized hostile State g-overnments and a national confederate government, and maintained those gov- ernments by force of arms until the rebellion became so formidable as to claim the prerogatives of a national de facto government, and to have had conceded to it by the United States and the great powers of Europe belligerent rights, that from that hour constitutional State governments ceased in each of the States so confederated together, and until governments are reorganized in each of them in subordina- tion to the national Constitution, and recognized by this — 394 — Congress, there can be no constitutional State governments in such States. Mr. Randai,!,, of Pennsylvania. Will the g-entleman allow me to ask him who he intends shall form the State governments — the people of the States, or who? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I propose that the loyal people of each of the late rebel States shall reorganize their own State governments and administer them under such rules and restrictions as the Congress of the United States, represent- ing the loyal people of the nation, shall require. Mr. Randall, of Pennsylvania. Then I understand the gentleman to say that he is willing that the loyal people shall form State governments, or shall continue their State governments and protect and elect Congressmen as part of their duty. Do I understand him aright? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Under such rules and restric- tions as this Congress shall require. Mr. Randall, of Pennsylvania. That is an after-clap. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Now, Mr. Speaker, I hope I can go on without any more of these interruptions. From the outbreak of the rebellion I have sought to have all the de- partments of the government adopt and act upon this idea. I have held that the sovereignty of the nation was in the people who reside in the States which maintained constitu- tional State governments, recognizing the national Constitu- tion as the supreme law of the land, and the government which it created as the one to which all citizens owed a para- mount allegiance. I have held that the sovereignty of the nation could not be impaired or destroyed within the terri- torial jurisdiction of the United States by the action, or the refusal to act, of any one or more States. In other words, that the people in the States which maintained their consti- tutional relations to the National Government were the only depositaries of the national sovereignty and the only con- stitutional .governing power in the nation. Holding these views, I insist that the people who main- tained constitutional State governments, who, during the entire war, were represented here, and who are now repre- sented here, the people who maintained this National Gov- ernment and put down the rebellion, have a right under the — 395 — laws of war as conquerors to prescribe sucii conditions as in the judg-ment of the majority of this Congress are necessary for the national safety and the national security. This is the rig-ht of the conqueror under everj' law, human and divine. If this be not the true theory, then, indeed, is our National Government a rope of sand. Entertaining- these ideas, at the extra session of Con- gress in July, 1861, I prepared a bill embodying- them, but by the advice of friends I did not present it until the reg-ular session in December. On the 12th of March following-, by the direction of the Committee on Territories, I reported to this House "a bill to provide temporary provisional gover-n- ments for the districts of country in rebellion ag-ainst the United States." That bill, on the motion of my then col- league (Mr. Pendleton) was laid upon the table by a vote of 65 to 56, a number of Republicans voting- with the opposi- tion and a still larger number not voting at all. At the first session of the Thirty-eighth Congress, upon consultation, it was thought best to have a committee on the rebellious States, and the late Henry Winter Davis offered a resolution for the appointment of such a committee. The committee was raised, and he was appointed its chairman. After the committee was appointed, of which I was a member, I again introduced the old bill, with such modifi- cations and additions as time had suggested. That bill which was reported passed both Houses of Congress, but did not receive the sanction of President Lincoln, and therefore failed to become a law. At the second session of the Thirty-eighth Congress I again introduced the same bill with some modifications, and by direction of the committee I reported it to this House. After a number of efforts to modify it so as to secure a ma- jority vote, it was lost, and we were left at sea on this great question of reconstruction. And to-day we are reaping the fruits of our stupidity and folly. I allude to these facts to show how steadily the national mind has been marching up to this idea, that the men who remained loj^al to this govern- ment, who maintained constitutional State governments, and who during the war administered this government, are the government. — 396 — Mr. Wright. Will the g-entleman from Ohio (Mr. Ashley) allow me to ask him a question? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I would rather the g-entleman. would ask me his questions after I g-et throug-h my argument. Mr. Wright. I wish simply to ask the g-entleman to g'ive us his definition of a loyal man. Mr. Ashlky, of Ohio. If the gentleman will ask me after I get through I will answer his question. Mr. Wright. Very well; I will ask the gentleman then. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I was saying that I allude to these facts for the purpose of showing how steadily the national mind has been approaching this idea. And when this joint committee on reconstruction, composed of the ablest men in the nation, made their report the other day, they recognized the same idea, to wit, that the constitutional g-overnments in all the rebel States were abolished; that dur- ino- the war and now said States were not in constitutional rela- tions with the National Government. And the man, who- ever he may be, who stands up and says they are now in con- stitutional relations to the National Government utters that which he knows to be untrue. The man that stands up and says that during the entire war the rebel States were entitled to be represented here in Congress, lays down a proposition which would undermine and sap the very foundations of the g-overnment. If these rebel States had the right to be repre- sented in Congress, and had been represented here during" this war, the nation would have been bound hand and foot, and incapable of resistance. This, then, being the idea adopted by the committee of fifteen, I can support this bill. I know that the proposition submitted by that committee falls far short of what I expected, far short of what the loyal men in the South had a right to expect, far short of what the men who sacrificed so much to preserve this nation had a right to expect. But if I can g-et nothing better I shall vote for their proposition, as I have already voted for the proposed constitutional amend- ment which was sent to the Senate the other day, . . . and I understand the Senate has practically agreed to sustain the proposition on representation which was sent them from this House a short time since. It will be noticed — 397 — that in prescribing the qualifications of electors, in one of the amendments sug-g-ested by me, I omit the word "male" and use the words "all citizens of the United States above the ag-e of twent3^-one years." I did this purposely, as I am unwilling- to prohibit any State from enfranchising- its women if they desire to do so. But, Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment which I desire to offer to this bill — an amendment upon which I shall ask a vote, and to which I desire the attention of the House. House bill No. 543, as reported by the committee, requires the adoption of the constitutional amendment proposed before any State, no matter when it may be ratified, shall be admitted here, thus putting- it in the power of the Northern States, if they desire to do so, to exclude States which in good faith ratified this constitutional amendment and amended their State constitutions and laws so as to comply ■with all the conditions we make. I desire, then, to have the bill reported by the committee so amended that whenever any State lately in insurrection and rebellion shall have ratified this amendment in g-ood faith, and shall have modified its constitution and laws in conformity therewith, that its Sena- tors and Representatives shall be admitted into Cong-ress; that is, that the loyal men of Tennessee and Arkansas now elected shall be admitted; but that as to the other States, they shall, before being- represented in Cong-ress, after the adoption of this amendment and the modification of their constitution and laws, elect, or re-elect, if you will, g-over- nors and all other State officers, members of the leg-islature, Senators of the United States, and members of this House. Why do I ask for this provision? Because these g-overn- ments, set up by President Johnson, set up over the heads of loyal men, have every one of them elected traitors to official positions in those States, have elected traitors to this House, have elected traitors to the Senate. I insist that this pro- vision shall be applied to them, so that when their constitu- tions and their laws are modified in accordance with the proposition which we lay down, the loyal men of those States shall, under the amended constitution and laws, vote for the officers which are to be recog-nized b}^ the government of the — 398 — Utiited States. I ask the clerk to read the amendment which I propose to offer. The clerk read as follows: "That whenever any State lately in insurrection shall have ratified, in g-ood faith and irrevocably, the above recited amendment, and shall have modified its constitution and laws in conformity therewith, and after such ratification and modification of its constitution and laws shall have elected a g-overnor and the State officers provided for in the constitu- tion of such State, including- the State legislature and Sena- tors and Representatives to the Congress of the United States, under such limitations and restrictions as may be imposed by the constitution and laws of such State when amended as herein prescribed, the Senators and Representa- tives from such State, if thus elected and qualified, may, after having taken the oaths of of&ce required by law, be admitted into Congress as such: Provided, That neither the State of Tennessee nor Arkansas shall be required to re-elect a g-over- nor and State officers or a State legislature or Senators or Representatives to the Congress of the United States; but whenever either of said States shall have ratified the above recited amendment, and shall have modified their constitu- tions and laws in conformity therewith, their Senators and Representatives now duly elected and qualified may be admitted into Congress on taking the oaths of office required by law." Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. It will be observed, Mr. Speaker, that, by the adoption of this amendment, every State which ratifies in good faith the proposed amendment to the Consti- tution and modifies its constitution and laws in conformity therewith, and after such modification elects a g-overnor and members of the legislature and Senators and members of this House, it shall have its Representatives admitted here. An exception, however, is made in the case of Tennessee and Arkansas, which now have loyal governors and other State officers and loyal legislatures. Those States would not be required, under this amendment, to re-elect their officers, but the Senators and Representatives already elected, if they can take the oath, would be admitted to seats in Congress, and — 399 — their State officers would be allowed to continue in their present positions. I think this modification a very necessary one. Let g-entlemen look over the South and see the character of the men who have been elected as Senators. In almost every instance, where they are not out and out open-throated rebels, |Who oug-ht to be incarcerated in prisons or exiled from the country instead of approaching this temple of liberty; in almost every instance, I say, where there have been any con- cessions made to lo3'al men, the legislatures have elected moderate men for the short term and the most malignant rebels for the long term. In view of the fact that the loyal men have had no voice in those reconstructed governments, have had no voice in their legislation, have been dumb and silent under the sway of these traitors who were placed in power over them by the acting President, Andrew Johnson, the loyal men of those States should have a fair opportunity to select men who will truly represent them under the Con- stitution and laws when modified in accordance with the con- stitutional amendment proposed by Congress. I also have an amendment which I intend to offer when the other bill comes up, but will not take up time by reading it now. . . . Let us look, Mr. Speaker, at the condition in which we find the country. I hold in my hand the propositions reported by the committee of fifteen. I need not read them. They have been carefully examined by every member. All over the land, North and South, a cry is raised against the report of that committee. I ask gentlemen if they can put their hands on a single page of human history where, after a rebellion has been put down of the character of the one we had to deal with, they can find the conquerors making propo- sitions so mild, so conciliatory, and so merciful as these made by the committee of fifteen — propositions as applicable to the conquerors as the conquered. Yet we find men in this Hall, men all over the South, men holding high positions in the government before the rebellion, and high positions in the rebel government, who have the effrontery to tell the people of this country that they will not accept such condi- tions. If they will not and we permit them to dictate their — 400 — own terms, is not this a practical surrender on the part of the conqueror to the conquered? Suppose our position had been reversed; suppose the anti-slavery men of this country had gone into a rebellion as the South did, without a pretext, without cause, when the}' had a majority in this and the other branch of Cong-ress, simply because a pro-slavery man had been elected President. Suppose this to have been the case, that State after State had seceded, had captured the forts of the United States, and had made war on the Union for four years, destroying* haif a million of lives, as well as running- up a debt of over $3,000,000,000 for posterity to pay. I say suppose this to have been the case, do you believe any such propositions would have been made by those men when they had conquered as have been made by this government, nay, proposed by this very House? Do you suppose that leading anti-slavery men, like Garrison, Phillips, Beecher, Greeley, and Gerrit Smith, would have been sent for by a pro- slavery executive to be counseled with and sent home as pro- visional governors to organize States over the heads of the only loyal men in those States? Do you think there would have been any such stupid performance if the North had been in rebellion? No, sir, we would have been stripped naked, as was said by Henry A. Wise the other evening at Alexandria. My friend from Iowa in front of me (Mr. Price) hands me the paper containing the extract I am quoting from mem- ory, and I will read it: "If I had triumphed," said Governor Wise, "I should Tiave favored stripping them naked. [Laughter.] Pardon! They might have appealed for pardon, but I would have seen them damned before I would have granted it. For myself, the boot being on the other leg, I take no oaths; I ask no pardons! [Prolonged cheers.] I give 3'ou that brigade — the old, the lasting, the enduring Wise brigade. [Cheers and applause.]" Do you suppose if the rebellion in the North to which I have referred had been put down, any traitor would have been permitted to walk in Boston and utter such treason against the government? No, sir; and yet we are denounced in this Congress as a rump Congress, as Jacobins, as sangui- — 401 — nary men. Why? Because we ask, in restoring- the g-overn- ments of the Southern States, that our friends shall have a fair share in the administration of their State g-overnments, and that the leading" traitors shall be punished. Sir, under the administration, as matters are now g-oing, not a sing"le, solitary traitor will be punished. Rebel soldiers that were in prison have all been liberated, while the soldiers of the g"rand Union Army who are in prison for the slightest offenses remain, and you cannot get them pardoned out. These are unpleasant facts, but I could not pass them and do my duty without referring" to them. What do we ask? The loyal men of the nation ask that in the restoration of the rebel States the men who were our friends and allies during" the rebellion — the loyal men — shall be clothed with the power of the local and State governments of the South. Is this asking" too much? If this is not accorded to us, if these men are to come back here, the loyal oath to be repealed as is recommended, and no conditions to be exacted; if these men are to come back here next year and take possession of the g"overnment, so far from treason being" punished and made odious it will only prove to have been a passport to favor and to power. Sir, has it come to this? Can the unselfish heroism and bravery, the devotion and sacrifices of our soldiers and the loyal men and women of the nation so soon be forgotten? Are the men who conducted this nation safely through the most terrible war recorded in history to admit, now that the rebellion is over, that they are incapable of administering" the government in time of peace? Are the men who fought the opponents of this government on the battlefield and at the ballot-box for the last four years, and everywhere van- quished them, now to stack their arms and surrender them- selves without condition to their prisoners? That will be the state of affairs if the present reconstruction policy of the administration succeeds. If in our work of reconstruction we do not secure the rights of loyal men who were our friends and allies in the late rebel States, we shall come short of our duty and be guilty of a blunder which, in such an hour as this, is worse than a crime. Sir, I want the loj'al 26 — 402 — men of the nation, who saved it in its hour of peril, not only to administer the National and State Governments, South as well as North, but to say who shall vote for their law-makers in those States consecrated by the blood of half a million men. Our friends are mistaken, honestly mistaken I g-rant you, but nevertheless mistaken, when they say there are no loyal men in the South. Sir, I know the South better than that, and I stand here to say that I do not believe at the time the ordinances were passed in the eleven rebel States that more than two States — South Carolina and Mississippi — and possibly not more than one, would have voted by ballot at any fairly conducted election for secession and rebellion. I grant that after the rebellion was inaugurated a majority were car- ried into it, and that a majority in all those States, unless it be in Tennessee and Arkansas, and perhaps even these, are hostile at the present time to this government. But there are large numbers of men in those States who are loyal to the government, and I desire to strengthen their hands by giving the black man the ballot. In that way only can we strengthen these men and preserve the local State govern- ments. The unfortunate reconstruction "experiment" of the administration has put the loyal men, black and white, under the foot of the traitor in nearly all the late rebel States, and they are powerless and compelled to submit, because the government has bound them hand and foot and turned them over to the tender mercies of their enemies and ours. Sir, it is the cause of the loyal white and black men of the South which I plead; it is their cause which this Congress is fight- ing. What I demand, and what this Congress demands, is that the loyal men of the South shall administer the local and State governments of the South; that none shall hold the of&ces, national and State, but loyal men. We have the right to demand this. Sir, if we would have loyal representatives here, we must first secure a loyal constituency at their backs. It is idle to talk of IojkI representatives and disloyal constituents. It is not worth while to deceive ourselves on this point, or attempt to deceive others. The solution of this great ques- tion of restoration is the work of statesmen, not of dema- gogues. All over the land demagogues are clamorous, and — 403 — denounce Congress because they do not at once declare the late rebel. States restored to all their constitutional relations to the National Government and at once admit their disloyal representatives, who have the unblushing- hardihood to approach and demand admission to this temple. Every v.^here demag-og-ues and traitors unite in denouncing- the Cong-ress of the United States because they have g-iven six months to the consideration of this new and difficult problem of reor- ganizing- constitutional State g-overnments in eleven rebel States. Why, sir, we have spent six months on the tax bill, a subject with which we are familiar, and which has been in the hands of one of the ablest and most experienced com- mittees of this House, yet with all the aid of the Treasury Department and the special commission authorized by the last Cong-ress we could not g-et throug-h with the tax bill until last evening-. This question of taxation is an old and familiar one, and if we commit a blunder time will develop it and leg-islation can correct it. But this question of recon- struction is a new and perplexing- question; a question which oug-ht to command the best ability of the nation, because we are to walk in new and unknown paths, paths which have never been illuminated by the footprint of the statesmen who have preceded us. If we commit a blunder it may be fatal, at least for a g-eneration. This Cong-ress is honestly laboring- to secure an early restoration, of these States, and while I do not believe the propositions reported by the com- mittee are all the loyal men of the South had the rig-ht to expect and demand at our hands, I shall vote for them if I can g-et nothing- better. But it is said that there are no loyal men in the South; that all were swept into this rebellion, and we are coolly and refreshing-ly told that the oath must be modified in order that rebels may be appointed to office. Sir, this claim that there are no loyal men in the South is a fallacy. I have lived in the South for years, and I know that there is not a State in which loyal men cannot be found to fill all the offices of the State and National Government. If they have not, then I would import them. I would do as I advised Mr. Lincoln to do in 1861, when he had up the question of appointino- a postmaster at Louisville. He happened one morning- when I — 404 — was in his room, and the case was up, to do me the honor to ask me what I would do. There was a loyal man who had been always faithful to our ideas an applicant for the place, and also a new convert. I said, " If I had the appointing- power, and there were but one man in the State who had voted for me or voted to maintain our ideas, I would appoint him to the best office in the State in the g-if t of the Executive, and if he could not write his name I would appoint and pay a clerk out of the secret service fund to sig-n his name for him." You need not talk to me about there not being- loyal men enough in the South to discharge the duties of all the offices there. It is a fallacy. Many honest men of my own personal acquaintance went into the rebellion believing- it to be right; and before the close of the war and since the close of the war, have come out of it just as honest, and are satis- fied that it was wrong. ' Sir, I do not believe, with all the political heresy which has been taught at the South for the past thirty years, with all the political iniquity which has been taught in the name of religion and in the name of Christ in the South by men professing- to teach the gospel; I do not believe that all this, with the war and all the terrible consequences which have followed in its train, has been enough to obliterate from the South an entire love for the old flag- and the old Union. I know that there are men in the South everywhere capable of filling- all the offices. My judgment has been strengthened on this point by many letters which I have received during- the war and since the war. A private soldier in the Union Army wrote me a letter after Sherman had passed through Georg-ia, in which the following beautiful and touching incident was related: "At one of our military posts where thousands came to receive rations from the government which they were madly fighting to destro}', there came one morning a tall, elderly lady of commanding ap- pearance, and of evident culture and refinement, asking for bread. When it was handed to her by a brave boy in blue who stood proudly beneath the stars and stripes, she betrayed emotions which she could not suppress, and the tears stole down her cheeks as she said, ' Little did I think three years ago, when decking m}' three sons for the war, that I would — 405 — ever come to this; then I had husband, sons, home, and all that heart could wish; now I am homeless, childless, a widow, and a beg-g-ar, asking- alms of the g-overnment which we sought to destroy. But it is all rig-ht. It is the punishment meted out by Providence for our sins, and I submit.' " Sir, there are thousands of just such mothers as this in every State in the South to-day, and there is not a loyal man or woman in this nation who would not do all in their power to alleviate their wants and bind up their bleeding" and broken hearts. There is another beautiful incident which I must not omit. Last summer, when the convention met in North Carolina, in response to the acting" President's proclamation, to reorg-anize a constitutional State g-overnment, Mr. Reade, the president of that convention, on taking- the chair, uttered words which thrilled the continent. I have no lang-uage to tell you, Mr. Speaker, how they touched my heart as I read them on the shores of the Pacific. I know that every loyal man in this nation called down benedictions on his head. These are his golden words: " Fellow-citizens, we are going home. Let painful recol- lections upon our late separation and pleasant memories of our early union quicken our footsteps toward the old man- sion, that we may grasp hard again the hands of friendship? which stand at the door; and, sheltered by the old home- stead which was built upon a rock, and has weathered the storm, enjoy together the long, bright future which awaits us." Sir, every loyal Representative in this Hall stands ready with open hand to-day to welcome all who thus speak from the heart; and, sir, whatever of local interest or of prejudice or of passion may have carried an erring brother into this rebellion, if he but set his face toward the old homestead, uttering such brave words as these, I will run to meet him afar off, and for him the fatted calf shall be slain. But I do not propose to start out laden down with pardons and with the fatted calf smoking- hot from the oven and hunt up and thrust both pardons and feast upon unrepentant, malignant, and defiant rebels. Nor do I propose to stand before them, hat in hand, and ask them on what terms they propose to — 406 — return to the old mansion. Sir, every rebel shall resume his citizenship upon the terms and conditions prescribed by the loyal men of this nation, or, so far as I am concerned, he shall remain an alien forever. Mr. Speaker, to me the only vital and living- question g-rowing- out of this subject of reconstruction is whether the loyal men of the South, whether all citizens of the United States residing- in the South, shall have the rig-ht of the bal- lot. And when I say all loyal citizens I mean all, black as well as white. I hold that every man born in the United States is a citizen of the United States, and that every citizen, native-born or naturalized, has the right to a voice in the Government under which he lives. It is a natural rig-ht, a divine rig-ht if you will, a right of which the g-overnment cannot justly deprive any citizen except as a punishment for crime. Sir, every American citizen of the age of twenty- one years, not convicted of an infamous offense, has the right to vote for or against those who are to make and administer the laws under which he lives. That is the high prerog-ative of every American citizen. Anything- short of that is but a mockery. I want this Cong-ress, before it shall adjourn, to insist that every man who has been loyal to the g-overnment in the South, whatever his race or color, shall have the right to the ballot. We now have the g-olden opportunity. If you do not guaranty these precious rights of the citizen now, you leave the great work before us unfinished ; and -I warn you that agitation will follow your refusal to enact justice, and that there shall be no repose until every citizen of the republic is enfranchised and stands equal before the law. Shall we falter, Mr. Speaker, in this sublime hour of victory which God has given us, or shall we finish the work which He has committed to our hands by securing the complete enfranchise- ment of all citizens of the United States ? The voice of every friend of this country in Europe, as it comes to us across the sea, cries out to us to enfranchise the men who in the late struggle were our friends and our allies. From Switzerland, the grand republic of the Old World, there come to us words of counsel and wisdom which w^e ought not to disregard. From every land beneath the — 407 — sun, where liberty is loved and human hearts have been touched by our heroic strugg-le, there comes to us a plea that in reconstructing- this g-overnment we shall first of all see to it that justice is the basis upon which we build. And better than all this, from the loyal men of the South, both white and black, there comes up to us the prayer that we will see to it that they have justice ; that we will not falsify the pledg-es which the nation has made. Sir, do gentlemen expect that we can make the pledg-es we have made, and then turn these people over to the tender mercies of their enemies and ours without calling- down upon us the execrations and denunciations of all right-thinking- men? If they do, they are mistaken. Shall we hear and answer these words of counsel and wisdom and the praj^er of our friends and allies, or shall we turn for counsel and advice to our late enemies? We are as a nation either to go forward in the great work of progress or g-o backward ; we cannot stand still. And I am desirous to know whether this Congress is g-oing- to attempt the work of staying- the g-reat anti-slavery revolution which has swept over the country and obliterated all the pro-slavery landmarks erected by parties and by men. Sir, I have faith to believe that neither President nor Cabinet nor Congress can long stay with their puny efforts the grand decree of the nation. He who attempts it, be he President, Cabinet minister, or statesman, will fall before its advancing power, and his political grave will be marked by the skeletons of those who for the past quarter of a century, having betrayed liberty, were wrecked along the political coast and to-day lie unburied and unhonored because there were none so base as to do them reverence. Sir, I know that our hour of triumph may be delayed ; but I have faith to believe that we cannot be defeated. Let the ballot be placed in the hands of every loyal man in the South, and this nation is safe — safe from rebellion, safe from repu- diation, safe from a war of races, safe from the domination of traitors in its councils. Sir, without the ballot in the hands of every loyal man the nation is not safe. The ballot is the only sure weapon of protection and defense for the poor man, whether white or black. It is the sword and buckler — 408— and shield before which all oppressions, aristocracies and special privileg-es bow. Sir, Mr. Lincoln, in a letter written to Governor Hahn, of Louisiana, pleading- for the rig-ht of the black man to vote, said most beautifully, and as I be- lieve, prophetically, that "in some trying" time the vote of the black man may serve to keep the jewel of liberty in the family of freedom." I believe this most fully ; and believing- it, I would be false to myself and false to my country if I did not demand it. If I were a black man, with the chains just stricken from my limbs, without a home to shelter me or mine, and you should offer me the ballot, or a cabin and forty acres of cot- ton land, I would take the ballot, conscious that, with the ballot in my hand, rig-htly used, all else should be added unto me. Sir, I would like to know whether there is one professed- ly loyal man in this nation who would rather confer the bal- lot upon a traitor to his country than upon a loyal black man who has foug-ht to save the republic. I should like to hear such a man speak out here or elsewhere. Sir, however much brazen-faced impudence there is in every public assem- bly, there is no man in this House so bold or so bad as to make such a declaration. Mr. Lej B1.0ND. With my colleag-ue's permission, I wish to ask him a question. I infer from his remarks that he is in favor of neg-ro suffrag-e. I wish to know whether he is in favor of negro suffrag-e in the States. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Everywhere. Mr. Le Blond. In the State of Ohio? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Everywhere. Mr. Le Blond. Then I wish to ask the g-entleraan an- other question : does he claim that Cong-ress has the power to confer the right of suffrag-e upon neg-rocs in the States? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Well, sir, I do not intend to put myself on record ag-ainst the rig-ht of Cong-ress to do that. I have no time now to argue the point with my colleag-ue ; but I will say to him that when the time comes for the Ameri- can Cong-ress to take action on the question, I will be ready to speak. I will not say now whether I would vote for or against such a proposition. — 409 — Mr. Lb Bi^ond. I wish to ask mv colleag-ue one mors question : is he in. favor of the report of the reconstruction committee? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. "Well, sir, I am voting- for it. Mr. IvK Blond. Is my colleag-ue in favor of keeping- the States out until the conditions prescribed in that report are complied with? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. If mj colleague had listened to my remarks and to the amendment which I presented, he would not have felt called upon to interrupt me to put this inquiry. Mr. Le Blond. I would like to inquire why the g-entle- man yields the question of suffrag-e, as he does, in supporting; the proposition of the committee. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Because I cannot get it. [Laug-h- ter.] Is not that a fair answer? Mr. Le Blond. That is honest. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Now, sir, let us look at this ques- tion for a moment from the standpoint of the black man. And he who will not look at this question from the stand- point of the black man is unfit to sit in judg-ment on this question. Let me ask g-entlemen on the other side, with whom I always deal fairly, suppose your ancestors had been in bondag-e for two hundred years, and that this nation — this nation of hypocrites and liars for more than eighty years — had enslaved and degraded you as no people were ever de- graded before — making merchandise of your entire race, while professing Christianity and a love for liberty. I say suppose this to have been your condition when this war be- gun — a war inaugurated on the part of your masters to establish a government which should perpetuate your bond- age — and after becoming satisfied that we could not conquer your masters without your aid, we had invited you in the hour of the nation's agony to join our army and help put down the rebellion, promising you your freedom, and that you had come two hundred thousand strong, and had stayed, if you did not turn, the tide of battle, thereby giving us the victory. I say suppose this to be the case, and after the rebellion had been crushed and your masters were put down by your aid, we had coolly and unblushingly turned you over — 410 — to the control of local State g-overnments administered by jour late masters. I ask, what kind of justice you would call that? Mr. Ei^dridge. I wish to inquire Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. If you will answer that question I will yield the floor. Mr. Eldridge. Was that so from the beg-inning-? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. It was so with me. I do not know what issue the g-entleman had. So far as his votes indicated, his position was on the other side. Mr. Eldridge. Was that the position of Mr. Lincoln and those who supported him from the beg^inning- of the war? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I do not think it was at the be- g-inning-. Mr. Eldridge. Was it at the end of the war? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Yes, sir. The Speaker. The gentleman's time has expired. Mr. Garfield. I move that my colleag-ue's time be ex- tended. Mr. Le Blond. He is entitled to credit, and deserves extension. There was no objection, and it was ordered according-ly. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I want my friend from Ohio, or an}^ one on that side of the House, to tell me, if after having- foug-ht to save the nation under the promise of freedom and the protection of his life and property, what would be his feelings toward those who committed the great crime of turning him over to the control of his enemies and ours? What would you say of such a government? What would you say of the honor of its rulers? Sir, I know not what other men would say, but if I were a black man I would not submit. I would rather be the slave of one man who had a pecuniary interest in my health and life than to be the slave of a State whose government was controlled by MY LATE MASTERS. It is a terrible thing to be the slave of a State whose government is administered in the spirit of caste. Sir, if the members of this House could witness what I have often seen, free men made the slave of the State, they would know how intolerable is such a condition, and would not sleep soundly if by their vote they permitted four million — 411 — people, who were our allies and friends in this late war, to become the slaves of a State whose g-overnment was in the hands of rebels. Mr. Higby. They have re-enacted the same laws. Mr. Ashi.e;y, of Ohio. These laws have been re-enacted in some of the so-called reconstructed States, as my friend from California remarks. Sir, I repeat, if this g-reat injus- tice was done me I would not submit; and I tell you that these four million people, soon to increase to many millions, will not submit to such monstrous legislation. If I were a black man I v/ould gather go into rebellion and revolution than sub- mit to such an intolerable wrong-. I would take my children and g"o daily with them to the altar and swear eternal hos- tility to those who thus betra^^ed me. I would consecrate all the powers of mind and strength which I possessed to brand those with infamy who had been so false to my people, and to put them into history "along with those who, in every generation, have disgraced the world as the betrayers of mankind and enemies of the human race. Sir, nothing can give such security to the poor man as the ballot. The prejudice of caste is strong, but the ballot will soon banish its baneful spirit. If in the days of Know- Nothingism the Irishman had not had the protection which the ballot alone could give him his condition would have been intolerable. How much more intolerable the condition of the black man without the ballot when completely under the dominion of his late slave-master! Mr. E1.DRIDGK. Let me ask a question. Mr. ASHI.UY, of Ohio. Not now. When Richmond fell, when Lee surrendered, when the last rebel army sur- rendered, and the bells all over the North were ringing out their peals of joy, who were the men that stood up first in this Union and asked for mercy to a fallen foe? The men -who had a right to speak, Garrison, Phillips, Beecher, Greeley, Bryant, and Gerrit Smith — the men of heart, of intellect, and of soul. While they demanded justice for black men and the loyal men of the South, they plead also for mercy to a fallen foe. When I came here last spring to see President Johnson, he was talking about "making treason odious, and declaring — 412— that traitors should take a back seat." I was more anxious to secure justice to our friends and allies than to execute ven- g-eance on our late enemies. All we asked then and all we ask now is justice — justice to our friends and mercy to a fallen foe. All we ask now for white men and black men in the South and in the North is justice; and I tell you, that by the blessing" of God, we intend to have it. Be not deceived. You cannot always postpone the demands of justice. As a nation we have learned by sad experience that we cannot trample upon it with impunity. Neither laws nor 'customs nor despotism can silence its claim, because it is a principle implanted by the Creator in every human heart, and can never be wholly eradicated by the selfishness or tyranny of man. He who understands the simple teachings of the golden rule comprehends the application of justice alike by g-overnments and men. It needs no learning or superior wisdom to interpret it. The ignorant black, so recently a slave, and the most scholarly white, alike understand it. Justice demands liberty and equality before the law for all. It speaks in the heart of every man, wherever born, with an inspiration like unto that which spoke on the day of Pentecost with tongues of fire. Woe to the statesman or party or nation which tram- ples on this principle ! Its complete recognition by our govern- ment will bring us national grandeur and national glory, and secure unity, peace, prosperity, power. Its rejection will tarnish the fair fame of our country, and bring discord, dis- sension, adversity, war. Let the corner-stone of each reconstructed State be jus- tice and the cap-stone will be liberty. "With liberty and jus- tice as the fundamental law of our national and State gov- ernments there can be no war of races, no secession, no rebel- lion. It is injustice and oppression which bring dissension and war. The opposite will bring harmony and peace. He who votes injustice to-day will be held accountable by the people now, and in the great tribunal of human history will be justly chargeable with all the oppression, wrongs, and wars which must follov/ the enactment of injustice into law. The law-maker who demands nothing for himself which he will not concede to the humblest citizen is the only true — 413 — statesman. Make the community of interest one by g-uaran- tying- the equal rights of all men before the law, and the fidelity of every inhabitant of such a commonwealth becomes a necessit}' not only from interest but from a love of justice. Sir, this Congress is writing a new chapter in American history. Let every man whose great privilege it is to record his name where it will stand forever, so record it as to secure the triumph of justice, and his name and memory shall have a life coequal with the Republic. Sir, he who has comprehended the logic of the terrible conflict through which we have passed and studied with profit the lessons which it has taught, will have learned the point at which in our great march as a nation we have reached, and know something of the course which in the future it will travel. Animated for many years by conflicting, sectional, hostile forces, I have lived to see since my entrance into Congress these antagonistic views so modified and melted into one that to-day the condition is accepted by all patriotic, right-think- ing men, and the historian without confusion can make up the record. If this war has taught us any one lesson more clearly than another, it is that we are inseparably one people, that this continent can never again become the abode of human slavery, and that in all our future deliberations in these Halls old antagonisms will cease to divide us, and our hopes and aspirations become one, because our interests are one. Let this measure, or those which the Senate may perfect, pass and go into the Constitution of the country; let the propositions before us become the law of the land, and you will have done something toward securing the triumph of justice. Pass these acts, and justice as a flaming sword will stand at the doors of the nation's council halls to guard its sanctuary from the presence of traitors. Pass them, and he who approaches this temple of liberty shall pause at the threshold before entering and swear eternal fidelity to the republic. Let these propositions pass and the proposed amendment of the Constitution become part of our fundamental law, and a generation shall not pass away before witnessing the com- — 414 — plete enfranchisement of every freeman and the entire aboli- tion of all class leg-islation. In this faith and with this hope, believing- that Provi- dence in the future as in the past will overrule all for our good and supply where we have failed, I am prepared to give my voice and ray vote for whatever measure a majority of the loyal members of the American Congress may adopt for the restoration of the States lately in rebellion. SPKBCH OF HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY, OF OHIO, In the Housb of Representatives, January 26, 1867. RECONSTRUCTION. The House having- under consideration House bill No. 543, to restore to the States lately in insurrection their full political rig-hts — Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, said: Mr. Speaker: I am opposed to the motion of my col- league to refer the bill now under consideration, with the pending- amendments, to the joint Committee on Reconstruc- tion. I am also opposed to the motion which the gentleman from Pennsylvania gave notice of the other day, to lay these bills on the table. I hope the motion to refer them, or lay them on the table, will not be adopted. If either of these motions should prevail it would operate practically as a declaration on the part of the House that no action may be expected during the remainder of this Congress upon the great question of reconstruction. I accept the suggestion of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and now withdraw my amendment to his substitute; and, so far as I can, I will sus- tain the motion which he proposes to make on Monday, that the House consider these bills as in Committee of the Whole under the five-minute rule, and try to perfect a bill so as to be able to send it to the Senate within the next two or three days. Gentlemen at all familiar with the legislation of the House, and the manner in which its business is now blocked out, will comprehend at once that unless some speedy action is had by the House, and the bill sent to the Senate, so that (415) — 416 — they may have time to examine it, and to review the veto message in case it shall come in, during- the life of this Thirty-ninth Congress, there can be no act passed which will bring- relief to the loyal men of the South or carry out the pledges which the Thirty-ninth Congress made to the coun- try and to the loyal men of the South, that loyal and consti- tutional State governments should be established there on the reassembling of Congress. As the gentleman from Pennsylvania has just remarked, there are but twenty working-daj^s practically left of this session. The Thirty-ninth Congress went to the country in opposition to the policy of the President, and to what we were pleased to denominate his usurpations. The people in generous confidence have sustained Congress and returned to the Fortieth Congress by majorities unprecedented men pledged to the abolition of the governments established by the acting President of the United States, in violation of al' law, and, as I claim, in clear violation of the Constitution. A large majority on this side of the House were returned to the next Congress under the express pledge that they would not permit these rebel State governments to exist a single hour after this Congress had been in session long enough to declare them abolished. If this Congress fails to redeem that pledge it will commit a blunder which, in such an hour as this, is worse than a crime. Mr. ConkIvIng. I ask the gentleman to state his objec- tion to having a subject like this, with regard to which a number of bills have been brought forward, committed to a committee which has now no work upon its hands and which has a right to report at any time. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. My answer to the gentleman from New York is, that the Committee on Reconstruction have held no meetings during this entire session up to this hour. Several bills proposed by gentlemen have been re- ferred to that committee during this session upon which they have taken no action. If the committee ever gets together again, which I doubt, as it is a large committee composed of Ijoth branches of Congress, I have but little hope of their heing able to agree. The chairman of the committee on the part of the Senate, as is well known, is absorbed in his efforts — 417 — to perfect the financial measures of the country, and I fear that if this bill goes to that committee it will g-o to its grave, and that it will not during- the life of the Thirty-ninth Con- gress see the lig-ht. If I were opposed to these bills I would vote to send them to that committee as sending- them to their tomb. That is my answer to the gentleman from New York. Mr. C0NKI.1NG. I do not know whether the gentleman from Ohio would like my opinion as to whether that is a good answer or not. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I have no objection to the gen- tleman giving his opinion. Mr. Conkling. I think it is not very good considering that it comes from such a distinguished source. There is no difficulty in having prompt consideration of anything which may be sent to the committee. It was created originally solely to deal with this subject. It was at first broken into four sub-committees that the work of gathering evidence might be more advantageously and speedily carried on. It became one committee, usually working together, only during a few weeks immediately preceding the bringing forward of its ultimate propositions. It would not be decorous for me to praise the committee or the work it did; but I may say with propriety that if it ever was a good committee, if it ever should have been created and composed as it was, it is a good committee now — better than it ever was before; better, because more familiar with this subject, because its members having now become acquainted with each other's views, and liaving become accustomed to act with each other, and hav- ing studied the whole subject committed to them, can proceed with much more hope of good results than ever before. Having a right to report at any time, and being led on the part of this House, by the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Stevens], I see no reason wh}- it cannot consider and digest wisely and promptly whatever may be referred to it and make report. I did not intend to say one word about this, and do not intend to rise again in regard to it. I beg now to say, how- ever, .that I hope the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Bingham] will not withdraw his motion to refer this whole subject to 27 -—418 — the joint Committee on Reconstruction; on the contrary, I trust the majority of this House will promptly refer all these bills with all cognate propositions to that committee, and give them at least one opportunity at this session to show whether thej- can produce something- for action or some reason for not acting. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I have as much confidence in the joint Committee on Reconstruction as any gentleman on this floor; but the gentleman from New York [Mr. Conkling] will remember that the propositions which they brought forward near the close of the last session, simultaneously in both branches, were propositions which demanded a two-thirds vote of each branch of Congress, and did not require the signa- ture of the Executive. Had they required the signature of the Executive, and been returned by him without his signa- ture, as any reconstruction bill undoubtedly will be, the time to which Congress had limited its session would have expired before we could have reconsidered and passed them over his veto. Upon this subject of reconstruction the great body of this House have given much thought, and I believe we can arrive quite as surely at a result here in the House, under the five-minute rule of amendment and debate, as we can by re- ferring this subject to any committee. Mr. Stevens. I will reply, in answer to what my col- league upon the joint Committee on Reconstruction [Mr. Conkling] has said, that he seems not to be aware that we are now considering a report from that very committee. That committee made a report, and I have offered a sub- stitute for the bill which they reported. If the gentleman thinks the report of that committee best then let him vote against my substitute. But why send this subject back again to the committee ? The gentleman knows as well as I do how many different opinions there are in that committee ; some of us believe in one thing, and some of us in another; some of us are very critical and some of us are not. The idea that we can consider anything in that committee, constituted as it is, in less than a fortnight, it seems to me is wholly out of the question; and as we have only about some twenty work- ing-days in which to mature this bill in both branches of Con- -U419 — gress, if we send this subject to that committee and let it take its time to consider it, and then have it reported here and considered ag-ain, I certainly need not say to g-entlemen that that would be an end of the matter, at least for this session. I do not believe the gentleman from New York [Mr. Conkling-] desires to accomplish that result ; though I believe some gen- tlemen do. I believe that will be its fate as inevitably as it goes there. Mr. Conki^ing. The gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Ashley], I trust, will allow me a remark in reply. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Certainly. Mr. Conki^ing. The gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Stevens] inquires why this report, emanating originally from the Committee on Reconstruction, should now be sent back. Let me answer : the gentleman from Pennsylvania concurred in that report ; he had his full share in molding it and making it precisely what it was. He supported it then ; now he offers a substitute for it. Why ? Beqause the time which has elapsed since then and the events which have transpired have modified, he thinks, the exigencies of the case. Is not that as applicable to the judgment of the committee as to his own ? And if it be necessary for him now to offer, as he has offered, a different series of provisions in order to express his views, matured as they are by the intermediate experience, is it not necessary, or if not necessary is it not proper, that it should have the opportunity of acting for once in the light of all the facts and circumstances as they are to-day ? By as much as those circumstances involve the necessity of the substitute emanating from the gentleman from Pennsylvania, by so much in my judgment they invoke the renewed action of this committee. JMr. Stevens. The gentleman is aware, I suppose, that two or perhaps three bills on this subject have been referred during this session to that committee. Why has not the committee acted on them ? Mr. C0NKI.1NG. Mr. Speaker, if I were the chairman of the committee on the part of this House I should be able to answer that question, because then I could tell why I had not called the committee together. But as I am only a subordi- nate member of the committee, whose business it is to come — 420 — when I am called, and never to call others, I am entirely un- able to g"ive the information for which the g-entleman inquires. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, if I could have any assurance that this committee would be able to report promptly a bill upon which this House could probably ag^ree, I would not hesitate a single moment to vote for the reference of this measure to that committee, including- the several bills before my own committee, because, as I said in the outset, I have entire confidence in the g-entlemen who constitute that committee. But, believing- that they will be unable to ag-ree, I shall vote ag-ainst a recommitment. One word more with reg-ard to this matter. This House has on two different occasions by resolutions instructed the committee of which I am chairman — the Committee on Territories — to report to the House bills on this subject. Some half dozen bills have been prepared and sent to that committee. And when the committee is called, unless the House shall already have acted on some proposition looking- to the reorganization of loyal g-overnments in the late rebel States, we intend to report a bill and to insist upon a vote. So far as I am concerned I do not intend that the Thirty- ninth Cong-ress shall adjourn without some effort to provide g-overnments which shall secure justice and equality to all loyal men in the southern States. Mr. Blaine. With the g-entleman's permission I desire to ask him, in reg-ard to those bills now before his committee, whether, when they were introduced here for reference, the point of order was made upon them that they had no business bef c re tha+ committee, but belong-ed, under the rules of the House, to tne Reconstruction Committee. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. No, sir; one of those resolutions .was introduced before this House ag-ain g-alvanized into life the Reconstruction Committee for the remainder of the session. Mr. Blaine. And all the bills that have been referred to the g-entleman's committee since then were referred in direct violation of a rule of this House; and if the point of order had been made upon them they would not have been referred to that committee. I do not think that the g-entle- — 421 — man's committee oug-lit to take advatitag-e of the neg^lect of members to make the point of order. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. If this House has, by unanimous consent, since the adoption of the resolution reviving- the Reconstruction Committee, sent bills to the Committee on Territories, it is no fault of the latter committee. Mr. Blaine. Unanimous consent, in nine cases out of ten, is only another name for negflig-ence on the part of the House. It was g-ross neg-lig"ence in this case. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Very well, sir, that may be the opinion of the g-entleman; but so far as the House is concerned, its action, before the Reconstruction Committee was recon- stituted for this sesssion, authorized the committee of which I am chairman to report a bill, and we intend to do it. Now, sir, I wish to examine briefly one or two of the provisions of the amendment which I have offered to the bill of the gentleman from Pennsylvania. Substantially this bill will be reported by the Committee on Territories if no bill is previously acted on by the House. Mr. Finck. I desire to ask my colleag-ue whether he can tell the House and the country what the plan of con- g-ressional reconstruction is? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I hope to be able to do so before I take my seat. Mr. Finck. We shall be very glad, indeed, to learn it. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. At any rate, I shall show that a majority of the Republican Union party by their votes in the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses are committed to the plan of reconstruction now proposed. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Ray- mond], in his speech on the day before yesterday, made an objection to the amendment which I have offered because it abolishes unqualifiedly the DE FACTO State governments established by the acting President in the late rebel States, and claimed that in the interim between the organization of the provisional committees provided for in the bill and the pas- sage of the act abolishing these governments anarchy would reign supreme in those States, and he claimed that any government is better than no government. Now, Sir, the gentleman from New York was mistaken. It is true that — 422 — there would be no local civil g-overnment left in those States if the bill should pass abolishing* the present g"overnments; but there is a provision directing- the President of the United States to see that the laws of the United States are executed in those States and the lives and property of our citizens protected. Mr. Bingham. What laws of the United States to protect life and property? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. No law of the United States now on the statute-books ; but the President is required by the provisions of my bill to use then,entire military and naval force of the nation to protect the lives and property of the citizen in those States during* the interim. So far as that subject is concerned the lives and property of the people will be just as safe as they were during- the interim between the surrender of Lee and Johnston and the org-anization of the present governments. With the whole force of the United States at the Presi- dent's disposal, he can if he will protect the lives and prop- erty of the people quite as well as he did after the surrender and until the establishment of the governments now existing- there. Mr. Bingham. What provision is there in this act for the protection of life and property? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. The bill provides that the force of the United States shall be at the disposal of our military commanders in those States just as it was at the suppression of the rebellion. Mr. Bingham. What provision is there to punish any acts of petit larceny? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. There is none. If any act of petit larceny is committed in those States during- the short interim contemplated it will not materially damag-e the loyal men who have been exiled or despoiled of all the}' possess. If such acts are committed upon Union men under the present governments there is no chance for redress under these DE FACTO rebel governments. So far as I am concerned, if I were a southern loyalist, I would rather have no govern- ment at all than the infernal despotism which to-day crushes the loyal men of the South. — 423 — Mr. K1.DRIDGE. Will the g-entleman tell me what laws of the United States he considers applicable to this country? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I have provided in this bill for that. Mr. Eldridge. I understand the g-entleman to say he expected the people of these Territories to be protected by and under the laws of the United States, enforced by the Presi- dent. Will the g-entleman tell me what laws he purposes shall be enforced? Mr. Ashi,ey, of Ohio. My colleag-ue has just propounded the same question, and I have just answered it. Mr. Eldridge. I was not able to hear what occurred between the g-entlemen and his colleague. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. The whole machinery of the bill is to compel the President of the United States, with the army and navy and the whole force at his disposal, to see to i t that this ac<- and all acts of the provisional g-overnments organized under it shall be enforced in those States. The gentleman from New York [Mr. Raymond] made the objection that there would be an interval of time when there would be no government in these States. I reply again that the interim would be no longer than that which occurred after the suppression of the rebellion and the setting- up of the provisional governments now existing- there, and the time would not :rdinarily be long-.^r than sixty days. As I intend to withdraw this bill, as requested by the g-entleman from Pennsylvania, I will not take up the time of the House in discussing its provisions. Mr. Bingham. Can that be done while my motion is pending to refer? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Yes, sir, it can; but I yield to the gentleman to make his point of order if he desires. Mr. Bingham. But the (o-entleman has not withdrawn it. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. If I have not, I withdraw it now. Now, Mr. Speaker, in reply to some of the arguments addressed to this House by g-entlemen on the other side, I want to say that the great body of Union men deny that dur- ing" the entire war there has been any constitutional State g"overnment in an}- one of the States in rebellion. Tennessee tius been readmitted, or its reorganized State g-overnment — 424— lias been recog-nized b}^ Congress since the war. The g-entle- men who have served with me here during- the entire war recog-nize the fact that the great body of men constituting- the Republican-Union party have held that opinion since the outbreak of the rebellion. At the first regular session of the Thirty-seventh Con- gress I introduced a bill to establish temporary provisional governments in the then eleven rebellious States. The Com- mittee on Territories authorized me to report such a bill^ and on the 12th of March, 1862, I did report such a bill to this House, which was laid on the table by a small majority; the great body of the Union members present and voting voted against laying the bill on the table. At the commence- ment of the first session of the Thirty-eighth Congress a special committee was organized on the subject of reconstruc- tion, of which the late Henry Winter Davis, of Mar3dand, was chairman, and of which I also was a member. They proposed to this House, and the House and Senate passed, a bill again recognizing the principle on which the Union- Republican party have acted during the entire war, declaring there were no constitutional State governments in those States. These bills recognized the fact that the sovereignty of the nation was in the people residing in States which maintained constitutional State governments, acting in practi- cal relations with the Government of the United States. They held that Congress as the representative of the sov- ereignt}^ of the nation had the right to legislate on all sub- jects in States where constitutional State governments had been overthrown or destroyed. That bill passed both Houses, but failed to become a law because Mr. Lincoln declined to sign it, although he said he was acting and intended to fol- low practically the principles contained in the bill. Mr. Le Blond. Will my colleague jaeld for a question? I understand him to say that from the outbreak of the difii- culties to the present time this Congress entertained the views he has just advanced. If that be so, I would like to know how it came that the Congress passed in 1862 the Crittenden resolution, which is in direct conflict with the theory the gentleman has announced. I believe my colleague voted for that resolution. — 425 — Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. The Crittenden resolution was passed at the extra session of Cong^ress in July, 1861, im- mediately after the battle of Bull Run. I voted for the first proposition in the resolution, which declared that this war had been inaug"Urated by the southern people who were then in arms around the national capital. I did not vote for the second proposition; I declined to do so, althoug-h the g-reat body of the party to which I belonged did vote for it. Mr. E1.DRIDGE. You did not vote ag-ainst it. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I did not vote at all. There were only two votes in the neg-ative on our side, if I remember rig-htly, m}' then colleague, Mr. Riddle, of Ohio, and Mr> Potter, of Wisconsin. Mr. Dawes. And two on the other side. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. And two on the other side. But that resolution did not commit this House nor the Republican party to any settled policy in regard to the state of things now existing. If the rebellion had been suppressed at once, if the people in rebellion had laid down their arms, then every gentleman here and all who served with me in the Thirty-seventh Congress know very well that they would have been welcomed back to their former positions at once. But the rebellion having been continued during the entire four years, the local governments in those States having been destroyed or their constitutional relations with the National Government suspended, when the people residing in the States which maintained constitutional State governments, and who during these four years constituted the Government of the United States and represented its sovereignty, crushed the rebellion, they had a right under every law, human and divine, to prescribe terms of restoration to the States lately in rebellion ; and I tell gentlemen on the other side that the men who crushed the rebellion intend to prescribe terms of restoration to those States. I know gentlemen of the oppo- sition insist with great pertinacity on the abstract proposition that there is no power in the people of a State to sever their constitutional relations with this government ; but, sir, there stands the fact against this theory. I admit, and every gen- tleman on this side of the House admits, that the people in a State have no constitutional power to destroy their State — 426 — g-overnments or dissolve their constitutional relations with the National Government ; but that they have nevertheless done so the history of the country for the past four years is the best evidence. Mr. Eldridge. Will the g-entleman allow me to ask him this question ? If what the rebels did previous to the passag-e of the Crittenden resolution did not break their relations with the United States, how could they have done it after- ward ? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. If the gentleman knows anything* of the history of the country he comprehends very well that a majority of the people in the North, even as late as late as July, 1861, were unwilling to believe that such a formidable insurrec- tion and rebellion was before them, and that we were to have a bloody war of four years after the disaster at Bull Run. Mr. Eldridge. Then will the gentleman allow me to ask whether the United States have any power or authority by which they can allow a State to break its relationship with the Union ? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I suppose there is no one in this House who would claim or admit that the Government of the United States has any constitutional power to authorize or recognize the right of a majority of the people of a State to dissolve their constitutional relations with the General Govern- ment. So far as I am concerned, and the great body of the men with whom I act, we utterly deny it. But, sir, if the people of a State do the act, what then? Who is there to prescribe the terms and conditions upon which these States shall be re- stored when these acts are consummated ? Sir, I hold, as my distinguished colleague [Mr. Bing- ham] holds, and as the great body of the Republican-Union party hold, that the Government of the United States under its present Constitution can only exist where constitutional State governments are maintained, and that the sovereignty of the people of this country reposes in the people who reside in States which maintain constitutional State governmez^ts in practical relations with the National Government, and exists nowhere else. I hold that the people of a State may, and all know that eleven States did, in violation of the Con- stitution, dissolve their practical relations with the National — 427 — Government. As an individual citizen maj-, in violation of law, commit crime, so may a political community, in viola- tion of law, refuse or neg-lect to discharg-e their constitution- al oblig-ations. If they do this thing-, I hold that the States which remain loyal must always represec t the national sov- ereig-nty and have the right to dictate such terms as they may see fit to revolting- States, and to compel the people of the States so violating- the Constitution to accept those terms, or to remain during- the pleasure of the conqueror in the condition in which we now find the late rebel States. No, not in such condition, but in such condition as the Con- gress which represents the nation may dictate. I have regretted to find, since this Congress came tog-ether, so many g-entlemen here doing- all they could to inflame the passions and prejudices of the g-reat body of the people who were recently in rebellion in the United States. I have re- g-retted to find them forming alliances with rebels and justi- fying the President of the United States, who has become the leader of a negative rebellion as hostile and as dangerous to the United States, and I fear far more so than an open armed rebellion would be if he were at the head of it. I am anxious, and the great body of those with whom I act are to- day most anxious, that the people who went into the rebel- lion (many of them honestly and thousands of them reluc- tantl}^) should be restored to their practical relations with this government upon the mildest and most merciful and forgiv- ing terms which it is possible for us, a conquering people, to impose upon them, looking to our own safety, the stability of the National Government, and the rights of loyal citizens in those States. Mr. Finck. Will my colleague yield to me for a moment? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. For a question. Mr. Finck. This is the very place for my question. What are the terms you propose ? What is the congressional plan for restoration ? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. The gentleman will find an an- swer if he will read these bills ; he will have his answer when this House has agreed upon some practical measure of restoration, which I trust we shall do within ten days — — 428— Mr. Finck. I ask the g-entleman which of these bills presents a fair congressional plan of restoration ? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I hope the g-entleman will learn that fact when the majority of this House comes to vote upon these measures next Monday. Mr. Finck. I suppose so. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. And he cannot learn before. Mr. Finck. One more question, and I am done. I want to know of my colleag-ue, whom I recog-nize as the leader of that side of the House on this question, whether he admits that his party have not yet come to an ag-reement upon their plan of restoration ? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. So far as I know they have not. The Union party practically committed themselves to a policy of restoration, and they went so far as to admit the State of Tennessee upon the proposed terms of that restoration policy. I voted for the admission of Tennessee, and do not reg-ret having" voted for the admission of that truly loyal State. If any other State recently in rebellion had come to this House under the same conditions in which Tennessee came, ratifying" the amendment to the Constitution, and having- adopted a State constitution securing- the control of the g-ov- ernment of the State to loyal men, I should, althoug-li it might not have come up to all my requirements, have voted for the admission of its members ; so anxious was I then, and so anxious am I now, to see the States recently in rebellion restored to their former position in the Union. But the g-reat body of the men recently in rebellion, under the lead of the Executive, have rejected these mild terms, and it now rests with Congress to say upon what terms they shall be admitted. Mr. Hise. I desire to ask the g-entleman one question, inasmuch as he asked me some questions while I was speak- ing" the other day Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I believe I did not ask the g-en- tleman from Kentucky [Mr. Hise] any questions at all. I merely declared in my seat in a word or two that I dissented from his views. Mr. Hise. I desire to ask a question. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Very well ; I will allow the g-en- tleman to ask me a question. — 429 — Mr. Hise. The g-entleman has said that there has not been a definite plan adopted by a majority of this House. I wish to ask the gentleman if he will go so far as to state that the majority of this House concur with him in refusing" ad- mission into the Congfress of the United States of representa- tives from these ten States now unless they ag-ree to the con. dition of branding" all who have held either civil or military of&ce under the confederacy as traitors, and as such are to be excluded from the rig"htto hold office under the United States, and reg"arding" the whole body of the people of those States who sympathized with or co-operated with those who en- deavored to establish the confederacy as disloyal, and thai none are to be reg"arded as loyal except the neg^roes and inter- lopers there ? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. In all of the measures proposed by this Cong-ress the g"reat body of the men who were in the con- federate army and supported the rebellion have been g'ranted ■entire f org-iveness. In the propositions which were submitted by Cong"ress to the people only certain parties were excluded from holding" office. Now, I would like to ask the g"entleman [Mr. Hise] whether he is willing* that men, who while mem- bers of this House, and of the Senate, and of the Government of the United States and of the several States, plotted treason ag"ainst this Government, and went into a war and maintained it for four years to destroy this Government, should now be received here without conditions with his vote ? Mr. Hise. I will answer that question. I am of the opinion that all of the distinguished men, both civilians and those who held commissions and authority in either army, in the suppression of the rebellion, in putting- down this se- cession, or opposition to the government, were citizens of States in the Union. I deny the authority of the Government to demand as a condition-precedent to admission to represen- tation upon this floor a right to inquire into the conduct of, to convict, and to condemn these men so as to denationalize them or to deprive them of the right to hold office either un- der the National Government or under a State government. I should oppose that as a usurpation of power. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. The answer of the gentleman amounts to this : that so far as he and the party he repre- — 430 — sents are concerned they would not object to Jeff. Davis or any of the men whose hands are red with the blood of my loyal countrymen, coming- into this Hall and taking- seats along-side cf them as Representatives. But the gentleman goes further, and says this is a proposition to clothe the black population with the franchise, and interlopers with the right of the franchise in States. All I demand, all the loyal men of the nation demand, in the reorganization of State governments in the late rebel States, is that we protect the rights of those who during the war were our friends and allies, and I claim we can only do that by securing every loyal man the right of the ballot. But, Mr. Speaker, my time is passing, and I must return to the point which I was about to notice when interrupted. The gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Ross] , like many other gentlemen upon that side of the House who have spoken be- fore him, asked why we permitted Senators and Representa- tives from these States to remain in these Halls after the re- bellion, if we recognized the principle upon which we now profess to act? Why, sir, the answer is obvious, and I am surprised that any intelligent gentleman should ask such a question. When those men were elected they came here from States recognized as constitutional States, in practical rela- tions with the National Government. A Senator of the United States is elected for six years, and a member of the House for two years. They came here and took their seats because they had been constitutionally elected before their States went into rebellion. Every gentleman knows that there is no authority under the Constitution which would authorize the House or the Senate to exclude a member duly elected and qualified, unless they committed some overt act of treason or violated the rules prescribed for the government of the House or Senate, and the gentleman ought to under- stand this matter quite as well as I do. Mr. Chanler. I want to ask the gentleman one ques- tion. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Very well; I will hear it. Mr. Chanler. It is this: if the loyal population of any State should be found to consist of negroes alone, does the gentleman mean to say that he would recognize that as a — 431 — State, its org-anization being- based upon negro population alone, excluding- the white race? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. The g-entleman has asked me a question which he knows very well Mr. Chanler. You cannot answer it. [Laug-hter.] Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. It has no practical application so far as it relates to any of the States recently in rebellion. Mr. Chanler. You dare not answer it. Answer "yes " or " no," and do not falter about it. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. When the g-entleman talks about my faltering- and not daring- to answer he assumes what he has no right to assume. Mr. Chanler. Well, g-ive us an answer. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. If the g-entlemah will take his seat and remain quiet for a moment I will g-ive him an an- swer. If there were a sing-le State in the American Union in which there was not a sing-le white man and all were black men, I would clothe its population with the rig-ht of the franchise, and with every other rig-ht of an American citizen under this Government. [Applause in the galleries.] Does the g-entleman reg-ard this as an answer? Now, Mr. Speaker, the g-entleman from Illinois [Mr. Ross] and those who sustain him have asked the question repeated- ly with an air of assumed innocence why we do not admit loyal Representatives from the recent rebel States upon this floor and upon the floor of the Senate. Why, sir, I would not vote to-day to admit Horace Greelc}' as a Representative in this House from South Carolina, nor would I vote to admit any other man, however loyal, as a Representative from that com- munity. Why? The g-entlemen on the other side comprehend this matter quite as well as I do. They know that no political community under our form of g-overnment has the riMit to representation on this floor or in the Senate of the United States, unless it has a constitutional State g-overnment org-anized and recog-nized by Cong-ress as in practical relation with the Government of the United States. The admission of Representatives and Senators in Cong-ress is a practical recog-nition of the State g-overnment from which they come. Mr. Hise. With the permission of the g-entleman from Ohio, I will say that I do not think he has met the interroo-a- — 432 — tion submitted bj the gentleman from New York [Mr. Chan- ler]. The gentleman from Ohio has said that if the popula- tion of a State were composed entirel}' of black men, no white men residing* in the State, he would recognize those black men as entitled to the right of suffrage and every other right. But the question of the gentleman from New York, as I understood it, was, whether the gentleman from Ohio would recognize as entitled to representation a State where suffrage was confined to the negroes, the white population being excluded from the exercise of that right. Mk. Ashley, of Ohio. Well, Mr. Speaker, if the gentle- man is anxious for my views on this point, I will explain. I am willing to forgive, though I can never forget the crimes committed by those who attempted to destroy this Govern- ment, I am willing to walk backv/ard and with the broad mantle of charitj' cover the political nakedness of the men re- cently in rebellion. My anxiety for the restoration of the Southern States is such that I am willing that all men, even those who held subordinate civil positions and positions in the army of the rebellion shall have the ballot, excluding only the more important and leading men from holding office — those, for instance, who were above the grade of colonel, and those who held positions under this Government before the rebellion. Every bill ever introduced by me for reorganizing these States has proposed to extend the right of the ballot to the great body of the white as well as the black people. My friend from Kentucky saj's — and if I held his opinions I would say — "that the rule I have suggested would exclude the very best men in the South." Undoubted- ly it would exclude those whom he and his friends regard as the best men in the South. If my friend from Kentucky had resided in South Carolina during the war I suppose he would never have been upon this floor. I respect him for standing up here and maintaining his opinions, erroneous as I deem them. I prefer an open, manly opponent to a pretended friend. A large majority of those with whom I act are anx- ious for the restoration of loyal State governments in the South. They are willing to go so far as to extend forgive- ness to the great body of the people guilty of the great crime of treason, and admit thfm to the ballot-box; but at the same — 433-— time they demand that every loyal man, every " interloper,'* as my friend from Kentucky terms the white Unionist, every man, however dusky his skin, whose heart beat true to the old flag- and the Union during- the entire war, shall be the equal of any traitor, however white. Mr. Hill. I desire to ask my friend from Ohio whether his last expression is to be taken as indicating- his conversion to the doctrine of ' 'universal amnesty and universal suffrage?" Mr. Ashley, of- Ohio. No, sir; I do not know that I have ever been in favor of that doctorine. As a practical man, however, I want to see the Union restored; and if the members of the opposition would come to this question with the earnestness of the men of New England and the'men of the West, the work of restoration would have been accomplished before now. Wh}^ sir, the assumption, the brazen-faced as- sumption, of men who during- the entire war were in open or secret alliance with the rebels, coming- here now and joining- hands with the apostate at the other end of the avenue, who is the leader, the recog-nized leader, of a counter-revolu- tion — a neg-ative rebellion, as I said awhile ago — passes com- prehension. Why, sir, suppose that in 1860 John C. Breckinridge had been elected President of the United States; suppose the anti- slavery men of the country had rebelled against his election, and their cause for rebellion would have been far greater than the cause which impelled the southern men into their rebellion; and suppose that after four years of bloody war this anti- slavery rebellion had been crushed and Mr. Breckinridge had been again elected President and in an hour of weakness you had taken an apostate abolitionist from the North for Vice- President, to show your love of the North you had conquered, to show them that you had no feeling of hatred toward them, and that in one' short month after the inauguration, by a conspiracy of anti-slavery men in the North, Mr. Breckin- ridge had been assassinated as Mr. Lincoln was assassinated, and the apostate abolitionist had come into the presidency as Mr. Johnson came into it, and he had pardoned and appointed throughout the North and the entire country the men who had been chiefs of the rebellion, turned out the men who had 28 — 434 — elected him, and appointed their unrelenting- enemies, what would have been your denunciations? Sir, I know the de- nunciations on this side of the House are mildness in com- parison with the terrible denunciations which would have been hurled at this apostate and usurper by the men on that side of the House. And they would not have stopped with denunciations;, he would have been impeached and deposed before to-day. Sir, all I ask, and all the loyal men of this country ask who have sacrified so much in blood and treasure in putting- down the rebellion, is that in the restoration of these States care shall be taken that the National Government shall not again be imperiled by a counter-revoluion, in which the apos- tate President shall be the leader, aided by the late rebels and their northern allies. Hence I am in favor of prompt and vig-orous action by this Cong-ress. I hold that these g-ov- ernments set up by Mr. Johnson are illeg-al, and I want them declared illeg-al and void before this Cong-ress adjourns. I do not care if for a period of sixty days or more or less, as alleg-ed by the g-entleman from New York [Mr. Raymond], there should be an interreg-num in which there would be no local civil g-overnments in those States. If you had been loyal men in New Orleans and Memphis during- the late massacre you would have welcomed any g-overnment instead of the g-overn- ments which planned and executed the murders there enacted. I would rather have every man stand upon his own responsi- bility as a man than to have g-overnments which exiled me from my home, confiscated my property, or murdered me or mine with impunity. In this city there are men to-day who have been exiled from their homes, not able to return, because of their fidelity to the flag- of the Union, the Government of the Union which they served during- the war refusing- them protection in their homes. What I want is not oaths; I have not much faith in oaths. I would trust some men on a simple declaration, such as I quoted in a speech on this subject at the last session, much sooner than I would trust those who hesitate at no oath; such a one, sir, as was made by a disting-uished g-entleman in North Carolina, Mr. Read, who presided over their recent reconstruc- tion convention, and who had been himself a rebel. His dec- — 435 — laratioti was sucli that when I read it in California I said in my heart, there is a man I can take by the hand and welcome back to the old family mansion. Bad men will take any oath under the advice and lead of unscrupulous politicians. We have witnessed its fatal working-s in Maryland. I want peace, I want unity, I want the Government re- stored, but I do not want the men who conquered the rebel- lion proscribed, and the g"overnments of the rebel States car- ried on by the men who have been waging bitter war against us for the past four years. I utterly repudiate the assump- tion of the President that he can parole armies and then au- thorize these paroled prisoners of war to form constitutional State goverments for the loyal men in the States recently in rebellion. I know very well if g-entlemen on the other side had been in power in the case supposed by me a while ago what they would have done. There would have been no let- up on their part. There would have been no such mercy as we have shown ; no such mild terms of restoration submitted as we have proposed. There would have been no such for- giveness. But they would have proscribed, and proscribed to the bitter end. They would have maintained their party organization in every rebel State against any and all attempts to overthrow it by those who had so recently been their ene- mies and the enemy of the nation. I say we are ready to for- give the great body of the Southern people, we are anxious to forgive them ; but we are determined, by the grace of God, that these rebel State governments organized by Johnson shall not be recognized, come what may ; that disloyal Rep- resentatives shall not appear upon this floor, nor shall the electoral votes of such States be counted in any presidential election until constitutional governments have been organized and recognized by the Congress of the United States. IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESIDENT. Rs;marks by Hon. Jamss M. Ashley, op Ohio, in thb House of Representatives, March 7, 1867. ON THE charges, RESOLUTIONS AND REPORTS IN FAVOR OF IMPEACHMENT. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise to perform a painful, but, nevertheless, to me an imperative duty ; a duty which I think oug-ht not long-er to be postponed, and which cannot, without criminality on our part, be neg-lected. I had hoped, sir, that this duty would have devolved upon an older and more experienced member of this House than myself. Prior to our adjournment I asked a number of gfentlemen to offer the resolution which I introduced, but upon which I failed to obtain a suspension of the rules. Confident, sir, that the loyal people of this country de- mand at our hands the adoption of some such proposition as I am about to submit, I am determined that no effort on my part shall be wanting- to see that their expectations are not disappointed. Mr. Finck. I rise to a point of order. I want to know what the question is. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I will state it. Mr. Fincz. I have not heard it. The Speaker. If the g-entleman insists, the question must be stated. Mr. Finck. I do insist. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Then, sir, on my responsibility as a Representative, in the presence of this House, and be- fore the American people, I charg-e Andrew Johnson, Vice- President and acting- President of the United States, with the (436) — 437 — commission of acts which, in contemplation of the Constitu- tion, are hig-h crimes and misdemeanors, for which, in my judgment, he ought to be impeached. I therefore submit the following- — • Mr. Finck. I propose another question of order. Is that a question of privilege ? The Speaker. It is. In the Twenty-seventh Congress, by the then Speaker, it was decided, on the point raised by Horace Everett, of Vermont, that it was a question of privi- lege. Mr. Eldridge. Is there not a special order for to-day ? The Speaker. The unfinished business, which is the regular order, cannot interfere with this proposition. The Clerk read the proposition of Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, which is as follows : Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I demand the previous question. Mr. Spalding. I move it be laid on the table. Yeas, 30; nays, 105. The question was then taken on the passage of the reso- lution, and decided in the affirmative. Yeas, 108; nays, 39. — • Congressional Globe, Jan. 7, 1868. I do impeach Andrew Johnson, Vice-President and act- ing President of the United States, of high crimes and mis- demeanors. I charge him with a usurpation of power and violation of law : In that he has corruptly used the appointing power: In that he has corruptly used the pardoning power: In that he has corruptly used the veto power: In that he has corruptly disposed of public property of the United States: In that he has corruptly interfered in elections, and com- mitted acts which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and misdemeanors: Therefore, Be it Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be, and they are hereby authorized to inquire into the official conduct of Andrew Johnson, Vice-President of the United States, discharging" the duties of the office of the President of the United States, and to report to this House whether, in their opinion, the said Andrew Johnson, while in said office, has been g"uilty of acts which are designed or calculated to overthrow, subvert, or corrupt the Government of the United States, or any department or office thereof; and whether the — 438 — said Andrew Johnson has been guilty of an}- act, or has con- spired with others to do acts, which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are hig-h crimes and misdemeanors, requiring- the interposition of the constitutional power of this House; and that said committee have power to send for persons and papers, and to administer the customary oath to witnesses. IMPEACHMENT OP THE PRESIDENT. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I rise to a question of privileg-e, and present the following- resolution: Whereas, The House of Representatives of the Thirty- ninth Cong-ress adopted, on the 7th of January, 1867, a resolu- tion authorizing- an inquiry into certain charg-es preferred ag-ainst the President of the United States; and whereas the Judiciar}^ Committee, to whom said resolutions and charg-es were referred, with authority to investig-ate the same, were unable for want of time to complete said investig-ation before the expiration of the Thirty-ninth Cong-ress; and whereas in the report submitted by said Judiciary Committee on the 2d of March they declare that the evidence taken is of such a character as to justify and demand a continuation of the investig-ation by this Congress: Therefore Be it RESOI.VED by the House op Representatives, That the Judiciary Committee, when appointed, be, and they are hereby instructed to continue the investigation authorized in said resolution of January 7, 1867, and that they have power to send for persons and papers, and to administer the customary oath to witnesses; and that the committee have authority to sit during the sessions of the House and during any recess which Congress may take. Resolved, That the Speaker of the House be requested to appoint the Committee on the Judiciary forthwith, and that the committee so appointed be directed to take charge of the testimony taken by the committee of the last Congress; and that said committee have power to appoint a clerk at a compensation not to exceed six dollars per day, and employ the necessary stenographer. Mr. Wilson, of Iowa. I desire to offer an amendment. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I will hear it. Mr. Wilson, of Iowa. The amendment I desire to offer is t© add to the resolution the following: Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Representa- tives be directed to pay out of the contingent fund of the — 439 — House, on the order of the Committee on the Judiciary, such suni or sums of money as may be required to enable the said committee to prosecute the investig-ations above directed, and such other investigations as it may be ordered to make. • Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I accept that amendment as a modification of my resolution. Mr. Speaker, this resolution will bring- the House to a vote on a question of transcendent importance. It bring-s us face to face with a man whose usurpations have imperiled the republic. We cannot escape the consideration of this question if we would, and we oug-ht not if we could. The report of the Judiciary Committee of the last House made on Saturday is a sufficient vindication of the action of that body on the charg-eS presented looking- to the impeachment of the President. It is a report which the moral sense of the nation will approve. It is to be reg-retted that that committee were not authorized at an earlier day to proceed with this investi- g-ation, so that they might have completed it and presented the case to Congress. All true men who have examined this matter impartially can but regret our inability to secure earlier action. But I think I may without hazard express the opinion that there is no cause for discouragement; that the founda- tions have been so carefully laid that the machinations of the conspirators and their chief, with all the immense power and patronage in his hands, will be unable long to stay the doom which awaits him. It is, sir, to go upon the record of this House, and it will go into history, that the people of the United States will never permit the President to usurp the prerogatives of the law-making power; nor will they permit him to defy the deliberately recorded verdict of the nation. They will permit no man — certainly no man who came into the Presidency through the door of assassination — Mr. Niblack. Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of order. Is debate in order at this stage of proceeding? The; Speaker. Debate is in order. Mr. Niblack. Is the resolution before the House? The Speaker. It is before the House as a question of privilege. The gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Ashley] will proceed. — 440 — Mr. Speaker, I was saYing-, v/hen irxterrupted, that the people of this country will never permit any man — certainly no man who came into the Presidency throug-li the door of Assassination — to use the vast powers with which the Execu- tive of this country is clothed in defiance of Cong-ress and the people. That the acting" President has done all this and more will not be seriously denied. His usurpations of power have been in clear violation of the Constitution, and many of his acts tend directly to revolution. In fact the messag-e to which we were all compelled to listen on last Saturday, re- turning- with his objections the reconstruction bill, v/as but an invitation to revolution and civil war. If any loyal man had doubted before, he could doubt no longer, that while this man remains in the presidential office there can be no tran- quility in this country, no security for property, liberty, or life to loyal citizens in the South, no such restoration of this Government as the Union army and the Union citizens of this nation have decreed, no safety for a sing-le hour from rebellion or revolution. Sir, a man of Mr. Johnson's antecedents, of his mental and moral character, coming into the Presidency as he came into it — and I say nothing" now of the dark suspicions which crept over the minds of men as to his complicity in the assassination plot, nor of the fact that I cannot banish from my mind the mysterious connection between death and treachery which this case presents — I say, such a man, in view of all that has happened, coming into the presidential office as he came into it, ought to have walked with uncovered head, and very humbly, before the loyal men of this nation and their Repre- sentatives in the American Cong-ress. Mr. Speaker, if this nation does not stamp with the broad seal of its condemnation the usurpations and crimes and mis- demeanors of this man it will be but an invitation in the future for a repetition of these usurpations, crimes and mis- demeanors. Self-protection and a proper respect for the honor of the nation demand that the Representatives of the people shall declare, in a manner not to be misunderstood, that no man hereafter elected President or Vice-President shall present himself at his inauguration drunk; that no man discharging — 441 — the duties of the office of President of the United States shall be permitted to turn the White House into a den of thieves and pardon-brokers, nor shall he be permitted with impunity to address in vulgar, seditious lang-uag-e a drunken, howling' mob from the steps of the Executive Mansion. Sir, unless this committee take charge of this matter and proceed with it, this Congress might as well lay down its powers. If, however, nothing more should be done, I am sure that, when the evidence which has been already taken is pub- lished, it will operate as a deliberate and solemn protest against a repetition in the future of another drunken elec- tioneering tour such as last year mantled the cheek of this nation with shame; that it will be a protest against the un- pardonable attacks which the acting Executive made upon the national Congress, a protest against his usurpations and crimes and misdemeanors. Sir, his crime is not, as many suppose, the mere perfidy of which he has been guilty to the men who in an evil hour elected him Vice-President of the United States, black and in- famous as it is; his crime is the highest known in our country, a crime against the Republic itself. If the investigation go no further, it will establish be- yond question that the people of this country will not per- mit any man with impunity to be guilty of acts of which he has been guilty; and if so, the investigation will not have been in vain. Mr. Speaker, the United States is not the only nation which has been disgraced by such an executive head. Fortunately, however, for mankind, such men are born into the world to curse the human race but once in centuries. The nation cries out in its agony and calls upon the Congress of the United States to deliver them from the shame and dis- grace which the acting President has brought upon them. They demand that the loathing incubus which has blotted our country's history with its foulest blot shall be removed. In the name of loyalty betrayed, of law violated, of the Con- stitution trampled upon, the nation demands the impeach- ment and removal of Andrew Johnson. 'JThe Speaker here intimated to Mr. Ashley that he was proc ^ding beyond the license allowed in debate, and after som' interruption he again proceeded, as follows: — 442 — Mr. Speaker, I know, on this question, that the timid among" the loyal hesitate, that the late rebels and their northern allies are defiant, and that the camp-followers of the President alternately threaten and supplicate, and that all unite in prophesying- war and revolution, and in any event, financial ruin to the country, if Congress shall undertake to arraig-n and depose the President, as provided by the Constitution. Sir, I hope this Cong-ress will not hesitate to do its duty because the timid in our own ranks hesitate, or because of the threats of the President's satraps and rebel allies, but that it will proceed with dignity and de- liberation to the discharge of the high and important duty imposed upon it, uninfluenced by passion and unawedby fear. If, as has been happily suggested by one of our able and true men, the nation could stand the shock occaioned by the mur- der of a beloved President by the hand of an assassin, it surely can stand the shock caused by the removal of one so detested as the acting President, if done in pursuance of law. And, sir, has he not done enough? Before he had been one month in the Presidency he entered into a combination with the enemies of the nation to usurp in their interest the prerogatives of Congress, and sought to bind hand and foot the loyal men of the South, who had aided us in putting down the rebellion, by putting the governments of the South in the hands of their mortal enemies and ours. This with me is enough. When you add to this his other acts, which have become public history, the case for me is complete. The duty of the President is to execute, not to make laws. His oath requires him to see that the laws are faithfully ex- ecuted. That the President has neglected or refused to exe- cute many of the laws of Congress no man questions. That he has failed to execute the civil rights bill, nay, that he has not even attempted to execute it, the whole country knows. On the other hand, he has not only failed to execute it, but in most indecent and offensive language he has assailed and denounced the law as unconstitutional. Sir, in his failure to execute this just and most necessary law the crime of the President becomes perfectly colossal. Since the surrender of Lee and Johnston more than five thou- sand American citizens, guilty of no crime but love of country, — 443 — have been murdered by men who were lately in arms against this country. Thousands more have been driven from their homes into exile, while no effort has been made on the part of the executive department of the Government to g-ive them the protection which the law demands and which justice and humanity demand. So far as I know, in no single instance has one murderer or rioter been arrested and punished for his crimes, while loyal men who served in the Union army are arrested and tried before rebel tribunals and punished with unusual and severe punishments for doing" acts when in the performance of military duty and obeying the orders of their superior officers, and no effort is made by the executive de- partment of the Government to protect them. Sir, there never was a nation on this earth guilty of the infamy of treat- ing- its loyal citizens as the President of the United States has treated the loyal men of the South. I know how easy it is for the President and his co-con- spirators to deny his guilty knowledge. I know also how difficult it is to prove by technical rules the guilt of a man oc- cupying- his position, although the whole country may know him to be guilty. Why, sir, when the rebellion broke out in the winter and spring of 1861, and for several months afterward, no man could have been arrested, tried and convicted before a court and jury in this District who was engaged in conspiracy against this government, although no sane man ever doubted their guilt. It is much more difficult in a case of this kind, where the rebellion is not an open, armed rebellion, but a negative rebellion. In this rebellion the President is the rec- ognized leader, and it is well known that he has co-operat- ing with him nearly all the late rebels of the South. Mr. CHANI.ER interrupted, but Mr. Ashley declined to yield, and continued as follows: I KNOW, Mr. Speaker, how difficult it is by technicai. RULES TO PROVE THE GUILTY KNOWLEDGE OF MEN WHO RE- FUSE TO EXECUTE THE LAW WHILE PROFESSING TO DO SO. It is well known that the civil rights bill has not only not been enforced, but the vast military power at the disposal of the President, instead of being used to protect loj'al men, has — 444 — been used either by his guilty knowledg^e or by his indiffer- ence to crush the loyal men of the South. Mr. Eldridgk. I wish to make an inquiry of the gen- tleman. I understood him to make a remark censuring" the President because certain parties were not brought to trial. I wish to ask him if he thinks the President is to blame because Jefferson Davis has not been brought to trial ? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I am unable to answer that question. I know that in those military departments under his command where he does interfere he has used the military power to crush the loyal men, instead of protecting them. Mr. Eldridge. "Will the gentleman give us one single instance where the President has neglected his duty in regard to the trial of any person ? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Yes, sir ; in New Orleans, in Memphis, and in every rebel State. Mr. Eldridge. Could the President institute courts and try these parties ? Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I do not claim that he can, but he could give loyal men at least the same protection he has given rebels. He never hesitates to interfere in favor of rebels. I refer to the case of Mr. Watson, of Virginia, and others ; but it is not necessary that I should go into this. Mr. Speaker, I do not hesitate to say that, in view of all the facts before us, if this investigation is not proceeded with, and this man is not put on trial, the provision of the Constitution providing for the impeachment of the President is valueless. Sir, if this man is not impeached, if he is not tried and deposed from the high place which he has disgraced, then no man who may succeed him need ever fear trial and conviction, no matter what his crime. Sir, if this Congress will but do its duty, and meet the just expectations op the loyal people op this coun- try by empowering its judiciary committee to proceed with this investigation, and the committee do so with that energy which attends the proceedings in an ordi- nary criminal case, i believe the impeachment and con- VICTION OF THE President is as inevitable as death. Mr. Speaker, I should not have trespassed so long upon the time of the House as I have but for interruptions. But I — 445 — desire to make one sug-g-estion whicli has just occurred to me. It is this : that all persons, whether citizens or for- eigners, who have any documents in their possession which would be evidence in this case, or who are in possession of any facts tending- to show technically the g-uilt of this man, oug"ht as a matter of duty to bring- them to the knowledg"e of ■the Committee on the Judiciary. Any person in the possession of such facts or documents refusing- or neglecting- to do so becomes an accessory in the crime of this man, and will be held responsible before the country and in the g-reat tribunal of human history as a co- partner in his g-uilt. Mr. Holman, of Indiana, moved to lay the resolution on the table — and the vote was yeas 32; nays 119. On the adoption of the resolution there was no division. — Congres- siONAi, G1.0BE, Matxch 16, 1867. On Saturday, Februar}^ 24, Mr. Stephens, of Pennsyl- vania, from the Committee on Reconstruction, submitted the following- report and resolution: The Committee on Reconstruction, to whom was referred, on the 27th day of January last, the following- resolution; Resolved, That the Committee on Reconstruction be authorized to inquire what combinations have been made or attempted to be made to obstruct the due execution of the laws; and to that end the committee have power to send for persons and papers and to examine witnesses on oath, and report to this House what action, if any, they may deem necessary; and that said committee have leave to report at any time. And to whom was also referred, on the 21st of February, instant, a communication from Honorable Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, dated on said 21st day of February, together with a copy of a letter from Andrew Johnson, Presi- dent of the United States, to the said Edwin M. Stanton, as follows: Executive Mansion, ) Washington, D. C, February 21, 1868. j Sir: By virtue of the power and authority vested in me, as President, by the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby removed from office as Secretary for the Department of War, and 3'our functions as such will terminate upon the receipt of this cominnnication. — 446 — You will transfer to Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant General of the Armj^ who has this day been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War AD INTERIM, all records, books, papers, and other public property now in your custody and charg-e. Respectfully 3'ours, Andrew Johnson. Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Washing-ton, D. C. And to whom was also referred by the House of Repre- sentatives the following- resolution, namely: "Resolved, That Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached for high crimes and misde- meanors;" Have considered the several subjects referred to them, and submit the follov/itig- report: That in addition to the papers referred to the Commit- tee, the committee find that the President, on the 21st day of February, 1868, sig-ned and issued a commission or letter of authority to one Lorenzo Thomas, directing- and authorizing" said Thomas to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and to take possession of the books, records, and papers, and other public property in the War Department, of which the follow- ing" is a copy: Executive Mansion, [ Washington, February 21, 1868. j Sir: Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having- been this day removed from the office of Secretary for the Department of War, 3-ou are hereby authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will immediately enter upon the discharg-e of the duties pertaining- to that office. Mr. Stanton has been instructed to transfer to 3'ou all the records, books, papers, and other public property now in his custody and charge. Respectfully 5'ours, Andrew Johnson. To Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant General op the United States Army, Washington, District of Columbia. Oflicial copy respectfully furnished to Hon. Edwin !NL Stanton. L. Thomas, Secretary of War ad interim. Upon the evidence collected by the committee, which is herewith i)rescnted, and in virtue of the powers with which they have been invested by the House, they are of the opinion that Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of hig-h crimes and misdemeanors. They there- — 447 — fore recommend to the House the adoption of tlie accompany- ing" resolution. Thaddeus Stevens, Geokge S. Boutwell, John A. Blngham, c. t. hulburd, John F. Farnsworth, F. C. Beaman, H. E. Paine. Resolution providing- for the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, President of the United States. Resoeved, That Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached for hig"h crimes and misde- meanors in ofQ.ce. Remarks op Hon. J. M. Ashley, in the House op Repre- sentatives February 22, 1868, on this Resolution. The Speaker. The House will now resume the con- sideration of the resolution reported from the Committee on Reconstruction, in reference to the impeachment of the President of the United States, on which the g-entleman from Ohio [Mr. Ashley] is entitled to the floor. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, in approaching- this subject I hope I do so in any other spirit than the spirit of a partisan. In the few minutes I 'shall occupy the time of the House, I desire to call attention first to the statute which the President, in his removal of the Secretary of War, has set at defiance, and second, to the provision of the Constitution which he has also violated. This act, sir, was passed and took effect on the 2d of March, 1867. The section reads thus: " Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That every removal, appointment, or employment, made, had, or exer- cised contrary to the provisions of this act, and the making-, signing-, sealing-, countersigning-, or issuing- of any commis- sion or letter of authority for or in respQct to any such appointment or employment, shall be deemed, and are hereby declared to be, high misdemeanors, and, upon trial and con- viction thereof, every person g-uilty thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding- $10,000, or by imprisonment not ex- — 448 — ceeding" five years, or both said punishments, in the discre- tion of the court: Provided, That the President shall have power to make out and deliver, after the adjournment of the Senate, commissions for all officers whose appointment shall have been advised and consented to by the Senate." This provision of law, passed by the Congress of the United States over the veto of the President, he has deliberate- ly violated. On last Friday, in utter defiance of it, and as if to challeng-e this House to resort to its constitutional powers, he notified the Senate that he had, on the authority vested in him by the Constitution, removed the Secretary of War. Now, sir, while I reg-ard this as one of the smallest of the many of- fenses of which this man has been guilty, yet it is clearly an offense brought within a narrow compass — one which is easily comprehended, and will satisfy that class of gentlemen in the House, who hold that the President cannot be im- peached except for a violation of some statute law. His dis- missal of the Secretary of War and the appointment of Mr. Thomas, on Friday, without the consent of the Senate, brings him within that technical rule. Sir, I regret that this House should not before to-day have put itself upon the record in condemnation of this most indefensible assumption that public officers, especially the Chief Magistrate, cannot be impeached except for the violation of some statute law or some clearly-defined provision of the Constitution. Sir, the impeaching power in the Constitution, as defined by the hon- orable gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Woodward], I accept as the only rational definition. It is, he told us a few weeks ago — " A popular power ; a power destined for the protection of the rights and liberties of the people against their rulers, and one that ought to be liberally construed, and in proper cases freely used." To assume that the President can be impeached only for *' treason" or " bribery" is practically to assume that he cannot be impeached. In Curtis' History of the Constitution he thus refers to the impeaching power of Congress : *' Among the separate functions assigned by the Consti- tution to the two Houses of Congress are those of presenting and trying impeachment. An impeachment, in the report of — 449 — the Committee of Detail, was treated as an ordinary judicial proceeding", and was placed within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. That this was not in all respects a suitable provision will appear from the following- considerations : al- thoug-h an impeachment may involve an inquiry whether a crime ag-ainst any positive law has been committed, yet it is not necessarily a trial for crime; nor is there any necessity in the case of crimes committed by public officers for the institu- tion of any special proceeding- for the infliction of the punish- ment prescribed by the laws, since they, like all other persons are amenable to the ordinary jurisdiction of the courts of justice in respect of offenses ag-ainst positive law. The pur- poses of an impeachment lie wholly beyond the penalties of a statute or the customary law. The object of the proceediL.g- is to ascertain whether cause exists for removing- a public officer from office. Such a cause may be found in the fact that either in the discharg-e of his office or aside_ from its functions he has violated a law or committed what is techni- cally denominated a crime. BuT A causi? for removal from office; may exist where no offense against positive law HAS BEEN committed, AS WHERE AN INDIVIDUAL HAS FROM immorality or imbecility or maladministration become unfit to exercise the office." But I cannot now pursue this point further. Sir, if there were no law on the statute book, if there were only the simple provisions of the Constitution, to which I shall in a moment refer, I would hold that this House mig-ht, under the authority vested in it, impeach the Presi- dent for the removal, without the consent of the Senate, of an officer, when the Senate is in session. I refer now to the clause vesting- the power of appointment in the President, with the consent of the Senate : " He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint em- bassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judg-es of the Su- preme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided, and which shall be established by law; but the Cong-ress may bylaw vest Ihe appointment of such inferior officers as they may think proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or \n the heads of departments. 21f — 450 — " The President shall have power to fill up all vacan- cies that may happen during" the recess of the Senate by g-ranting- commissions v^hich shall expire at the end of their next session." Mr. Pruyn. With the consent of the g-entleman I wish to ask him whether I correctly understood his position on the question to which he has just referred (removal from of&ce), and state briefly my view of it. It was alluded to in the dis- cussion on Saturday evening-. When the g-entleman from Illinois [Mr. Ingersoll] was on the floor, I made a remark, which was immediately controverted by several members on the other side, and particularly by the g-entleman from Ohio [Mr. Schenck], with whom I understood the member from Ohio now on the floor to concur. My statement was to this effect : that from the time this question as to the removal was discussed and decided b}^ Congress at its first session in 1789 to the present day, the practice has been uniform that the President, and the President only, had made removals from office, and that without the concurrence of the Senate, although that body might be in session. This necessarily results from the nature of the power which under the Consti- tution, is inadvisable. I make this point now most dis- tinctly, as it is fundamental in this discussion, and has been so treated from the outset. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I regret exceeding- ly that my thirty minutes will not allow me to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman ; but I do not now call to mind a single instance in which any President of the United States has ever removed an officer confirmed by the Senate, without the consent of the Senate if it was in session. And I go further, and deny the power of the President, under the Con- stitution, to remove any officer, even during the recess of the Senate, without cause. Sir, the power of appointment is vested in the President by special grant, and not by implication. The President, I know, claimed in a message to the Senate on Friday last, that by virtue of the power vested in him by the Constitu- tion, he had authority to dismiss from and appoint to office without the consent of the Senate. If the power to dismiss and appoint without tiie codseaL of the benaie is possessed — 451 — "by the President, it must be an implied and not an express grant of power. Gentlemen may examine the Constitution and nowhere will they find such an express grant of power. I deny, therefore, that it exists, that any authority to ap- point can be delegated to the Executive by implication. The clause providing that the President shall "take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all of&cers of the United States," does not confer the power to appoint or dism.iss ; nor does the fact that all executive power is vested in the President clothe him with any implied power, or power which may be necessary or proper to carry into effect any power which is expressly granted to the Executive. Sir, I can find in the Constitution no authority authorizing- the President to dismiss a faithful public officer without cause. "All power necessary and proper to carry into effect any power vested in the President or in any department or officer of the government is vested in the Congress of the United States." I desire to call the attention of the g-entleman from New York to that paragraph in the Constitution which clothes Congress with the power — "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing* powers" — meaning those vested in Congress — "and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof." Whatever power may be vested in the President by ex- press grant, he cannot assume to exercise a power merely because it is appurtenant to another power, and necessary, in his opinion, to carry out some provision of the Constitution. The right to clothe any officer of this g-overnment with ' power not specially delegated, is reserved to the Congress of the United States as the law-making- power of this nation. Congress alone is clothed by the Constitution with authority to confer by law whatever power they may deem proper which is not specially delegated, either to the President, the judiciary, or any department or officer of the government. — 452 — Sir, this power does not exist la tlie President, nor in any department or officer of the gfovernment. It exists only in Cong"ress by express provision of the Constitution. The Constitution has lodg^ed the law-making- power in the Congress, in conjunction with the President, but some- times the law-making" power without the concurrence of the President. Then, sir, if there were no statute such as I have read, I would hold that the President was amenable to the high court of this nation for a deliberate and willful infrac- tion of the Constitution in the removal of Mr. Stanton. Now, sir, I hold, as I said a moment ago, that this is one of the smallest of the crimes of the President. That he has clearly set at defiance the statute I have quoted will not be denied. His act of Friday last reduces his offense to a nar- row compass. It is all official and upon paper. In the trial of this case we need not wade through a thousand pages of evidence which must be sifted in all cases to get a few grains of wheat. Nor need we consume much time in the trial. Here the offense is presented within a small compass and is within the comprehension of all. But few, if any, witnesses are needed. Sir, I am sure that when this trial shall take place before the high court of the nation, if the evidence taken before the Judiciary Committee of this House shall be reproduced there, it would establish one or more of the crimes of which this man has been charged, and the verdict of the people of this country will be, that this charge is one of the most excusable of the crimes of which he has been guilty. If Mr. Johnson had been guilty of no impeachable offense until his removal of Mr. Stanton, no one believes that a majority' of this House could be induced to vote for his impeachment now. Sir, what has been the logic of the conflict between this man and Congress ? From the outset it has been his delib- erate purpose, so far as his acts can indicate a purpose, to usurp to himself the law-making, the judicial, and the execu- tive powers of this Government. Starting out with loud pro- fessions of loyalty, he assumed first the entire authority of providing for the reorganization of the States lately in rebel- lion, and in doing so he conferred the entire power upon that class of citizens who were but a paroled army of Confederates, to the exclusion of the great body of loyal citizens. To this — 453 — paroled army he confided tlie power of reorg-anizing" State gov- ernments, and returning- those States to their constitutional re- lations in the Union. Then, sir, he made an alliance with the late rebel leaders, and they became his champions. He pardoned thousands of public enemies guilty ot the blackest of crimes, and to many of them, in violation of law, he gave official positions. He repeatedly authorized the payment of money from the public treasury In violation of. law. Pie gave the property of the United States to the amount of millions to unrepentant rebels. He connived at, if he did not consent to, the massacres of Memphis and New Orleans, and he is justly held responsible in history and be- fore God for the murder of thousands of Southern Union men. Now, sir, the logic of this contest, so far as his acts de- velop it, is simply that the Congress of the nation and all the departments shall submit to his domination in the g"overn- ment, and no man can have watched the vain efforts of this Congress to tie his hands by statutory enactments without feeling- a sense of shame. Every effort of Congress to secure a restoration of the Union by the passage of reconstruction acts, and supplementary reconstruction acts, has failed thus far because of this man, who, with the immense patronage which he has in his hands, and with an entire disregard of Constitution, laws, and oaths, has been able to evade them all, and eventuall}', if not removed, he will bring on a con- flict which can end onl}' in civil war unless Congress surren- ders. Sir, his purpose has been, and it will continue to be, unless he is arrested and brought to the bar of the Senate for trial, to usurp the whole power of the government, and to clothe the late rebel States with authority to cast their elec- toral votes in the pending Presidential election either for himself or some candidate of his choice, and if, when the electoral votes come to be counted, there were enough loyal states voting- for the candidate of his choice, whether it be himself or some one else, to make up a majority with the ille- gal vote of the rebel States, he and his friends would insist on their being counted, and if Congress refused he would inaugurate a civil war, and at the same time the man whom they would claim to have elected. Thus we should have . —454-- inaug-urated in the capital of tlie republic two Presidents, and probably two Congresses. Tbis, in my opinion, has been from tbe start tbe delib- erate purpose of this man, and I am amazed tbat g-entlemen on tbe other side should have felt ft to be their duty to give this man even a quasi support, and to apologize for his acts for the sake of the feeble aid which he g-ives them politically and the spoils of office which tbey have been able to secure for their friends. Sir, I want g-entlemen to remember that by their defense of this man, whose violations of the Consti- tution and laws of the country is unquestioned, they g-o into history as a party to his crimes. "We attempted to tie this man's hands by putting- a clause in the Army bill, to which I wish for a moment to call your attention. I refer to the second section of the Army Appro- priation bill, passed March 2, 1867, which the President signed, but returned it with a protest. The section reads thus : " Sec. 2. And bs it further enacted. That the head- quarters of the General of the Army of the United States shall be at the City of Washington, and all orders and in- structions relating- to military operations issued by the Presi- dent or Secretary of War shall be issued through the General of thQ Army, and in case of his inabilit}-, through the next in rank. The General of the Army shall not be removed, suspended, or relieved from command or assigned to duty elsewhere than at said headquarters, except at his own re- quest, without the previous approval of the Senate; and any orders or instructions relating- to military operations issued contrary to the requirements of this section shall be null and void ; and any officer who shall issue orders or instructions contrary to the provisions of this section shall be deemed g-uilty of a misdemeanor in office ; and any officer of the army who shall transmit, convey, or obey any orders or instructions so issued contrary to the provisions of this section, knowing- that such orders were so issued, shall be liable to imprison- ment for not less than two nor more than twenty years, upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction." This was designed to keep Grant, the General of the Army, at his headquarters here, as a measure of precaution ag"ainst any attempt of the President to disperse Congress by force, and to provide that every military order of the Presi- — 455 — dent sliould g-o tliroug-li tlie General-in-Chief, and meet liis approval before subordinates sliould obey it. We all know how this act has been violated both in letter and spirit. Sickles, Pope, Ord, Sheridan, and almost every officer within the President's reach have been removed from their com- mands, and he has attempted to humiliate them because of their obedience to the law of the land, and their faithful exe- cution of the duties assi^ed them. Experience has demon- strated the fact that there has not been wisdom or sharpness enoug-h in this Congress to tie the hands of this man. And at last there appears to be nothing" left but to bring* him to trial either for the acts of Friday last, or to include with them every oth: r act of which he has been guilty since his accession to power. Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives is ag-ain to be brought to a direct vote upon a question, the importance of which cannot well be overestimated; a vote which shall test the fidelity of every Representative to his constitutional obligation. Again Ve are to be brought face to face with the man who is recognized by every loyal citizen, and by every rebel, as a public enemy; a man, who, if not before, certainly since, his accession to power has been recog-nized as the friend and the ally of the late conspirators ag-ainst the nation's life and against the nation's chosen chief; a man who has proven himself a more faithful representative and a more formidable ally of **the lost cause" than could any g-eneral of the late rebel armies, had he been in his place. Dupllcitj, usurpations of power, and violations of law have marked the public and private career of this extraordinary man from the time of his unfortunate accession to the presi- dential chair. I may be pardoned If I repeat what I said on the 7th of March last, when introducing" into this House, by direction of the caucus of the Republican members, a resolution to con- tinue this impeachment investigation: "If any loyal man had doubted before, he could doubt no longer, that while this man remains in the presidential office there can be no tranquility in this countrj^, no security for property, liberty, and life to loyal citizens in the South, no such restoration of this government as the Union army — 456 — and the Union citizens of this nation have decreed, no safety: for a sing-le hour from rebellion or revolution. " Sir, if this be true — and I challeng-e any g"entleman to controvert it — if this be true, dare we long-er postpone, dare we longer shrink from the exercise of that power with which the Constitution has clothed us, to rescue the g-overnment from the hands of the usurper, and thus proclaim to the world that this is a government of law, and not an irrespon- sible despotism, beyond the control of law, and in the hands of an ignorant, cunning, and unscrupulous man, who was thrown to the surface by the waves of the late rebellion, and elevated to the chief executive office of the nation, not by the voluntary suffrages of a free people, but by the hands of an assassin. Mr. Speaker, time and truth evermore vindicate the right. When this House, but two short months ago, voted down this proposition, I said let the loyal men of the nation keep heart and await the logic of events. I know that by the vote which this House is to give to'day I shall be vindi- cated, as will be every man who has been from the first for impeachment. But though I shall be thus vindicated, this is not to me an hour of exultation and triumph, but of sadness, rather. Far rather would I that every charge which I have made against the acting President of the United States should fall to the ground if untrue, than that I should be sustained if wrong. Far rather would I that the dark sus- picions which have taken possession of the public mind should be dispelled by unquestioned evidence than that they should be true. For my country's honor, and for the sake of human nature itself, I could hope that it were otherwise than as I believe. Rather would I that this man, after his accession to the Presidency, had so conducted himself as to have com- manded the confidence and respect of the country; that he had so administered the government as to bring the country, torn and bleeding as it has been, back to the paths of peace, and thus secured its unity and prosperity. But he has failed in all this, and not only failed, but has so conducted himself that from the evidence before me I am compelled, upon my conscience and upon my judgment, to — 457 — declare that I believe him guilty of usurping- powers not dele- g-ated to him and of violating- deliberately the Constitution and the laws of the land. In that he has conspired with the late public enemy and attempted, by the usurpation of the legislative authority, to organize State g-overnments in the late insurgent States, and to restore the late rebel leaders to all the rights and privi- leg-es which they forfeited by the rebellion. In that he has corruptly, and in violation of law, used the appointing- power. In that he has corruptly used the veto power. In that he has corruptly used the pardoning- power. In that he has corruptly disposed of public property of the United States. In that he has corruptly interfered in elections, and com- mitted acts and conspired with others to commit acts which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and misdemeanors. Believing- that Andrew Johnson is g-uilty of all this and more, I feel that it is our duty, I think it to be a necessity of our condition, for the safety of the nation and of our insti- tutions, that he should be impeached. I hold that it is neces- sary, if not for our safety to-day, at least to teach those who dhall come after him a lesson; a lesson which shall vindicate the majesty of the law and test the practical working- of our matchless Constitution. For these reasons, sir, and others which I might give if I had time, I give my voice and my vote to arraign and put on trial before the high court of the nation, Andrew Johnson, acting President of the United States. The resolution was adopted; yeas, 126; nays, 47, as fol- lows: Yeas — Messrs. Allison, Ames, Anderson, Arneli, Delos R. Ashley, James M. Ashley, Bailey, Baker, Baldwin, Banks, Beaman, Beaty, Benton, Bingham, Blaine, Blair, Boutwell, Broomall, Buckland, Butler, Cake, Churchill, Reader W. Clarke, Sidney Clarke, Cobb, Coburn, Cook, Cornell, Covode, Cullum, Dawes, Dodge, Driggs, Eckley, Eggieston, Eliot, Farnsworth.. Ferriss, Ferry, Fields, Gravely, Griswold, Halsey, Harding, Higby, Hill, Hooper, Hopkins, Asahel W. — 458 — Hubbard, Chester D. Hubbard, Hulburd, Hunter, Ing-ersoll, Jenckes, Judd, Julian, Kelley, Kelsey,, Keteliom, Kitchen, Laflin, Georg-e V Lawrence, William "La\.^rG£ice5 Lincoln, Loan, Log-an, Loug-hridg-e, Lydch, Malloir\/, Mcrvin, Mc- Carthy, McClurg-, Mercur, Miller, Moore, MooriiGi^dg Morrell Mullins, Myers, Newcomb, Nunn, O'Neil, Orth.^'Pr:.mo, Plants Poland, Polsley, Price, Raum, Robertson, Sav\;}"Gr, Schcnck, Scoficid, Selye, Shanks, Smith, Spaldin?^, B-'-ajckwcather, Aarou F, Stevens, Thaddeus Stevens, Stoker,, 'i^affe, 'rrLylor, Trowbridge, Twichell, Upson, Van Aerman^ Burt Van Horn, Van Wyck, Ward, Cadwallader C. Washburn;, Elihu B. Washburn, William B. Washburn, Welker, Thomas Williams, James F. Wilson, John T. Wilson, Stephen F. YVilson, Windom, Woodbridg-e, and the Speaker — 126. Nays — Messrs. Adams, Archer, Axtell, Barnes, Barnum, Beck, Boyer, Brooks, Burr, Gary, Chanler, Eldridg-e, Fo>;, Getz, Glossbrenner, Golladay, Grover, Haight, Holman, Hotchkiss, Richard D. Hubbard, Humphrey, Johnson, Jones, Kerr, Knott, Marshall, McCormick, McCullough, Morgan, Morrisse}^, Mungen, Niblack, Nicholson, Phelps, Pruyn, Randall, Ross, Sitgreaves, Stewart, Stone, Taber, Lawrence S. Trimbel, Van Auken, Van Trump, Wood and Woodward —47. Not Voting — Messrs. Benjamin, Dixon, Donnelly, Ela, Finney, Garfield, Hawkins, Koontz, Maynard, Pomeroy, Robinson, Shellabarger, Thomas, John Trimble, Robert T. Van Horn, Henry D. Washburn and William Williams — 17, SPKECH OF HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY, OF OHIO. Delivered in the House of Representatives, May 29, 1868. AMEND THE CONSTITUTION — ABOLISHMENT .OF THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT — NEITHER CAUCUSES, CONVENTIONS, ELEC- TORAL COLLEGES, NOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO INTERVENE BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHOICE OF A PRESIDENT. The House being- in Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union — Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, said: Mr. Chairman: It is now ten years since I became a member of this House. During- that time I have submitted more than once propositions looking to an amendment of the national Constitution, substantially such as I now ask leave to present. Heretofore, when introducing- these propositions, I have done so without arg-ument, and they have slept the sleep which knows no waking- in the committees to which, under our rules, they must be referred. I now ask the indulg-ence of the House while I submit to gentlemen present and to the country some of the considera- tions which have induced me ag-ain to bring- this subject to public notice. The proposition which I now send to the Clerk's desk to he read, provides that the President of the United States shall be elected for but a single term of four years, and pro- poses the abolition of the of&ce of Vice-President. If (459) — 460 — adopted, it also secures the abolition of the present system of appointing- presidential electors, as the legislatures of the several States may provide, and makes it impossible for the election of a President to devolve, as now, on the House of Representatives, but provides that in case of death, resigna- tion, or removal of the President from office, that the two Houses in joint convention shall elect to fill the vacancy, each Senator and Representative having- one vote. Its adoption will relieve the people of the despotism of party caucuses and party conventions, and thereafter commit the election of President to a direct vote of the people by ballot. The Clerk will please read. The Clerk read as follows: Joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.* Resolved by ths Senate and House of Representa- tives OF THE United States op America in Congress ASSEMBLED (two thirds of both Houses concurring), That the following be proposed as an amendment to said Constitu- tion, which, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, shall be valid, to all intents and pur- poses, as part of said Constitution, to wit: Amend section three of article one, by striking out clauses four and five, which read: " The Vice-President of the United States shall be Presi- dent of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. "The Senate shall choose their other of&cers and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States." And insert the following: " The Senate shall choose their own presiding and other officers." In article two, section four, strike out the words "Vice- President." Amend section one, article two, by striking out the words " together with the Vice-President chosen for the same term;" so that it will read: The executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America; he shall hold his office during the term of four years, and be elected as follows. ♦Senator Sumner, of Massachusetts, presented this proposed amendment to the Senate, on the 6th of May, 1872, with two or three verbal chang-es. — 461 — In lieu of clauses two, three, four and six of article two and of article twelve of the amendments insert the following*: The qualified electors shall meet at the usual places of holding- elections in their respective States on the first Mon- day in April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, and on the first Monday in April every four years thereafter, under such rules and regulations as the Congress may by law prescribe, and vote by ballot for a citizen qualified under this Constitution to be President of the United States, and the result of such election in each State shall be certified, sealed, and forwarded to the seat of g-overnment of the United States in such manner as the Con- g-ress may by law direct. The Congress shall be in session on the third Monday in May after such election, and on the Tuesday next succeeding" the third Monda}^ in May, if a quorum of each House sha.ll be present, and if not, immediately on the assemblage of such quorum, the Senators and members of the House of Repre- sentatives shall meet in the Representative Chamber in joint convention, and the President of the Senate, in presence of the Senators and Representatives thus assembled, shall open all the returns of said election and declare the result. The person having- the g-reatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the ■whole number of votes cast; if no person have such majority, or if the person having such majority decline the office or die before the counting- of the vote, then the President of the Senate shall so proclaim; whereupon the joint convention shall order the proceeding-s to be officially published, stating- particularly the number of votes given for each person for President. Another election shall thereupon take place on the second Tuesday of October next succeeding-, at which election the duly qualified electors shall again meet at the usual places of holding- elections in their respective States and vote for one of the persons then living having- the highest number of votes, not exceeding five on the list voted for as President at the preceding- election in April, and the result of such elec- tion in each State shall be certified, sealed, and forwarded to the seat of the g-overnment of the United States as provided by law. On the third Tuesday in Deceniber after such second election, or as soon thereafter as a quorum of each House shall be present, the Senators and members of the House of Representatives shall ag-ain meet in joint convention, and the President of the Senate, in presence of the Senators and Representatives thus assembled, shall open all the returns of said election and declare the person having- the — 462 — hig-hest number of votes duly elected President for the ensu- ing" term. No person thus elected to the office of President shall thereafter be elig-ible to be re-elected. In case of the removal of the President from office by impeachment, or of his death, resig-nation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve temporarily on the President of the Senate, if there be one; if not, then on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, if there be one; and if not, then the member of the executive department senior in years shall act as Presi- dent. If there be no officer of an executive department, then the Senator senior in years shall act until a successor is chosen and qualified. If Congress be in session at the time of the death, disa- bility, or removal of the President, the Senators and Repre- sentatives shall meet in joint convention under such rules and regulations as the Congress may by law prescribe, and proceed to elect by viva voce vote a President to fill such vacancy. Each Senator and Representative having- one vote, a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a majority in each House of the Senators and Representatives duly elected and qualified, and a majority of all the votes g-iven shall be neces- sary to the choice of a President. The person thus elected as President shall discharge all the powers and duties of said office until the inaug-uration of the President elected at' the next reg-ular election. If the Cong"ress be not in session then the acting Presi-' dent shall forthwith issue a proclamation convening- Congress within sixty days after the death or disability of the Presi- dent. On the assembling of a quorum in each House the Sena- tors and Representatives shall meet in joint convention and elect a President as hereinbefore provided. Amend article fourteen proposed by the Thirty-ninth Cong-ress by striking- out section two and inserting- the fol- lowing: Sec. 2. Every citizen of the United States twenty-one years of age and upward (except Indians not taxed and per- sons NON compos) shall be an elector in any State or Territory in which he may have resided one year next preceding- the election at which he shall offer a vote. Each State shall pre- scribe uniform rules for the registration of all qualified elec- tors residing- therein and complete the said enrollment at least twenty days before each presidential election; they shall provide b}'- law ag-ainst fraud at elections, and may disfran- chise any person for participation in rebellion against the — 463 — United States, or for tlie commission of an act which is felony at common law. Sec. 3. Representatives in Congress shall be appor- tioned among- the several States according- to the number of inhabitants in each. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. On these several propositions I intend to ask the judgment of the country and eventually a vote upon them in this House. SHALL THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT BE ABOLISHED? The proposition to abolish the office of Vice-President will, I trust, commend itself to the considerate men of all parties. The creation of the office was objected to by some of the ablest men of the Revolution as "unnecessary and dang-erous." Experience has confirmed the wisdom of their opposition. The Vice-President is, as all know, a superfluous officer, having- few duties to perform, and those might more properly devolve upon a member of the Senate, selected because of his fitness, as the duty of presiding in the House devolves upon a member of the House who is elected Speaker. The objection to the selection of a member of the Senate as presiding officer would hold equally good against selecting a member of the House of Representatives for its presiding officer. Indeed, the power conferred on the Speaker of the House is far greater than is conferred on the Vice-President or President pro tempore of the Senate. In the House the Speaker appoints all the committees and can participate in debate on the floor of the House. He may also vote at any time he so elects. In the Senate the regular standing committees are selected by a party caucus, and appointed or confirmed afterward in open Senate by a vote of that body. The Vice-President is not permitted to debate any proposition before the Senate, and can only vote when there is an equal division, while the Speaker can vote at any time if he desires to do so, but is not compelled to vote except in case of a tie. The country has been distracted and its peace imperiled more than once because of the existence of the office of Vice- President. The nation would have been spared the terrible — 464 — ordeal throug-h which it passed in the contest between Jeffer- son and Burr in 1801 had there been no vice-presidential ofl&ce. Had there been no such office we would have been spared the perfidy of a Tyler, the betrayal of a Fillmore, and the baseness and infamy of a Johnson. Party interest and partj^ necessity, under our present convention system, usually seeks to compensate the friends of a defeated presidential candidate in any national convention by conceding" to them the privileg-e of naming- the candidate for the Vice-Presidency." This is done in order to soften the sting- of defeat and to bind the defeated party in the convention to the more certain support of a ticket which a larg-e minority, and sometimes even a majority, of the party would refuse to support at the election but for such compromises, aided by the despotism of party caucuses and party conventions. Often the mere ques- tion of locality has more to do with the nomination of a Vice-President than the question of his fitness. The country rejoices with me in the fact that no such narrow consideration controlled the action of the Republi- can convention at Chicago in selecting- our honored Speaker as the candidate of the party for Vice-President. Not to locality is he indebted for that position, for locality was ag-ainst him, but rather to his long- and faithful public ser- vices, his fidelity to Republican principles, and to his personal worth is he indebted for the disting-uished honor of being associated on the same presidential ticket with the most extraordinary man of this or any age. While each of the candidates for President and Vice- President professes to subscribe to the so-called platform of principles adopted by the conventions which nominate them, they nevertheless represent, as a rule, opposing factions in the party, and often at heart antag-onistic ideas, which are only subordinated for the sake of party success. This was the case with Harrison and Tyler, Taylor and Fillmore, Lin- coln and Johnson. When each of these Vice-Presidents on the death of the President-elect came into the presidential of&ce he attempted to build up a party which should secure his re-election. For this purpose they did not scruple to betray the g-reat bodj' of men who elected them to the office — 465 — of Vice-President, nor did they hesitate at the open and shameless use of public patronage for that purpose. The weakest and most dang-erous part of our executive system for the personal safety of the President is a defect in the Con- stitution itself, I find it in that clause of the Constitution which provides that the Vice-President shall, on the death or inability of the President, succeed to his office. The presi- dential office is thus undefended and invites temptation. The life of but one man must often stand between the success of unscrupulous ambition, the designs of mercenary cliques, or the fear and hatred of conspirators. "Whether pro-slavery conspirators, representing party cliques, caused the death of Harrison and Taylor I know not. I am confident, however, that a widespread conspiracy, representing the pro-slavery rebel faction in the nation, was organized for the purpose of assassinating Mr. Lincoln, and all know of its success. That the conspirators who plotted the murder of Mr. Lincoln had a purpose to subserve, which they supposed could not be accomplished while he remained in the presidential office, will hardly be questioned. Mr. Chairman, history will record the fact that the con- spiracy which resulted in the assassination of Mr. Lincoln was the offspring of the rebellion, and may yet give political success to a cause, which millions of rebels failed to secure af- ter a deadly war of four years. Had assassination don:^ more THAN IT DID IT WOULD HAVE OVERREACHED ITSELl*. By Spar- ing and using Andrew Johnson it gained a temporary tri- umph for those whom it represented. Whatever may have been, and whatever may now be, my suspicions as to the complicity of Andrew Johnson in the assassination plot, the schemes and hopes op the conspira- tors CAN EASILY BE EXPLAINED UPON THE HYPOTHESIS OF HIS INNOCENCE, AND HIS ENTIRE IGNORANCE OF THEIR BLOODY PUR- POSES. Let me present it from that standpoint. The failure of the rebellion found a large number of disappointed and desperate men in the late rebel States under disability for treason and rebellion. If justice was meted out to them they knew that the leaders ought to be arrested, tried, and punished, and that if the law was administered their prop- 30 — 466 — erty was subject to confiscation. The leaders expected, in any event, to be politically disfranchised, if they escaped imprison- ment, banishment, or the confiscation of their propert3\ Hav- ing- staked all on the hazard of a die and lost, their condition was desperate, and to escape punishments, confiscations, or political disfranchisement thousands of them would not hesi- tate at any desperate expedient which promised success. The men who without cause had inaug-urated fratricidal war, who had murdered unarmed Union soldiers after their sur- render, who had deliberately starved to death thousands of our heroic men at Andersonville, Salisbury, Belle Isle, and Libby prison, and committed enormities upon the living- and the dead which no human tong-ue can describe, would not hesitate at taking the life of any one man by assassination, however exalted his position, if thereby it secured them exemption fi'om the punishment due their crimes. On surveying the situation they found that the Republi- can party had, by a blunder, which in such an hour was worse than a crime, elected Andrew Johnson Vice-President of the United States. I can imagine how carefully they examined his antecedents, his personal and political history ; how they weig"hed well his words, and made themselves familiar with his public and private acts, his weaknesses and his ambition. During- this examination they undoubtedly learned his view of the "situation " before he left Tennessee to be inaug-urated Vice-President. They heard of his declaration to Stanley Mathews at Cincinnati while on his way to the capital, before his inauguration, and to others afterward, as to the neces- sity OF REORGANIZING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. They Were informed of what he had repeatedly said he would do about reconstruction, "if he were President." They knew of his CONDITION when inaug-urated Vice-President, and that to THEM WAS AN AUGURY OF SUCCESS. Of his vanity, his unscru- pulousness, his love of power, and his capacities as a dema- gogue they were fully advised. They satisfied themselves that, with proper management, he could be used to shield them from punishment, and, perchance, restore them to polit- ical power. From that moment the doom of Mr. Lincoln was sealed. The pretense that Mr. Johnson was to navE been ASSASSINATED, WAS NEVER BELIEVED BY ANY BUT WILLING — 467 — i»UPES. The assassination of Mr. Jolinson would liave defeated the hopes and purposes of the conspirators, and no one knew this better than they. After Mr. Johnson came into the presidential office, the conspirators and their friends at once openly and unblush- ingly surrounded him, flattered him, took possession of him, and promised him a re-election and a brilliant future. They reminded him oe his oi.d political, record, of his denun- ciation oe abolitionists, oe his utterances to stanley Mathews and others " as to the necessity op reorganiz- ing the Democratic party," by a union with conservative Republicans, leaving the " anti-slavery element in the Republican party to sluff off," as he repeatedly ex- pressed IT. All this, I submit, could have happened and Mr. Johnson be free from any criminally g-uilty knowledg-e of the assassination, either before or after the act. I only present this panoramic view, of what has trans- pired and is now history, to illustrate how weak and indefen- sible in this particular is the presidential office ; so that I may appeal to the nation to fortify it against this dang-er, by re- moving- the temptation now presented to conspirators and assassins, and thus make the presidential office a citadel against which they may hurl themselves in vain. Adopt this plan, and the occupant of the presidential office is effectually guarded from all political conspiracies which thrive by assassination. It also precludes the possi- bility of an interregnum in that office. In addition to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, each of the eight members of the Cabinet in turn, and after them the entire Senate, stand ready to assume, temporarily, the duties of the presidential office until Congress can elect a successor. It would not be possible for any conspiracy to succeed which contemplated the wholesale assassination of entire Cabinets and Senates. If, as I propose in this amendment, there had been no T'ice-President, and the Constitution had provided, as I sug- gest, that on the death, resignation, or removal of the Pres- ident the vacancy should be filled forthwith by the election of any citizen of the United States eligible under the Consti- tution, each Senator and Representative having one vote, the — 468— nation would never have been cursed with the Tyler, Fill- more or Johnson administrations, nor is it to be supposed that Mr. Lincoln would have been assassinated, because it would not have been possible to foretell who would have been elected his successor. If this amendment had been part of the Constitution the country would have been spared much anxiety during- the late impeachment trial, and Senators who constituted the court of impeachment would have been spared much of the suspicion and criticism to which they were sub- ject. No man could then have known in advance who would have been the choice of the tv/o Plouses of Cong-ress, in joint convention, for acting- President to fill the vacancy. The question of Mr. Johnson's successor would, therefore, never have disturbed or embarrassed the proceedings of the Senate during" the recent impeachment trial. THE ABOI.1TION OF PRESJDEINTIAI, EI^ECTORS AND NATIONAI. CONVENTIONS. Instead of the intervention of presidential electors, I propose the election of President by a direct vote of the peo- ple by ballot, on the democratic principle, so fully recog-nized in our theory of government, "that all political power is in- herent in the people and of right belongs to the people." I hold that it is safer and better for the people to exercise this power directly, without the intervention of nominating con- ventions or presidential electors or any intermediate agency. To withhold from the qualified electors of the nation the right to vote directly for the choice of a President is a violation of the democratic idea, an act at war with the fundamental principles of our Government, and utterly indefensible. The adoption of the proposition which I have made will secure at once the abolition of the plan of electing a Presi- dent by indirection, in the selection of electors chosen as now, by a plurality of the vo^es in each State, thus enabling the minority, when there are three or more candidates, by concentrating their votes on one electoral ticket, to secure the election of their candidate. This plan will also becure the early abolition of all national nominating conventions. — 469 — and eventually of all State and county conventions, thus relieving" every voter from the despotism of party cliques and party caucuses. This provision is itself enough to commend the proposed amendment to the favorable consideration of the gfreat body of the American people who have so long" been controlled by the despotism of party conventions. As a rule, not one voter in ten is consulted under our oresent caucus system as to his first choice of a candidate for any office, and yet when nominations are made, no matter whether fairly or by fraud, each voter is compelled to sup- port the nominee of his party or aid in the election of the candidate of the opposite party. For years I have been opposed to the present system of nominating- all candidates for elective offices, including" that of President of the United States. I have long held that all nominations should be made directl)^ by the people under the authority and protection of law. In other words, that there ought to be two elections for all officers, to be elected by the •people, unless at the first election one of the candidates should receive a majority of all the votes cast, an event not probable at any election, and certainly not for President nor for Governor of a State or a Representative in Congress. If any one should receive a majority of all the votes cast at the first election he would be declared duly elected, and there would be no second election to fill that office. If there were no choice at the first election for President, I provide in the proposed amendment that all candidates but the five, or pos- sibly it may be advisable to say all but the four highest voted for at the first election, shall be dropped. If I were making a State constitution or a law for the election of any elective officer, I would provide that at the second election all but the four, or possibly all but the three, highest voted for at the first election for any office should be dropped, and that at the second election, only the candidates thus nominated should be voted for; that no other votes should be counted; and if there were three candidates at the final election, that a plurality of the votes cast, should elect as now. — 470 — This plan, as all can see, would supersede the present corrupt and unsatisfactory convention system, and enable every elector to vote without caucus dictation at the first elec- tion for his firbt choice, and without fear of electing- the can- didate of the opposition because of scattering- votes. After the most careful and deliberate examination of the question I am compelled to confess that the convention system now in use by both the great political parties of the nation is demoralizing- in its practical working-s, unfair in its represen- tation of the g-reat body of voters, and repug-nant to the principles of true democracy and republicanism. I look upon the present convention system for the nomi- nation of a President as far more objectionable than the old congressional caucus system which it superseded, and which I would not restore if I could. The theory is that the national conventions of both par- ties are composed of deleg-ates fresh from the people, elected by the people, and that they represent the people. All know that, practically, nothing- can be further from the truth. Hic:tory will confirm what I say, when I declare that a majority of the national conventions of both parties which have been held in the past, not only have not reflected the wishes of the party for which they assumed to act in making- nominations, but that they have repeatedly and deliberately disreg-arded their known wishes. Instead of our national. State, or district conventions being- made up of delegates elected directly by the people, they are made up of delegates selected by packed committees in State conventions composed of delegates appointed on the recommendation of like committees appointed by other dele- gates in county conventions, who, in the first instance, are often nominated in township and ward caucuses, which are packed by the leaders of cliques and controlled by political machinery in the hands of a few, without regard to the wishes or interests of the voters for whom they assume to act. Thus the delegates in our national conventions are always removed threo, and usually four, degrees from the people. Indeed, the people seldom have a voice in the election of the first dclegoites from townships and v/ards, owing to the polit- ical machinery employed by the few who work it. If the — 471 — voice of the people is partially heard in the ward and town- ship caucuses, which is well nig-h impossible under our pres- ent practice, at each successive remove from the people their will is less reg-arded, until at last when it reaches our nation- al conveijtions no voice is heard but the clamor of the office- seeker and the violent contentions of warring- factions. Es- pecially is this the case in the Democratic party when they adopt the two-thirds rule. As to consultation and deliberation at such conventions, that is impossible, nor is it now ex- pected. Of tener than otherwise the deleg-ates who attend these con- ventions vote for men of whom they know but little and of whose political record they know absolutely nothing-. Witness the action of the Republican convention at Baltimore which nom- inated Andrew Johnson. The indecent scramble of the bul- let-headed politicians and demag-og-ues for the honor of first announcing" the name of Andrew Johnson as a candidate be- fore that convention was one of the most disg-usting- exhibi- tions I ever witnessed. A majority who attend such conventions are always clamorous for prompt action and adjournment, never for consultation. They are usually more anxious about the size of their hotel bills than about the record of the candidate to be nominated. Their object is g-ained when their names are recorded as deleg-ates to the convention and that they have voted for the nomination of the successful man. Benton, in his "Thirty Years' View," in speaking- of national conventions and comparing- them with the cong-res- sional caucus system, uses the following- lang-uag-e : "But it [the convention system] quickly deg-enerated and became obnoxious to all the objections to Cong-ress caucus nominations and many others besides. Members of Cong-ress still attended them, either as deleg-ates or as lobby manag-ers. Persons attended as deleg-ates who had no con- stituency [as deleg-ates, professing- to be from Texas and other States, appeared at the Chicag-o Republican convention in I860]. Deleg-ates attended upon equivocal appointment. Double sets of deleg-ates sometimes came from the State, and either were admitted or repulsed, as suited the views of the majority. Proxies were invented. Many deleg-ates attended with the sole view of establishing- a claim for office, and voted accordingly. The two-thirds rule was invented to enable the — 472 — minority to control tlie majority, and the whole proceeding became anomalous and irresponsible and subversive of the will of the people, leaving- them no more control over the nomination than the subjects of king's have over the birth of the child which is born to rule over them. King- caucus is as potent as any other king- in this respect ; for whoever g-ets the nomination, no matter how effected, becomes the candi- date of the party, from the necessity of union ag-ainst the opposite party, and from the indisposition of the g^reat States to g-o into the House of Representatives to be balanced by the small ones. This is the mode of making- Presidents, practiced by both parties now. It is the virtual election ! And thus the election of the President and Vice-President of the United States has passed, not only from the colleg-e of electors, to which the Constitution confided it, and from the people to whom the practice under the Constitution g-ave it, and from the House of Representatives, which the Constitu- tion provided as ultimate arbiter, but has g-one to an anom- alous, irresponsible body, unknown to law or Constitution^ unknown to the early ag-es of our Government, and of which a larg-e proportion of the members composing- it, and a much larg-er proportion of interlopers attending- it, have no other view, either in attending- or in promoting the nomination of any particular man, than to g-et one elected who will enable them to eat out of the public crib — who will g-ive them a key to the public crib." I do not overdraw the picture, nor did the g-reat Missouri Senator. The demoralization inseparable from such disgraceful proceeding-s cannot be overstated. As Mr. Benton says, a ma- jority of the deleg-ates who attend national conventions do so for the purpose of establishing- claims for office, and we all know that they are usually candidates for an appointment at the hands of the President whom their votes help to nominate. "When there are three or more rival candidates for President before a national convention, and a balance of power party can be formed, they do not hesitate to demand as a condition to the vote of their clique or State the promise of a Cabinet appointment. This unblushing- demand has been made as a condition to the support of cliques and factions at more than one convention and acceded to. In pursuance of such arrang-e- ments Cabinet ministers have been appointed, and were thus enabled by their official position to provide offices for their friends, who, as delegates, voted as required in convention. — 473 — Entire delegations from States sometimes permit themselves to be bartered and pledg-ed for a candidate on condition that one or more of their own number shall have a desig"nated official appointment, and sometimes even for the empty honor of having" one of their number act as the presiding* officer of the convention ; and this is called representing- the people. Thus, in our national conventions, where oftener than other- wise there are more than two candidates, the most unscrupu- lous are the most likely to succeed. A few leading- men com- bining" for Cabinet positions or foreig-n appointments can, by concentrating" their votes, secure a majority in the conven- tion, and thus nominate any candidate upon whom they unite. If this has been and may be by combinations such as I have described, it is certain to be repeated ag"ain under like temptations. The desire for place and power can, as it has done, bring" the most hostile political leaders tog"ether. " If we combine,'^ they whisper to each other, "we shall conquer. If we divide, we shall be conquered." With the cohesive power of self- interest to urge them on they combine, and b}^ the aid of par- ty conventions make nominations in the name of the people to which the people are opposed, and thus live upon the Gov- ernment at their expense. The Republican national convention for 1864, which re- nominated Mr. Lincoln, and the Republican convention which meets at Chicago on the 20th of this month, formally to rat- ify the wishes of the people in placing" General Grant in nomination, are exceptions to this rule. The man of destiny is made a candidate in spite of cliques and cabals. As no combinations could have been made by party cliques formi- dable enough in 1864 to have defeated the nomination and election of Mr. Lincoln, so none could be made this year of sufficient magnitude to defeat the nomination and election of General Grant. Such was the condition of the country in 1864, and such is its condition to-day, that the people with a unanimity unprecedented commanded, and the political schemers, making a virtue of necessity, yielded, and were as clamorous for Lincoln in 1864 as they are to-day for General Grant. — 474- As a rule, however, national conventions do not, as I have shown, -nominate the first choice of either party. Especially is this the case with the Democratic party. The two-thirds rule makes their cliques more formidable, and the schemers usually so manag"e as to g-et their favorite or secure a compromise on some new man whom they know they can use. If the new President and all elective officers we're nom- inated by law as I propose, no compromise on a new and un- known man could possibly be made by political managers. It may, and probably will be, claimed by the friends of the convention system, that the proposition securing- a nomi- nating election under the protection and security of law would not prevent the caucus nomination of candidate to be voted for at the first election. There is unquestionably some force in this suggestion. I am confident, however, that its adoption would practically abolish the convention system. The people may safely be entrusted with the management of this whole matter. All they ask is the protection of law, and they will soon dispose of party tricksters' and convention cliques. A nominating election, under the safeguards of law, is their security. If cliques and conventions attempt to dictate and control at the first or nominating election, their defeat will be inevitable at the second or regular election. It will thus be seen that the system has, in itself, the inherent power of protection against caucuses, conventions, and frauds. Mr. Lawrence, of Ohio. I would like to ask my col- league if he has not attended conventions and been nomi- nated by conventions, and if he does not support all nomina- tions made by the Republican party. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. I answer the question of my col- league in the affirmative. I have attended conventions and expect to attend them as long as my party adheres to that S3^stem. I have been nominated by conventions, and have accepted those nominations, because I believed they were honestly made, and because I believed they fairly represented the wishes of the party. I would not accept a nomination secured by bargain and sale, or by fraud and corruption. I would not accept a nomination for any office if made by a — 475 — ** balance of power" clique, with the understanding-, ex- pressed or implied, that in case of my election I should ap- point the leaders of such clique to ofl&ce. I have been nominated and elected five consecutive times by the Republi- can party of my district, and I never made, nor permitted to be made, such a promise to a sing-le man. I have always sup- ported the reg"ular nominations made by my party, and expect to do so until the system of nominating- conventions is abol- ished, and some new and better system adopted. THE INDEFENSIBLE MODE OF BISECTING OUR PRESIDENTS MAIN- TAINED IN THE INTERESTS OF SI.AVERY. But for the existence of slavery the present indefensible anti-democratic system of electing- the President by the ap- pointment of electors in such manner as the State leg-isla- tures may by law provide would long- since have been chang-ed, and a system more in accord with the democratic spirit of the ag-e adopted. That the present system of nominating- and electing- a President is in antag-onism with the principles of democratic g-overnment will not be seriously questioned. It has more than once defeated the popular choice for the nomination and election of President. Since I became a voter a ma- jority of our Presidents have been elected by a minority of the popular vote. Under the present system the incentive to fraud in ballot-box stuffing, illeg-al voting-, and^the importa- tion of voters into the larg-e and closely-contested States can- not be over-estimated. If an electoral ticket obtains by any means, fair or foul, a plurality of one or more votes, it con- trols the entire electoral vote of the State, which may decide the result of a presidential election, as in the case of the vote of New York in 1844. This electoral machinery has, and may ag-ain, defeat the popular will. In 1824 Maryland gave Adams a larg-er popular vote than either Jackson, Crawford, or Clay. But of the eleven elec- toral votes to which the State was then entitled, Jackson received seven, Adams three, and Crawford one. The electors in Maryland were elected at that time by districts, whereas they are now elected on a general ticket — 476 — for the State at large, as in all the States. Two districts is Maryland (the third and fourth), elected at that election TWO electors each, TO ACT AS SENATORIAL ELECTORS. In 1824 the electors of President and Vice-President were appointed in the several States as follows: In Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Kentucky, Ten- nessee, Illinois, and Missouri, by the people in districts. Seven States. In New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Ohio, by the people on general ticket. Ten States. In Vermont, New York, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, and South Carolina, by the legislatures. Seven States. In a few years all the States except South Carolina adopted the general ticket system, so that the vote of the States should not be divided, thus securing to the large States the power to elect the President, and often by a mere plu- rality of the vote of the State. At the election of which I am speaking Jackson had ninety-nine electoral votes, Adams eighty-four, Crawford forty-one, and Clay thirty-seven. The Constitution requiring a majority of all the electoral votes cast to elect a President, and there being no choice of President by the electors, the election devolved on the House of Representatives. THE STATES WHICH REPRESENT A MINORITY OF THE PEOPLE IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY ELECT THE PRESIDENT. Here, again, the machinery provided by the Constitution for the election of a President by the House of Representa- tives makes it possible for a minority of the people residing in small States to defeat the will of a majority of the voters in the nation. At the election in 1824 for electors of President Mr. Adams had a majority of the electoral vote in but seven States. When the election took place in the House of — 477 — Representatives, each State having" one vote, which is cast as a majority of the Representatives in the House from each State may determine, Mr. Adams had a majority in each, OF THE Representatives from thirteen States. The vote stood as follows: For Adams • 13 For Jackson 7 For Crawford 4 Mr. Adams, having- a majority of all the votes cast, was declared duly elected President for the ensuing* term. It will be observed that Mr. Adams had not only fifteen electoral votes less than Jackson in the Electoral Colleg-e, but that he had a majority of the electors chosen in only seven States, whereas he obtained in the House of Representatives when elected President the vote of thirteen States, THREE OP THESE BEING States which gave Jackson a majority of THEIR EI.ECTORAI. VOTE, namely, Alabama, Louisiana, and Maryland; while three of the States which g-ave a majority for Clay at the election voted for Adams in the House, namely, Kentuck}^, Missouri, and Ohio. North Carolina gave her vote in the Electoral Colleg-e for Jackson, but in the House OP Representatives her vote was given to Crawford by A VOTE of ten to THREE, in utter disreg-ard of the popular vote of the people of the State as expressed at the ballot-box. ' I present these facts to show how, under our present sys- tem, the voice of the people has been and may ag"ain be disre- garded. Nothing" could demonstrate more forcibly than this simple statement the necessity for a change in the manner of electing a President, if the will of the people as expressed at the ballot-box is to determine every four years who shall dis- charge the powers and duties of the office of President of the United States. I also desire to call attention to the fact that the ma- chinery of electors, as provided by our present Constitution, makes it possible for the will of the people to be defeated after the appointment of electors. For instance, if a candi- date for the Presidency should have in the Electoral College but two or three majority of the electoral vote, and four or five electors chosen by the majority in the different States — 473-- should, either corruptly, ig-norantly, oeg-lig-entl}', or for any cause, fail or refuse to attend at the place and on the day desig-nated by law for their meeting- in each State, to vote for the person desig-nated on the ticket for President, or should appear and vote for the opposing candidate, or vote blank, the people who voted for such electors would be either mis- represented or unrepresented in the Electoral College, and the candidate for whom a majority of electors was chosen to vote would be leg-ally defeated, although fairly elected. This is not unlikely to happen at any election, unless each State should provide by law for the conting-ency of absentees. They could not provide a remedy for the betrayai, of an ELECTOR. Of the presidential electors appointed for 1792, two in Maryland and one in South Carolina failed to appear at the time and place appointed for the meeting- of electors, and did not vote. For 1808 there was one in Kentucky. For 1812, one in Ohio. For 1816, three in Maryland and one in Dela- ware. For 1820, one in Pennsylvania, one in Alabama, and one in Tennessee. For 1824, one in Rhode Island. For 1832, three in Maryland. For 1864, one in Nevada. The entire electoral vote for the State of Wisconsin was legally lost to Fremont in 1856 by the accident of a snow-storm, and would probably not have been counted if thereby the result of the election could have been changed. There may have been others which I have overlooked. In 1797 Adams had seventy-one votes and Jefferson sixty-nine, g-iving- Adams but two majority. If three of the electors who voted for Adams had failed to appear at the time and place designated by law to vote for President, or had refused to vote, or voted blank, Mr. Jefferson would have been elected. It will thus be seen that of the number of electors who have been appointed and three or four times failed to vote for President, in one instance in our history such neglect or refusal to act would have chang-ed the result of an election and defeated the leg-ally expressed will of the people in the selection of a President. But I need not detain the House long-er by presenting reasons ag-ainst a system so indefensible. — 479 — If the proposition which I have introduced should be adopted and become a part of the Constitution, it will abolish all the machinery of intermediate bodies, which now often control or defeat the will of the people, whether it be national conventions, electoral colleg^es, or the choice of a President by the House of Representatives. THE EI^ECFION OF A PRESIDENT BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESEN- TATIVES. We have had two elections in our history of a President by the House of Representatives, and I trust the Constitution may soon be so chang^ed that we shall never have another. Each State in such an election has one vote, and a ma- jority, as I have already said, of the Representatives in Con- gress from the States whose members are present and voting- determine for which of the three persons returned to the House the vote of the State shall be cast. At such an election the Representatives in Congress elected by a minority of a people may, and as a rule will, in such a contest elect a President. Counting all the States, and we now have thirty-seven; of these, under our present system ten may elect a President if united. I will name them: Votes. Illinois 16 Indiana 13 • Kentucky 11 Massachusetts 12 Missouri 11 New York 33 Virginia 10 Ohio 21 Pennsylvania 26 Tennessee 10 Ten States 163 — 480 — Votes. Alabama 8 Arkansas 5 California 5 Connecticut 6 Delav/are . 3 Florida 3 . Oreg-on 3 Georgia 9 Kansas 3 Louisiana 7 Maine 7 Maryland 7 Minnesota 4 Mississippi 7 Nevada 3 Nebraska 3 New Hampshire 5 New Jersey 7 Rhode Island 4 South Carolina 6 Texas 6 Vermont 5 West Virginia 5 North Carolina 9 Wisconsin 8 ■ Iowa 8 Michigan 8 Twenty-seven States 154 If at any time an election for President should devolve on the House of Representatives, a majority of the Represen- tatives in Congress from nineteen of the thirty-seven States, representing not more than one-fourth of the people and less than one-third of the electoral vote, could by uniting elect the President. — 4S1 — I^et me name the States : Votes. Delaware 1 Florida 1 Kansas 1 Nebraska 1 Nevada 1 Oreg"on 1 Minnesota 2 ~ Rhode Island 2 Arkansas 3 California 3 New Hampshire . . . . ! 3 Vermont 3 West Virginia 3 Connecticut 4 South Carolina 4 Texas 4 Maryland 5 " . New Jersey 5 - Mississippi 5 Nineteen States 52 Thirty-eig-ht of the fifty-two members from the States just named can control the vote of said States and elect the President. It will be observed that in the table from which I have just read, we have six States, with but one vote each, while seven others have but nineteen votes, and the six remaining" but twenty-seven. In all fifty-two votes. These nineteen States have two Senators each, making in all thirty-eight Senators, which, added to the fifty-two Representatives in the House, makes ninety vo'tes, and that number of electoral votes. In a few years, at most, six new States will be organized out of our present Territories and admitted into the Union. When admitted, they will be entitled under our present sys- — 482 — tern to cast three electoral votes each for President, making eighteen votes, and in case the election of a President de- volves on the House of Representatives, they will each have all the political power of New York or Ohio, with the cer- tainty that they cannot lose their vote in the House by an equal division of their Representatives as the larger States raay ; thus increasing the inequality of political power which now exists in the House when the election of a President de- volves upon it, to an extent which I fear the statesmen of the country do not fully recognize. Admit six of the Territories, and the number of States would be increased to forty-three, and the electoral vote, if the States already named retain their present number of votes, would be three hundred and thirty-five. Now, take Georgia, with her nine electoral votes, and add to the ten States in the first table, and eleven States can give one hundred and seventy-two electoral votes, while the remaining thirty-two States can give but one hundred and sixty-three electoral votes. Thus eleven States out of forty- three,' if united, may, by a plurality of their voters, elect a President ; yet, if they are so divided that a majority of all the electors are not chosen for one of the candidates, there is no election, and the election devolves on the House of Repre- sentatives, when twenty-two States, representing only eighty- nine electoral votes out of three hundred and thirty-five, or a fraction more than one-fourth, and not one-fourth of the pop- ular vote, may elect a President. Add the six new States, each with their three electoral votes, to the six States now in the Union with but three votes each, and we will have twelve States with one vote each in the House, and but thirty-six electoral votes. When that time comes — which will probably be within ten 3'ears at most — we shall have, as I have shown, forty-three States, of which twenty-two will be a majority, and this majority of States can be controlled by thirty-five members ; eight votes less than there are States in the Union. Thus it will be seen that THIRTY-FIVE MEN IN THE HoUSE, WHEN COMPOSED OP TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE MEMBERS, WII.I, HAVE THE POWER TO EiyECT A President should the ei^ection devoi^ve on THE House of Representatives. — 483 — I need not add a word in condemnation of a system so ut- terly repug-nant to all rig-ht-thinking- men. The fact that so small a body of men will have it in their power to -elect a President, if the election can be carried into the House of Representatives, will make it for the interest of desperate political adventurers and place-hunters to combine and force the election into the House. I would not have you foro-et that the Representatives who are to determine the choice of a President when the election devolves on the House of Repre- sentatives are members of the Cong-ress which expires on the day the new President is to be inaug-urated ; that the term of all members not re-elected will cease on the 4th of March after the election of the President, and that such members will then be prepared to accept appointments under the new Administration. With the States all restored, as we soon hope to see them, there will be thirty-seven, as I have before said, and the number of members in the House will be two hundred and forty -three, one hundred and twenty-two of whom are a majority. Yet thirty-eight members representing nine- teen States by voting together can constitutionally elect the president when the election devolves on the House. These calculations are based upon the hypothesis that every State will have a vote in such an election ; whereas it will sometimes happen that the larg-er States will lose their vote by an equal division in their deleg-ation. This, of course, cannot happen where a State has but one Representative. When there is but one majority in a deleg-ation, any member from such a State may change the result, or he may refuse to vote, and thus deliberately, and for a purpose, cause the vote of his State to be equally divided and lost, thus in- creasing- the power of the few in the House who vote as a unit. The proposition which I make bring-s the Senate and House of Representatives tog-ether in joint convention within sixty days after the death, resignation or removal of the President, and secures to each Senator and Representative one vote. — 484 — An election of a President by a joint vote of the two Houses of Congress can only happen under the plan which I have submitted, on the death, resignation or removal of the incumbent ; because the peoole will of necessity elect a Pres- ident at the second election without the intervention of any body of men, thus taking away from the House of Represen- tatives this dangerous oower, now lodged by the Constitution in the hands of less than one-third of its members, and secur- ing it to the people. Experience teaches that small bodies of men may be cor- rupted, the great body of the people never. Where there are more than two presidential candidates, those representing political parties known to be in the minority in any State, while acting separately, may unite and adopt a joint electoral ticket, composed of men representing their respective party organizations, and thus obtain a plurality of the popular vote in enough doubtful States to defeat an election by electors. The election of the President would then devolve on the House of Representatives, and one of the candidates of the minority could there be elected, as I have shown, by less than one-third of the Representatives in Congress, with a constit- uency numbering less than one-fourth of the popular vote. After an election, in which there was no choice by the people, if they were permitted to vote the second time, they would never permit an election of President to go to the House of Representatives, as provided under our present Con- stitution. This is one of the important privileges which I propose to secure directly to the people, so that in a country extensive as ours the people may have an opportunity of vot- ing for a second choice if they fail to secure their first choice. In any light in which I am able to view the present mode of electing a President, whether by the appointment of elec- tors or selecting him by the House of Representatives, it seems to me to be violative of the democratic principle, and dangerous to the peace and stability of the Government. In conversing recently with one of the most distinguished men of the nation on this subject he said that should an elec- tion such as I have described occur, and the choice devolve on the House of Representatives, it would not dare to select for President the candidate having the smallest vote ; that if ~ 485 — they did so it would end in revolution, and that until some great ag-itation resulting- from such an outrag-e came upon the country the people could not be aroused to the necessity of providing- against its probability. However that may be, I feel it to be my duty to present this subject to the consideration of this House and the coun- try, with the notice that while I remain a member of this body I do not intend to rest until a judgment is rendered up- on it by Congress and the people. Believing in the capacity of the people for self-govern- ment, I ask that all who are duly qualified shall vote directly for President; that they be secured and protected in that right, and be freed from the dictation and control of all inter- mediate and irresponsible bodies of men. Any substitute for a popular vote makes it possible for intermediate bodies, who are commissioned to act for the people, to betray them or defeat their choice. The s^'stem which now prevails of nominating- and elect- ing- our Presidents tends directly to corruption and fraud, and to placing the g-overnment in the hands of a minority of experienced and unscrupulous political intriguers. Minorities cannot long administer a government such as ours in this country by fraud and intrigue without inaug-u- rating- violence and bloodshed. The administration by the slave oligarchy of this government for so many years by fraud, intrigue, and force is a case in point. The history of all republics which have risen and fallen teaches us that liberty will perish if the people permit the establishment of any substitute for popular elections. It is the province of true statesmanship to supply a remedy for the dangerous, unjust, and anti-democratic pro- vision of the Constitution which provides for the election of our national Executive. I have not provided for special elections by the people in case of the death, disability, or removal of the President, because I think the presidential term should commence and end as now. The business interests of the country cannot afford to g-o through a presidential campaign oftener than once in four years. If an election to fill a vacancy devolves on the Con- — 486 — gress, each Senator and Representative has one vote, which is as equitable an apportionment according" to population as can well be made, and the choice of an acting* President to fill any vacancy which may happen will probably give as much satisfaction in the mode proposed as any which could be devised. Olf THE EXECUTIVE AND APPOINTING POWER. Mr. Chairman, in defining* the executive power the framers of the Constitution declared that it should be in a President, intending" thereby to say that the executive power of the nation should be vested in one person, to be called a President, and that he should exercise the powers and duties conferred in strict accordance with the g-rants and limitations of the Constitution. Gradually but steadily the executive power has streng"thened -itself and encroached upon the legislative department, causing the conflict through which we have just passed. The power of appointment committed to the President under our Constitution has for years made him little else than a king for the time being, except in name. Insidious usurpations, long submitted to, but never con- templated by the Constitution, have so grown into custom that to-day, without the tenure-of-office act, the vast power in the hands of an ambitious, aspiring, popular President is dangerous to the peace and stability of the Union. When it is remembered that there are nearl}^ forty thousand office-holders, whose salaries amount to millions, and whose appointments, directly or indirectly, depend on the word of the President, v/e will be able to comprehend some- thing of the overshadowing power of the Executive. We have all seen how dangerous a President may become who is without character and without ability, even when manacled with the civil tenure-of-office law. Let the intelligent student read over our political history for the past forty or fifty years, and he will be surprised to find how large has been the number of Senators and Repre- sentatives who during that time have openl}' or covertly be- trayed their constituents, and become the mere dependents of — 487 — the Executives who during- their official term filled the ptesi- dential office. I will not now speak of the baseness which has been so open and unblushing- within the memory of us all. For the sake of place and power a large number of public men, in the past half century, have abandoned cherished convictions, betrayed the people, and become the mere creatures of our acting- Executives, so that to-day our political hig-hway pre- sents an almost unbroken line of unburied political skeletons, offensive to the sig-ht and poisonous to our political atmos- phere. Sir, let any man read our political history for the past forty or fifty years, and he will find that an executive nod to a representative of the same political party has been more potent, as a rule, than the will of his constituents. I admit that this abasement was far more g-eneral than it is to- day, during- the period in which the slave-masters of the South dominated over the nation and northern doug-hfaces did their bidding- with alacrity and without question. Experience has demonstrated the fact that executive blandishment and patronag-e have been used with marked suc- cess within the memory of us all. Senators and Representa- tives of all parties have alike yielded to its seductive power. The men usually selected to do the bidding of an Execu- tive in defiance of the wishes of their constituents are men elected from congressional districts which never re-elect their representatives, or re-elect them but once. " Such districts, as a rule, send men to Congress who are without State or national reputations, and as a consequence a large number of such men are always ready in the name of party to do the bidding of an unscrupulous Executive, and accept for their services, when repudiated by their constituents, a petty ap- pointment, which men of character, ability, and a political future would spurn. So long as Representatives to Congress are elected for but one, or at most for but two terms, and be- cause they reside in this or that county of a district rather than because of their fitness, ability, or fidelity to principles, and so long as the President is clothed with such vast ap- pointing power, and he is permitted to demand, as now, of his appointees, an indorsement of "his policy," including his policy for a re-election, as a condition to their appointment or — 488 — continuance in office, so long* will constituencies be betrayed and political adventurers be successful. Practically, sir, the demand made, disg-uise it as we may, of the great body of men who are nominated to important positions by every Executive ambitious for a re-election is, will you pledge yourself to support "my policy?" THE ROTATION SYSTEM — ITS STUPIDITY. In a number of congressional districts personally known to me, the rotation system prevails so rigidly that they never re-elect a gentleman to Congress, no matter how able or faithful. Political aspirants with their personal friends come tog"ether in what they are pleased to call conventions, and neg-otiations are deliberately entered into and a pro- gramme agreed upon, which must remain undisturbed for years and with which no national exigency or local want of the people must interfere. In these convention conclaves the people are without a voice or vote, and in the name of party they are bound hand and foot. It is generally agreed that the nominee for the first term, in such district, after a new apportionment, shall be given to the county having- the most political influence, if their local politicians can agree, and thereafter, if there is more than one county in the district, that the candidate shall rotate until each county shall in turn be served with a candidate. Experience has demonstrated how indifferent a majority of such Representatives are to the wishes and wants of their constituents. Of the practical inefficiency of such Representatives I need not speak. It is not possible for them to be otherwise than inefficient. Let the constituencies who have so re- peatedly suffered under this stupid system, and been hu- miliated, disgraced, and betrayed, apologize to the nation for sending- such men into her council halls, by speedily chang- ing a system which is the nursery of the most insufferable demagogues. I have known men who ought never to have been in- trusted with official position anywhere, and who probably never would have been but for this system, change their resi- dence from one county to another for the express purpose of — 489 — securing* a nomination to Cong^ress, and succeed. Their anxiety to serve the dear people would become so g-reat that they would anticipate by removing* into a county entitled under their agreement to the candidate at the next election. Mr. Chairman, what is a cong"ressional district? Legally and for the time being" it is one political community, as much as any county. It is org-anized by law as an entirety for the election of a Representative to Cong"ress. The system which provides for the rotation of the member from one county to another every two or four years was not adopted in the in- terest of the people, but in the interest of politicians. I know many constituencies will pardon me if I suggest to such as are pledged by their party leaders to the policy of electing- a Representative from each county in a district, or to electing a new and inexperienced man every two or four years, that they modify it so far, at least, as to select a gentleman to represent them because of his character, ability and well- known fidelity to principles which they regard as fundamen- tal, and that they require the candidate, as a condition to his renoraination, that he "board round," when at home, in each county, after the custom of our western schoolmasters in early times, so that each county in such district shall have secured to it, at least once ever}^ year or two, a Representa- tive in Congress who shall thus become a resident of every county. This would be a vast improvement on the plan so long- adhered to in the North, which plan enabled the politi- cal adventurers who have so often held the balance of power in all our g-reat national strug*gles to^crawl into the national Cong-ress. As a class these were the men who, at the bid- ding* of the slave barons, betraj-ed the nation into the adoption of the Missouri compromise of 1820; and again, when it was repealed, whose votes enacted the so-called com- promises of 1850 into law, including* the infamous fugitive- slave act, the Kansas-Nebraska acts of 1854, and the Lecomp- ton constitution of 1856; in short, the men who betrayed the nation in every g*reat strug*gle between liberty and slavery for the past half century. A largfe proportion of the men who thus betrayed their constituents, after being* repudiated at home, received petty appointments from the President. This custom of compen- — 490 — sating- the nation's betrayers, by their appointment to office, has been sanctioned and sanctified by long* and successful usage, so that an act of successful treachery against a confid- ino- constituency opens the door for promotion at the presi- dential mansion. All can understand that so corrupt and corrupting a custom could only be maintained by having- reckless demagogues and small men without character rotated in and out of Congress as fast as possible. The South favor- ed the " rotation principle " for the North, but were too wise and wily to adopt it themselves. The result was that with the immense patronage of the Government in the hands of a President controlled by the slave barons, liberty was alwaj^s betrayed. Had I time I might here present some interesting and instructive facts, showing- how few men the North main- tained in Congress beyond a single term, or beyond four years in the House for twenty-five years before the war, and how the South continued her Representatives until her men of ordinarj^ abilities became so familiar with the public busi- ness of the country that they came to be leaders in Congress, and bv a careful organization of the committees, controlled the legislation of the nation. When I came into the Thirty-sixth Congress the two Senators from Florida — a political community without the voting population of the congressional district which I have the honor to represent — were each at the head of an important committee ; one at the head of the Navy, the other of the Post-office ; and this was a fair sample of the manner in which committees were organized both in the Senate and House for many years before the war. The whole State of Florida did not have as many letters go through its post-offices in a year as go through one city in my district in a single week ; nor did its entire commercial interests reach in one year an amount equal in value to the commerce of Toledo every ten days; and yet these two men shaped, and in a great measure controlled, the postal and naval legislation of the country. Thus the representatives of a class interest, numbering- but a fewHhundred thousand slave-owners, the most offensive and infamous oligarchy in history, by the political machinery of conventions took possession of the Government in the name — 491 — of Democracy and filled its most honorable and responsible offices from their own number. I am g-lad to be able to state that thousands of g-ood men all over the country are beo-in- ning- to see and feel the necessity of a radical chang-e in this matter. Of the many letters which I have received, and seen when received by others, none is more to the point than one shown me a few moments ago by my colleag-ue [Mr. Law- rence] , an extract from which I will read. He says to my colleag-ue: " Go on. You have borne the heat and burden of the day. ' We do not want to trade horses while crossing- the stream.' "We like your bold, manly course, and have learned to appreciate it the more since we see so many g-oing- over to the enemy. We want to make the example that it pays better to remain with our colors than to sell out and desert." DANGEROUS POWER OP THE PRESIDENT IN CONTROLLING CON- GRESSIONAL NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS. At least one-third of all the cong-ressional districts in the nation may safely be classed, in ordinary party times, as politically doubtful. Such districts are org-anized by the dominant part}^ in every State legislature for the purpose of securing-, if possible, to their party, every Representative in Congress from the State. A majority of all doubtful or close districts have what is known as a balance-of-power faction in each party, composed for the most part of dissatisfied and disappointed men, with political adventurers for leaders, who are always plotting for office, especially for congressional nominations, on the prin- ciple of "rotation," and "that this or that man has had it long enough; and that it is their turn now." If they cannot secure a nomination from one party they do not hesitate to ask a nomination from the opposite party. If they cannot secure a nomination from either party they do not hesitate TO "bolt" OR TO ENTER INTO ANY COALITION WHICH PROM- ISES TO SECURE DEFEAT TO ANY MAN WHO STANDS IN THEIR "WAY. In short, they will do any act which they believe will compel one or both parties to a compromise in the selection — 492 — of its candidates, under the threat of defeat if compliance with their demand is refused. These demands are usually the petty offices at the disposal of the Representative from the district, and a barg-ain as to which faction and county in the district shall have the cong-ressional candidate for the next term. In this way, with the aid of the plausible cry, ' * rotation in office," political apostates and adventurers and men with- out character, ability, or principle have so often in our his- tory crept into the council halls of the nation and misrepre- sented and betrayed the people. In such districts as I have described, the question too often asked by the best men of both parties is not who is the most reliable and competent man to represent us in Congress^ but "who can the most certainly defeat the candidate of the opposition." To accomplish this, men who never were Republicans have been selected as candidates and voted for by Republicans since the organization of that great party» and sometimes apostates, or men but recently members of the opposite party, have been nominated by Republican conven- tions, as in the case of Andrew Johnson, not because they ever advocated or honestly entertained Republican ideas, but because political tricksters and schemers promised their sup- port, and induced the party to believe that success could thus be secured at the election by the nomination of such candi- dates, and that defeat would be inevitable without it. As a rule the men thus nominated are but political adventurers, thrown to the surface like drift-wood in a flood, and, though they soon sink with their own rottenness, while they are in power they corrupt and debase the nation. The insane desire for mere party success rather than the triumph of ideas in the election of honorable and responsible men of unquestioned fidelity has invited and encouraged, in almost every congressional district in which the party ma- jority is uncertain, a score or more of "bolters," apostates, and political trimmers to thrust themselves upon both the great political parties as candidates for nomination to Con- gress. As a class these are the men who in the past thirty or forty years have so often betrayed constituencies at the bid- — 493 — ding- of an unscrupulous, ambitious Executive, and received their reward in some petty office. When a State or congressional district accepts as its representative a drunkard or a man without moral character and destitute of political principles, it treads the path which leads the nation on the hig-hway to ruin. Far better that a party be defeated than that it should elect a man morally hase enough to betray it. Far better defeat with men of character representing its ideas than success with men who represent neither moral nor political convictions. That a system so vicious and corrupting- should so long have continued in any State or locality, even under the despotism of party conventions, is one of the inexplicable mysteries of Ameri- can politics. To the fact that the rotation system was in a measure abolished by the Republican party, and faithful and expe- rienced men retained in Congress from a large number of Northern States during- the war and since, does the nation owe in g-reat part the successful legislation which carried it triumphantly through the war and prepared it the better to resist the usurpations and defeat in part the conspiracies of the acting- President and his co-conspirators and allies. With new, untried, and inexperienced men every two or four years such a result would have been impossible. So long- as the system which I have described of nomi- nating- and electing- Representatives to Cong-ress is adhered to — and I concede that the district system is infinitely better than the g-eneral ticket system plan which at one time pre- vailed in a number of States, where the entire congressional deleg-ation from a State was elected on one ticket — I say that so long- as the system now prevailing- of selecting Rep- resentatives to Congress continues and the vast patronage of the Government remains, as now, in the hands of the Execu- tive, so long- will a new set of unknown and unfaithful men be found in Cong-ress to do the bidding- of any Executive of their party who is unscrupulous enough to employ the Gov- ernment patronage for that purpose. Had Mr. Lincoln desired the defeat of the radical Repub- lican candidates for Congress in 1862 he could have secured it in a niajorit}- of congressional districts in the nation. Had — 494 — Mr. Johnson been a man of character and ability he -could in 1866, by ordinary management and a judicious use of the public patronag-e, have secured in close districts the defeat of all Republicans opposed to " his policy." Through his thir- ty or forty thousand appointees and his newspaper organs professing Republicanism, and such Republicans as he then had in Congress co-operating with him, he could have said, in a way not to be misunderstood, that such a result would be agreeable to him, and that a large number of leading Re- publicans, in Congress and out of it, concurred with him in believing that the defeat of all radicals was necessary to the complete success of the Republican party. And there were a number of professed Republicans then in Congress stupid enough or base enough to listen to such schemes and to say that the President's purposes were "to fight out his differences with the radicals in the Republican party;" that " in no event would he go over to the enemy." Fortunately for the nation, Mr. Johnson's open apostasy and base betrayal of the great party which elected him ; his offensive and disgusting exhi- bition of himself throughout the country, and the want of character in his so-called Republican adherents was all that saved us from division and defeat at the elections in 1866 and since. Mr. Chairman, there are but few congressional districts in which any President of character and good standing with his party may not, by a free use of the vast patronage in his hands, defeat, either for nomination or election, any candi- date of his party for Congress who is obnoxious to him. That such vast power ought not to be lodged in the hands of any President will be conceded by all true friends of demo- cratic government. As the nation grows in population and wealth this vast, uncontrolled and uncontrollable power increases and becomes more dangerous. Its corrupting influence reaches out and subsidizes men in every county of the republic. Sir, on behalf of all who cherish the democratic idea, I plead for the submission, by this Congress, of such an amendment to the Constitution as shall, when adopted, give security against the corruption and the danger which is in- — 495 — separable from the selfish use of the vast appointing- power in the hands of any President desirous of a re-election. Before the rebellion such Representatives in Congress as I have described were always sufficiently numerous to pre- vent, by uniting- with the opposition, the passage of any important measure obnoxious to the President if he exercised the veto power. Hence we see that a President of character and ability may, with the vast patronag-e at his disposal and a liberal use of the veto, defy, in ordinary party times, both Congress and the nation for his entire term. THE REMEDY OF IMPEACHMENT BUT "A SCARECROW." As to the impeachment and removal of a President, that ■will probably never be attempted ag-ain. The late melan- choly failure or refusal of the so-called hig-h court to convict and depose an admitted usurper and violator of law, who was without a party and powerless to resist any order of that tribunal, has practically settled that question for all time to come. The nation must seek some other protection from the usurpations of its Executives than the hig-h court of impeach- ment. Jefferson said that the clause of the Constitution providing- for the impeachment of the President would prove but "a scarecrow." To-day we all know that it is a dead letter. "We have all witnessed the resort which was had by artful men to technical subterfug-es and leg-al sophistries in order to release the President from all accountability to the nation. If Jefferson at the time of the adoption of the Constitu- tion could foresee and declare that "impeachment would prove but a SCARECROW," we who have witnessed its practical work- ing's may, I think, without incurring- the charg-e of rashness, proclaim it " a national farce." In the light of what has so recently transpired I am more profoundly impressed than ever with the great wisdom and prophetic foresight of the real statesmen of the Revolution. They comprehended the danger of executive power and the impossibility of successful impeachment before the Senate. In the Virginia convention Mr. George Mason, in speak- ing of this defect in the national Constitution, said: — 496 — "It has been wittily observed that the Constitution has married the President and Senate — has made them man and wife. I believe the consequence that g-enerally results from marriage will happen here. They will be continually sup- porting- and aiding each other. They will always consider their interests as united. Wb know thb advantage the; few HAVE OVER THE MANY. ThEY CAN WITH FACILITY ACT IN CON- CERT AND ON A UNIFORM SYSTEM; THEY MAY JOIN SCHEMES AND PLOT AGAINST THE PEOPLE WITHOUT ANY CHANCE OF DETEC- TION. The Senate and President will form a combina- tion THAT CANNOT BE PREVENTED BY THE REPRESENTATIVES. The executive and legislative powers thus connected will destroy all balances. This would have been prevented by a constitutional council to aid the President in the discharge of hisof&ce; vesting the Senate at the same time with the power of impeaching them. Then we should have real responsi- bility. In ITS PRESENT form THE GUILTY TRY THEMSELVES. The President is tried by his counselors. He is not removed from office during his trial. When he is arraigned for treason he has the command of the Army and Navy, and may surround the Senate with thirty thousand troops." . . . "He may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen at some future day that he will establish a monarchy or destroy the republic. If he HAS the power op GRANTING PARDONS BEFORE INDICTMENT AND CONVICTION, MAY HE NOT STOP INQUIRY AND PREVENT DETECTION?" Mr. Madison answered Mr. Mason as follows: "There is one security in this case to which gentlemen may not have adverted. If the President be connected in any suspicious manner with any persons, and there be grounds to believe he will shelter himself, the House of Representa- tives can impeach him. They can remove him if found guilty; THEY CAN SUSPEND HIM WHEN SUSPECTED, AND THE POWER WILL DEVOLVE UPON THE ViCE-PrESIDENT. ShOULD HE BE vSUSPECTED ALSO, HE MAY LIKEWISE BE SUSPENDED TILL HE BE IMPEACHED AND REMOVED, AND THE LEGISLATURE MAY MAKE A TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT. ThIS IS A GREAT SE- CURITY." I do not forget that Mr. Madison, after becoming Presi- dent, yielded to influences which have controlled other men after obtaining power, and that he denied the authority of Congress to suspend the President during trial. I prefer the opinion of Madison when speaking in the Virginia conven- tion, to the opinion of Madison after he became President. — 497 — Mr. Monroe, who afterwards became President, declared that the power conceded to the Executive under the Constitution was dangerous to the liberties of the people. He said: "The President ought to act under the strongest im- pulses of reward and punishment, which are the strongest incentives to human action. There are two ways of secur- ing this point. Hn ought to depend on the people of America for his appointment and continuance in office. He ought to be tried by dispassionate judges. His respon- sibility ought, further, to be direct and immediate." . . . "To whom is he responsible? To the Senate, his OWN council. If he makes a treaty bartering the interests of his country, by whom is he to be tried? By the very per- sons who advised him to perpetrate the act. Is this any security?" Mr. Grayson, another distinguished member of the same convention, during the debates from which I have just quoted, said: "Consider the means of importance he (the President) will have by appointing officers. If he has a good under- standing with the Senate they will join to prevent a dis- covery op his misdeeds." . . . "As this Government is organized it would be dangerous to trust the President with such powers. How will you punish him if he abuse his power? Will you call him before the Senate? They are his counselors and partners in crimes. Where are your checks? We ought to be extremely cautious in this country. If ever THE Government be changed it will probably be into a despotism." Has not our recent experience justified all that was said by the considerate statesmen from whom I have quoted, of the danger of executive power and the impossibility of redress by impeachment and trial before the Senate. These brief speeches are so conclusive, when coupled with events which have just transpired, that I do not hesitate to declare the remedy by impeachment for executive crimes and misde- meanors "a national farce." Prom all that has transpired am I not justified in so proclaiming? What are the facts? The great criminal of the nineteenth century was brought to the bar of the nation's appointed court, and the issue proved too much for the weakness of human nature. The 32 — 498 — executive power asserts its defiance of laws and Constitution and its supremacy over both, and the people are powerless in the presence of the usurper. Weeks ag-o he is said to have communicated the forthcoming- decision of the Senate and named the very members thereof who were to vote for his acquittal. The people with one accord had pronounced him g-uilty, but the hig-h court enter up a verdict of acquittal. All this is done under the sanction of a judicial oath, and the people are told that they must not g-o behind that to question the judicial verdict of Senators. In answer to this I need only reply that the vilest enormities ever inflicted on mankind of which we have any record in history were com- mitted under the sanction and solemnities of a judicial oath. If public rumor be true, the verdict acquitting- the Presi- dent was not rendered because of law or evidence, but was the result of a secret, deliberate and carefully org-anized com- bination, broug-ht about by personal hatreds, individual am- bitions, presidential electioneering- schemes in the interest of office-holding- and ofSce-seeking- cliques; and alas! all fear by a more monstrous prostitution of the great trust committed to each individual member of the court which shall be name- less here. If such combinations, with the means which are said to have been employed, may successfully prevent the removal of a dangerous and g-uilty : resident, by the great tribunal pro- vided by our fathers for the protection and security of the republic, we may look for th- early inauguration of a policy which will speedily bring into entire subordination the legis- lative to the executive department of the Government. From the judgment of this high tribunal, made under the solemn obligations of a judicial oath, we intend to ap- peal to a higher and safer tribunal, the great tribunal of the people, who, though not acting under the sanction of official or judicial oaths, will render a verdict quite as honestly and quite as free from partisan hatred — a verdict which shall, at all events, be free from the taint of dishonor and corruption. To me the only hope of the nation is in that power which can make Presidents and Senators. To that incorrup- tible power we shall appeal from a verdict which is utterly indefensible and a mockery of justice. — 499 — To the people we also intend to appeal for an amend- ment to their org-anic law which shall abolish the Vice-Pres- idential office and provide ag-ainst the re-election of any man to the Presidency, as a means of obtaining- additional security ag-ainst the encroachments of the executive power. Pass this amendment ; secure a fairrepresentation to the minority; provide for a modification of the veto power by authorizing: the President to return a bill with his objections, but provide that on a reconsideration a majority of the members elected and qualified in the Senate and in the House of Representa- tives shall be required to enact the bill into law over the veto, instead of two-thirds of a quorum, as now, and the people will have all the security necessary to protect them ag-ainst hasty, partisan or unconstitutional legislation. Add to this a civil tenure-of-office act which shall take away from Senators and Representatives the authority which custom has secured to those representing- the administration party of desig-nating* persons for appointment and lodg-e it with a board of exam- iners, as free to act as the examining* board at "West Point, which board shall examine all applicants for appointment and for promotion, and before whom all shall have a fair hearing-, with a copy of the charg-es and specifications prior to their dismissal from office ; and we will do something" toward remed^ang- the present unjust and indefensible system of appointing- persons to office in our civil service. Provide with this a modification of the pardoning- power, which ought never to be lodged in the hands of any one man, and a provision authorizing the House of Representatives, by a two-thirds vote, to demand a change of any member of the Cabinet, and the people will retain in their hands such con- trol of their public servants as will be a guarantee of their fidelity and faithfulness. In this way the dangerous assump- tions of the Executive can.be successfully provided against and the rights and liberties of the people preserved. If some such provision as I have suggested is not adopted, then the declaration made by Franklin in the convention which framed the Constitution, that — *' The executive power will be always increasing here as. elsewhere till it ends in monarchy," — 500 — will, I fear, some day not far distant become a prophecy ful- filled. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES NOT SELECTED BY CONVENTIONS BE- CAUSE OF FITNESS, CHARACTER, OR ABILITY. Mr. Chairman, the considerations which so often prevail in the nomination of Representatives to Cong-ress in closely- contested districts have too often prevailed with both parties in the nomination of their presidential candidates. The question asked by the leaders and active men in each party is not, as it should be, " Who of all the public men of my party is the best qualified, because of executive ability, character, culture and fidelity to principles, to discharg^e the duties of the presidential of6.ce with credit to himself and honor to the nation both at home and abroad; who has the most honor- able record, the most blameless public and private life with which to adorn and dignify the most exalted and honorable political office on earth?" But the question asked is, ' ' Where can we find a candidate without a public record, a man of whom our opponents can say nothing-, and of whom we may say what we please, to satisfy the interests or prejudices of any locality without fear of contradiction; a man who will the most certainly secure the electoral vote of this or that State which political prophets declare to be doubtful; States which are conceded to hold the balance of power in the presidential contest?" These are the questions asked. It could not well be otherwise under such a political sys- tem than that untried, unfaithful and incompetent men, com- paratively unknown to the great body of people, should so often have reached the presidential office. I need not cite more than one instance in our history to show how success- fully the honest voters of a great State have been defrauded and betrayed by the nomination of such men as I have de- scribed. In 1844 the people of Pennsylvania were induced to vote for James K. Polk and against Henry Clay, because the Dem- ocratic leaders in that State adopted and carried upon all their banners the rallying watchwords, "Polk, Dallas and the tariif of '42," watchwords which would have defeated — 501-^ them if placed upon their banners in the South or "West. After the election the people whose votes had thus been ob- tained were openly and unblushing-ly betraj'-ed by the repeal of the tariff of 1842, which act received the casting* vote of Vice-President Dallas, of Pennsylvania, and secured the ap- proval of President Polk. The people who have been so often betrayed beg-in to recog"nize the fact that treachery in politics has become a trade, and that so long- as the convention and electoral sys- tem prevails they are powerless in the hands of its manag-ers. They know that, as a rule, so long- as the people submit to this system, no man will be nominated by either party for the Presidency who is their first choice, or for whom a major- ity of the electors of either party would voluntarily vote for nomination at the ballot-box, if they could do so under the protection of law. Adopt the system which I propose and no third or fourth- rate man would probably ever be nominated for President, certainly no man could by any possibility be nominated whose political opinions were unknown and with whose polit- ical record the people were not familiar. The Republican party with such a system would never have been g-uilty of the folly of nominating- Andrew Johnson — nor would the voters in the Democratic party entertain for a moment the proposi- tion to nominate the Chief Justice as their candidate. Yet Johnson was nominated by a Republican convention and some of the Democratic manag-ers profess to favor the nom- ination of Mr. Chase in their convention. All know that Johnson was the choice of a few tricksters in the Baltimore convention, and not the choice of the Re- publican party. Mr. Chase would not be the first choice of one Democrat in a thousand, yet men are plotting- for his nomination in the Democratic convention, knowing- that if he can be nominated the despotism of king- caucus would compel the party to yield him its support. In order to obtain a sufficient number of votes to be in- cluded in the list of the five hig-hest or the three hig-hest voted for at the first election, it would be necessary, under the plan which I propose, to present to the voters of both parties or all parties, men of well-known character, ability — 502 — and political integritj. Ko faction or minority in anj party could then form combinations and secure nominations by fraud, nor could they defeat, as now, tlie nomination of any man "who was tlie choice of the majority ; schemers could not hold the ** balance of power" in any State, and compel the nomination of their candidate on pain of defeat at the election. The voice of each party in the nation would speak and be 'heard as a unit, and there would be no desperate efforts made, as now, by either party to secure a bare major- ity in large States by fraud and corruption, in order to secure their electoral vote. This proposition is so just that I hope it will commend itself to the Congress of the nation, as I am confident it will to the great body of the American people. Its adoption will secure to the voters of the nation a system, plain, simple, natural — a system free from complications and from the con- trol of minorities — one which permits no body of men or party machinery to interpose between the people and the ballot-box. CITIZENSHIP SUFFRAGE Mr. Chairman, if we adopt the proposition for the elec- tion of the President by a direct vote of the people, the neces- sity of securing the privileges of the ballot to every citize>n without distinction of race or color, whether native or f oreig-n born, will be conceded by all who desire the unity and stabil- ity of our Government. While I hold that Congress has the power, under the Constitution as it is, to clothe every citizen with the privileg-e of the ballot, I am confident it will never be- secured to them except by an amendment to the national Constitution. I am ready now, as I have been for years, to vote for an act of Congress securing the great privilege of the ballot to all citizens without regard to race or color in every State and Territory of the Republic. I cannot, however, shut my eyes to the fact that such an act of Cong'ress passed so soon after the rejection by a num- ber of States of amendments to their constitutions proposing" to confer suffrage on colored citizens, would meet with such — 503 — determined and united opposition from the so-called Demo- cratic party and from some professed Republicans, that in many localities it would end in violence and resistance to the execution of the law. I need not add that this resistance and violence would be inaugurated by the very class who to-day would demand the prompt and merciless execution of the infamous and brutal fugitive-slave act, if slavery were not abolished In the name of democracy and Christianity the enslave- ment of men has been sanctioned, and the most God-defying laws executed with the basest alacrity; while those enact- ments which ennoble and dignify the human race and recog- nize the rights and privileges of men are condemned and re- sisted by its professed disciples. I want citizenship and suffrage to be synonymous. To put the question beyond the power of States to withhold it, I propose the amendment to article fourteen, now submitted. A large number of Republicans who concede that the qualifications of an elector ought to be the same in every State, and that it is more properly a national than a State question, do not believe Congress has the power under our present Constitution to enact a law conferring suffrage in the States, nevertheless they are ready and willing to vote for such an amendment to the Constitution as shall make citizen- ship and suffrage uniform throughout the nation. For this purpose I have added to the proposed amendment for the election of President a section on suffrage, to which I invite special attention. This is the third or fourth time I have brought forward a proposition on suffrage substantially like the one just pre- sented to the House. I do so again because I believe the question of citizenship suffrage a question which ought to be met and settled now. Important and all-absorbing as many questions are which now press themselves upon our consideration, to me no question is so vitally important as this. Tariffs, taxation and finance ought not to be permitted to supersede a question affecting the peace and personal security of every citizen, and, I may add, the peace and security of the nation. — 504 — No party can be justified in withholding' the ballot from any citizen of mature years, native or foreig-n born, except such as are non compos or areg-uilty of infamous crimes; nor can they justly confer this g^reat privilege upon one class of citizens to the exclusion of another class simply because one is white and the other black. True democracy pleads for the equal rig-hts of all men before the law. It demands the ballot for every man, because, under a g"overnment such as ours, the ballot is the poor man's weapon of protection and defense. It g-ives him dig-nity and power; it recog-nizes his manhood and secures him justice; it makes the g"overnment his ag-ent instead of his master. We all know from experience something* of the educational in- fluence and self-protecting- power of the ballot. It quickens and expands the thoughts of men and enables them the better to comprehend their own interests and the higher and more important interests of the State. To secure this self-educating-, self-protecting- power to all, I ag-ain press upon your consideration this amendment. Its adoption will make the national Constitution what it oug-ht to be, the shield of every citizen, so that no State may ever again deprive him, without just cause, of this highest privileg-e of American citizenship; so that hereafter, if a citizen remove from one State into another, he shall not on that account be deprived by State law of the ballot and be treated in his own country as an alien. Pass this amendment, and we shall conform our national Constitution to our new condition as a nation. "We will there- by place in the hands of each citizen a new power for its preservation, so that we shall become, in fact, one people, living- under a common Constitution, which is the outgrowth of civilization, experience, and necessity; a Constitution which recog-nizes justice as the supreme law and reflects the convictions and aspirations of a free and united people. To this proposition, so long- cherished and believed by me to be for the best interests of my country, I invoke the considerate judg-ment of all men and an impartial verdict at the bar of public opinion. HON. JAMBS M. ASHLEY UNANIMOUSLY RE-NOMI- NATED FOR CONGRESS BY THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAIv CONVENTION OP THE TENTH DISTRICT. At Napoleon, August 19, 1868. The Republican Congressional Convention for the Tenth District met, pursuant to call, at Napoleon on the 19th inst., and brg-anized by electing- Hon. E. S. Blakeslee of Williams County, President, and F. C. Cully, of Wood County, Secre- tary. Hon. J. M. Ashley was nominated by acclamation. The Committee on Platform presented their report, which was unanimously adopted. Among* the resolutions were the following-: Resolved, That in the Hon. J. M. Ashley, the 10th Cong-ressional District has a true, worthy and able Represen- tative, and we do hereby most cordially endorse his political action as in harmony with true Republican principles. Resolved, That we cordially approve and recommend the adoption of the constitutional amendment introduced into Congress, on the 29th of May last, by our Representative, Hon. J. M. Ashley, so far as it proposes the election of a President by a direct vote of the people. That we also en- dorse his proposition to make citizenship and suffrag-e uni- form through all the States and Territories of the republic. The Committee appointed to notify Mr. Ashley of his nomination, returned and reported Mr. Ashley present to speak for himself. Mr. Ashley was received with enthusias- tic applause, and addressed the convention as follows: (505) — 506 — Mp. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: With all my heart I thank you for this generous and cor- dial welcome. I have no words at command with which to clothe the thoughts strug-g-ling- in my heart for utterance. I would that I had command of language, that I might appropriately ex- press to you the emotions that well up from my heart to my lips, so that you might realize how deeply and sensibly I feel the value of your unwavering support. As in the past it lias strengthened me in the discharge of every public duty and in all our political struggles, so in the future it will nerve my arm in the battle for the right. I appear before you in obedience to your summons, to accept the nomination which you have just tendered me with such unanimity and enthusiasm. I take with pride the position which you have assigned me, and beg you and the noble constituency whom you have the honor to represent, to accept my grateful acknowledg- ments for these repeated and distinguished marks of their respect, esteem, and confidence. We are about to enter upon a campaign in the Tenth District, the importance of which must not be underestimated. I shall need and hope to have your hearty co-operation, as well as that of every Republican and every friend of the workingman in the District. Our labor is not for the mere triumph of party, or the election of individual men, but for the triumph of great principles, upon the success of which v/e believe the future peace and welfare of the the nation depends. These, princi- ples are authoritatively announced for us in the national Republican platform which you have endorsed. I subscribe to them, most heartily, so far as they go, and only wish they were clearer and stronger in favor of impartial suffrage. Conflicting political opinions, which are fundamental, are sooner or later crystallized into political creeds and at- tract CO their support all who honestly subscribe to them. Hence we have conflicting political organizations. In a free government, such as ours, they are a necessity. A republi- can government could not long exist without them. All will — 507 — agree that it is the duty of every citizen to support v/ith its influence and his ballot, the party which best represents his political convictions. Which of the two g-reat parties now appealing- to you for your support best represents your views of local and national policy? Which by its acts and its history is the best entitled to your confidence and gratitude? As you do not judg-e men by their professions and promises, but by their acts and the company which they keep, so if you are honest with your- selves and just to your country, you will not judg-e parties by their promises and professions, but rather by their acts and the company which they keep. [Here the audience was so g-reat as to fill the court-house to suffocation, whereupon an adjournment was had to the open air, where, to an immense crowd, Mr. Ashley continued as follows:] • Let me ask what acts the party calling- itself Democratic, has done for the past quarter of a century, whether in power or out of power, which entitle it to your g-ratitude and sup- port? What promise has it made which it has not broken? What prediction has it made, which has not been falsified? What company has it been keeping- which entitles it to your love and confidence and to the confidence and love of the Union soldier? From the election of Van Bureu in 1836 to the election of Mr. Lincoln in 1860, with the exception of one month, this party has had absolute control of the National Government and of nearly all the State g-overnments. Its name was at- tractive; its professions hig-h-sounding-; its promises alluring-. In the name of democracy it assumed unwarranted power. It declared ag-ainst g-ranting- special privileg-es to the few at the expense of the many, while it fostered and aided in building- up an aristocracy the most despotic and offensive ever known among- men: an aristocracy of slave barons. While professing to defend the liberties and the rig-hts of mankind, it enslaved millions of men without scruple and sold them without remorse, like beasts in the shambles. When the free labor of the country saw and felt the deg-rading- competition of slave labor with their own, and demanded that it should not be permitted to g-o into Territories then free, this party — 508— "became tlie ally of the monopolists who claimed to own the laborer, and at the bidding* of these slave barons, aided in deg-rading" free labor by maintaining- that this olig-archy of slave barons had a right to take their slaves into any free Territory of the nation in defiance of the people. While pro- fessing- a love for the Union superior to all other parties, it announced doctrines which, if practically applied, could only result in the destruction of the Union. While charg-ing all anti-slavery men with being- disunionists, they openly support the most notorious disunionists for the most responsible offices. To every exacting- demand of these slave barons it compelled the nation to j'ield a deg-rading" obedience. With alacrit}' it voted aye whenever they demanded more terrritory for the extension of slavery. To their demand for a fug'itive-slave law, the most infamous -known in all history, it willing-ly consented. To their demand that the free territories of Kan- sas and Nebraska, w^hich by solemn covenant had been dedi- cated to free labor, should be opened up to slavery, it abjectly said amen. And finally, when this slave baron aristocracy became satisfied that the free labor of the country would no longer submit in the name of democracy to their imperious 'demands and unconstitutional usurpations, they defiantly proclaimed that if the people should elect a President in favor of free labor and unfriendly to this privileged class and the pretensions of slavery, they would put into practical operation their doctrine of State rights, secede from the Union and destroy the government. Even this traitorous threat was approved and defended by a MAJORITY of the Northern leaders of this party, includ- ing James Buchanan, ex-President Pierce, Gov. Seymour, Vallandigham, Pendleton and Pugli. Some of these men joined the traitors in declaring that the United States had no constitutional power to prevent secession, and declared menacingly that if the Union men of the nation attempted to march an army into the South to put down rebellion, or in their own language, "attempted to coerce a sovereign SISTER State, we would have to march over their dead BODIES." I heard this declaration more than once from their acknowledged leaders. — 509 — This is the record of our opponents for a quarter of a century before the war, on the question of slavery, the rig"ht of , secession and the power of the nation to protect its own life when assailed. I hold that slavery is violative of every democratic prin- ciple, and that a slaveholder at heart could no more be a Democrat, in truth, than the prince of darkness could become an ang-el of light. I hold that the maintenance by this par- ty of the rig-htfulness of slavery and their support of the slave barons, laid the foundation for our late civil war, and that their defense of the doctrines of state rig-hts and secession aided and precipitated the rebellion and encourag-ed and strengthened it after the war began. Indeed, without this aid and co-operation of Northern pro-slavery Democrats, the rebellion would have been impos- sible, or if possible, must of necessity have been of but short duration. During- the canvass of 1860, this party openly declared that if the friends of free labor elected Mr. Lincoln, the slave •oligarchy would not submit. After his election and before his inauguration, part of Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet and many of the recognized leaders of his party, conspired with the slave-holding traitors in an attempt to take possession of the National Capitol and inaugurate their rebel government, and thus prevent the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln at "Washington. Their conspiracies, fortunately, failed, and Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated. The government, however, was almost in ruins, as they intended it should be, before Mr. Lincoln could assume power and protect it. They had armed the South and disarmed the North. They had deliberately destroyed the national credit — bankrupted the treasury, and laid the foundation for foreign intervention. Seven States had seceded and formed a National Confed- erate Government, with the co-operation, or at least without the protest, of Mr. Buchanan's administration. This Confed- erate Government had organized armies, which, under the command of its authorized leaders, was marching upon the Capitol of the Republic. You cannot have forgotten that all this occurred before Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1861. After this, many of the Northern leaders of — 510 — this party, both in and out of Congress, joined in the support of Buchanan's declaration that " if there was no constitutional rig-ht for secession, there was cleaely no constitutionai, AUTHORITY TO PREVENT SECESSION BY FORCE."' They proclaimed every measure adopted by Mr. Lincoln and the loyal Congress to put down the rebellion "danger- ous USURPATIONS." They declared that Mr. Lincoln's procla- mations were all void, and the emancipation of the slaves a violation of " vested rights." Indeed, during- the entire war, nothing" was regarded by them as constitutional which promised to crush the rebellion. They prophesied national bankruptcy, and everywhere published that the national debt would never be paid. They declared the war a failure, and did all they could to make it a failure, by discouraging enlist- ments, and encouraging desertions ; by conspiring to resist the government and aid the rebellion by a counter Northern insurrection. They were even guilty of the humiliating in- famy of asking Lord Lyons, the British Minister, to co-oper- ate with them in securing the intervention of the five great powers of Europe in favor of the rebel cause. Thanks to the heroism, endurance and fidelity of the Union soldiers and the great party to which you and I belong, the conspiracies of these men all failed; their prophecies all proved false, and the mightiest rebellion the world ever saw was crushed; the constitutional authority of the nation maintained over every foot of the national territory without compromise and without dishonor, and but for the conduct of this party for three years, and their co-operation with Andrew Johnson, every Southern State would ere this have been restored to its "practical relations in the Union," and the nation placed beyond the danger of another rebellion. After the re- bellion was crushed and the rebel armies disbanded, these men who before the war were the political disciples of the rebel chiefs, and their open and secret allies during the war, now unblushingly apologized for and defended the "lost CAUSE," declaring that the rebels had committed no crime, and had lost none of their rights by secession and rebellion, but were entitled without conditions, and on their own mo- tion, to return to the national Congress, with all the rights, privileges and dignities of loyal citizens and loyal States. — 511 — This wonderful party could never have survived its great crimes and violated pledg-es, its betrayal of freedom, and its hostility to free labor, but for its attractive and alluring- name. It has opposed every reform in the interest of liberty and free labor for the past quarter of a century. It opposed the con- stitutional amendment abolishing" slavery throughout the re- public, and sought to defeat the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, recently adopted, which amendment secured the equal rights of all citizens before the law and the equal pro- tection of the law to every stranger within our gates. It opposed the restoration of the rebel States to the Union on the basis of justice, and became the ally of our apostate President, and with the aid of seven wise and incorruptible judicial Republican Senators, saved him from the conviction due for his indefensible crimes. At last it openly joined hands in its great wigwam in New York with a majority of the late rebel leaders, and has presented for your suffrage Seymour and Blair, on a platform hostile to peace and constitutional government. In all their leaders said and did in that convention, you will find no sentiment in favor of universal liberty, or im- partial suffrage — nor in platform or speech will you find a word or line in condemnation of the rebellion and its horrible crimes; but everywhere outspoken sympathy with the rebel leaders and their agents, and outspoken hatred of th-e nation's deliverer and peerless chieftain. General Grant. This is in brief, a summary of the record, the prophesies and the promises which the leaders of the so-called Demo- cratic party, who are now asking for your votes, have made and the company they have kept and are now keeping. If any man approves and endorses all this, and much more than I have time to enumerate, let him vote for Seymour and Blair, and the nominees of that party. If he does not, let him vote for Grant and Colfax, and to maintain the great party that saved the nation's life, secured the triumph of free labor, and the liberty of millions. Let me now ask you to look for a few moments at the record of the Republican party; a record so grand and noble that no poor words of mine can present it, as it is mdelibiv — 512 — impressed upon the minds and hearts of all who love liberty and justice. Its principles came down to earth more than eig-hteen hundred years ag^o. Our fathers, when they established this government, recog^nized and embodied its great principles in our matchless Constitution. Prosperity came, and slavery, which our fathers supposed would be powerless under the new g"Overnment, soon overshadowed and controlled it, and for many years, in the name of democracy, made the love of liberty a crime. For nearly forty years a few of the g-randest men in the world's history, went forth like one of old crying" in the wilderness, to prepare the way for the national jubilee of our redemption. Without official position, without money, with- out power, they went forth proclaiming" the g"ospel of liberty for all, and because each " came neither eating nor drink- ing" in the Democratic wigwam, they said, "he hath a DEVIL," and being unable to listen and withstand such dan- gerous heresies, they forthwith stoned and mobbed, and as- sailed with unsavory eggs these prophets of the new evan- gel, who, in the land of Washington, came pleading for the liberty of the human race. After a long rnl weary struggle, in which the war against slavery was waged with irresistible power, despite mob law and mob violence and the fiendish spirit of hate and prejudice, Abraham Lincoln was carried by its matchless force into the presidential chair. The slave barons' rebellion was then inaugurated and crushed. The fundamental principles proclaimed by the Republican party, became the corner-stone of our national Constitution. Millions of men emancipated by Mr. Lincoln's proclamation, had their freedom guaranteed and made secure by an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting slavery forever, and after a long struggle they were enfranchised in all the rebel States, so that never again, on American soil, shall a slave stand in chains beneath *'The starry-gemmed flag of the free." The Fourteenth Amendment was also proposed and adopted, and to-day it is part of our national Constitution. These two — sis- amendments are worth the strug"g"le of a century. Bj them liberty and justice are established throug"hout all the borders of the republic. All men are thus made equal before the law, and cannot be denied, in any State, the equal protection of the law. No traitor of the class enumerated can hold any office of honor, trust, or profit until his disabilities are removed by a two-thirds vote of each House of Congress. The public debt, created to save the nation's life, and to pay the pensions and bounties of soldiers and their widows and orphans, shall not be questioned in any place. What a sublime triumph! The rebellion crushed, and liberty and equal justice for all made the fundamental law. No broken promises; no violated faith; no alliance with treason; no conspiracy with European monarchies in aid of the rebel cause and agfainst the life of the republic. This is the record of the Republican party. For all this we are indebted to the men who received into their hearts the sublime doctrines of the Declaration of Independence, and consecrated their lives to a vindication of the great truths which it contains. To the anti-slavery men and women of the United States we owe our political redemption as a nation. They who endured social and political ostracism, the hatred of slave masters and the cowardly assaults of Northern mobs, in defense of those who were manacled and dumb, and could not ask for help, were the moral heroes of our great anti-slavery revolution. To them and to many thousands whose names will never be written on the pages of history, but whose lives v/cre as true, as unselfish and as consecrated as any, ia the nation indebted for its regenerated Constitution, its vindication of the risfhts of human nature, and its solemn pledge for the future impartial administration of justice. To me these are the men whose lives are the most beautiful and the most valuable. I admire most of all that man who, having adopted ideas which he believes to be right, adheres to them through good and evil report, and conse- crates his life to their development. I do not ask whether he agrees or disagrees with me on any other question. I only — 514 — care to know that he follows with fidelity his hig-hest and best convictions. I hail any true man as a worthy co-worker in th«- inter- ests of mankind, who, with the same labor, can cause one. additional spear of g-rass to g-row where but one grows now. I welcome any man who, by any invention or contribution to science or art, to literature, or to law, aids in elevating-, ennobling- and bettering the condition of mankind. The world is full of men whose pure and unselfish lives ennoble and dignify the human race. My exemplars are the men who in all ages have lived such lives, whether religious reformers like Luther or Weslc}', or philosophers and statesmen like Hampden and Sydney, Locke and Bacon, Cobden and Bright, and John Sl-iart Mill, or like our own "Washington and Lincoln, Phillips and Garrison, Chase and Sumner, Greeley and Gerrit Smith. To me the only model statesman, is he who secures liberty and impartial justice for all and protects the weak against the strong. He is the statesman and the benefactor who aids in educating- the ignorant, and in lightening the cares of the toiling mil- lions. Since I became 3"our representative I have attempted to follow the pathway illumined by the footprints of such men as I have named. How well I have succeeded you must determine. I welcome all men as co-laborers in the interests of the liberty of mankind, whether agreeing with me or not, who follow conscientiously their highest and best convic- tions, for "the; harvest is plenty but the laborers are FEW." He who consecrates his life to any great work in the in- terest of truth and justice, of science or mecjianics, or an}-- thing which promises to benefit mankind, commands my highest admiration. Only day before yesterday, from all parts of Continental Burope there were gathered together in Abyssinia, so recently the theatre of desolating war, a large number of scholars and philosophers, to make astronom- ical observations in the interest of science, civilization and peace. As the world is interested in the event, and I hope is to be benefited by the discoveries which the several corps of scien_ — 515 — tific explorers now in that country may make, I allude to it here, and use the fact, to illustrate what I mean, when I say that I welcome and recog-nize all men, in whatever depart- ment of human labor, who follow their hig-hest and best con- victions and consecrate their lives to the great work of better- ing the condition of mankind. The g-entlemen to whom I have referred visited Abyssinia because there was to be a total eclipse of the sun in the far East on the I7th of this month. The sun would be as far from the earth as it ever is, while the moon was almost as near. The sun would thus appear small, and the moon com- paratively larg-e. These conditions make it favorable for astronomical observations, and as the eclipse was expected to be total in Abyssinia and remain unchanged for about seven minutes, the men of science have gone thither. Their theory is, that there is another and a younger planet, nearer the sun than Mercury, which has never been seen by mortal eye, and of whose movements they propose to take observations. No telescope has ever yet penetrated this space or revealed the mystery of the presence of this planet, and yet there were hundreds of men gathered from all parts of Europe day before yesterday, confident that their theory would be confirmed. This to me is a sublime spectacle. Not for the love of money, or power, or place were these men gathered together, but for the love of science and the hope of benefiting mankind. The men who in workshop, or field, or garret, toil to develop any idea which promises to promote the peace and happiness of the human race, are the men who command my enthusiastic admiration. These are the world's real heroes, to whom mankind owe a debt of gratitude which they can never repay. These are the kind of men for the most part who organized and consolidated the great Republican party of America and led it to victory. These are the men in whose presence the world should stand with uncovered head. There are thousands of men and women in this District whose unselfish fidelity to the right, in all our great strug- gles, entitle them to be classed with the world's real heroes; these are those whom I have sought more especially to repre- — 516 — sent; and they are the men, I am proud to know, who have upheld me ia every battle. In the presidential canvass upon which we are just en- tering-, this is the class of men upon whom the nation must rely. Whatever may be our differences as to men, or on mi- nor questions of tariffs and taxation, we are all ag-reed as to the imperative necessity of saving- the nation from the possi- bility of another rebellion. This can be done by the election of General Grant, because all believe that his election will g"ive us peace. This, all men concede, will save us from a reign of terror and violence. No existing- State government will be subverted or overthrown. No loyal man, whether white or black, will be disfranchised or deprived of his nat- ural or political rights, but the work of enfranchisement wi*l'l g-o steadily and securely on until all men who swear fidelity to the Constitution shall be enfranchised and disenthralled. I had intended, in what I said to-day, to render a short account of my stewardship since I became your Representa- tive, but I have already detained you too long. There is one matter, however, to which, in closing, I will refer to here and at this time, so as to put to rest the silly inventions of men who seem only to hope for political preferment by mis- representing and pulling- others down. If any man can point to a vote, or to a speech which I have made in Congress in favor of or against the passage of any law, to which he objects, I am ready to answer. No man has ever been deceived, when voting- for me, and I do not intend that any man shall be deceived. Upon the question of suffrage, I made a speech last year, to which I wish to call your attention. You will find it in the Congressional Globe of last December. I stand by the propositions and declarations which I then made, because they are the sentiments of my heart. Agreeing with the great body of the Republican party as to the practicability and necessity of impartial suffrage I could never, by my vote, consent to the disfranchisement of any person, competent for the ordinary duties of a citizen, except as a punishment for crime. I hold that every adult citizen of the United States, and every adult citizen of a civilized nation who is naturalized — 517 — in the United States, and not disqualified because non com- pos, or by conviction for crime, ought to have a voice in the affairs of his g-overnment. In this country our fathers pro- claimed the log-ic of the American revolution when they declared the great fundamental truth, which was then, for the first time, recognized among- men, "that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." Upon this i-mpregnable truth I stand, as I have ever stood, and plead for the enfranchisement of every citizen capaci- tated for the ordinary duties of life, whether native born or naturalized, white or black. I demand that all shall have the gj".eat privilege and self-protecting power of the ballot because they are American citizens. What I ask for myself and mine I demand for the h-umblest among men. I have, therefore, proposed that citizenship and suffrage should be uniform throughout the nation, and this I am happy to know you have authoritatively endorsed. I hold that the government which does not secure equal rights for all its citizens, without regard to race, nationality or color, is not a just government, and is in no sense of the word a democratic or republican government. I say this much here and now on the question of suffrage, "because I have been falsely charged with attempting to dis- franchise American citizens, especially the Germans, who have ever been my most earnest and consistent friends. I do NOT NOW, NOR HAVK I EVER ADVOCATED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A STANDARD FOR VOTING INCONSISTENT WITH THE IDEA OP IMPARTIAL, SUFFRAGE. I recognize, as the corner-stone of the republic, the com- mon sense and the love of 'justice of her toiling millions. Their strong arms and brave hearts must ever be her shield of protection and defense. As a nation, I know that our future greatness, and grandeur, and glory, depend upon them. By no act or vote of mine shall any natural right or political privilege be taken away from any of these, whether native or foreign born, either because they are poor, or be- cause they are ignorant, or because they are black, so long as they recognize their allegiance to our Constitution, and live in obedience to law, beneath the protecting folds of the ban- ner of the free. 518- The speaker was frequently interrupted with applause from the immense crowd he was addressing-. The convention dispersed at about 6 p. m. Letter from Bishop W. J. Gaines, D. D., Atlanta, Ga. We have never read a grander speech than the foreg-oing, made on accepting' a political nomination. In thoug'ht and style, in cleai - ness of statement, and in all that g-oes to make up a model and manly political stump speech, this speech at Napoleon, in 1868, is not |y surpassed in this collection. "I hold that'the g-overnment which does " not secure equal rights for its citizens, -without reg-ard to race, na- ■ ; tionality or color, is not a just government, and is in no sense of the ■word a democratic or republican government. I say this much here ' W. J. GAINES. and now on the question of suffrage, because I have been falsely charged with attempting" to disfranchise American citizens, especially the Germans, who have ever been my most earnest and consistent friends. I do not, nor have I EVER ADVOCATED THE ESTABLISHMENTOF A STANDARD FOR VOTING INCONSISTENTWITH THE IDEA OF IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE." A careful reader of the orations and speeches published in this volume, cannot fail to be impressed with [the dignity and character of the man who made them. His unquestioned ability, his singleness of purpose, and his transparent sincerity, shine out bright and clear on every page. In the fierce and pas- sionate battle between freedom and slavery, he early in life unselfishly espoused the cause of our race, because, as he declared in some of the speeches in this book," he be- lieved that the true democratic idea recognized liberty as the birthright of the human race." And this belief is so happily expressed and so generously stated in all he said or wrote, when protesting against the enslavement of men,] that even now, it gives force and power to what he then wrote and said. As our Methodist brethren say, he simply believed, and so believing, was able to impress that belief on his hearers, and now we do not doubt that the speeches which we have compiled will make a like im- pression on all who read this book. W. J. Gaines. SPEKCH OF HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY, OF OHIO. Delivered in the House of Representatives, February 13tli, 1869. democratic representative government can onIvY be maintained by the subordination of the executive and judiciai, to the legislative authority. THE minority must have proportionable representation IN state legislatures, and in the national congress. The House being- in Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union — Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, said: Mr. Chairman: At the last session I proposed an amend- ment to the national Constitution which provided for the abolition of the office of Vice-President, and for the nomina- tion and election of the President without the intervention of caucuses, conventions, or presidential electors. In addition to this there was a clause which provided that the election of a President should never devolve, as now, on the House of Representatives. When submitting- that proposition I intended to do no more than suggest the practicability of abolishing- the office of Vice-President and to call the attention of the thoug-htf ul men of the nation to the admitted defect in our present system of electing- the President. I did not expect to secure, either at that session or this, the favorable action of Congress on (519) — 520— that proposition; nor do I now expect to secure favorable ac- tion on the propositions I am about to present. I know how reluctantly the mass of mankind consent to reforms or chang-es of any kind, especially in matters of government. I know how accustomed they are to run in grooves, and how adverse they are to agitators and to all ideas which disturb them or jog them out of their old and familiar paths; nor am I un- mindful of the fact that it would probably require years of persistent labor to bring the people to approve the changes in their organic law which I propose. John Stuart Mill, in speaking of governmental reform, says that "there is a natural prejudice against everything which professes much; that its perfection stands in its way, and is the great obstacle to its success." Admitting the full force of this statement, and realizing how thankless is the self-imposed task which I am about to undertake, I nevertheless feel it to be my duty, before the expiration of my term of service, to offer for the consid- eration of the people, and especially for the consideration of those who are soon to be charged with the administration of the Government, the propositions which I now make for amending the national Constitution. The clerk will please read. Mr. Wii34) — 635 — guilty of the folly and criminality of surrendering- them to the tender mercy of their enemies and ours, we will be of all men most g-uilty. [Applause.] Can it be that after having- emancipated four millions of human being-s so that no person can hereafter hold and treat any man as a chattel slave, we are powerless to prevent his late master from making- him the slave of the State? Heaven forbid. [Applause.] Mr. Chairman, there comes a period in the lifetime of every man of individuality and strong- convictions, when ideas take complete possession of his heart and brain, which, if conscientiously followed, will carry him far beyond the con- servative line of prudence, and enable him, despite prejudice and hate, the selfish interests of men, and the formidable barriers of human law, to contribute something- to the in- auguration of needed reforms, and changes in society and governments. Such men are ever present in all nations, with the "higher law" written in their hearts. They come to us with an inspiration which causes them to live simple and pure lives, and to labor for others w^ith an unselfish devotion which the world does not understand, and which none can appreci- ate who do not know something of the inner life of the lead- ers of men, who follow their own thoughts, with the sublime faith of a child. These are the men who intuitively know what is really right and best for the human race; men whose great thoughts and inspirations cannot be suppressed by the social or political regulations o*f society and governments, nor by unjust provisions of constitutions or the penal enactments of statute-books. That which they believe to be true they are ever ready to maintain, though they suffered the penalty of the law which killeth. [Applause.] The musty precedents of governments, the regulations of society, the penal demands of law, may punish by fines and im- prisonment or social ostracism, but the law of the Great Su- preme breathes into the soul of such a man, a power which makes his thoughts outlive them all, and causes the develop- ment of a more perfect and better state of society and govern- ment. [Applause.] Such were the anti-slavery men and women of America, — 636 — the latchet of whose shoes the mass of men ol their day were not worthy to unloose. They came to us with the g-ospel of liberty in their hearts,and oppression fled before them. Like heroes divinely commissioned, when any one of them "blew a blast upon his bug-le-horn 'twas worth a thousand men!" You can now all look back and know that each blew a blast which aided in destroying- the oppressor and liberating* the oppressed, so that to-day, within all our borders, the sun does not rise nor set upon a single slave. [Applause.] All this has come to us because a chosen few dared to put God's law above all human law, and to give the best thought of their lives to the accomplishment of a great and holy purpose. You all know that I have been a humble and devoted follower and active co-worker with these grand men and women, whom we all affectionately call the "old guard." During our great anti-slavery battle I have not been a "camp-follower," as many of you can testify. [Applause.] In the coming battle for the enfranchisement of the black man, I need not tell you that I shall not rest until he is clothed by constitutional provision, with an American citi- zen's cleanest and purest weapon — the ballot. [Applause.] As the ballot is the most formidable weapon of protection and defense for 3-ou and for me, I demand that the same weapon shall be secured to every black man, and that he be protected in his right to use it as freely and peaceably as we use it here in Ohio. [Applause.] In doing this, we shall quit ourselves like men, and the g-ates of fortune shall open wide for us, as a nation. In doing right for the helpless, we shall gain strength ourselves. Self-exertion evermore gives fresh hope and a faith that en- dures and with patience waits. Then let us "Seek for strength in self-exertion; Work, and still have faith to wait; Close the crooked gates to fortune; Make the road to honor straight. Follow out true cultivation; Widen education's plan, — 637 — From the Majesty of Nature, Teach the Majesty of Man. *' Feed the plant, whose fruit is wisdom; Cleanse from crime, the common sod; So that from the throne of heaven It may bear the g-lance of God." [Applause.] Letter from Rev, S. T.Mitchell, President of Wilberforce University. The foreg-oing- speech, made at Montpelier in 1856, and the ex- tracts following from speeches made in Wood County in 1862 and '65, reflect with clearness and power the advanced anti-slavery opinions held by Mr. Ashley at the date of their .delivery, and make his anti- slavery record so complete that we have found "no word or thought which we could wish to change or blot." Observation teaches us that there are but few young men with character and ability strong enough to answer calumny by silence, and be able to live on a plane so high as to re- buke and answer, by acts, not words, all political falsehoods; and still fewer men, young or old, who in the midst of detraction, can declare as he did in the foregoing' extract made from his speech at Bowling Green in 1862, that he had determined to so live as to silence the maligner and to quote his own language, " to write my friend- ships on the granite, and my enmities in the sand." We have never read anything grander in any speech. S. T. Mitchell. MITCHELL. ADDRKSS OF HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY, OF OHIO. Delivered in the U. S. House of Representatives March 31, 1864. ON THE DEATH OP HON. OWEN LOVEJOY, OF ILLINOIS. Mr. Ashley. Mr. Speaker, on Friday nig-ht last the immortal spirit of Owen Lovejoy passed from earth. This sad message, borne on the lightning-'s wing, carried sorrow to the hearts of millions. In his death the nation has lost one of its ablest, most accomplished and eloquent sons, the slave a faithful friend, and true democracy a cherished de- fender. I was not at his bedside and cannot tell you how he died. The world knows how he lived; and such a life I am sure could only have a fitting close in a Christian death. Let us learn by his heroic example that **We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." Mr. Speaker, the death of our friend was not wholl}^ un- expected by me. For more than two years, at our committee meetings, I have witnessed with anxiet}^ month by month and week by week, the fire of his eye grow dim and the vital- ity of his organization gradually )'ield to the approaching destroyer. Though not full of years, he was crowned with (638) — 639 — honors, and descended to the tomb with the benediction of a na- tion upon his head. He lived to see the seed he had sown ripen into g"rain, ready for the harvest. He saw the dawning- of the morn so long- and so anxiously.looked for by the friends of free- dom in the United States; but he was not permitted to remain with us to join in the g-eneral song- of joy which awaits the tri- /imph that ere long- shall reg-enerate the nation. That Provi- dence which cannot err, has, for wise purposes, called our friend and brother to his reward. While we sorrow for our loss and sympathize with his bereaved family in their deep affliction, we can truthfully and with exultation say: " The g-reat work laid upon Ids manly years Is done, and well done. If we drop our tears, Who loved him as few men were ever loved, We mourn no blighted hope nor broken plan With him whose life stands rounded and approved In the full g-rowth and stature of a man." ADDRESS OF HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY, OF OHIO. Delivered in the U. S. House of Representatives, December 17, 1868. ON THE DEATH OF HON. THADDEUS STEVENS OF PENNSYL- VANIA. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, in the death of Thaddcus Stevens this House has lost one of its recog"nized loaders, and the nation one of her most distinguished sons. In his departure we shall miss another of the uncompromis- ing" heroes of our anti-slavery revolution. Elijah and Owen Lovejoy arre entombed, the one at Alton and the other at Princeton, Illinois. Adams and Pierpont sleep beneath the soil of their native Massachusetts; Theodore Parker at Florence, in Italy; William Leg-gett at New Rochelle, New York; Nathaniel Po Rog-ers by his native Merrimac; Gamaliel Bailey within the shadow of the national Capitol; Giddings and Morris and Lewis in Ohio; James G. Birney in New Jersey; David YVilmot and James Mott in Pennsylvania; John Brown at North Elba, New York; and there are others whose lives were as heroic and beautiful and unselfish, whose names I need not recall. To these must be added more than three hundred thousand, the fallen heroes and martyrs of our liberating army, who sleep on every national battle-field, from the heights of Gettj-sburg to the banks of the Rio (b40) — 641 — Grande. Pre-eminent among- all this invincible army of heroes, prophets, and martyrs, is Abraham Lincoln, "The g-enerous, merciful, and just." With this grand army of unselfish patriots, his contem- poraries and co-laborers, we have laid down to rest all that is mortal of our friend in the bosom of his beloved Pennsyl- vania. The benediction of millions followed him to his tomb, and to-day in the free home of every black man, and of all men who love liberty, there is sincere sorrow and mourning-. Never ag-ain in these council halls will he deliberate with the people's representatives, nor awaken the nation from its letharg-y by his g-enius and wonderful power. The honorable g-entleman whom his constituents have elected to succeed him on this floor, and those who have pre- ceded me, have spoken so fully of his early life, his heroic strug-g-les, and his personal history, that I need not add a sing-le word. Through some of the most eventful years in our history I have been intimately associated with him on this floor. During- all that time, which included the darkest hours in the nation's life — hours which tested the constancy and courage of men — he bore himself with such unquestioned fidelity to the cause of human freedom, as to command even the respect of political opponents and the cordial indorsement of all liber- ty-loving- men. As we engage in the memorial services of this hour, and bear him again in our hearts from this Capitol and the scenes of his struggles and wonderful triumphs, let the nation stand with uncovered head and its bells peal forth the solemn sound of an anthem more appropriate than any words of mine: "Toll, toll, toll. All mortal life must end. Toll, toll, toll, Weep for the nation's friend. Oh, the land he loved will miss him, 41 — 642 — ♦ Miss him in its hour of need, Mourns the nation for the nation, Till its tear-drops inward bleed. Let bands of mourning- drape the homestead, And the sacred house of prayer; Let the mourning* folds lay black and heavy On true bosoms everywhere. "Toll, toll, toll, Never again — no more — Comes back to earth the life that goes Hence to the Eden shore. Let him rest, — it is not often That his soul hath known repose. Let him rest, — they rest but seldom Whose successes challenge foes. He was weary, worn with watching, His life crown of power hath pressed Oft on temples sadly aching — He was weary; let him rest. Toll, bells at the Capitol, Bells of the land, toll. Sob out your grief with brazen lungs, Toll, toll, toll. Mr. Speaker, though death come never so often, he casts at the portals of the tomb shadows ever new and mysterious, and ever and always hath for the living his admonitions and his lessons. By the side of the grave we all realize that there are voices whispering to us out of the shadowy silence beyond the river. In such an hour we see with the natural eye " as through a glass darkly," but we have the promise that if faithful we shall see *' face to face." As there is no race of men without the idea of a God and a future life, so in the presence of death it is natural for all to pause and think of the life beyond. What is to be the destin3' of our friend in "that undis- covered country from whose bourn no traveler returns," it is — 643 — wisely not g-iven us to know. Let us hope that he has g-one up into the presence of the God of nations and of men, bear- ing- in his hands some of the broken fetters which have fallen from the limbs of our four million emancipated bonds- men. These shall testify of his fidelity to justice and to his love of the human race. In that great day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, I trust it may be said to him by the Father of all, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." And that this will be said, I may without presumption hope, for whatever may be the theories of men, whatever our hope for ourselves or for others in the life which never dies, let us trust that better than all our faiths, and more comprehensive than our grandest conceptions, an all-wise Creator has ordained a plan as broad as the universe, and as just as it is infinite, which will compensate in the future life every soul which has struggled and suffered for mankind in this. Mr. Speaker, there are moments in the experiences of all when we cannot convey to other hearts the emotions of our own. To me such a moment is the present. So many reminiscences are crowding upon me, and so many wonderful scenes in which our departed friend was an actor are passing- as a panorama before me, that I feel how short I should come of doing them or him justice were I to dwell upon them. No man who loves his country and has passed through those scenes in these halls can ever forget them. When I first entered this House, ten years ago, Mr. Stevens was one of the first to take me by the hand and welcome me. From that day until the day of his death he was my friend, and often my adviser and counselor. However often I may have dif- fered with him, as I often did, there was one question about which we never differed: the question of the necessity of the immediate and unconditional abolition of slavery. Of the practicability and justice of destroying- slavery he never doubted. I am thankful that he was spared to witness the end of that indescribable villainy. I rejoice to know that as the gates of the eternal world opened up before him he was permitted to look back upon the land he loved and nowhere behold the footprints of a single slave. Because of his — 644 — unwavering- fidelity to the poor bondsmen, who, in the pres- ence of a nation of oppressors, were manacled and powerless and dumb, I came to venerate him; and because I venerated him while living-, I come to-daj to cast a garland upon his tomb. In this selfish world there is nothing which so strongly enlists m}^ sympathies and so much commands my admiration as a heroic and unselfish life spent in the interests of man- kind. To me it is the most touching and beautiful of all human struggles. In espousing the cause of the slave more than forty years ago, Mr. Stevens voluntarily accepted social and polit- ical ostracism, and patiently endured the persecutions of ig- norant and maddened men, for whose highest interest he was laboring. He did this without fee or hope of political re- ward, simph' because he believed it to be right; and because he was right we shall some day see the children of the men who stoned him, gladly join hands with the liberated slave, in bearing back the stones, in the shape of blocks of whitest marble, with which to build his monument. I do not assume to write his epitaph. In a speech deliv- ered in this House January 13th, 1865, he said — I read from volume fifty-four of the Globe, page 266: " I will be satisfied if my epitaph shall be written thus: ' Here lies one who never rose to an}- eminence, and who only courted the low ambition to have it said, that he had striven to ameliorate the condition of the poor, the lowly, the downtrodden of every race and language and color.' " The grand blows which he struck in his great battle for liberty and justice will long survive him and leave their im- press upon all lands, strengthening the purpose of the toiling and struggling millions of earth. His successful life-battle should teach us the value and self-sustaining power of a life consecrated to the best interests of his country and his fel- low-men. In this impressive hour, while reviewing his heroic and unselfish acts, let us renew our vows of fidelity to the great principles which he so long, so abh' and so faithfully main- tained. Let us, here and now, pledge our lives anew to the cause of human liberty and human progress, resolving that no obstacle nor selfish interest shall cause us to falter, so — 645 — that when we descend to the tomb, the benedictions of man- kind shall bless us, as they now bless him for whom we mourn, and it shall be said of us as it is now said of him: "He hath not lived in vain." After a long" and stormy battle, with a record which the friends of freedom will ever cherish, full of years and crowned with honors, he — "Has g-one from this strang-e world of ours, No more to g-ather its thorns with its flowers; No more to ling-er where sunbeams must fade; Where, on all beauty. Death's fingers are laid. Weary with ming-ling- life's bitter and sweet; Weary with parting- and never to meet; Weary with sowing" and never to reap; Weary with labor and welcoming- sleep. In Christ may he rest, from sorrow and sin Happy, where earth's conflicts enter not in." HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY'S ORATION On the death of D. R. Locke. A FITTING AND TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMORY. FROM THE TOLEDO BLADE. There was deep silence when the speaker, in tones rev- erent and low, commenced his oration at the bier of the man who. had for many years been his personal and political friend. He said: My friends, we have come together to-day to testify our respect for the living-, and discharg-e our last ten- der duty to the dead. When the shadow of a g-reat sorrow falls upon us, we naturally turn from the darkness which surrounds us, to catch a glimpse of the coming of the first ra3's of morning light. So b}^ the side of every new-made grave, our hearts gladly welcome the thought of another and better life be3'ond. Without assuming to have a knowledge of the hereafter, v/e come reverently to lay our friend down to rest, and we do not question that, " after life's fitful fever he sleeps well." The last time I looked upon the face of our friend, I was impressed with the belief that his life's work was finished; that his last battle had been fought, and, I doubt not, that as soon as he became conscious of this fact, he desired to depart and be at rest. It is as natural to die as to live, and because this is true, I do not look upon death as the arch enem}^ of man, but rather as his friend. When, therefore, a friend pa^-s the last debt of nature, I (646) — 647 — would not clothe myself in sackcloth and rebel agfainst the divine law which has set a limit to human habitation, and said to each and all: " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thcu return." No thoughtful man of mature years desires to live in this world of strugg"les and disappointments, forever. Certainly I should regard it as a mercy, if the fing-er of death could be laid upon each one of us the very day our life's work was done, or whenever we became helpless and hopeless, or our suffer- ings and sorrows outweighed the pleasures and joys of life. If Mr. Locke could never again have entered upon the active duties of life, it was a blessing that the merciful finger of death was laid upon him, and he called to that "bourn from which no traveler returns," where we all hope sorrow, disease and death can never come. I have no wish to magnify the virtues of my friend, nor at the expense of truth to excuse his errors. The living ought to be able to learn by the faults, not less than by the virtues of public men, and when I add that he was human and like all men "prone to err as the sparks are to fly up- ward," I have said all that truth and duty bid me say. Those who did not know Mr. Locke could not understand him. This is the fate of every man of genius, and because he was not thoroughly understood, his words and acts were often sharply criticised and sometimes unsparingly con- demned. That he was a man of great ability and force of character, all concede; and his intimates know that he was always true to his convictions and faithful to his friends. It is true that he did not believe in, and could not subscribe to, any of the formulated religious dogmas of our popular churches. He often said to me: " I cannot believe in such creeds, and shall therefore neither accept nor affirm any." And then he would quote from the "Sermon on the Mount:" " If j^e then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask him." With this faith, or no faith; this religion or no religion, "he wrapped the drapery of his couch about him and lay down to pleasant dreams," sincerely believing that the Power which created -648— him was both able and willing" to take care of him. " And that God's greatness flows round our incompleteness, around our restlessness, His rest." Mr. Locke was a tireless worker. He could not be a drone, nor eat the bread of idleness. "Industry," with him» was one of the cardinal virtues. I need not add a single word to what has been so well and appropriately said touching- Mr. Locke's literary and journalistic career. \Vhen, in after years, the history of Ohio and Toledo shall be written, Mr. Locke's ability and claims to remem- brance and distinction will have the fullest and amplest recognition. His g-reatest work was in behalf of the nation's unity and integrity during- the war of the rebellion. Throug-h the "Nasby" letters he spoke every week to millions of men. These letters strengthened the arms of soldier and statesman alike, and everywhere inspired with hope, zeal and courag-e the nation's defenders. The humor and satire of these letters were never equaled. Their satire was as keen as a Damascus blade, and their humor as broad as the continent. They shamed the " doughfaced " statesman and "doughfaced" churchman into a recognition of the humanity of the negro, and did more than to-day can be estimated, to break down the unreasoning prejudice ag-ainst the black man, and consolidate the sentiment and judgment of the nation in favor of the emancipation and enfranchisement of the slave. These letters were read by Lincoln, Sumner, Chase and Stanton, and all the leading- statesmen with whom I was in- timate, with a delight and pleasure which one incident will fully illustrate: One morning- 1 called early at the White House and was seated in the President's room, before he came in. As he walked along- his private hallway, I heard him as I supposed talking- to himself. He started a little on seeing- me, not ex- pecting- to find anyone in his work room at that early hour; and at once said, with a g-low on his face: " I was just repeating- a passag-e from one of your friend Nasby's letters," and re- peated the parag-raph which had so impressed itself on his mind. He then added, " I want 3'ou to invite Nasby to come — 649 — to Washing-ton and make me a visit; and 3'ou may say to him that I would be willing" to resig"n the Presidency if I could write such letters." Such was the esteem in which Mr. Locke was held by all men of ability and g^enius. Mr. Locke was also a voluminous and able writer on many subjects, and a pronounced partisan. He believed in party g-overnment rather than individual g-overnment, and therefore labored unweariedly for the success of the Repub- lican party. Next to his Nasby letters, I reg-ard his "Pulverize the rum-power " articles as the ablest papers from his pen. These articles undoubtedly struck the hardest and most effective blows which have been delivered in recent years against the liquor traffic, and have been so recog-nize.l by the ablest men who are battling- for the caitco of temperance. That Mr. Locke was a many-sided man, all who knew him personal!}' well understood. There was a strang-e blend- ing of hope and doubt, of humor and sadness, of love and hate, in hio character. The hiimorist and man of business, however, was but a part of the sum total of his being". Some years ago I met him on Broadway, New Yorl^, and he invited me to join him. While seated at a table he drew from his pocket and read me the hymn which is to be sung- here to-day, " Come unto me." I was charmed with its beauty and touched with its sentiment and spirit, andcaid: "David, read that to me iag-ain," which he did, and in that hour I comprehended more clearly the breadth and depth of his poetic and relig-ious nature. And it must be, that from this relig-ious nature, sprung- the great moral force which he so heroically wielded in battling for the rig"ht. "We live in deeds, not years, The battle of our life is brief. The alarm, the strugg"le, the relief, Then sleep we side by side." Such, in brief, is an imperfect outline of Mr. Locke's life as I have known him publicly as a co-worker, and socially as a friend, for more than a quarter of a century. — 650 — And now, as we lay away his earthly body in the grave of eternal silence, we reverentl}- and hopefully, oh Father of lig-ht and life, commit into Th}- care and keeping" all that is immortal of our loyal, steadfast friend. When Governor Ashley related the incident and the occasion of the writing- of the hymn, "Come Unto Me," by Mr. Locke, the voice of the speaker failed him. His eyes filled with tears, and his lips quivered with emotion. When he had finished speaking- there was scarcely a dry eye within the sound of his voice. Letter from Bishop B. W. Arnett. When selecting the speeches in this volume, and arrang-ing' them for publication, especially when reading the foregoing tender and affectionate tributes to Iiovejoy and Stephens, and to his personal friend, David R. Locke, the niem.bers of our committee repeatedly asked themselves, " What is Mr. Ashlej-'s religious faith?" Unable to de- termine, one of our number was requested to write and ask him the question direct. The reply was characteristic for its frankness, and it would have given us pleasure to publish it (as we have three of his letters), had it not been marked "Personal and private." From a mutual friend, to whom we wrote for the information wanted, we learned that " Mr. Ashley never held to a written creed, and that he is not a member of any church organization." But lie writes, " All of Mr. Ashley's acts and speeches breathe the religion of humanity, and tell me more certainly than words, that he has a faith, even though he does not adoptland conform to any special form of worship. Years ago I knew him quite well, and occasionally talked with him on religious sub- jects, and I betray no confidence when I tell you that he has always been a liberal giver to charitable and church work, and those who know liim intimately will tell you, as I do, that his mind is so organized, and his faith so simple, that both his head and heart refuse to be limited to what he calls 'the incompleteness of a written creed.' More than once he said to me, 'that, of dogmas old or new, there was in his mind no trace of such forms left,' and ' tliat he had outgrown the sectarian exclusiveness of his early religious training.' 'The best of creeds,' he would say, 'are but man-made, and that he had never been able to give his consent to any religious dogma as a finality, nor conform his life to the narrowness of a written creed.'" As I read the man, he is in respect to his religious faith'not unlike Whittier and Sumner, Lincoln and Greeley, and men of their peculiar type of mind. B. W. Arnett. GOVERNOR ASHLEY ON O'CONNELL. His Centennial Oration that was Delivered not Where IT was Promised, but at the Opera House, where it was Welcomed with Generous Applause. Toledo, Ohio, August, 1875. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: I come not to-niglit with a set speech, nor a speech such as I would like to make in response to the invitation which bring-s me here; but I come to testify in the fewest and most appropriate words I can command, my admiration for the heroic life and public and private worth of him who for nearly hal-f a cen- tury was Ireland's gfreat leader, statesman and patriot. I need not tell you after what has been so happily and so elo- quently said about Ireland and her g-reat leaders, and what I know will be said by those who are to follow me, that I feel conscious I ought not to detain you long- with such a speech as I will probably make, and I promise 3'ou that I will not. Mr. President: Daniel O'Connell was indeed an Irish- man, and rig-ht loyally may Ireland claim him as her favorite son, and in her heart of hearts cherish his memory with filial affection. But O'Connell was also a citizen of the world, in the same sense that Washing"ton was a citizen of the world. To my mind, however, the great Irish Liberator was more like the great liberator of America than any other historic American. In his wit and wisdom, in his patience and love of justice, and in his sympathy for mankind, O'Connell was so much like Lincoln that all who have studied the characters of the two men, know that had Lincoln resided in Ireland and O'Connell in this country during the g-reat battle of each, that the one would have been as heartily for the libera- (651) — 652 — tion of Ireland as the other would have been for the emanci- pation of the slaves in America. [Applause.] Am I not therefore warranted, and are not all men who love liberty warranted, in claiming citizenship with O'Connell, and may I n.'t on behalf of over four millions of slaves, so recently made free, claim him as one of the noblest and most faithful of their early champions? I know that all who have read O'Connell's unanswerable appeal ag-ainst slavery will say I may. So likewise may the oppressed and wronged of every race claim him as their friend and brother. In every land beneath the sun, ' ' Wherever from kindred torn rudely apart, Comes the sorrowful wail of the broken of heart," there might the humblest reach the great heart of O'Connell, and they alwa3-s found his hand outstretched with offerings of sj-mpathy and succor. [Applause.] So grand, broad and noble a man as O'Connell cannot be denied recognition as a citizen of the world, and so, as an American, I claim an interest in him equally with you, my brother Irishman, and with you come here to-night to join in appropriately commemorating his centennial. [Applause.] The liberal men of all lands and of every race and creed were drawn to O'Connell because of his democratic ideas and broad, liberal catholic spirit I well remember how my young heart went out to him when I first read his fiery and eloquent denunciation of American slavery, nor can I forget how my esteem for him grew into admiration when I came to know that he had the pluck to defy the slaveholders of the world, and that he had caused to be painted over the entrance of his home the words, "No slaveholder admitted here." After that I did not care to know of what race he was nor to what country he belonged, nor what religious faith he professed, or whether indeed he professed an}-, except that which I know he liad, the religion of humanit}-. From that day to this I have never ceased to number him among the citizens of the world, and I regard him as one of the noblest, grandest and best of men. [Applause.] But of all the jrreat utterances of O'Connell no one — 653 — of them has caused me Vo pause so often and think dis- passionately, as that wonderful speech in which he declared that " No revolution was worth the shedding- of one drop of human blood." Naturally enoug"h, Ibelong-ed to the party called " young" Ireland," whose leaders were O'Brien, Meaher and their en- thusiastic compatriots. I deplored their divisions and sor- rowed over their failure and fate, and I went back to O'Con- nell to remain in hearty accord with him until his death. [Applause.] Yet I confess that I have never been able to reach or maintain myself on a plane so far beyond the influence of "force" as that which declares, " that no revolution is worth the shedding- of one drop of human blood." While I admit that I am as perplexed with that utterance now,asI wasthen, I find that I have gradually come to the conclusion that for Ireland in that exig-ency of her struggle, it was master lead- ership, and wise statesmanship. [Applause.] That O'Con- nell was the directing- spirit of Ireland for forty years is now unquestioned; that he fought his great battle with a hope that could not be shaken and a faith that never doubted we now know; that his leadership sometimes rose to genius and to prophecy, we now comprehend. That he was an ideal, sanguine, progressive man is also true; and we have come to know that those are the men who move the world. In study- ing the lives of the great leaders of humanity, we have learned that true progress comes only to men and nations blessed with hopeful temperaments and an ideal faith. For such, beyond the shadowy present shines the golden, hopeful future; with this faith we can see the ideal true man, and conceive of the ideal just government. Without it there can be no progress, no heroism, no civilization. Such a faith points us ever upward and onward, making more beautiful and spiritual this human life; such a faith was Daniel O'Con- nell's; such is the faith of every true leader. Mr. President, I need not recount to you and to this audience the story of O'Connell's life; his early struggles, his wonderful triumphs and untimely death. All this has been presented to you bet' ter than I could do it. I may, however, without trespassing too long upon your time, pause for a moment to contemplate him as a revolutionarv leader and compare him with some of — 654 — the revolutionary leaders of France. O'Connell believed that in order to have stable government the people must be educated up to the point of self -government; that the safest and most enduring" revolution, was evolution; that justice was stronger than baj'onets; that right was more than might; that to be permanent, a revolution in Ireland must be a revolution of peace rather than a revolution of force; that an appeal to the heart and conscience of mankind was far better than a reliance on force or fraud or cunning. Hence the foundation upon which he builded was equity, which is above justice. With this sublime moral force, which is grander than all other forces combined, he began his agitation and continued it to the end. With perfect consistency and good faith he proclaimed to Ire- land and to the world a doctrine so divine in its conception, that all mankind paused to listen while he spoke. When O'Connell declared that "no revolution was worth the shed- ding of one drop of human blood," he poured a broadside into the camp of the enemies of liberty more fatal to despotism everywhere and more fatal to the enemies of Ireland than any battle that she had fought for seven hundred years. It was impossible not to be thoughtful after such an utterance at such a time by such a man. [Applause.] A great general is a leader of armies, but a leader of men is such because he is a leader of ideas. Such a man O'Con- nell is now admitted to have been by all thinking men. The leaders in the French revolution of '93 believed in fate and not in God. They estimated men simply as "waves of the ocean" in their force and fury. O'Connell recognized truth, justice and equity as the triune basis upon which mankind might safely unite in a democratic federation of the nations of the world. Robespierre, Danton, Maret, permitted no ap- peal to truth, -justice or equit}-. To all opposition their decree was " death." They erected the guillotine and called it "a virgin amazon," which, they said, "exterminated but never gave birth." O'Connell proclaimed that above the jus- tice of revolutions were the sacred rights of humanity. This divine sentiment, wherever accepted by mankind, banishes all vengeance and hate, and sends gleams of hope and mercy like rays from a lambent flame penetrating the darkness of a cavern, to eradicate the outrages of civil war, and the indul- — 655 — - gence in cruel retaliations and assassinations so often insep- arable from it. [Applause.] Mr. President, it was O'Connell's surprising- eloquence and splendid leadership that awoke Ireland from a slumber so fatal to her. He org-anized her patriotic millions on a moral battlefield such as the world has never seen; nor should I omit to state that when these g-rand armies came tog"ether to listen to the voice of the g-reat agitator, number- ing at one time over a million souls, there was not a drunken man among them; there was no breach of the peace — there was simply a gathering of moral forces such as had never be- fore in the history of mankind been gathered together to ap- peal in the name of justice and peace for their God-given rights. The energy which O'Connell displayed, the activity which he directed, the fiery temperaments which he restrained, the patriotism which he kindled, let us hope, still unites in purpose and glows and burns not only in the hearts of his country-men but in the hearts of all men everywhere who hate oppression and love liberty. [Applause] The work he did, the power he wielded, and the influence he left behind him, have pronounced his fame and crowned his memory with the benedictions of his countrymen and mankind; may we not hope that God will ultimately bless a land and a people that could produce such a matchless hero? [Applause.] And now, Mr. President, what shall I say of Old Ire- land, the land of poetry and song, of genius and . patriotism — Ireland, for so many years crushed and bleeding, but, thank God, not yet enslaved! Though she be now sitting within the shadow, deepened by the shadows of her material ruin, her poets and prophets have, through the open archways of thought, caught glimpses of that light which always pre- cedes the dawn of the coming morn, and have prophesied her deliverance and sung her songs of triumph. By the side of her beautiful rivers, from her mountains and her valleys and her rockbound coast, there comes a sound of perpetual lamen- tation, like the low sighing of the vesper winds through the groves of Gethsemane, as when Christ, with weary feet and heavy heart, walked through its consecrated shades. As I hear it to-night, it is an aspirational and sublime lament, — 656 — "which must ultimately reach and touch all hearts. It is the soul of Ireland from her sorrow and sackcloth supplicating* Heaven for justice. Oh, God of the oppressed and disinherited, a.long'-suffering' and heroic people, joined b}^ the g"reat-hearted among" mankind of every race,kindred and tongue, are to-nig-ht, with uplifted voice, appealing" to Thee for the redemption and liberation of Ireland. And though Ireland, under the wise leadership of O'Connell, has learned to labor and to wait, 3''et her people at home, as we here to-night, are crying out half impatiently, "How long! O Lord, how long!" But, whatever may betide, let us keep heart and keep faith, remem- bering that as it is with men, so it is with nations, and ""Whoever bears the cross to-da}-, shall wear the crown to- morrow." Above all, let us not permit, as did the children of Israel, our murmuring discontent to break into open rebellion against Him who holds all nations in the hollow of His hand — " — For what are we? Above our broken dreams and plans, God lays, with wiser hands than man's, The corner-stones of liberty." [Long and hearty applause.] Letter from Prof. Henry Y. Arnett, B. S., Columbia, S. C, Mr. Ashley made uo claim to be classed with, learned and finished orators. But liis direct and manly appeals in behalf of an oppressed and cruelly 'wrong-ed race, en- abled him, when these speeches and orations were delivered, to make clear his pur- pose and to carry convictions to the hearts of his hearers. The lessons which his speeches and heroic life impress upon the writer, is that character and sincerity, unsel- fishness and truthfulness, are the true statesman's most desirable weapons. More fitting- and appropriate than any thoug-ht I can write, for this foot note, are the lines of the poet, which Mr. Ashley in his address on Lincoln, at page 765, quoted and ap- plied to the great Emancipator. I now quote and apply them to him; for of a truth, we alt know, how heroically and steadfastly during- the darkest nights of our pilgrim- age as a race, and when the crimes of this nation against us were merciless, he "Faithful stood with prophet finger, Pointing- toward the blest to be When beneath the spread of heaven, Every creature shall be free." •'Fearless when the lips of evil Breathed their blackness on his name, Trusting- in a nobler life time. For a spotless after fame." Henr-v Y. Arnbtt. ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN TOLEDO. From the Buckkye Granokr, March, 1876. The late St. Patrick celebration in Toledo was larg"ely attended by natives of the Emerald Isle who reside in this place ; they were accompanied by the Perrysburg- Silver Band. The occasion was one of much interest, and closed in the evening- with a public meeting- in St. Patrick's Hall. Among- the speakers was the Hon. J. M. Ashley, who delivered the following- eulog-ium on the life and service of the "Great Commoner." The next toast was " Daniel O'Connell," to which Gover- nor Ashley responded as follows: Mr. Chairman, and Ladies and Gentlemen: Before responding- to the toast just read, I want to thank your com- mittee for the very welcome invitation which brings me here to-nig-ht. When I came home night before last and found it awaiting- me, I resolved that whatever else mig-ht happen, I would not repeat the "bull" which I committed at the O'Connell Centennial of last 3'ear, by unwittingly delivering- a speech to the wrong- audience, I made up my mind that whatever " bull" I mig-ht commit, it should not be by going- to the "Opera House" instead of St. Patrick's Hall. Mr. Chairman, it is fitting and proper that the sons and daug-hters of Erin, wherever dwelling- around the globe, should come tog-ether, as you have come together to-night, to aid in commemorating- and perpetuating- the g-ood name and fair fame of Ireland's g-rand heroes. You who have given three hundred and sixty-four days of the year to personal and material pursuits, can hardly do less than give one day for 42 (657) — 658 — old Ireland. I know there are those who say,that for foreig'n- born citizens to commemorate any day as 3'ou are now com- memorating" this, is but to promote strife and discord, and to indulg-e in sentimental speech which can do no g"ood, and may do much harm. But if I read the past arig-ht, it is to this love of sentiment in the human heart, that every land is in- debted for the heroism and patriotism of its sons. To this sentiment the world owes its bravest deeds and mart3'rs' crowns. It was this sentiment which moved the g^reat heart of O'Connell and made him consecrate his life to the cause of Ireland, and to the cause of liberty in every land, not forget- ting the; four M11.L10N SL,AVES IN America. It was this sen- timent of love for their adopted country which caused thou- sands of Irishmen, from Montg-omery to Thomas Francis Meag'her,to oifer up their lives on the field of battle to defend and perpetuate American liberty. "When this sentiment dis- appears from among" men, patriotism will die in every land beneath the sun. As Father Hannin said to me a moment ag"o, " A man who does not love his owncountr}-, cannot love his adopted country^" and I may add, nor any country. When the emotions which in all times have moved the noblest and purest aspirations of mankind, move them no more — the mother will forgfet to love the child she bore, and both mother and child will forg"ct to love the land of their birth. Tkank God this can never be, with any race or kin- dred or tong"ue, and because it can never be, the sons and daughters of Ireland are here to-nig-ht with many a glad and tender memory to consecrate anew this hour with fresh re- solves of fidelity to motherland. To enjoy and profit by the reflection which the utterance of patriotic sentiment gives, I accepted with pleasure your invitation to come here to-night. All the higher and better emotions which the love of country brings, are stirred afresh within me as I witness the glowing enthusiasm of those around me, who in their heart of hearts love Ireland and her historic heroes. Heaven forbid that any Irishman in America should ever forget the land of his birth; let him rather turn to her with deeper devotion, as he beholds her sitting in sorrow and sackcloth, waiting for an- other great leader, who like O'Connell shall sound the resur- — 659 — rection trumpet, and teach the world that she is not dead but living-. Mr. Chairman, the history of Ireland presents one con- tinued succession of brilliant and wonderful men. Swift and Grattan, Plunkett and Curran, Burrows and Burke, Emmet and O'Connell, and a host of others familiar to you all, and whom I need not name; but pre-eminent and above them all, as a leader, educator and statesman, stands the name of Daniel O'Connell. No other name in Irish his- tory has made so hopeful the Irish heart, nor so lig-hted up the political firmament of Ireland with democratic ideas. O'Connell found the Irish people broken, bleeding-, dis- heartened, divided, and lifted them from their darkness and despair, until they could see the hopeful light of the coming- morn. He united the discordant and warring" factions and made them one; he educated the people up to a just compre- hension of their power and dig-nity and responsibility. In short he created a public opinion, which breathed new life into the cause of Ireland. By his long"-continued and able agi- tation, he secured for Ireland religious toleration, a free press and schools, and a representation in Parliament. "With these weapons properly wielded the future of Ireland cannot be doubted. With these weapons she need no longer "suppli- cate," for soon she will have power to dictate her own terms, and the wonder of all this is — that O'Connell accomplished what he did as the apostle of peace. To the irrepressible Irish race he declared, that "no revolution was worth the shedding of one drop of human blood." He believed that every reform achieved by accident or by force, may be lost by accident or force; that only those reforms take root and grow which are born of reflection and planted with judgment, and are afterwards watered by discussion and education. He believed that it was best and safest to engraft the reforms desired into the national conscience, before attempting to enact them into national law — that only such reforms as were based upon the consent of a free and enlightened people could stand the test of time. His panacea was an educated people with a free ballot; and a government that should be- long to no one person or family or dynasty, but belong to all her own children. — 660 — To me, these ideas of O'Connell embocl_v the perfection of human statesmanship. Search all the past history of Ireland and you will find no record so clear and broad and bright as his. Carlisle saj's that "he is God's own appointed King whose single word melts all wills into his." What praise can exceed this? God grant that Ireland may again be blessed with a leader and a hero whose prudence and match- less eloquence shall equal O'Connell's, and such a hero and leader I believe she is soon again to have; a hero who, when he comes, shall complete the great work which O'Connell, d3nng, left unfinished, and thus prove himself to be the Christ of Ireland's political redemption, so that Ireland from that time onward shall stand forth erect and disenthralled, ad- ministering her own local government on the basis of liberty, federation and peace, as we do here in Ohio. "And thou, O Ireland, green and fair, Across the waters wild, Stretch forth strong arms of loving care, And guard thy favorite child." CO-OPERATION AND PROFIT-SHARING ! Copy op Circular addressed to the Stockhoi^ders op The Toledo, Ann Arbor and North Michigan Railway Company. Gentlemen: After careful deliberation, I have deter- mined, with the approval of the Board of Directors, to submit to the stockholders of this Company, at the annual meeting" appointed for Wednesday, April 20, 1887 (for their acceptance or rejection), the following- propositions touching- " profit sharing," in addition to the regular wages paid by this Com- pany to each of its officers (except its President), and all its emplo3-ees. The direct allotment to the laborer, of a share in the prof- its produced by his labor, is a method of distribution as old as human history; a method older than the " wag-e system," and one for which we have the approving- judg-ment of many of the ablest thinkers, both in this country and in Europe. I propose for the benefit of all who now are, or who here- after may be, interested in the prosperity of this Company, Letter from B. T. Tanner, D. D., one of the Bishops of the A. M. E. Church, I was never more impressed with the justice of "profit [sharing'" than in a conver- sation I had a few years since with a resident stockholder of one of the street railways of our city, Philadelphia, Pa. Said he, " A few years ag"o the shares of this road were valued and sold at $15; now they are worth and soldat more than $100 a share." The words had scarcely fallen from his lips when we beg^an to think of the absolute injustice of the method which gaye every cent of this silent growth tojthe capitalist; not allowing one penny of it to go to the laborer — to the driver and to the conductor, to whom its in. crease could in part be credited as justly as to the capitalist. When the shares were at their minimum value, they received their $1.50 or $2 per day as did the capitalist re- ceive his 6 or 10 per cent, as the case may be. But in the course of years, when by the joint labor of the driver and the conductor, blended with the money of the capitalist,the value of the shares increased almost tenfold, what do we see ? We see capital appro* priating to itself that which should be common to both. This, we say, is manifestly unjust, and sooner or later^this method of conducting business must be changed, and give place to a method more in harmony with what is right. These drivers and con- ductors were not the men they were when they first entered the employ of this company. They were older and weaker, and less prepared to continue the hard struggle for life. Had they been allowed to share in the silent growth of the value of the property they were laboring to create they would have been infinitely better prepared to enter upon the winter of old age. Governor Ashley touches the heart and interest of the toiling millions in the right place, in this and other addresses on this subject. B. T. Tanner. (661) — 662 — especially its officials and employees, to blend with the pres- ent wag-e system the more ancient and equitable one of " profit sharing"." I submit this proposition for the approval of the stock- holders, because I believe that the two S3'stems, if properly united and practically administered, will be a decided im- provement upon the present wag"e system, and advantag-eous alike to employer and employed. For man}' years I have favored substantiall}' the plan of co-operative labor and "profit sharing," which I now pro- pose for adoption by this Company. In my opinion we have reached a period in the history of the " Ann Arbor " Com- pan}'' which justifies me in submitting the propositions here- inafter made to the stockholders, for their ratification or re- jection. And as I do not claim that the method of distribution proposed is beyond improvement, 1 cordiall}- invite such amendments as jnay suggest themselves to any of the stock- holders or employees who ma}' receive a printed copy of these proposed rules and regulations. RULE FIRST. The Toledo, Ann Arbor & North Michigan Railway Company hereby stipulates and agrees to pay to each of its officers (except its President) and to all its employees a divi- dend, as provided in the terms and conditions following: All officials and employees of said Company who shall have been continuously in its service for five (5) ^-ears or more, shall in addition to the regular wages paid to each, re- ceive an amount which shall equal the proportion hereinafter named of such dividends on its capital stock as ma}' be de- clared by the Board of Directors of this Company in any year. RULE SECOND. The basis on which a proportion of the dividends earned by this Company are to be paid to each officer and employee shall be as follows: — 663 — The Board of Directors, when declaring- a dividend, shall add to the total amount of capital stock outstanding", the gross sum paid by the Company, in salaries and wagfes, for the preceding- year, to all its employees and officials (except its President) who shall have been continuously in its ser- vice for the five (5) years next preceding- the declaration of such dividends, and each of such officers and employees shall be entitled to receive in any year in which a dividend shall be declared, a dividend on an amount equal to his salary for the year preceding-, as if he were the owner of a number of shares of the capital stock of the Company to a like amount, at their par value. RULE THIRD. Kvery officer and en;ployee who shall have been in the service of the Company continuously for twenty (20) years or more, and voluntarily retires from its service with an honor- able discharg-e, shall be entitled to receive, and have delivered to him, a certificate of the full paid-up capital stock of the Company, which shall equal in amount at its par value, the total sum paid him as wag-es for the last year he was in the service of the Company. RULE FOURTH. If any officer or employee of the Company as aforesaid, shall be so disabled, while in the line of active duty, as to be unable to resume his place for a period of six months or more, he shall be entitled to receive a certificate of the full paid-up capital stock of the Company, which shall equal in amount, at its par value, the g-ross sum paid him for the year imme- diately preceding- his said disabilit3% And if any officer or employee shall lose his life while in the line of active duty, his wife, if he has one, and if not, his legal representatives, shall be entitled to receive a certificate of the full paid-up capital stock of the Company which shall equal in amount at its par value, five (5) times the gross sum paid him for the year next preceding his death. Provided, however, that this — 664 — rule shall not appl}' in cases where a claim for damag-es is made in the courts. RULB FIFTH. These rules and regulations touching- the mode and man- ner of paying" dividends and stock allotments to the ofdcers and employees of the Company, shall not be amended or abro- gated except at a regular annual meeting of the stockholders of this Company, and then only after due notice has been g"iven to the stockholders, thirty daj-s prior to the said reg^ular annual meeting, that a proposition will be made at said meet- ing- to amend or abrog-ate said rules and regulations, which notice shall be published by the Secretary, with a printed statement of the change or changes proposed. RULE SIXTH. The President and Board of Directors shall have the power and authority' necessar}- to carr}' into effect the fore- g-oing plan of profit sharing* and stock allotment. THE PLAN EXPLAINED. It is not my purpose in this plan of allotment and " profit sharing"" to make a gift to the officers and employees of the Company, without value received. It is not intended to take from the dividends due the shareholders, and arbi- trarily add to the wages of the employees without an equiva- lent. The bonus which it is proposed to pay to each officer and employee is to be paid out of the additional earnings and savings of the Compan}-, which saving's and earning-s it is believed will be materially increased by the activity, economy and fidelity of officials and employees alike, and b}' a watch- fulness which must result in decreasing" accidents, and in securing a better understanding" of the responsibilities and du'aes of each, as also a more perfect co-operation between all who are in the service of the Company. It will be observed that in this plan forpa^-ing" dividends, — 665 — the oflS.cers and employees run no risk of pecuniary loss. They do not own the stock and cannot be held for damages, but each will receive a dividend when earned by the Com- pany, as if he were the owner of the stock. The wag^es of each is guaranteed and paid by the Company, and must be paid, even when the Company is losing mone}-. It will be seen by this simple statement that Capital must run the risk of all losses, and pay all wages and daily expenses, whether earned by the Company or not. In the practical administration of great corporate trusts, especially in the case of a Railroad Company, one soon learns as he cannot learn elsewhere, how absolutely inseparable are the true interests of Capital and Labor. This plan of allotment is proposed in the confident belief that it will largely increase the net earnings of the Compan}^ and promote zeal, economy and general efficiency; that it will also prove itself to be a valuable educator, and teach the necessity of sobriety and fidelity; and that mutual confidence and good-will is better for all than contentions and strikes. If this plan of allotment and pajang dividends is ap- proved by the stockholders and is fairly tested, it is expected that the entire dividend paid by the Company in any one year to its officers and employees, will be more than earned by savings from loss and waste. And when each officer and em- ployee is properly educated, he will understand that w^hen- ever he permits or causes a useless waste, or by negligence or disobedience of orders an accident results, that he always brings upon himself and his associate employees, a loss pro- portionately corresponding to that suffered by the Compan}'. The education and discipline which the plan of "profit sharing " and stock allotment above proposed must of neces- sity introduce, will, it is believed, be of great economic value in securing to the Company the kind and character of men who will desire to remain with it. Naturally enough, the sober, industrious and competent men (especially those with families) will seek and remain in the employ of a Company which recognizes the plan of "profit sharing" as herein pro- posed, and naturally enough every temperate, prudent man who saves his money, will prefer the same class of men for his associates, and the Company can rely on such men to aid — 666 — it in securing" and keeping- only the best and most trustworthy men in its service. As a rule, the temperate saving- man is a better workman and more reliable than one who is intemperate and improvi- dent. Successful economy on the part of an employee, bring-s stability and contentment. Every intellig-ent, competent railroad manag-er estimates such a man at his actual worth, and desires to increase his wag-es in proportion to the amount which he saves or earns for the Company, and nothing- can be more gratifying- to such a manag-er than to see his workmen securing- homes of their own, and laying- up something- for a rain}- day. I propose to make four (4) periods of five (5) years each (or 20 years) as the maximum period of service; and require a period of five (5) years' continuous service as a condition to securing- a proportion of the profits earned b}- the Company. And it is also proposed for the consideration of the Board of Directors, whether, in the near future, it ma}- not be desirable and equitable to g-rant in addition to the dividends and stock allotment provided, an increase in the wag-es paid each of&cer and employee who may have remained in the service of the Compan}- for two or more periods of five (5) j-ears each, and especially for the fourth (4) period, which completes the twenty (20) years' continuous service, at which time it is sug-- gested stipulation oug-ht to be made, that any of such em- ployees could then voluntarily retire or be retired by the Com- pany, each person so retired or voluntarilj^ retiring- to receive from the Company the amount of paid-up capital stock, as hereinbefore provided. In addition to the "plan" of profit sharing- as herein proposed and an increase in compensation for a continuous service of ten years or more as recommended, it is sug-g-ested that in lieu of any claim ag-ainst the Compan}- for damag-es because of accidents, that a fund for accident and life insur- ance be provided at an early day, in such manner as shall seem to the Board of Directors just and equitable, and pro- viding also that all promotions so far as practicable shall be made from among- the officials and emploj-ees long-cst in the service of the Company. J. M. Ashley, l^resident. Toledo, Ohio, January 24, 1887. THE FEDERATION OF RAILROAD WORKERS And all Wage-workers — Gov. Ashley's Address, Junb 10th, 1891, TO THE International Train Dispatchers' Convention, on Co-operation and Strikes. from the TOLEDO BLADE. Governor Ashley and his position on labor organizations and labor questions, with particular reference to railroads, is clearly set forth in an address read to the train dispatchers, who met in international convention in Toledo, June 10th, 1891. address. Dear Sir: It would have been a welcome task to me could I have accepted the invitation, with which you honored me, to address your association at its contemplated annual convention in Toledo on the 10th inst. You ask me to favor your association with my views upon the problem of railway employees' organizations, so that you can read the same to your delegates assembled in convention. The opinions which I hold touching organizations of working-men and the relations of capital and labor, are the logical outgrowth of my early light against the right of cap- ital to legal ownership in man. An intelligent discussion of slave ownership involved of necessity thequestionof the prop- er relation between labor and capital. Naturally enough, he who denied the right of slave barons to the ownership of their laborers as chattels, would deny the right of capital to enslave labor by any law or custom, which the hatred of race Cb67) — 668 — and spirit of caste, or the avarice or selfishness of unscrupu- lous men mig-ht invent. I believe that co-operation and profit-sharing" will ulti- matcl}- prove to be the most practical, and bj far the best solu- tion of the labor problem. This idea has, within a few years, commended itself to the considerate judg-ment of many of the ablest men in Europe and in this countr}*. The plan for profit-sharing* which I pre- pared and which the Ann Arbor company adopted is, in my opinion, applicable to all kinds of industries in which it may be necessar}' to employ ten or ten thousand men. It is, as I see it, especiall}^ adapted to railroading* in all its departments, and can be used in all business co-partner- ships or public corporations of whatsoever kind, and even in farming*. When laboring* men shall have been properly educated, co-operation and profit-sharing* will, in m}- opinion, as cer- tainly take the place of the present wag*e system as the wag*e system succeeded slavery and serfdom. I send you b}' this mail, under separate cover, a cop}- of one of my annual re- ports. In the appendix you will find the plan which I favor, to- g-ether v/ith a brief explanation of its practicability. An ex- amination of this plan will disclose the fact that it is just, alike to employed and emploj^er, and in an}- event, is safe for all emplo3'ees. Intellig-ent men comprehend that the first dut)^ of all rail- road men, emplo3^er and employed, is to stand tog*ether. The interest of one is be3^ond question the interest of all. Whatever destroj^s the property or damag*es the business of a railroad company, tends to decrease the wag*es of em- ployees, or both. The parasites who camp along* the line of every railroad, and without visible means, subsist by plunder and disreputable practices, are in larg*e part the result of con- ditions produced b}- railroad men in their unwise and indefen- sible conflict with each other, especially' in the strikes, which incompetent and unworthy leaders have so recklessl}' ordered, to end onl}' in defeat and disaster. No thoug*htful man will ever attempt to justify or to excuse three-fourths of all the strikes which, in the past twenty years or more, railroad men ^669 — have reluctantly been forced into by men utterly incompetent to lead or direct a movement so far-reaching- in its con- sequences as a strike on any ordinary line of railroad. When to the delay, and sometimes to the entire suspen- sion of the leg-itimate business of a community depending" on such a line of railroad, there is added the wanton and mali- cious destruction of property belong-ing- to the railroad com- pany, a point has been reached which demands the united ac- tion of all honorable railroad men, for the suppression and exclusion of men g^uilty of such nefarious acts from the ranks of reputable railroad employees. The accumulated property of the world belongs, not wholly to its individual owners, but in part to the citizens of the world. He who wantonly or deliberately destroys the property which leg^ally belongs to him, because his own labor, or the labor of his ancestors had produced it, is guilty of an offense punishable by the laws of all civilized states. He who destroys the property of another, because of some misunderstanding or disagreement, commits a crime which should exclude him from the companionship or recog- nition of all manly men. I have never met more than two or three railroad man- agers who were not ready and anxious to promote the inter- ests of their employees, and these two or three men were un- fitted by nature and training for such responsible positions. A large majority of railroad managers of my acquaint- ance are broad and liberal-minded men, who came up from the ranks of railroaders, and are in hearty sympathy with the aspirations of the rank and file, not only because they are by nature manly oen, but because they themselves have been of the rank and file and know by their own experience and ob- servation what the wants and hopes of each are. I, therefore, repeat that the first duty of all railroad men, employer and employed, is to stand together and unitedly repel the unjust and dishonest attacks made upon railroad men and railroad property. All men who have given the subject any reflection know that organized capital, with steam and electricity, has so changed the commercial and business forces of the world that to-day five men, by using this new power, can do the work — 670 — •which thirt}' or forty ^'ears ag-o required one hundred men. This fact, now g-enerall}' recognized, has prompted many of the thinking- men who arc in sj^mpathy with the wag"e-workers, both in this country and in Europe, to urge disorganized labor to organize, not to exclude other men from work, nor to dp any criminal act, but for the purpose of securing the rights and bettering the conditions of all workers and ultimatel}^ to obtain a business co-partnership with capital, not only in railroading, but in all industries, on a basis just and equi- table to both capital and labor. You ask me what plan of organization men should adopt to secure this end. That is the problem of problems, and the man who solves it will be entitled to the recognition and gratitude of all wage-workers the world over, as also of all classes and conditions of men, because, v/hatevcr plan may ultimatel}' be adopted by railroad men, it m.ust, in order to be satisfactory and enduring, commend itself to the great body of wage-workers in all departments of human industry. I therefore earnestly desire that the intelligent railroad men of this country should adopt some such plan of co-opera- tion and profit-sharing as I have suggested, to the end that it may be by them formally presented to all railroad owners and managers for their of&cial action. Such a presentation, on the part of practical railroad men, would secure an able and prompt discussion of the principle involved, and I confi- dentl}^ believe in its final adoption with such modifications and additions as men of brains and experience may approve. To this end, and to secure such an organization as the importance and magnitude of their interest demands, I favor the federation of all railroad workers in State organizations, with the entire body in all States and Territories represented in one national organization, in which every department of railroad workers shall have a proportional representation ac- cording to number of members residing in each State and Ter- ritory. Believing that in this world the best that any mortal has is that which every mortal shares, I hold that the interest of each is the interest of all. If this proposition be admitted, then a national federation of railroad men, and subordinate federations for each State — 671 — and Territorj^ should be org-anized, into which all reputable railroad workers should be welcome, who voluntarily desire to affiliate with such an org-anization by subscribing- to its constitution. The constitution of this national federation, after defin- ing clearly the purposes of the organization and the powers and duties of all State and Territorial organizations affiliat- ing with it, should especially provide the machinery by which all questions touching the relation of railroad workers to railroad companies will be heard and determined. In each duly organized State and Territorial and subordinate associa- tion, every member whose name properly appears on the roll should have the right secured to him to vote by ballot on all questions submitted to the organization by authority of the national or of any State or Territorial federation; and espe- cially in his local assembly should the right of the ballot be secured to him on the demand of one-tenth of the members present at any meeting. In this country every .duly qualified elector has a right to vote by ballot for the representatives of his choice, whether that official be the President of the United States, a State of- ficial or private citizen; why, then, should not every railroad Avorker have secured to him the right to vote by ballot in his local federation on every question affecting his individual in- terest, or that of the general interest of the organization? As no railroad man would be permitted to vote in any local council who was not a member in good standing, so only those who are members and voters would be eligible to any official position as a representative to either the State or na- tional assemblies. Experience must have taught every thoughtful railroad man that all officials and delegates to represent them in any deliberative body, ought, after due notice of the time and place of such election, to be elected by ballot, and not by a howling- mob, under the management of unscrupulous and unworthy leaders. At such elections the minority should always have secur- ed to them the right of representation in proportion to the ballots cast by them; no more, no less. Provisions should be made in the national constitution of — 672 — such a federation for obtaining- the deliberate opinion of ever}- member in each State and Territory on all important ques- tions submitted for official action. To do this practical!}', special provision must be made to secure proportional repre- sentation from all local, district and State assemblies, to the minority as well as the majority, when sending" delegates to district or State, or to the national assembly. The concurrent vote of not less than two-thirds, and sometimes three-fourths of the representatives in district. State or national assemblies should be required to adopt any new or untried proposition, such for instance as the adoption of my plan of co-operative profit sharing-. If a proposition, touching- any subject worthy the consid- eration of either district or State federations or the national assembl}', cannot, after open debate command a two-thirds vote or even three-fourths vote of men whose personal inter- ests are all in favor of a just disposition of this subject, its defects must be of a character to render its attempted enforce- ment by a mere numerical majority, ver}- questionable. Every individual wag-e-worker, who voluntarih' combines in such an org-anization, does so not only to protect and pro- mote his own interests, but to secure the rig-hts and interests of all workers. He cannot afford, and will not willing-ly put himself under subjection to an org-anization, in which he practically has no voice. That he will have no voice in such an org-anization unless he has secured to him the rig-ht to vote by ballot, experience has amply demonstrated. And I af6.rm that unless a concurrent vote of not less than two-thirds, representing- the minority,as well as the ma- jority of the org-anization, can be secured to each member on all questions touching- individual freedom, he is in dang-er of being- subjected to a despotic power, which mig-ht deprive him of the libert}- of disposing- of his own labor, and so hcdg-e him about, as to make the bettering- of his condition in life impossible. It will hardly be claimed that a minority of the org-ani- zation should be clothed with the power of administering- it. The point to be reached is to collect, with something- like mathematical precision, the deliberate and unbiased judge- ment of every railroad worker, on every proposition in which — o/o — all who are members of the org-anization are interested, di- rectly or indirectly. I therefore would provide in the national and State constitution that no separate or local org"anization of railroad workers, such, for instance as the "Association of Train Dispatchers," should have the power on their own mo- tion and without the affirmative vote of two-thirds of all the workers or employees on any road, who were members of the organization, to declare a strike or do any act hostile to the interest of the majority of the employees of such railroads. I would require the question to be first submitted by the of- ficers of the State org-anization to all subordinate affiliated councils in the State or along- the line of railroad so affected by the proposed strike. Such a constitutional provision should secure deliberation and a vote by ballot to all railroad workers who were members of the federation and on the pa}^ roll of the company on which it was proposed to order a strike. All such ballots should be printed, simply yes or no, and a proposition of that character ought to require a vote of not less than two-thirds in its favor to authorize the officers of any State federation to order a strike. If it be objected that a vote of two-thirds is too large and that only a majority of those present and voting ought to be sufficient, even though a minority of the total federations interested — the answer is, that, as a rule, there is always doubt about the practicabil- ity or necessity for the passage in the national Congress or in State legislatures or in any city government of any act or law, such as declaring war or amending the Constitution, or even creating a city bonded debt, for posterity to pay. Pru- dence requires that such acts should be done by all civil gov- ernments only after careful deliberation, public discussion, and not less than two-thirds, and sometimes a three-fourths vote of the assemblies charged with the duty of such legisla- tion. We cannot amend our national Constitution unless Con- gress,by a two-thirds vote of both the Senate and House, concur in submitting a plain and definite proposition, and then it requires an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the States to ratify it to make it a part of the Constitution. In some States a proposition to amend the constitution 43 — 674—. must have passed both, houses of the State legislature by a two-thirds vote two years in succession, and then be sub- mitted to the electors of such State for their acceptance or rejection b}' a direct vote, yes or no. No intelligent man can afford to be less careful when providing for the protection of his individual rights. A recognition of this conservative principle in all organ- izations of wage-workers and especially in a federation of railroad men, such as I have suggested, is an absolute neces- sity, as a condition to permanence and success. It is not possible to make an organization live and suc- ceed by trickery and fraud. Temporary success ma}' be and sometimes has been secured by tricker}^ and fraud, but in the long run injustice and crime are doomed to defeat, and when crime goes down there always go with it the men guilty of doing the wrong acts which gave them temporary triumph. On all well-ordered railroads the importance and respon- sibility of the train dispatcher's department is fully recogniz- ed, and it ought not to be forgotten b}- any wage-worker that in all departments of human industry " responsibility " car- ries with it corresponding opportunities. From the ranks of the Train Dispatchers' Association are certain to come in the future, as in the past, many of our able railroad managers and prominent officials. The whole world admires a just and manly man. It therefore requires no seer or prophet to predict that in every conflict with exacting and unjust managers such an organi- zation of railroad workers as I have outlined, administered with prudence and dignity, will alwa3's win. If you acquit yourselves like men, and with fraternal dutv consecrate 3'our daily toil, you cannot be defeated. On such a platform you have but to " Stand firm, and all the world shall see Your light shine out o'er land and sea." J. M. Ashley. C. E. Case, Esq., Secretary Train Dispatchers' Association of America. EXTRACTS From Governor Ashley's First Address in the Congres- sional Campaign of 1890. Hon. C. A. King- introduced Governor Ashley in a short speech. He said that the Republican Congressional conven- tion, on the 10th of October, had chosen a candidate for Con- gress. That candidate had been notified and had accepted. He desired simply to present to the audience Governor Ashley. Applause again followed when the Governor stepped for- ward and began to speak. He said: Mr. Chairman and Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow- Citizens all: Your cordial reception and old-fashioned greeting is like a Highland welcome; and I accept it in the spirit in which it is given and thank you for it with all my heart. In accepting the unsolicited nomination which the Re- publican ^Congressional convention of this district tendered me on the 10th instant, I feel that it is due to both you and myself at the outset to state frankly that I accept the nomi- (675) — 076 — nation, not^because I personally desire a seat in the Cong^ress of the United States, with all its responsibilities and thank- less labor, but because I believe it to be a duty, and because I sincerely believe there are formidable forces at work, which, if unchecked, must drift the nation and party into conditions of peril and disaster. [Applause.] To avert these, will, in m}' opinion, require not onlv the united efforts of the Republican party, but the heart}' co-op- eration of the able men of all sections and parties. It will be my duty to present to 3'ou, in the few addresses which I shall be able to make during the short canvass on which we are entering", such facts and such arguments touch- ing the situation of the country, and the tendencies of which I speak as may, peradventure, contribute something to arouse thinking men to the gravity of the impending conflict before us, that they may be induced to call a halt and ask them- selves the question, " Whither, as a nation, are we drifting?" The older citizens 01 Toledo and Northern Ohio are fa- miliar with my manner of speech, and all know that 1 am in- capable of concealment or evasion. In every political can- vass I ever made, whether a candidate or not, I stated the issue with such plainness that no one could misunderstand or honestly misinterpret me. [Applause.) I have always held that a public speaker should speak with frankness, simplicity and directness. That, first of all, he should so impress his individuality upon his audience as to make every thought he expressed glow with a sincerity which should stamp itself, not only on the hearts and minds of his hearers, but even on the coldest printed page, that he should so far forget his surroundings as to lose all conscious- ness of self, and with quiet earnestness for his only rhc"oric, make h's appeal as one who sees the truth, and whose hpscan utter that only which he sees and believes. [Applause.] I should like to come before vou when I shall have more time to discuss the great political Questions at issue, but from the hour we reached Sandusky one delay followed an- other, and It would be doing vou great injustice to keep you longer^ I will not at thiS laie hour undertake to speak as 1 had iniendeJ, prior to mv detention at Sandusky. 1 have ac- cepted the nomination and I stand on the platform. I may — 677 — say m}' business is to defend the platform on which I stand. I shall confine myself to the discussion of national issues, and shall not allow m3^self to be diverted from them by any side issue on which I shall have no vote in Cong-ress. My duty to the other counties in the district, and my duty to the Republicans, should be to hold a steady hand. [Someone on the left here cried out, "How do you stand on the gas question?" Turning* towards his questioner the Governor made no hesitation, but replied: " I intend to stand for Toledo, and as I have no vote in Cong-ress on the gas question, I will say nothing about it." The applause follow- ing was spontaneous.] I stand for Toledo [the Governor continued] , and have been struggling for thirty-nine j'ears to build her up. I have at heart as much as any man, her interest and prosperity. Moreover, we may differ in the method by which we are to get that prosperity, and as long as I don't have to vote upon it in Congress, I shall not undertake to reconcile the differ- ence. If a man should ask me what is my religion, I should probably tell hdm that it was none of his business. If I was a candidate for bishop or pope, I should recognize the justice of that question and answer it. If I was a candidate for tlje city council of Toledo, I should recognize the justice of questions on local interest. I do not intend to evade any question that can be of possible importance in this campaign. I should not ignore them for the sake of the fight I propose to make in this district. When I was -first elected as a repre- sentative in Congress I was a very young man. I made up my mind that I would go slow and safe. I may have made mistakes, but whatever Ldid, are mat- ters of record. The slanderous hearsayers cannot put their fingers on a single vote to which they object or you object. They cannot point to a single public or private speech express- ing a sentiment to which you would object. All I ask of you is to turn to the records, as to any slanders that may have been circulated twenty years ago. I don't care enough for an election to make a single dodge. If anybody asked me how I built the Ann Arbor road, I should probably tell him that it was none of his business. I got gray in doing it. "While I was building it I had to borrow money, and agreed that — 678- rti}' lips should be sealed politicall}', and I would keep out of politics. But the money is paid, and I am free to talk poli- tics now. Now, gentlemen, on all the bills before the last Congress the Republican part}- was in the main right. Among them was the tariff bill. I voted for the old tariff bill, and I should have voted for this one had I been in the present Congress. [Great applause.] There may be provisfons in it for which I would not have voted in Committee of the Whole, but if a bill has 70 or 80 per cent, of my ideas in it and I can't get 90, it will receive my support, and I'll take 80 percent. No interest of the city shall escape my attention. I am the only man who ever made a speech in Congress, booming Toledo. [Laughter.] I don't think Toledo lost anything, gentlemen, whenever material interests were at stake when I was there. I may be ahead of my party now, as I was in the old anti-slavery days, but the man who is ahead of his column, and falling with his face to the foe, is a great deal better soldier than any man who is skulking in the rear, and dropping out at the first opportunity. [Applause.] I have, as most of you know, just returned from a pleas- ant sojourn on the continent. While there I was not idle, ahd saw much that was both interesting and instructive. Even the old ruins taught impressive lessonso The crumbling castles and prisons, and monasteries, all told of a despotism and grandeur, built on the unrequited toil and suffering and sorrow of the million, to gratif}' the pride and selfishness, the vanit}- and ambition of the few. The press, the schools and colleges, with the co-opera- tion of commerce and steam and electricit}', have abolished the old barbarism and changed, let us hope for the better, the old order of things. But the immense standing armies of Europe are eating up the substance of the nations, and stamping with an iron hand, submission and endurance on the character of the people. This could not be otherwise with a standing army of 3,000,000 men, equipped with all the modern weapons of destructive warfare and drilled to obey the orders of their commanders-in-chief. Each of the so- called "great powers" can, on short notice, transport from 300,000 to 1,000,000 men, by steam, on land and water to any — 679 — objective point within their dominions, and hurl them against an invading- army or use them to crush any internal insurrec- tion or rebellion. So formidable are these g-reat armies, and so thoroug-hly do they crush out all freedom of thought and action that they practically reduce all classes and conditions of men to enforced and abject silence, and everywhere an American recognizes the fact that even modern Europe is old, and that her people are sullenly obeying the bugle call, and keeping lock-step to the music of fife and drum. [Ap- plause.] Wherever, on the continent, I cast my eyes, I saw that even the young were old in manner and speech, and their faces wore a subdued and anxious look, as if life was a serious struggle with them. In our country you will find even the old young, and a vivacity in all, which is born of the fresh- ness and hope of youth. With our people you see the elastic step and stately tread of vigorous manhood, a condition which is the natural outgrowth of personal liberty and per- sonal independence. No intelligent foreign observer who visits our shores can fail to note the marked difference in the characteristics oi a people who live under a government of force and those who live under a government of consent. [Applause.] What wonder then that on Tuesday last, as I steamed up the magnificent harbor of New York and my eyes caught sight of the colossal statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World," and I saw floating in the breeze on every hand that banner of matchless beauty, which symbolizes the dignity and sovereignty of my country, that there should have welled up, as there did, from my heart to my lips, in glad.acclaim, the words of our national hymn: "My country, ' tis of thee. Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing." [Applause.] Mr. Chairman: There are before me to-night those who will live to see the population of our country number 100,000- — GSO — 000 or more — a population of manl}-, self-reliant, indepen- dent men, because trained in the school of freedom. A pop- ulation having- a common lang-uage, a common interest and a common destin3'; into whose care and keeping" there has been committed the most priceless political heritage ever vouch- safed to man on earth; and throughout all our broad domain, from hamlet to city, on river and lake, from the summit of every wind-beaten mountain, and in the quiet homes of every sheltered valley, from the fragrant shade of the sweet mag- nolia blossom to where our chill north winds sigh throug-h the stately pines; everywhere, from center to circumference and from ocean to ocean there shall g"o up from all hearts and all lips but one aspiration and that for the unity and g"lory and grandeur of the republic; there shall be recorded but one oath, that of fidelity to the Constitution and loj'-alty to the flag, and all national songs shall be songs of thanksgiving- and songs of triumph. And everj'where beneath the nation's ensign there shall be heard but one malediction and but one INVOCATION, DISASTER, DEFEAT and DEATH to him who DE- SERTS or DISHONORS or betrays that flag-, and life and health and JOY to him who dwells in peace beneath its radiant folds. [Continuous applause. And the band struck up " America," as the vast audience began to leave the building-.] NIEIVlORIAIv ADDRESS AT Wauseon, May, 1892. Mr. Prksident and Ladies and GentIvEmen, Fei^low- ciTizENS ali.: I need not tell 3^ou that your g^enerous greeting- quickens my pulse-beats and stirs my heart with pleasurable emotions. You can all see, without my telling- you, how glad I am to be with 3'ou to-day. I do not wish to disg-uise the satisfaction I feel at receiving- from you such an old-time welcome. This occasion recalls to m}^ mind other meeting-s of a like character here in Fulton County, and man}" faces once well known among- you; as also, the fragrant memory of scores of grand men and women who in the days agone, were my unself- ish steadfast friends. Many of those now hidden from our earthly sight were moral heroes, worthy of our remembrance and of honorable mention, "not only here, but everywhere. In my heart of hearts, there is always a memorial tribute ready to be offered up to the memory of such noble friends as have passed from here to the realms beyond the stars. Mr. President: Every memorial service, however simple, recognizes a sacrifice or attests a martyr. Kvery memorial monument, erected by voluntary contributions (as was this one), is intended to perpetuate the memory and the heroism of those who fell either on the field or in the forum battling for the right. Every flower placed on the grave of a dead hero, or festooned in wreaths on a monument, as on the one before us, testifies to the present and to future generations, how we honored the men who fell and the cause for which they yielded up their lives. In a few short years the last surviving soldier who par- ticipated in the great conflict, which we are to-day com- (681) ^682- rtiemorating", will have passed with the benedictions of a grateful people, to the higher and better life bej'ond. As the coming generations of men shall pause, as pause they will, before this and other like monuments, the question which each for himself will ask, must be: For what did these men voluntarily offer themselves up as a sacrifice? Was the cause for which they fought and fell, a just cause? Did it represent a principle worth fighting for, and if need be worth dying for? If the answer which comes shall be such as the truthful historian must chronicle, when the pas- sions and mad acts which made the great rebellion possible shall have been softened or forgotten, the answer must be, *'that they did not die in vain." The answer must be *'that in their triumph the God-given right of every human soul to life and liberty was aJSirmed, and the unit}- and power and glory of the republic confirmed." When the rebel armies surrendered, not all which might have been, nor all that ought to have been demanded, as security for the future, was ever serioush' discussed. As there was no thought of exacting any pecuniar}- compensa- tion for our sufferings and sacrifice, there ought to have been prescribed such terms of surrender as would have made another causeless rebellion in the future practicall}' impossi- ble. I said then, and say now, that our stipulations for their surrender ought to have been made clear and strong and been engrafted into our national Constitution, because if made part of our national Constitution, they could not be unjust, as the conditions thus prescribed would of necessity operate on the North and on the South alike. But, in our desire for peace, in our anxiet}^ for the return of our erring brothers to the old mansion, we did not make the terms of surrender nor the stipulations as to the future as clear nor as far-reaching as was the duty of practical statesmen. The terms of surrender were in fact, as all will remem- ber, so ambiguous and shadow}- that manj- of our most emi- nent and trusted statesmen denounced the terms, "as a sur- render on our part to the enemy." That we ought to have made the terms of surrender — 683 — broad and liberal, and as free from malice, and as charitable as they were, all concede; but we oug-ht to have made the terms cover questions which all thoug-htful men knew must soon confront us, and which are now confronting- us. This amiable weakness and childlike trustfulness, how- ever, is not unnatural nor confined to this g-eneration. In 1812 we went to war with Great Britain on a question known as the "rig-ht of search." After we had practically defeated the British on both the sea and land, we appointed commis- sioners to make a treaty of peace. As our distinguished commissioners met the British officials day after day, and looked into each other's faces, they not only did not discuss the question which had caused the war, but when the treaty was signed not a sing-le stipulation or word could be found in it about the " rig"ht of search." We did better at the close of our g-reat rebellion, than the peace commissioners whom we sent to Great Britain in 1814. We knew that slavery was the cause of the war, and all intelligent, honest men frankly said, "As slavery has been the cause of the war, slavery must die," and it did die. The Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, and the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, made it impossi- ble forever thereafter, for a slave to breathe on any spot of God's green earth, beneath the radiant folds of our flag of stripes and stars. But we passed over and did not provide for the settlement of important questions which were then confronting us, and which are to-day confronting us, questions which have menaced our peace and unity more than once, and which will continue to menace it until they are honorably adjusted by the concurrent non-partisan action of all sections and all parties. If the questions to which I refer are not met and satisfactorily adjusted by an amendment to our national Constitution, substantially as I suggested in an address before the Ohio Society of New York, a conflict is certain to overtake us, which will culminate in a civil war more disas- trous than the war of the rebellion, because it v/ill be a parti- san instead of a sectional war. This partisan war, I fear, will grow out of partisan con- flicts incident to the mode and manner of nominating and — GS4 — electing- our Presidents, and Senators and Representatives in Congress, unless we provide against it by such amendments to our national Constitution as shall make such conflifcts impossible. Letter from Chairmaa of the Committee, Bishop B. "W. Arnett. The reader of this volume will learn, that both before and after the war of the rei bellion, Mr. Ashley spoke as one of God's own interpreters, and made plain our duty as a nation. Stern and earnest in his denunciations of the great^crime of slavery, yet with patience and tenderness he showed us the Divine in humanity, and spoke with the firmness and forbearance of one who dwelt in the courts of the Lord. Just and generous, a clear and independent thinker, he soug'ht to plant the seed of thought in others rather than publish and claim them for himself. He never had any of that narrow selfishness which files a "caveat" on every thought that came to him. Search the records, and nowhere, b^- speech or pen, can a word be found from him claiming special or exclusive credit for introducing his bill for the abolition of slavery in thq District of Columbia, nor for having introduced the first proposition for amending the national Constitution prohibiting slavery in the United States, and by his tireless and prudent labors, securing its passage by Congress, in the words of the Thirteenth Amendment. He left that task to his contemporaries and to the future historian. Charles Sumner, Chief Justice Chase, James G. Blaine and other men of eminence have publicly recognized and testified to his ability and successful parliamentary work for the abolition of slavery. In publishing this "souvenir," the negro has built him a fitting monument ; but not out of the stones cast at him in the dark days of slavery by the enemies of our race, but a monument which contains some of his best and most effective appeals for our liberation and enfranchisement. When compiling this volume, we were not without hope, that in this form Mr. Ashley's speeches and orations may prove to be for him a more enduring monument than marble or granite. B. W. Arnett. MAUMEE VALLEY PIONEER ASSOCIATION CELE- BRATION. Address of Governor Ashley to the Men and Women Who Came Early to this Part of Ohio. FROM THE TOLEDO BLADE. Liberty Center, O., Aug-. 19. — At the reunion of the Maumee Pioneer Association in Young-'s g"rove, this afternoon, after the election of officers, mention of which was made in 3'esterda3''s Blade, Chairman Young- introduced the speaker of the day, Hon. J. M. Ashley, of Toledo. Gov. Ashley de- livered the following address, which was listened to with g-reat interest and appreciation by the larg-e g-athering- of pioneers: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the So- ciety: When honored by your unexpected invitation to ad- dress your society to-daj*, I accepted with pleasure. Of course, you know, as I do, that the invitation did not come to me because I was a pioneer, or the son of a pioneer. I came into the Maumee Valley long- after the pioneers, whose deeds you annually meet to commemorate, had passed to another, and let us hope, a more peaceful life, after having- laid broad and deep the foundation of our present substantial homes of peace and plent}-. I assume, therefore, that your invitation came to me by the partiality of old friends, who again wanted to see and hear me. The desire on my part to see and enjoy the day with 3'ou, is evidenced by my presence. I reg-ret that I have not had time to prepare a paper* (685) — 686 — suitable for the occasion, and worthy of preservation by your society, but I could not do as I wished, and must ask your in- dulgence during- the short time I shall detain you. The observations I am about to make must be such as shall suggest themselves while I am on my feet. I see 3'ou have with you here to-day that modern wonder, the ubiquitous newspaper reporter, so if I say anything worth recording you may be certain he will faithfully record it for his paper. If, peradventure, I should make a mistake in word, or a slip in speech, let us hope that like "Uncle To- by's" recording angel, he will drop a tear on that part of his report, and blot it out. ISIr. President, there are pioneers who conceive, and plan and project, and there are pioneers who organize and com- mand and execute. The first we call "theoretical" pioneers, the second " practical " pioneers. In temperament and activitj-, I may be properly be classed with both the pioneers who " project" and the pioneers who "execute." Without a knowledge that other men in other lands had conceived substantially the same idea, I had, before attaining my majority, thought out for myself and affirmed, " that la- bor was equitably entitled to a fair proportion of the wealth which it created." Naturally enough, if this proposition be admitted, it follows of necessit}-, that the laborer must first own himself before he can own and hold any part of the prop- erty which his toil has produced. Having thus early adopted and publicl}' affirmed this pioneer proposition, I entered with vigor and earnestness up- on a crusade against the right of any man to own or hold an- other as a slave; which crusade ended on my part only with the abolition of slavery in the nation, and the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to our national Constitution, pro- hibiting that crime forever. My oflicial connection with that sublime act of justice has secured for me a fitting place in history, and, with my record on that question, I know every friend of freedom IS content. After the overthrow of slavery and the adoption of the — 687 — Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to our national Constitution, I entered upon another pioneer cru- sade, or campaig-n of reform, one which seeks to secure to the qualified electors of the nation the rig-ht to nominate and elect the President of the United States, and Senators and Representatives in Congress by a direct vote of the peo- ple by ballot, and to substitute for our present wag-e-systeni a plan of co-operation with capital and profit-sharing- for la- bor, which, if adopted and practically administered, will se- cure to the toiler in all departments of human industry a just and fair proportion of the wealth which labor creates. If some such plan as I propose had been applied in their every-day life, by our early pioneers, their hardships would have been lessened, their security for life and property would have been g'reater, and their enjoyment corresponding-ly in- creased. It was only a short time ag-o that we used to carry our g-rist to the water-mill of the riverside, and grumble then as now at the amount of toll taken by the miller. To-day that miller is superseded by one who turns out 3,000 barrels of flour every twenty-four hours. And so with our wag-ons; in- stead of being- made by the builder in his little shop at the cross-roads, they are now made in the g-reat factories at the rate of one every thirty minutes. We used to think that no- body would ever have ing-enuity enoug"h to make horse-shoe nails by machiner)^, but to-day they are furnished to the blacksmith far cheaper, smoother and stronger, than he could ever make them. Our mothers used to spin and weave our blue-jeans for us, but to-day we wear much better and cheaper clothes purchased of the tailors and storekeepers. What has broug-ht about thk revolution? I answer, a monster. The monster of iron, steam and electricity. A mon- ster which if not properly controlled will, in time, be powerful enoug-h to crush all toilers. I have had some experience in practical affairs and I say to you that this monster if ap- proached in the rig-ht way can not only be controlled, but can be made to serve our ends. It must not be permitted to get the upper hand. We must harness this iron monster of steam and electricity and teach it to do our bidding. My remedy for the — 688 — dang-er that besets us is, arbitration and co-operation. [Ap- plause.] This beautiful Mauniee valley has never been appreciated by our people. I have traveled the world over and I say to you that we have no reason to be ashamed of our home val- ley. Mrs. Sherwood, in a poem soon to be printed, has de- scribed much better than I can the beautiful Maumee. I will read you the last two stanzas: " O river of the purpling* vine, O river of the corn and wine, O river where the g-olden peach Hang's luscious on the pebbled beach, Where g-lide the g-alleys of the seas In laug-hter-laden arg"osies, O river, consecrate to truth In proud Ohio's royal 3-outh, Thy deeds are dear to poesy, Maumee, Maumee. " O fair Miami of the lo.kes, For thee, majestic music wakes. The splendor of thy wide estate, To liberty is consecrate; To kindlier creeds and statelier laws, To manlier deeds and holier cause; From primal man's barbaric state, To truth transfigured and elate; To human freedom's high decree, Maumee, Maumee." [Applause.] Mr. President: As I look back and see moving- westward the great historic human panorama of the ag-es, beg-inning- with Columbus on the sea, and continuing- on this continent for four hundred 3-ears, I am lost in wonder and admiration. — 689 — t This triumphal movement of the human race, on the sea and on the land, from the discovery of America by Columbus to this hour, has had no parallel in human histor3\ You are all familiar with the drama of the early discov- erers of America, as on their ships they scanned for months with anxious g-aze the sea and sky, while plowing" the un- known ocean; and you are still more familiar with the drama of the early explorers of this continent, as with covered wag-ons and Indian canoes, they pioneered their way, by river and lake, through unbroken forests and over formidable mountains, encountering- on every hand suffering, privation and death. The exodus of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, under the masterly leadership of Moses, has for cen- turies been held up to mankind as a lesson and a warning, and from the time of that marvelous deliverance has been the theme of poets and prophets, and yet the exodus of the chil- dren of men, under Columbus, out of their European land of bondage to this continent, representing as it did, all civilized races, has transcended in glory and grandeur, and in its far- reaching and beneficent results to the human race, the exodus of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. [Applause.] The spirit which moved and directed Columbus was im- planted in the breasts' of all our early ocean and continental pioneers. From Massachusetts Bay to the capes of Florida, we first find the Spanish and Portuguese and the French. After- wards the French pushed their way up the St. Lawrence through Canada, and across the lakes up the Miami of Lake Erie; over the classic ground on which we stand to-day, down the Wabash and Ohio, to the Mississippi and the Gulf. Then came the sturdy English stock, to stick and stay. They came from New England and New York to Ohio and the Northwest, and following close after them came the great exploring expeditions of Lewis and Clark, which crossed the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific in 1802-3. Prior to this, the advanced guard of Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania had followed the Monongahela and descended the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. 44 — 690 — And the pioneer? from Maryland and Virg-inia had f oug-ht their way throug-h mountains, to Kentucky and Tennessee, and possessed and held that country. Thousands of caravans of covered wag-ons, with women and children, spread over a territory on a line which reached north and south four hundred miles or more, and moving, as I see them, like the waves of the ocean, substantially abreast, crossed the Alleghenies, descended rivers and penetrated un- broken forests, meeting danger and death, as often, if not oftener, than did the early pioneers of the ocean. The faith and fortitude, the courage and endurance of the men and women who pioneered their way across the con- tinent, equaled, if it did not eclipse, that of the earl}- ocean pioneers. [Applause.] The same impelling motive animated both. The overland pioneers could nowhere plant their flags in safety, nor rest in peace, until they had silenced in death the wild-man's terrific 3'ell. More caravans were wiped out in blood by the red man than were lost by the early ocean pioneers at sea, and yet great armies on both the land and sea came on and on, never hesitating, never faltering. The pluck and heroism of the ocean and continental pioneers, presents a sublime spectacle,' the contemplation of which, fills ever)" manl}^ heart with patriotic emotions. There were thousands of men at the head of west-bound expeditions, as brave and dauntless and hopeful as Columbus; men who could command and successful!}' fight great battles; men whose steady advance could not be staj-cd b}- danger, nor their purpose defeated by obstacles, however formidable. Fortunate are we to be the descendants of such a sturdy, heroic race of men, and to be the possessors of the priceless political and material inheritance which they created and be- queathed. [Applause.] You have all read the stor}' of Columbus, and many of j-ou have read more than one account, as described b}" poets and historians, of the manner in which he handled and di- rected the terrified and half-mutinous olficers and men on his ships, that long, dark night before he sighted land in the new world. — 691 — Many an overland pioneer with his convoy of prairie schooners had a like experience, and acquitted himself as g-al- lantl}'. [Applause.] As his trusted flag-ship plowed the stormy ocean, that long- dark night, Columbus, pale and worn, paced her sea- washed deck with faith unshaken; always answering- his re- bellious oJBficers and crew, when they demanded that he turn back, with the single but firm command, " Sail on. Sail on. Sail on. And on." At last, in the early gray of the morning his eye caught sight of a speck, and when, with the aid of his glass, he as- sured himself that it was land he saw, his great heart and pent-up spirit broke forth in joyous triumph, with the only words his lips could utter, "Alight. Alight. Alight. A light." And you and I know, that to us as Americans, out of that light, there grew a star-lit flag unfurled. To the human race, " It grew to be, Time's burst of dawn." [Applause.] ADDRESS OF HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY BEFORE THE "OHIO SOCIETV OF NEW YORK,' At its Fifth Annuai, Banquet, Wednesday Evening, February 19, 1890. New York, February- 20, 1890. My Dear Governor Ashley : At the banquet of the Ohio Society of New York last evening-, the President of the Society was, by unanimous vote, directed to ask you to furnish to the Society for publi- cation a copy of your admirable paper on the passage throug-h the House of Representatives of the United States of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In performance of this duty, I beg- leave to present to you their request. Let me add, personally, that this formal expression was supplemented individually by every one of those present with whom it was my fortune to converse. I am sure that I speak for all present in expressing- my individual appreciation of the greatness and historic value of that action of which you were so largeh^ the inspiration, and in which you were the foremost actor. Yours, very truly. Wager Swayne. Hon. J. ]M. Ashley. (692) — 693 — Kew Yokk, February 21, 1890. Gen. 'Wager Swayne, President Ohio Society of New York 195 Broadway. My Dear Sir : Herewith please find copy of my address as delivered be- fore your Society, at the fifth annual banquet, on the 19th inst. It g-ives me pleasure to comply with a request in which is conveyed so complimentary an approval by the Society and yourself of the address. I only reg-ret that I did not have time to speak more in detail of the personality of the immortal twenty-four who voted with us, and thus made possible the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Truly yours, J. M. Ashley. Mr. President and Gentlemen oe the Ohio Society OP New York : The official acts of the g-reat actors in the conflict of civilization v/ith the barbarism of slavery, are faithfully recorded in the nation's archives, and open to the inspection and compilation of the coming* historian. You will not expect me to-night to do more than briefly notice some few of these men, with whom it was my g-ood fortune to be associated during- the time Congress had under consideration the propositions to abolish slavery at the nation- al capital and the Thirteenth Amendment. When the story of our g-reat anti-slavery conflict shall have been written, it will make one of the most ideal chap- ters in our matchless history. That chapter will tell the coming- g-enerations of men the story of the immortal victory achieved by the American people for democratic g-overnment and an undivided Union ; a victory whose far-reaching con- sequences no man can even now foresee. In the fullness of time, to every nation and people great — 694 — leaders arc born, and some one or more of these earnest lead- ers, by the utterance of a simple moral truth in a brief couplet or in a single epigrammatic sentence, have often in the world's history changed the opinions of thousands. Especially true was this of the written appeals and public addresses of the great anti-slavery leaders in this country for more than a quarter of a century before the re- bellion. He was indeed a dull and insensible man who dur- ing our anti-slavery crusade did not grow eloquent and be- come aggressive when writing or speaking of slavery as the great crime of his age and countr}-. To me, as a boy, the men who made up this vanguard of anti-slavery leaders al- ways appeared to be exceptionally great men, men who walked the earth with unfaltering faith and a firm tread, with heads erect, so that their prophetic ej-es caught the dawn of Freedom's coming morn. They were brave, strong, self-reliant men, whose words and acts all testified that their o-reat hearts "burned to break the fetters of the world." These men had no thought of witnessing during their life- time the triumph of the cause which they had so unselfishl}- espoused ; they were tireless and invincible, workers. The alluring promise of success nowhere held out to them hope of political reward. To an unpopular cause they gave all they had of time, money and brains, not doubting that those who should come after them would be able to command and so to direct the moral forces of the nation as ultimately to enact justice into law by "proclaiming liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof." Under this ban- ner they went forth, conquering and to conquer, and in all their impassioned appeals they "sounded forth the bugle that never called retreat." To have voluntarily enlisted and fought with this liber- atino- army until our starry banner was planted in triumph on the last citadel of American slavery, is an honor of which the humblest citizen and his children may justly be proud, an honor which will grow brighter in all the coming years of the republic. I was so young when I enlisted in this liberating army that I cannot fix the date. At the home of a neighbor, a Virginian by birth, and until — 695 — the close of his manly life a resident of Kentucky, I heard, with wondering- emotions, the first song* in which a slave was represented as appealing- to his captors for his freedom. I was but nine years old, but that song- with -its story touched my heart, and, though I never sav/ it in print, I never f org-ot it. The verse of this song- that arrested my at- tention, and remained fixed in my memory, is as clear to me TO-NIGHT as it was more than half a centur}^ a-g"o. It was the plaintive appeal of an escaped slave, in simple" rhyme, such as slaves often sang- to tunes with which all are familiar who have heard the old-fashioned plantation melo- dies. In that appeal to his captors "He showed the stripes his master g-ave, The branded scars — the sightless eye, The common badg-es of a slave, And said he would be free or die." I did not know until then that the slave master had the rig-ht to whip, brand and maim his slave. It was at the home of this venerable anti-slavery man (who made the world better for his having- lived in it), that I first learned this fact, and it was at his house that I first heard repeated many of the fiery utterances of Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky. After showing- an appreciation of these anti-slavery senti- ments, I was frequently lifted on a chair or table by our old anti-slavery neig-hbor and taug-ht to declaim from the speeches of Cassius M. Clay and others. I was so fascinated by a parag-raph from a speech made by Governor McDowell, of Virg-inia, that ifalways gave me pleasure to speak it, as I often did, with such earnestness as to secure me as honest applause in that quiet anti-slavery household as any I ever commanded on the platform in after years. I never forg-ot that appeal of Governor McDowell, and often used it after I g-rew to manhood, and quoted it in one of my early speeches in Cong-ress, as I again quote it here : "You may place the slave where 3-0U please, j'ou may dry up to jour uttermost the fountain of his feelings, the — 696 — spring's of his thought, 3'ou may close upon his mind every avenue to knowledge, and cloud it over with artificial night, you ma}' yoke him to labor as an ox — which liveth only to work, and worketh only to live ; you may put him under any process which without destroying his value as a slave, will debase and crush him as a rational being — you may do all this ; and yet, the idea that he was born free will survive it all. It is allied to his hope of immortality — it is the eternal part of his nature which oppression cannot reach. It is a torch lit up in his soul by the hand of Deity, and never meant to be extinguished by the hand of man." I speak of these seemingly unimportant incidents of my boyhood to confirm what I said in opening, touching the in- fluence which one brave, truthful man can exercise over thou- sands, and to illustrate the tremendous power a single thought may often have over the acts and lives of reader and hearer. From m}^ ninth to my thirteenth year my father was preaching on a circuit in the border counties of Kentucky and West Virginia, and afterwards in Southeastern Ohio. During our residence in Kentucky and West Virginia I did not know a single abolitionist except the family which I have described, and not until I v/as in my seventeenth year did I meet and become acquainted with Cassius M. Clay and John G. Fee. Some time afterwards I met James G. Burne}^ who became the abolition candidate for President in 1844. The leaders of the church to which my father belonged, and, indeed, the leaders in all Southern churches in those days, publicly affirmed "that slavery per se could exist without sin," a doctrine which I regarded then, as I do now, as a perversion of the teachings of Christ. It has alwaj^s been a source of satisfaction to me that my mother, who was a conservative woman, never gave in her adhesion to this rascally defense of "the sum of villainies." At that time, in all the border counties of Kentucky, slavery existed in a milder form than in any other part of the Southwest, and the slave owners whom I knew were much better men than one would in this day believe possible under any slave system. And 3-et the system in its practical working was so mon- strous that before I had grown to manhood I had publicly pronounced against it, and, as many before me know, I — 697- foug"ht it with an energy which never tired, and a faith which never faltered. "While entertaining- the anti-slavery opinions of Jefferson ^ and the men of 1776, and everywhere proclaiming- them without concealment, I was elected to Congress in 1858, when in my thirty-fourth year, and for the first time took my seat in a deliberative bod}^ in the Thirty-sixth Congress, during the admi-nistration of Mr. Buchanan. At that time the pro-slavery conspirators were preparing for armed rebellion, and for the desperate attempt, which they soon made, to establish a slave empire on the ruins of the republic. There I met many anti-slavery leaders of age and expe- rience, to whose ranks I was eagerly welcomed. I entered upon the straight and narrow path that led to victory. I faltered but once. That was on the vote on the Crittenden Resolution in July, 1861. The vote was 117 yeas ; noes, 2 — Mr. Potter of "Wisconsin and Mr. Riddle of Ohio ■ voting No. I had been appealed to by almost every public man of my acquaintance in Washington and by my personal and political friends to vote for the resolution, and not assume the respon- sibility of separating myself at such a time and on so im- portant a matter from my party. When my name was called I shook my head, as was then the custom ; my name was called the second time, and I again shook my head, the blush of shame tingling my face, as it has every time I have thought of that act or looked at the record since and read, " Not voting, J. M. Ashley." I never felt the sense of shame so keenly before nor siiice ; and turning to Mr. Corwin, my venerable colleague, as the vote was announced, I said, with emotion, "Governor, that is the most cowardly act of my life, and no power on earth shall again make me repeat it." "Why, General," he exclaimed, with evident warmth, "I VOTED FOR IT." I saw that I had, in the excitement of the moment, offended him, and I made haste to assure him that I intended nothing of the sort, as all would have done who had offended so lovable, companionable and just a man as Governor Corwin. I promptly extended my hand and said, "Yes, Governor, but you do not see things as I do." I need — 698 — hardly add tliat after this I did not ag-ain refuse to vote on any question, nor did I, during- my entire service, g-ive a single vote that to-nig-ht I would chang-e. Great occasions produce great men. The State of Ohio furnished her full quota for the crisis of 1861 : Joshua R. Giddings, the leader of the "old guard, one blast upon whose bugle horn was worth a thousand men." Salmon P. Chase, Senator, Governor, Cabinet- Minister and Chief Justice, who ranked next to Lincoln in leadership. Thomas Ewing, profound statesman, great lawyer, and Cabinet Minister under General Harrison in 1841. Edwin M. Stanton, the great War Secretary, earnest, fearless, tireless. Judge McLean, the ideal Judge, representing on the bench the coming civilization, the writer of the dissenting opinion in the Dred Scott case. Judge Swayne, judicial, conscientious, a great worker and the early friend and confidant of Lincoln. Benjamin F. Wade, bluff, positive, ready to meet the enemy in the field or forum. John Sherman, keen, politic, far-sighted and successful. In the House — Thomas Corwin, Delano, Bingham, Law- rence, Hutchins, Spaulding, Schellaberger, Schenck, Hayes and Garfield. Our War Governors, Dennison, Todd and Brough, un- equaled as organizers and in administrative power. On the Democratic side there were Senator Thurman and Representatives Vallandigham, Pendleton, Cox and Morgan, with many able men in private life, who were active in demanding our "authority and precedents" for all we proposed, and much that we did for which we had no " prec- edent.".! In the army Ohio eclipsed the world. That wonderful triumvirate of commanders, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan, were without models and without equals. And then we had McPherson, Garfield, Steedman, Swayne, Cox and Buckland, and hundreds besides, who, on the field and in the forum, made the name of Ohio everywhere sjmom-mous with great deeds and heroic acts. — 699 — In such a cause, with such leaders, success was foreor- dained. When the ofdcial records of Congress during- the adminis- tration of Mr. Buchanan are examined by the historian of the future, and the so-called compromise proposition of the Union-saving committee of thirty-three (of which Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts was chairman) is compared* with the Thirteenth Amendment, which three 3-ears later became part of our national Constitution, it will be difficult for him to find reasons for the extraordinary revolution in public opinion which these two proposed amendments to our national Constitution present. And here I wish I could walk backward with averted gaze, and with the broad mantle of charity cover the political nakedness of our own beloved State, which, by the vote of its Legislature, committed. the indefensible folly of ratifying the pro-slavery amendment proposed by the committee of thirty-three, and thus officially consented to its becoming part of our national Constitution. To me the propositions of the so-called "Peace Con- gress, over which ex-President John Tyler, of Virginia, pre- sided, were preposterous and offensive, and the "pledge" of the "Crittenden Resolution" a delusion and a snare, cun- ningly designed to paralyze and manacle us. Every sane man who to-day reads the numerous proposed constitutional amendments with which Congress at that time was deluged, will recognize the fact that the}^ were all stu- diously and deliberately prepared for the avowed purpose of protecting slavery by new and more exacting guarantees. This celebrated Compromise Committee of thirty-three reported and recommended an amendment which practically made slavery perpetual. It was in these words : " ARTIC1.E 12th. No amendments shall be made to the Constitution which shall authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any State with the do- mestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of such State." Imagine, if you can, what the other propositions were, if THIS was the most favorable which the Compromise Com- mittee of thirty-three could obtain for us. — 700 — Two days before Mr. Lincoln's inaug"uration, this abase- ment was made to the slave barons b}' a two-thirds vote of both Houses of the Congress of the United States, and the act was approved b}" President Buchanan. I do not believe a more shameless exhibition on the part of a civilized people can be found in history. Prior to this proposed surrender to the slave barons, a number of the Southern States had passed ordinances of se- cession, and defiantl}' organized a government, with Jefferson Davis as President. That such humiliating concessions were as defenseless then as the}^ would be now, and as offensive to the civiliza- tion of the nineteenth centur3% will not be questioned. The nation had not then learned that the strength of a statesman lies in his fidelity to justice — not in his concessions to injustice. Our official records, for nearly half a century before the Rebellion, presented one unbroken series of fruitless compro- mises with the slave barons, until in their pride and arro- gance they believed themselves able to direct successfully any revolution and ride with safety any storm. At last we came to know that all our concessions were regarded by them as irrevocable ; that nothing but new con- cessions would be accepted by them, and that they would only consent to remain in the Union on the express condition that we should bind ourselves for all time to record their pro- slavery decrees in every department of the national and State governments. The rebels witnessed our efforts at an adjustment with shouts of derision and defiance, and said, "Now we have the Yankees on a down grade, and on the run." They learned afterwards to their sorrow that, however true this might have been under the leadership of Buchanan, it was no longer true under the leadership of Lincoln. Yet, alas ! it is true, that immediatel}^ after the election of Mr. Lincoln and before his inauguarion, many men who had been active anti-slaver}' men quailed before the approaching storm, which their own brave appeals for liberty had aided in producing. They comprehended what civil war, with all its attend- — 701 — ant horrors, meant to a civilized people, and shrank from its terrible consequences, and as the acts of their representatives proved, they were willing- to do everything- in their power to avoid it. These timid anti-slavery men were representatives of the wealth, the manufacturing- industry, the commerce, the peaceful farm-life of the North and West, and the best civilization of the ag-e. They were for peace ; they believed in an appeal to the conscience and heart of the nation, at the ballot-box, and in loyally submitting- to the verdict when rendered. They never would have appealed from the ballot- box to the cartridg-e-box. The g-reat heart of the North was still, and for a time held its breath, while re-echoing- with hope the sentiment of their beloved Quaker Poet, when, just before the Rebellion, he uttered this sublime prayer : *' Perish with him the thoug-ht, Th^t seeks, through evil, g-ood ; Long- live the g-enerous purpose Unstained by human blood." While I did not adopt, without qualification, the mem- orable utterances of Daniel O'Connell, the g-reat Irish leader, when he declared "that no revolution was worth the shed- ding- of one drop of human blood," I everywhere proclaimed "that in this country, so long- as the press was free and speech was free, and the ballot was free, no revolution was worth the shedding- of one drop of human blood." The speeches, appeals and acts of the leaders of the two sections were entirely characteristic. The Southern leaders, instead of quailing- before the storm which their passionate appeals had raised, defiantly mounted and rode the storm, fit types of the barbarism which they championed. When the North, with the loyal men of the border States, fully comprehended the fact that there could be no peace nor Union unless the Rebellion was suppressed by force, and slaver}^, which made the Rebellion possible, was abolished, they buckled on their armor and went forth to conquer. During- the first session of Congress, after Mr. Lincoln — 702 — became President, I introduced a bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. It contained but one short section, and simply enacted "that slaver}', or involun- tary servitude, should cease in the District of Columbia from and after the passag^e of this act." I sent it to the Commit- tee on the District of Columbia, of which I was a member, and Roscoe Conkling, of New York, was chairman. "sVlien the bill was read in the District Committee, it was by com- mon consent referred to me, as a sub-committee of one. The excitement and indig^nation which that bill caused in the District Committee, and the undisg-uised disgust entertained for me personally by the pro-slavery members of the commit- tee, would be amusing* now, but it was a matter of serious moment then. I felt certain that a majorit}^ of that committee did not intend to let me report that bill or an}- other of like character to the House for a vote. As soon as it was known that I had the matter in charge, by direction of the District Committee Mr. Chase sent for me, and discussed the proposition which I had introduced, and sug-gested instead, a bill which should compensate the "loyal slave owners" by paj-ing" them a "ransom," which should not exceed three hundred dollars a head for each slave, and enforced his arg-ument by adding" that Mr. Lincoln was seriously considering- the practica- bility of compensating- the border States if they would take the initiative and emancipate their slaves, and he added, "I want you to see the President, and if possible prepare a bill which will command the necessary votes of both Houses of Congfress and the active support of the Administration." I saw the President next day and went over the g^round with him, substantially as I had with Mr. Chase, and finally agreed that I would ask for the appointment of a Senator en the part of the Senate District Committee to unite with mc to frame a bill, which the Senate and House committees would report favorably, and which should have the President's approval, and the support of as many of the Resresentatives from the border States as we could induce to vote to "initiate emancipation," as Mr. Lincoln expressed it. Fortunately for the success of the compensation policy, the Senate District Committee desig-nated as that sub-com- — 703— rtiittee-maii, Lot M. Morrell, of Maine, to confer with me and prepare such a bill as Mr. Lincoln and Chase had outlined. After several meetings a bill was finally ag-reed upon which appropriated one million dollars to pay loyal owners for their slaves at a price not to exceed $300 each. This bill had the approval of Mr. Lincoln and Chase and other anti-slavery leaders, before it was submitted to the District Committees for their action and recommendation to each House of Congfress. Personally, I did not ag-ree with Mr. Lincoln in his border State policy, but was unwilling- to set up my judg-- ment ag-ainst his, especially when he was supported by such men as Chase, Fessenden, Trumbull, and a larg-e majority of Union men in both Houses of Cong-ress. I therefore 3aelded my private opinions on a matter of policy, for reasons which I then g-ave and will presently quote, and because I was determined that that Cong-ress should not adjourn until slaver}^ had been abolished at the national capital. I did not want to appropriate a million of dollars from the national Treasury to pay the slave owners of the District of Columbia for their slaves, because I was opposed to offi- cially recog-nizing- property in man, and for the additional reason that I was confident that before the close of the war slavery would be abolished without compensation. And I believed then, and believe now, that at least two-thirds of all the so-called "loyal slave owners " in the District of Columbia who applied for and accepted compensation for their slaves, would at that time have welcomed Jefferson Davis and his g-overnment in Washing-ton with every demonstration of ^oj. On the 12th of March, 1862, by direction of the Com- mittee for the District of Columbia, I reported the bill to the House as it had been ag-reed upon by Mr. Morrell and my- self, with the approval of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Chase and others. On the 11th of April, 1862, the bill, as amended by the Senate, passed the House by a vote of 92 for to 38 ag-ainst, and at once received the sig-nature of the President. In the speech which I delivered that day I said: " I do not believe that Cong-ress has any more power to make a slave than to make a king-," and added, " If then there is, — 704 — as I claim, no power in Congress to reduce any man or race to slavery, it certainly will not be claimed that Congress has power to leg-alize such regulations as exist to-day touching- persons held as slaves in this District by re-enacting the slave laws of Maryland, and thus do by indirection what no sane man claims authority to do directly. . . . If I must tax the loyal people of the nation a million of dollars before the slaves at the national capital can be ransomed I will do it. I will make a bridge of gold over which they may pass to freedom on the anniversary of the fall of Sumter, if it cannot be more justly accomplished." As the nation had been guilty of riveting the chains of all the slaves in the District, and Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Chase, and so large a majority of the friends of the Union desired the passage of this act, believing that it would aid them in holding the border Sxave States, I yielded my own opinions, and voted to pay the loyal owners of the District for their slaves and thus aided Mr. Lincoln in initiating emancipation by compensation. But events were stronger than men or measures, and this was the first and last of compensation. On the 14th of December, 1863, I introduced a proposition to amend the Constitution, abolishing slavery in all the States and Territories of the nation, which, on my motion, was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. In a speech during that session of Congress urging the submission of such an amendment, I said: "I advocated from the first the emancipation of all slaves, because I believed ideas more formidable than armies, justice more powerful than prejudice, and truth a weapon mightier than the sword." The fall of Vicksburg and the great victor}^ of Gettys- burg had solidified the Union men North and South, and assured them of ultimate success. The crushing defeat of Hood at Nashville by Thomas, the investment of Richmond by Grant, and Sherman's trium- phant march from the mountains to the sea, was an announce- ment to the world that all armed opposition to the govern- ment was approaching its end. It now only remained, that the statesmen who had provided for and organized our great armies should crown their matchless victories with unfading glory, by engrafting — 705 — into our national Constitution a provision which should make peace and union inseparable by removing- forever the cause of the war, and making- slavery everywhere impossible beneath the flag- of the republic. On the 15th of June, 1864, the House voted on the pro- posed constitutional amendment, and it was defeated by a vote of 94 for it and 64 ag-ainst it. I thereupon chang-ed my vote before the announcement was made, as I had the right to do under the rules, and my vote was recorded with the opposition in order that I mig-ht enter a motion for recon- sideration. In the Globe, as the vote stands recorded, it is 93 for to 65 ag-ainst. This vote disappointed, but it did not discourag-e me. Had every member been present and voted, it would have required 122 votes to pass the amendment, whereas we could muster but 94, or 28 less than required. As I now look back, and review with calmer emotions than I did then the g-reat battle we were fig-hting-, I compre- hend more fully the power of that simple and sublime faith which inspired all the living- heroes in that historic hour. In his "Twenty Years of Congress" Mr. Blaine has given me credit, in full measure, for introducing and pressing the first proposition made in the House of Representatives for the abolition of slavery in the United States by an amend- ment of the national Constitution, and for effective parlia- mentary work in securing its passage. Personally, I never regarded the work which I then did as entitling me to special recognition. It was to me a duty, and because I so felt, I have never publicly written or spoken about my connection with it, and should not have done so before you to-night but for the pressing invitation of our President, who acts as if he regarded it as part of his duty, while charged with the care of this Society, to bring every modest Ohio man to the front. There was at that time so many noble and unselfish men in the House of Representatives entitled to recognition for effective work in behalf of the Thirteenth Amendment, that I have preferred not to single out any one member as entitled to more credit than another. I certainly did not expect any 45 — 706 — such complimentary recog-nition as Mr. Blaine lias so gener- ously given me. Educated in the political school of Jefferson, I was abso- lutely amazed at the solid Democratic vote ag-ainst the amend- ment on the 15th of June. To me it looked as if the g-olden hour had come, when the Democratic part}^ could, without apolog"}", and without regret, emancipate itself from the fatal dogmas of Calhoun, and reaffirm the doctrines of Jefferson. It had alwa3's seemed to me that the great men in the Demo- cratic party had shown a broader spirit in favor of human liberty than their political opponents, and until the domina- tion of Mr. Calhoun and his States-rights disciples, this was undoubtedly true. On the death of General Harrison in 1841, and after John Tyler became the acting President, I date the organized conspiracy of the slave barons, which culminated in the Rebellion. A man of singleness of purpose and disinterestedness, possesses a wonderful power, which is soon recognized by his associates in the Congress of the United States. The lead- ing men in both Senate and House, and in nearl}- all the exec- utive departments, knew that my only ambition was to accomplish the task v/ith which (as Mr. Blaine expresses it) I was "by common consent, specially charged." The only reward I expected, and the only reward I ever had, or shall ever have, is the satisfaction of knowing that I did my whole duty, nothing more, nothing less. I at once gave special care to the study of the characters and antecedents of thirty- six of the members who did not vote for the amendment on the 15th of June, and made up my mind that if we could force the issue of the Thirteenth Amendment into the pend- ing presidential contest, and Mr. Lincoln should be elected in November, that the requisite number of liberal Democrats and border State Union men who had voted against and defeated the amendment in June might be prevailed upon to vote with us after Mr. Lincoln had been re-elected on that issue. In this faith, and with this hope, I at once began a systematic study of the characters of the men whose co- operation and votes must be secured as a condition to success. During this six months' experience I learned something of the tremendous power of the single man when making — 707 — earnest appeals to his colleagues. One source of ever present embarrassment to me was the fact that I had but little expe- rience in legislation, and that nearl}^ every one of my col- leagues to whom I was addressing myself was my senior in years. In this great work I had the earnest support of the Administration, the great majority of the Republican party, and many earnest men in public and private life. On the 28th of June, 1864, Mr. Holman, of Indiana, rose in the House, and said " that he desired to know whether the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Ashley) who entered the mo- tion to reconsider the vote by which the House rejected the bill proposing an amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery throughout all the States and Territories of the United States, proposed to call that motion up during the present session." In reply, I said that I did not propose to call that motion up during the present session ; " but as the record had been made up, we would go to the country on the issue thus presented." And I added: "When the verdict of the people shall have been rendered next November, I trust this Congress will return determined to engraft that verdict into the national Constitution." I thereupon gave notice that I would call up the proposition at the earliest possible moment after our meeting in December next (see Globe, June 28th, 1864). Immediately after giving this notice, I went to work to secure its passage, and it may not be uninteresting if I out- line to you the way I conducted that campaign. The question thus presented became one of the leading issues of the presidential campaign of 1864. The Administration — the Republican party — and many men who were not partisans, now gave the measure their warm support. Knowing that Henry Winter Davis, of Maryland, and Frank P. Blair, of Missouri, would vote for the amendment whenever their votes would secure its passage, I went to them to learn who of the border-State members were men of broad and liberal views, and strong and self-reliant enough to fol- low their convictions, even to political death, provided they could know that their votes would pass the measure. The following is the list of the names of the border- — 708 — State men, as made up within two weeks after the defeat of the amendment, in June, 1864 : James S. Rollins, Henry S. Blow, Benjamin F. Loan, ex-Gov. Kin^, S. H. Boyd, Frank P. Blair and Joseph W. McClurg- of Missouri ; Green Clay Smith, Georg-e H. Yeaman, Brutus J. Clay and Lucius Ander- son of Kentucky ; John A. J. Cresswell, Gov. Francis Thomas, E. H. Webster and Henry Winter Davis of Mar}*- land ; Kellian V. Whaley, Jacob P. Blair and William G. Brown of West Virginia, and N. B. Smithers of Delaware. Of the 19 thus selected 13 voted for the amendment, and marched to their political death. After conferring" with Reuben E. Fenton and Augustus Frank of New York, I made up the following- list of liberal Northern Democrats, whose votes I hoped to secure for the amendment : Moses F. Odell, Homer A. Nelson, John A. Griswold, Anson Herrick, John B. Steele, Charles F. Winfield, William Radford and John Ganson, of New York ; S. S. Cox, Warren P. Noble, Wells A. Hutchins, John F. McKenney and Fran- cis C. LeBlond of Ohio ; Archibald McAllister and Alex. H. Coffroth of Penns3'lvania ; James E. English of Connecticut, and Aug-ustus C. Baldwin of Michigan. Of the 17 Northern Democrats thus selected, eleven voted for the amendment, two were absent, and one who had promised me to vote for it and prepared a speech in its favor, finally voted against. Of the 36 members orig^inallv selected as men naturally inclined to favor the amendment, and strong- enough to meet and repel the fierce partisan attack which were certain to be made upon them, 24 voted for it, two were absent, and but ten voted ag-ainst it. Every honorable effort was made b}- the Administration to secure the passag-e of this amendment. At my request Tuesday, January 31, 1865, was the day fixed for the vote to be taken on the amendment, A faithful record of the final act of the 38th Cong^ress on this question will be found on pages 523 to 531 of the Congressional Globe. The Speaker stated the question, and announced "That the g-entleman from Ohio was entitled to the floor,*' which — 70*) — under the rules g"ave me one hour in which to close the debate. Never before, and certain I am that never ag"ain, will I be seized with so strong" a desire to g-ive utterance to the thoug-hts and emotions which throbbed my heart and brain. I knew that the hour was at hand when the world would witness the complete triumph of a cause, which at the begin- ning" of my political life I had not hoped to live long enough to see, and that on that day, before our session closed, an act, as just as it was merciful to oppressor and oppressed, was to be enacted into law, and soon thereafter became a part of our national Constitution forever. The hour and the occasion was an immortal one in the nation's history, and memorable to each actor who voted for the amendment. Every available foot of space, both in the g-alleries and on the floor of the House, was crowded at an early hour, and many hundreds could not g-et within hearing-. Never before, nor afterwards, did I see so brilliant and disting-uished a gathering in that hall, nor one where the feeling was more intense. The Judges of the Supreme Court, the members of the Cabinet, the Vice-President and Senators, most of the foreign Ministers and all the distinguished visitors who could secure seats, with their wives, daughters and friends, were present to witness the sublimest event in our national life. You will readily understand that this was an occasion to inspire any man of my temperament with a strong desire to speak, and yet it was beyond question my duty to yield all my time to gentlemen of the opposition, who had promised to vote for the amendment, and desired to have recorded in the official organ of the House the reasons for the vote which they were about to give. The first gentleman to whom I yielded was the Hon. Archibald McAllister of Pennsylvania, an old-fashioned Democrat of the Jackson school. He was not a speaker, and the brief "statement," as he called it, which he sent to the Clerk's desk to be read for him as he stood on the floor, with every eye in that great hall fixed on his tall form, is so charac- teristic, and withal expresses so tersely the reasons which — 710- impelled him and thousands of other loyal and conservative men to demand the immediate abolition of slavery, that I quote vt'hat he said entire. I will read it to you, and repeat what he said, as nearly as I can, with the same intonation of voice and manner as he read it to me in m}' committee-room that morning", a few minutes before the House convened. He said "That it was due to his constituents that they should know wh}' he changfed his vote, and that he could not make a speech, that he was so nervous that he dare not even trust himself to read what he had written, and asked me if I would jneld him the floor long" enough to allow him to send to the Clerk's desk, and have read what he desired to say to his constituents." I never was more anxious to yield the floor to an}^ man than I was to him, and answered, "Cer- tainly, I will be g"lad to jdeld you all the time you ask." He then read me this short, and now historic speech, and I said to him then, as I say to you now, that it was, under all the circumstances, the best and most eloquent speech delivered in the House of Representatives in favor of the Thirteenth Amendment. This is the speech, and the way he read it to me : "When this subject was before this House on a former occasion, I voted ag^ainst the measure. I have been in favor of exhausting all means of conciliation to restore the Union as our fathers made it. I am for the whole Union and utterly opposed to secession, or dissolution in any shape. The result of all the peace missions, and especiall}' that of Mr. Blair, has satisjficd me that nothing short of the recognition of their independence will satisfy the Southern Confedcrac3\ It must therefore be destroyed, and in voting for the present measure, I cast my vote against the corner-stone of the Southern Confederacy, and declare eternal war against the enemies of my countr}-." As soon as he had finished reading it, I grasped his hand with enthusiasm, and heartily congratulated him, and said, " Mr. McAllister, that is a better and more telling speech by far than any which has been made for the amendment, and I believe that it will be quoted hereafter more than any speech made in Congress in its favor." When the Clerk of the House finished reading this brief — 711 — speecfi of this plain, blunt man, it called forth g-eneral ap- plause on the floor and in the g-alleries, and when I after- wards read it to Mr. Lincoln, Chase and others, they were then as pronounced in its endorsement as I am now. To the end that there should be no pretext for "fili- bustering- " (as I knew the amendment mig-ht be defeated in that wa}'), I determined from the start to so conduct the debate that every g-entleman opposed to the amendment who cared to be heard should have ample time and opportunity. After the previous question had been seconded, and all debate ordered closed, there could be but two roll-calls (if there were no filibustering-) before the final vote. The first roll-call was on a motion made by the opposi- tion, to lay my motion to reconsider on the table. Such a motion is g-enerally regarded as a test vote. Hundreds of tally sheets had been distributed on the floor and in the galleries, many being in the hands of ladies. Before the result of the first roll-call was announced, it was known all over the House that the vote was two less than the necessary two-thirds, and both Mr. Stevens of Penn- S3dvania and Mr. Washburn of Illinois excitedly exclaimed: "General, we are defeated." "No, g-entlemen, we are not," was my prompt answer. The second vote was on my motion to reconsider, which would bring- the House, at the next roll- call, to a direct vote on the passage of the amendment. The excitement was now the most intense I ever wit- nessed; the oldest members, with the Speaker and the re- porters in the galleries, believed that we were defeated. When the result of the second vote was announced, we lacked one; vote of two-thirds, whereupon many threw down their tally sheets and admitted defeat. I now arose and stood, while the roll was being called on the final vote and said to those around me, that we would have not less than four (4), and I believed seven (7) majority over the necessary two-thirds. As the roll was completed, the Speaker directed that his name be called as a member of the House, and when he voted he announced to an astonished assemblage, "that the yeas were 119, and the nays 56, and that the bill had received the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution." It was a — 712 — moment or two before the House or the g-allcries recovered from their surprise and recog"nized the fact that we had triumphed. When they did, a shout went up from the floor and g-alleries, and the vast audience rose to their feet, man}" members jumping- on their desks, with shouts and waving- of hats and handkerchiefs, and g-ave vent to their feeling's b}' every demonstration of J03-. It was a scene such as I had never before witnessed, and can never be witnessed ag-ain. Mr. Ingersoll, of Illinois, said: "Air. Speaker, in honor of this sublime and immortal event, I move that this House do now adjourn," which motion was carried. When this vote was taken, the House had but 183 mem- bers, 94 of whom were Republicans, 64 Democrats, and 25 border-State Union men. If the vote is analyzed, it will be seen that of the 119 votes recorded for the amendment 13 were by men from the border States, and eleven (11) were b}' Democrats from the free States. If but 3 out of the 24, who voted with us, had voted ag-ainst the amendment, it would have failed. If but four (4) of the eig-ht members who were absent had appeared and voted ag-ainst it, it would have been lost. Had all the Northern Democrats who supported the amendment voted ag-ainst, it would have been defeated b}' 26 votes. Had all the border-State men who voted for it voted ag-ainst, it would have failed by 32 votes. If the border-State men and Northern Democrats who voted for the amendment had voted ag-ainst, it would have failed b}' 65 votes. Mr. Lincoln was especially delig-hted at the vote which the amendment received from the border slave States, and frequently congratulated me on that result. Bancroft, the historian, has drawn with a g-raphic pen the characters of many of the able and illustrious men of the Revolution which achieved our independence. In writing- of Georg-e Mason, of Virg-inia, he said: "His sincerity made him wise and bold, modest and unchang-ing-, with a scorn for anything mean and cowardly, as illustrated in his unselfish attachment to human freedom." And these identical quali- ties of head and heart were pre-eminently conspicuous in all Members of the Senate and House of Representatives who voted for the Thirteenth Amendment. — 713 — the border statesmen who voted for the Thirteenth Amend- ment. It would be di£6.cult in an}' ag-e or country to find grand- er or more unselfish and patriotic men than Henry Winter Davis and Governor Francis Thomas of jNIaryland, or James S. Rollins, Frank P. Blair and Governor King- of Missouri, or Georg-e H. Yeaman of Kentucky, or N. P. Smithers of Dela- ware, and not less worthy of mention for their unchanging- fidelity to principle are all the Northern Democrats who voted for the amendment, prominent among* whom I may name Governor Eng-lish, of Connecticut ; Judg-e Homer A. Nelson and Moses S. Odell, of New York ; Archibald McAllister, of Pennsylvania ; Wells A. Hutchins, of Ohio, and A. C. Bald- win, of Michig-an. Of the twenty-four border-State and Northern men who made up this majority which enabled us to win this victory, all had defied their party discipline, and had deliberately and with unfaltering- faith marched to their political death. These are the men whom our future historians will honor, and to whom this nation owes a debt of eternal g-ratitude. But seven of this twenty-four are now living-, the others have gone to "Join the choir invisible Of those immortal dead, who live again In minds made better by their presence ; live In pulses stirred to generosity, In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn 'ir For miserable aims that end with self." ADDRESS OF HON. J. M. ASHLEY, At Memorial Hall, Toledo, Ohio, June 2, 1890. REMINISCENCES OF THE GREAT REBELLION — CALHOUN, SEWARD AND LINCOLN. Memorial Hall, Toledo, O., June 2, 1890. General James M. Ashley, Toledo, Ohio. Dear Sir: The undersig-ned, on behalf of the Toledo Branch Society of the Army of the Potomac and the Veteran Association of Battery H, 1st O. V. Lig-ht Artillery, do hereby most heartily thank you for 3'our able, instructive and eloquent address this evening delivered at Memorial Hall, and earnestly solicit a copy of the same, with j'our consent that it be published in the public journals and in such more permanent and enduring form as may be deemed best. Hoping for and awaiting your favorable reply, we are Your obedient servants, J. C. Lee, L. F. Lyttle, Chas. M. Montgomery, N. Houghton, D. P. Chamberlin, For the Toledo Branch Society of the Army of the Potomac. Wm. Corlett, J. L. Pray, Wm. E. Parmelee, John H. Merrell, W. G. Pierce, For the Veteran Association of Battery H, 1st O. V. Light Artillery (714) — 715 Toi^EDO, Ohio, June 3, 1890. Gentlemen: It g-ives me pleasure to comply with the wishes of the societies which you represent. Herewith please find copy of my address as requested. It is proper to state that the major portion of the address, touching- the relation of Calhoun, Seward, and Lincoln to the War of the Rebellion, was put in type and the historic quota- tions verified before its delivery. The extemporary part of the address was so faithfully reported that but few corrections, as you see, were required. Truly yours, J. M. Ashley. To General John C. Lee, William Corlett and others, Committee. Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen : I need not tell you how welcome your cordial g-reeting- is to me to- nig-ht. You can all see that. In again meeting- so many of my old friends face to face, I remember with pride the gfreet- ings which I have received on like occasions, when making- public addresses here at home. And as I stand here and recognition follows recognition, my pulse beats are quicker, and I am glad that I accepted the invitation of your com- mittee. At first I felt that I could not take the time, and I certainly should not have done so but for the worthy object which your committee represented to me you had in hand. The surroundings in this hall ; the beautiful display of flags —with the quartet singing, and the thoughts and emotions of the hour, stir my heart to its very depths, and carries me back to the historic scenes and heroic acts of 1861, and I feel that I am again but thirty-six years old. In my mind's eye there is now passing before me panorama after panorama, the like of which the world had never seen, and of which many before me formed a part. And though more than a quarter of a century has elapsed, I can see to-night, as I then saw, the advancing, resistless power, which glowed in — 716 — face and eye and step, as tiie volunteer soldiers of the repub- lic, in the faith and hope and streng-th of youth, marched forth to victory or death. Four years later, I saw, as I now see, passing" in review be- fore the acting" President, his Cabinet and Generals, at the national capital, the survivors of that invincible arm}-, with war-worn faces and torn and tattered banners, returning victorious to their homes amid the acclamations of a grate- ful people, and as long as I live (and listen as now) I shall hear the measured and triumphal tread of their immortal feet. [Applause.] But I fear to trust myself as of old, on an occasion like this ; and I have put in cold tj^pe what I propose to say to you to-night, except such anecdotes as I may interject. Mr. President : The annals are 3'et largcl}- unwritten of the men who, prior to and during the War of the Rebellion, molded and directed public opinion ; raised, organized and equipped armies for the defense of the nation's life and led them to victor}'. But the facts will soon be eag"erly g-leancd from the records of the past,- and woven into some of the most thrilling and instructive chapters of our national history. So also must the unwritten history of the master con- spirators in the slaveholders' rebellion be compiled and writ- ten by impartial and conscientious historians who " shall a round, unvarnished tale deliver, nor set down aught in malice." As one of the actors in the national Congress, from the beginning to the end of that unprovoked rebellion, it is to- night my duty, in addressing 3-ou, to speak dispassionately of men and facts from my personal recollection, refreshed by such official and other authenticated records as I can com- mand. Within the limits of such an address, I can only present to you in brief such facts as are within ni}' mcmor}-, or can be verified from accepted sources, touching the opinions and movements of public men, parties and churches, which paved the way for and made possible the rebellion of 1861. Had not ni}' library, which I had for many 3-cars been collecting, with all my private and political papers (includ- — Tir- ing- ttianv letters both from leading" abolitionists ana seces- sionists) been destroyed by fire in 1871, I should have given you some original reading" to-night. Beginning active systematic work as an abolitionist when but eighteen, I spared neither time nor labor to learn and thoroughly understand the position and tendency of every public man of note or prominence in the South, and also the exact status of as many of the men of intellect in that sec- tion who were not in public life, as could be induced to an- swer my letters, especially clergyman. Like most boys, I was a worshiper of great men, partic- ularly military men ; and before I was fifteen I made a pil- grimag-e to the "Hermitage" to see the idol of my heart, General Jackson. Before that, I had seen at Fleming" Springs (a fashion- able Kentuck3^ resort in those days). Colonel Richard M. Johnson, Vice President ; General Leslie Coombs, Henry CIslJ, Cassius M. Clay and Mr. Corwin of Ohio ; all of whom I then reg-arded as among" the greatest men in the world. In February, 1841, I went to "Washington to witness the inauguration of General Harrison on the 4th of March, and especially to see Mount Vernon and the tomb of Washington. When I visited the gallery of the House of Representatives, the first man I asked to have pointed out to me was ex-Presi- dent John Quincy Adams, " the old man eloquent," as he was called. I then looked upon Mr. Adams as one of the most extraordinary men in this country, and especially admired the way in which he handled the " slave barons." The fact that he was the only ex-President who had ever served as a member of Congress added to my esteem for his character, and this admiration remains as strong and fresh to-day as it was then. You will all remember that he was stricken down in the House, and fell with his face to the foe, fighting the slave conspirators, when he was over eighty years old. While in Washington, and before the inauguration of General Harrison, Colonel Johnson, the outgoing Vice-Presi- dent (who was a friend of my father), introduced me to Pres- ident Van Buren at the White House. I then regarded my presentation to Mr. Van Buren as the most important event -718 — of m}' life. I was also delig-hted to be introduced to John M. Botts and Henry A. Wise, leading- Virginia Whigs, and to R. M. T. Hunter, a leading Democrat, each of whom were members of the House, and were" regarded by their friends at that time as remarkable men. Four years later I attended the Democratic National Convention at Baltimore in May, 184^ (although not a voter), and through the friendship of ex-Vice-President Johnson had a seat on the floor of the convention with the Kentucky dele- gation ; I then favored the nomination of Van Buren and Johnson, the anti-Calhoun ticket, which had been defeated in 1840. Before the Baltimore convention assembled, I visited AVashington, to study the situation. (Imagine a boy of twenty studying the situation.) Mr. George M. Bibb, of Kentuck}', at that time Secretary of the Treasury, introduced me to President John Tyler, who was openly a candidate for the Democratic nomination at Baltimore. Mr. Bibb also introduced me to the great nullifier, John C. Calhoun, then Mr. Tyler's Secretary of State. After the convention at Baltimore had nominated James K. Polk of Tennessee for President, and George M. Dallas of Pennsj-lvania for Vice-President, I returned to Washington, and while there called on Mr. Calhoun twice to look at and study the man. Personally Mr. Calhoun was to me the most pleasing man I have ever met, and the memory of my inter- views, and the letters which I afterwards received from him, will always be a source of pleasure. I was an ardent ad- mirer of General Jackson, and knew that the old General hated the great nullifier, and had expressed a wish to hang him ; but notwithstanding* this fact, each time I talked with Mr. Calhoun he charmed me by the frankness and freedom of his manner, and the dignity and courtesy of his bearing. If I could have accepted his pro-slavery and* his States'- rights opinions, I should certainly at that time have followed his leadership as enthusiastically as thousands of j'oung- Southern men of that day followed him faithfully, and ad- hered to his political heresies and fatal dogmas until death, or the defeat of the Rebellion, buried them in a common grave forever. I afterwards came to know that Mr. Calhoun — 719 — had been the master conspirator in defeating- the nomination of Mr. Van Buren at Baltimore, and that, as Secretary ol State, he officially committed the President-elect (James K. Polk), one; day before his inaug-uration, to the unjust and in- defensible war with Mexico. I state these facts about myself that you may know how, through correspondence and personal acquaintance, I was enabled in 1861 to clearly comprehend the power and purpose of the conspirators, and the dang-er which menaced the Nation's life. For thirty years or more prior to the Rebellion, the slave conspirators worked like " sappers and miners" in their preparation for it. They were tireless, cunning and un- scrupulous in all they proposed or did. If I should now un- dertake to present in their historic order but one in ten of their so-called "peace and compromise propositions," it would require all the time which I propose to g-ive to my ad- dress. One of their earliest, boldest and most objectionable acts was to deny the rig-ht of any citizen to "petition Congress on the subject of slavery." The presentation of such pe- titions by John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, Mr. Gid- dings of Ohio and Mr. Blade of Vermont was the pretext for a majority of the "• slave barons" in the House to threaten to w-ithdraw unless the North " accepted in good faith as a peace offering and compromise" the adoption of a "gag- rule" which they at once formulated, and, with the aid of Northern allies, they had adopted. From the hour of the adoption of the " gag-rule" until the War of the Rebellion, the "slave-barons" were practi- cally the nation's political masters. On the 24th of November, 1832, Calhoun and his co-con- spirators in South Carolina passed an ordinance of secession, using the tariff as a pretext, and then and there an organ- ized scheme of a slave empire took form and shape. General Jackson's proclamation against nullification, and his message to Congress, were patriotic and able State papers. The his- tory of that formidable conspiracy ought to be impressed on every child of the republic, to the end that General Jackson's noble and manly bearing might the better be contrasted with — 720 — President Buchanan's weak and humiliating surrender to the demands made b)' the rebel conspirators of 1860 and 1861. In 1836 Calhoun inaugurated the Texas annexation scheme, and attempted to force it into the presidential elec- tion of that year. In his "Thirt}' Years' View," Senator Benton,* when speaking- of this Texas annexation plot, declared that " the Calhoun conspirators had organized and revived the nullifica- tion and disunion plot of 1832, and revived it under circum- stances more dangerous than ever, since coupled with a pop- ular question which gave the plotters the honest sympathies of the patriotic millions." " I have often," he added, " intimated it before, but now proclaim it. Disunion is at the bottom of this long concealed Texas machination. Intrigue and speculation co-operate, and I denounce it to the American people." "Under the pretext of getting Texas into the Union, the scheme is to get the South out of it. A separate con- federacy, stretching from the Atlantic to the Californias, is the cherished vision of disappointed ambition [pointing to Calhoun], and for this consummation every circumstance has been carefully and artfully contrived." This speech by Senator Benton was made before our unjust war with Mexico, and of course before the acquisition of California and Mexican territory, or the completion of the Texas annexation plot, and shows how clearly the great Senator understood the conspirators. In that same speech he declares " that he intends to save himself for the day when the battle for the disunion of these States is to be fought ; not in words, but with iron, and for the hearts of traitors, who will appear in arms against their country." These were prophetic words of warning, uttered by one of our greatest Senators ; but they were unheeded. Mr. John Tyler, who had been elected Vice-President as a Whig with General Harrison in 1840, became the acting President on the death of the President in 1841, one month after his inauguration. * See Senator Beuton's speeches in the United States Senate prior to the Mexican War. — 721 — At first secret!}', and then openl5% Tyler abandoned the Whig- part}^ which elected him, and identified himself with the Calhoun nullification wing- of the Democratic party. As Benton, in his " Thirty Years' View" states it : "The Texas annexation scheme now became an intrig-ue on the part of some for the Presidency, and a plot to dissolve the Union on the part of others, and a Texas scrip and land speculation scheme with many," and he openly denounced it.* Prior to making- an of&cial move for the consummation of the Texas annexation plot, it became necessary to get Mr. Webster, who was Secretary of State, out of Tyler's Cabinet, and the conspirators were equal to the task. Mr. Webster was without much trouble bowed out of the Cabinet, and Mr. Leg-are of South Carolina selected for his place. In a short time Mr. Legare died and Mr. Upshur of Vir- ginia, an ardent disciple of Calhoun, and a personal friend, was made Mr. Leg-are's successor as Secretary of State. Within a few months Mr. Upshur was killed by the ex- plosion of a big gun on board the Princeton, and Mr. Calhoun was made his successor. The Texas annexation and secession plot now took form and shape under the direction of the original conspirator. One of the earliest and most extraordinary official acts of Mr. Calhoun, after assuming- the office of Secretary of State, was to write and publish the first and most elaborate official State paper ever issued by this Government in favor of the maintenance and propag-ation of slavery. Mr. Benton saj^s "that Mr. Calhoun did not permit this document to be pub- lished until all hope for the success of his intrigue for the Democratic nomination at Baltimore in 1844 had been aban- doned and a conspiracy to form a separate republic consisting" of Texas and some Southern States had become the object" of Calhoun and his followers. f In a short time after the defeat of Mr. Van Buren for renomination at Baltimore in 1844 by the selection of Polk, a mass convention was held in South Carolina, at which reso- lutions were adopted "in favor of a convention of all the '"See Benton's Thirty Years' View, Vol. II., chapter on Texas Annexation. tSee Benton's " Thirty Years' View." 46 722 slaveholding- States, to demand the prompt annexation of Texas, with or without war," and if refused by the North, on such terms as the Calhoun conspirators dictated, '* the Southern States should proceed peacefully and calm- ly to dissolve the Union and annex Texas to the Southern Confederacy." Conventions of a like character were also held in a num- ber of Southern States immediately after the South Carolina manifesto was issued, at which Southern conventions, reso- lutions such as I have just quoted were enthusiastically adopted. Two days before the inaug"uration of Polk, the Texas annexation plot, with its scrip and land-jobbing" scheme, was practically consummated by Mr. Calhoun, as- Secretary of State, and the unjust war with Mexico followed as the conspirators intended. President Polk could have defeated the Calhoun-Texas annexation progframme had he been a man of ability and honestly ag-ainst the plot. But, as he was a weak and vain man, the conspirators easily captured him, and the war, boldly inaugurated for slave conquest and domination, ended in the acquisition of California and one-third of Mexico. When INIexico, a sister republic, lay prostrate, weak and bleeding at the feet of the United States, and her officials were forced to execute an unjust treat}', relinquishing all claim to any part of Texas, and also cede to us California and what is now New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada, and all the territory north of the southern boundary as now designated on our maps, except the Gadsden purchase (about ONE-THIRD of her entire territorial area), her Peace Commis- sioner sought to have a clause inserted in the treaty which should provide " that the United States should engage NOT to permit the ESTABLISHMENT OF SLAVERY IN ANY PART OP THE TERRITORY THUS CEDED." In a communication of September 4, 1847, from Mr. Trist, our Minister to Mexico, to Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State, he writes that the Mexican Commissioner said to him : " If it were proposed to the people of the United States to part with a portion of their territory in order that the Inquisition should be established there, it would excite no stronger feel- ing* of abhorrence than those awakened in Mexico by the prospect of the introduction of human slavery in any terri- tory parted with by her."* Mr. Trist, when communicating- the above proposition to this Government in his letter to Mr. Buchanan, said that he answered the Mexican Commissioner as follows : " The bare mention of such a treaty is impossible. No American President would dare present such a treaty to the Senate. I assured him that if it were in their power to offer me the whole territory described in our project, increased TEN-FOLD IN VALUE AND IN ADDITION COVERED A FOOT THICK WITH PURE GOLD, ON THE SINGLE CONDITION THAT SLAVERY SHOULD BE EXCLUDED THEREFROM, I COULD NOT ENTERTAIN THE OFFER FOR A MOMENT, NOR EVEN THINK. OP COMMUNICATING IT TO WASHINGTON." Now, g-entlemen, you see the kind of men we had to fight. The historian will find no difficulty in determining- why the slave barons confided so implicitly in Mr. Buchanan when President. His conduct while Senator and Secretary of State, and Minister to Great Britain was a g-uarantee of his subservient co-operation. As I now look back upon that cold-blooded crime, and see a small, weak, strug-g-ling- sister republic, not claiming- to rank with us in wealth, culture or civilization, crushed beneath the iron heel of power, without the shadow of a pre- text — not only without a pretext, but in the face of an official falsehood, pleading- that the territory and people which she is forced to cede to us shall not be cursed with human slavery, I feel the blush of shame ting-le my cheek. You all know how the slave conspirators treated this manly and pathetic appeal of the Mexican Commissioner. And what must the honest American historian say of this ap- palling- and indescribable crime ? The annexation of Texas was now an accomplished fact; the ten millions or more of worthless " Texas scrip" (as it was called) then afloat, most of which was in the hands of the conspirators, now became valuable, and the land "certifi- cates" at once commanded a ready market. The slave barons thus triumphed politically and financially at the expense of * Wilson's Rise and Fall of the Slave Powar. — 724 — more than two hundred millions (the cost of the war) from the public Treasury, the loss of over twent}- thousand lives of American soldiers, and the sacrifice of our national honor. The discussion which followed the proposition to pro- hibit slavery by law in all the territory acquired from Mexi- co, again shook the nation politically from centre to circum- ference, during- which Mr. Calhoun, for the first time in our history, in an elaborate speech, "denied that Congress HAD THE POWER UNDER THE CONSTITUTION TO PROHIBIT SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES OP THE UNITED STATES AC- QUIRED BY THE COMMON BLOOD AND TREASURE OF THE NA- TION." You will note that Mr. Calhoun now denies, for the first time, a power which had been exercised under Jefferson and all the earlier Presidents without question down to that day. Again the slave barons threatened to dissolve the Union, unless their imperious demands were complied with, and, as a result, a series of so-called compromise measures were patched up, by which California was admitted as a free State, the Territories left open to slaverj- south of 36 deg. 30 min., and a new and more exacting fugitive-slave lav/ was passed, than which there never was, in the history of any civilized people, a more infamous enactment. In 1846, the Supreme Court, which had been deliberately packed by the slave barons, decided, in the Van Zandt case, that the Constitution and laws of the United States recog- nized property in man, and the United States Marshal for the District of Columbia soon after advertised two colored women for sale, and after selling them at public auction deposited the money in the Treasury of the United States at Washing- ton.* The Dred Scott decision soon followed, and the repub- lic of Washington and Jefferson was thus practically trans- formed into a slave despotism. In the Presidential election of 1852 both the Whig and Democratic parties resolved, in their platforms, to abide by, and maintain in perpetuity, the compromise measures of 1850, including the fugitive-slave law ; and pledged themselves to ' Wilson's Rise and Fall of the Slave Power discountenance all discussion of the slavery question in Con- gress or out of it. Many well-meaning* but weak men in the North imagined that this was to be the last and final demand of the slave barons. They were doomed to disappointment. In 1854 a new crisis was precipitated upon a long--suffer- ing- and confiding" country. It will be observed that whenever a " crisis" was needed, the conspirators always had one ready at hand. The slave barons now demanded as a condition of re- maining* in the Union, that the " Alissouri Compromise" should be repealed, to the end that they could take their slaves into Kansas, and thus make a slave State out of a Territory which by their own votes had been dedicated to freedom, as a compromise to g-et Missouri into the Union as a slave State. To this insulting- demand a majority of the old Whig- party in the North, and many members of the Democratic party, entered strong- and vig-orous protests. During- this disgraceful controversy nearly all the Whig- members of Cong-ress, both Senators and Representatives from the slave States, held a secret caucus in Washing-- ton without conferring- with, or notifying-, their Northern political associates, at which secret caucus a majority of the Southern Whig-s attending- it decided to support the repeal of the Missouri compromise, as proposed by Doug-las. This caucus, and the secret action of the Southern Whig-s, terminated the very existence of the old Whig- party. All will remember that Mr. Doug-las' Kansas-Nebraska bill became law, and that the Republican party was then born. As a people we had now reached a point in our moral descent and political abasement from which nothing- but a baptism of fire and blood could have redeemed and held us tog-ether as a free people, and saved us from the decay and death that had been the fate of all the slaveholding- empires of the world. The "slave barons" were everywhere rampant and de- fiant, the National Government subservient and obedient, and the Southern churches either silent, apolog-etic or open defenders. — 726 — I have thus traced the steps by which, in the land of Washing-ton and Jefferson, the government which the_y es- tablished became a despotism completely dominated in all its parts by an imperious, slaveholding olig-arch}-. . As a historical fact, we find that our democratic repub- lic had been completely transformed, except in name, and was then being- administered in the interest of an insolent and unscrupulous privileg-ed class. The national Constitution, which prohibited the importa- tion of slaves after the year 1808, and the laws and treaties of the United States which made the slave trade on the high seas "piracy," were trampled in scorn under their feet. While the slave conspirators in political life were mold- ing- and directing- parties, and through them administering the National Government, and on their own motion making war and conquering new territory for slavery, at the expense of the blood and treasure of the nation, the slave barons were co-operating commercially, by defiantly and actively engaging in the African slave trade, which was by law and treaties with all civilized nations declared pirac}-, and the result on conviction, death. In the year 1858, the year in which I was first elected to Congress from this district, the flag of the United States actually covered more pirate ships engaged in the African slave trade than the flags of all the other civil- ized nations of the world combined. DeBow's Southern Review states in 1857 "that forty slavers were annually fitted out in the ports of New York and the East, and that the traffic yielded their owners an annual net profit of seven- teen million dollars." In November, 1853, the Southern Standard said : "We can not onl}- preserve domestic servitude, but can def}- the power of the world. With firmness and judgment we can open up the African slave immigration again, and people this noble region of the tropics.' The New York Evening Post published a list of names of 85 vessels, fitted out in the port of New York between the 1st of February, 1859, and the 15th of July, 1860, for the African slave trade. The New York Leader, at that time a Tammany paper, asserted " that on an average two vessels each week — 727 — cleared out of our harbor bound for Africa and a human cargo." The New York "World declared that "from thirty to sixty thousand slaves a year, under the American flag-, are taken from Africa, by vessels, sailing from the single port of New York." I remember when a yacht called the Wanderer ran into a harbor near Brunswick, Georgia, in broad daylight, in December, 1858, and landed a human cargo of some three hundred or more slaves direct from Africa. This fact was duly chronicled at the time b}^ the Southern newspapers, and some of the blacks were dressed up in flaming toggery, and driven in carriages through the public streets, as a menace and defiance to the National Government. If the " slave barons " could have held possession of, and administered the National Government for another four years, as they had for the ten preceding years, there is no question but that a majority of the Southern States v/ould have passed laws authorizing incorporated companies, and individual citi- zens of their respective States, to import direct from Africa, China, or elsewhere, such persons as might be apprenticed to said corporations or citizens, for a term of service not to EXCEED TWENTY-ONE YEARS. That such a Scheme was dis- cussed in 1857 and 1858 I know, and that it had the approval of many slave barons and many more who hoped to become "slave barons," if such laws should be enacted by their States, I also know. Of course it was not intended nor expected that ONE in a thousand of such apprentices would live long enough (even if they lived fifty years) to see the end of their serv- itude. The statutes of nearly all the Southern States provided for the arrest and sale into perpetual slavery of free negroes for petty offenses, which oftener than otherwise were not offenses in fact, under which laws, the kidnapping and sale of free men, from the Northern as well as the Southern States, were encouraged and protected. And the Southern law reports and advertisements of run- away slaves furnish ample testimony that " slavery wasn't of nary color," as Hosea Bigelow put it. I have SEEN a number of persons, held as slaves, who — 728 — were be3^ond all question pure white, without a drop of Afri- can or mixed blood in their veins, and have seen hundreds, such as- the newspapers describe as "runawaj's," and "so white, that they would readily pass for white persons." Slaves of this description were often the children of the slave- master. I knew many Southern men, and served with some of them in Cong-ress, who openl}- proclaimed that " the natural and normal condition of capital and labor was that in which capical owned the labor as slaves." In 1858 and 1859 the domination in the National Govern- ment of the slave barons and kidnappers at home and of the African slave pirates on the high seas was complete. On every ocean our flag- practically gave the slave pirates immunity from search or seizure. At home, no one of the thousands who were notoriously eng-aged in this infernal traffic had ever been convicted, while hundreds of well-known Christian citizens, both men and women, who had obeyed the Divine command to g-ive a cup of cold water or crust of bread to an escaped bondman, fleeing to Canada, were ar- rested, convicted and punished by long, cruel and unjust im- prisonment. It is conceded that not less than half a million slaves were imported direct from Africa and sold in this country af- ter the slave trade had been declared " piracy" by law, and by treaty with all civilized nations, and yet but one slave PIRATE was ever convicted and hanged in the United States. His name was Captain Nathaniel Gordon, and he was ex- ecuted in New York City, February 28, 1862. I declined to sign a petition for his pardon, and told Mr. Lincoln it was about time somebody was hung for slave piracy. THE DEFEAT OF DOUGLAS. The deliberate and successfully-executed plot of the con- spirators to defeat Mr. Douglas for President in 1860 gave ample proof of their consolidated power and indicated unmis- takably their ultimate purpose. Their last and crowning political move was the one, in which they had convened in Washington, what they called a "Peace Congress." — 729 — "When I tell you that ex-President John Tj'ler, the mere creature of the Texas annexation conspirators of 1845, was selected for its President, you can without much effort g-et at the intellectual and political status of nine out of ten of the men, who fussed and fumed and amazed the country by the stupidity and folly of their so-called "peace propositions." When the future historian comes to summarize the facts of which I have spoken, he will write: "Politically, from 1843 to 1861, this was the rottenest so-called civilized g-overn- ment on earth ; morally it was a lazar-house full of dead men's bones ; financially it was bankrupt, and the conspira- tors for its overthrow, throug-h the Secretary of the Treasury, were borrowings money at 12 per cent." And he will add, to the glory of our volunteer army, of which you formed a part, that "the madness of secession and the baseness of slave baron conspiracies at home, and slave piracy under our flag- on the hig-h seas, was then stamped out, and made impossible forever." In the midst of this moral and political abasement and national deg"radation of which I have spoken, Abraham Lin- coln was called by his countrymen to the ofSce of President. Cong-ress convened in extra session on his proclamation. All the laws necessary for the organization of an army were enacted. Full power was given him in his discretion to or- der and direct the army ; and for four years, which I need not undertake to summarize to-night, he so administered the government as at every step to command the profound admi- ration not only of the great men of this country, but of the great men of the world. I did not want Mr. Lincoln to invite either Mr. Seward or Mr. Chase to seats in his Cabinet. I was anxious to have them both in the Senate, as I looked on them as great Sena- tors. And then, I did not feel certain that Mr. Chase (who up to that time had given no evidence of financial ability) would make a successful Secretary of the Treasury ; while as a Senator I was certain he would stand with the foremost, as he had done, during his first term in that body. The legisla- ture of Ohio had just elected him for six years, and in view of the approaching storm, I felt confident he would make no personal or party mistake in the Senate, while he might fail — 730 — as Secretar}- of the Treasur3\ It was g-enerally rumored, earl}' in January, that Mr. Seward was to be Secretary of State, and when I met Mr. Lincoln soon after he reached Washing-ton, and this announcement was confirmed by him, I simply said : "Mr. President, I cannot tell you how much I regret it." He expressed some surprise, and wanted to know my objections. I answered that it was too late now to talk about it, but that my objections were the same as those I had against Mr. Seward's nomination at Cliicag"o, and that the unsatisfactory speech which he had just made in the Senate, was an additional objection. I sugg-ested but one name for his Cabinet, and that was Edwin M. Stanton, of Ohio, for Secretary of War (then a member of Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet). I had known INIr. Stanton quite intimately from m}' boyhood, and recog-nized his great ability and tireless energ-y. In addition to this, I had repeatedly called at Mr. Stanton's house to confer with him after he became a member of Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet, and found him to be heart and soul against the conspirators ; that he fully understood their movements, and was ready and anxious to defeat their plots. One night after a protracted interview he walked to the door with me, and as he bade me g-ood-night, g^rasped my hand and said : "Stand firm ; you men have committed no blunder 3'et." When I repeated these words to Mr. Lin- coln, and related in substance other interviews of a like character, and told him something- of Mr. Stanton's early life in Ohio, I saw that I had made an impression on Mr. Lincoln quite favorable to him. But when the Cabinet was announced, I was about as disappointed as any man in Washing-ton, because there was but one man in it for whom I would have voted, as a first CHOICE, and for him onl}^ because he was from a border slave State, and that man was Mr. Bates of Missouri, for Attorne}' General. Of course I was delighted when later on, Mr. Lincoln made Mr. Stanton Secretary of War. All the objections I then had to Mr. Seward, as Secretary of State, and many more, soon became patent to the ordinary observer. — 731 — I had never reg-arded Mr. Seward as a practical man, nor a safe party leader, except for a party in the minority. His speech of January 12, 1861, in the Senate, after it was known he had been selected by Mr. Lincoln for Secretary of State, and his official blunders after he became Secretary, tell the stor}' of his utter inability to safely and successfully lead a great part}', charged with the administration of a government such as ours, during- the dark da3's from 1861 to 1865. He who now reads that speech of Mr. Seward, in the light of history, will fully comprehend that his leadership was like the blind leading the blind. That speech was prepared by Mr. Seward with more than his usual care, as it should have been, before its delivery in the Senate by the man soon to become Prime Minister. After it had been written and put in type, it was reviewed and recast, and conned over and over again, not only by Mr. Seward, but by more than one friend of ability and position, and every word or line that made it mean anything defi- nite was stricken out, and every word or suggestion was de- liberately added, that could possibly make it more foggy or nebulous. The day of its delivery in the Senate was a solemn and memorable one, not only in Washington, but throughout the country. The great heart of the nation was still and heavy with apprehension. Every loyal citizen expected and longed to have pointed out to him the way to preserve the national unity and national life without dishonor. Never in our his- tory has there been such an occasion for a statesman, and never before was there such a failure. Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, then an old man (and by far the ablest man with whom I served in Congress), walked over with me from the House to the Senate Chamber. We both had seats in the aisle, a little in front of Mr. Seward's desk, and could hear him distinctly. I- need not say that we listened, as did every one in that vast audience and in the entire nation, for one word or thought that would stir our hearts or give us hope. But no such word or suggestion, came in that speech from the man who was so soon to be charged with the most delicate and responsible office in Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet. — 732 — I have more than once seen both the Senate and House in mourning-, but never did I see so sad an audience quit the Senate Chamber as on that day. While walking- back with Mr. Stevens towards the House, I said : " Mr. Stevens, what do 3'ou say to all that ?'' His answer was short, sharp and characteristic. He said : " I have listened to every word, and by the living" God, I have heard nothing^." After going- with Mr. Stevens to his committee-room, I immediately returned to the Senate to get the opinion of the Senators with whom I was intimate. Taking Mr. Wade by the hand, I said : " Well, Mr. Senator, what have you to say ?" And he answered: "If we follow such leadership we will be in the wilderness longer than the children of Israel under Moses." Mr. Sumner said : "I knew what was coming, but confess that I am sad." Zac. Chandler did not wait for my question, but as I approached him, raised his hands and exclaimed : *' Great God ! how are the mighty fallen I" And this was the judgment of a majority of our friends, in both the Senate and House, with whom at that time I ex- changed opinions about the speech. It was reluctantl}' ad- mitted that it meant a backdown to the conspirators. And this, alas I was the best, and all, the new Prime Minister had to offer us. Instead of pointing out the path of duty and safety as a statesman should have done, he led us into the wilderness, enveloped in a cloud of words and metaphors, and there left us. I was anxious from the day of the delivery of that speech until the Republican Senators, with but one dissenting vote, requested Mr. Lincoln to dismiss Mr. Seward from his Cabi- net. And though the President did not comply with that re- quest of the Republican Senators, as I then thought and now think he should have done, I felt confident that we should from that time on have less of Mr. Seward's amazing as- sumption, that (when in his hand) " the pen is mightier than the sword." Mr. Lincoln's position and leadership was unquestioned from this date. SEWARD. Immediately after entering upon his duties as Secretary l-t-, ^ — /oo — of State, Mr. Seward assumed to direct all departments of the Government, substantially as if he were a British Prime Minister and Mr. Lincoln but the nominal Executive. Without consulting- either the President, the Secretary of War, or the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Seward undertook, secreth' and on his own responsibility, to direct the move- ments of military and naval officers as if he; were in fact President. He caused the rebel authorities in Charleston to be notified by telegraph that the " Administration had given a confidential order to reinforce Fort Sumter," to which Mr. Seward was opposed, as a matter of policy, and therefore se- cretly resolved to defeat it. The next day he notified Judge Campbell, a notorious secessionist, then on the Supreme Bench, that "faith as to Fort Sumter has been kept, wait and see." No one claims that Mr. Seward did this as a dis- loyal man, but as a theorist, who honestly believed that in his hand "the pen was mig"htier than the sword." Mr. Seward was, in theory, a centralist, rather than a disunionist, and yet he was absolutely without any fixed or clearly defined policy when the Rebellion broke out. He simpl}^ drifted on an unknown sea. His efforts at delay resulted in desperate expedients, and led him to send out secret agents to obstruct, mislead and delay all military and naval movements, for feg.r that actual war would falsify his prophetic utterances and defeat his negotiations. Over and over again he had declared that " within ninety days there would be peace," that " harmony and reconciliation would come within ninety days." How peace and harmony were to be secured he never clearly made known. He simply predicted it . In his speech of January 12th in the Senate he proposed to meet "exaction with concession," and "violence with peaceably submitting to the doctrine of coercion, and quietly evacuating all the forts, and abandoning all the public property in the rebel States, except where authority COULD BE EXERCISED WITHOUT WAGING WAR." He and General Scott had made up their minds "to let the wayward sisters depart in peace." By pursuing this policy, he hoped in some mysterious /v54 — ■way ultimately to bring- each seceded State back into the Union. In that speech he said: "I am willing- to vote for an amendment to the Constitution declaring that it shall not, by any future amendment, be so altered as to confer on Con- gress power to abolish or interfere with slavery in any State." I say nothing of Mr. Seward s damaging dispatches to Mr. Adams, our Minister to Great Britain, nor of his blun- ders with other powers; I simply state that it was among our great misfortunes that he was called into the Cabinet. In the Senate he v/ould have been both usefui, and harmless. I saw Mr. Lincoln early the next morning after the Senatorial Committee called on him to ask for Mr. Sev/ard's removal. It was a characteristic interview. The President asked me "what I would do if I were in his place." This was a way in which he often put questions to men. I answered him " that what he would do or what I would do was not a fair way to put it," "but that if I was in his place and held his opinions, I would accept the resignations of Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase instanter; and at once appoint Mr. Collamcr of Vermont, Secretary of State, and INIr. Fessenden of INIainc, Secretary of the Treasury." The suggestion pleased Mr. Lincoln very much, espe- cially the naming- of Mr. Collamer for Secretar}' of State. Mr. Collamcr had been in General Harrison's Cabinet in 1841, and was recognized as an able lawyer, as well as the most conservative Republican Senator in the Senate. Mr. Collamer had acted as chairman of the Senatorial Committee which had called on the President to demand Mr. Seward's dismissal from the Cabinet, and Mr. Lincoln saw at once that such an appointment would strike the extreme conservative wing of the Republican party very favorably, and he was all the more pleased with the suggestion because it came from so pronounced a radical as I was, and a recognized friend of Chase. He said two or three times: " Wh}-, Ashley, Colla- mer would make a first-class Secretar}' ; " and added, "and how it would surprise the Senate ! " — 735 — GENERAI, SCOTT. The day the first advance of our army marched across the long- bridg-e at Washington will always be a memorable one to me. I had never before seen such a military display. I went directly to the White House to see the President, but found that he had g-one over to General Scott's office; I fol- lowed and described with enthusiasm the marching- of our soldiers, sing-ing- "Old John Brown," and said: "Mr. Presi- dent, if our armies fight under the inspiration of that song, the gates of hell cannot prevail against us." General Scott (who was a Virginian) astonished me by saying "that he regretted to strike his mother." I replied with much warmth "that he who struck that flag [pointing to it] struck my mother and deserved death," and unceremoniously walked out, indignant at such an utterance from the commanding general of our armies. This incident tells the story of our national demoralization. General Scott, the commander of our armies, had at that time, unknown to Mr. Lincoln or the public, reached the amazing conclusion that it was best to " let the wayward sisters depart in peace." General Scott soon afterwards (under the manipulation of Seward) recommended the surrender of Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens. As the President, with the approval of the Cabinet, had before this ordered reinforcements and provisions to Fort Sumter, this sudden and unlooked-for change on the part of General Scott shook the faith of the President in him, and he immediately began the search for a younger and more reliable commander. THE ARMY. I do not care to introduce or dwell on the disasters of the Army of the Potomac, until General Grant assumed com- mand, nor will I attempt to criticise its defeated generals. I am not a military man, and therefore not competent for such, a task. That Generals McDowell, McClellan, Burnside, Hooker — 736 — and Pope did the best they could, no one now questions. That the_y did not do better was the nation's misfortune. The rank and file of our army both North and South were made up of as g-ood material as the world ever saw. In some respects the Southern soldier for a time had the advan- tag-e. First, every slave-master was born and trained to command; he became self-reliant and confident from youth up; he was an accomplished horseman, accustomed to out- door life and the use of firearms. These qualities, with a fiery temperament and splendid physical organization, made him the most formidable soldier in the world; and when j-ou add to this the fact that he was fig-hting- on his own chosen g-round, surrounded by friends, and with natural positions for defense, j^ou have a soldier of whom any g-eneral might well be proud. The Northwestern soldier had many of these admirable qualities, especially did he have the advantage which an out-door and frontier life gives in educating men to be self-reliant and accustomed to the use of horses and fire- arms. The soldiers from the East did not have the out-door life of their Western comrades, and it required a 3'ear or more of active training in the field to make them equal in this re- gard to Western men. But when the Eastern and Western soldiers were united under General Grant, the Army of the Potomac proved itself to be the equal of the soldiers in the Southern arm}', and from the day General Grant took com- mand of that army no more was heard about the inef&ciency or want of valor of the Army of the Potomac. And I might say here, in order to estimate men's char- acters, some little incident in their lives will often tell you the kind of men they are. That is especially true in civil life. You go into a congress of three hundred men and you will see the timid men coming together, you will see the reckless men together, and you will see the profound men together. And so in the army; you will find all the fighting men gravitate together, as if the}' understood and had confidence in each other. AVhcn General Grant, on the evening of the first day's battle at Shiloh (which had been a defeat), was told by his quartermaster that if again defeated to-morrow he would not have transportation enoug-h to carry the troops (65,000 in number) across the river, the General inquired: "How many can you handle ? " " Ten thousand," the quartermaster answered. "Well," said the General, quietly, "if we are defeated you will be able to carry all that are left. This incident admirably illustrates General Grant's determination of character. He simply determined to win or be annihilated. While talking- about soldiers, my mind recurs to Thomas, the g"randest fig-ure to me of all the war. You will remember what he said to General Steedman when he ordered him to make a charge. Steedman started at once to execute his order, but impulsively turning- back, said: "General, where shall I find 3'ou after the charge ? " "Right here, sir;" pointing- to the spot on which he stood. That told the story of General Thomas's character. It is also beautifully told in one of Mrs. Sherwood's war poems. Sheridan, when he came East, was assig-ned by Grant to Meade's command. Meade told Sheridan to g-o out with his cavalry and reconnoiter, but to be very careful about Stuart, as he was a troublesome fellow. Sheridan's blood was up in a minute, and he said with some strong- words, that he could knock hell out of him, if he could get at him. General Meade, who was a very quiet man, when he saw Grant said: "Well, General, that man Sheridan that you sent me is rather insubordinate." The General says: " How is that ? what did he do ? " General Meade repeated what Sheridan had said. . " Did Sheridan say that ? " inquired Grant. "Yes, sir; he did," rejoined Meade, with emphasis. "Why didn't you tell him to go and do it?" was all Grant said. Meade went back, took the hint, gave the order to Sheridan, and Stuart never troubled him afterwards. I went down to the Army of the Potomac v/ith a letter from Mr. Lincoln to Grant. I had become quite anxious for fear the Sixth rebel corps stationed at Petersburg- mig-ht be 47 — 738 — detached, and attack Sherman's rear, when he was marching from Atlanta to the sea. I kept talking- to the President about it until he sent me down to Grant's headquarters, and I staj^ed there ten daj's. The nig-ht before I started back I looked at the map on the table, and said to the General: " I wish you would show me the situation; I want to tell the best story I can to the President to-morrow; I am g^oing* up to- night." I had .been complaining about the dead cattle and dead mules and horses, and wanted the camp cleared up for fear of a pestilence. The General gave me satisfactory'- answers, and pointed out the situation on the map, and said to me: " For every three men of ours dead, five of theirs; for every three of our cattle dead, five of theirs." Picking up some paper on the table and crushing it in his hand, he says: " Tell the President I have got them like that ! " It made the cold chills run over me. But as I neared "Washington, and caught sight of the flag floating from the dome, it kept welling up in me, "Tell the President I have got them like that ! " It told the character of the man. When I repeated what he said to the President and others, they all felt exactly as I did. But after all it cheered us, and we all involuntarily exclaimed, " I have got them like that ! " And right here I might say that we of Northwestern Ohio never think of the army without thinking of the old Fourteenth, the bravest of the brave, and of General Steed- man, its gallant commander. But I want to say that the hundred-day men deserve honorable mention. The patriotic impulse that carried the hundred-day men into the army and to the Army of the Potomac, with Colonel Phillips at their head, and Lieutenant-Colonel Faskins and Richard Waite among the captains, and John J. Barker among the lieuten- ants, was as patriotic as that which carried the three-year men to the nation's rescue. I remember well their march through the streets of Washington, and the speech of Mr. Lincoln to them from the steps of the White House, and my address to them at the front. — 739 — These men were a part of the Army of the Potomac, and although they were there but one hundred days, those one hundred days were eventful days to us and to them, and they have a rig"ht equally with the veterans to the inheritance which comes from victories bravely won. Especially is honor due to the men who so g-allantly marched to battle when they were exempt by ag-e from military duty. LINCOI^N. It will not be claimed, even by partisan friends, that any one of our greatest statesmen or generals were faultless and committed no blunders. Young and inexperienced as I v/as, I felt confident that I knew as much about the secret purposes of the conspirators and their plots as many of our oldest leaders ; but I knew also that if so great a Senator as Mr. Benton of Missouri, who had served in the Senate for thirty years from a slave State, could not command the attention of the country when specially and publicly calling attention to the designs of the slave conspirators, a young and unknown abolitionist from a free State like myself, could not hope to do so. I therefore deferred to such men as Seward, Sumner and Fessenden in the Senate, and Stevens, Washburn, Grow and others in the House, and also to such men as Chase and Stanton in the Cabinet, and to Greeley, Wendell Phillips and others in private life. Before the Rebellion broke out I came to know that Seward was a "dreamer," who always lived high up in the clouds ; that Sumner with all his ability was pre-eminently a man of "books," and that Chase practically did not know men, and might be associated in the Senate for years with the chief conspirators, and be entirely ignorant of their movements or their plots. As I now look back and review, more calmly than I could then, the words and acts of our greatest men, Lincoln stands forth pre-eminent among them all. Without experience, and confronted by trials and respon- sibilities greater than any President who had preceded him, — 740 — he proved equal to ever}' emerg-ency, and never failed in the most trying" and difficult hour. Surrounded on every hand by traitors, and often misin- formed by real but mistaken friends and betraj-ed by pre- tenders, he faced a million rebels in arms, and never quailed nor faltered ; he, more than all others, secured the loj-al co- operation of the border slave States ; he was the one g'reat leader of the Republican part}-, and more, of all men of what- ever party who hoped for the triumph of the Union, and he occupied this position because he was fitted by nature for the g-reat task imposed upon him. His leadership was gentle but firm, cautious 3'et persistent. He was the one man of all the men I knew in those days of trial and danger, best fitted for the place he filled so well. As tender as a woman to suffering and sorrow, he stood forth during the entire rebel- lion, a colossus among men. " Like the oak of the mountain, deep-rooted and firm, Erect when multitudes bent to the storm." No man can depict the humiliations and catastrophies which this nation escaped by having Abraham Lincoln for President in 18G1 instead of William H. Seward. Back of Lincoln and Congress stood the rank and file of the army, to whom the greatest credit is due. And back of the army, there was a patriotic sentiment for national unity and national glor}-, which represented the moral force of an overwhelming majority of the nation. This sentiment molded and directed Lincoln and her statesmen, and inspired her generals and the army with the necessity of union and the hope of victor3% "Without this united moral force Congress would not have acted, the President would have been powerless, and the republic of Washington and Jefferson would have been di- vided, dismembered and destroyed, and on its ruins two or more discordant and hostile governments erected, which would have been a perpetual menace to each other and to the peace of the world. — 741- TRUE STATESMANSHIP. We have now reached a time (so far have we advanced in a sing-le g-eneration) where we can form a proper estimate of the statesmen who ruled this nation from 1836 to 1860. Even the ordinary observer of to-day, no long-er recog-nizes their pretensions to statesmanship. Plain, practical common- sense Americans who believe in a " g"overnment of the peo- ple, by the people, for the people," will in the future declare, as they do now, that true statesmanship does not enact in- justice INTO LAW — that that is not a democratic or repub- lican government, which afSrms the legal right to property in man, or which authorizes or permits the enslavement of men by fraud or force. At a time when the moral sentiment of mankind the world over, was practically a unit against the enslavement of any race, and when the imperial governments of Russia and Brazil were emancipating their slaves, and all the great nations of the world were joining hands to attempt the civilization of the dark continent of Africa, to the end that they might make slave piracy impossible, the so-called statesmen of this country were conspiring to destroy the freest and best government on earth, and making war on their own kindred in order that they might establish one or MORE petty governments whose corner-stone should be human slavery. The folly and crimes of the secession leaders and their allies of the North can never be repeated again ; even the memory of them will soon have " Gone glimmering through the gleam of things that were — A school-boy's tale, the wonder of an hour." Never again shall there be witnessed in the land of Washington and Lincoln, the blasphemy of religious teachers preaching that saint and sinner alike must see to it "that servants obey their masters in all things because acceptable in the sight of the Lord," and that when escaping, it was the duty of the public to provide for returning slaves to their — 742 — slave-masters at the nation's expense, and, crowning- all, bj boldly affirming- the divinit}- of slaver}-. The conspirators and their apologists may write thou- sands of volumes in defense of their dog-ma of secession and state rights, and fill them with long-drawn-out logic and quotations from the Bible and from pretended Christian teachers affirming- the divinity of slavery; they may build monuments of marble, brass or iron to their lost cause and its dead leaders, and do what they may to justify or excuse their blunders and their crimes, and yetjthe time is coming, and NOW is, in which no sane man will read their writings except to learn from their own pens the height and depth of their amazing folly. And a generation of men shall not have passed away before all who stand in front of their monu- ments, will be asking themselves whether the leaders of the Whiskey rebellion, the schemers of the Hartford Convention plot, or Aaron Burr and his conspirators are not better entitled to commemoration, in brass or iron, than the leaders of the slaveholders' rebellion. I have not spoken personall}' of any of the leaders of the rebellion, because they were all the followers and satellites of Calhoun, from Jefferson Davis down to Senator Wigfall of Texas, who was dubbed by his fellow-conspirators "one of the most eloquent fools on the continent." To me there are inseparably connected with the history of the rebellion three men in civil life, who stand out more prominently than their associates — Calhoun, the great con- spirator ; Seward, the dreamer ; and Lincoln, the statesman. Calhoun, able, ambitious, logical and persistent, and as un- yielding as death ; Seward, the philosophical dreamer, political prophet and presidential aspirant, the coiner of beautiful and high-sounding phrases, with no practical ability for a crisis, such as the rebellion of 1861. When the hour of action and trial came, he suggested, in his speech of January 12th, "that we meet prejudice with conciliation, exaction with concessions, violence with the right hand of fellowship," and surrender to the rebels all the public property of the nation in their States, "except where the AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED STATES COULD BE EXERCISED WITHOUT WAR." To crown all, he offered to vote for an — 743- amendment to the Constitution which would preserve slaver}^ forever, and thus make the " irrepressible conflict " perpetual, so long- as a single State elected to maintain the institution of slavery in its borders. The world recognizes when it reads Mr. Lincoln's state- ment of the " irrepressible conflict," that he was the practical, just and far-seeing statesman. In his great speech at Springfield, Illinois, in 1858, he said : "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe that this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike law- ful in all the States, old as well as new. North as well as South." This great speech made Mr. Lincoln President. After his inauguration, he followed logically and with fidelity the doctrine announced in that speech. And when he declared in his inaug-ural address, that his oath and duty alike required him to see that the laws were impartially and honestly executed; and added: "The POWER CONFIDED IN ME WILL BE USED TO HOLD, OCCUPY AND POSSESS THE PROPERTY, AND ENFORCE THE LAWS OF THE GOV- ERNMENT," a practical and patriotic people knew what that declaration meant. They knew that Mr. Lincoln intended *'THAT THE HOUSE SHOULD NOT BE DIVIDED NOR FALL," but that the Union should be maintained forever — and be all one thing — all free. And to the accomplishment of that g-reat work he consecrated his life. Mr. Seward would not only have been dismissed from ofiS.ce by any other government, but would have been arrested for usurpation of power — and for holding secret and un- authorized communication with the public enemy. And I do not believe that any President who had preceded Mr. Lincoln would have continued Mr. Seward in his Cabinet for a single day, after the formal and unanimous request of the "Republican members of the Senate, for his removal. — 744 — It was Mr. Lincoln's hopefulness and faith in man that made him so long--suffering- in his dealings with Seward, Chase and McClellan, and hundreds of others, myself in- cluded. I think he was in that respect one of the most wonderful of men. I can remember two instances, one of which was with reference to myself; the other. Senator Schurz. Schurz was in the army, and was restless, as nervous men usually are, and fired a letter of sixteen pages over the head of his commander to Mr. Lincoln, an act which, as a military matter, was not to be tolerated. Afterward he thoug-ht better of it, and wrote Mr. Lincoln an apology for having" commit- ted this breach of military discipline. The President wrote him and kindly said: "Never mind; come and see me.'* When Schurz came and met him, he began to apologize. ' ' Never mind, Schurz, " said Mr. Lincoln. ' ' I guess before we get through talking, you won't think I am so bad a man as some people say I am." Kindness, of course, captivated Mr. Schurz, just as it had other men. I went up to see him at one time about McClellan — got there early in the morning. He hadn't got into his room. When he came in he expressed some surprise at seeing me there so early. He hesitated a moment and said: "Well, General, what are you doing here so early ?" " I came here to see you." "What can I do for you ? " "Nothing, sir." I closed my lips as firmly as I could, and emphasized sharply what I said. "You have come up to see about McClellan ? " "Yes, sir." " Well," said he, " that reminds me of a story." I was determined to have a solid talk with him. So I said, rising to my feet: "Mr. President, I beg your pardon, but I didn't come this morning to hear a storj-." He looked at me and said, with such a sad face: " Ashley, I have great confidence in 3'ou, and great respect for you, and I know how sincere 3^ou are. But if I couldn't tell these stories, I would die. Now you sit down ! " So he ordered a cup of coffee and we discussed the situation. — 745 — That was the peculiar manner of the man. I saw him one day grant a pardon for a soldier sentenced to be shot. The mother of the soldier and some women of his household were in the room. When he did it, of course there was a scene. Tears came to the e3'es of many. The President said: "Well, I have made one family happy, but I don't know about the discipline of the army ! " That act was characteristic of the man, and because of his tenderness and love of justice, he held tog-ether the dis- cordant elements — held tog-ether the border States; and I think carried us to victory better than any man, certainly better than any public man of whom I have any knowledge. I don't know of any man in this country that I would rather have had for President, considering it now, after all is over for a quarter of a century, than Abraham Lincoln. That the historian of the future will accord the highest order of statesmanship to Abraham Lincoln and soldierly qualities to the Union Army of 1861-65, I do not doubt. A practical world will judge public men by what they accomplish, not by what they profess. Soldier and states- man alike must be judged by this simple standard. From this point of view the historian will show that Mr. Lincoln found the Government disrupted and bankrupt, with a hostile government organized by conspirators on its supposed ruins. He will show that Mr. Lincoln and a Union Congress proceeded at once to secure its political unity and territorial integrity; that they raised, organized and equipped armies and crushed the rebellion; that the}- amended the national Constitution prohibiting slavery for- ever; that they were both merciful and forgiving as con- querors never were before; that all laws and constitutional amendments were impartial in their character, and operated on the North and South alike. He will show that under their State governments, as reorganized by them, the South has prospered and increased in wealth as never before; that the census of 1890 confirmed all we hoped and promised when we declared that her increase in cotton, sugar, tobacco, rice, iron and manufactures would more than double in value between 1860 and 1890, and that her plantation and city property would be increased in value threefold; and that a — 746 — National Government, with amnesty and impartial suffrage, found a complete vindication, both at home and abroad. And knowing" this, as each Union soldier and Union citizen who took part in the great drama of 1861 " folds the drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant dreams," he will know that his sacrifices have not been in vain. There are men before me to-night who bore aloft and followed that flag at Shi^loh and Stone River, at Murfrees- boro, Missionary Ridge and Nashville, and from Cliicka- mauga to Chattanooga and to the top of Lookout Mountain, and from Atlanta through Georgia on to Washington, as they carried it in triumph back to their homes prior to plac- ing it here within the shrine of Memorial Hall. And because it has been riddled by shot and shell and has been baptized with the blood of the living and the dead, it is all the more sacred to us. Mr. President, that flag means more to you and to me to-night than ever it did before. To us, as Americans, and to ever}- civilized people be- neath the sun, it symbolizes the unit}' and strength of the greatest and freest commonwealth on earth. It means in- vincible power and enlightened progress. It means hope and happiness to all the coming generations of men enti- tled to its protection. It means that never again, on the land or on the sea, can it be a flag of " stripes" to an}- of God's children, however poor or however black. It means the sovereignty of an indissoluble Union — and a prophecy of the coming continental republic. ADDRESS OF HON. J. M. ASHLEY, At the Fourth Annuai. Banquet of the Ohio Republican League, held at Memorial Hall, Toledo, Ohio, February 12, 189L Toastmaster : Gen. Wm. H. Gibson, Tiffin, Ohio. First Toast : ABRAHAM LINCOLN: "How humble, yet how hopeful he could be; How in g*ood fortune and in ill the same ; Nor bitter in success, nor boastful he. Thirsty for g"old, nor feverish for fame." Tom Taylor in "London Punch.' Response by Hon. J. M. Ashley, Toledo, Ohio. Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen : At Alton, Illinois, in October, 1858, I first met Abraham Lincoln. It was on the day he closed the historic joint debate of that year, with Stephen A. Douglas. My anxiety to see and hear the man whose great speech at Springfield in June had electrified the entire country was so intense that immediately after our election in Ohio I ran down over the Wabash, and saw and heard Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas in their closing debate at Alton. I returned home at once, so as to be present and celebrate my first election to Congress. (747) — 748 — I had accepted an Invitation from the Republican Com- mittee of Illinois to accompany Governor Chase and speak at several points in that State and remain until the close of the campaig-n in November. The plan for the Illinois campaig-n was discussed and ag-reed upon at the Tremont House in Chicag-o. Here we met John Yv^entworth, Elihu B. "Washburn, Owen Lovejoy and Joseph Medill (then as now, editor of the Chicag-o Tribune) and many others. This was a memorable meeting*, and from the date of that campaign, Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the Presidency in 1860 became a probability. I gave this meeting an enthusiastic account of the debate at Alton, and when I stated that although the election for members of the legislature might not result in the choice of Mr. Lincoln as Senator, yet his speeches had made it impossible for Mr, Douglas to be elected President, and that a great leader had arisen, I commanded the attention of eager listeners. Mr. Lincoln came to Ohio in the fall of 1859 to take part in the gubernatorial campaign, and delivered memorable speeches at Columbus and Cincinnati. Under the leadership of Judge Swayne a distinct Lincoln party arose in Ohio, which in a few months became a great factor in Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the Presidency in 1860. NORTHERN PRO-SLAVERY CHAMPIONS. From 1844 until 1861 the slave barons were so entrenched in the government that the}- demanded as a condition to the political recognition of an}^ Northern leader that they publicly commit themselves b}^ deeds as well as words to their service. They demanded that all Northern aspirants to the Presidency should, in addition to their general subservienc}', give undoubted evidence of their fidelity and fitness for so exalted a position, by causing to be captured and returned to the South, any fugitive slaves who might be found in the cities of their residence. Whereupon, the partisans of Fillmore (then the acting President), who after approving the fugitive-slave bill was in- — 749- trlg-uing- for the AVhig- presidential nomination in 1852, caused the officials of Fillmore's own appointment, to seize at his home in Buiialo, and return a fug"itive slave in order that the slave barons mig-ht know that their recently enacted slave-catching- law, could be executed in the city of Fillmore's residence, and so executed, that they could be eye-witnesses to the subserviency of their allies, who everywhere in that day abounded throug-hout the North. The manner in which that disgraceful act was performed at Buffalo was so shocking" in its brutality, that after Fillmore's retirement from the Presi- dency, he drifted into obscurity and died unwept and un- lamented. "Webster's friends in Boston joined with alacrity in send- ing- Sims back to slavery, hoping" by this shameful act of abasement, to commend their great political idol to the slave barons for President. He did not get a sing-le vote from them in the nominating convention, and soon afterwards retired to his home in Marshfield and saw, as did Belshazzar of old, the handwriting on the wall. Wherever he turned his eyes there appeared the sentence of doom, as out of the darkness came the hand with index finger pointing to the words, " The 7th of March." Mr. Webster died a disappointed and humiliated man, with the personal knowledge that the slave barons could be as exacting and false to him, as to one of their own bondmen. The pulpit was but little, if any, behind in its base sub- serviency. A fire-bell at night could not empty a fashion- able church in Boston or New York quicker than it would then have been emptied, if its parson had honestly prayed or preached for the liberation of the slave. So debasing and brutal was this infernal spirit, that the Rev. Dr. Dewey, of Boston, publicly declared "that if the Constitution required it, he would send his own mother back into slavery." And yet, this self-righteous worshiper of Mammon and the Consti- tution claimed to be an American citizen and a descendant of the Puritans ! After such a statement of our moral condition as a nation, you will not be surprised when I tell you that this reverend individual was but an exaggerated type of a whole genera- tion of vipers, who, in 1861, rolled up their eyes in holy hor- — 750 — ror and demanded peace at any price and our absolute sub- mission to the terms of the slave barons; everywhere crying" out: "Give us the Constitution as it is, and the Union as it was." And manj^ so-called statesmen in the North lifted up their voices in chorus and wept and said — Amen. MR. LINCOLN AS HS APPEARED ON THE PLAINS OP ILLINOIS. I present you this dark and sad picture, in order that I may show 3'ou more distinctly, the colossal form and plain but manly face of Abraham Lincoln. Behold him, as at the tomb of the martyred Lovejoy and on the plains of Illinois, he emerges unheralded from the shadow of this national degradation and national dishonor, and with the words of truth and soberness on his lips, proclaims: " A house divided against itself cannot stand." "I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free." That was the kc3'note which touched the hearts and anointed the eyes of millions. It was in that dark hour the fitly spoken word, and like an eternal ray of light it illuminated the dim and shadowy future. THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS JOINT DEBATES. In this spirit, and on this elevated moral plane, Mr. Lin- coln met Mr. Douglas and conducted his great campaign in Illinois, and successfully drove him from every controverted position. Subsequently, in his desperation, Mr. Douglas declared "that he did not care whether slavery was voted up or voted down." Mr. Lincoln did care, the great heart of the nation cared, every honest man in the world cared whether slavery was voted up or down. And when I heard Mr. Lincoln proclaim at Alton " that it was a question between right and wrong," his face glowed as if tinged with a halo, and to me he looked the prophet of hope and joy, when with dignity and empha- sis he said: " That is the real issue. That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal — 751 — strug"g"le between these two principles, rig-ht and wrong-, throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beg-inning- of time, and will ever continue to struggle, until the common right of human- ity shall ultimately triumph." The tongues of these two great men have been silent for a quarter of a century. The one who did care " whethe^ slavery was voted up or voted down " will live in the grateful remembrance of his countrymen and mankind; while he who declared "that he did not care" will only be remembered as the man whom Abraham Lincoln defeated for President. RESULT OP THH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN 1860. Two years after his defeat for Senator, Mr. Lincoln was nominated and elected President, receiving ISO electoral votes and Judge Douglas but 13 electoral votes. Breckenridge of Kentucky received 72 votes, and Bell of Tennessee 39 votes. If Mr. Lincoln had not received a majority of all the electoral votes cast, the choice of a President would, as pro- vided by that indefensible and anti-democratic provision of our Constitution, have devolved on the House of Representa- tives, each State having one vote (except where the Con- gressional delegation was equall}- divided), in which event its vote would be lost. The choice of a President at that time by the House would have been limited to either Lincoln, Breckenridge or Bell. The conspirators put Breckenridge electoral tickets in the Northern States with the deliberate purpose of excluding Douglas from the three highest, and thus keeping him out of the contest in the House. An election by the House of Representatives of a Presi- dent for 1860-1861 was part of the original programme of the conspirators when they deliberately divided the Demo- cratic party at Charleston and Baltimore and determined to defeat Douglas. Nothing is more certain, had that election gone into the House of Representatives, than that Mr. Lin- coln would not have been chosen President, as the Republi- cans could not have commanded the votes of a sufficient num- ber of States to elect him. — 752 — With Mr. Buchanan in the President's office, to obey the orders of the conspirators until they had accomplished their purpose, the result would have been a so-called compromise and the election of Breckinridge. In the light of all that has happened, no mortal man can €ven now presage what would have been the ultimate result, had Breckinridge at that time been clothed with the power of the presidential office. That this country would have become a consolidated slave empire during the administration of Breckinridge is more than probable. The pro-slavery amendment to our national Constitution, which was submitted by the Northern compromisers of the Thirty-sixth Congress (and ratified by the vote of Ohio), would have been engrafted into the national Constitution, and slavery thus entrenched could not have been abolished except by the consent of every State, thus practically making slavery constitutional and perpetual, with no remedy for its abolition but armed revolution. Fortunately for the future of the republic, Mr. Lincoln's election defeated this deeply laid plot of the pro-slavery con- spirators, and their subsequent mad rebellion and war on the Union enabled him and the national Congress to abolish slavery and make the nation ali« free instead of all SLAVE. From the day of Mr. Lincoln's inauguration until the tragic close of his eventful life, no one who did not know and often see him, can portra}^ the tremendous mental and physi- cal strain under which he labored, nor can human tongue describe the innumerable petty annoyances to which he was subjected, nor the intrigues and conspiracies which he en- countered and mastered. MR. LINCOLN AND THE RADICAL WING OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. While Mr. Lincoln was, beyond all question, as deepl}" impressed with the necessit}' of saving the Union as any one of the great men with whom I served, there were often radi- cal differences of opinion as to the best means to be adopted — 753 — to that end. This was in larg-e part the result of early political training", and political affiliation of the men who were leaders in the Republican party. The advanced or radical wing- of the Republican party was made up larg"ely of men who had been the recog^nized leaders of the anti-slavery wing- of the Democratic party. Such men as Rantoul, Sumner and Boutwell, of Massachusetts; Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine; Hale, of New Hampshire; David AVilmot, of Pennsylvania; General Dix and Governor Fenton, of New York; Chase and others in Ohio; Julian, of Indiana; Trumbull, of Illinois; Doolittle, of Wisconsin; Bing-ham and Beaman, of Michig-an; Frank P. Blair and Gratz Brown, of Missouri, and many others whom I need not name. These men were all trained in the school of Jefferson, and our personal and political affiliations had been with the anti-slavery wing- of the Democratic party. Mr. Lincoln had been trained in the old Whig- party, and Henry Clay, its g-reat compromising- chief , was his early politi- cal leader, and he voted for General Scott for President in 1852, notwithstanding- the platform on the subject of slavery. I voted that year for Hale and Julian, because of the offensive Democratic platform, which was no more objectionable than that of the Whig-s. I have not read either of those platforms since 1852, but if young students of political history will g-o into any library and read them they will be found practically duplicates, and so subservient to the slave barons, as to make the cheek of every true American blush with shame to-day. When Mr. Lincoln came into the Presidency he had not advanced as far beyond the old party platforms as Sumner and Chase, Hale and Vf ilmot, and the men who had crossed the Rubicon and voted for Hale and Julian in 1852. But within two years he was abreast of them, and before the close of his life they recog-nized him as their leader. What wonder, then, that at the outset our differences with Mr. Lincoln should have been marked and pronounced on some of the most important questions which confronted us ? We were disappointed, to beg-in with, in the make-up 48 — 754 — of his Cabinet. I wanted Fessenden of Maine, or Collamer of Vermont, for Secretary of State, Governor Morgan of New York or Zack Chandler of Michigan, for Secretary of the Treasury, Edwin M. Stanton of Ohio, for Secretary of War, Henry Winter Davis of Maryland, for Secretar}' of the Nav}-, George W. Summers of West Virginia, for Secretary of the Interior, James Speed of Kentuck}^ Postmaster-General, and Edmund Bates of Missouri, for Attorney General. These men were all old line Whigs, except Mr. Stanton, and not one of the border slave States had voted for Mr. Lin- coln. I proposed, as a matter of expedienc}', to strengthen the Union sentiment in the border slave States by loading their conservative Union Whig leaders with the honors and patronage of the government. And then, I did not think it expedient to take Seward or Chase or Cameron out of the Senate. Instead of 75,000 men for three months, I wanted the call issued for 500,000 men for the war. Instead of committing ourselves in any way on the question of slavery and the status of slaves, we thought that the proclamation should simply promise that all persons who were loyal to the government and gave it their support should receive the protection of the government. I wanted the war to be conducted strictly according to the laws of war, and the army to be moved not in conformity with party platforms or the decree of any court, which might be presided over by some timid or disloyal judge. L I wanted the writ of habeas corpus suspended wher- ever, within the jurisdiction of the United States, the local police authorities could not enforce the law, and the public safety required it. In short, I wanted the war conducted as if we were in earnest, and determined to preserve the Union at whatever cost; and I believed then, as we all believe now, that the only wa}^ at that time to secure an enduring peace was to destroy the slave power and make such a rebellion forever impossible in the future. The entire radical wing of the party were opposed to the authority which Mr. Lincoln assumed to reorganize the rebel State governments. Our discussions on this subject were often set and sharp. We finall}' told him that if he attempted to carr}- out his programme without the consent — 755 — or approval of Congress, that the House of Representatives would refuse to count the electoral votes even if they should be cast for him by Tennessee and Louisiana, and we did so refuse to permit their votes to be counte:!. And yet, throug"h all these earnest discussions, sometimes waxing" warm, as they of necessity did, there never was any estrang^ement between us, nor an unkind act to be recalled or regfretted. MR. Lincoln's mental constitution. There was in Mr. Lincoln's mental constitution a mar- velous blending- of sunshine and shadow, of earnestness and innocent fun, of profound thought and delightful humor, of hopeful prophecy and inexorable log-ic. In estimating- the mental and moral qualities of any man of mark, it is due to him, not less than to ourselves, that we form a rational judg-ment by a careful analysis of all the peculiar traits and moods which g-o so largely to make up the life and character of every such man. This analysis I made for myself when Mr. Lincoln was. President, and while I shall express freely and frankly my deliberately formed opinion of Mr. Lincoln's character, I will be warranted in presenting a few of his striking utterances and well-authenticated acts, so that you may form an inde- pendent opinion for yourselves. Before such an assembly and on an occasion like this, I may properly relate two or three occurrences which will illus- trate the masterly manner in which he managed all kind?, and conditions of men. THE WAY MR. LINCOLN MANAGED MR. GREELEY. During the war the number of volunteer peace negotia- tors who made pilgrimages to Washington, and occupied the time of Mr. Lincoln and members of Congress, were legion. This brigade of budding Talleyrands was made up largely of peace cranks. Confederate sympathizers, gentlemen ambi- tious of distinguishing themselves by playing the role of — 756 — mediators, and all sorts and conditions of political schemers, who kept the President and all public men in Washing-ton who would listen to them, awake at night, as they poured into their unwilling cars their visionary schemes. It was a time for fighting and supplying the sinews of war to our armies, and not for the game of diplomacy-, except so far as such diplomacy tended to support armies in the field and maintain peace abroad, until treason was destroyed at home. We were particularly anxious that no act should be done by the President which, by any possibility, could be distorted by European nations into a recognition of the Confederate Government. Mr. Greeley was one of those who had worried the President by insisting- on opening negotiations with the Con- federate Commissioners at Niagara Falls, with the view of securing an early peace. The world and Mr. Greeley were alike surprised one morning" by the public announcement that the President had authorized Mr. Greeley to proceed to Niagara Falls and see what he could do as an apostle of peace. This was a "com- mission " which Mr. Greeley did not expect and had not sought. But, after all he had said and written, he could not very well decline it. Everybody was up in arms against in- trusting any one with such a mission, and of all other men the guileless philosopher of the Tribune. Of course, I v/as among the first at the White* House to protest. Mr. Lincoln explained to me why he did it, and added, "Don't 3-0U worry; nothing will come of it," and there did not. Mr. Greelcj' accomplished nothing, and was supremely dis- gusted with himself for what he 'had said and done in the matter of peace negotiations at Niagara Falls, and never again troubled the President in that direction. This humorous stroke of diplomacy on the part of Mr. Lincoln nipped in the bud the ambitious schemes of scores of would-be negotiators, and gave him and all public men at Washington comparative peace from their impor- tunities. — /o/ — Julian's story of lovejoy and stanton. Mr. Lincoln's manner of dealing- with men of fiery temperaments is well illustrated in a story told by Hon. Georg-e W. Julian, of Indiana, in a magazine article some four or five years ago. Mr. Lovejoy, of Illinois, at the head of some self-appointed committee, had called on the Presi- dent, and after explaining the scheme v^^hich they had in hand, looking to an increase in the efficiency of the Western soldiers, procured an order from Mr. Lincoln on the Secretary of War for its execution. Lovejoy a.nd his committee repaired at once to the War Department, and after explaining" the matter, Mr. Stanton peremptorily refused to comply with it. "But," said the impulsive Lovejoy, "we have the President's order here with us, sir." " Did Lincoln g-ive you an order of that kind?" roared the irate Secretary. "He did, sir," answered Lovejoy. "Then he is a damned fool," said the fiery Stanton. " Do you mean to say that the Presi- dent is a damned fool ?" asked the bewildered Lovejoy. "Yes," again roared the Secretary, "if he gave you such an order as that." The amazed Congressman and his com- mittee immediately returned to the White House and reported in full the result of their visit. "Did Stanton say I was a damned fool?" asked the President, and Lovejoy and his committee joined in affirming- that he did. After a moment or two, the President said, "Well, g-entlemen, if Stanton said I was a damned fool, there must be something- wrong- about this, for Stanton is nearly always right. I must see the Secretary about it before anything- can be done." Only a g-reat man could have so borne himself. NASBY quoted on ASHLEY. On no one subject did we disagree with Mr. Lincoln so radically as that of reconstruction. It was a subject ever present with me, from the day I laid before my committee the first reconstruction bill which I prepared and had ready for presentation on the meeting of the extra session of Congress, in July, 1S61. — 758 — I assumed from the first that we should put down the rebellion, and that the question of questions would be the reorganization of constitutional g-overnments in the seceded States, as a condition to their representation in Congress. Had Mr. Lincoln lived, I believe he would eventually have adopted the views held by a majority of the Republicans in Congress. After an unusually long and warm discussion one morn- ing on this subject, I rose to go, quite dissatisfied with the result of my interview and exhibiting a little more feeling than I ought, when the President called out, and said: "Ashley, that was a great speech you made out in Ohio the other day." I turned, and, I fear with some irritation in both manner and voice, said: "I have made no speech anj-where, Mr. President, and have not been out of Washington." He laughed and said: "Well, I see Nasb}' sa3^s that in conse- quence of one speech made by Jim Ashley, four hundred thousand niggers moved into Wood County last week, and it must have taken a great speech to do that." Of course I joined in the laugh, and then Mr. Lincoln, in his kindly manner, said: "Come up soon, Ashle}^ and we will take up reconstruction again." By the gentlest of methods, this great leader held to- gether all the discordant elements in the Republican party, both in Congress and the country. JUDGE HOLMAN's TESTIMONY. I could relate from personal knowledge incidents which, would illustrate his unaffected simplicity and tenderness. But instead of telling one of ni}' ovvn I will relate one that is fresher to me, and may be to 3'ou. I read it on the cars while on my way home. It was told only a da}^ or two ago by Judge Holman, of Indiana, long a leading Democratic member of Congress, and one of the best men with whom I served. This is his testimony: "I can see how Lincoln erred on the side of humanity. His nature was essentially humane. That was the charm of his character. But he was an able man, too. You ask me if I have not seen a good manv men like Lincoln in southern — 759 — Indiana and Illinois. I at first thoug-ht I should say yes, that I knew four or five, but not one of these, thoug-h he may have had a superficial resemblance to Lincoln, had anything" of Lincoln's reality. He was such a plain person that people often misconceived hira and thought him to be artful. He was polite, but his plainness was also a g-enuine endowment. I recall when I went to see him about a bo}^ the son of a post- master, who had opened a letter, and in it v/as some money and he took the money. His parents were overwhelmed with shame and sorrow, for the boy had never done anything* wrong- before. Judge Sweet of our State sent by me to Mr. Lincoln an ap- peal for the boy's pardon. It seems that under the war pres- sure they had been in the habit in that post-office of opening- the mails to see what the rebels on the Kentucky shore were about. The boy had seen them open the letters of other peo- ple, and the example had infected him, and this letter having" some money in it he took the money from f rig-ht or from some other reason. I went to Mr. Lincoln, and he said: 'Sweet is an awful rebel, but Sweet is an honest man if there ever was one. I know his handwriting". He is a bad rebel, but he won't tell a lie. If Sweet says that this boy ought to be pardoned, I reckon it will have to be so.' So he pardoned the boy. Now, a man from my part of the world could under- stand that to be natural and not artful. Lincoln was able, shrewd, but above all tender." THE WADE AND DAVIS MANIFESTO. The first time I called at the White House, after Senator Wade and Henry Winter Davis issued their celebrated mani- festo ag"ainst Mr. Lincoln, the President, as he advanced to take my hand, said: " Ashley, I am g"lad to see by the papers that you refused to sig^n the Wade and Davis manifesto." "Yes, Mr. President," I answered, "I could not do that,'* and added, for " Close as sin and suffering" joined We march to fate abreast." It was a picture as we thus stood, my lips quivering" with emotion, while tears stood in the eyes of both. On many occasions during the darkest hours of our g-reat conflict, men who were in accord were often in such close touch with each other, that each could feel the pulse- beat of the other's heart. — 760 — This incident tells its own story. Mr. Lincoln regarded both Mr. Wade and Mr. Davis as able and honest men, and he knew they were my warm personal friends. He also knew that nothing- but a sense of public duty could have separated me from them. No one regretted their mistake more than I did ; and, knowing- my close relations to them, Mr. Lincoln did not hesitate to speak to me of their mistake in the kindest spirit. THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. Eig"hteen hundred and sixty-two was like 1890, an off year for Republicans. After my election in 1862, I was invited by teleg-raph to come to Washing-ton. When I called on the President, he cong-ratulated me on my triumph, and said: "How did you do it?" I answered, "It was 3'our emancipation proclamation, Mr. President, that did it." In a few moments he said, "Well, how do you like the procla- mation?" I answered that I liked it as far as it went, and added, "but, Mr. President, if I had been Commander-in- Chief, I should not have g-iven the enemy one hundred days* notice of my purpose to strike him, at the expiration of that time, in his most vulnerable point, nor would I have offered any apolog-y for doing- so great and noble an act." He laughed and enjoyed my hit, and after a moment's pause said, "Ashley, that's a centre shot." MR. LINCOLN AT HAMPTON ROADS. No one event during the entire War of the Rebellion alarmed us so much as the meeting at Hampton Roads, be- tween Alexander H. Stephens, R. M. T. Hunter and Judge Campbell, formerly of our United States Supreme Court, and the President and Mr. Seward. The night I learned that "Blair's scheme," as it was called, was about to be attempted, I went to the White House and protested against it. When it became known that Mr. Seward had actuall}- gone down to Hampton Roads alone, every loyal man in Washington was white with indignation, — 761 — and the demand was made that the President should go down at once unless Mr. Seward was recalled. Mr. Lincoln went down, 'and ag^ain nothing- was done. Mr. Lincoln suc- cessfully handled the wily Confederate Commissioners at this meeting- — put them thoroughly in the wrong, and so de- feated their last desperate effort to extricate themselves from the fate that all men of judgment then knew to be inevitable, if the Union men of the nation but did their duty. Before Mr. Lincoln started for Hampton Roads he said to a friend of mine "that nothing would come of it," and when he returned to Washington we knew that the end of the Confederacy was near, and that the Union was to remain unbroken. Constitutionally cautious, and by political training a conservative, Mr. Lincoln nevertheless kept abreast of pub- lic opinion, and in his last annual message to Congress an- nounced with a clearness of statement which could not be misinterpreted, and with an impressiveness befitting- the dignity of his great office, that — "In presenting- the abandonment of armed resistance to national authority on the part of the insurgents as the only indispensable condition to ending- the war on the part of the government, I retract nothing- heretofore said as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that procla- mation or by any of the acts of Congress. "If the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it an executive duty tore-enslave such persons, another, and not I, must be the instrument to perform it." GREAT EVENTS DEVELOP GREAT MEN. Seldom in the history of mankind have great men pro- duced great events. It is great events which develop great men. But for the rebellion our matchless generals, Grant and Thomas, Sherman and Sheridan, would have been un- known in history as great soldiers, and not one nor all of them could have produced such a rebellion. But for that attempted revolution, scores of men in civil life who will — 762 — appear in history as among- our leading* statesmen, would in all probabilit}- have been unknown in the councils of the republic ; thej would have passed their lives in domestic or business pursuits, had not the opportunit;,- been g-iven them of service in the great conflict for saving the nation's life. And Mr. Lincoln himself had not that kind of leadership, which could conspire and plot and surround himself with followers to inaug-urate a revolution. He was pre-eminently fitted by nature to be the representative of law and order, to group and bind tog-ether all citizens of the republic who were desirous of peace and union, and to preserve libert}'- and constitutional government. As an historical figure he was, in fact, a product of the great anti-slavery revolution of which he became the recognized leader. But for the slave barons' rebellion it might never have been his lot "The applause of listening senates to command; The threats of pain and ruin to despise; To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land. And read his history in a nation's eyes." MR. LINCOLN AS EXECUTIVE, DIPLOZMAT AND MILITARY COM- MANDER. Mr. President : It was my privilege in boyhood and early manhood to meet and to know a number of the able statesmen of this countr}^ v/ho were in power prior to the War of the Rebellion. During my service in Congress I came to know more inti- mately the men who were in public life during the Presidency of Mr. Lincoln, and I often compared them with the idols of my boyhood. I need not tell you that I am better able now to judge character than I was then, and to compare them with Mr. Lincoln. As an executive, charged v/ith the care and responsi- bility of a great government during the War of the Rebel- lion, and with the organization and direction of great armies, he was, as I estimate men, an abler and safer Presi- dent than Webster or Clay, or Chase or Seward would have — 763 — been under like conditions and surrounded bj like environ- ments. As a diplomat, he was the superior of Talleyrand, for without duplicity or falsehood he molded, and conquered with truth as his weapon and candor for his defensive armor. As a military strateg-ist and commander, he was the equal, if not the superior, of his great g^enerals. As a man he was merciful and just and absolutely with- out pride or arrogance ; and to crown all, there was an atmos- phere surrounding- his daily life, which made friendships that last beyond the grave. " He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again." JACKSON ON HORSEBACK AND I.INCOI.N ON FOOT. During the last half of the first century of the republic two men filled the presidential office whose personality stands out pre-eminently conspicuous above those who immediately preceded or followed them in that office. Every one who hears me will know to whom I refer before I can pronounce the names of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. Both Southern born, they were unquestionably the two most striking figures of their day and generation. And yet how unlike. As I read history, Andrew Jackson was the first of our Presidents who appeared booted and spurred and on horse- back; and though his term of office was in a time of profound peace, he ruled his country and his party with an iron hand and the autocratic will of a crowned king. Abraham Lincoln came into the Presidency on the eve of the greatest rebellion in history, and though Commander- in-Chief of the mightiest army then in the world, and practi- cally clothed with unlimited power, he did not magnify him- self nor attempt to rule with military rigor either his coun- try or his party. On the contrary, he sought to know the wall of his coun- trymen with no thought of party or self. He sought to know their will so that he might administer the government as the — 764 — g-eneral judg-ment of the nation should indicate, but, never- theless, in accord with the prompting-s of his own gfreat heart, which demanded that it should be administered in justice and mercy, "with charity for all and malice towards none." The thoug"ht that dominated him was his earnest desire to conform his acts to the considerate judgment of all loj-al men, and thus be able the better to discharge the duties of his great office, preserve the government unimpaired, and secure its perpetual unity and peace by enacting into consti- tutional law, the legitimate results of the war. For a moment let there pass in review before your mind's eye the picture of Andrew Jackson as President entering Richmond after the close of the great rebellion (especially if Calhoun had been at the head of the defeated Confederate government), and then recall the manner in which every one knows that Abraham Lincoln entered it. There can be no doubt that Jackson would have entered it duly heralded and on horseback, amid the booming of can- non, the waving of banners, and surrounded by his victorious army, marching to the music of fife and drum. Those who have read of Jackson's imperious will and fiery temper know, that the conquered would have been made to feel and remember the iron hand and iron will of the con- queror. You all remember how Mr. Lincoln entered Richmond, on foot, unheralded and practically unattended. He thus entered the capital of the late Confederate government to teach the South and the nation a needed lesson — the lesson of mercy and forgiveness. If he could, he would have entered Richmond bearing aloft the nation's banner " unstained by human blood." As he walked up the silent and deserted streets of Richmond the colored people were the only ones to meet him, and they gave their great deliverer a timid, quiet and undemonstrative wel- come by standing on each side of the streets through which he passed with uncovered heads. During his walk of nearly two miles the colored children, after a time, drew nearer to him, and at last a little girl came so close that he took the child by the hand and spoke kindly to it, obeying the injunc- — 765 — tion of that simple and sublime utterance, which touches all human hearts: "Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not." As I look back and recall many of the wonderful acts of this wonderful man, this was, to me, one among- the most impressive and touching-, and to-nig-ht presents to my mind a picture of moral grandeur, such as the world never before looked upon, a scene such as the future can only witness when like causes reproduce such an occasion — and such a man. "Ah, if in coming- times Some g-iant evil arise, And honor falter and pale, His v/ere a name to conjure with! God send his like ag-ain!" As the colossal fig-ure of Lincoln casts its shadow down the centuries, it will be a g-uide to all coming- generations of Americans, inspiring, as it did, with courage and hope all loyal men during the darkest hours of the great struggle for our national life, when he — "Faithful stood with prophet finger Pointing toward the blessed to be. When beneath the spread of Heaven Every creature shall be free. ''Fearless when the lips of evil Breathed their blackness on his name, Trusting in a noble life time For a spotless after fame." And his contemporaries, while they live, and his countr}-- men for all time, will cherish the thought, that neither time nor distance, nor things present, nor things to come, can dim the halo which surrounds and glorifies the unselfish and manly life of Abraham Lincoln. Letter from Hon. Isaiah T. Montg-omery, Mound Bayou, Miss. The art of g-overnment is one of the first necessities of mankind, and the pages of history testifj- to the rise and fall of empires, which facts attest their imperfection in the science of g-overnment. And though American civilization has reached an exalted plane of development, our frequent periods of turmoil and evident strain in the administration of State and National Governments, should serve as a timel.v warning to be heeded, ere our great republic shall become involved in the common ruin that has befallen so many of its predecessors. All democratic governments should be subject to the con- ISAIAH T. MONTGOMERY, trol of the human intellect. It ought not to be expected that the founders of this republic should have at- tained perfection, especially when we consider the imperfect lights before them, and the common distrust then prevailing in the most enlightened minds, as to the capacity of the untrained masses of men for the safe depository of individual sovereignty. The subject of improving and perfecting our S3-stem of free democratic govern- ment, so lucidlj' treated by the author of this address, is sufficient to arrest the atten- tion of every patriot, and command the earnest thought of every statesman, irrespec- tive of party affiliations. Experience in the affairs of our Government, whether State or National, has clearly demonstrated the tremendous power of party machine managers, backed by party or- ganizations, whose chief aim is the control of the patronage and emoluments of gov- ernment. That it forces upon the people a continual and often unsuccessful struggle to preserve the purity of their institutions, is well known. A continuation of these con- ditions, which are becoming more steadily intensified by the rapid increase of popula- tion, ought to be sufficient to suggest to all thinking minds, the conclusion that we are rapidly approaching a point beyond which our present system will prove inadequate to bear the strain. We are already witnessing efforts to nurify the body politic, in the discussion of the propositions to nominate and to elect U. S. Senators bj- a direct vote of the people, of lengthening the presidential term to six years, and providing that the incumbent shall be nominated and elected by a direct vote, and be ineligible to a re-election. There is also a continual dread of a clash between State and National authorities, and a consequent jealousy on the part of the States, of any enlargement of the powers of the National Government. Within the States there is a growing distrust of the convention system, and in many instances recourse is being had to primary elections. The new constitution of this State (Mississippi) makes it encumbent upon the legislature to enact such laws as ■will insure fairness in conducting this class of elections. It seems to me that the system proposed in this address ought to prove particularly acceptable, because it clearly enlarges the powers of the people, appealing directly to their intelligence and patriotism for pure government, and guaranteeing absolute uni- formity in the action of the States pertaining- to national elections, without necessitat- ing national supervision. The feature that proposes to equalize the powers of electors and secure to minori- ties the right or privilege of representation, is the sine qua non of free democratic government; being vastly superior to the cumbersome methods now in vogue, through which an unchallenged majority, in order to strengthen its lease of power, sometimes stoops to deeds of tj-ranny as violative of the principles of justice as the baleful edicts of a crowned autocrat. Governor Ashley's plan contemplates direct and untrammeled action by the indi- vidual voter, and the creation of a carefully selected bodj' of citizens in each Stat« to act for them during any interim. This plan ought to commend itself to a people who have been prepared by a century and a quarter of varied experience, for the highest enjoyment of free government. Isaiah T. Montgomekv. ADDRESS BY HON. J. M. ASHLEY, Bkfore thk Ohio Society ob' New York, Monday Even- ing, November 9th, 1891. THE IMPENDING POLITICAL EPOCH. **The world advances, and in time outgrows The laws that in our fathers' days were best." — James Russell Lowell. "As the fatal dogma of secession, was buried in a com- mon grave with the great rebellion, it is fitting and proper that the national Constitution should be so amended, as to conform to the new and broader conditions of our national life." — From page 805 of Address. Ohio Society op New York, 236 Fifth Avenue. New York, Nov. 10, 1891. Hon. J. M. Ashley, 150 Broadway, N. Y. My Dear Governor Ashley : The paper which you read last evening before the Ohio Society of New York touch- ing upon existing defects in the Federal Constitution, the dangers they involve, and the remedies at hand, aroused in those who heard it a strong sense of its interest and value. A resolution thanking you for it and soliciting a copy of it for publication was unanimously passed. Sharing as I do this feeling of the Society, it is a personal pleasure to me to (767) — 768 — transmit to you their request, and to join personally with them in soliciting- compliance. Very truly yours, Wager Swayne. New York, November 11th, 1891. My Dear Genl. : It gives me pleasure to comply with the request of the Ohio Society of New York. Herewith I hand you a copy of my address for publica- tion, and thank the Society for its complimentary approval. My acknowledg^ements are also due for the very ag"ree- able manner in which you have been pleased to convey their -wishes, and for the personal expression of your interest in the address. Truly yours, J. M. ASHI^EY. To Genl. Wager Swayne, President of the " Ohio Society of New York." Mr. President and Gentlemen op the Ohio Society OF New York: The favor with which this societj^ received my address at its annual banquet last 3-ear, and the letters of generous commendation received by me from eminent men, thanking- me for that contribution to our anti-slavery history, was so unexpected and gratifying that I am now glad I then acceded to the request of our worthy President and delivered it. But for his friendly determination that I should make such an address, it would not have been prepared. I can but hope that what I am to say before you to-night, may receive a like cordial reception. To you, and through you to the considerate judgment of all who may read what I shall sav, I propose to submit some observations upon impending national questions, in connec- tion with our increase of population, as disclosed by our census reports for one hundred years of progress; questions which, if I forecast aright, are certain at an early day to con- front us, and to demand practical solution. — 769 — If the appeal I am about to make ag-ainst our present political system, shall cause you and those whom you can reach, to read and to give a deliberate judgment on the facts which I may present, I shall have accomplished my object. As there have been in the past, so in the future there are certain to be epochs in our national histor}-, so marked, that he who runs may read. Our transition from a confederation to a nation, including- the Revolutionar}^ War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War and the War of the Rebellion, and the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, are great and important epochs of the past. In the near future, the impending epoch will mark a more complete recognition than we have yet witnessed, of the democratic idea in government, by amendments to our national Constitution, which will make it conform more fully than it now does to the imperative demands of a great repub- lican commonwealth. James Russell Lowell says, that " He who would win the name of truly ^reat Must understand his own age and the next, And make the present ready to fulfill Its prophecy, and with the future merge Gently and peacefully, as wave with wave. The world advances, and in time outgrows The laws that in our fathers' days were best." The Constitution of our fathers, acceptable as it was a hundred years ago to a majority of the then population of three millions, could not be adopted without material amend- ment by any national constitutional convention which might now be chosen by the votes representing our sixty-three mil- lions of people. If, then, it be true that with all our veneration for the Constitution of Washington, it would not to-day be accepted as it is and without material change, if submitted as a new Constitution to the people of the United States for their ratification or rejection, its defects must, indeed, be marked and radical. But it is not at all strange that in a hundred 3-ears we 49 — 770 — should, as a nation, have outgrown our Revolutionary Con- stitution. Since the org-anization of the National Government, the constitutions of all the orig-inal thirteen States have been changed, and some of them two or three times. This is also true of the constitutions of a majority of all the States ad- mitted into the Union since the adoption of the national Con- stitution. So long as slavery dominated the nation, amendments to our national Constitution, such as we are soon to see pro- posed and adopted, would have been impossible. The abolition of slavery has brought with it new duties and new responsibilities — duties and responsibilities which the nation cannot escape. With the adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, millions of former slaves became citizens, with all the rights and privileges of citizenship. These former slaves and their posterity must forever remain our countrymen and fellow-citizens, with rights co- equal with our own. In the 3'ear 1940, only fifty years, the Afro-American population of this countr}^ (including Indians and all races not properly classed as whites) will, as I estimate it, reach the number of 13,750,000 or more, and out-number the whites in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Missis- sippi, Alabama and Louisiana. That the colored man is cer- tain proportionately to hold his own in North Carolina, Ten- nessee and Southern Arkansas, is probable, and perhaps he will hold his own in the southeastern half of the Indian Territory and adjoining the Gulf along the eastern portion of Texas and for some distance up the Rio Grande. The census reports indicate that he will not increase north of 36 degrees 30 minutes in so great a ratio as the whites, nor in the old border slave States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and Northern Arkansas. On an accompanying map, I have marked by a black belt the States and parts of States, and the eastern portion of the Indian Territory and Texas, in which the Afro-American will in all probability dominate — 771 — "before the year 1940, and certainly before the close of the second century of the republic. In order that these estimates may be readily examined and verified by students of statistics, I have included in the appendix to my address, a table g-iving- the incompleted census report, as published to date, of our white and colored population for one hundred 3^ears, and an estimate for the second hundred years. As I estimate our total population in 1900, with the in- sufficient data before me, it will have reached eightj^-two millions or more, in 1940 one hundred and sixty-one millions or more, and in 1990 we shall number some three hundred and ninety millions; at v/hich time there v/ill be not less than twent3'-three millions of Afro-Americans. Confronted with these estimates and with the facts which I shall present, I feel warranted in claiming- your attention for an hour or more to-nig-ht on impending- questions as I see them, and hope by the co-operation of the "Ohio Society of New York " to obtain a more g-eneral hearing" by thinking- men, than might otherwise be g-iven me. THE LESSON OF OUR CENSUS REPORTS. Our census reports are invaluable, no less in aiding- us to forecast the work of our practical every-day business life, than in the solution of impending" political and philosophi- cal problems. To me, the first hundred years of our census reports teach that the impending- questions, national and State, which in the immediate future will confront us and demand solution, are the equitable distribution of political power; the guarantee to every qualified elector of a secret ballot, and an absolute equality of individual power for that ballot; the nomination and election of the President and all public of&cials, who are to be chosen by popular vote by a direct ballot, without the dictation of conventions or the interven- tion of an intermediate body such as our present ' ' College of Electors " for electing the President. Foremost among these, is the question of — 772 — THE EQUITABLE OR PROPORTIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF POLITI- CAL, POWER, national, State and cit}'. It is a question of such transcen- dent importance, that it must at an early day command the thoug-htful attention of the ablest statesmen in this country. In a democratic republic, it is of necessity a fundamental question, and underlies all others. As I view it, it is more important than tariffs, the free coinage of silver, or any question of ordinary legislation connected with the administration of the government. As in the past, the ablest and wisest of men have differed in opinion on questions of finance and on the practicability of current matters of administration, so in the future they are certain to differ. But on the question of an equitable distribution of political power, national, State and munic- ipal, so that every citizen shall be clothed at the ballot-box with equal political authority and in all legislative assemblies be represented in proportion to the number of votes cast in the nation and in his State, there ought to be no divided opinion among intelligent men who are in favor of demo- cratic government. In the war for the Union, the people of this country pro- nounced unmistakably for a national as contradistinguished from a confederated government, for a government which shall be a democratic republic in fact as well as in name, a government which ought to be administered by a concurrent majority of the nation, instead of a mere numerical majority in States, which is often a minority of the whole people. Under our present happy-go-lucky method of conducting national elections, the minority of the whole people have on more than one occasion seized and held the government for years. You will agree with me that any device, or trick, by which the minority seize and hold the government, national, State or city, is an indefensible political crime. In his "Disquisitions on Government" Mr. Calhoun has, with great clearness and marked ability, pointed out the danger incident to entrusting the numerical majority with — 773 — absolute political power. Had his arg-ument for tlie rights of minorities, and for what he terms "the necessity of con- current majorities" been made on behalf of individual elec- tors and manhood suffrag-e, instead of claiming- it for organ- ized political communities which he called sovereig-n States, he would have commanded the g-eneral approval of all friends of democratic g-overnment both in this country and in Europe. It will be conceded, without arg-ument, that one of the first duties of a representative g-overnment is. to g-uard and protect the right of suffrag-e. Only when the elector has g-uaranteed to him a free bal- lot and an honest count, can the political judgment of a g-reat commonwealth, or of a State or city, be collected. The more perfectly this judgment of the elector is col- lected, the more certain is the end accomplished for which representative government is established. To collect the opinions of the greatest number in the nation, or in any State or subdivision of a State, is not enough; the opinions of the minority must be collected as well, and as far as possible the sense of the entire community as a whole. To do this practically, special care must be taken that the minority shall always have its proportional repre- sentation in every legislative assembly according to the number of votes cast by the minority at any election for representatives, either in Congress or in State legislatures, or city governments, and under no combination of circumstances to permit the minority, through gerrymandering schemes, or other trick or device, to seize control of the government. The numerical majority must of necessity control and administer all democratic representative governments, but such governments, to be just and equitable, must have checks, such as the negative power which an intelligent minority can effectually use before the bar of public opinion, to resist con- verting the government of a mere numerical majority into one of despotic powers. Obviously enough all representative government becomes better and approximates nearer a per- fect government, the nearer it becomes a government of the concurrent majority. If every interest in the nation, or State, or municipality — 774 — •within a State, is represented in the legislative assemblies in proportion to the number of votes cast by each party or association, the combining of this minority interest will greatly increase its power for self-protection, and correspond- ingly decrease the power of the numerical majority to rule with a rod of . iron. It is not enough to provide constitutional limitations to the power of the numerical majority for the pro- tection of the minorit}-, unless the minority are clothed with the power of self-protection, so that they can enforce an obser- vance of these, rights by personal representation, open discus- sion and the public use of parliamentary rules. The numeri- cal majority being in possession of the government, will always favor a liberal interpretation of the power granted in any constitution or charter, and on one pretext or another, evade or disregard the restrictions intended to limit them, unless the minorit}'- are clothed with the power of self-pro- tection, which can only be had by proportional representation and the power which intelligent debate and publicity always secures. On the threshold of m}' remarks, it is proper that I should state the nature of the amendments I would propose to our national Constitution, apd to the objectionable features of our national system of elections. Briefly, these comprise the nomixation and election of the President of the United States, and Senators and Rep- resentatives in Congress, by a direct vote of the people, by ballot; the creation of an independent body of ofl&cials in every State, to be elected by the voters of each, whose powers and duties shall be to conduct all national elections within their respective States, and fill all vacancies that may from time to time occur for the incompleted terms in the ofl6.ce of President, Senators or Representatives in Con- gress. The changes contemplated also include the abolition of the of&ce of Vice-President, and the abolition of all nom- inating conventions. THE ABOLITION OF THE CONVENTION SYSTEM. From the time of its adoption many of the ablest states- — 775 — men in this country were opposed to the convention system, although they were compelled to submit to its authority. The}^ opposed it because they comprehended that it was an organized machine, which offered a standing" premium on political fraud and corruption. They saw that it would breed a class of self-appointed leaders who would live on of&ce and plunder; that the g-eneral tendency would be to nominate men for important positions whom no prudent private citizen would for a moment think of selecting- for a public trust. And they opposed it because it is a system unknown to the Constitution and was never contemplated b}' its framers. Within fifty years it lias grown to be a monster political despotism, and in both parties is to-day the absolute master of the people, in all cities of the first and second class, and in all State and national nominating conventions. From the birth of the first national convention to the adjournment of the last, not one-tenth of the voters of the country of either of the great political parties have been represented in what are known as the " primaries," that is, in the ward or township caucuses, where each party begins the work of selecting its delegates for all national. State and district conventions. At all county and city conventions for the appointment of delegates to district and State conventions, the number of voters actually represented is still less than one-tenth. In national conventions the delegates, thus chosen by district and State conventions, practically represent only cliques and cabals, and even they are often powerless in the hands of the managers of the "machine," and instead of being a deliberative body, every national convention becomes an irresponsible mob, which, under the manipulation of in- triguers, absolutely dictates for whom the people shall vote at every election for President, and from this dictation there is no escape and no appeal except to bolt the "regular nominee" of j-our party, which practically means political excommunication and often personal ostracism. A national convention made up and organized thus name the President as certainly as if they alone were the voters, and as if the entire body of the people were disfranchised and voiceless. — 776 — This condition of things also obtains largely in all party conventions, State and district, city and count}-. If this statement is even approximately true, certainly the first and most desirable reform to be attempted in this countr}-, ought to be the abolition of all such nominating conventions as now enable a small and active minority, of one-tenth or less, to rule and dictate to the remaining nine- tenths or more. For securing to every voter an equal voice in the National Government, and for a more equitable distribution of political power, the following plan could be made to approximate mathematically to the total voting population of the nation, if it were not for the existence of large and small States, and the inequality of representation of each State in the Senate of the United States. So long as there are States which contain a population of but a few thousand, or States without sufficient popula- tion for coequal commonwealths; and so long as the present inequality of representation in the Senate of the United States is maintained, the amendments here proposed provide for the fairest and most equitable distribution of political power in the National Government, which I have been able to devise. For State governments, whether large or small, and for all city or municipal governments within States, it is ap- proximately perfect. It provides a system which cannot be successfully manipulated against the people by party bosses or intriguing leaders, whether national. State or city, and is adapted to the wants" and growth of our democratic institu- tions. Let me briefly illustrate the manner of its working in the nomination and election of Representatives in Con- gress. Ohio is entitled to twenty-one members of Congress by the new apportionment for 1891. Under the plan proposed there would be four Congres- sional districts in that State, in each of which there would be five Representatives in Congress to be elected on one ballot, and there would also be one member to be elected for the State at large. It will be observed that this distribution of political — Ill — power, under the new apportionment, secures to each elector in Ohio the right to vote for six Representatives in Con- gress, and no more than six, and that under no apportion- ment which can be made after any census, can the voters in Ohio, or in any State, vote for more than seven Repre- sentatives. But if any elector so elects he can run his pen or pencil across the name or names of any one or more of the candidates on this ballot, for whom he does not desire to vote, and cumulate his vote for any one or more of the candidates authorized to be voted for in the State and dis- trict in which he resides. Each elector would thus have secured to him absolute freedom of choice from among- the candidates placed in nomination by his own party, as provided by law, and also from those nominated by any party with votes enough to select a ticket, and it would be as impossible for any voter, or for the judges of any election, to commit fraud in preparing and depositing such a ballot, or in its being counted, as it would be were the voter filling up a bank check to be paid by a cashier for one or six thousand dollars. And in no event, under this plan, can the minority of the total vote cast in any State secure a majority of its delegation in Congress by the in- defensible distribution of political power known as gerry- mandering. In fact, this plan renders the trickery and injustice of gerrymandering impossible. The simplicity and practicability of this plan, which is ap- plicable alike for national. State and city governments, must commend itself to all students of political reform. New York, under the new apportionment, is entitled to thirty-four Representatives in Congress. The plan proposed would give the State eight Congressional districts of four members each, and two for the State at large, so that each elector in New York would be entitled to vote for six Repre- sentatives in Congress. Thus each voter in Ohio would vote for the same number of Representatives as a voter in New York, or if he so elected he could cumulate his vote, and cast the six votes to which he is entitled for an}^ one or more of the candidates nominated by any part}-. Of the manner in which nominations are to be made I shall speak further on. — 778 — It will be conceded that political power is unequally and unjustly distributed, wherever in any State the minority obtains or elects a larg-er number of Representatives in Con- gress or in the State legislature by the tricker}^ of gerr}-- mandering, or by any other dishonest device, nor is there any defense for a system which authorizes an elector in a popu- lous county in the State to vote for a greater number of Representatives to the State legislature than an elector who resides in a less populous count3^ An elector in our State, who resides in Hamilton County, is authorized to vote for ten members of the legislature, and in Cuyahoga for eight or nine, while an elector in Fulton and in a majority of all the counties in the State, can vote but for one member. It must be clear to the average man that the elector who votes for ten members of the State legislature on one ballot is clothed with much greater politi- cal power than an elector who votes for but one. In addition to this injustice, it is well known that these ten members for Hamilton County may, in the future as they have been in the past, be elected by a mere plurality of the votes cast in that count}', and not by a majority. When this happens the entire representation from Hamilton County in the State legislature is secured by a minority of the votes cast in that county, and oftener than otherwise such an election changes the political complexion of the leg'islature, and gives to the minority of the voters in the State, control of the leg^islative department of the State government. So long as the caucus and convention system obtains, and the inequality- between electors in the populous and less populous counties of the State is continued, with the present indefensible distribution of political power to the larger and smaller counties, just so long will desperate political cliques alternately dominate in such counties and in the State; and the government for cities and for State institutions be attempted by "commis- sions," appointed by the party in power. It would be difficult to conceive of a more offensive ex- hibition than that which all last winter was enacted in the State of Connecticut for the want of an honest distribution of political power. Under this plan, substantially as outlined, I am confident — 779 — that any man of mature j^ears and fair executive ability, with a small committee of five or seven business men (but never a committee of one hundred) could dislodg-e and defeat all org-anized political combinations such as now rule New- York and Cincinnati. Nothing" is more certain if the voters can be g-uaranteed the right to make their own nominations, than that this re- sult can be successfully accomplished with half the labor and less than half the mone}^ uselessly thrown away, every year or two, by spasmodic efforts on the part of exasperated and worthy citizens. It might, and probably would, require two sharply con- tested battles before the voters could accustom themselves to the new mode of nominating- and electing- their officials. But the second battle in most cases, and the third battle cer- tainly in a majority of cases, would end in the complete rout of all cliques and self-appointed leaders, who now live at the public crib in both cities and States by the org-anized power secured to them by the political "machine." If such rings and combines as we have in the cities of New York and Cin- cinnati can be successfully dislodged as proposed, it may be safely predicted that they could and would be dislodg-ed and defeated in every State and in all cities. That the plan proposed will enable the people to accom- plish this I am fully persuaded, provided always that a ma- jority of the people vote to elect their own nominations, not otherwise. This plan is for the government of majorities. It is opposed to a g-overnment by commission, and to all schemes for clothing- the minority with the administration of g-overnment, national, State or city. Let me illustrate briefly the working of the plan if put in operation by the States of Ohio and New York and in the cities of New York and Cincinnati. In the States and cities named, or indeed in all States and cities where democratic government and home rule is demanded, the State constitutions iind city charters would em- body the principles of the proposed amendment of the national Constitution, and provide in like manner for the nomination and election of governors and mayors and all offi- cials to be chosen by the people, whether State or city. The — 780 — plan for the nomination and election of members of the leg-islature, or the law-making- departments of city g-overn- ment, would thus be uniform for all States and cities. This can be done in every State and in all cities with mathematical accurac3% Affirming- the practicability and necessity of two repre- sentative law-making- bodies in national, State and city governments, I would provide that in all cases Senators shall be elected by districts in every State, and members of the board of aldermen in all cities in districts of not less than three nor more than five members each, and that the number of Senators and members of all aldermanic boards should invariably be composed of one-third the number of members to be elected in districts to the lower House in both States and cities. Thus in Ohio, I would provide, were I a member of a constitutional convention or a member of the leg-islature, that the State constitution should be so amended that there shall be ninety members of the lower house, to be elected in districts of five members each, and not less than three members of the lower house in addition, for the State at large. To deter- mine the territorial boundaries of the 18 representative dis- tricts, I would divide the total vote of the State for governor by 90, which will give the number of voters to be allotted to each district. As the Senate, to be elected by districts, would in every case be composed of one-third the number of representatives (that is, 30 Senators), there would be six senatorial districts, in each of which five Senators would be elected, and in addi- tion not less than three Senators for the State at large. This would make a House of 93 members and a Senate of 33, and always secure an odd number in each house. In New York, I would allot 120 members to the lower house, and have them elected in 24 districts of five members each, and not less than three members of the House in addi- tion for the State at large. In a House of 120 members elected by districts, the Senate would be composed of one-third that number, or 40 Senators, to be elected in eight senatorial districts of five Senators each, and three Senators in addition to be elected by the State — 781 — at large. The territorial apportionment for the districts in which members of the House are to be chosen would be determined by dividing- the total vote of the State for gover- nor bj 120, and I would provide that in both State and city apportionments three representative districts of the lower house of contiguous territory, should always make a sena- torial or aldermanic district. For all State and municipal or city governments this plan secures the absolute equitable distribution of political power, on a mathematical basis, in all apportionments for members of representative bodies, and guarantees to all organized groups of electors, numbering not less than one- eighth of the total vote cast at any election, in any State or city, equality of political power, by providing that no elector in State or city shall vote for a greater number of candidates than another elector, but that each elector shall have .au- thority to cumulate his vote, so as to secure to any group of electors numbering one-eighth and a fraction of the total vote, a representation in all State and city legislative assem- blies, that shall correspond approximately with the total number of votes cast at any election for Representatives in State legislatures, or in the law-making branch of any city government. It will be conceded that this plan, even without the pro- vision for selecting all candidates by ballot as provided at nominating elections, would be a vast improvement on the present manner of electing our President, United States Senators and Representatives in Congress, and all State and city officials. By embodying in the plan the provision for making such nominations by the people, the system becomes impregnable in the hands of intelligent voters. But the tremendous power which this plan would secure to all able and honestly conducted newspapers cannot at present be estimated. That it would give them a power they have never had will be readily understood b}^ any one now con- nected with the press who gives this matter proper consid- eration. The democratic idea in government demands, and the plan which I here submit recognizes, that in all States and cities each elector shall have secured to him a secret ballot, — 782 — and the rig-lit to vote on one ballot for not less than three State Senators for the State at larg-e, and for not less than three members of the lower house of the legislative assembly for the State at large, and in senatorial districts for five Senators in each, and in representative districts for five members each to the lower house. This secures an absolutely equitable distribution of polit- ical power, and also political equality to every voter in the State, as each elector could only vote for the same number of Senators, and for the same number of Representatives in the lower house. But if he desired he could cumulate his vote and dis- pose of his votes for Senator and his votes for members of the legislature as he might elect, by deliberately erasing with pen or pencil the name or names of the persons nomin- ate4 for Senators or Representatives, for whom he did not desire to vote, and designate opposite the name or names of his favorite candidates the number of votes which he wished transferred to them. In the appendix to my address will be found the form for all ballots, national, State and city. The plan is so simple, and so free from the possibility of fraud or misinterpretation, that I am confident it will recom- mend itself to the considerate judgment of all thoughtful men engaged in the work of representative and ballot reform. That this plan when adopted will prove an invaluable educator will not be questioned. Those who recognize the capacity of the people for self- government will approve some such plan, while those who doubt or den}^ that the people are sufiicientl}^ intelligent to be intrusted with the power of self-government will oppose and condemn every proposed reform which promises to destroy the political machine, and break the political manacles with which intriguers and conventions now environ the voter in all parties, national and State. It will be seen that this plan clothes with absolutely inde- pendent political power all electors, and that they are thus enabled to vote at every election, free from the arbitrary dictation of political caucuses and conventions, and of all self-appointed political leaders. — 783 — Affirming" the fundamental proposition, upon which this plan is founded, that a great continental commonwealth can only be permanently maintained in peace and unity, by a government in which the whole people of all the States, the minority no less than the majority, are personally represented in its national legislative assembly, in proportion to the total number of its qualified voters, I gladly avail myself of the opportunity which this Society has given me, to lay before it my contribution to the suggestions, which, in the near future, must be submitted and discussed by the people before any such change as I contemplate can be made. THS PLAN DEMOCRATIC. An examination of this plan will disclose that it is equi- table, comprehensive and democratic ; that it is applicable alike in all governments, whether States, cities or munici- palities, in which a democratic representative government is possible. It recognizes the complete sovereignty of the people, and secures responsible local self-government. It throws around the ballot-box every safeguard necessary for the security of the voter and the purity of elections, and arms each voter with a weapon which, if he but use it, will on all occasions give him complete protection against secret or open combina- tions of political intriguers. It makes impossible the suc- cessful use of the political machinery of our present caucus and convention system, or machiner}^ such as has long been in use by Tammany Hall in this city, and by like organiza- tions of both parties in other cities. It destroys absolutely the power of political bossism, and enables the people to defeat all such combinations as now dictate to voters as imperiously as if they were convicts in a State prison, keeping lock-step, while marching to the polls, and obeying the order of the managers of the political "machine." That the present convention system of each party should have so firmly fastened itself upon the people of this country, is an amazing fact in our history. Under this system, the recognized bar-room statesmen in this city, or indeed in any city, can, and usually do, select and have — 784 — appointed to all State, district and" city conventions a larger number of deleg-ates than can be secured by any editor o^ even the ablest party org-an. As a rule, and for the express purpose of binding- in advance such editors to support the nominees, whoever they may be, they are put on deleg"ations to all important conventions; special care being" taken that they shall be sandwiched between a sufficient number of " reliable statesmen " to render them powerless ag-ainst the "machine," either in such conventionsor out of them. It has long- been a recog-nized common law rule in politics that every delegate taking- part in any convention is in honor bound to defend the platform adopted, however objectionable, and support the candidates nominated, even though their nominations were secured by trickery or fraud. In this way many editors are yearly marched into con- ventions and practically manacled, and compelled by party usage, and party necessit}-, to support the nominee, how- ever unworthy, and defend the platform, however offensive, adopted by any convention in which they may have thus ap- peared as delegates, bound hand and foot. The plan which I propose will change all this, and prac- tically lodge the power where it ought to be, with the peo- ple, represented by the public press. By public discussion secret intriguers can be defeated more certainly than in any other way, and all editors can appeal to their readers to second their efforts to secure desirable candidates at all nominating elections. If a majority of the voters in any party unite with them at such nominating elections, it will be found that almost invariably reputable and worthy men have been selected as candidates. Editors of character and ability will thus always be able, under this plan, to com- mand a favorable hearing with a hundred voters to every ten that can be induced to go to a caucus and vote for the nom- ination of any candidate presented by the most active and successful among our leading "practical statesmen." Daily in. all cities, morning or evening, in the quiet of their homes, every editor under this plan can reach an appeal to his readers and ask them to cut out the ticket printed in his paper, and go to the polls and vote it, with the statement that in his opinion by a proper effort, the candidate or candi- — 785 — dates named can be nominated. I shall not attempt to esti- mate the power which this plan will secure to an able and independent press. The usual results in our present national conventions are that the deleg-ates from the so-called ".pivotal States'' dictate to each party all nominations for President. After a sufficient number of ballots have been taken to weary a majority of the rank and- file in any convention, and the weak points of the several contestants have been disclosed, the programmes of the contending- chiefs are then deter- mined and .the ablest boss manipulator of the "machine" g-enerally wins. As he g-oes to the convention to win, he does not stand on the order of employing- the means neces- sary to that end. The moment the lay deleg-ates discover the "situation" they become wild in their zeal to be heard, and the most un- blushing- and reckless frantically jump upon seats and desks with yells that always amaze the uninitiated, each of them demanding- recog-nition by the chairman in order that he may have the honor of leading- off and being- the first in the mad scramble to have the vote of his State dul}^ recorded for the candidate who is slated to win, or to declare in a ring-ino- speech that his deleg-ation has instructed him to announce that his State has decided to chang-e its vote from their " favorite son" to the candidate who is to be successful. This movement, thoug-h an old dodg-e, is often so skill- fully played that it stampedes the deleg-ates and g-ives success to the secretly prearrang-ed prog-ramme of the machine manag-ers. The candidate of the machine is thus oftener than other- wise nominated without the slig-htest reg-ard to his ability or qualifications for the duties of the presidential ofifice, and when officially declared the nominee, the entire party is forced to support him, even though it be conceded that his nomina- tion has been secured by trickery and fraud. In the interval between the hours when the nomination is made and the final adjournment of the convention, other important matters are being- transacted. Papers are duly pre- pared and signed by deleg-ates for each other, reciting- the in- 50 — 786 — valuable part}' services of deleg-ates from this State and that WHO VOTED RIGHT, and especially the "claims" of deleg-ates from "pivotal States," and before the convention has fairly adjourned, the delegates who made the nomination possible are "booked" for official recognition under the new ADMINISTRATION, IF THE CANDIDATE SHOULD BE ELECTED. The political demoralization from this condition of thing-s cannot be even approximately estimated. The adoption of my plan for nominating- all candidates by a direct vote of all electors by ballot, will, beyond question, secure the early abolition of all national nominating- conventions, and even- tually of all State, count}^ and city conventions, thus eman- cipating- the voters of all parties from the despotism of party cliques and party conventions. In thus superseding- the present caucus and convention system, each elector will be secured in a rig-ht he never had before, the rig-ht to vote directly for his first choice for any candidate from President down, without the fear of indirectly aiding- in the election of an objectionable candidate, because the first election in every instance is simply a nominating- election. I have provided that at all nominating- elections each g-roup of electors, or each part}-, shall prepare its own bal- lot, and also that each individual voter may prepare his own ballot, either printed or written, as he may elect and as the law shall prescribe. After the nominations are made, Cong-ress is specially directed to provide bylaw that the " Colleg-e of Deputies" in each State shall cause all the official ballots to be prepared and properly distributed, substantially as in the " Australian S3'stem," which has been adopted by several of our States. abolish THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT. To me, there is no provision of our national Constitu- tion so objectionable as that which creates the office of the Vice-President, and in case of the resig-nation, disability or death of the President, clothes that functionary with the chief executive office. Objection was made to the creation — 787 — of the office of Vice-President by some of the clearest thinkers in the convention which framed the Constitution, some of whom declared that " the of&ce was unnecessary and dang-erous." The wisdom of their opposition has been confirmed more than once in our history. As all know, the Vice-President is a superfluous officer, and as experience has shown, more ornamental than useful. He is simply a figure-head, and since the birth of the conven- tion system not an attractive one at that. But as the " heir- apparent " he is always a possibility. Around every Vice- President all factions and cranks in his party involuntarily gather. Whether he wishes it or not, all disappointed appli- cants for office, and all conspirators are drawn towards him as by the law of gravitation. That our revolutionary fathers should have preserved this shadowy relic of monarchy in our Constitution by creating an "heir-apparent" is one of the unexplained facts in our history. And then, our "heir-ap- parent " is unlike that of any other provided for, in any gov- ernment on earth, in that he has no ties of affection or con- sanguinity or gratitude. The President is never the father of the Vice-President nor his benefactor, but often his. personal and political rival. This provision of the Constitution simply invites every Vice-President to be a Richard III., or a conspirator ready and waiting the promotion, which assassins can always secure for him, by creating- a vacancy in the office of Presi- dent, as was done in the " removal" of Lincoln and Garfield.. Night and morning, at banquets and funerals, every- where and on all occasions, the Constitution perpetually whispers in the ear of every unscrupulous and ambitious Vice-President, "that between him and the highest and most honorable office on earth there is but the life of a single man." Instead of such an officer as the Vice-President, the provision originally suggested in the first draft made by the committee in the convention of 1789 ought to have been made part of the Constitution. That provision simply provided that "The Senate shall choose its own presiding and other officers." — 788 — The Speaker of the House of Representatives is always a member of that bod}', and must be selected by its members. The Speaker appoints all committees of the House, and can, if he so elects, vote on all questions before the House and also take part in debate, while the Vice-President cannot appoint the Senate committees, nor vote, except in case of a tie, nor can he participate in debate on the floor of the Senate. His very existence and presence is a menace and a peril to any man in the of&ce of President. The peace of our country has been imperiled during- our history more than once, because of the existence of the office of Vice-President. We would have escaped the ordea^ throug-h which the nation passed in 1801, when Jefferson and Burr were candidates, if there had been no vice-presidential office. And here I may appropriately quote from a speech which I made in Cong-ress on this subject in 1868, when I said "that had there been no such office as Vice-President, we should have been spared the perfidy of a T3^1er, the be- trayal of a Fillmore and the baseness and infamy of a John- son." After drawing- a picture of the conspiracy which ulti- mated in Mr. Lincoln's assassination, I said in the same speech, that "I present this panoramic view of what is now history to illustrate how weak and indefensible in this par- ticular is the presidential office, so that I may appeal to the nation to fortify it against this danger hy removing- the temptation now presented to conspirators and assassins, and thus make the presidential office a citadel against which they may hurl themselves in vain." "Adopt this plan and the occupant of the presidential office will be effectually guarded from all political conspira- cies which thrive by assassination. It also precludes the possibility of an interregnum in that office." (Congres- sional, Gi^OBE, 2d Session, 40th Cong-ress, Part 3, pag-e 2714.) In all national conventions, the averag-e candidate for Vice-President is practically a "pawn" on the political chessboard in the hands of the managers of the "machine," and is disposed of as absolutely as the skilled chess-player moves and disposes of his "pawn" in any sharp g-ame of chess. — 789 — More than once, in the history of the Democratic, Whig- and Republican parties, has the vice-presidential "pawn" been used by the " machine " manag^ers to defeat the nomi- nation of candidates for President, who would have been nominated but for the intrig"uers, who successfully played the vice-presidential "pawn" to defeat the first choice of he party, and to nominate candidates who were not even the second or third choice of the party for President. From the first national convention to the last, not one of all the men nominated by either party for Vice-President, could have been nominated for President by the convention which nominated him for Vice-President. Yet the Consti- tution makes every Vice-President the "heir-apparent." Had the plan which I propose for filling- a vacancy in the presidential office been part of our national Constitution, when either one or all of our four Presidents passed away, and thus made that office vacant, nothing* is more certain than that not one of the men who was then Vice-President could have been selected to fill out the unexpired term of that President. Let me ask you to look in upon such a g-athering" of the national " Colleg-e of Deputies," as it would appear, on the plan proposed, when in session at Washing"ton for the pur- pose of selecting- a President to fill out the unexpired term of any President. A.nd first, look at the members of such an assembly indi- vidually. That such a body of men would be made up of the fairest and most trustworthy citizens of each State, is as- sured by the requirement which prescribes that the young-est member shall not be less than 30 years of age, and that he shall have been seven years a resident of the State from which he is chosen, and that he shall be nominated and elected by the duly qualified electors of each State. Selected in conformity with this plan, no better guarantee could be g-iven as to their character and fidelity. Under the apportionment of 1891 for Representatives in Congress, there would be 444 members of such a College of Deputies when convened in session at Washington, repre- senting the majority and minority of the whole people in each State, as equitably as can be secured with the present — 790— distribution of political power in our larg"e and small States. No intellig-ent man familiar with our liistor}' can for a moment believe that such a body of men, when called upon to rise each in his place and vote viva voce for a citizen to fill out the unexpired term of any deceased President, that the}' would have been g-uilty of the foil}' or crime of select- ing- John Tyler to fill the vacancy caused by the death of General Harrison, or Millard Fillmore to fill the vacancy caused by the death of General Taj'lor, nor would it have been possible for such a body to have filled the vacancy caused by the assassination of Mr. Lincoln by the selection of Andrew Johnson, or Chester A. Arthur to fill that of General Garfield. If it be true that such a body of men Would not have selected any one of the four Vice-Presidents, who as the "heir-apparent" became President on the death of his chief, and if, as I believe, not one of the men named could b}' any combination have been nominated for President by the convention which nominated him for Vice-President, have I not presented considerations which will justify the people of this country In demanding- the early abolition of the office of Vice-President? THE DECENTRAI^IZATION OF POLITICAL POWER. With the adoption of this proposed amendment all con- flict of authority between the national and State govern- ments will cease, because the powers and duties of each will have been definitely and clearly defined, so that all States now in the Union, and all States which in the future may be admitted, can have no cause for controversy. Each State and all municipal governments within any State will be fully protected in its dignity and freedom from intervention on the part of the officials of the National Gov- ernment, and may regulate its own internal affairs in its own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States. After the adoption of this amendment. Congress could not clothe the President nor any official of the National Gov- ernment (as it ma}' now do) with authority to interfere in any national election in any State, nor would it then be pos- — 791 — sible for Congress to enact such a law as the so-called "Force Bill." In all elections for President and Senators and Repre- senatives in Cong-ress, the people of each State have, bj this plan, direct and absolute control by personal vote, free from the intervention of the political machinery of State g-overn- ments. Nor does this plan interfere in any way with the elec- toral or administrative machinery of State g-overnments, or municipal governments in States; nor does it abridg-e the liberty or the privileges of the citizen of a.nj State; on the contrary, it enlarges his liberty and secures to him rights of which he never before was possessed except in name. It preserves the rights of the States and secures inviolable the sovereignty of the people. As the courts of the United States deal directly with the citizens of the several States without serious conflict from the State courts, so this amendment, and all laws which the Congress may enact by its authority, deal directly with the people and charge the citizens residing- in the several States with the selection by ballot of their own officials to conduct all national elections in their respective States. Under this plan you cannot lodge in the hands of any administration at Washington the control of the national electoral machinery in the States. To the College of Depu- ties in each State, and to no other officials, is given the au- thority to secure an honest registration to the electors in each State, and a free and fair election of President and Senators and Representatives in Congress. Instead of an in- crease of centralized power at Washington, to which I am opposed, this plan secures a marked decentralization of power, by placing it permanently and exclusively in the care and keeping of the citizens of each State. In all elections for President and Senators and Repre- sentatives in Congress, the entire machinery for conducting such elections is lodged in the hands of o'fficials nominated and elected by ballot directly by the qualified voters in each State, and these officials thus elected by the people of the several States can no more be induced to commit fraud or crime or be dictated to or controlled b}^ officials at Washing- — 792 — ton than a judg-e, or a duly impaneled jury in any Circuit or District Court of the United States in an}' State, nor can they be tampered with and corrupted b}- any administration at Washington. "Whatever power may originally have been "reserved to the States or to the people " in our present Constitution is by this plan secured to the people direct, without interference on the part either of the national or State governments. Instead of conferring additional power on the govern- ment at Washington touching national elections, this plan MATERIALLY DECREASES THE POWER CONFERRED ON CONGRESS BY OUR PRESENT CONSTITUTION, and provides that all power and authority in respect to the conduct of elections in the several States for President and Senators and Representa- tives in Congress shall be confided to the people direct, and in such manner that neither the officials of the National Gov- ernment nor of a State government can in any way interfere with the authorities or the duties of the College of Deputies chosen by the people in each State. It takes from a State no power properly belonging to it, but it takes from the State legislatures the power to elect United States Senators as now, and demolishes the power of the machine boss and the cross-roads statesman in every legislature, and makes it impossible for him to wield the power he now uses to compel the members of all State legis- latures to go into the caucuses for the nomination of United States Senators, where with one-third or less of the mem- bers of any State legislature he dictates who shall be the Senator from such State, as is now the case in nearl}- every State in the Union. It also deprives the legislature of the power of disfranchising the people, and sometimes a ma- jority of the people of a State, of their proportionate repre- sentation in Congress by unjust and indefensible acts of gerrymandering the State into Congressional districts. The power thus taken from Congress and from State legislatures is conferred directly on the people of each State in connection with all national elections, and secures a per- fect DECENTRALIZATION OP POWER, and docs not permit either the Senate or House of Representatives, as under our present Constitution, to be the judge of the qualifications of — 793 — its own members; under which rule, either House of Cong-ress can always find a partisan pretext for turning- a member out who has been elected, and seat a member who has not been elected, as has often been done, and will be done so long- as the present authority is vested in each House. This constitutional amendment prescribes The qualifi- cations OF Senators and members of the House, and con- fers on the people at the ballot-box the rig-ht to determine who the Senators and members from their State shall be, and from this decision there can be no appeal to either House of Cong-ress. All contests must be heard and determined in the District Court of the United States for the State and district in which any contest may arise. This plan secures full and free scope for the deliberate expression of the national will, not only in the nomination and election of the President, but in the selection of Sena- tors and Representatives in Congress and members of the Col- lege of Deputies. In States entitled to more than one Representative in Congress, each g-roup of electors, if their number be equal to one-third, or more or less as the case may be, can by cumulating- their vote always have a voice in the administra- tion of the g-overnment and thus be able to check and often to defeat schemes which are pernicious or undesirable. By securing to the people of every State proportional represen- tation, the convictions and conscience of the majority and minority in each State, and in the Nation, will always be represented in each State and at Washington, so that ill- considered or partisan movements, and sometimes the tem- porary madness of public opinion, may by prudent criticism and practical discussion be modified or rejected. The "pivotal States," as they are called, that is, larg-e States like New York, whose vote more than once has decided the election of a President, is one of the most corrupting- and dangerous powers in our system. The incentive to ille- g-al voting- and ballot-box stuffing, and to the importation of voters from adjoining States into such States as New York, is but one of the dang-ers inseparable from the election of thirty-six presidential electors on one ballot for the State at larg-e. — 794 — Under the present electoral machinery, a minority of the popular vote and a minority of the electoral vote secured the President at the time John Quincy Adams was chosen by the House of Representatives in 1825. No plan of national government is defensible which makes it possible for a mi- nority of the voters at the polls and a minority of the Elec- toral Collcg-e to succeed in electing" the President, as was done in 1825 when Mr. Adams was chosen. When some such amendment as I here propose shall have been adopted, no third- or fourth-rate man will thereafter be nominated for President. Certainly no man unknown to the people, nor any man whose political opinions were objection- able could possibl}^ be nominated, after each elector is au- thorized to vote direct by ballot for his first choice. In order to get votes enough at any nominating election to be included in the list of the four highest candidates, he must of neces- sity be a man of national reputation, with a character for political integrity and executive ability. The average elector has a proper estimate of the dignity and importance which belongs to the presidential ofiB.ce, and the voters of all parties, when naming their first choice for President, would naturalh^ turn to their ablest representative men. In no event could a mere faction or a minority in any party, by the use of the " machine," form combinations and defeat as they have done, and can now do, the nomination of any man who was the choice of the majorit}-. Schemers and intriguers would be powerless without the "convention machine," and could not by secret combinations hold the " balance of power" in an}'' large States like New York and Ohio, and dictate the nomination of their candidate on pain of defeating the party. Under my plan, the voice of all electors in each party would be heard, and desperate efforts could not be successfully made, such as we have more than once witnessed in New York, to obtain, no matter by what means, a bare plurality of the vote in the State, so as to secure the entire electoral vote of the State and thus elect the President. — 795- OBJECTIONS TO THE) BISECTION OF A PRESIDENT BY A COI^LEGE OP ELECTORS AND BY THE HOUSE OP .REPRESENTA- TIVES UNDER OUR PRESENT CONSTITUTION. Section One of Article Two of our Constitution prescribes the manner in which electors of President and Vice-Presi- dent shall be appointed by the several States as follows: "Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the leg^is- lature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Cong-ress." It will be observed that the Constitution thus confers on the leg-islature of each State, without qualification and be- yond the possibilit}' of doubt, absolute authority to appoint in such manner as a majority of any leg-islature may direct, the number of electors of President and Vice-President to which the State is entitled under any apportionment. The words, "in such manner as the leg-islature thereof may direct," are as clear and distinct as the Eng-lish lang-uag-e can make them. It must therefore be conceded that a majority in the leg-islature of any State, even thoug-h they represent a mi- nority of the total vote of the State, may appoint all the electors, or they may confer the power of appointment on any one or more persons (as the leg-islature of South Carolina did at one time confer the power to appoint the electors of President and Vice-President for that State on its g-overnor), or they may direct that electors for President and Vice-Pres- ident shall be chosen by the voters of the State, either in cong-ressional district or by the State at larg-e, or in any sub- division of the State, as thej^ may elect, and from such de- termination of the leg-islature there can be no escape. The enactment by the last legislature of Michig-an of a law chang-ing- the manner of appointing- the electors of Pres- ident and Vice-President for that State oug-ht to be a lesson and a warning-. It is well known that Michig-an is a State in which one party, when united, is uniformly in a majority. Factional — 796 — divisions and incompetent leadership on the part of the MAJORITY enabled the minority last 3'ear to seize control of the State g-overnment, including- the legislature. Where- upon.the leg-islature proceeded (as under the clause of the Con- stitution above qifoted they had the legal authoritj^ to do) to repeal the law, which from the organization of the State had provided that a majority of the voters in the State should select on one ballot for the State at large, all the electors of President and Vice-President; and enacted a law which directs that said electors shall be chosen in districts — dis- tricts which said legislature deliberately gferrymandered, so as to secure to the minority of the voters in the State a MAJORITY of the fourteen presidential electors to which the State is entitled in the Electoral College of 1892. If the legislatures of other States, in which the minority of the voters of either party may have secured by any com- bination a majority of its leg-islature, should follow the example of Michig-an (which is not improbable), and repeal the law which now authorizes the people to choose presi- dential electors in such States, and assume to appoint all the electors to which their State is entitled, or a majority of them, such action would disclose one of the weakest and most dang-erous defects of our present system for the choice of a President. The accidental control of the leg-islature by a minority of the voters of any party of one or more " pivotal States" would thus enable the minority to determine the choice of a President next 3-ear. And it is among the possibilities that the act of the Michig^an legislature in dividing the electoral vote of that State, may defeat the will of a larg-e majority of the people of Michigan and of the nation in their choice of a President in 1892. The new apportionment increases the vote in the Electoral Colleg-e to 444, of which number 223 are a majority. If the Democratic candidate in 1892 should carry all the States which voted for Mr. Cleveland in 1SS4, he would have 225 electoral votes and be elected. If he should lose West Virginia, and secure six or eig-ht votes from Michigan, because of the appointment of the electors in that State by districts, he would still be elected. It will be granted without argument, that if a minority — 797 — party in any State which, by accident or because of the in- difference of the MAJORITY, has secured control of its leg-is- lature, may in its partisan zeal repeal the law providing- for the choice of presidential electors by the people of such State, and by any device secure to its party the appointment of the ENTIRE NUMBER of presidential electors to which the State is by law entitled, or a majority of them, that our Constitution cannot be too speedily amended in this par- ticular. Should a MAJORITY of the voters in Michig-an, or in any State, attempt to appoint (as has been sug-g-ested) electors of President and Vice-President for 1892, under the law long- in use, but which may have been repealed by any State legisla- ture, such action would probably ultimate in two or more sets of electoral certificates being sent from such States to Washington, and result in a contest in Cong-ress such as we had in 1876-77; and might end in the selection of the President by the House of Representatives. Another objectionable feature of our electoral sj^stem is that which permits each member of a Colleg-e of Electors to vote a secret ballot for ^any person he may wish for President; and then, the officers of any pivotal State may corruptly certify to the election of presidential electors who have NOT been elected by the people of such State; and Con- g-ress may refuse to g-o back of the returns from any State, so certified by its corrupt or partisan officials. That we have reached a point in our history when the nation must g-ive serious consideration to the impending- dang-er which thus confronts us will not be questioned. The majority of the American people might refuse to submit to a repetition of such injustice and wrong. Another Electoral Commission mig-ht inaugurate a parti- san conflict that would end in revolution. The adoption of the proposed constitutional amendment herewith submitted, will at once put an end to all such dan- g-erous possibilities. When there are no longer "pivotal States," there will be no such desperate efforts as we now witness at each presidential election to carr}^ such States by improper and dangerous methods. A whole people cannot be corrupted, and manifestlv it — 798 — •would be impossible, when the nation voted as a unit, to secure a majority of the total vote by trickery and fraud. During- the next ten years, if an election of a President should devolve on the House of Representatives, composed of 356 members, as it is under the present apportionment, fifty- five (55) members from twent3^-three States can, by uniting-, elect the President. It -will be seen that under our present Constitution less than one-sixth of the members of the House, representing- less than one-sixth of the population of the nation, can elect the President. The following- twentj^-three States would make a ma- jority of forty-four States: 1. Delaware 2. Idaho 3. Montana 4. Nevada 5. North Dakota.. 6. Wyoming- 7. Florida 8. Colorado 9. New Hampshire 10. Oreg-on 11. Rhode Island . . . 12. South Dakota. . . 13. Vermont No. OF Votes. 14. Washing-ton . . . 15. Connecticut . . . 16. Maine 17. West Virg-inia. 18. Arkansas 19. Louisiana 20. Maryland 21. Nebraska 22. South Carolina 23. Mississippi. . . . Total Vote . . . No. OF Votes. IZ Of these seventy -two votes, fifty-five may cast the vote of the above-named twenty-three States (each State having" one vote), and thus fifty- five members, in a House of 356, can elect the President. It will not be questioned that it would be difficult to de- vise a more anti-democratic provision .than that which our present Constitution provides for the election of a Presi- dent by the House of Representatives. — 799 — The slave barons forced this anti-democratic provision in the Constitution, and political prog-ress was thus retarded a century. That less than one-sixth of the members of the House of Representatives can, by uniting-, select as President the person having- the smallest popular vote and the smallest number of electoral votes of the three candidates returned to the House, is a fact which forms one of the political anom- alies in our history. Why a practical people, such as ours, should for a hun- dred years have submitted to a system so anti-democratic and repugnant to all fair-minded, intelligent men, is something- I am unable to explain. When an election for President devolves on that bod}-, ONE-THIRD, and sometimes one-half of its members who vote to make the President, are men who have not been elected to the new Congress. As their terms expire on the 4th of March immediately after such an election for President, a majority of such retir- ing members are usually in condition and ready to accept ap- pointments from the man whom they have just voted to make President. LARGE AND SMAI,I, STATES. During- my early reading- of the Constitution, I often re- gretted that a clause had not been added to Article V., pro- viding- that at some time after its adoption, say in fifty or even in a hundred years. Senators of the United States should be apportioned among- the several States as Representatives are allotted to each, in proportion to the population of each. You will remember that Section 3 of Article I. provides that each State shall have two Senators, and that Article V. .contains this extraordinary provision: "And no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate." These two provisions and the clause in Article II., which provides that "each State shall have one VOTE,'' when the choice of a President devolves on the House of Representatives, are quite as objectionable to me now, as when I first began the study of the Constitution, for the — 800 — reason, that they are a positive denial of the representative principle, and a flag-rant violation of the democratic idea in g-overnment. I would not vote to-day for the admission of a new State out of an}^ State, or for the admission of a Territory as a State, unless I could be satisfied that its population would, within a reasonable time, entitle it to not less than four (4) Representatives in Cong-ress^ under an}- apportionment which would result b}- dividing- the population of the nation by 356, the number of members of the House fixed by law under the present census. So long- as an}- State, without reg-ard to population, is clothed with the political power of two Senators, a State with less than four members is simpl}- a "rotten borough." Until the Senate is remodeled, and Senators of the United States are apportioned among- the several States on the basis of population, or, better 3'et, on the basis of the votes cast at each election for President, the admission of rotton boroug-h States ought to be resisted by all who believe in a democratic g-overnment, and an equitable representation of all the people in the national Congress. I regret to sa}- that within a 3'ear wc have witnessed the remarkable spectacle of six new States being dragged into the Union, with unexampled haste, whose combined popula- tion is not more than enough to make one commonwealth, and three of them will probably never have a population sufficient to entitle them to more than one Representative in Congress. And this was done with the example of Nevada before us as a warning. Every student of political science must look with amaze- ment on the reckless distribution of political power which we have witnessed in the recent admission of these six new States. Nevada contains to-day a territorial area of 109,740 square miles, and is larger by seventy-four square miles in territorial area than all the six New England States with New York added. When this barren waste of sand and desert was admitted as a State in 1S64, the claim was made by its embr^-o states- men that it THEN contained a population of oxE hundred — 801 — THOUSAND or more, and that with its fabulous and inexhaust- ible mineral and pastoral wealth and its larg-e territorial area, nothing- could prevent it becoming- the " Empire State" west of the Missouri River and east of California. Whatever may have been its population in 1864, its popu- lation after twenty-seven years in the wonderful development promised by its romancing- of&cials is now reported by the census just taken at the astonishing- number 40,019. In round numbers call the population of this marvelous "Em- pire State" 40,000, and that of New York six millions, and we are face to face with the fact that each voter on this 109,740 square miles of sand and sag-e-brush has more than FOUR TIMES the political power of a voter in New York in the House of Representatives, and one hundred and fifty times the power of a voter in New York in the Senate of the United States, and yet Senators from the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, voted not only to perpetuate this inequalit}^ of political power, but to increase it, by making- precedents for future Congresses to follow. Instead of creating- " rotton borough" States, the states- men or party which shall devise a popular movement for merg-ing- two or more such undesirable States into onb State, so that such reorganized State shall contain a population sufficient for a respectable commonwealth, will be entitled to the thanks and gratitude of the nation. There are now seventeen States in the Union whose com- bined population is less than that op the State of New York. These seventeen States, as all know, have thirty-four Senators to represent them in the Senate of the United States, New York but Two. In case the election of a President devolves on the House of Representatives, these seventeen States have each one VOTE, while New York has but one vote, provided her Representatives in the House are not equallj^ divided, in which event HER VOTE is lost. I voted against the admission of West Virginia during the war, for the reason that I was unwilling to increase the political power of any State, in the Senate, by consenting to 51 — 802 — divide States of the third or fourth class into two or more States. Before her dismemberment, old Virginia had less than half the population of Pennsylvania, and the population of West Virginia when admitted was but one-seventh that of Ohio. I voted against it, for the additional reason that, as I interpreted Section 3 of Article IV. of the Constitution, its dismemberment was a clear violation of that instrument in both its letter and its spirit. And then I had a sentiment which impelled me to vote against the dismemberment of the old State. However unspar- ingly I may have condemned, as I did, her indefensible acts of secession and war on the Union, I could not forget that she was the mother of States and statesmen. I could not forget the heroic deeds and great acts of her Revolutionary- history, and especially that one great act, which as time rolls on, rises higher and higher in moral grandeur — I mean her cession to the nation of all that territory which to-day comprises the five great States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. And then, I remembered with grati- tude the fact that she enriched that priceless gift, b}- uniting with her sister States in passing the ordinance of 1787, which prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude forever in all that vast territory. I thought then, and think now, that that one sublime act ought to have saved the old common- wealth of commonwealths from the humiliation of such a spoliation and dismemberment. But this was one of the mad and unstatesmanlike acts of the war, and grievously has the party which did it, expiated it. THE NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES. At all nominating elections for President, or. for Sena- tors and Representatives in Congress, and for members of the College of Deputies, the voters in each State are secured in the right to vote direct by ballot for the nomination of candidates for each of the officers to be elected, and from the FOUR highest on the list for each office, voted for at such election, each party or group of electors must select its candi- dates to be voted for at the final election in November. — 803 — In voting- for the nomination of a President, or for United States Senator or for a Representative in Congress for States entitled to but one member, each elector can give but one vote for each candidate. Only v/hen there are two or more candidates to be nominated for Representatives in Congress and thkee or more members of the College of Deputies for a State, can an elector cumulate his vote at any nominating election. All electors and each organized party or group of elec- tors, must, under this plan, prepare their own ballots and vote directly, as provided by law, to nominate their first choice. That they can do this, free from the dictation of party conventions, party bosses, or " managing statesmen," will be clear enough to any man of ordinar}^ intelligence. There are certain to be four candidates on the list voted for, at each nominating election, who will have received a sufficient number of votes to be included with the four candi- dates to be nominated; that is, there will always be four CANDIDATES WITH A PI.URAI.ITY OVER THEIR COMPETITORS, Un- less there be two or more candidates who may have received an EQUAL NUMBER OP VOTES at any nominating- election (which will seldom happen). In case a tie vote should occur in any State or district, the College of Deputies for the State will be required by law to determine by lot or otherwise, which of the candidates having, an equal number of ^votes shall have his name printed on the official ballot and be eligible to be voted for at the regular election in November. In Ohio, by the apportionment provided for under the new census, there would be one candidate for Congress to be nominated for the State at large. In order that there shall be not less than four candidates for each office, to represent not less than four parties, or four groups of electors, it is provided that from the four names highest on the list voted for at each nominating election in August, the electors of each party shall select their candidates for the regular elec- tion in November. By providing that the number of candi- dates from which the electors may select shall be four for each office to be filled at any regular election, each of the great parties will uniformly and without question name its favorite candidates, and smaller groups of electors or new — 804 — parties can by this plan always secure their own candidates, provided they poll a sufficient number of votes, by cumulat- ing- them, to place their candidate among- the four hig-hest on the list voted for at any nominating- election. Each of the old parties would, after conference and pub- lic discussion through its part}' papers, be certain to concen- trate its vote, so as to put its own candidates at the head of the list, at all nominating- elections. The Prohibitionist, the National Alliance, and other party organizations, would, as a rule, be able to unite and cumulate their vote so as to secure one, if not two, of the four candidates. If, however, they failed to do this in anj- State or district, then and in that event they can select from the list of the four highest which may have been voted for, at each nominating election, and from ko others, one or more of such candidates as they may prefer. In this wa3' each minority part}*, or group of electors, could make up a ticket, as any party would be compelled to do, in order that the "College of Deputies" for each State might prepare and have printed and distributed the official ballots containing the names of all candidates duly nominated as prescribed by law, as only official ballots would be received at an}- regular election in November. In the State of Ohio there would be one candidate for Congress to be elected for the State at large, and four candi- dates from which to select. Each of the great parties would be compelled to make up its ticket from one of the four highest candidates on the list voted for, in the State at large, at any nominating election. in August. And any group of electors, whether Prohibitionists or National Alliance, or any party with a public organization, could make up a ticket from the list nominated, and require the "College of Depu- ties " in each State to print the name or names of the candi- dates designated by such party, or group of electors, on an official ballot to be voted for by them ; and, besides, each indi- vidual elector would be authorized to erase any name on his official ballot, and use a " paster" or write the name of any one of the duly nominated candidates in the place of the name of anj^ candidate whose name he might decide to erase. In Congressional districts of five, there would be four — 805 — candidates nominated for each member of Congress to be elected, or twenty candidates for each district of five mem- bers. The old parties would of course always have their own candidates, that is five candidates each, or one-half the number of the twenty hig-hest on the list. The next hig-hest on the list would probably represent the National Alliance and the Prohibitionists, and perhaps in some States other g-roups of electors. They could select their tickets from the ten that did not represent the two dominant parties, or if they were a group of " hig-h-kickers " or fighting" independents, they could select one from each of the candidates nominated, and thus have one or more candidates from each party, as they might elect. It will be seen that this plan, while preserving intact the two old parties, provides for securing to the minority, or to any new party, or to individual citizens, all the rights that legitimately belong to an independent voter in a democratic republic. In all States and in all cities this plan can be applied with mathematical accuracy, and with such unquestioned fairness to the majority and to the minority that one is often amazed that it has not long ago been adopted, and made part of our national Constitution, and also been engrafted in our State constitutions and put in force in the administration of all cities of the first and second class in every State. DISUNION IMPOSSIBLK WITH SUCH A CONSTITUTION. As the fatal dogma of secession, was buried in a common grave with the great rebellion, it is fitting and proper that the national Constitution should be so amended, as to conform to the new and broader conditions of our national life. If this proposed amendment, which cannot be misinter- preted nor misunderstood, had formed part of our national Constitution prior to the War of the Rebellion, that colossal and indefensible crime would have been impossible. Make this plain democratic provision part of our national Constitution, and we shall thus take security of the future, that no such rebellion can happen again. — 806 — Adopt this amendment, and a crisis, such as that which happily ended in the expedient of the Electoral Commission of 1877, will never confront us thereafter. Adopt it, and the House of Representatives will never ag-ain be the theatre of intrig-ue for the election of a Presi- dent. Adopt it, and the menace of a solid South, and of pivotal States in the North, will nevermore be known in our history. And all citizens of the United States in each State will have the right, which oug-ht to be secured to fhem in a democratic republic, of nominating" and electing their Presi- dent by a direct vote of the duly qualified electors by ballot, without the intervention of national nominating" conventions, State legislatures, a Colleg"e of Electors or the House of Representatives. Adopt the amendments providing- for the nomination and election of Senators of the United States, and Representatives in Cong-ress, and no State or district in a State will have cause to blush for the character or ability of her representa- tives in either House of the Congress at Washington. Before the colossal political power which such a consti- tution will secure, and such a g"overnment represent, we may well pause and ask ourselves, "What of the future ? " With a population such as I estimate within fifty years of one hundred and sixt3'-one millions or more, speaking" the same languag-e and having" a common interest and a common destin}', represented by an indissoluble Union, whose sov- ereig"nty resides in the whole people as a unit, and not in territorial subdivisions called "sovereign States," we shall present to the world, as I see it, the freest, the strongest and the best form of democratic representative g-overnment on earth. So thoroughly- am I impressed with the mag"nitude of this subject, and, after years of reflection, so thoroughly' does it command the approval of my judgment, that, had I the time, it would be an easy and welcome task to extend this address into a volume. What I now present has been written in odd hours, as time and the cares of an exacting business permitted. In submitting thus briefly, these observations for dis- — 807 — cussion by the Ohio Society of New York, I feci that I but discharg-e the duty of a citizen, by contributing something* to a subject on which many of the most thoughtful men in this country are now thinking, to the end that I may aid in calling- public attention to the changes which now confront us — changes which I believe demand the serious considera- tion of the foremost citizens of all parties and all sections. To those of my faith and sanguine temperament this impending- chang-e represents the life and hope and onward march of the nation, and is the natural outgrowth of that unrest which in the history of mankind always precedes great reforms. To me, it is the Spirit of Progress born of the aspira- tions of a great people for an indissoluble Union and a demo- cratic continental commonwealth. As I watch, this spirit points the way to a higher and broader conception of one's rights and duties as a citizen- In its inspiring- presence our prophets and leaders are thrilled with an enthusiasm which g-lows in face and speech, as they direct the advancing- columns of those who are marching in the pathway of progress. And all who march abreast and battle with them, shall feel that "Each epoch hath its work to do, Its thought to think, its wrong to right, Its leaders and its prophets too — Its beacon lamp to trim and light." APPENDIX. Containing- the history and text of the proposed constitu- tional amendment, with sugg-estions for the form of all offi- cial ballots — national. State and city, together with census statistics for the first one hundred years of the republic. . Also map showing- the States and parts of States in which the Afro-American will outnumber the whites after the year 1940. — 808 — HISTORY OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT. It may not be uninteresting- if I g^ive a brief history of this constitutional amendment, and the reasons which led me to prepare it nearly a quarter of a century ag^o. In 1841, when a boy, I visited Washing-ton to see Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison inaug-urated President. Before return- ing- home, President Harrison died, and I saw John Tj^ler, the first Vice-President in our history, inaugurated President as provided in the Constitution. In less than three months after Mr. Tyler entered upon the duties of the presidential office, it began to be quietly whispered about among the Democrats of Kentuck}' and Southern Ohio, that Tyler (who had been elected Vice- President on the ticket with Gen. Harrison by the Whig party) " had come over to our side." Within a year it was generally suspected that T3-ler had formed some kind of a secret alliance with the Calhoun wing of the Democratic part}-, and this proved to be true, as is evidenced by the history of his administration. I was a looker-on in the Democratic National Conven- tion which met at Baltimore in 1844. By the favor of Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, ex- Vice-President, I had a seat on the floor of that Convention with the Kentucky delegation. More than two-thirds of all the delegates elected to that convention had been, when appointed, instructed to vote for the renomination of the old ticket, which had been defeated by Harrison and Tyler in 1840. By intrigue, betraj-al of trust, and deliberate violation of instructions on the part of delegates to that convention, Mr. Van Buren was defeated, and James K. Polk, of Ten- nessee, was nominated and elected President, defeating Henry Clay. Afterwards, I saw the Electoral College for Ohio meet at Columbus and go through the mummery of voting by ballot for President and Vice-President. The members of the college then appointed one of their — 809 — own number to carry one of the three certificates of the result of that election by the electors in Ohio to Washing"- ton. To me, it seemed like a solemn farce, and as if each member of the CoUeg-e was cog-nizant of the fact. These events impressed me deeply and so unfavorably that I never thereafter affirmed (as I had been taug-ht to do) "that our national Constitution was the perfection of human wisdom " ; on the contrar}^ the more I studied it, the clearer did its defects and objectionable provisions appear to me. But the fact must not be forg"otten that the fathers of the Constitution were environed on every hand, and that only by j-ielding" as they did, to the slave-holding" interests, and also to the selfish demands of some of the States, was the org-anization of a National Government in 1789 possible. If, when the national Constitution was under discussion in 1789, its authors had been confronted with the simple proposition of framing- a democratic representative g"overn- ment and securing* to the people of all the States an equit- able distribution of political power, there is no question that more than one of the unphilosophical provisions embodied in our present Constitution would never have found a place in it. Instead of occupying- themselves in discussing- practical democratic questions, as many of the members of the Con- vention of 1789 were pre-eminently qualified to do, the time and skill of the ablest men in that remarkable body were largely taken up in devising- plans to defeat the petty schemes of narrow and selfish men, and to secure harmony of views among- some of its impracticable members and adjust the supposed conflicting- interests of the larg-er and smaller States. The practical problem before them was not the best form of an ideal democratic republic, with an equitable distribution of political power, but the org-anization of a national g-overnment that would be accepted and ratified by each of the thirteen States. As all know, the Constitution as finally adopted could only have been formed by concession and com- promise, and all compromise is, of necessity, patchwork. — 810 — From the daj- I witnessed the inaug-uration of Vice- President John Tyler as President, and the defeat of Mr. VanBuren in the nominating- convention in Baltimore in 1844, I have been opposed to the caucus and convention sys- tem, national, State and city; as also the machinery by which the President is now elected, and in favor of the abolition of the office of Vice-President. Instead of electing- a President as now provided by law and the Constitution, and by the convention system to which custom and usag-e has g-iven the force of law, I propose that there shall be no Vice-President and that the nomination and election of a President shall be by a direct vote by ballot of the qualified electors in all the States; without the interven- tion of national conventions, a Colleg-e of Electors, or the House of Representatives. The amendment as now presented (except one or two immaterial chang-es) was prepared b}- me during- the time the patchwork known as the Fourteenth Amendment was under consideration, as it now appears in the Constitution. In my orig-inal draft, but three members of Cong-ress were apportioned to each cong-ressional district in States entitled to six members or more. In the draft now submitted, not less than four nor more than five members are allotted to each cong-ressional district in States entitled to eig-ht mem- bers or more. As a practical solution of the difficulties which environ us, and for securing- an equitable distribution of political power, national, State and municipal, the plan has steadily g-rown upon me for twenty years or more, and I am confident that substantially as herein outlined it will at no distant day be approved by a majority of all parties in this country. When first prepared, I submitted it (as was m}- custom with any important work which I attempted, while in Con- g-ress) to my personal friend, Mr. Beaman, of Michig-an, for his Icg-al criticism and sug-g-estion. After his approval, it was printed and submitted to Governor Chase and to Sumner, Wade and Howard of the Senate, and to Thaddeus Stevens and Henry Winter Davis of the House. Their g-eneral judg-ment was, that while the reconstruc- tion measures were before us and the controvcrsv with the — 811 — acting President (Andrew Johnson) was occupying- the atten- tion of Cong-ress, the country was not prepared for chang-es so far-reaching- as I proposed, and they advised me to confine my amendment to the nomination and election of the Presi- dent by a direct vote of the people, and to abolishing* the office of Vice-President (to which they all, at that time, heartily assented), and to secure a modification of the veto power. Instead of a Colle'g-e of Deputies, such as I proposed, for the choice of a President in case of a vacancy in that of&ce, they sug-g-ested that the power should be conferred on the Senate and House in joint convention, each Senator and Representative having- one vote. These members of the Senate and House were representative men and my seniors in 3'ears and political experience. After conferring- with them, I finally accepted their judg-ment, and in accordance with their sug-g-estions prepared a modified form of my orig-inal plan, omitting- the provision for the creation of the National Colleg-e of Deputies, the election of United States Senators by the people, and for proportional, or equitabi^e represen- tation. The modified plan as then prepared, and the speech which I made in the House in support of it, may be found in the Congressional Gi.obe for the second session of the Fortieth Cong-ress, Vol. 3, page 2713. Had I been re-elected to Congress in 1868, I should have presented this amendment as originally prepared and as now submitted for your consideration. Failing to be re-elected, I resolved to present it through some representative member of the Senate or House on the first occasion when I thought public opinion would warrant the probability of a favorable reception of it. When the Electoral Commission of 1877 declared Mr. Hayes the duly elected President, I believed that the time had come, when the statesmen of all parties would be forced by public opinion to give prompt consideration to some such plan as mine, for the election of the President, to the end that another perilous contest such as that adjusted by that extraordinary commission, should never happen again. Accordingly, I went with it to Senator Chandler of Michigan, and outlined it to him and urged him, as Chair- — 812 — man of the National Republican Committee, and the man who had done more to elect Mr. Hayes than any other, to take the proposed amendment and go to Mr. Hayes with it and see if he could not induce him to adopt it, and have him in his inaug-ural address present it, and say that he proposed to call an extra session of Congress to act upon it, and state that on its adoption and ratification as part of the national Constitution he would resig-n the Presidenc}^ and submit his title to the office to a vote of the people at the first election under it. I presented the subject to Mr. Chandler with much earnestness, because I felt confident that such a proposition, comino- from him at that time, would be acceptable to the Republican party and to the great body of Democrats North and South, and that some such amendment could be passed by Cong-ress and submitted to the States for their ratification, which might then have been done within a year. I urged that if Mr. Hayes would do this, and the amend- ment became part of the national Constitution, that his nomination and election would most certainly follow, and that he would thus become a marked and historic figure, and much more of the same import. But Mr. Chandler was in no frame of mind to entertain my proposition, nor for that matter, any other. He was in fact jubilant and defiant, and in the strongest language ex- pressed his determination to stamp out all opposition. I have often regretted that I did not, at that time, go personally to Mr. Hayes with my amendment, and urge him to do as I should have done had I been in his position. Since that lost opportunity, I have seen no time for its acceptable presentation. The impelling motive which prompted me to accept a nomination for Congress last fall was, that in such a canvass I might have an opportunity to discuss the questions presented in this amendment; and in the event of my election, would hold a position from which I could legitimately command a hearing on it before the country. For nearly a quarter of a century I have regarded the affirmative settlement of the questions involved in this amendment, as of vastly more importance to our future peace and national unity, than any question growing out of — 813 — tariff reform, or silver coinage, or any ordinary economic or commercial leg-islation. But during- my ten days' canvass last fall, I found that public opinion was entirely engrossed with tariff discussion and the free coinage of silver, and that the time was not opportune for the public discussion of questions involving important constitutional reforms. So I now come with this amendment, which I have guarded for years with paternal care, and present it for the consideration of the members of the "Ohio Society of New York," and through them, to the judgment of all who may do me the honor to read it. The adoption of this proposed amendment will neces- sitate the omissions and changes indicated below by small capitals in Articles One and Two of our present Constitu- tion. Article One, when amended, will read as follows: ARTICLE I. Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be com- posed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have. the qualifications requisite under This Constitution To vote FOR President op the United States. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, THE College of Deputies for such State shall fill SUCH vacancies, until the next regular election for Representatives in Congress. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeach- ment. — 814 — [ B^" Amendments to Article One when adopted will be inserted here as part of Section 2.] Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators for each State, and shall, be CHOSEN BY BALLOT BY THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS THEREOF, for six years, and each Senator shall have one vote. When vacancies happen in the Senate from any State b}- resig-nations or otherwise, the College of Deputies for SUCH State shall fill the vacancy until the next REGULAR ELECTION FOR SENATOR. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the ag-e of thirty 3'ears, and been nine 3'ears a citizen of the United States, and who shall not when elected be an inhabi- tant of that State for which he shall be chosen. The Senate shall choose its own presiding- and other officers. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeach- ments. When sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation; and no person shall be convicted without the^ concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators present and vot- ing.* Judgment in case of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be .liable and subject to indictment, trial, judg-ment and punish- ment, according- to law. Section S. A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to da}-, and may be authorized to compel the attend- ance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each House maj' provide. The fifth section of this article is amended by omitting the words "Each House shall be the judge of the election returns, and qualifications of its own members," and thus takes from the Senate and House the power, now often '•'The provision for the impeachment of the President is stricken out. Jefferson properly characterized that provision of the Constitution as a " scare- crow," and as all will remember, the attempt to impeach Andrew Johnson ended in a national farce. — 815 — exercised by a partisan majority, of excluding- persons who present duly authenticated certificates of election, and admit to seats persons who have not been elected. The proposed amendment prescribes the " qualifications ' of Senators and Representatives; and the Circuit or District Court of the United States in the State or District where any contest may arise is authorized and required to determine the validity of all election returns where a contest is made, and from such determination there can be no appeal to the Senate or House of Representative All clauses relative to the Vice-President are stricken out, and such parts of Article One not above quoted down to the end of Section Five. Section One of Article Two is stricken out, except the clauses which provide that " the President shall be a natural born citizen of the United States and shall have attained the ag-e of thirtj'-five years," and "shall at stated -times receive for his services a compensation, which shall not be increased or diminished during- the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them." "Before he enter on the execution of his of&ce he shall take the following- oath or affirmation :" "I do solemnly swear (or aflfirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, an4 will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Sections Two, Three and Four of Article Two remain unchang-ed, except the word Vice-President is stricken out of Section 4. Article Twelve of the amendments is entirely eliminated. The presidential term is made six years. The paragraphs above quoted will advise the reader of the chang-es necessary in our present Constitution to make it conform to the amendment as herein proposed. —816 — PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF THE NATIONAL CON- STITUTION. Providing- for the nomination and election, bj a di- rect vote of the duly qualified electors in the several States, of a President of the United States, and Senators and Representatives of the several States in Cong-ress, and for the creation and election of a National Colleg-e of Deputies, in the several States. Said Collegfe of Deputies, when duly chosen and org-anized in the several States, and at the seat of g-overnment of the United States, shall be charg-ed with the authority and duty of conducting" all national elections in their respective States, and with the power and duty of filling- such vacancies as may from time to time happen in the office of Presi- dent of the United States and Senators and Representatives in Cong-ress and members of the National Colleg-e of Deputies for any State. AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE ONE. — WHO SHALL BE ELECTORS. All native-born male citizens of the United States, of the ag-e of twenty-one (21) years and upwards, and each person of like ag-e who shall have been duly naturalized, in pursuance of the laws of the United States, and who shall have been a resident of the State in which he may offer to vote for one year next preceding- any election herein provided for, shall be an elector, and qualified to vote in such State for the nomination and election of a President of the United States, and for Senators and Representatives in the Cong-ress of the United States, and for the members of a National Colleg-e of Deputies in such State. The duly qualified electors in each State shall vote at all national elections, under such rules and reg-ulations as the Cong-ress may by law prescribe ; provided that no insane or idiotic person, nor any person duly convicted of a felony, shall be permitted to vote at such elections. ■817 — AMENDMENT TO ARTICLES TWO AND TWEI^VE. — THE MANNER OP NOMINATING AND ELECTING A PRESIDENT. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States. The term for which he shall be elected shall be six years. He shall enter upon the duties of his office at 12 o'clock m., on the fourth Monday in the April next succeeding" his election in November. No person nominated and elected President by the voters of the several States, as herein provided, shall be eligible for re-election. The year in which the first election for the nomination and choice of a President shall take place, after the ratifi- cation of this amendment, shall be prescribed by the Con- gress, and special provision shall be njade by law for the appointment of such officers as may be required, to conduct all national elections, in their respective States, until the College of Deputies herein provided for shall have been duly chosen. The President shall be nominated and elected as follows: On the first Tuesday of Aug-ust, in the year appointed by the Cong-ress for the first election, and on the first Tues- day of Aug-ust every six years thereafter, the electors quali- fied as hereinbefore provided shall assemble in their respec- tive States, as the Congress may prescribe by law, and vote by ballot for the nomination of a citizen of the United States for President, eligible under this Constitution. Such election for the nomination, or for the election of a President, shall not be held in any room in which an election is being- con- ducted on the same day for State or local officers, in such State. But no voting- district or precinct in any State shall be larg-er in territorial extent than districts designated by State law for State elections. The College of Deputies in each State charged by law with the conduct of such nominating- elections for President shall make distinct lists of all candidates voted for at such elections, tog-ether with the number of votes cast in their 52 — 818 — respective States for each candidate, which list they shall of&cially sig-n, seal and certify, in triplicate, and within twenty (20) days after such nominating- election in each State, they shall transmit, in such form and manner as the Congress may b_y law prescribe, one cop}' of such certified returns to the chairman of the National Colleg-e of Deputies, at the seat of g-overnment of the United States; one copy to the Secre- tary of the Interior of the United States, and one cop}- to the Secretary of State for the State in which they, as of&cials, reside. The Chairman of the National College of Deputies, and the chief clerk of such colleg-e, together with the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, shall meet at the scat of government of the United States on the first Tuesday in September, at 12 o'clock m., after each nominating- election for President on the preceding- first Tuesday in Aug-ust, and shall, in the presence of such persons as the Cong-ress may by law direct, open all the certificates from each State containing a list of the candidates voted for and the votes cast for each at such nominating election, and the}-, or an3^ two of them, shall within the time fixed by law, jointly canvass, certify and officially publish the result, stating- the number of votes cast for each candidate for President in the several States, and the total vote for each in all the States. THE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT. On the first Tuesday of November, after each nomina- ting- election for President, the qualified electors shall again assemble in their respective States, and from the list of can- didates officially certified as having- the highest votes, not ex- ceeding four (4) on the list voted for, at such nominating election on the first Tuesday of August preceding, the elec- tors shall by ballot choose a President, and the person hav- ing the greatest number of votes cast at such election for President, in all the States, shall be the President. The persons in each State charged by law with the con- duct of the election appointed for the first Tuesday oi November, for the choice of a President, shall make a dis- tinct list of all the candidates voted for at such elections, — 819 — log-ether with the number of votes cast in their respective States for each, which list they shall sig-n, seal and officially certify in triplicate, and within thirty days after such elec- tion they shall transmit, under such regulations as the Con- gress may by law prescribe, one copy to the Chairman of the National College of Deputies, at the seat of government of the United States ; one copy to the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, and one copy to the Secretary of State for the State in which they reside. The Chairman or the acting Chairman of the National College of Deputies, and the chief clerk or acting chief clerk of such college, together with the Secretary or acting Secre- tary of the Interior of the United States, shall meet at the seat of government of the United States, at such place as the Congress may by law provide, on the second Tuesday in December, at 12 o'clock m., after each election for President, and shall in the presence of such members of the College of Deputies as may be present, and such other persons as the Congress ma}?- by law authorize, open all the certificates con- taining the official returns of the votes cast for President on the preceding first Tuesday of November, and they or any two of them shall forthwith jointly certify and publish the total number of votes cast for each candidate, and officially declare the person having the highest number of votes to be the duly elected President of the United States for six years from and after the fourth Monday in the April next succeeding such election in November. But no Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, nor Judge of any Circuit or District Court of the United States, nor Judge of the Supreme Court or highest appellate court in any State, shall be eligible to be elected President of the United States. The President of the United States may at any time resign his office and appoint a day when his resignation shall take effect, or he may designate that it shall take effect on a given day after his successor shall have been chosen by the College of Deputies. And the Congress shall provide by law for such contingency. — 820 — THE NATIONAI. COLLEGE OP DEPUTIES. A Colleg-e of Deputies, composed of members from each State, equal in number to its Senators and Representatives in the Cong-ress of the United States, shall be chosen every six (6) years by the people of the several States; and the voters in each State authorized to choose members of the Colleg-e of Deputies shall have the qualifications requisite to vote for President of the United States. Members of the Colleg-e of Deputies shall be elected for the term of six j-ears, and their term of office shall begin on the first Tuesday in December after their election in No- vember. No person shall be a member of the Colleg-e of Deputies who shall not have attained the ag-e of thirty years, and who shall not have been a voter for seven yez.TS, in the State for which he shall be chosen. All authority herein granted for the choice of a Presi- dent of the United States, to fill any vacancy which may happen, by death or otherwise, in the office of President, shall be vested in the National Colleg-e of Deputies, as here- in provided. The members of the College of Deputies for each State shall be nominated and voted for in States and cong-ressional districts of each State as herein provided. The duly qualified electors in each State shall be entitled to nominate and to elect two members of the Colleg-e of Deputies for the State at large, who shall be designated " the Senatorial Deputies." The members of the College of Deputies to which each State is entitled shall be elected on the same ballot with the President of the United States and Senators and Repre- sentatives in Cong-ress. In addition to the two Senatorial Deputies, the voters in each State entitled to seven or to less than seven Representa- livcs in Congress, shall nominate and elect on a g-eneral ticket for the State at large, one member of the College of Deputies for each Representative in Cong-ress allotted to such State. — 821 — In States entitled to eight Representatives in Congress, or to an}" additional number, the members of the College of Deputies shall be nominated and elected in districts corre- sponding to the congressional districts in such States of not less than four nor more than five members each. In States entitled to one and not to exceed Two addi- tional members of the College of Deputies, to correspond with the number of Representatives in Congress, not included in any district, such additional member or members shall be voted for and nominated and elected for the State at large, on the same ballot with the two Senatorial Deputies and the members to be elected in districts. On the first Tuesday in December after each election for members of the College of Deputies, the persons duly chosen from each State shall be convened at the seat of government of the United States, and they shall then organize by choos- ing one of their own number for chairman, and he shall hold such office for the term of six years. The College of Deputies shall choose a Chief Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms, who shall hold their offices for six 5^ears, and the Chief Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms shall appoint such additional clerks and assistants as the Congress may, by law, authorize. In case of the death, resignation or removal of the Chair- man, the Chief Clerk or other officers of the National College of Deputies, such vacancy for the unexpired term shall be filled as may be provided by law. In national assemblies, a majority of all the members of the National College of Deputies, and in State assemblies, a majority of all the Deputies for such State, shall be requi- site to make a quorum for the transaction of business, but a less number than a quorum in each may adjourn from day to day, and the}" may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as they shall pre- scribe in rules for their own government, A member of the National or of the State Assembly of Deputies, who shall violate such rules, may be suspended or expelled, by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Depu- ties present in either body. . A Deputy who may have been suspended or expelled — 822 — from his office by an Assembly of Deputies for any State, may appeal to the District or Circuit Court of the United States, for such State, and the Court shall grant him a sum- mary hearing-, and promptly determine the questions involved in such appeal. If a Deputy shall be suspended or expelled from his office by the National College of Deputies, such Deputy may appeal to any Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the determination of such appeals by the District or Cir- cuit Court of the United States, in any State, or by any Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of the United States, shall be final, touching the matters in controversy. The Congress shall by law provide for the assembling of the members of the College of Deputies for each State at their respective State Capitols ^vithin thirty (30) days after their election, and prescribe the manner in which they shall organize by selecting one of their own number for Chairman, together with a Chief Clerk and Scrgeant-at-Arms, who shall not be members of the College of Deputies, and each of whom shall hold such office for six 3-ears. The College of Deputies for each State shall be charged with the conduct of all national elections in their respective States for the nomination and election of the President, Senators of the United States, Representatives in Congress and members of the College of Deputies. The Chairman of the College of Deputies in each State shall give public notice of all national elections, as the Con- gress may by law prescribe, for the nomination and election of the President, Senators and Representatives in Congress and for members of the College of Deputies, and they shall be the custodians of all election returns of such State, for President, Senators and Representatives in Congress and members of the College of Deputies. The members of the National College of Deputies and the Chairman and Chief Clerk and such officers as they shall be authorized by law to appoint, and the Chairman of the College of Deputies 'for each State, together with the Chief Clerk and such other officers as the}' may be authorized b}' law to appoint in each State for the conduct of national elections, shall receive a compensation for their services to be — 823 — fixed b}^ law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. Kxcept for offenses such as the Congress shall prescribe, the members of the Colleg-e of Deputies shall be privileg-ed from arrest, or from service of leg-al process of any kind, dur- ing" attendance at any meeting- of their body in any State, or when convened at the seat of g"overnment of the United States, for the choice of a President, or when g"oing" to or re- turning- from the same. In case of the death of the President, or of his resig-na- tion, disability or removal from office, the Secretary of State of the United States, if there be one, and if not, then such member of the Cabinet as the Cong^ress may desig-nate by law, shall act as President until a successor to fill the vacancy shall have been dul}^ chosen and qualified. The acting- President shall by proclamation convene the members of the Colleg-e of Deputies from all the States at the seat of g-overnment of the United States within thirty days from the date of an}' vacanc}' in the office of President, and the members of the College of Deputies shall assemble in such hall or building- as the Cong-ress may by law prescribe, and forthwith proceed to the choice of a citizen of the United States qualified under this Constitution for the office of Pres- ident to fill out the unexpired term. On the assembling- of the Colleg-e of Deputies in pursu- ance of the proclamation of the acting- President, the Chair- man of the Colleg-e, if he be present, and if not, then the senior member of the Colleg-e of Deputies, shall call the mem- bers to order, and direct the clerk of the body to call the States alphabetically and the roll of members in alphabetical order. A majority of all the members elected and qualified shall be necessary for a quorum to transact business. On the assembling- of a quorum, in the absence of the Chairman, the Colleg-e shall select a Chairman pro TEm., and at once proceed to the choice of a President to fill the vacancy for the residue of the unexpired term as herein prescribed, and no other business shall be in order, until a President shall have been chosen. On the call of the roll each member of the Collesfe shall — 824 — rise in his place, name his choice, and vote viva voce for President, and each member shall have one vote. If any person shall receive on any roll-call a majority of all the votes given for President, he shall be declared by the Chairman of the Colleg-e of Deputies the duly elected Presi- dent of the United States for the residue of the unexpired term. The members of the Colleg-e of Deputies, after org-aniz- ing-, shall vote for President at least once each day until a President is chosen. No member of the Colleg^e shall speak more than once on any subject or motion on the same da}', nor more than ten minutes except by unanimous consent. If no person shall receive a majority of the votes given on the first roll-call, the roll shall again be called, and from the persons having the highest vote on the list, not exceeding five of those voted for on the first roll-call, the college shall proceed to choose a President. If no person shall receive a majority of all the votes given on the second roll-call, the College shall again pro- ceed to vote a third time, and from the persons having the highest vote on the list, not exceeding four of those voted for on the second roll-call, the College shall secure a President. If no person shall have a majority of all the votes given on the third roll-call, the College shall proceed to vote a fourth time, and from the persons having the highest vote, not exceeding three of those voted for on the third roll-call, the College shall choose a President, and the person having the highest vote on the fourth roll-call, shall be declared by the Chairman to be elected, to fill the vacancy for the residue of the unexpired term. In the event that no person shall receive a pluralit}- vote on the fourth roll-call, the roll shall at intervals of not ex- ceeding one day again be called, until one of the three candi- dates highest on the list shall receive more votes than either of his competitors. The Congress shall have power to enforce this amend- ment by appropriate legislation. 825- THE NOMINATION AND BISECTION OF UNITED STATES SENA- TORS. Senators of the United States shall be nominated and chosen by the electors of each State qualified to vote under this Constitution for President, as follows : On the first Tuesday of Aug"ust next preceding- the ex- piration of the term of any Senator, the electors duly quali- fied to vote for Senator shall assemble in their respective States and counties, as provided by law for the election of President and Representatives in Cong-ress, and vote by bal- lot for the nomination of a candidate for Senator of the United States. All nominating' elections for Senator shall be held in each State at the time and places in which Representatives in Con- g-ress for such State are nominated and elected, and at no other time. The Cong-ress shall provide by law the manner in which the members of the Colleg-e of Deputies and the offi- cials charg-ed in each State with the conduct of such nominat- ing- elections for Senators of the United States shall conduct the same, and such officers in each county shall make distinct lists of all the persons voted for at such election for Senator, tog-ether with the number of votes cast in the several counties for each candidate, which list they shall sig-n, seal and offi- cially certify in triplicate, and within ten (10) days after such nominating- elections they shall transmit, in such form and manner as the Cong-ress may prescribe by law, one copy of such certified election returns to the Chairman of the Col- lege of Deputies for such State at the Capitol thereof, one copy to the Secretary of State for .such State, and one copy to the clerk of the county of which they are residents. The Chairman and Chief Clerk of the Colleg-e of Deputies for each State, tog-ether with the Secretary of State for each State (if there be such an officer, and ie not, then such per- son as the State may appoint), shall be in session at the Capi- tol thereof, on the fourth Tuesday of Aug-ust, at twelve o'clock M., after each nominating- election for Senator of the — 826 — United States, on the previous first Tuesday of Augfust, and the}' or any two of them shall, in the presence of such per- sons as the Congress may by law desig-nate, jointly canvass, certify and officially publish the result, stating- the total number of votes cast in the State for each candidate. On the first Tuesday of November following- such nomi- nating- election for United States Senator the qualified elec- tors in such State shall ag-ain assemble, at the places ap- pointed by law, in their respective counties, and from the candidates officially certified as having the highest vote for Senator, not exceeding- four (4) on the list of those voted for, at such nominating- election on the preceding- first Tuesda}' of August, shall choose by ballot a Senator, and the person having- the g-reatest number of votes cast for Senator at said election in such State shall be the Senator. The term of office of each Senator shall begin on the fourth ISIonday in April, at 12 o'clock m., succeeding- his election in November. The Chairman and Chief Clerk of the College of Deputies for each State shall canvass and certify the election of Senators and Representatives in Cong-ress and members of the Colleg-e of Deputies. The Congress shall have power to enforce this amend- ment by appropriate legislation. THE NOMINATION AND BISECTION OF REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. Representatives in Congress shall hold their office for the term of two years, and shall be nominated and chosen by the electors in each State qualified b_v law to vote for President. On the first Tuesday of August (beginning with the time appointed by Congress for the nomination and election of a President), and every second year thereafter, the elec- tors qualified to vote, as hereinbefore provided, shall assemble in their respective States and counties, at such places as the Congress shall by law direct for the holding of such elec- tions, and vote by ballot for the nomination of such number of candidates for Representatives in Congress as each elector — 827 — shall be authorized by law to vote for in such State or dis- tricts, or both. In a State entitled under any apportionment to seven Representatives in Congress, or to less than seven, the duly qualified electors thereof shall nominate and elect such Representative or Representatives on one g-eneral ticket for the State at larg^e. If under any apportionment a State shall be entitled to eig-ht Representatives in Cong-ress, or to more than eig-ht, the Colleg-e of Deputies for that State shall, after each reg-ular election for President, divide it into Cong-ressional districts of contig-uous territory, of not less than four nor more than five members each, and in such manner, that no State which may be entitled to two or more such Cong-ressional districts, shall elect for the State at larg-e a g-reater number than two Representatives in Cong-ress, and such Representatives for the State at large shall be nominated and elected on the same ballot with the members in each district. And every appor- tionment shall be made, by dividing- the total vote for Presi- dent in the State by the number of Representatives in Con- gress to which each State is by law entitled. No Representative district in any State shall be changed b}' the College of Deputies thereof until after the next presi- dential election, nor until after Congress shall have appor- tioned the Representatives among the several States ; but the Congress may by law, on the application of one-fourth of the College of Deputies in any State, change the districts in such State, should such change in the opinion of the Con- gress be necessary to secure the minority of the electors thereof an equitable representation in Congress in proportion to the total vote cast at the last presidential election in such State. The Congress shall by law prescribe the manner and form in which the returns of all elections shall be made for the nomination of Senators and Representatives in Congress in each State or Congressional Districts in any State ; and the result of such nominating elections shall be ofl&cially pub- lished in such manner and form as shall be provided by law. At such nominating election for Representatives in Con- gress, each qualified elector may cumulate his vote and cast — 828 — all the votes to which he is entitled for one candidate, or for more than one, as he may elect. On the first Tuesday of November following- such nomi- nating- election, the electors in each State qualified to vote for Representatives in Cong-ress shall again assemble in their respective counties, and from the candidates officially certified as having the highest vote on the list of those voted for at the nominating election on the preceding- first Tuesday of August, not exceeding- four candidates for each Represen- tative to be chosen, either in Congressional districts or for a State at larg-e, or in both State and districts as the case may be, shall choose the number of Representatives in Congress for such State or districts, or both, as they may be authorized by law to elect ; and the. person or persons having- the highest number of votes cast at said election in such State or dis- trict, or both, for Representative in Cong-ress, shall be the Representative. Each elector shall have the right to cumulate his vote and cast all the votes to which he is entitled in the district of his residence, or for the State at larg-e, or both as he may elect, for one candidate, or for more than one candidate, under such regulations as the Congress may bylaw prescribe. No Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, nor Judg-e of any Circuit or District Court of the United States, nor Judg-e of the Supreme Court or highest appellate court or court of record in any State, shall be elig-ible to be chosen a Senator or Representative in Cong-ress or member of the Colleg-e of Deputies. MISCELLANEOUS PARAGRAPHS. All electors and each org-anized g-roup of electors in the several States shall prepare and print their own ballots for use at all nominating- elections, in such form and manner as the Cong-ress may bylaw prescribe. After the result of each nominating election for Presi- dent, and for members of the College of Deputies, or for Sen- ators and Representatives in Congress, shall have been de- clared, the College of Deputies for each State shall cause to be prepared and printed all official ballots, and shall furnish — 829 — such ballots to the electors thereof, free of cost to them, as the Cong-ress shall by law direct, and said of&cial ballots shall be the onl}- legal ballot to be used at any final election in November. Any elector or gfroup of electors in any State or district shall select from the candidates officially declared as herein- before provided to be duly nominated for President or Senator or Representatives in Congress, or for members of the Col- lege of Deputies, and from no others, the names of such person or persons as he or they may desire to vote for at the final election in November, not exceeding the number of Rep- resentatives in Congress or members of the College of Depu- ties authorized by lav^^ to be elected by any constituency. And the names of all candidates on any national ticket shall be printed on a plain white paper ballot, as the Congress may by law direct. In case two or more candidates for nomination to any office shall receive an equal number of votes at such nominat- ing election, the Congress shall provide by law the manner of determining which of the candidates shall have his name printed on the official ballot. In case of the death, resignation or disability of any Sen- ator of the United States, or Representative in Congress, or member of the College of Deputies, the College of Deputies for the State in which such vacancy may happen shall, on receiving official notification thereof, be convened at the Cap- itol of such State and vote to fill such vacancy, in the manner prescribed for filling vacancies in the office of President, as the Congress may by law prescribe. The person so appointed shall be a resident of the State and district in which such vacancy shall have happened, and he shall, when appointed, be a member of the same party to which the Senator or Representative or Deputy belonged, whose vacancy is to be filled. All appointments made by the College of Deputies, in any State, shall be for the residue of the unexpired term. The College of Deputies for each State shall once in six years, at least thirty days prior to the time fixed in this Con- stitution for the nomination of candidates for President, cause a registration to be made of all electors in the several States, — 830 — duly qualified to vote for President, and shall provide for verif3'ing" and correcting* such national reg-istration thirty days prior to each election for the nomination of Senators and Representatives in Cong-ress. Offenses committed ag-ainst the peaceful conduct of na- tional elections, by the inhabitants of any State, or ag-ainst the persons of voters when going" to or returning- from such elections, or ag-ainst the members of the Colleg-e of Deputies for such State, or ag-ainst any official charg-ed b}- law with the conduct of such elections, shall, on trial and conviction before any District or Circuit Court of the United States for such State, be punished as the Cong-ress ma}^ by law pre- scribe. The Cong-ress shall by law provide the manner in which elections shall be conducted for President and Senators and Representatives in Cong-ress, and for members of the Colleg-e of Deputies in each State, and prescribe for the counting- and officially declaring- and certifying- the result of such vote at each election. If a citizen who has been elected a member of the College of Deputies for any State, shall refuse or neg-lect to qualif}-, or after qualifying-, shall refuse or neg-lect to discharg-e the duties of his office, as prescribed by law, any one or more electors may file a petition before any Judg-e of the District or Circuit Court of the United States in such State, asking* for an order directing- such Deputy to appear forthwith and show cause why he should not be removed from his office, or why the office should not be declared vacant. In case such Deputy should fail or refuse to obey the process of (^^^ourt, or its order, he shall be summaril}^ removed from his office by the Court ; and may, in addition to such re- moval from office, be punished, as for contempt, by fine or imprisonment, or both, at the discretion of the Court. In case of a contest touching- the conduct and returns of an election in any State under this Constitution for President or Senator of the United States, or Representatives in Con- g-ress, or for members of the CoUeg-e of Deputies, the matter in controversy shall be immediately heard and determined by the Circuit or District Court of the United States for the district and State in which such controversy arose, in such — 831 — manner as the Congress may provide by law, and from the decision of such Court touching- the matters in controversy there shall be no appeal. • The Secretary of the Interior and such oflB.cers as the Cong-ress may by law desig^nate shall be authorized and re- quired every six years to determine and officially to announce the number of Representatives in Congress to which each •State is entitled under each new apportionment. Such repre- sentation to be determined by assig^ning- to each State such proportion of the number of Representatives fixed by law as the number of the votes cast for President, at the election next preceding- in such State, bears to the total number of votes so cast in all the States. But each State shall have at least ONE Representative. The qualified electors in the District of Columbia and in each of the duly org"anized Territories of the United States, shall have the right to vote at all elections for the nomina- tion and election of President of the United States. The Cong-ress may provide by law that a deleg-ate elected in any duly org-anized Territory, which contains a popula" tion equal to one-half that required under any apportion- ment for one Representative in Congress, shall have secured to him all the privileg"es of a member of the House of Repre- sentatives, including- the rig-ht to vote. The Cong-ress shall by law define specifically in what the term "inability of the President to discharg-e the powers and duties of his office " shall consist; and in case of such " ina- bility " happening-, may by a concurrent vote of two- thirds of both the Senate and House of Representatives, suspend the President from the function of his office during- such inability, or may by a like vote of the Senate and House remove him from office because of such inability. All amendments which shall be proposed to this Consti- tution, by the Cong-ress, or by any duly authorized constitu- tional convention, shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the United States residing- in the several States, for their ratification or rejection. Such submission shall be at any national election when Representatives in Congress are chosen, and a majority of all the votes sfiven at such election for and against such — 832 — amendment or amendments, shall be nccessar}' for its ratifi- cation as part of this Constitution. • The Congress shall have power to enforce the several provisions of this amendment b}' appropriate leg"islation. MEMORANDUM, First. — The stability and safety of democratic g-overn- ment, both national and State, depend so larg-eh' on their clearly defined powers, that the Constitutions of each must of necessit}' limit the power to be exercised, and specifically define the manner in which all branches of the several de- partments of each shall be administered. This fact is universall}' recognized in all our modern State constitutions. The constitutions of Ohio and New York contain nearly Two and one-fourth times the number- of words found in the national Constitution, while the consti- tution of California will exceed it in leng-th more than three times. Our fathers, when framing- the national Constitution, attempted to settle and define in concise lang-uag-e the princi- ples on which the National Government should be founded. After a hundred years, their descendants are waking- up to the necessity of demanding- that the principles on which the National Government must be administered shall be more clearly and intcllig-cntly defined. That which has ob- tained in all our State constitutions, has become a necessity in our national Constitution. This is all the answer that needs be given to the objections, which many will doubtless make to the leng-th of m}'- proposed amendment. As orig-inally drafted, there was in this amendment a clause which provided, that a majority of all the duly quali- fied voters in any State mig-ht abolish their State g-overn- ments and, with the consent of Congress, unite the whole or any part of the territory of such State with one or more adjacent States, or, that they might be remanded to a Terri- torial condition, whenever its people determined, for any cause, that they no long-er desired to support a State g-overn- ment. That clause is omitted in the amendment as herewith submitted, for the reason, that during- the reconstruction period, immediately after the War of the Rebellion, the practical working- of the Constitution taught us that a ma- jority of the electors in any State could, as they in fact did in all the rebel States, abolish constitutional State govern- ments, and that Congress had no power, except force, to compel a majority of the people in any State to maintain a State government and elect Senators and Representatives to Congress, and vote for electors of President and Vice-Presi- dent. When such a condition obtains in any State, the sover- eignt}^ of the nation over such people and territory remains unchanged and unquestioned, under the Constitution, as it is — and therefore such an amendment is not now required. The suggestion made by Mr. Lincoln, during the war, ' 'that whenever one-tenth of the voters in any State which had abolished their constitutional State governments, and united with other rebellious States in organizing the so-called con- federate government, should signify their desire to establish constitutional State governments, in subordination to the national Constitution, that they should be authorized by Congress to do so," was a proposition so objectionable to the majority that it was, after a brief discussion, abandoned, and the sovereignty of the nation over all citizens residing in the rebellious States was fully and distinctly affirmed and recognized, in the plan of reconstruction adopted by Congress. Of the defects of that plan, I have neither the time nor the disposition to say a single word. It will be observed — in case a majority of the voters in any State should determine to alter or abolish their State governments in the form and manner prescribed in their State constitutions, and to ask Congress to establish for them a Territorial government instead — that, under my pro- posed amendment, the citizens of such Territor}^ would have 53 — 834 — secured to them the rig-ht to vote for President of the United States and for at least one Representative in Cong-ress. Second. — This plan provides that, at all November elec- tions, the of&cial ballots must contain the names of candidates for every of&ce to be elected, and each party or g"roup of electors sufficiently numerous in any State or district in a State to demand under the law the printing- and the distribu- tion of official ballots by the Colleg-e of Deputies must make up a complete ticket by selecting-, from among- the four HIGHEST nominated for any office at the preliminary election in Aug-ust, a candidate for ever^'- office to be elected, for the State or district in November. This provision is important, because it enables ever}^ elector when cumulating- his vote, or when substituting- the name of a duly nominated candidate of any part}' or g-roup of electors, in place of any name he may desire to erase on his own party ticket, to do so, without trouble, and to indi- cate intcllig-ently and unmistakably, on the face of his bal- lot, to the judg-es of election the chang-e he has made. With such a ticket no voter of ordinary intellig-ence can make a mistake, when chang-ing- his ballot, nor can election judges be in doubt as to the intention of an elector, even if he blur his ticket when making such changes, because the name of a candidate must be erased before another can be substituted. Congress must provide by law the form of all official bal- lots and the size of the type in which the names of the several candidates shall be printed, the space which shall appear on such ballot between the names of each candidate, so that the voter shall have room to write or paste in the name of am' candidate for whom he ma}' desire to vote, in- stead of the candidate whose name is printed on the official ballot of his party. Third. — It provides that a plurality of the votes cast at all nominating elections shall designate the persons to be voted for at each final election in November. It provides that a plurality shall, after the fourth ballot, elect, when the National College of Deputies may be called upon to fill vacancies in the office of President, or the College of Depu- ties for any State shall vote to fill the office of Senator or Representative in Congress, so that there can be no deadlock, — 835 — or failure to nominate or to elect candidates at any election. Fourth. — It provides that the legislatures of the several States shall no longer be charged with the duty of electing- Senators of the United States, and confers that power directly on the people of each State, thus enabling the legis- latures of the several States to attend strictly to the local business of their States, and to save time and expense — now recklessl}^ thrown away, as witness the one hundred days lost last winter in electing a Senator from Illinois. This amend- ment will also relieve the average legislator from the dan- gerous mental strain which now oppresses him, as he lies awake nights devising gerrymandering schemes, whereby a large part of the people in a majority of States are dis- franchised, by a dishonest distribution of political power, in the districting of States into Congressional districts, and DISTRICTS for the choice of electors of President and Vice- President, as was done in Michigan last winter. Fifth. — It provides for making ineligible for President or Senator or Representative in Congress, or member of the College of Deputies, any "Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, or Judge of any Circuit or District Court of the United States, or Judge of the Supreme Court or highest appellate court in any State." This provision was inserted with the hope that, when adopted, it will materially aid in reducing the number of ambitious politicians now on the bench in every State, who are officially pandering to the worst element of our population, and appealing to them for political recognition and promotion. In my opinion, an able and pure judiciary can best be secured by permanently excluding all judges from eligibility to political office, national or State. It would be desirable if all elections for governors and State officers in the several States were held either the year BEFORE or the year after each presidential election, or in any year other than the one in which the presidential election must be held under this proposed amendment. And as the expenses of all national elections must be paid by the National Government, there can be no valid ob- jection to holding all national and State elections as sug- gested. This would ultimate in a complete divorce of — 836 — national and State politics, and confine the business of State leg"islatures strictly to local matters in their respective States. If to this sug'g'estion could be added the nominating- and election in March and April, of all State judges made elec- tive by the people, and the officials of all cities (say that such final election of all such officials should be on the first Monday in April), we should, at a much earlier day than now seems possible, witness the election of a majc^ity of non-partisan judges and a majority of non-partisan city offi- cials, and thus secure an abler and purer judiciary than we now have, and also a better and more competent class of city officials than is possible under our present system. It will be observed that this amendment provides that at each national election the names of every candidate for whom any elector is authorized to vote must be printed on one ballot. In order that the reader may the more readilj^ under- stand how impossible it will be to commit fraud when voting such a ballot, I have prepared four tickets such as each elector or party in any State must make up in order to have all tickets printed by the College of Deputies, after the nom- inations are made, as an elector can only vote for candidates whose names appear on official ballots. Tickets for States and cities are also printed herewith. — 838- FORM OF OFFICIAL BALLOTS SUGGESTED National Republican Ticket. National Democratic Ticket. For President of the United States : For President of the United States : John Doe, of Pennsylvania. Richard Roe, of Kentucky. For United States Senator : For United States Senator : David Gibbs, of Sciota. Norman B. Cook, of Hamilton. For Representative in Congress for the For Representative in Congress for the State at Large : State at Large : Moses McCoy, of Franklin. Albert Sydney, of Wood. For Representatives in Congress for the For Representatives in Congress for the First District : First District : 1. Hezekiah Brown. 1. Hugh McBride. 2. Israel M. Hale. 2. Zachariah Holmes. 3. Joseph "Wilkins. 3. Nimrod Hunter. 4. Peter J. Fairfield. 4. Milton R. Smith. 5. Mathew Zane. 5. Noah Jackson. For Senatorial Deputies : For Senatorial Deputies: 1. Azariah C. Long. 1. John Newman. ' 2. Salmon A. Hooper. 2. Prosper W. Clay. For Member of the College of Deputies For Member of the College of Deputies for the State at Large : for the State at Large : Abraham Knull. Moses Norton. For Members of the College of Deputies For Members of the College of Deputies for the First District : for the First District: 1. Washington Hunter. 1. James Lyons. 2. Martin Simmonds. 2. John K. Ledwick. 3, Sampson Yarner. 3. Ralph Lect. 4. "William Houston. 4. Joseph Barber. 5. Robert Montgomery. 5. Aaron Vance. — 839 FOR NATIONAL ELECTIONS IN OHIO FOR 1896. National Alliance Federation Ticket. National Prohibition Ticket. For President of the United States : For President of the United States : Frank Granger, of Kansas. Paul St. John, of Maine. For United States Senator : « For United States Senator : Alexander Farmer, of Clinton. Gideon Stewart, of Fulton. For Representative in Congress for the For Representative in Congress for the State at Large : State at Large : Israel Putnam, of Washington. John B. Gough, of Ashtabula. For Representatives in Congress for the For Representatives in Congress for the First District : First District : 1. Columbus Fairplay. 1. Gideon J. Stewart. 2. Paul B. Miller. 2. Benjamin Brown. 3. Butler F. Benjamin. 3. Philo B. Scott. 4. Lawrence Ainsworth. 4. Samuel C. Hunter. 5. Job Leadbetter. 5. Nathan Owens. For Senatorial Deputies: For Senatorial Deputies : 1. Andrew Jackson. 1. Allen G. Marx. 2. William J. Marvin. 2. Zebulon Vance. For Member of the College of Deputies For Member of the College of Deputies for the Slate at Large : for the State at Large : Jacob Cone. Isaac Rodney. For Members of the College of Deputies For Members of the College of Deputies for the First District : for the First District : 1. John P. Turly. 1. Thomas M. Davey. 2. Asher J. Flanders. 2. Robinson McCane. 3. Oliver P. Hall. 4. Kingsley G. Baird. 5. Moses Goodridge. 3. Carl Pomeroy. 4. George Kinney. 5. John McDowell. 840 — THE OFFICIAL BALLOTS SUGGESTED FOR National Republican Ticket. National Democratic Ticket. For President of tlie United Slates: For President of the United States : John Doe, of Pennsylvania. Richard Roe, of Kentucky. For Representatives in Congress for iJie For Representatives in Congress for the State at Large : State at Large : 1. Azariah Flagg. 1. Langdon Smith. 2. Benj. F. Jarvis. 2. Moses B. Jordan. For Representatives in Congress for the For Representatives in Congress for the Eighth District : Eighth District: 1. Able M. Cooney. 1. Abraham Long. 2. James C. Banks. 2. Solomon Bliss. 3. George W. Davis. 3. Addison St. Clair. 4. David A. Wilder. 4. Charles S. Brown. For Senatorial Deputies : For Senatorial Deputies: 1. Jackson Donaldson. 1. Madison J. Bell. 2. David McPherson. 2. Paul Jones. For Members of the College of Deputies For Members of the College of Deputies for the State at Large; for the State at Large: 1. Lafayette Jones. 1. Norton C. Bacon. 2. Andrew J. King. 2. Wm. Henry Brady. For Members of (he College of Deputies For Members of the College of Deputies for the Eighth District: for the Eighth District: 1. Arthur Doe. 1. Able J. Roe. 2. Melangthon Doe. 2. Solomon Roe. 3. Hezek'iah Doe. 3. Peter Roe. 4. Jeremiah Doe. 4. Timothy Roe. 841 — NATIONAL KLECTIONS IN NEW YORK FOR 1896. National Alliance Federation Ticket. National Prohibition Ticket. For President of tlte United States : For President of the United States: Frank Granger, of Kansas. Paul St. John, of Maine. For Representatives in Congressfor the State at Large: For Representatives in Congress for the State at Large : 1. Nathan G. Cole. 1. William Gibbs. 2. Allen B. Jones. 2. Galen Morris. For Representatives in Congressfor the Eighth District : For Representatives in Congress for the Eighth District : 1. James Emmerson. 2. Thomas J. Smith. 3. Amos Doolittle. 4. Lyman Cross. 1. Samuel Carey. 2. Noah Chance. 3. Arthur Coldwater. 4. Calvin Tucker. For Senatorial Deputies : For Senatorial Deputies: 1. Eli Z. Hooper. 1. Isaac Clearwater. 2. Luke McDay. 2. Jacob Clingman. For Members of the College of Deputies for the State at Larqe : For Members of the College of Deputies: for the State at Large: 1. John B. Walker. 1. Wilkins Micauber. 2. Weller J. Fuller. 2. Asa B. Downing. For Members of the College of Deputies for the Eighth District : For Members of the College of Deputies for the Eighth District : 1. Andrew Kirk. 1. James Clearwater. 2. Allen Kirk. 2. John Clearwater. 3. Abraham Kirk. 3. Paul Clearwater. 4. Isaac Kirk. 4. Peter Clearwater. — 842 — FORM OF TICKETS FOR NEW YORK OR OHIO Republican State Ticket. Democratic State Ticket. For Governor: For Governor : William McKinley, Jr. James E. Campbell. » * » * * * » *- » » JPor Senators for the State al Large : For Senators for the State at Large : 1. Orlando Stevens. 1. Patrick Noland. 2. Henry J. Howard. 2. John Marks. 3. Jacob Cable. 3. Bailey McBride. For Senators for the Sixth District : For Senators for the Sixth District : 1. Andrew J. Knapp. 1. Mathew C. West. 2. Charles Godfrey. 2. Jackson Oakland. 3. Hamilton Houghton. 3. Harding Kellogg. 4. Horace J. Smith. 4. Marshall King. 5. David Rathbourne. 5. Obediah Mills. For Bepresentatives in the Legislature For Representatives in the Legislature for the State at Large : for the State at Large : 1. James Long. 1. Jason Quinsey. 2. John Wentworth. 2. JHlen Quinsey. 3. Jacob Williams. 3. Morris Quinsey. For Representatives in Legislature for For Representatives in Legislature for the Eighteenth District : the Eighteenth District : 1. Stanton Brown. 1. John Knowlton. 2. Heber Zimmerman. 2. James Knowlton. 3. Anthony Moore. 3. Henry Knowlton. 4. George A. Rhodes. 4. Charles Knowlton. 5. Clayton Brewer. 5. Abner Knowlton. — 843 — STATE ELECTIONS. FOUR OFFICIAL BALLOTS. Alliance Federation State Ticket. Pbohibition State Ticket. For Governor : For Governor : John Seitz. John J. Ashenhurst. ***** * « * * » For Senators for the State at Large : For Senators for the State at Large : 1. Abner L. Jones. 1. Peleg G. Scott. 2. Benjamin Briggs. 2. Samuel Ramsey. 3. Allen G. Holmes. 3. Barney May. For Senators for the Sixth District: For Senators for the Sixth District : 1. Chancy N. Olds. 1. Willard Warner. 2. Arthur Cook. 2. Francis G. Scott. 3. Jonathan Wynn. 3. Asa Sherwood. 4. George A. Greene. 4. Nathan Jewell. 5. Michael Sheridan. 5. William J. Bell. For Representatives in the Legislature For Representatives in the Legislature for the State at Large : for the State at Large : 1. Able Adams. 1. Morrison Roach. 2. Nicholas Adams. 2. Dennison Hale. 3. Philander Adams. 3. Robinson Holmes. For Representatives in Legislature for For Representatives in Legislature for the Eighteenth District : the Eighteenth District : 1. Benjamin Stanton. 1. Mason G. Thorp. 2. Oliver Hatchings. 2. llezekiali Hooper , 3. Wilbur Ford. 4. Thomas H. Ford. 5. Frederick Beaman. Waldron Dugan. Joseph Stewart. Abram Benson. — 844- FOUR OFFICIAL TICKETS FOR CITIES OF THE Republican City Ticket. Democratic City Ticket. For Mayor : For Mayor : John Paul Jones. Marshall P. Hall. « * « $ « » * » * » For Board of Aldermen for the For Board of Aldermen for the City at Large: City at Large : 1. Allen G. Mason. 1. Jacob Brown. 2. Franklin Fuller. 2. Isaac Brown. 3. Aaron Winfield. 3. Zachariah Brown. For Board of Aldermen for the For Board of Aldermen for the Fourth District: Fourth District : 1. John Smyth. 1. Milton Brown. 2. Jason Smyth. 2. Obediah Brown. 3. Jackson Smyth. 3. Paul Brown. 4. James Smyth. 4. Peter Brown. 5. Jonathan Smyth. 5. INIoses Brown. For Members of the Council for the For Members of the Council for the City at Large : City at Large : 1. Anthony Salsbury. 1. Norman Lang. 2. Arthur Salsbury. 2. Henry J. Lang. 3. Albert Salsbury. 3. Allen B. Lang. For Members of the Council for the For Members of the Council for the Twelfth District: Twelfth District: 1. John Bingham. 1. Washington Brady. 2. James Bingham. 2. Worthington Brady. 3. Jackson Bingham. 3. William Brady. 4. Jason Bingham. 4, Worden Brady. 5. Jasper Bingham 5. Walden Brady. ■845- POPULATION OF CINCINNATI AND NEW YORK. Citizens' Non-partisan Cit Y Prohibition City Ticket. Ticket. For Mayor: For Mayor : Jacob Zeigler. Arthur Brown. * » «- «- « * ■;■:• * * » For Board of Aldermen for the For Board of Aldermen for the City at Large : City at Large : 1. Otho Blake. 1. Melville Frank. 2. Norton Blake. 2. Melangthon Fay. 3. James G. Blake, 3. Orlando Brown. .For Board of Aldermen for the For Board of Aldermen for the Fourth District: Fourth District : 1. John J. Jones.' 1. William Aikens. 2. John Paul Jones. 2. John Aikens. 3. Jackson Jones. 3. Jason Aikens. 4. James J. Jones. 4. Jeptha Aikens. 5. Jeptha Jones. 6. James Aikens. For Members of the Council for the For Members of the Council for the City at Large : City at Large : 1. William Banks. 1. Alford Gleason. 2. Washington Banks. 2. Aaron Gleason. 3. Walter J. Banks. 3. Addison Gleason. For Members of the Council for the For Members of the Council for the Twelfth Disiri-t: Twelith District : 1. Elliot Zane. 1. John Coldwater. 2. Elbert Zane. 2. Jason Coldwater. 3. Elihu Zane. 3. Moses Coldwater. 4. Ezekiel Zane. 4. Paul Coldwater. 5. Elijah Zane. 5. St. John Coldwater. 846 — Population. Population. White. 1790. Colored. 1790. AVl)ite. 1800. SCO o '7' |g Colored. 1800. (0 00 District of Columbia- 10,066 49,852 586,095 194,325 102,261 244,721 416,393 216,326 196,255 182,998 514,280 557.731 337,764 65,438 153,908 179,873 91,709 150,901 45,028 /c 38 14 93 5 12 4 40 30 16 78 17 2 81 194 187 57 4,027 14,421 16,270 16,824 60,425 6,281 6,452 125 222 149^336 860 365,920 31,320 140,339 3,684 557 41,082 13,893 818 337 % Delaware 46,310 424,099 169,954 52,886 232,374 373.324 208,649 140,178 141,097 442.117 314;i42 288,204 64,470 85,154 61,133 31,913 96,002 12,786 10,274 14,185 29,662 5,572 5,463 111,079 108,895 788 305,493 25,978 105,547 4,355 271 12,544 3,778 538 13 Pennsj'lvania New Jersey 58 IQ Georgia ±— Connecticut - 104 13 Massachusetts Mar5land _ - 18 13 South Carolina New Hampshire Virginia. 37 9 20 New York 21 North Carolina Rhode Island Vermont 33 Bee. 15 106 Kentucky 2*^8 Tennessee. 268 Maine- 52 Ohio — - Louisiana _ _ Indiana _ _ 5,343 5,179 298 3,671 Mississippi _ _ _ Illinois Alabama Missouri Arkansas Michigan- _ _ Florida — Texas _ _ Iowa Wisconsin — California- _ Minnesota— Oregon Kansas - West Virginia Nevada — Nebraska Colorado North Dakota I South Dakota IMontana - - - J "" Washington- - Wyoming- - __ _ Idaho - __ Utah — — New Mexico Arizona. Alaska 36 Total- - _ _ 3 172 006 757,208 4,306,446 1,002.037 32 — 847 — Population. Population. White. 1810. i OS <0 o a Colored. 1810. 2 a White. 1820. a Colored. 1820. aj u CJ d 1— ( 16,079 55,361 786,804 226,868 145,414 255,179 465,303 235,117 214,196 . 213,490 551,514 918,699 376,410 73,214 217,145 324,237 215,875 227,736 228,861 34,311 23,890 23,024 11,501 % 60 11 34 17 42 4 12 9 9 17 7 65 11 12 41 80 135 51 408 "347' 345 7,944 17,313 23,287 18,694 107,019 6,763 6,737 145,429 200,919 970 423,086 40,350 179,090 3,717 750 82,274 45,852 969 1,899 42,245 630 17,328 781 97 20 43 11 77 8 4 16 35 13 16 29 28 1 35 100 230 18 464 111 372 22,614 55,282 1,017,094 257,409 189,566 267,181 516,419 260,223 237,440 243,236 603,085 1,332,744 419,200 79,413 235,063 434,644 339,927 297,340 576,572 73,383 145,758 42,176 53,788 85,451 65,988 12,579 8,591 % 41 Dec. 1 . 29 13 30 5 11 11 11 14 9 45 11 8 8 34 67 31 152 114 510 83 368 225" '"86~' 10,425 17,467 30,413 20,017 151,419 7,967 6,740 147,127 265,301 786 462,031 39,367 219,629 3,602 903 129,491 82,844 929 4,723 79,540 1,420 33,272 1,374 42,450 10,569 1,676 174 /o 31 1 31 7 41 18 0.04 1 32 Dec. 19 9 Dec. 2 23 Dec. 3 20 67 81 Dec. 4 149 88 125 a2 76 17,227 3,618 192 4,618 144 21 5,862,073 36 1,377,808 38 7,862,166 34 1,771,656 29 848 Population. PoprLATiox. White. 1830. 1 Colored. 1830. q; a; u a White. 1840. 6 a a Colored. 1840. v: Pist. Columbia Delaware Pennsylvania - New jersey — Georgia Connecticut — INIassachusetts Maryland 8oulh Carolina N. Hampshire Tirginia New York North Carolina Rhode Island- Vermont Kentucky Tennessee Maine Ohio Louisiana — '. Indiana Mississippi — Illinois Alabama Missouri Arkansas Michigan Florida Texas - - 27,563 57,501 1,309,900 300,266 296,806 289,603 603,359 291,108 257,863 268,721 694,300 1,873,663 472,843 93,621 279,771 517,787 535,746 398,263 928,329 89,441 339,399 70,443 155,061 190,406 114,795 25,671 31,346 18,385 % 22 4 29 17 57 8 17 12 9 10 15 41 13 18 19 19 58 34 61 22 133 67 188 123 105 104 265 12,271 19,147 38,333 20,557 220,017 8,072 7,049 155,932 323,322 607 517,105 44,945 265,144 3,578 881 170,130 146,158 1,192 9,574 126,298 3,632 66,178 2,384 119,121 25,660 4,717 293 16,345 % 18 10 26 3 45 1 5 6 22 Dec. 23 12 14 21 B8C.1. Dec. 2 31 76 2s 103 59 156 99 74 181 143 181 m 30,657 58,561 1,676,115 351.588 407,695 301,856 729,030 318,204 259,084 284,036 740,968 2,378,890 484,870 105.587 291,218 590,253 640,627 500,438 1,502,122 158,457 678,698 179,074 472,254 335,185 323,888 77,174 211,560 27,943 % 11 2 28 17 37 4 21 9 4 6 7 27 "3 13 4 14 20 26 62 77 100 154 205 76 182 201 575 52 13,055 19,524 47,918 21,718 283,697 8,122 8,669 151,815 335,314 538 498,829 50,031 268,549 3,243 730 189,575 188,583 1,355 17,345 193,954 7,168 196,577 3,929 255,571 59,814 20,400 707 26,534 6 2 25 6 29 1 23 Dec. 3. 4 Decii Dec 4. 11 1 Dec. 9. Dec 17. n 29 14 81 54 97 197 65 115 1S3 332 141 62 42,924 30,749 — 188 196 VVisconsin California 1 Minnesota Oregon --|" Kansas 1 West Virginia Nebraska-- Colorado North Dakota- I South Dakota. ) ^ — Utah 1 1 Total a 10,537,378| 34 2,328,642 31 614,195,805 35 2,873,648 23 a Includes b,Zi% persons on public ships in the service of the U. S. b Includes 6,100 persons on public ships iu the service of the U. S. 849 — Population. POPU LATION. White. Colored. 03 White. 3 Colored. 1 1 1850. o 1850. a 1860. a 1860. % % % /o 37,941 24 13,746 60,763 60 14,316 4 71,169 22 20,363 4 90,589 27 21,627 6 2,258,160 35 53,626 12 2,849,259 26 56,949 6 465,509 32 24,046 11 646,699 39 25,336 5 521,572 28 384,613 36 591,550 13 465,698 21 ^ 363,099 20 7,693 Bee. 5 451,504 24 8,627 12 . 985,450 35 9,064 5 1,221,432 24 9,602 6 417,943 31 165,091 9 515,918 23 171,131 4 274,563 6 393,944 17 291,300 6 412,320 5 317,456 12 520 Decs. 325,579 3 494 Bee. 5. 894,800 21 526,861 6 1,047,299 17 548,907 4 3,048,325 28 49,069 Bee. 2. 3,831,590 26 49,005 Bee. 0.1. 553,028 14 316,011 18 629.942 14 361,522 14 143.875 36 3,670 13 170,649 19 3,952 8 313,402 8 718 Dee. 2. 314,369 0.3 709 Bee. .1. 761,413 29 220,992 17 919,484 21 236,167 7 756,836 18 245,881 30 826,722 9 283,019 15 581,813 16 1,356 .07 626,947 8 1,327 Bee. 2. 1,955,050 30 25,279 46 2,302,808 18 36,673 45 255,491 61 262,271 35 357,456 40 350,373 34 977,154 44 11,262 57 1,338,710 37 11,428 1 i 295,718 65 310,808 58 353,899 20 437,404 41 > 846,034 79 5,436 38 1,704,291 101 7,628 40 426,514 27 345,109 35 526,271 23 • 437,770 27 . 592,004 83 90,040 51 1,063,489 80 118,503 32 162,189 110 47,708 134 324,143 100 111,259 133 395,071 87 2,583 265 736,142 86 6,799 163 47,203 69 40,242 52 77,746 65 62,677 56 154,034 58,558 420,891 173 182,921 212 191,881 347 333 77 673,779 251 1,069 221 304,756 891 635 224 773,693 154 1,171 84 ' 91,635 962 323,177 253 4,086 325 6,038 39 169.395 2705 259 564 13,087 207 52,160 106,390 299 128 627 Bee. 38. 6,812 28,696 34,231 45 82 46 2,576 11,138 30 11,330 50 40,125 254 59 18 61,525 22 82,924 35 85 286 19,553,068 38 3,638,808 27 26,922,537 38 4,441,830 22 54 850 — District of Columbia- Delaware Pennsylvania New Jersey Georgia Connecticut" Massachusetts Maryland South Carolina New Hatapshire Virginia New York North Carolina Ehode Island Vermont Kentucky Tennessee Maine Ohio Louisiana Indiana Mississippi Illinois Alabama Missouri Arkansas Michigan Florida Texas Iowa Wisconsin California Minnesota Oregon Kansas West Virginia Nevada Nebraska Colorado North Dakota South Dakota Montana Washington Wyoming Idaho Utah New Mexico Arizona Oklahoma Population. White. 1870. Total- 88,278 102,221 3,456',609 875,407 638,926 527,549 1,443,156 605,497 289,667 317,697 712,089 4,330,210 678,470 212,219 329,613 1,098,692 936,119 624,809 2,001,946 362,065 1,055,83 382,896 2,511,096 521,384 1,603,146 362,115 1,167,282 96,057 564,700 1,188,207 1,051,351 499,424 438,257 86,929 346,377 424,033 38,959 122,117 39,221 } 12,887 18,306 22,195 8,726 10,618 86,044 90,393 9,581 % 45 13 21 35 8 17 18 17 Dec. 0.6 Dec. 2 Dec. 32 13 8 24 5 19 13 Dec. 0.3 13 1 24 8 47 Dec. 0.9 51 12 59 24 34 76 36 55 159 67 226 472 326 15 400 99 33,589,877 114 9 Colored. 1870. 43,404 22,794 65,294 30,658 545,142 9,668 13,947 175,391 415,814 580 512,841 52,081 391,650 4,980 924 090 910 322,331 1,606 63,213 364,210 24,560 444,201 28,762 475,510 118,071 122,169 11,849 91,689 253,475 5.762 2,113 4,2 759 346 17,108 17,980 35 789 456 94 183 20 183 60 118 172 26 % 203 5 15 21 17 12 45 2 ^0.9 17 Dec. 7 6 8 26 30 Dec. 6 14 21 72 4 115 2 277 9 Dec. 0.4 10 74 46 39 439 80 5 193 170 2629 693 862 891 590 100 102 4,880,009! 10 — 851 — Population. Population. White. i Colored. o5 White. Colored. 6 I) 1880. 2 a 1880. O a 1890. o 1890. a M '"' '"' % % % % 118,006 34 59,596 37 154,095 31 75,572 27 120,160 18 26,442 16 140,066 17 28,386 7 4,197,016 21 85,535 31 5,148,257 23 107,596 26 1,092,017 25 38,853 27 1,396,581 28 47,638 23 816,906 28 725,133 33 978,357 20 858,815 18 610,769 16 11,547 19 733,438 20 12,302 7 1,763,782 22 18,697 34 2,215,373 26 22,144 18 724,693 20 210,230 20 826,493 14 215,657 3 391,105 35 604,332 45 462,008 18 688,934 14 346,229 9 685 18 375,840 9 614 Dec. 10 880,858 24 631,616 23 1,020,122 16 635,438 1 5,016,022 16 65,104 25 5,923,952 18 70.092 8 867,242 28 531,277 36 1,055,382 22 561,018 6 269,939 27 6,488 30 337,859 25 7,393 14 331,218 0.5 1,057 14 331,418 0.1 937 Dec. 11 1,377,179 25 271,451 22 1,590,462 15 268,071 Dec. 1 1,138,831 22 403,151 25 1,336,637 17 430,678 , 7 646,852 4 1,451 Dec, 10 059,263 2 1,190 Dec. 18 3,117,920 20 79,900 26 3.584,805 15 87,110 9 454,954 26 483,655 oo '558,395 23 559.193 16 1,938,798 17 39,228 60 2,146,736 11 45,215 15 479,398 25 650,291 46 644,851 14 742,559 14 3,031,151 21 46,368 61 3,768,472 24 57,028 23 662,185 27 600,103 26 833,718 26 678,489 13 2,022,826 26 145,350 23 2,528,458 25 150,184 3 591,531 63 210,666 72 818,752 38 309,117 47 1,614,560 38 15,100 27 2,072,884 28 15.223 1 142,605 48 126,690 38 224,949 58 166;i80 31 1,197,237 112 393,384 55 1,746,935 46 488,171 24 1,614,600 36 9,516 65 1,901,086 18 10,685 12 1,309,618 25 2,702 28 1,680,473 28 2,444 Dec. 10 767,181 54 6,018 41 1,111,672 45 11,322 88 776,881 77 1,564 106 1,296,159 67 3,683 135 163,075 88 487 41 301,758 85 1,186 144 952,155 175 43,107 152 1,376,553 45 49,710 15 692,537 40 25,886 44 730,077 23 32,690 26 53,556 37 488 37 39,084 Dec. 27 242 60 449,76-i 268 2,385 202 1,046,888 133 8,913 274 191,126 387 2,435 434 404,468 112 6,215 155 133,147 933 401 327 r 182,123 I 327,290 283 914 128 35,385 93 346 89 127,271 260 1,490 331 67,199 203 325 57 340,513 407 1,602 393 19,437 123 298 63 59,275 205 922 209 29,013 173 53 Dec. 12 82,018 183 201 279 142,423 66 232 97 205,899 45 588 153 108,721 20 1,015 490 142,719 31 1,956 93 35,160 267 155 496 55,580 58,826 58 1,357 2,973 775 43,402,970 29 6,580.793 35 54,983,890 27 7,470,010 14 ^-tU^^ a^i^rh Op^^£.■ t> t' o " " i-J *-' CO lO C5 03 >t« Ol *. l^^ o w> H- ^1 K-" CD en c:;^ 4^ 05 O O O en O O Oi o oooo o o o o s o S3 3 o f PI 15 B. go' r-t- (t> >-» W P B ■-( CO n n tr CO p o CTOJ o cr C^ "-S 2^ CD p td c:c cn — ~ ^ to o cr (0 p o C n Q t3 cr fa > o o „- ?^ I "< O CO a p o 3 O CO p O :o ^ -J -40 Hj • • • • r^ cr K t^ W W H i 5 -^ ~ C C -. O -! -^ I-' O: C; •— ' c: O I— ' o Cn Oi IC t-C C7I O O O -J Oi ^1 li to I— ' o O en 4- CJ Oi O 1— ■ J:^ fcti. to CO lO -^J 4- j^i^ O en pij-'"'o~io~io1o e;i en K-' o oi ^i c; 4- ^ ~l"-^"^i en"';c~C» 4- Ol CO ~ C> CO O -^ I— O CK O CO CO "-i --J o to -i o "enlo 4^"o~o"'c» o o ;;' o o CO o o e/> o o lo Pastors. Local Ministers Members Adher'nts Sunday Schools. Z mi o S tn H Z o o M 3 Officers and Teachers. Scholar? ►-' ^- en o CO 00 '-' o o c; o to en c^ o o o Churche? to o -^I 4^ CO en o o ^i CO o OjOpJO 4^ o o "cr o "lo ~to c; o o c; CO CO C C C^ O 4- C> Church and School Propert}'. THE NEGRO AS AN AUTHOR. The race is now producing- some very fine books, among* them the Hon. G. W. Williams's "History of the Negro Race ;" " The History of A. M. E. Church," by Bishop D. A. Payne; "The Voice from the South," by Mrs. A. J. Cooper; "The Divine Log-os," by Rev, H. T. Johnson; "Theolog"y," by Rev. J. C. Embry, and many others are the first crop of authors in thirty years. I have in my own li- brary ninety-two, and the list covers more than 100. THE NEGRO PRESS. The press is a power. It was formerly used against the interest of the neg-ro, but now the neg-ro has his own papers and can speak for the race, demand his rig-hts and present his wrong-s to the world. The Christian Recorder is the oldest relig"ious press in this country. Rev. H. T. Johnson is its editor. It is the org-an of the A. M. E. Church. The A. M. E. Church Review, Rev. L. J. Cooper, editor, and the A. M. E. Zion Church Review, Hon. J. C. Dancy, editor, are doing g-ood work. We have now about 150 newspapers, plead- ing" the cause of the race every week, all since the emancipa- tion. After having- reviewed the prog-ress of the race for thirty years, and witnessed the advance it has made, it is with more than ordinary satisfaction that I appear in the presence of this g-reat audience to discharg-e the very pleasant duty which has been assig-ned me and to show the world that we are not a race of ing-rates, nor are we forg-etful of the bless- ings received, nor is our memory bad when recording the wrongs we have suffered in this land of freedom. Now, Hon. James M. Ashley, when in 1865 I sat in the gallery of the House of Representatives and witnessed your successful leadership in the last great congressional battle for freedom, I did not think that I would be called on to per- form so pleasant a duty as this. I was there when the Speak- er announced that the 13th amendment had passed. I joined in the song- of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." I heard the cannons in the city carr3ang- the glad tiding-s in the air. The bells of the city shouted for joy. Having- done your duty at all times — and the present g-eneration of black men are aware of it — and in their name and on their behalf I have headed the committee of compilation. It has been a work of love and pleasure to collect 5'our orations and speeches which in their day were our arm}^ and battle axes, and became our victory and liberty. [Applause.] In all you then said or did in our behalf, we have found no word or thought or act, which we or any black man could wish to change or blot. [Applause.] In 1864, when you said (and we have preserved it in this Souvenir) "that if true to the cause of freedom, the ver^' stones cast at 3-ou would one day be made inta your monument," you uttered a prophecy which to-night is fulfilled. [Applause.] To fulfill that prophecy we thought that to collect your speeches and put them in a volume, to be read for many genera- tions, would be better than a shaft of marble or a statue of bronze, for the marble would crumble beneath the weight of years and the. bronze would tarnish in the breath of time, but this volume will be sent to the public libraries of this and other lands and be read b}- the coming generations. Accept this token from the present generation, and on behalf of the coming generation I thank you for what you have done for them, and with you I rejoice that the door of our prison is closed forever and the gatewa}' of freedom is opened for all the generations to come. [Applause.] The following- presentation address was prepared by the Hon. Wm. H. Young-, President of the Afro-American lyeag-ue of Nashville, Tennessee. As Mr. Youngs was unavoidably detained at home, we publish this address in full. Bishop Arnett (with the aid of his little son, Danie] Payne Arnett) took Mr. Young-'s place. MR. YOUNG'S ADDRESS. Mr. President : As the representatives of the Afro- American Leag-ue of Tennessee, we have met this evening, in 'this great city, the Mecca toward which the heart of civilization has been turned during- this Columbian jubilee oc- casion, to erect a monument founded in the gratitude of the ex-slaves and their children of the United States of America. The spirit which actuated us in the movement, whose consummation we shall this nig-ht witness, impelled the nation to dedicate monuments to the champions of the cause of the Union, and the devotees of States' sovereig-nty to foster as an abiding- possession the memory of heroes whose convic- tions were dearer to them than life. Forty years ag-o the social fabric of our g-reat country consisted of four distinct threads : — (1) The slave, who by nativit}'-, residence and conquest had become an essential part of the nation ; (2) The abolitionist, who stood upon the broad doctrine announced by the revolutionary fathers, that "all men are created free and equal ;" (3) A larg-e element, who professed to believe that '* there were races" who could be chattelized without sin or crime. And (4) a larg-er number who cared little for the equality of men. so long- as their own rig-hts remained intact, and the integrity ot the National Government was undisturbed. In the struggle which followed the slave remained for a time a passive quantity. The abolitionist demanded the emancipation of the slaves. The devotees of States' rights maintained that the slave, being property, was wholW within the jurisdiction of the States, and that any infringement upon property rights by the National Government would justify a dissolution of the Union. This dictum left to the unconditional Unionist but one alternative, a coalition with the abolitionist for the purpose of saving the Union. The war is ended. Its results and subsequent legislation are enshrined in the nation's history. Under Providence, the Union is restored, slavery is abol- ished and the entire nation, North and South, rejoices in the accomplishment of both. We are not here to revive the unpleasant memories of the past, nor to rekindle the camp-fires which are possessions of the dead past ; but we are here to crown the head of him from the fullness of whose great heart the second declaration of independence sprung : ' Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." This declaration contains the essential element of dem- ocratic institutions ; and secures the perpetuity of the American republic. Mr. Lincoln was the mouth-piece of Unionism; Mr. Davis of State sovereignt}', Mr. Ashle)- of freedom. The two former championed the cause of peculiar forms ot government, the latter the cause of humanitv. The followers of Lincoln have seen the Union re-estab- lished. The followers of Mr. Davis have seen State sovereignty maintained in part with the exception of the right of secession. The followers of Mr. Ashley have seen the freedom of all men acknowledg-ed in 'theory at least. Kach has his reward in the gratitude of his chosen con- stituency. The imag-es of Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Davis are perpetu- ated in marble and bronze as a lasting- reminder to the g^en- erations to come. But to-nig-ht we erect a unique monument of the charter of " the Tribune of the people." We come not as partisans, but as freedmen and citizens, the immediate beneficiaries of the crowning- act of Mr. Ash- ley's noble life. We come to snatch from the consummate statesman, patriot, philanthropist and benefactor, the chill and g"loom of ing"ratitude and to reinvest his being- with new life. We come to reassure him that the j^ears of strife, turmoil, and self-abneg-ation spent for a despised race were " as bread cast upon the water." We come to remind him that we to-nig-ht intend that his name and life-work shall be a precious legacy to our chil- dren's children. That they shall rise up and call him blessed. We have come to announce to the world that henceforth he who shall merit our g-ratitude shall not g-o unrewarded. This souvenir is the tribute of the Afro- Americans to the Hon. Jas. M. Ashley. PRESENTATION. At the conclusion of Bishop Arnett's address, he invited Gov. Ashley to arise. Thereupon Master Daniel Paj-ne Arnett, the Bishop's little son, stepped forward and presented him the volume and said: Gov. Ashley: — I present you this volume in the name of the coming" g-enerations, thanking- 3-ou for what you have done for us in the past. May God bless you and give j-ou long- life. Gov. Ashley's response to Master Arnett's speech was as follows : This is indeed a welcome surprise, and I take this book from your little son's hand with mingled feeling-s of satisfac- tion and delight. To me childhood is the connecting link between man and his Creator. When Jesus said " Suffer little children to come unto me," He touched all unperverted human hearts. My little man, your speech and act touches my heart with pleasurable emotions which words cannot fully express. May you always remember with pride the occasion on which you represented President Young of the Afro-American League of Tennessee, and when you reach man's estate may 3'ou appreciate in all its length and breadth the work of the Grand Men, who were the recognized Leaders of this great Parliament of Religions. As a citizen ma}- you prove worthy of the priceless heritage secured to you by the heroism and valor of the liberating Army of Anti-Slavery Heroes, and worthy of the noble man for whom you were named. &77u^/e tzdie^- L^<^'9^€.e 'CC^. Cly^4.^e//. s^.^.j. ^. a/My. MR. ASHLEY'S RKSPONSE TO Bishop Arnett and Presidknt Young. Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen : Some seer or sag-e has said, "that the unexpected always happens.'* That the unexpected often happens, 3'ou and all observing- men can testify. Certainly, in my most impassioned and vividl}- illuminated moments, when denouncing- this nation, as I often did, for its g-reat crime ag-ainst the negro, and de- scribing- him after he should be free, as in my mind's eye I then saw him liberated and marching- in solid black columns of advancing- civilization, I did not comprehend, in all its moral power and stately g-randeur, that which g-reets me as a living- reality to-night. Here in this mag-nificent building-, on an occasion made forever memorable and historic, I am told that in the vast audience before me, I can look upon eleven neg-ro bishops and not less than 150 reg-ularly ordained neg-ro clerg-y- men of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, represent- ing- an actual membership of five hundred thousand souls. And I am told that there are here present negro clerg-ymen from all branches of the Christian church, representing- nearly a million communicants more, and that in addition to these clerg-ymen, there are before me representatives of numerous schools and colleg-es, and editors, law3'ers, physicians and authors, with many men of recog-nized ability in artistic, mechanical and business pursuits ; and last thoug-h not least, a larg-e representation of org-anized wag-e-workers, and of neg-ro farmers and planters. This is indeed a convocation of black men, such as the world has never before witnessed, and such as the most sang-uine of the "old liberty g-uard," never expected to live long- enoug-h to see. [Applause.] Fellow-Citizens : On a day such as this, filled with historic memories, it is proper that I should say to you, that I did not want Mr. Lincoln to issue his one hundred days preliminary proclamation. I knew that such a proclamation would streng-then me personall}- and politically in the cong-ressional contest of that year, and beyond doubt secure, my re-election. But I was not fig-hting- for a personal triumph, nor was I fig-ht- ing to save the Union with slaver}'. I was fighting for free- dom and national unity, and national peace through the liberation and enfranchisement of the negro, I believed then, as I believe now, that no union could be honorable and enduring whose g-overnment was administered over the pros- trate form of Justice. [Applause.] As soon as the result of our State election in 1862 was known, Mr. Lincoln invited me to come to Washing-ton. The morning after reaching the cit}', I walked over from the Treasur}' Department with Mr. Chase to the White House. The President, Mr. Stanton, and others who were present, cordially congratulated me on my re-election (I was the only Republican member of the Ohio delegation who with- stood the mad political cyclone of that year), and the)'- were all anxious to know how I escaped. I answered: "It was your proclamation, Mr. President, that did it." In a moment or two, Mr. Lincoln said : "Well, General, how do you like the proclamation?" I answered: "That had I been com- mander-in-chief, I should not have g-iven the enemy one hun- dred days' notice of my purpose to strike him in his weakest and most vulnerable point, nor would I have made an apolog-y for doing so just and noble an .act." And I added b}- wa}' of quiet protest against recog-nizing- the slave-baron conspirators as entitled to any such consideration, "That I certainly should not have g-iven General Lee one hundred days' notice of my purpose to move on the weakest point of his fortifica- tions around Richmond, and publicl}' desig-nate that point as this proclamation does." Mr. Lincoln enjoyed my way of answering" him, and acknowledg"ed my "hit," as he called it. But though I did not want the one hundred days proclama- tion issued, I nevertheless hailed it with jo}', because I knew that it was a step in the rig-ht direction, and one from which there could be no retreat. I felt confident, that the slave barons in their blindness and madness would not accept its terms, and that on the expiration of one hundred days, the promised proclamation must be issued if Mr. Lincoln lived. Many of us were at that time apprehensive that he would be assassinated, or that some unexpected and untoward event mig-ht happen, to postpone or defeat the issuing- of the final proclamation. It was because of this fear and anxiety, that I preferred to have but one proclamation issued, and I was per- sistent, as all know, that it should be issued at once. [Ap- plause.] Certainly you and all honest men understand that I was thankful, as were the great body of Union men, for the promise which that one hundred days proclamation g-avet I hoped that the Confederates, like the Egfyptians of old, would harden their hearts, and refuse to accept Mr. Lincoln's offer of peace, and believing- that they would do so, this one hundred daj's' delay did not at any time shake my faith as to the final result, and they were to me days of hopefulness and thankfulness. I am a born optimist. No matter how dark the cloud my hopeful vision penetrates it and my eyes catch early g-limpses of the g"olden lig-ht beyond. [Applause.] Mr. President, often during- the war, a number of my associates in Cong-ress were wont to say, " that when Wendell Phillips blew a blast upon his bug-le horn, 'twas worth a thousand men ! " After the first of January, 1863, we all came to know, that Mr. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was worth a hundred thousand men. As we now look back, we all realize, that when Mr. Lincoln blew a blast upon his bug-le horn, the nation paused, and listened and approved. At Spring-field, Illinois, in 1858, Mr. Lincoln said, "A house divided ag-ainst itself cannot stand. I believe this g-ov- ernment cannot endure permanently half slave and half free." The people heard him, and believed him and made him Presi- dent. In closing- his immortal Emancipation Proclamation, he spoke in lang-uag-e that will live in history forever I These are his g-olden words: "And upon this act, sincerel}^ be- lieved to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judg-ment of mankind, and the g-racious favor of Almig"hty God." This blast upon his bug"le horn reverberated from center to circumference, and was hailed with joy by all patriotic Americans. It was also heard and welcomed by the friends of liberty all around the world. [Applause.] Mr. President, I am g"lad your committee has preserved in this volume a speech of mine made in Congress before Mr. Lincoln's inaug"uration. It was made ag^ainst the amazing- surrender of the House Committee, known in those days as the "Union Saving- Committee of 33." That committee pro- posed a compromise which they intended should silence for all time, the troublesome abolitionist, and g-ive the slave barons the ease and peace, the security and perpetual power they soug-ht. This so-called final compromise, was an amend- ment to our national Constitution, which reads as follows : "Article 12. No amendment shall be made to the Consti- tution, which shall authorize or g-ive Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any State, with the domestic insti- tutions thereof, including- that of persons held to labor or ser- vice, by the laws of such State." As an American, I blush to state that this proposed amend- ment passed both Houses of Cong-ress, with the active sup- port of President Buchanan, two days before Mr. Lincoln's inaug-uration. Had it been ratified by the requisite num- ber of States, it would have madethe chattelization of men, ever3'where beneath our flag-, whether white or black, consti- tutional and perpetual. In all coming- time, this humiliat- ing- and shameless proposition will confront us, as the black- est act proposed by the American Cong-ress during- all our dark history! Nor need I add, that its passag^e by Cong-ress completed our national deg-radation. I cannot describe to you how this appalling- weakness of loyal men in our own ranks, who voted with the conspirators for this abomination of abominations, oppressed and over- whelmed me with shame and sorrow. Often in my ag-ony I cried out: " God g-ive us men ! A time like this demands Strong- minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; Men who possess opinions and a will; Men who have honor; men who will not lie; Men who can stand before a demagog-ue, And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking-. Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog- In public duty and in private thinking." [Applause.] On page 126 of this volume may be found what I said in Congress on the I7tli of January, 1861, against this Christless proposition of the Committee of 33: "The basis of the new Union is to be the recognition of slaves as property by constitutional provision, unalterable except with the consent of every slave State." . "That such demands will ever be acceded to by the peo- ple of the United States I do not believe possible. But what- ever MAY BE THE COURSE OP OTHERS, BE THE CONSEQUENCES WHAT THEY MAY, BY NO ACT OR VOTE OF MINE SHALI. THE CON- STITUTION OF MY COUNTRY EVER BE S5 AMENDED AS TO REC- OGNIZE PROPERTY IN MAN." [ApplaUSe.] Contrast the proposed amendment of the Compromise Com- mittee of 33, with the 13th amendment, introduced by me in the House of Representatives on the 14th of December, 1863, which reads : Article 13. "Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in the United States, or any place subject to its jurisdiction. " Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by law duly enacted." This amendment, with the changes stated by me on page 331 of this volume, is now part of our national Constitution, and you and I know that it will remain there forever. [Ap- plause.] If, when delivering- the earlier speeches, which your pub- lication committee has compiled in this volume before me, the announcement had been publich' made, that within the life-time of their author, the four million or more of black men who were then in bondag-e would so soon thereafter be liberated and made citizens, and that out of their poverty and helplessness they would be advanced in civilization so rapidl}' as to accomplish all the black man in the first quarter of a centur}' after his freedom has accomplished, and that in their g-ratitude the}' would compile and publish, as they have done in this book, some of the appeals made for their liberation and enfranchisement, such an announcement would have been received by a majority of m}' countrymen, as " mid- summer madness." And 3'et if the interpretations put upon some of my utterances by 3'our Bishop are not purely imag-- inative, I seem before the war, by a process of reasoning" satisfactor}' to m3'self, to have comprehended something- of the magnitude of the impending- conflict and its results, [Applause.] Mr. President, in ever}' period of the world's history and among- all peoples, thefe have been those who unconsciously were illuminated with what the poet calls "the inner light," those whose eyes were permitted to look into the future and to behold the g'lor}- of the coming- day, before the breaking- of the dawn, and to see visions, such as come to human souls only when lighted with the g-lory of regions celestial. Such was the "inner light," which illuminated the g-reat men of the Revolution of 1776, when they launched our ship of state, and promulg-ated our immortal Declaration of Independence and formed our national Constitution. This is the "inner light" which illuminated the souls of all the leaders of our g-reat anti-slavery revolution. "A pil- lar of cloud by da}^ and a pillar of fire by night," it inspired the faith of every living and of every d^-ing- anti-slavery hero. [Applause.] It inspired John G. Whitticr, our beloved Quaker poet, and Frederick Douglass, the negro's matchless representative. It inspired William Lloj'd Garrison, and Wendell Phillips, James G. Berney and Nathaniel P. Rog-ers, Gerrit Smith and William Leg-g-ett, Cassius M. Clay and John G. Fee, Gamaliel Bailey and William Goodell, Theodore Parker and Samuel J. May, Henry Ward Beecher and Wm. CuUen Bryant, Horace Gree- ley and Wm. H. Seward, John P. Hale and Robert Rantoul, Salmon P. Chase and Charles Sumner, Joshua R. Gidding-s and Benjamin F. Wade, Georg-e W. Julian and David Wilmot ; the martyred Lovejoy and the immortal Lincoln ; and I must not omit to name with these memorable men, such illus- trious women as Harriet Beecher Stowe, L3alia Maria Child, Lucretia Mott and Julia Ward Howe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Miss Susan B. Anthony. To this recog-nized g-alaxy of matchless men and women must be added a large number whom no man can name in one short address, names worthy of our profoundest regard and grateful remembrance. This wonderful army was made up of the g-randest men and women who ever walked the earth, and made it better for having- lived in it. I mean the g-reat body of anti-slavery men and women whom we always designated as ' ' the old liberty g-uard. " These are the men and women who never bowed the knee to the Moloch of Slavery, nor voted to compromise with that indescribable villainy, and who practically made the creed, and g-ave life and dignity and g"lory to the Republican party, and to each of whom, in the dark days of slavery domination, there came in full measure the faith they sought, so that at times they were illuminated with the "inner light" from realms beyond our reach, and were thus able to prophesy our impending- triumph. [Applause.] Mr. President, the memory of the 22d of September, 1862, ought to make jubilant our hearts and quicken our footsteps. On that day, eventful to every black man and to the lovers of liberty in every land, Abraham Lincoln issued his prelimi- nary proclamation of emancipation ! It proved to be a day ever memorable in our history, and a da}' of thanksg-iving" to every bondman. But the day of its issue was also a day of anxiety and fear to millions, and this fear and anxiety was especially oppressive to the impassioned leaders of the "old anti-slavery guard." All the long- dark nig-ht of that one hundred days, they endured the Gethsemane which evermore comes to all great souls, and in prayerful supplication walked with the nation through the valley of the shadow of death. They knew that without the liberation of the negro the republic was doomed ! The}" believed that with the Presi- dent's Proclamation of Emancipation, it could be saved and redeemed. In this sublime and patriotic faith they walked with unfaltering- tread, until the 5'ear 1862 expired, and the immortal proclamation of Januar}' 1, 1863, was born. [Applause.] When this welcome proclamation appeared, the soul of the nation, out of its sackcloth and ashes, was uplifted to heaven in an all-forg-iving- aspirational thanksgiving", and the long pent-up hopes of our old anti-slavery champions broke forth in songs of jo}^ and shouts of triumph. Whittier declared, that there were no words in his Quaker vocabulary, with which he could fittingl}' express in crisp terms, the emotions of his heart, and that he was compelled to use the short, but comprehensive and favorite exclamation of his Methodist brethren, and simply shout, "Glory to God." I do not know what words my friend Douglass used, but I am sure they were strong and clear and true. Every loyal soul broke forth in words of thankfulness and gladness, as on that memorable day, the bells rang out the old and rang in the new order of things! In memor}', I now hear the glad booming of cannon, the wild roll of drums, and the quickened and determined footsteps of our triumphal army, and to- night feel like shouting again as I did then: "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth to good-willing men." On that day, in every lo^-al church and around every loyal hearthstone, songs of triumph and tears of joy were melted into one united hallelujah! What wonder then, after so long- ei strain, that these shouts and songs, mingled with the peals of cannon and the chim- ing of bells, thrilled our glad hearts as they did, with a tri- umphal melody, akin to the "Songs of praise, that awoke the morn. When the Prince of Peace was born." [Applause.] Mr. President, monuments are usually erected by friends or by the public long- after men are dead. Never, so far as I know, has there been erected a monument to the memory of a public man during- his lifetime ! But I who ( barring- acci- dents) have fifteen or twenty j^ears of fig-hting- material in me yet, find myself at this moment confronted with what President Young- and your Bishop are pleased to call my monument, and you appear by your approval to recog-nize the claim which each has made. I certainly recog-nize the fact, that in compiling- and publishing- this volume, the American neg-ro has builded me a monu- ment more enduring- than an}^ which my family or my friends can erect, after I shall have quit this mortal life ; a monument more appropriate and welcome than the one which your Bishop sa3'S was foreshadowed in the quotation which he made a few moments ag-o from one of my addresses in this volume, an utterance which he affirms is a prophecy now fulfilled, and certainly, if he claims that his interpreta- tion is authoritative, I shall not, on an occasion like this, un- dertake to question it. [Laug-hter and applause.] But whether authoritative or not, I can truthfully and with propriety say, that this " Souvenir " is to me a more desirable monument than any other which my colored friends could have desig-ned or presented to me, for I recog-nize that it was conceived by g-enerous and grateful hearts, and built with honest hands. I accept it as the black man's tribute and testimony. It is a monument which the malig-ner can- not misinterpret, nor vandals deface, nor the hired assassin •destroy, for I am told you are to duplicate it by thousands I And now, what shall I say to my friends of the "Afro- American Leag-ue of Tennessee," and to the g-entlemen of the Publication Committee, who from the public records and from the voluminous yet frag-mentary material placed in their hands, have with such care and fidelity compiled this volume, in w;hich is reflected so faithfully from my lips and pen the views held by me and the measures which I advocat- ed, prior to and during- the war of the rebellion, and since. The truth is, that I do not know what to say! To make fitting- answer I should have need of golden-voweled words, the poet's prophetic vision and the thoug-hts of a philosopher. As I have them not, I simply sa}' I thank you. Again and ag-ain, out of a full heart, I thank both the "Afro-American League of Tennessee," and 3'our able and painstaking Pub- lication Committee. The declaration of your Bishop, "that your Publication Committee found no word or thought or vote of mine, which they or any black man, could wish to change or blot " — gives me a satisfaction so pure and unalloy- ed that no words at my command can fittingly express the emotions that stir my heart. Certainly, when these speeches and orations were delivered, I did not expect to have this priceless testimony come to me. [Applause.] Mr. President, as I interpret this occasion and this testi- mony it also means much for the negro. It means, a testi- mony of his fidelit}- and gratitude! It means, that how- ever poor or however black, "A man's a man for a' that." It means, that everywhere beneath that flag crime and wrong against your race must cease. It means, a recognition of the Fatherhood of God — and the brotherhood of man. It means that 3'our long dark night of sorrow will soon be over, that the du.j is dawning and that the hour now draweth nigh, in which the children of Ethiopia may stretch forth their glad hands to their Creator and to ours, and with confidence claim fulfillment of the Divine promise delivered to the world by His Apostles and Prophets. " O, clear-eyed Faith, and Patience, thou So calm and strong! Lend strength to weakness; teach us how The sleepless eyes of God look through This night of wrong." [" Amen" and " amen" and applause.] At the conclusion of this masterly address the whole audience rose to their feet with cheers, and united in sing- ing Mrs. Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic. This hymn may be found in full on page 262 of this volume. e-tt . €^d^ c/t^^-^^^ "It was an imposing- procession that filed upon the plat- form of the Hall of Columbus, led by President Bonney, escorting- the head of the Catholic Church in America, Car- dinal Gibbons. There were Caucasians, Mongolians and Ethiopians, men from all the nations of the earth, represent- ing- all the religions of the earth. They seated themselves closely together upon the huge platform, the strangers from the farther points of the world with their picturesque g-arbs, in front. Those upon the platform were : " Bishop D. A. Payne, A. M. E. Church, of Wilberforce, O. ; Siddliu Ram, appeal writer, Mooltan Punjab, East India ; Carl von Berg-en, Ph. D., President of the Swedish Society for Psychical Research, Stockholm, Sweden ; Birchard Rag-havji Gandhi, B. A., Honorary Secretary to the Jain Association of India, Bombay ; Sward Vivekananda, a monk of the orthodox Brahminical religion ; the Rev. B. B. Nagar- kar, minister, Brahmo Somaj of Bombay-, India ; the Rev. P. C. Mazoomdar, minister and leader of the Brahmo Somaj of India, Calcutta ; Jinda Ram, a lawyer, President of the Temperance Society, Vedic, Muzaffargarh, India ; the Rev. P. G. Phiambolis, Oeconomus, a priest of the Greek Church ; his Grace the Archbishop of Zante, of the Greek Church ; Homer Peratis, Archdeacon of the Greek Church ; Reiich Shibata, President of one of the Shinto sects, Tokio, Japan ; Ashitsu Zitsuzen, representative from the Tendai sect, Omi, Japan ; Banrin Yatsubuehi, President of Hoju Buddhist So- ciety, Hamemsto, Japan ; Shaka Soon, Archbishop of one of the Buddhist sects, Kamakura, Japan ; Horin Toki, Professor of Shingen sect, and its Bishop, Sanuki, Japan ; Nog-uchi and Negura, interpreters, Tokio, Japan ; Bharmapala, Gen- eral Secretary, Maha Bodhi Society, Calcutta ; Prof. G. N. Chakravarti, Allahabad, India ; Dr. F. A. Noble, Prince Serg-e Wolkonsky of Russia ; D. G. Crandon, Secretary of the Free Religious Society of Boston ; the Rev. J. H. Ma- cauber, chaplain U. S. A., Angel Island, Cal.; Yungkwai, China, Miss Jeanne Serabji K. Lang-rana ; G. Benet Maury, Professor a la Fauilte de Theologic, Paris ; Prince Momolu Massaquoi of Liberia; Bishop Jenner, Anglican Free Church; the Rev. Aug-usta J. Chapin, D. D., Chicago; Mrs. Potter Palmer, Mrs. Charles Henrotin, Cardinal Gibbons, Arch- bishop Feehan, Archbishop Ryan, Archbishop Redwood, of New Zealand; President C. C. Bonne}-, Dr. Adolf Bredbeck, Count Bernsterff, Z. Zmigrowski, John W. Hoyt, Bishop Keane, H. N. Hig-inbotham, W. J. Onahan, the Rev. Jenkin Llo^'d Jones, Bishop B. W. Arnett, Bishop J. A. Handy, Prin- cipal Grant, of Canada, the Rev. Alfred Williams Momerie, D. D., the Rev. Maurice Phillips of Madras, India ; Prof. N. Valentine, William T. Harris, Commissioner Education of United States, Dr. Ernest Faber, the Rev. Geo. T. Candlin, Prof. Kosahi, Bishop Cotter, of Winona; Prof. Chakravarti, Rt. Rev. Banrin Yatsubuchu, Hon. Pung- Quang- Yu, Chinese Leg-ation." September 22d, 1893, was the day of the meeting- of the African M. E. Cong-ress. At an earl}^ hour the men, women and children of the church were seen making- their way to Art Palace. The reception room of Hon. C. C. Bonne}^ was g-iven us for a place of meeting-. When the bishops, g-eneral officers, presiding- elders, elders, members and friends of the church met, a procession was formed and all marched to the Hall of Washing-ton. There we found a larg-e audience waiting- for us, who cheered as the procession marched on the platform. The org-anist played a march, and choruses were sung- and a song- of praise to God was sung-, and when we were all seated on the stag-e all joined in sing-ing- " Praise God from whom all blessing-s flow." It was a g-rand sig-ht to see men and women of every nation and race joining- with the chorus of freedom and with the children of freedom in sing-ing- song-s of praise to God. The following- are some of the disting-uished persons present : Bishop D. A. Payne, Wilberforce, Ohio; Bishop A. W. Waynian, Baltimore, Md.; Bishop H. M. Turner, Atlanta, Ga.; Bishop W. J. Gaines, Atlanta, Ga.; Bishop B. T. Tan- ner, Philadelphia, Pa.; Bishop A. Grant, Atlanta, Ga.; Bishop J. A. Handy, Kansas City, Kan.; Bishop B. W. Arnett, Wilberforce, Ohio; Bishop Walters, D. D., A. M. E. Zion Church; Hon. C. C. Bonney, Chicag-o, 111,; Hon. C. E. Young; Hon. Frederick Doug-las, LL. D., Washing-ton, D. C; Prince Serg-e Wolkonsk}^ St. Petersburg-, Russia; Mrs. Isabella B. Hooker, Connecticut; Rev. S. P. Mercer, Chicag-o, 111.; Rev. J. C. Embry, D. D., Philadelphia, Pa.; Rev. L. J. Coppin, D. D., Philadelphia, Pa.; Rev. H. T. Johnson, D. D., A. M., Ph.D., Philadelphia, Pa.; Rev. Wm. D. Johnson, D. D., Atlanta, Ga.; Rev. C. S. Smith, D. D., Nashville, Tenn.; Rev. W. B. Derrick, D. D., New York, N. Y.; Rev. J. H. Armstrong-, D. D., Philadelphia, Pa.; Rev. A. M. Green, D. D., New Orleans, La.; Mrs. Bishop B. W. Arnett, Wilberforce, Ohio; Mrs. Bishop B. T. Tanner, Philadelphia, Pa.; Mrs. Bishop H. M. Turner, Atlanta, Ga.; Mrs. Bishop A. W. Wayman, Baltimore, Md.; Mrs. Dr. W. H. Yeocum, Camden, N. J.; Mrs. Rev. G. W. Prioleau, Wilberforce, Ohio; Mrs. Rev. G. h. Jackson, Nashville, Tenn.; Mrs. Rev. J. H. Armstrong-, Washing-ton, D. C; Mrs. Rev. A. A. Whitman, Lawrence, Kan.; Mrs. Rev. O. P. Ross, Vicksburg, Miss.; Mrs. Rev. C. H. Thomas, Chicag-o, 111.; Mrs. Rev. D. A. Graham, Chicag-o, 111.; Mrs. S. J. W. Earlej, Nashville, Tenn.; Mrs. Landonia Williams, Indianapolis, Ind.; Mrs. Louisa White, Portsmouth, Ohio; Prince Momo Massaqua, Africa; Mrs. Grace Offer, Pittsburg-h, Pa.; Mrs. E. J. Pag-e, Cincinnati, Ohio; Mrs. E. J. Thompson, Pittsburg-h, Pa.; Mrs. Eudora Duncan, Toledo, Ohio; Mrs. Henrietta Morg-an, Chicago, 111.; Mrs. W. R. Rodg-er Webb, Texarkana; Mrs. Saddie Tyree, Washing-ton, D. C; Mrs. J. A. Davis, Nash- ville, Tenn.; Mrs. J. A. Brown, Cleveland, Ohio; Rev. W. H. Mixon, Selma, Ala.; Rev. W. A. Moore, Lincoln, Neb.; Rev. J. W. Beckett, Baltimore, Md.; Rev. Jno. Coleman, Portsmouth, Ohio; Rev. A. A. Whitman, Lawrence, Kan.; Hon. Jas. Madison Bell, Toledo, Ohio; Prof. J. P. Shor- ter, Wilberforce, Ohio; Rev. Geo. W. Prioleau, Wilber- force, Ohio; Rev. S. A. Hardison, Clinton, Iowa; Rev. Jas. M. Townsend, Chicag-o, 111.; Rev. Henry Brown, Spring-- field. 111.; Rev. I. S. Lee, Baltimore, Md.; Rev. Jno. Hurst, Baltimore,' Md.; Rev. Cornelius Asburj-, Pittsburg-h, Pa.; Rev. S. R. Reed, Memphis, Tenn.; Rev. B. F. Watson, Wichita, Kan.; Rev. Jno. G. Mitchell, Wilberforce, Ohio; Rev. W. A. J. Phillips, Little Rock, Ark. ; Rev. W. J. Davis, Champaign, 111. ; Rev. C. H. Thomas, Chicago, 111.; Rev. W. H. Yeocum, Cam- den, N. J; Rev. J. A. Davis, Nashville, Tenn.; Rev. Chas. H. Sheen, Cairo, 111.; Rev. J. H. Morgen, Orange, N. J.; Rev. Jno. T. Jenifer, Washingfton, D. C. ; Rev. Jno, B. Dawison, Evans- ton, 111.; Rev. D. S. Bentley, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Rev. P. A. Hub- bard, Denver, Col.; Rev. S. A. Johnson, Washing-ton, D. C. ; Rev. G. W. Gaines, St. Paul, Minn.; Rev. E. H. Bolden, Ports- mouth, Va. ; Rev. O. D. Robinson, Baltimore, Md. ; Rev. Jas. T. Evans, Carlisle, Pa.; Hon. I. T. Montgomery, Mound Baj^ou, Miss.; Rev. R. McDaniel, Indiana; Rev. Walter S. Lewis, Memphis, Tenn. ; Rev. W. H. Brow^n, New Brighton, Pa.; Rev. S. B. Jones, Ottumwa, Iowa; Rev. Jno. A. Collins, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Rev. Walter S. Lowerj', Pittsburgh, Pa.; Rev. J. H. McGee, Chicago, 111.; Rev. D. Franklin Tay- lor, Palestine, Texas; Rev. C. H. Johnson, Washington C. H., Ohio; Rev. J. C. Anderson, Rockford, 111.; Rev. Anderson Hunter, Troup, Texas; Rev. F. T. Harver}-, Decatur, 111.; Rev. Jno. M. Henderson, Detroit, Mich.; Rev. T. W. Hender- son, Indianapolis, Ind.; Prof. F. H. Steward, Wisconsin; Miss IdaB. Wells, Chicago, 111.; Miss F. E. W. Harper, Chicago, 111.; Miss Mary Harper, Chicago, 111.; Daniel Payne Arnett, Wilberforce, Ohio; Hon. James Hill, Jackson, Miss.; Rev. W. W. Beckett, Charleston, S. C. ; Rev. S. F. Flegler, Sum- merville, S. C; Rev. John H. Welsh, Charleston, S. C; Rev. M. B. Parks, Omaha, Neb.; Rev. O. P. Ross, Vicksburg, Miss.; Prof. W. S. Scarborough, LE. D., Wilberforce, Ohio. A ^9 A ' c ^^0^ 'b V' V "^ . ^^ ST auSUSllNE, fiA _^'^ •.*■ii«^M^^'' '^^ yv"^ '" "" ■■ Xc^'* .-iSSfe". •^^.,^^* .•