/• ^_^y/_ RECONSTRUCTION, 'y SPEECH OF HON. 0. P. MORTON, IN THE U. S. SENATE, JANUARY 24, 18C8, ON THE CONSTITU- TIONALITY OF THE RECONSTRUCTION ACTS. Mr. President: If I had not been referred tu by my honorable friend from Wisconsin (Mr. Doolittle) in the debate yesterday I Bhould not desire to speak on this question, especially at this time. I fear that I shall not have the strength to say what I wish to. The issue here to-day is the same which pre- vails thronghont the country, which will be the issue of this canvass, and perhaps for years to come. To repeat what I have had occasion to say elsewhere, it is between two paramount ideas, each struggling for the su- premacy. One is, that the war to suppress the rebellion was right and just on our part; that the rebels forfeited their civil and politi- cal rights, and can only be restored to them upon such conditions as the nation may pre- scribe for its future safety and prosperity. The other idea is, that the rebellion was not Binful, but was right; that those engaged in it forfeited no rights, civil or political, and have a right to take charge of their State govern- ments and be restored to their representation in Congress just as if there had been no re- bellion and nothing had occurred. The im- mediate issue before the Senate now is be- tween the existing State* governments estab- lished under the policy of the President of the United States in the rebel States and the plan of reconstruction presented by Congress. When a surveyor first enters a new territory he endeavors to ascertain the exact latitude and longitude of a given spot, and from that can safely begin his survey; and so I will en- deavor to ascertain a proposition in this debate upon which both parties are agreed, and start from that proposition. That proposition is, that at the end of the war, in the spring of 1865, the rebel States were without State gov- ernments of any kind. The loyal State gov- ernments existing at the beginning ©f the war had been overturned by the rebels; the rebel State governments erected during the war had been overturned by our armies, and at the end of the war there were no governments of any kind existing in those States. This fact was recognized distinctly by the President of the United States in his proclamation under which the work of reconstruction was commenced in North Carolina in 1865, to which I beg leave to refer. The others were mere copies of this proclamation. In that proclamation he says: And whereas the rebellion, which has been waged by a portion of the people of the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the Government thereof, in the most violent and revolting form, but whose organized and arm«d forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has in its revolutionary progress deprived the peo- ple of the ^tate of North Carolina of all civil gov- ernment. Here the President must be allowed to speak for his party, and I shall accept this as a pro- position a2;reed upon on both sides: that at the end of the war there were no governments of any kind existing in those States. The fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution declares that "the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government." This provision contains a vast, undefined power that has never yet been ascertained — a great supervisory power given to the United States to enable them to keep the States in their orbits, to preserve them from anarchy, revolution, and rebellion. The measure of power thus conferred upon the Government of the United States can only be determined by that which is requisite to guarantee or main- tain in each State a legal and republican form of government. Whatever power, therefore, may be necessary to enable the Government of the United States thus to maintain In each State a republican form of government is conveyed by this provision. Now, Mr. Pi'esident, when the war ended and these States were found without govern- ments of any kind, the jurisdiction of the United States, under this provision of the Con- stitution, at once attached; the power to reor- ganize State governments, to use the common word, to reconstruct, to maintain and guaran- tee republican State governments in those States at once attached under this provision. Upon this proposition there is also a concur- rence of the two parties. The President has distinctly recognized the application of this clause of the Constitution. He has recognized the fact that its jurisdiction attached when those States were found without republican State governments, and he himself claimed to act under this clause of the Constitution. I will read the preamble of the Fresideat's pro- clamation. Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution ol the United States declare! that the United States shall guarantee to every State in the Union a republican lorm of govern- ment, and shall protect each of them against inva- sion and domestic violence; and whereas the Pr^ sident of the United States la by the Constitution made Commander-lD-Uhief of the Army and Navy, as well as chief civil executive ofBcer of the United States, and Is bound by solemn oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United btates, and to take care that the laws be faithfully .Mi??^s rse utC'l: anrt whereas the rel.c lion which has V'ecn waced bv a portion of «h<> i cople of the Inited St 'te«'aL'alnpt thn properly tor?tltu'cil Butlniritlcs of the Govcrniueiit liicroof in iho luos''. violent ami revoltintt form, hut whofe orpanljcj and armctl forces have now heen almost entirely overcome, has, iu Its revolutloriarv proure??, de- prived the people of the .Slate of North Carolina of all civil eovernment; ana whereof- it l>eoom»s necessary and proper to carrv out nrnl eulorca the obllfiatlons of the people of He Vnltod States to the people of North Carolina In se 'urint: them In the enjoyment of a republican form ol govern- uient. I read this, Mr. President, for the puipose of fliowiiic: that the Treeideut of the United States, in his polic)- of reconstruction, started out with a distinct i-ecognition of the ai'plica- bility of this clause of the Constitution, and that he based his system of reconstruction ujion it. It is true that he recites in this pro- clamation that he is the Cotmuander-in-chief ofthearmyof the United States; but at the same time he puts his plan of reconstrnoiiou not upon the exercise of the military jiowcr which is called to its aid, but on the execution of the euaranty provided by the clause of the ConstitTition to which I have referred. lie ap- points a Governor for North Carolina and for these other States, the oOice beins: civil in its character, but military in its eifects. This Governor has all the power of one of the dis- trict commanders, and, in fact, far fireater power than was conferred upon General Pope or General Sheridan, or any jreneral in com- mand of a distiicl; for it is further provided: That the military coramander of the dejiart- ment, and all officers »nd persons In the military and naval service, a'd and assist the said provl- f-lonal governor in carrying into effect this procla.- uation. We are then agreed upon the second propo- sition, that the power of the United Siates to reconstruct and guarantee republiean forms of government at once applied when these States were found in the condition in which they were at the end of the war. Then, sir, beintc agreed upon these two propositions, we are brought to the question as to the proper I'orra of exercising this power and by whom io shall be exercised. The Constitution says that "the Uiiited Stales shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government." By the phrase '"United States" liere is meant the Government of the United States. The United Slates can only act through the Gov- ernment, and the clause would mean precisely the same thing if it read "the Government of the United Slates shall guarantee to every Stale in this Ujiion a republican form of gov- eminent." r Tlicn, as the Government of the United States is to exetote this guaranty, the ques- tion arises, what constitutes the Government of the United States ? The President does not constitute the Government; the Congress does not constltnte the Government; the judiciary does not constitute the Government: but all three together constitute the Government; and as this guaranty ia to be executed by the Governtaent of -the United States, it follows necefparily that ili must be a Iccislative act. The President could not assume to eicecute the guaranty without assuming that he was iho United Stales within the meaning of ibut pro- vicion, wiltiout aswimine that he was the (iov- ••rnm'Mit of the United States. Congress could not of iti-elf assume to execute the guaranty ^ftivH aMruuut4( UiA^ it tvos llic Goveiumeut of the United States; nor conld the judiciary without a lilie assumption. The act must be the act of the Government, and therefore it must be a legislative act, a law passed by Con- gress, submitted t» the President for his ap- proval, and perhaps, in a proper case, subject to be reviewed by the judiciary. Mr. President, that this is necessarily the case from the simple reading of the Constitu- tion seems to me cannot be for a moment de- Died. The President, in assuming to execute this guaranty himself, is assuming to be the Government of the United Stales, which he clearly is not, but only one of its coordinate branches ; and, therefore, as this guaranty must be a legislative act, it follows that the attempt on the part of the President to execute the guaranty was without authority, and that the guaranty can only be executed iu the form of a law, tirst to be passed by Congress and then to be submitted to the President for his approval; and if he does not approve it, then to be passed over his head by a majority of two- thirds ia each House. That law, then, be- comes the execution of the guaranty and is the act of the Government of the United States. Mr. P.-esident, this is not an open question. I send to the Secretary and ask him to read a part of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Luther vs. Borden, as reported in 7 Howard. The Secretary read as follews: Moreover, the Constitution of the United States, as far as it has provided for an emergency of thlJ kinin determine whether it is republican or not. And when the Senators and Kepresentatives o^a State a'e admitted Into the councils of the Union, the authority of the government under which they are appointed, as well as its republi- can character, is recognized by the proper const i- lutloiial authority. And its decision is binding upoQ every other department of the Government, and could not bo questioned in a judicial tribunal. It is true that the contest in this case did not last long enough to brinir the matter to this issue; and as no Senators or Representatives wereelected under the authority of the Government of which Wr. Dorr was the head. Congress was not called upon to decide the controversy. Yet the right to decide le placed there, and not in the courts. Mr. Morton. In this opinion of the 8u['rcme Court of the United States, delivered many years ago, the right to execute the gua- ranty provided for in this clause of the Con- Btitution, is placed in Congress and nowhere else, and therefore the necessary reading of the Constitution is conflrmeii by the highest judicial authority which we Lave. Mr. Johnsou. Do you read from the ojiinion dolivered by the Chief Justice? Mr. Morton. Yes, sir; the opinion deliv- ered by Chief Justice Taney. He decides that this I'ower is not judicial; that it is one of tbe high powers conferred upon Congress; that it 3 ^ is not subject to be reviewed by the Supreme Court, because it is political iu its nature. It is a distinct eniirciation of the doctiine tliat this i^uarauty is uot to be executed by the President or by the Supreme Court, but by the Congress of the United States, in the form of a law to be passed by that body and to be sub- mitted to the President for his approval; and should he disapprove it, it may become a law by beiuq: passed by a two-thirds majority over his head. Now, I will call the attention of my friend from Wisconsin to some other authority. As he has been pleased to refer to a former speech of mine to show that I am not (luite consistent, I will refer to a vote given by him in ISOt on a very important provision. On the Ist of July, 1864, the Senate having under consideration, as in Committee of the Wbole, "a bill to guarantee to certain States whose governmeuts have been usurped or overthrown a republican form of government," ^Mr. Brown, of Missouri, ollered an amendment to strike out all of the bill after the enacting clause and to insert a substitute, which I will ask the Secretary to read. The Secretary read as follows : That when the Inhabitants of any State have been declared in a state of insurrection ati,alnst ttio Uniied :states by proclamation of tho Vre.Mtlenr, by force and virtue of the act entltltd "jVu act further to proviilS for the colleciion of duties on imports, and for other jjurposes," approved July 13, 1801, they si'iiU be, and are hereby declared to be, incapable of casting any vote lor electors of Pretident or Vice Presideni ol the United States, or of e'ecting tenators or Representatives in Oon« i^iess until sail insurrection i suid Sti'.te if sup- pressed or abandoned, and SitiJ Inhabitants have leturr ed to their otedience to the Gavevnn'ent of the United States, and until such return to oiicdi- ence shall be declared by proclamation of the President, issued hy virtue of an act of Congress hereafter to be passed, authorizing the same. Mr. Morton. The honorable Senator from Wisconsin voted for that in Committee of the Whole and on its final passage. I call atten- tion to the conclusion of the amendment, which declares that they shall be — Incapable of casting any vote for electors of Presioent or Vice President of the Unied States or of electing Senators or Eepresentali\ es in Congress until said iosarrection in said state is suppressed or abandoned, and said inhabitants have returned to their obedience to the Govern- ment of the United states, and until such return and obedience shall be declared by proclamation of the President, issued by virtue of an act of Congress hereafter to be passed, authorizing the same. Recognizing that a state of war shall be re- garded as continuing until it shall be declared no longer to exist by the President, in virtue of an act of Congress to be hereafter passed. I am glad to find by looking at the vote that the distinguished Senator from Maryland (Mr. Johnson) voted for this proposition, and thus recognized the docti-ine for which I am now contending: that the power to execute the guaranty is vested in Congress alone, and that it is for Congress alone to determine the status and condition of those States, and that the President has no power to proclaim peace or to declare the political condition of those States until he shall first have been thereunto authorized by an act of Congress. I therefore, Mr. President, take the proposi- tion as conclusively established, both by reason and authority, that this clause of the Constitu- tion can be executed only by Congress; and taking that as ostablishecl, I now proceed to consider what are the powers of Congress in tlic execution of the guaranty, how it shall be executed, and what means maybe employed for that purpose. The Constitution does not define the means. It does uot say how the guaranty shall bo executed. All that is left to the determination of Congress. As to the particular character of the means that must be employed, that, I take it, will depend upon the peculiar circumstances of each case; and the extent of the [lowcr will depend upon the other Iay 20, A. 1). 18U5— which was issued on the same day and was a part of the same transaction — Ard Is a voter qualified as prescribed by the con- Ftltution and laws ot the S'ateof North Carolina la force Immodlatsly before tho 20th day of IMay, A. D. ISSl. The persons having the right to vote must have the right to vote by the laws of the State, and must, in addition to that, have taken the oath of amnesty. The President disfranchised iu voting for delegates to the conventions from two hundred aud lifty thousand to three hun- dred thousand men. His disfranchisement was far greater than that which has been done by Congress. In the proclamation of amnesty he says: Tto followlnp: classes of persons are excepted from tho beneUts of this proclamation- He then announced fourteen classes of per- sons — 1. All who are or ehall have been pretended civil or dlplomailo officers, or otherwise domostlo or forelf^ agents, of tho pretended confederato government. • ••»»*« i:?. All persons who have voluntarily partlel- pated In said rebellion, and tho estttnated valuo «jf whone taxable property is over twenty thou- Eacd dollars. And twelve other classes, estimated to num- ber at the least two hundred and lifty thousand or three hundred thousand men, while the dis- franchisement that hag been created by Con- gress does not extend perhops to more than forty-live thousand or fifty thousand persons at the furlhcBt. These provisional governors, under the authority of the President, were to tall conventions; they were to hold the elec- tions, and they were to count the votes; they were to exercise all the powers that are being exercised by the military commanders under the reconstruction acts of Congress. After those constitutions were formed the President went forward aud accepted them as being loyal and republican in their character. He author- ized the voters under them to proceed to elect Legislatures, members of Congress, and the Legislatures to elect Senators to take their seals in this body. In other words, the Presi- dent launched those Stale governments into full life and activity without consultation with or cooperation on the part of Congress. Now, sir, when it is claimed that these gov- erumeiils are legal, let it be remembered that they took their oritrin under a proceeding insti- tuted by the President of the Uuited States in the execution of this guaranty, when it now stands confessed that he could not execute the guaranty. But even if he had the power, let it be further borne in mind that those constitu- tions were formed by conventions that were elected by less than one-third of the white voters iu the States at that time; that the con- ventions were elected by a small minority even of the white voters, and that those constitu- tions thus formed by a very small minority have never been submitted to the people of those States for ratification. They are no more the constitutions of those States to-day than the constitutions formed by the conven- tions now in session would be if we were to proclaim them to be the constitutions of those , States without first having submitted them to the people for ratification. How can it be pre- tended for a moment, even admitting that the President had the power to start forward in the work of reconstruction, that those Slate gov- ernments are le-rally formed by a small mi- nority, never ratified by the people, the people never having had a chance to vole for them. They stand as mere arbitrary constitutions, (Stablished uot by the people of the several States, but simply by force of executive power. Aud, sir, if we shall admit those States to representation on this floor and in the other House under tliose constitutions, when the thing shall have got beyond our keeping and they are fully restored to their pelitical rights, they will then rise up and declare that those constitutions are not binding upon them, that they never made them; and they will throw them off, and with them will go those provi- sions which were incorporated therein, de- claring that slavery should never be restored aud that their war debt was repudiated. Those provisions were put into those constitutions, hut they have never been sanctioned by the people of those States, and they will cast them out as not being their act and deed as soon as they shall have been restored to political power in this Government. Therefore I say that even it be conceded that the President had the power, which he had not, to start forward iu the execution of this guaranty, there can still be no pretense that those governments are legal and authorized, and that we arc bound to recognize them. The President of the United States, in his proclamation, declared that those governments were to b^ formed only by the loyal people of tho-e States; and I beg leave to call the atten- tion of the Senate to that clause iu his procla- mation of reconstruction. lie says : And with authority to exorcise, within tho limits of said State, all tho powers necessary and proper to enable SHcb loyal people of the State of North Cffrolina to restore said htate to its coni>titullonal relations with the Federal Gcvernmont. Again, speaking of the army: And they are enjoined to abstain from In any ■way hlnderinyr, Impedinf;, or discouraging the loyal people from the organizntlon of a Eitate government as herein authorized. Now, sir, so far from those State goveru- nients having been organized by the loyal peo- jMe, they were organized by the disloyal; every office passed into the hands of a rebel; the Union men had no part or lot in those govern- ments; and so far from answering the i)urpo3e for -which governmeats are intended, they failed to extend protection to the loyal men, either white or black. Tlie loyal men were murdered with impunity; and I will thank any Senator upon this floor to point to a single case in any of the rebel States where a rebel Las been tried and brought to punishment by the civil authority for the murder of a Union man. Isot one case, I am told, can be found. Those governments utterly failed in answering the purpose of civil governments; and not only that, but they returned the colored people to a condition of quasi slavery; they made them the slaves of society instead of being, as they were before, the slaves of individuals. Under vari- ous forms of vagrant laws they deprived them of the rights of freemen, and placed them un- der the power and control of their rebel mas- ters, who were filled with hatred and revenge. But, Mr. President, time passed on. Con- gress assembled in Decomber, 1865. For a time it paused. It did not at once annul those governments. It hesitated. At last, in 18G6, the constitutional amendment, the fourteeitth article, was brought forv/ard as a basis of set- tlement and reconstruction; and there was a tacit understanding, though it was not em- braced in any law or resolution, that if the Southern people should ratify and agree to that amendment, then their State governments would be accepted. But that amendment was rejected, contemptuously rejected. The South- ern people, counseled and inspired by the Dem- ocracy of the North, rejected that amendment. They were told that they were not bound to submit to any conditions whatever; that they had forfeited no rights by rebellion. Why, sir, what did we propose by this amendment ? By the first section we declared that all men born upon our soil were citizens of the United States — a thing that had long been recognized by every department of this Government until the Dred Scott decision was made in 1857. The second section provided that where a class or race of men were excluded from the right of suffrage they should not be counted in the basis of representation — an obvious justice that no reasonable man for a moment could deny; that if four million people down South were to have no suffrage, the men living in their midst and surrounding them, and depriving them of all political rights, should not have members of Congress on their account. I say the justice of the second clause nas never been success- fully impugned by any argument, I care not how" ingenious it may be. What was the third clause? It was that the leaders of the South, those men who had once taken an official oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and had afterward committed perjury by going into the rebellion, should bo made in- eligible to any office under the Government of the United States or of a State. It was a very small disfranchisement. It was intended to withhold jiQwur from those leaders by whose instrninuntality we had lost nearly half a mil- lion lives and untold treasure. The justice of that disfranchisement could not be disproved. And what was the fourth clause of the amend- ment? That this Government should never assume and pay any part of the rebel de^it; that it should never pay the rebels for their slaves. This was bitterly opposed in the North as well as in the South. How could any man oppose that amendment unless he was iu favor of this Government assuming a portion or all of the rebel debt, and iu favor of paying the rebels for their slaves? When the Demo- cratic party North and South opposed that most important, and, jjcrhaps, hereafter to be regarded as vital amendment, they were com- mitting themselves iu principle, as they had been before by declaration, to the doctrine that this Government was bound to pay for the slaves, and that it was just and right that we should assume and pay the rebel debt. This amendment, as I have before said, waa rejected, and when Congress assembled in De- cember, 1800, they were confronted by the fact that every proposition of compromise had been rejected; every half-way measure bad been spurned by the rebels, and they had nothing left to do but to begin the work of re- eonstruction themselves; and in February, 18C7, Congress for the first time entered upon the execution of the guaranty provided for in the Constitution by the passage of the first re- construction law. A supplementary bill was found necessary in March, anotherouein July, and I believe another is found necessary at this time; but the power is with Congress. What- ever it shall deem necessary, whether it be in the way of colored sufi'rage, whether it be in the way of military power — whatever Congress shall deem necessary in the execution of this guaranty is conclusive upon the courts and upon the States. Sir, when Congress entered upon this work it had become apparent to all men that loyal republican State governments could not be erected and maintained upon the basis of the white population. We had tried them. Con- gress had attempted the work of reconstruc- tion through the constitutional amendment by leaving the suffrage with the white men, and by leaving with the white people of the South the question as to when the colored people should exercise the right of suffrage, if ever; but when it was found that those white men were as rebellious as ever, that they hated this Government more bitterly than ever; when it was found that they persecuted the loyal men, both white and black, in their midst; when it was found that Northern men who had gone down there were driven out by social tyranny, by a thousand annoyances, by the iusecurity of life and property — then it became apparent to all men of intelligence that reconslruclioa could not take place upon the basis of the white population, and something else must be done. Now, sir, what was there left to do? Either wc must hold these people continually by mili- tary power, or we must use such machinery upon such a new basis as would enable loyal republican State governments to be raised up; and in the last resort, and 1 will say Congress waited long, the nation waited long, experi- ence had to come to the rescue of reason before the thing was done — in the last resort, and as the last thins: to be clone. Congress determined to dis through all the rubbish— dii; tluouirh the toil and ilie f hUliutc sands, and iro down to the tttrnal rock, and there, upon the basis of the everlastinij principle ol' if|ual and exact jastice to all men, wc have planted the coluum of recoiiPtruction; and, 6ir, it will ariso slowly but 6urely, and *-ihe trate* of hell shall not prev.iil a^'ainst it." Whatever daniri-rs wo ap- prehended from the inirodueiion to the right of sull'rage of eeveu hundred thousand men, just emersied from slavery, were put aside in the presence of a t;rcater danircr. Why, sir, let me say franlily to my friend from VVisconsin that I np[>ro:>ched universal colored suflYage in the South relui tantly. Not because I adhered to the miserable dogma that this was the white man's (Jovernment, but because I entertained fears aliout at once entrusting a large body of men ju?t from slavery, to whom education had been denied by law, to whom tiie marriage re- lation had been denied, who had been made the most ahji'Ct slaves, wi'h political power. And »s the Senator has referred to a speech which I made in Indiana in 1805, allow me to show the principle that then actuated lue, for in that speech I said : In reitard to the quesUonof admlttlnsthe freed- men of the Southern ."-tatos to vote, while I ad- mlc lUe equal rlLthts of all men, and that In time all men will have the right to vote, without dis- tinrtlon of color or race, I yet believe that in the case of four million ol slaves, just freed from bi»ndai{0, there shoula be a period of probation and preparation before they are broui;m to the exercise of political power. Such was my feeling at that time, for it had not then been determiued by the bloody expe- rience of the last two years that we could not reconstruct upon the basis of the white popu- lation, and such was the 0])inioa of a great majority of the people of the North; and it was not until a year and a half after that time that Congress came to the' conclusion that there was no way left but to resort to colored eulfraire and sull'rage to all men except those who were disqualified by the commission of high crimes and misdemeanors. Mr. President, we hear much eaid in the course of this debate, and through the press, about the violation of the Constitution. It is said that in tbe reconstruction measures of Congress we have gone outside of the Consti- tution, and the remark of some distinguished statesman of the Republicau party is quoted to that ellVct. Sir, if any leading Republican has ever said so, he spoke only for himself, not for another. I deny the statement in toto. I in- sist that these reconstruction measures are as fully within the powers of the Constitution as any legislation that can be had, not only by reason, but by authority. And who are the men that are talking so much about the viola- tion of the Constitution, and who pretend to be the especial Iriands of that instrument? Tbe great mass of them, only three years ago, were in arms to overturn the Constitution and establish that of Montgomery in its place, or were thtir Northern friwnds, who were aiding and sympathizing in that undertaking. I had occasion the other day to speak of ■what was described as a Constitutional Union man— a man living inside of the Federal lines during lliCwar.Fympalhizing with the rebellion, and who endeavored to aid the rebellion by iu- Blstingthatevery war measure for the purposcof eupi)n'-'sing it was a violation of the Constitu- tlou of the Unitca States. Now, these men who claim to be the especial friends of the Constitution are the men who have souL'ht 'o destroy it by force of arm?, and those throuiih- out the country who has'e given them aid and comfort. Sir, you will remember that once a celebrated French woman was beine dragged to tUe seallbld, and as she passed the statute oi liberty she exclaimed : ''IIow many crimt-s have been committed in thy name;" and I can say to the Constitution, how many crimes against lii)erty, humanity, and progress are being committed in thy name by these men who, while they loved not the Constitution and sought its destruction, now, for party purposes, claim to be its especial friends. My friend from Wisconsin yesterday com- pared what he called the Radical party of the North to the radicals of the South, and when he was asked the question by some Senator, "who are the radicals of the South," he said, "they are the secessionists." Sir, the seces- sionists of the South are Democrats to-day, acting in harmony and concert with the Demo- cratic party. They were Demosrats during the war who prayed for the success of McClellan and Pendleton, and would have been glad to have voted for them; and they were Demo- crats before the war, and the men who made the rebellion. These are the radicals of the South; and my friend from Wisconsin, alter all, is voting with the radicals. The burden of his speech yesterday was that the reconstruction measures of Congress are intended to establish negro supremacy. Sir, this x^roposition is without any fouudatioa what- ever. I believe it was stated yesterday by the Seijator from Illinois (Mr. Trumbull) that in every State but two the white voters regis- tere*! out-numbered the colored voters; and the fact that in two States the colored voters out- numbered the white voters is owing to the sim- ple accident that there are more colored men in those States than there are white men. Con- gress has not sought to establish negro suprem- acy, nor has it sought to estaljlish tiie suprem- acy of auy class or party of men. If it had sought to establish negro supremacy it would have been an easy matter by excluding from the right of sutfrage all men who had been con- cerned in the rebellion, in accordance with the proposition of the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts, (Mr. Sumner.) iujiis spa.eiLh at Worcester, in ISGo. He proposed to exclude ail meu who had been concerned in the rebel- lion and confer suffrage only on those who were left. That would have established negro supremacy by giving the negroes an overwhelm- ing majority in every State; and if that had been the oiiject of Congress it could have been readily done. But, sir, Congress has only sought to divide the political power between the loyal and the disloyal. It has disfran- chised some fifty thousand disloyal leaders, leaving all the rest of the people to vote. They have been enfranchised on both sides, that neither should be placed in the power of the other. Tbe rebels have the right to vote so that they shall not be tinder the control and power of the Union men only, and the Union men have been allowed to vote so that they shall not be under the control and power of the rebels. This is the policy, to divide the political power among those men for the pro- tect'on of each. Sir,"the charge that we in- tend to create a negro supremacy or colored State governments is without tiie slightest fouudation, for it would have been iu the pow- er of Cougress to have easily conferred each supremacy by simply exc)udiu<^ the disloyal from the right of siUfrage — a power which it had the clear right v^ exercise. Now, Mr. President, allow me to consider for a moment the amendment ollered by the Senator from Wisconsin, and ui>on which his speech was made, and see what is its effect — 1 will uot say its purpose, Imt its inevitable effect — should it become a law. I will ask the Secretary to read the amendment which the Senator from Wisconsin has proposed to the Senate. The Secretary read as follows : Provided, nevertheless, Thiit upon an election Tor the ratification of any constitution, or of otHfers under ttio same, i)revlous to its adoption In any State, no person not havini? the quuUflcatlona of an elector under the constitution und laws of Buoh t^tate previous to the late reliotlion shall be allowed to vote, unless he sliall possess one ot the foUowinu; qnalitiuations, namely: 1. He shall have served as a soldier in the Fede- ral army tor one year or more 2 He shall have sufficient education to read the Constituiion of the United States and to subscribe his name to an oath to support the same; or, 3. He shall be seized in his own right, or in the lisjht of his wife, of a freehold of the value of $250. Mr. Morton. Sir, these qualifications are, by the terms of the amendment, to apply to thosu who were not authorized to vote by the laws of the State before the rebellion — in other words, the colored men. He proposes to allow a colored man to vote if he has been in the Federal army one year, and he proposes to allow a rebel white man to vote, although he has served in the rebel army four years! He proposes that a colored man shall not vote un- less be has suflicient education to read the Constitution of the United States and to sub- scribe his name to an oath to support the same; whereas he permits a rebel white man to vote who never heard of A, and does not know how to make his mark even to a note given for whiskey. [Laughter.] ' Again, sir, he proposes that the colored man shall not vote unless he shall be seized in his own right or m the right of his wife of a free- hold of the value of $350, a provision which, of course, would cut off nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand colored men in the Soitth. The colored man cannot vote unless he has a freehold of $350, bitt the white rebel who was never worth twenty-five cents, •who never paid poll-tax in his life, never paid an honest debt, is to be allowed to vote. Sir, what would be the inevitable effect of the adoption of this amendment? To cut off such a large part of the colored vote as to leave the rebel white vote largely in the ascendency and to put these new State governments there to be formed again into the hands of the rebels. Sir, I will not spend longer time upon that. My friend yesterday allisded to my endorse- ment of the President's policy in a speech in 1865. I never endorsed what is now called the President's policy. In the summer of 1SG5, when I saw a division coming between the President and the Republican party, and when I could not help anticipating the direful con- sequences that must result from it, I made a speech in which I repelled certain statements that had been made against the President, and denied the charge that by issuing his procla- mation of May 29, 1865, he had thereby left the Republican party. I said that he had not left the Republican party by that act. I did show that the policy of that proclamation was even more radical than tha: of Mr. J^incoln. I did show that it was more radical even than the Winter Davis bill of the summer of 1804. But, sir, it was all upon the distinct uuder- standiug that whatever the President did that his whole policy or action was to be submitted to Congress for its consideration and decision; and, as I before remarked, if that had been done all would have been well. I did not then advocate universal colored BullVago in the South, and I have bcfwre given my reasons for it, and in doing that I was acting in harmony with the great body of the Republican parly of the North. It was nearly a year after that time, when Congress i)asscd the constitutional amendment, which still left the question of sull'rage with the Southern States, left it with the white people; and it was not until a year and a half after that time that Congress came to the conclusion that we could not execute the guaranty of the Constitution without rais- ing up a new class of loyal voters. And, sir, nobody concurred in that result more heartily than myself. I confess (audi do it without shame) that I have been edu- cated by the great events of the war. The American people have been educated rapidly; and the man who says he has learned nothing, that he stands now where he did six years ago, is like an ancient mile-post by the side of a deserted highway. We, Mr. President, have advanced step by step. When this war began we did not contemplate the destruction of slavery. I remember well when the Crit- tenden resolntiou was paissed, declaring that the war was uot prosecuted for conquest or to overturn the institutions ot auy State. I know that that was intended as an assurance that slavery should not be destroyed, and it received the vote, I believe, of every Republi- can metnber iu both houses of Congress; but in a few months after that time it was fouud by the events of the war that we could not pre- serve slavery and suppress the rebellion, and we must destroy slavery — not prosecute the war to destroy slavery, but destroy slavery to prosecute the war. Which was the better? To stand by the resolution and let the Union go, or stand by the Union and let the resolu- tion go? Congress could not stand by that pledge, and it was "more honored in the breach than the observance." Mr. Lincoln issued his proclamation of emancipation, setting free the slaves of the rebels. It was dictated by the stern and bloody experience of the times. Mr. Lincoln had no choice left him. When we began this contest no one thought we would use colored soldiers iu the war. The distinguished Senator sitting by me here, (Mr. Cameron,) when in the winter of 1861 he first brought forward the proposition, as Secretarj of War, to use colored soldiers, was greatly in advance of public opinion, and was thought to be visionary; but as the war progressed it became manifest to all intelligent men that we must not only destroy slavery but we must avail ourselves of every instrumen- tality in our power for the purpose of putting down the rebellion, and the whole country ac- corded in the use of colored soldiers, and gal- lant and, glorious service they rendered. In iSGi a proposition was brought forward in this body to amend the Constitution of the United States by abolishing slavery. We do not think that this is very radical now, but it was vi^vy radical then; it TTas the preat measure of the ac;c, and almost of modern limes, and it was finally passed; au amendment setting free every human being wit'iin the limits of the United States. But, sir, vfe were very far then from where we are now. All will remember the celebrated Winter Davis bill, passed In June, 1864, which took the power of recon- elruction out of the hands of the Presideut, where it did not in fact belong. I refer to Mr. Lincoln; hut if that bill bad passed it would perhaps have resulted in the destruction of this Government. We can all see it now, althoufch it was then thout^ht to be the most radical measure of the times. What did it propose? It proposed to prescribe a plan, to take effect when the war should end, by which these rebel States should be restored, •l" refer to that bill simply to show how we have all travelled. It re(iuired but one condi- tion or guaranty on the part of the South, and that was that they should put in their consti- tutions a provision prohibiting slavery. It re- quired no other guaranty. It required no equalization of representation; no security against rebel debts, or against payment for emancipated slaves; and it confined the right of suflVage to white men. But it was thought to be a great step in advance at the time; and so it was; but events were passing rapidly, and in l.%5 the rresldent came forward with his proposition, and I am stating what is true from an examination of the documents when I eay that, but for the want of power with the President, his scheme in itself considered was far more radical than that of the Winter Davis bill; but events were rapidly teaching the statesmen of the time that we could not rccon- Btruct upon that basis. Still, Congress was not prepared to take a forward step until the summer of 1860, in the passage of the constitutional amendment, which we now regard as a half way measure, necessary and vital as far as it went, but not going far enough. That was rejected, and we were then compelled to go further, and we have now fallen npon the plan of reconstruc- tion which I have been considering. It has been dictated by the logic of events. It over- rides all arguments, overrides all prejudices, •verrides all theory, in the presence of the necessity for preserving the life of this nation; and if future events shall determine that we must go further, I for one am prepared to say that I will go as far as shall be necessary to the execution of this guaranty, the reconstruction of ttiifi liepublic upon a right basis, and the suc- cessful restoration of every part of this Union. Mr. President, the column of reconstruction, as I before remarked, has risen slowly. It has not been hewn from a single stone. It is com- posed of many blocks, painfully laid up and pu^. together, and cemented by the tears and blood of the nation. Sir, we have done nothing ar- bitrarily. We have done nothing for punish- ment — aye, too little for punisnment. Justice has net had her demand. Not a man has yet been executed for this great treason. The arch fiend himself is now at liberty upon bail. No man is to be punished; and now, while pun- ishment has gone by, as wc all know, we are insisting only upon security for the future. We are simply asking that the evil spirits who brought this war upon us shall not again come Into power during this generation, again to bring upon us rebelliou and calamity. We are simply asking for those securities that we deem necessary for our peace and the peace of our posterity. Sir, there is one great difference between this Union party and the so-called Democratic party. Our principles are those of humanity; they are those of justice; they are those of equal rights; they are principles that appeal to tlie hearts and the consciences of men; while on the other side we hear appeals to the prejudice of race against race. The white man is overwhelm- ingly in the majority in this country, and that majority is yearly iucreased by half a million of white men from abroad, and that majority gaining in proportion from year to year until the colored men will finally be but a handful in this country; and yet we hear the prejudices of the white race appealed to to crush this other race, and to prevent it from rising to suprem- acy and power. Sir, there is nothing noble, there is nothing generous, there is nothing lovely in that policy or that appeal. How does that principle compare with ours? We are standing upon the broad platform of the Declar- ation of Independence, that "all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We say that these rights are not given by laws; are not given by the Con- stitution; but they are the gift of God to every man born in the world. Oh, sir, how glorious is this great principle compared with the in- human — I might say the heathenish — appeal to the prejudice of race against race; the en- deavor further to excite the strong against the weak; the endeavor further to deprive the weak of their rights of protection against the strong. CHEONICLE PRINT. \ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 789 954 1 % pH8^