CONTENTS OF VOLUME XIII.
A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT OUR FIRST DUTY AND THE ESSENTIAL CONDITION OF PEACE.
Bills and Resolutions in the Senate, at the Opening of the Session of Congress, December 4, 1865.
This session of Congress was occupied by Reconstruction, especially the question of suffrage for the colored race, with differences between Congress and President Johnson, culminating at the next Congress in his impeachment.
Mr. Sumner, on the first day of the session, as soon as he could obtain the floor, introduced the following measures.
A bill to carry out the principles of a republican form of government in the District of Columbia.
A bill to preserve the right of jury trial, by securing impartial jurors in the courts of the United States.
A bill to prescribe an oath to maintain a republican form of government in the Rebel States.
A bill in part execution of the guaranty of a republican form of government in the Constitution of the United States.
A bill supplying appropriate legislation to enforce the Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting Slavery.
A bill to enforce the guaranty of a republican form of government in certain States whose governments have been usurped or overthrown.
A joint resolution proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Concurrent resolutions declaring the adoption of the Constitutional Amendment abolishing Slavery.
Resolutions declaring the duties of Congress in respect to guaranties of the National Security and the National Faith in the Rebel States.
Resolutions declaring the duty of Congress, especially in respect to loyal citizens in the Rebel States.
This series of propositions attracted the attention of the country. Expressions of sympathy and gratitude were abundant. Colored fellow-citizens at Philadelphia addressed Mr. Sumner in earnest words.
“Philadelphia, Pa., December 6, 1865.
“Hon. Charles Sumner:—
“Dear Sir,—At a large and enthusiastic meeting of the colored citizens of this city, held in the Philadelphia Institute this evening, the undersigned were charged with the duty of conveying to you, in behalf of twenty-five thousand disfranchised Americans here, their most heartfelt gratitude for the noble, fearless, patriotic stand taken by you at the opening of the present Congress. No day of our lives seems brighter than that upon which the foremost champion of Freedom boldly directs the attention of the nation to a series of clear, sound, statesmanlike measures looking to the complete enfranchisement of America.
“We speak but faintly, though truthfully, when we say that four millions of Americans will ever cherish with the warmest gratitude of their hearts, and hand down as a precious legacy to their children, the name of Charles Sumner,—Charles Sumner, who has at all times and under all circumstances, even when friends faltered and foes exulted, stood firm, unflinching, immovable, uncompromising, on the rock of Justice and Liberty.
“God bless the Christian gentleman and scholar, the ablest of American statesmen! God bless the noble, spotless man, Charles Sumner! is the fervent prayer of four millions of disfranchised Americans, not less than of
“Yours, admiringly and sincerely,
“Ebenezer D. Bassett,[1]
Isaiah C. Wear,
Nathaniel W. Depee.”
Parker Pillsbury, the devoted Abolitionist, wrote at once from the office of the Antislavery Standard, in New York:—
“No need of many words to-day. Your openings yesterday were sublime,—a genuine Apocalypse! God grant it be but the key-note to the grandest oratorio ever performed by less than the morning stars and all the sons of God shouting together!”
Rev. Joshua Leavitt, an editor of the New York Independent, and a constant Abolitionist of great practical sense, wrote from New York:—
“We look to you to forbear when necessary, and to dare when the time is right.”
William Lloyd Garrison, an honored leader in the long warfare with Slavery, who had just returned from a lecture tour in the West as far as the Mississippi, wrote from Boston:—
“I have found but one opinion, whether the test was made publicly or privately, in regard to that questio vexata, Reconstruction,—and that is, that not one of the revolted States should be admitted into the Union without being put under a longer probation.… Thanks for your prompt action and untiring vigilance in this matter, in the series of resolutions presented by you to the Senate.”
William E. Walker wrote from Trenton, New Jersey:—
“You have ever been in the foremost rank in guarding and defending the rights of the colored people of this country with a sacred jealousy. I hail with inexpressible joy your manly, bold, and intelligent avowal of their civil and political rights, on the opening of the session of Congress. I feel assured that they will be opposed, and strongly opposed; but God grant to you, and the other fearless champions of Freedom’s cause, strength and ability to successfully defeat all opposition!”
Hon. Theophilus Parsons, the learned Law Professor and law writer, wrote from Cambridge:—
“Congress has hard work before it,—about as hard as Grant had to take Richmond; but I suppose it will be done somehow.”
Hon. Charles W. Upham, a scholar and writer, formerly Representative in Congress from the Essex District in Massachusetts, wrote from Salem:—
“Stick to the noble ground you have taken, and let reason and events put the President in harmony with you and the people.”
With such voices from the people the great work of the session began.
The bad spirit which belonged to the days of Slavery seemed also to return. The following, to Mr. Sumner from ——, dated “Paymaster General’s Office, Washington, December 11, 1865,” recalled other days.
“I conceive it to be my duty to impart the following information, in which you may be interested.
“Calling your name yesterday, in conversation with a citizen of this city, he casually remarked that you would probably be killed before the expiration of this session,—that two or three were sworn against you.
“I paid no apparent attention to the remark at the time, nor asked any question with regard to it; but, if I can serve you in the matter any further, I am at your command.”
Mr. Sumner did not notice this letter, or follow it with any inquiry. He was accustomed to such reports.
COLORED SUFFRAGE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Bill in the Senate, December 4, 1865.
A Bill to carry out the principles of a Republican form of Government in the District of Columbia.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That no person, in other respects qualified to vote within the District of Columbia, shall be excluded from that right by reason of race or color.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That any person whose duty it shall be to receive votes at any election within the District of Columbia, who shall refuse to receive or shall reject the vote of any person entitled to such right under this Act, shall be liable to an action of tort by the person injured, and shall be liable, upon indictment and conviction, if such act was done knowingly, to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both. And where the person injured is of African descent, one half the jury impanelled to try the action or indictment shall be of African descent.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall molest any person entitled to vote under this Act, in the exercise of such right, shall, upon indictment and conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding three thousand dollars, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both; and if the person molested was of African descent, one half the jury impanelled to try the indictment shall be of African descent.
This bill was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed.
December 6th, on motion of Mr. Sumner, it was referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia.
At the formation of the Committee, Mr. Sumner became, for the first time, a member of the Standing Committee on the District of Columbia. According to usage in the Senate, the Standing Committees are formed in a caucus of the predominant political party, acting on the report of a Nominating Committee appointed by the caucus. At the opening of the present session Mr. Sumner was a member of the Nominating Committee. While occupied in arranging the Committee on the District of Columbia, he remarked that his only wish with regard to this Committee was, that it should be so constituted as to report in favor of suffrage without distinction of color in the District. Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, who was a member of the Nominating Committee, said at once, “Then you must go on it.” Mr. Sumner replied, that he was much occupied on the Committee on Foreign Relations, of which he was Chairman, but that, if the Nominating Committee chose to assign him this new duty, he could not decline it. He was accordingly placed on this Committee, where he continued until the opening of the session in December, 1872, when, at his own request, founded on ill health, he was excused from all service on committees.
The members of the Committee were Mr. Morrill, of Maine, Chairman, Mr. Wade, of Ohio, Mr. Willey, of West Virginia, Mr. Sumner, Mr. Henderson, of Missouri, Mr. Yates, of Illinois, and Mr. Riddle, of Delaware. At the earliest meeting of the Committee, Mr. Wade’s bill to regulate the franchise in the District of Columbia, being first on the calendar, was proceeded with. At once the question arose of a general bill regulating suffrage in the District. To relieve the Committee from this embarrassment, and reach a prompt conclusion on the main question, Mr. Sumner moved, “That the Committee will report a bill simply prohibiting any exclusion from the elective franchise on account of color, with proper provisions to carry out this prohibition, and without undertaking to regulate the qualifications.” This motion was adopted.
December 20th, Mr. Morrill reported Mr. Wade’s bill with amendments, and, in reply to inquiry from Mr. Sumner, said that he was “inclined to call it up at the earliest possible time, but probably not before the contemplated adjournment [for the holidays].” Mr. Sumner then said:—
“I am very glad my excellent friend proposes to proceed with the consideration of that measure at an early day. I believe the country requires promptitude in such act of justice.”
January 10, 1866, the Senate, on motion of Mr. Morrill, proceeded with the bill, and adopted several of the amendments. An amendment providing that the elector “shall be able to read the Constitution of the United States in the English language, and write his name,” excited discussion, when the bill, on motion of Mr. Yates, was recommitted.
January 12th, Mr. Morrill reported the original bill with an amendment as a substitute. January 16th, it was taken up for consideration, when Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, spoke at length against it. From that date until June 27th it was not resumed, but the Senate during this interval heard suffrage discussed, especially on the Constitutional Amendment concerning representation. At the latter date it was taken up, on motion of Mr. Morrill. In the substitute there was no requirement of reading and writing as a qualification; but Mr. Morrill moved the amendment on this subject which had been reported before. On this important proposition the vote stood, Yeas 15, Nays 19. So it was rejected. After an elaborate speech from Mr. Willey, in which he proposed a qualified suffrage, the bill went over to another day, but was not resumed until the next session of Congress. The pressure of business, the fact that there would be no election until after the next session, the growing sense that the suffrage must be without educational qualification, and the uncertainty of carrying such a bill over the veto of the President, were the reasons for this delay.
Meanwhile, after a debate of several days, the House of Representatives, on the 18th of January, passed a short bill, striking the word “white” from the election laws of the District, and declaring that no person should be disqualified on account of color.
December 3, 1866, being the first day of the session, Mr. Sumner moved that the Senate proceed with the consideration of the Suffrage Bill, and then remarked:—
“It will be remembered that this bill was introduced on the first day of the last session,—that it was the subject of repeated debate in this Chamber,—that it was more than once referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia, by whose chairman it was reported back to the Senate. At several different stages it was supposed that we were about to reach a final vote. The country expected that vote. It was not had. It ought to have been had. And now, Sir, I think it best for the Senate, in this very first hour of its coming together, to put that bill on its passage. It has been thoroughly debated. Every Senator has made up his mind. There is nothing more to be said on either side. So far as I am concerned, I am perfectly willing that the vote shall be taken without one further word; but I think that the Senate ought not to allow the bill to be postponed. We should seize this first occasion to put the bill on its passage. The country expects it; the country will rejoice and be grateful, if you will signalize this first day of your coming together by this beautiful and generous act.”
The Chair, after recognizing the motion, ruled it not in order, according to a former precedent.
December 10th, on motion of Mr. Morrill, the Senate proceeded with the Suffrage Bill. Mr. Sumner joined in urging it:—
“Let us, so far as the Senate can do it, give suffrage to the colored race in the District; let us signalize this first day of actual business by finishing this great act.”
Debate ensued for four days, in which Mr. Morrill, Mr. Willey, of West Virginia, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, Mr. Pomeroy, of Kansas, Mr. Anthony, of Rhode Island, Mr. Williams, of Oregon, Mr. Cowan, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Wade, of Ohio, Mr. Yates, of Illinois, Mr. Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, Mr. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, Mr. Sprague, of Rhode Island, Mr. Buckalew, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Doolittle, of Wisconsin, Mr. Dixon, of Connecticut, Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, Mr. Foster, of Connecticut, Mr. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, Mr. Hendricks, of Indiana, Mr. Lane, of Indiana, and Mr. Sumner, took part. The remarks of the last will appear in their proper place, according to date.[2] Among the amendments considered was one by Mr. Cowan to strike out the word “male,” so as to open suffrage to women, which was rejected,—Yeas 9, Nays 37. The amendment by Mr. Dixon, making reading and writing a qualification, was also rejected,—Yeas 11, Nays 34.
December 13th, the bill passed the Senate,—Yeas 32, Nays 13. The announcement of its passage was followed by applause in the galleries. On the next day the bill passed the other House,—Yeas 128, Nays 46.
January 7, 1867, the bill passed the Senate over the veto of President Johnson, by a two-thirds vote,—Yeas 29, Nays 10. On the next day it passed the other House by a two-thirds vote,—Yeas 113, Nays 38. And so it became a law, and also a model for similar legislation in the reconstruction of the Rebel States.
IMPARTIAL JURORS FOR COLORED PERSONS.
Bill in the Senate, December 4, 1865.
A Bill to preserve the right of trial by jury, by securing impartial jurors in the Courts of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in the courts of the United States in any State, whereof, according to the census Anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty, one sixth part or more of the population was of African descent, every grand jury shall consist one half of persons of African descent who shall possess the other qualifications now required by law; and when the matter to be tried relates to any injury inflicted by a person of African descent upon a person not of such descent, or vice versa, or to any claim, suit, or demand between a person of such descent and one not of such descent, every petit jury shall consist one half of persons of African descent possessing the other qualifications now required by law. Upon any such trial, prejudice against persons of African descent, or against persons not of such descent, shall be ground of challenge, and, being established by proof, to the satisfaction of the judge, shall exclude the juror. And upon any such trial, inability to read or write shall be ground of challenge, and, the fact being found by the judge, shall exclude the juror.
This bill was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed.
December 13th, it was read a second time, and, on motion of Mr. Sumner, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Towards the end of the session, July 7, 1866, it was reported adversely by Mr. Trumbull, and, on his motion, indefinitely postponed.
This effort to secure recognition of colored persons on juries was suggested by the ancient jury de Medietate Linguæ, first given by the statute of 28th Edward III., cap. 13, and used in cases where one party was a foreigner and the other a denizen. There were other cases where an analogous jury was impanelled, as in a criminal trial in the University courts, where the jury was half freeholders of the county, and half matriculated laymen of the University.[3]
OATH TO MAINTAIN A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN THE REBEL STATES.
Bill in the Senate, December 4, 1865.
A Bill prescribing an oath to maintain a Republican form of Government in the Rebel States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter every person in any State lately declared to be in rebellion, before he shall be allowed to vote at any election, State or National, or before he shall enter upon the duties of any office, State or National, or become entitled to the salary or other emoluments thereof, shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to maintain a republican form of government, as follows: “I do hereby swear (or affirm) that I will at all times hereafter use my best endeavors to maintain a republican form of government in the State of which I am an inhabitant, and in the Union of the United States; that I will at all times recognize the indissoluble unity of the Republic, and will always discountenance and resist any endeavor to break away or secede from the Union; that I will give my influence and vote at all times to strengthen and sustain the national credit; that I will always discountenance and resist any attempt, directly or indirectly, to repudiate or postpone, in any part or in any way, either the debt contracted by the United States in subduing the late Rebellion or the obligation assumed to the Union soldiers; that I will always discountenance and resist any laws making any distinction of race or color; and that in all ways I will strive to maintain a State government completely loyal to the Union, where all men shall enjoy equal protection and equal rights”: which, so taken and subscribed, shall be preserved in the proper office or department, according to regulations made by the President of the United States. Any person who shall falsely take such oath shall be guilty of perjury, and, on conviction, in addition to the penalties now prescribed for that offence, shall be deprived of his office, and rendered incapable forever after of holding any office under the United States.
This bill was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed. The same oath appears in the Scheme of Reconstruction.[4]
PART EXECUTION OF THE GUARANTY OF A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
Bill in the Senate, December 4, 1865.
A Bill in part execution of the guaranty of a Republican form of Government in the Constitution of the United States.
Whereas it is declared in the Constitution that the United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a republican form of government; and whereas certain States have allowed their governments to be subverted by rebellion, so that the duty is now cast upon Congress of executing this guaranty: Now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all States lately declared to be in rebellion there shall be no oligarchy invested with peculiar privileges and powers, and there shall be no denial of rights, civil or political, on account of race or color; but all persons shall be equal before the law, whether in the court-room or at the ballot-box. And this statute, made in pursuance of the Constitution, shall be the supreme law of the land, anything in the Constitution or laws of any such State to the contrary notwithstanding.
This bill was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed.
The same bill, in another form, was introduced by Mr. Sumner, February 2, 1866, and afterwards moved as a substitute for the Constitutional Amendment on Representation.[5]
EQUAL RIGHTS OF COLORED PERSONS TO BE PROTECTED BY THE NATIONAL COURTS.
Bill in the Senate, to enforce the Constitutional Amendment abolishing Slavery, December 4, 1865.
A Bill supplying appropriate legislation to enforce the Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting Slavery.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, if any person shall attempt to control, or shall by act or word claim any right to control, the services of any other person, contrary to the provisions of the foregoing section, the person so offending shall, upon indictment and conviction in the District Court of the United States for the district where the crime was committed, be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or by both, to be inflicted at the discretion of the court; and it shall be no defence, nor cause of mitigation of sentence, that such claim or attempt is sanctioned by any pretended law of a State, or any judgment of a State court. But nothing herein contained shall be held to impair any other remedy now existing by Habeas Corpus or otherwise.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That, in further enforcement of the provision of the Constitution prohibiting Slavery, and in order to remove all relics of this wrong from the States where this Constitutional prohibition takes effect, it is hereby declared that all laws or customs in such States, establishing any oligarchical privileges and any distinction of rights on account of race or color, are hereby annulled, and all persons in such States are recognized as equal before the law; and the penalties provided in the last section are hereby made applicable to any violation of this provision, which is made in pursuance of the Constitution of the United States.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That, in further enforcement of the provision of the Constitution, the courts of the United States in the States shall have exclusive jurisdiction of all offences committed by persons not of African descent upon persons of African descent; also of all offences committed by persons of African descent; and also of all causes, suits, and demands to which any person of African descent shall be a party; and it is hereby declared that all such cases are to be treated as cases arising under the Constitution of the United States.
This bill was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed.
December 21st, it was read a second time, and, on motion of Mr. Sumner, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
January 11, 1866, Mr. Trumbull, from this Committee, reported the “Bill to protect all persons in the United States in their civil rights, and furnish the means of their vindication,” which was passed, covering in part the ground of Mr. Sumner’s bill.[6]
REPRESENTATION ACCORDING TO VOTERS.
Joint Resolution in the Senate, to amend the Constitution, December 4, 1865.
Joint Resolution proposing an Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two thirds of both Houses concurring), That the following Article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three fourths of such Legislatures, shall become a part of the Constitution, to wit:—
“Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union according to the number of male citizens of the age of twenty-one years having in each State the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. The actual enumeration of such citizens shall be made by the census of the United States.”
This was the first resolution of the session. It was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed.
December 13th, on motion of Mr. Sumner, it was read a second time, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
June 20, 1866, in company with other resolutions proposing Amendments to the Constitution, it was reported adversely by Mr. Trumbull, and on his motion indefinitely postponed.
Meanwhile the proposition had entered largely into debate, and had been discussed by Mr. Sumner.[7] It was superseded by the provision on Representation in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. When moved, June 6th, by Mr. Doolittle, of Wisconsin, as a substitute for that clause, it was rejected,—Yeas 7, Nays 31. The yeas were Messrs. Cowan, of Pennsylvania, Davis, of Kentucky, Doolittle, Guthrie, of Kentucky, Hendricks, of Indiana, Johnson, of Maryland, and Riddle, of Delaware. It was no longer satisfactory to Mr. Sumner, who hoped for something better. When brought forward by him, it was in the nature of a tentative process.
SCHEME OF RECONSTRUCTION ON THE BASIS OF EQUAL RIGHTS.
Bill in the Senate, to enforce the Guaranty of a Republican Form of Government in certain States, December 4, 1865.
A Bill to enforce the guaranty of a Republican form of Government in certain States whose governments have been usurped or overthrown.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That, in the States lately declared in rebellion against the United States, the President shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint for each a provisional governor, with pay and emoluments not exceeding those of a brigadier-general of volunteers, who shall be charged with the civil administration of such State, until a State government therein shall be recognized as hereinafter provided.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the provisional governor of each of such States shall direct the marshal of the United States, as speedily as may be, to name a sufficient number of deputies, and to enroll all male citizens of the United States resident in the State in their respective counties, and to request each one to take the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and the oath to maintain a republican form of government, and in his enrolment to designate those who take and those who refuse to take the oaths, which rolls shall be forthwith returned to the provisional governor; and if the persons taking the oaths shall amount to a majority of the persons enrolled in the State, he shall by proclamation invite the loyal people of the State to elect delegates to a convention charged to declare the will of the people of the State relative to the reëstablishment of a State government, subject to and in conformity with the Constitution of the United States.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the oath to maintain a republican form of government shall be as follows: “I do hereby swear (or affirm) that I will at all times hereafter use my best endeavors to maintain a republican form of government in the State of which I am an inhabitant, and in the Union of the United States; that I will at all times recognize the indissoluble unity of the Republic, and will always discountenance and resist any endeavor to break away or secede from the Union; that I will give my influence and vote at all times to strengthen and sustain the national credit; that I will always discountenance and resist any attempt, directly or indirectly, to repudiate or postpone, in any part or in any way, either the debt contracted by the United States in subduing the late rebellion or the obligation assumed to the Union soldiers; that I will always discountenance and resist any laws making any distinction of race or color; and that in all ways I will strive to maintain a State government completely loyal to the Union, where all men shall enjoy equal protection and equal rights.”[8]
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the convention shall consist of as many members as both Houses of the last constitutional State Legislature, apportioned by the provisional governor among the counties, parishes, or districts of the State, in proportion to the population returned as electors by the marshal, in compliance with the provisions of this Act. The provisional governor shall by proclamation declare the number of delegates to be elected by each county, parish, or election district; name a day of election, not less than thirty days thereafter; designate the places of voting in each county, parish, or district, conforming, as nearly as may be convenient, to the places used in the State elections next preceding the Rebellion; appoint one or more commissioners to hold the election at each place of voting; and provide an adequate force to keep the peace during the election.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the delegates shall be elected by the loyal male citizens of the United States of the age of twenty-one years, and resident at the time in the county, parish, or district in which they shall offer to vote, and enrolled as aforesaid, or absent in the military service of the United States, and who shall take and subscribe the oath of allegiance to the United States in the form contained in the Act of Congress of July 2, 1862, and the before recited oath to maintain a republican form of government; and all such citizens of the United States who are in the military service of the United States shall vote at the head-quarters of their respective commands, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the provisional governor for the taking and return of their votes; but no person who has held or exercised any office, civil or military, State or otherwise, under the Rebel usurpation, or who has voluntarily borne arms against the United States, shall vote or be eligible as delegate at such election.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners, or either of them, shall hold the election in conformity with this Act, and, so far as may be consistent therewith, shall proceed in the manner used in the State prior to the Rebellion. The oath of allegiance and the oath to maintain a republican form of government shall be taken and subscribed on the poll-book by every voter in the form above prescribed; but every person known by or proved to the commissioners to have held or exercised any office, civil or military, State or otherwise, under the Rebel usurpation, or to have voluntarily borne arms against the United States, shall be excluded, though he offer to take the oath; and in case any person who shall have borne arms against the United States shall offer to vote, he shall be deemed to have borne arms voluntarily, unless he shall prove the contrary by the testimony of a qualified voter. The poll-book showing the name and oath of each voter shall be returned to the provisional governor by the commissioners of election, or the one acting, and the provisional governor shall canvass such returns, and declare the person having the highest number of votes elected.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the provisional governor shall by proclamation convene the delegates duly elected, at the capital of the State, on a day not more than three months after the election, giving at least thirty days’ notice of such day. In case the capital shall in his judgment be unfit, he shall in his proclamation appoint another place. He shall preside over the deliberations of the convention, and administer to each delegate, before taking his seat in the convention, the oath of allegiance to the United States, and the oath to maintain a republican form of government, in the form above prescribed.
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the convention shall declare, on behalf of the people of the State, their submission to the Constitution and laws of the United States, and shall adopt the following provisions, hereby prescribed by the United States in the execution of the constitutional duty to guaranty a republican form of government to every State, and incorporate them in the Constitution of the State, that is to say:—
First. No person who has held or exercised any office, civil or military, except offices merely ministerial and military offices below the grade of colonel, State or otherwise, under the usurping power, shall vote for or be a member of the legislature or governor.
Secondly. Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, and the freedom of all persons is guarantied in such State.
Thirdly. No debt, State or otherwise, created by or under the sanction of the usurping power, shall be recognized or paid by the State.
Fourthly. No person shall enter upon any office within the gift of the people of this State, until he has first taken the oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the oath to maintain a republican form of government. And the Constitution shall prescribe forms for these oaths substantially in accordance with the forms herein provided.
Fifthly. There shall be no distinction among the inhabitants of this State founded on race, former condition, or color. Every such inhabitant shall be entitled to all the privileges before the law enjoyed by the most favored class of such inhabitants.
Sixthly. These provisions shall be perpetual, not to be abolished or changed hereafter.
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That, when the convention shall have adopted those provisions, it shall proceed to reëstablish a republican form of government, and ordain a constitution containing those provisions, which, when adopted, the convention shall by ordinance provide for submitting to the people of the State entitled to vote under this law, at an election to be held in the manner prescribed by the act for the election of delegates, but at a time and place named by the convention, at which election the electors described above, and none others, shall vote directly for or against such constitution and form of State government. And the returns of such election shall be made to the provisional governor, who shall canvass the same in the presence of the electors, and if a majority of the votes cast shall be for the constitution and form of government, he shall certify the same, with a copy thereof, to the President of the United States, who, after obtaining the assent of Congress, shall by proclamation recognize the government so established, and none other, as the constitutional government of the State; and from the date of such recognition, and after its legislature shall have ratified the Amendment to the United States Constitution abolishing slavery and prohibiting involuntary servitude, and not before, Senators and Representatives, and Electors for President and Vice-President, may be elected in such State, according to the laws of the State and of the United States.
Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That, if the convention shall refuse to reëstablish the State government on the foregoing conditions, the provisional governor shall declare it dissolved; but it shall be the duty of the President, whenever he shall have reason to believe that a sufficient number of the people of the State entitled to vote under this Act, in number not less than a majority of those enrolled as aforesaid, are willing to reëstablish a State government on the foregoing conditions, to direct the provisional governor to order another election of delegates to a convention for the purpose and in the manner prescribed in this Act, and to proceed in all respects as herein before provided, either to dissolve the convention, or to certify the State government reëstablished by it to the President.
Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That, until the United States shall have recognized a republican form of State government, the provisional governor in each of such States shall see that this Act, and the laws of the United States, and the laws of the State in force when the State government was overthrown by the Rebellion, are faithfully executed within the State; but no law or usage contrary to any of the provisions herein directed to be inserted in the constitution of the State shall be recognized or enforced by any court or officer in such State, and such provisions shall be regarded as already incorporated into the law of the State; and the laws for the trial and punishment of white persons shall extend to all persons, and jurors shall have the qualifications of voters under this law for delegates to the convention. The President shall appoint such officers, provided for by the laws of the State when its government was overthrown, as he may find necessary to the civil administration of the State, all which officers shall be entitled to receive the fees and emoluments provided by the State laws for such officers. And he may permit, when he deems it expedient, elections to be made of such officers by the people entitled to vote according to the provisions of this Act; such officers to have the qualifications required for voters under this Act, and to hold their offices subject to removal by him. And all such officers, whether appointed by the President or elected by the people, shall, before entering on the duties of their offices, take the oaths to support the Constitution of the United States, and to maintain a republican form of government.
Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That, until the recognition of a State government as aforesaid, the provisional governor shall, under such regulations as he may prescribe, cause to be assessed, levied, and collected, for the year eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and every year thereafter, the taxes provided by the laws of such State to be levied during the fiscal year preceding the overthrow of the State government thereof, in the manner prescribed by the laws of the State, as nearly as may be; and the officers appointed as aforesaid are vested with all powers of levying and collecting such taxes, by distress or sale, as were vested in any officers or tribunal of the State government for those purposes. The proceeds of such taxes shall be accounted for to the provisional governor, and be by him applied to the expenses of the administration of the laws in such State, subject to the direction of the President; and the surplus shall be deposited in the treasury of the United States to the credit of such State, to be paid to the State upon an appropriation therefor, to be made when a republican form of government shall be recognized therein by the United States.
This was read, passed to a second reading, and ordered to be printed.
December 21st, it was, on motion of Mr. Sumner, referred to the Joint Committee “to inquire into the condition of the States which formed the so-called Confederate States of America,” known as the Reconstruction Committee, of which Mr. Fessenden was Senate Chairman, and Mr. Stevens House Chairman.
Nothing as systematic and complete as this measure was ever adopted. The work of Reconstruction was piecemeal.
ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ABOLISHING SLAVERY.
Concurrent Resolutions in the Senate, declaring the Adoption, December 4, 1865.
Concurrent Resolutions declaring the adoption of the Constitutional Amendment abolishing Slavery.
Whereas Congress, by a vote of two thirds of both Houses, did heretofore propose to the Legislatures of the several States for ratification an Amendment to the Constitution in the following words, to wit:—
“Article XIII. Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
“Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this Article by appropriate legislation.”
And whereas, at the time when such Amendment was submitted, as well as since, there were sundry States which, by reason of rebellion, were without Legislatures, so that, while the submission was made in due constitutional form to “the Legislatures of the several States,” in obedience both to the letter and spirit of the provision of the Constitution authorizing Amendments, it was not, as it could not be, made to all the States, there being a less number of Legislatures of States than there were States;
And whereas, since the Constitution expressly authorizes Amendments to be made, any construction which would render the making of them at times impossible must violate both its letter and its spirit;
And whereas, to require the ratification by States without Legislatures as well as by “the Legislatures of the States,” in order to be valid, would put it in the power of long-continued rebellion to suspend not only the peace of the nation, but its Constitution also;
And whereas the count of States in rebellion enables such States by silence to vote against the Constitutional Amendment, thus giving to their silence the same effect as a vote;
And whereas, from the terms of the Constitution and the nature of the case, it belongs to the two Houses of Congress to determine when such ratification is complete;
And whereas more than three fourths of the Legislatures to which the proposition was made have ratified such Amendment: Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That the Amendment abolishing Slavery has become and is part of the Constitution of the United States.
Resolved, That, notwithstanding the foregoing resolution, yet, considering the great public interest which attaches to this question, the Legislatures which have not ratified the Amendment be permitted to express their concurrence by the usual form of ratification, to be returned in the usual manner.
Resolved, That no one of the States, to the Legislatures of which such Amendment could not be submitted, by reason of rebellion against the United States and having no Legislatures, be permitted to resume its relations, and have its Legislature acknowledged and its Senators and Representatives admitted, until its Legislature has first ratified such Amendment in recognition of the accomplished fact.
These resolutions were read and ordered to be printed. They were also entered at length on the Journal of the Senate.
FIVE CONDITIONS OF RECONSTRUCTION.
Resolutions in respect to Guaranties of the National Security and the National Faith, December 4, 1865.
Resolutions declaring the duty of Congress in respect to guaranties of the national security and the national faith in the Rebel States.
Resolved, That in order to provide proper guaranties for security in the future, so that peace and prosperity shall surely prevail, and the plighted faith of the nation be preserved, it is the first duty of Congress to take care that no State declared in rebellion shall be allowed to resume its relations with the Union until after satisfactory performance of five several conditions, which conditions precedent must be submitted to a popular vote, and be sanctioned by a majority of the people of each State respectively, as follows.
1. The complete reëstablishment of loyalty, as shown by honest recognition of the unity of the Republic, and the duty of allegiance to it at all times, without mental reservation or equivocation of any kind.
2. The complete suppression of all oligarchical pretensions, and the complete enfranchisement of all citizens, so that there shall be no denial of rights on account of race or color, but justice shall be impartial, and all shall be equal before the law.
3. The rejection of the Rebel debt, and at the same time the adoption, in just proportion, of the national debt and the national obligations to Union soldiers, with solemn pledges never to join in any measure, direct or indirect, for their repudiation, or in any way tending to impair the national credit.
4. The organization of an educational system for the equal benefit of all, without distinction of race or color.
5. The choice of citizens for office, whether State or National, of constant and undoubted loyalty, whose conduct and conversation shall give assurance of peace and reconciliation.
Resolved, That to provide these essential safeguards, without which the national security and the national faith will be imperilled, States cannot be precipitated back to political power and independence; but they must wait until these conditions are in all respects fulfilled.
These resolutions were read and ordered to be printed. They were also entered at length on the Journal of the Senate.
RIGHTS OF LOYAL CITIZENS, AND A REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT.
Resolutions in the Senate, declaring the Duty of Congress, December 4, 1865.
Resolutions declaring the duty of Congress, especially towards loyal citizens in the Rebel States.
Whereas it is provided by the Constitution that “the United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a republican form of government”;
And whereas there are certain States where, by reason of rebellion, no State governments are recognized by Congress;
And whereas, because of the failure of such States respectively to maintain State governments, it has become the duty of Congress, standing in the place of guarantor, where the principal has made a lapse, to provide governments republican in form for such States respectively: Now, therefore, in order to declare the duty of Congress,—
1. Resolved, That, whenever a convention is called in any such State for the organization of a government, the following persons have a right to be represented therein, namely: the citizens of the State who have taken no part in the Rebellion, especially all those whose exclusion from the ballot enabled others to carry the State into the Rebellion, and still more especially those who became soldiers in the armies of the Union, and by valor on the battle-field helped turn the tide of war, making the Union triumphant; and Congress must refuse to sanction the proceedings of any convention composed of delegates chosen by men recently in arms against the Union, and excluding men who perilled life in its defence, unless its proceedings have been first approved by those entitled to participate therein, as hereby declared.
2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States, being supreme over State laws and State constitutions on those matters upon which it speaks, and the duty being now imposed by it on Congress to legislate for the establishment of government in the States where government is overthrown, it is hereby declared that no supposed State law or State constitution can be set up as an impediment to the national power in the discharge of its duty.
3. Resolved, That, since also it has become the duty of Congress to determine what is a republican form of government, it is hereby declared that no government of a State recently in rebellion can be accepted as republican, where large masses of citizens always loyal to the United States are excluded from the elective franchise, and especially where wounded soldiers of the Union, with kindred and race, and also the kindred of others whose bones whiten battle-fields on which they died for country, are thrust from the polls to make place for the men by whose hands came wounds and death; more particularly where, as in some of those States, the result would be to disfranchise the majority of citizens always loyal, and give to the oligarchical minority recently engaged in rebellion power to oppress the loyal majority, even to the extent of driving them from home, and depriving them of all opportunity of livelihood.
4. Resolved, That, where, by reason of rebellion, there is a lapse in the State government, and it becomes the duty of Congress to provide a government, none can be accepted as “a republican form of government,” where numerous native-born citizens, charged with no crime and no failure of duty, and compelled to pay taxes, are left wholly unrepresented; and especially where a particular race is singled out and denied representation, although compelled to pay taxes; more especially where such race constitutes the majority of the citizens, and the enfranchised minority has for the time forfeited its rights by rebellion; and more especially still, where by such exclusion the oligarchical enemies of the Republic can practically compel it to break faith with national soldiers and national creditors, to whose generosity it was indebted during a period of peril.
These resolutions were read and ordered to be printed. They were also entered at length on the Journal of the Senate.
THE LATE SENATOR COLLAMER.
Speech in the Senate, on his Death, December 14, 1865.
MR. PRESIDENT,—Since Henry Clay left this Chamber by the gate of death, no Senator has passed that way crowned with the same honorable years as Mr. Collamer; nor has any Senator passed that way whose departure created such a blank in the public councils, unless we except Mr. Douglas. He was our most venerable associate; but his place here had not shrunk with time. Nor was he, when we last saw him, less important to our debates and to our conclusions than ever before. He still possessed all those peculiar powers of argument and illustration, seasoned with a New England salt, which he had from the beginning. He was not so old that he was not often the life of the body.
When he came into the Senate, it was after long and various experience as lawyer, judge, representative in the other House, member of the Cabinet, and then again as judge, in all which characters he had been single, pure, honest, faithful, and laborious. Though little of a traveller, he had seen much. He had also read much, and he had done much. But all the results of observation, study, and action had so passed into his nature as to become part of himself. If he expressed an opinion, even on law, it seemed to come from himself, and not from books. He was the authority. And yet he was fond of books, whether in his own profession or in other departments of study.
His fidelity assumed the form of accuracy in all that he said or did. He spoke accurately, and he was especially accurate with his pen. Perhaps nobody was apter in the style or language of legislation. He was an expert draughtsman, although, without doubt, too professional for a taste not exclusively professional,—indulging in traditional phrases, and those favorite superfluities of the lawyer, “said” and “aforesaid.” The great Act of July 13, 1861,[9] which gave to the war for the suppression of the Rebellion its first Congressional sanction, and invested the President with new powers, was drawn by him. It was he that set in place the great ban, not yet lifted, by which the Rebel States were shut out from the communion of the Union. This is a landmark in our history, and it might properly be known by the name of its author, as “Collamer’s statute.”
All who ever sat with him in the committee-room will long remember the carefulness with which he gave his counsels, and the completeness with which he explained them. Perhaps his wisdom and facility in business were nowhere more manifest. I seize this occasion to confess most gratefully my own personal obligations to him in this interesting relation.
The same character which appeared in the committee-room showed itself in conversation, enlivened by constant humor. He, too, had his “little story” for illustration; but in this respect he differed from the late President as one of his own Vermont mountains differs from an outstretched laughing prairie of the West. In manner he was Socratic. The curious observer, fond of tracing resemblances, might fancy that in the form of his head, and even of his person, he was not unlike the received image of Socrates, while his colloquial powers might again recall Socrates, as pictured by the affectionate Xenophon, “handling all who conversed with him just as he pleased.” He had also the same antique simplicity, and I doubt not he would have followed the wise man of Athens barefoot in the waters of the Ilissus. I would not push the resemblance too far, and I use it only for illustration, not for parallel; and yet, as I bring to mind our departed friend, he seems to assume this classical figure. Call him, then, if you please, the Green Mountain Socrates.
Debate, except on the highest occasions, is only conversation in public. With him it was conversation always. He spoke as he conversed, with the same pith and humor, and with the same facility. But his facility did not tempt him. In this gilded amphitheatre,[10] where the speaker is sacrificed to the galleries, as of old the gladiator was offered up to make a Roman holiday, he declined all display, and simply conversed; and such was the desire to hear him, that we gathered near to catch his words. He was not a frequent speaker, and he never spoke except when he had something to say; nor did he speak for effect abroad, but only for effect in the debate. Of course, he was too honest and too considerate of the Senate to speak without the preparation of reflection and study. Though at times earnest, he was never bitter. He never dropped into the debate any poisoned ingredients.
Sometimes he spoke with much effect, especially on law, or finance, or business. On the great question which for a generation overshadowed all others, and finally wrapped the country in the “living cloud of war,” he was sincerely antislavery, but with certain shortcomings which in this impartial tribute ought not to be concealed. His lenity toward our monster enemy showed itself unconsciously when he spoke of malignant Rebels as “those Southern gentlemen who had seceded,” and then again, when, at an earlier date, he spoke of “two civilizations”; but he bore kindly the reply, that civilization was only on one side. And yet on two occasions in this Chamber he strove for the Right very bravely, so that his position became historic. One of these was many years ago, shortly after he came into the Senate; the other was only last year. The historian and the biographer will describe these scenes. One of them is the fit subject of Art.
The earliest of these occasions was when, under the influence of the President of that day, backed by Jefferson Davis in the Cabinet, an illegal government was set up in a distant Territory, which, in defiance of the people there, proceeded to institute an infamous Black Code borrowed from Slavery. The President countenanced the illegal government, and smiled upon the Black Code. The representatives of Slavery in both Houses of Congress, with their Northern allies, indifferent to human rights, and greedy only of political power, sustained the President in his disregard of a fundamental principle of the Declaration of Independence, that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The contest was unequal. On one side was a struggling people, insulted and despoiled of their rights; on the other side was the President, with all the vast powers of the Republic, with patronage less than now, but very prevailing, and with a great political party yielding an unhesitating support. The contest reached this Chamber. Naturally it came before the Committee on Territories, where happily the good cause was represented by Jacob Collamer, of Vermont. The interest increased with each day; and when the Committee reported, a scene ensued without example among us.
The reports of committees are usually handed in and ordered to be printed; but now, at the impassioned call of a Senator from South Carolina,[11] the report of the Committee, whitewashing incredible outrages, was read by the Chairman at the desk of the Secretary of the Senate. The Chairman left his seat for this purpose, and stood face to face with the Senate.[12] For two hours the apology for that usurpation which had fastened a Black Code upon an inoffensive people sounded in this Chamber, while the partisans of Slavery gloated over the seeming triumph. There was a hush of silence, and there was sadness also with some, who saw clearly the unpardonable turpitude of the sacrifice. Mr. Collamer followed with a minority report, signed by himself alone, which he read at the desk of the Secretary, standing face to face with the Senate. Jesse D. Bright was at the time our President, but he had installed in the chair on that momentous occasion none other than that most determined artificer of treason and drill-sergeant of the Rebellion, John Slidell, who sat behind, like Mephistopheles looking over the shoulder of Truth,[13] while the patriot Senator, standing before, gravely unfolded the enormities that had been perpetrated. Few then present now remain; but none then present can fail to recall the scene. The report which Mr. Collamer read belongs to the history of the country. But the scene comes clearly within the domain of Art. In the long life of our departed friend it was his brightest and most glorious moment,—beyond anything of honor or power, whether in the cabinet or on the bench. For what is office, compared to the priceless opportunity, nobly employed, of standing as a buttress for human rights?
The other signal occasion, when he showed much of the same character, and was surely inspired by the same sentiment, was during the last year, when the illustrious President, who now reposes in immortality, undertook, in disregard of Congress, and solely by executive power, to institute civil governments throughout that region of the Union where civil governments had been overthrown,—imitating, in the agencies he employed, the Cromwellian system of ruling by “major-generals.” The case of distant and oppressed Kansas was revived. Who can forget the awakened leonine energy of the aged Senator, when, contrary to his custom, he interrupted another in debate to declare his judgment against the power of the President to institute permanent civil governments “to last beyond the war”?[14] The dividing line was clear. The President might exercise a temporary military power, but Congress must lay the foundations of permanent peace. This simple principle was, of course, only the corollary of that rule of Jefferson, which has become one of the commonplaces of our political system, asserting “the supremacy of the civil over the military authority.”[15] The eggs of crocodiles can produce only crocodiles; and it is not easy to see how eggs laid by military power can be hatched into an American State.
This interjected judgment was afterward developed in a speech, which for sententious wisdom and solid sense is, perhaps, the best he ever delivered. It is not long, but, like the Roman sword, it is effective from its very shortness. He spoke with the authority of years, but he spoke also with another peculiar authority; for it was he who drew the Act of Congress which placed the Rebel States under the ban.[16] Positively, earnestly, and most persuasively, he insisted that Congress should not abdicate its control of this question. His conclusion was repeated again and again. It was for Congress, he said, to say when that state of things existed which would entitle the Rebel States to perform their functions as integral parts of the Union. It was for Congress to decide this question, and not for the President, except so far as the President unites in an Act of Congress by his signature. And he asked, “When will and when ought Congress to admit these States as being in their normal condition?” To which he answers: “It is not enough that they stop their hostility and are repentant. They should present fruits meet for repentance. They should furnish to us, by their actions, some evidence that the condition of loyalty and obedience is their true condition again, and Congress must pass upon it; otherwise we have no securities.… And I insist that the President, making peace with them, if you please, by surceasing military operations, does not alter their status, until Congress passes upon it.” Then, again, filled with the thought, he exclaims, “The great and essential thing now to insist upon is, that Congress shall do nothing which can in any way create a doubt about our power over the subject.” And still pleading against executive interference, he says: “I believe, that, when reëstablishing the condition of peace with that people, Congress, representing the United States, has power, in ending this war, as any other war, to get some security for the future. It would be a strange thing, if it were not true that this nation, in ending a civil as well as a foreign war, could close it and make peace by obtaining, if not indemnity for the past, at least some security for future peace.”[17] This was among the last utterances of our patriot Senator. It is his dying legacy to his country. Let all, from President to citizen, heed its words. The aspiration so often expressed to-day, that he were now alive to take part in the restoration of the Rebel States, is fulfilled. He lives in his declared opinions, echoed from the tomb.
Say not that I err, because here at his funeral, seeking to do him honor, I exhibit him bravely standing front to front with executive power wielded by a President instigated by Jefferson Davis, and then again bravely standing front to front with executive power wielded by the gentle hand of Abraham Lincoln. In the first case it was to save an outraged people; in the other it was to vindicate the powers of the people of the United States in Congress assembled to provide guaranties and safeguards against the wickedness and perjury which had deluged his beloved country with blood. Say not that I err, because now, at his funeral, anxious that his best actions should not be forgotten, I commemorate this championship. He is dead, but the good he has done cannot die. And hereafter faithful Senators, struggling with executive power, will catch a new inspiration from his example. A bishop of the Church tells us that “all is not over, while there is a man left to reprove error and bear testimony to the truth; and a man who does it with becoming spirit may stop a prince or senate when in full career, and recover the day.”[18] Where this spirit has been shown, where an honored associate has earned this title to fame, I insist that it shall be made known.
“WHITEWASHING” BY THE PRESIDENT.
Remarks in the Senate, on a Message of President Johnson on the Condition of the Southern States, December 19, 1865.
December 19th, a message was read from President Johnson with regard to the condition of the Southern States, which was represented as “more promising than, in view of all the circumstances, could well have been expected.” The President said:—
“From all the information in my possession, and from that which I have recently derived from the most reliable authority, I am induced to cherish the belief that sectional animosity is surely and rapidly merging itself into a spirit of nationality, and that representation, connected with a properly adjusted system of taxation, will result in a harmonious restoration of the relations of the States to the National Union.”
Accompanying the message was a report to the President by Lieutenant-General Grant, who had recently made a tour of inspection through several of the States lately in rebellion, where he said, “I am satisfied that the mass of thinking men of the South accept the present situation of affairs in good faith.” In this spirit the report speaks of the “universal acquiescence in the authority of the General Government”; it declares that “the good of the country and economy require that the force kept in the interior, where there are many freedmen, should all be white troops,”—that “the presence of black troops, lately slaves, demoralizes labor, both by their advice and by furnishing in their camps a resort for the freedmen for long distances around,”—that “the citizens of the Southern States are anxious to return to self-government within the Union as soon as possible”; and it adds, that “they are in earnest in wishing to do what they think is required by the Government, not humiliating to them as citizens.”
Nothing was said in the message or the report of the condition of the freedmen, or of the continued denial of their rights.
Both these documents were read at length by the Secretary of the Senate. A report by Major-General Carl Schurz was also communicated; but this was not read. It was understood that this report was elaborate, and that it set forth the condition of the freedmen. Mr. Sumner, ascertaining that it accompanied the message, said: “If it is there, I think it had better be read.”
Several Senators. It is very long.
Mr. Sumner. At any rate, we can begin it.
The President pro tempore. The reading of the report of General Carl Schurz is called for. It will be read, if there be no objection.
Mr. Johnson [of Maryland]. I have no objection to the reading of the report; I should like to hear it; but the reading will take a good while, and it can all be printed in a day or two.
Mr. Sumner. Let the reading be begun.
Mr. Johnson. I submit to the Senator from Massachusetts that the printing of it, perhaps, will answer every purpose. It is a very long report, I see; at least, it seems to be so. I have, personally, not the slightest objection to its being read.
MR. SUMNER. It is a very important document. The Senate will remember, that, when the report was made on the condition of Kansas, every word of it was read at the desk.[19] Now the question before the country is immeasurably more important than that of Kansas. We have a message from the President which is like the whitewashing message of Franklin Pierce with regard to the enormities in Kansas. Such is its parallel. I think the Senate had better at least listen to the opening of Major-General Schurz’s report.
Mr. Johnson. I have no objection, if the Senate think they have time to listen to it; but I did not expect to hear any assault, direct or indirect, upon the President at this time.
Mr. Sumner. No assault at all.
Mr. Johnson then said: “I have seen nothing in the message which would warrant a reflection that any improper purpose had actuated the President in sending it here. He does not mean, as I suppose, to whitewash anybody who has offended.”
The Secretary proceeded to read the introductory paragraphs of General Schurz’s report, in which he states through what portion of the South he travelled, the points at which he stopped, his facilities for obtaining information, and the order in which the results of his observation would be detailed.
Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, “would much prefer to read this document in print,” and he moved to dispense with its further reading.
Mr. Sumner replied:—
I shall not object, if the Senator from Ohio thinks it proper, on this important occasion, to dispense with the reading. In my judgment the Senate cannot listen to anything of more consequence than this accurate, authentic, most authoritative report with regard to the actual condition of things in the States lately in rebellion. Here is an eminent citizen, lately a major-general in the army of the United States, sent by the President on a special mission to visit those States and to report upon their condition. The visit has been made,—not a hasty one, like that of General Grant, for instance, or of other officers or citizens, but a sojourn occupying time, extending through different States,—and the results are recorded in a careful document. Now, Sir, if the question were trivial, if it were transitory, I should think the Senator was right; but, if he persists in his motion, I shall not oppose it.
Mr. Sherman insisted upon his motion, and said: “It is unusual to read documents in this way.” Mr. Doolittle, of Wisconsin, called attention to a remark of Mr. Sumner, which he thought he ought “to qualify at least, if not altogether retract.” The objectionable remark was then stated. “Speaking of the message just received from the President of the United States, he said that it was like the whitewashing message of Franklin Pierce, to cover up the transactions in Kansas.… Now, Mr. President, I think the Senator from Massachusetts must have let fall that expression without due consideration”; and he concluded by saying: “I believe, Sir, certainly I think I ought to believe, that the honorable Senator from Massachusetts will at least modify or qualify, if he does not wholly retract, this strong expression.”
Mr. Sumner followed:—
Mr. President,—I have nothing to retract, nothing to modify, nothing to qualify. In former days there was one Kansas suffering under illegal power; there are now eleven Kansases suffering as that one; therefore, as eleven is more than one, so is the enormity of the present time more than the enormity in the day of Franklin Pierce.
Mr. Dixon, of Connecticut, said: “A charge has been directly made here by the Senator that the President has sent in a whitewashing report.… When such a charge as that is brought in the Senate, I think it calls for some notice, and I take the liberty, with all my respect for the Senator from Massachusetts, to deny that there is anything in that report of a whitewashing character.” Mr. Doolittle spoke again: “I was not pained because the honorable Senator differed from the President; I knew he differed from the President on this question; but I was pained, and I confess very much disappointed, to hear that Senator, as I should be to hear any other Senator on the floor of the Senate, question the truth, the integrity, or the patriotism of the President, however much he might disagree with me in opinion.”
Mr. Sumner spoke again:—
Mr. President,—I am sorry that I have given pain to honorable friends. I certainly did not intend it. They suggest that a question has been raised as to the policy of the President. I have raised no such question, and have expressed no opinion in regard to it. The Senator from Wisconsin dwells on that point, and reminds the Senate that the policy of the President was not in question. I knew it was not in question, and therefore I expressed no opinion upon it; for, when I speak here, I try to speak directly to the question. There was then no question on the policy of the President. Had there been, I should have been ready to meet it. At the proper time I shall meet it fully, plainly, unequivocally, I trust, as becomes a member of this body.
The only question, then, was on the character of the document just read; and that I exhibited, compendiously, as whitewashing; and then my honorable friends rise, one after the other, and, like two lexicographers, proceed with a definition of “whitewash.” I do not accept their definition. I intended no such thing as either the Senator from Connecticut or the Senator from Wisconsin attempted to impute. I have no reflection to make on the patriotism or the truth of the President. Never, in public or in private, have I made any such reflection, and I do not begin now. When I spoke, it was of the document read at the desk. I characterized it as I thought I ought.
My memory goes back in this Chamber further than that of many about me. I remember that other scene, when a whitewashing message came from Franklin Pierce. We all at that time called it whitewashing; and I am not aware that any one, even on the other side, undertook to play the part that my honorable friends from Wisconsin and Connecticut undertake to perform. The message was so called because we all felt that it was whitewashing; and I undertook at once, to-day, on listening to the document read at the desk, to characterize it precisely as the patriotic party of 1856 characterized the message of Franklin Pierce.
Mr. Dixon added, that, if Mr. Sumner had said that he did not intend his remarks in an offensive tone, but considered “whitewashing” a polite and proper word to apply to the message of the President, he should have accepted his explanation. Mr. Trumbull expressed a hope “that this unprofitable debate might cease.” Mr. Fessenden remarked: “This is a mere matter of definitions, and it ought to be referred to some maker of dictionaries.”
The motion of Mr. Sherman prevailed without a division, and the message and accompanying documents were ordered to be printed.
The report of General Schurz was a remarkable document, founded on an official visit, at the appointment of President Johnson, and with its accompanying papers occupied more than a hundred pages.[20] It bristled with testimony, not only from his own observation, but from that of generals and other officers on the spot. “An utter absence of national feeling”; “an entire absence of that national spirit which forms the basis of true loyalty and patriotism”; “although the freedman is no longer considered the property of the individual master, he is considered the slave of society,” with the notion “that the elevation of the blacks will be the degradation of the whites”; “the practice of corporal punishment is still continued to a great extent”; “the habit is so inveterate with a great many persons as to render, on the least provocation, the impulse to whip a negro almost irresistible”; “the maiming and killing of colored men seems to be looked upon by many as one of those venial offences which must be forgiven to the outraged feelings of a wronged and robbed people”; “the number of murders and assaults perpetrated upon negroes is very great”: these are words of General Schurz. The accompanying testimony supplies fearful details. All this was painfully inconsistent with the message of the President and the report of General Grant.
The marked effect of this incident shows the sensitive condition of the public mind. The word “whitewashing” became a text for the press on opposite sides. The interest also found expression in letters.
Wendell Phillips, the orator, always sympathizing with every earnest word for Human Rights, wrote from Boston:—
“Glorious! just the truth, and just the time and place to speak it, was your graphic and most effective description of the President’s message. I say this, not that you need confirmation, but because, hearing the clamor against you, it seems right you should have the ‘cheers’ as well as the ‘hisses.’”
Rev. Justin D. Fulton, a successful Baptist preacher, wrote from Boston:—
“Before I can begin my sermon, I want to send you my thanks for your noble stand in the Senate of the United States against the President and for the country. Last Sabbath, in the great congregation, I publicly thanked God that you used the word ‘whitewashing.’ The same thing I did in Albany; the same thing I do now.”
Hon. Thomas Russell, Judge of the Superior Court, and afterwards Collector of the port of Boston, wrote from Boston:—
“I only write to thank you heartily for your courage and fidelity. I would say, ‘Go on,’ but that is needless.”
Edward W. Kinsley, a merchant, who never forgot the claims of Human Rights or of personal friendship, wrote from Boston:—
“I know you are too busy to read any letter from me; but I cannot let the day pass without thanking you for the course you are taking in the Senate this session. Thank God, we have one man on the watch-tower who will not slumber or sleep.”
Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, the able lawyer and Abolitionist, wrote from Boston:—
“I do not know any man who is doing so much for the country, in the present crisis, as you are by your speeches and writings. We are all here watching the course of Congress with the deepest anxiety.”
Nathaniel Moody, always on the side of Humanity, wrote from Chelsea, Massachusetts:—
“Permit me, as one of your constituents, to thank you for the noble stand you have taken in regard to Reconstruction, which I regard of quite as much importance as was the persistent prosecution of the war just brought to a successful conclusion. I did expect no less from you, considering your former great efforts in the true cause of Humanity.”
Mrs. John Davis, widow of Mr. Sumner’s first colleague in the Senate, wrote from Worcester, Massachusetts:—
“We hope the whitewashing is over, and that common sense, to say nothing of justice, will resume the sway.”
Rev. George N. Richardson wrote from Westborough, Massachusetts:—
“You are bearing yourself so bravely and faithfully in behalf of a cause very dear to me, that it is the impulse of my heart to thank and bless you.”
Rev. Richard S. Storrs, the eminent Congregational clergyman, wrote from Braintree, Massachusetts:—
“It must be a great satisfaction to you to know that you have the unlimited confidence and sympathy of your constituents; and I am sure you have the approval of all loyal men and angels, while struggling against the devices of the arch enemy of God and man.”
Rev. J. R. W. Sloane, a pastor of the Presbyterian Church, wrote from New York:—
“To yourself and Thaddeus Stevens the nation is now looking as the defenders of Truth and Justice. Thanks for your just rebuke of the President’s ‘whitewashing’ message. The statements of this paper are directly in the face of what I know to be the state of things in the South. I rejoice that it did not pass unrebuked.”
E. Burt wrote earnestly from Cleveland, Ohio:—
“Thanks be to our Heavenly Father, dear Sir, that there are no Brookses in Congress this year, to raise their canes over any man’s head. Now, Sir, my prayer is, that God may give you strength to do your duty this year, as no other man in or out of Congress can do it; for no other man has shown up the barbarism of Slavery like yourself. Sir, when but a few days ago you asked the reading of Carl Schurz’s report, and it was not granted, my blood started with such a rush in my veins that I could hardly contain myself. ‘What!’ said I, ‘has it come to this, after the loss of so many of the most valuable lives of our dear countrymen, so much of blood and treasure?’”
Thomas D. Hoxsey wrote from Paterson, New Jersey:—
“You have to fight your old battle over again, and I only hope and trust that you may have the physical health to stand firm where your late speeches place you.”
Colonel Wentworth Higginson, who served so well at the head of colored troops, and does such honor to American literature, in a letter from Newport, Rhode Island, thanking Mr. Sumner for speeches, added, “especially that one word whitewashing, which was the best speech of all.”
These brief utterances illustrate the sentiment beginning to prevail. The issue with the President, already foreseen, had come.
ENFRANCHISEMENT AND PROTECTION OF FREEDMEN.
ACTUAL CONDITION OF THE REBEL STATES.
Speech in the Senate, on a Bill to maintain Freedom in those States, December 20, 1865.
On the day after the “whitewashing” incident, Mr. Sumner seized an opportunity of setting forth the actual condition of the States lately in rebellion, and the duty of Congress with regard to them. He took the floor on a bill, introduced by his colleague, Mr. Wilson, “to maintain the freedom of the inhabitants in the States declared in insurrection and rebellion by the Proclamation of the President of the first of July, 1862,” and spoke as follows.
MR. PRESIDENT,—When I think of what occurred yesterday in this Chamber, when I call to mind the attempt to whitewash the unhappy condition of the Rebel States, and to throw the mantle of official oblivion over sickening and heartrending outrages, where Human Rights are sacrificed and Rebel Barbarism receives a new letter of license, I feel that I ought to speak of nothing else. Years ago, in the days of Kansas, I stood here when one small community was surrendered to the machinations of slave-masters. I stand here again, when, alas! an immense region, with millions of people, is surrendered to the machinations of slave-masters. Sir, it is the duty of Congress to arrest this fatal fury. Congress must dare to be brave; it must dare to be just. I shall not be diverted from the question before the Senate, although, in unfolding the necessity of present legislation for the protection of freedmen, I shall be led necessarily and logically to speak of the condition of the Rebel States.
All must admit that the bill of my colleague is excellent in purpose. It proposes nothing less than to establish Equality before the Law, at least so far as civil rights are concerned, in the Rebel States. This is done simply to carry out and maintain the Proclamation of Emancipation, by which the Republic is solemnly pledged to “maintain” the emancipated slave in freedom. Here is our pledge: “The Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.” The pledge is without limitation in space or time. It is as extended and as immortal as the Republic itself. Does anybody call it vain words? I trust not. To that pledge we are solemnly bound. Wherever our flag floats, as long as time endures, we must see that it is sacredly observed.
The performance of this pledge cannot be intrusted to another; least of all can it be intrusted to ancient slave-masters, embittered against the slave. It must be performed by the National Government. The power that gave freedom must see that freedom is maintained. This is according to reason. It is also according to examples of history. In the British West Indies we find this teaching. Three of England’s greatest orators and statesmen, Burke, Canning, and Brougham, at successive periods united in declaring, from experience in the British West Indies, that whatever the slave-masters undertook to do for their slaves was always “arrant trifling,” and that, whatever might be its plausible form, it always wanted “an executory principle.”[21] More recently the Emperor of Russia, when ordering Emancipation, declared that all efforts of his predecessors in this direction had failed, because left to “the spontaneous initiative of the proprietors.” I might say much more on this head, but this is enough. I assume that no such blunder will be made by us,—that we shall not leave to the old proprietors the maintenance of that freedom to which we are pledged, and thus break our own promises and sacrifice a race.
Elsewhere I have alluded to Emancipation in Russia.[22] But the example is worthy our deepest study, unless we purposely reject history. All know that in 1861 the Emperor by solemn proclamation gave freedom to upward of twenty-three million serfs; but it is not generally known by what supplementary provisions this freedom was assured.
I have in my hands an official copy of this great act, published at St. Petersburg, by which it is declared that the serfs, after an interval of two years, are “entirely enfranchised.”[23] Under this Proclamation, a new set of local magistrates is constituted, with “special court” and “justices of the peace” in each district, to superintend the working of the Proclamation, and to examine on the spot all questions arising from Emancipation. The provision is not unlike our Bureau of Freedmen, which is vindicated by this example.
The good work did not stop here. The Emperor did not leave the freedmen without protection, handed over to the tender mercies of former owners. By a careful series of “Regulations” accompanying the Proclamation, prepared with minutest care, and divided into chapters and sections, their rights are secured beyond question. A copy of this remarkable document shows it to be a model for generous imitation.
These “Regulations” begin with a formal declaration, that the freedmen by the act of Emancipation “acquire the rights belonging to free farmers.” The language is general. It is “the rights of free farmers,” not in certain particulars, but in all particulars,—not merely in exemption from the authority of their masters, but in complete enfranchisement. Surely this is an example for us.
The “Regulations” then proceed in formal words to fix and assure these rights, civil and political. They are not left to inference or to future discussion, but positively declared with all possible detail.
By one section the freedman is secured in all his rights of family and rights of contract, as follows:—
“The articles of the Civil Code on the rights and obligations of the family are extended to the freedmen; consequently they acquire the right, without the authorization of the proprietor, to contract marriage, and to make any arrangement whatever concerning their family affairs; they can equally enter into all agreements and obligations authorized by the laws, as well with the state as with individuals, on the conditions established for free farmers; they can inscribe themselves in the guilds, and exercise their trades in the villages; and they can found and conduct factories and establishments of commerce.”
Here is a beautiful example for us.
By another section the freedman is secured in rights of property. He may acquire and alienate property of all kinds, according to the general law; and, besides, “the possession of the homestead” on which he has lived is guarantied to him on certain conditions. Here is another example for us.
By further provision the freedman is secured complete Equality in the courts:—
“He shall have the right of action, whether civilly or criminally, to commence process, and to answer personally or by attorney, to make complaint, and to defend his rights by all the means known to the law, and to appear as witness and as bail conformably to the common law.”
Mark these words. He may appear “as witness and as bail.” It is an example for us.
By other provisions the freedman is secured Equality in political rights, according to the measure of such rights in Russia, thus:—
“On the organization of the towns, he shall be entitled to take part in the meetings and elections for the towns, and to vote on town affairs, and to exercise divers functions; and he shall also take part in assemblies for the district, and shall vote on district affairs, and choose the chairman.”
From all the provisions on this head it appears that the freedman enjoys rights to choose local officers, and to be chosen in turn. Here also is an example for us.
By still another section the freedman is secured Equality at school and in education, thus:—
“He may place his children in the establishments for public education, to embrace the career of instruction or the scientific career, or to take service in the corps of surveyors.”
Here again is an example for us.
Then, still further, for the general protection of the freedman, it is provided that he “cannot lose his rights, or be restrained in their exercise, except after the judgment of the town according to fixed rules”; and still further, that he “cannot be subjected to any punishment, otherwise than by notice of a judgment, or according to the legal decision of the town to which he belongs.” Here, too, is an example for us.
Thus does Russia, by careful provisions, supplementary to the act of Emancipation, assure her freedmen in all their rights: first, the right of family and the right of contract; secondly, the right of property, including a homestead; thirdly, complete Equality in the courts; fourthly, Equality in political rights; fifthly, Equality at school and in education; and, finally, all these precious safeguards are crowned by declaring that they cannot lose their rights, or be punished, except after judgment according to fixed rules: thus completely fulfilling that requirement of our fathers, that government should be “a government of laws, and not of men.”[24]
I trust that this grand example is none the less worthy of imitation because from an empire which is not supposed to sympathize with liberal ideas. The Republic cannot in this respect lag behind the Empire. Besides, all that we hear shows that the experiment has been successful. An experiment inspired so completely by the spirit of justice cannot fail.
My colleague is right in introducing his bill and pressing it to a vote. The argument for it is irresistible. It is essential to complete Emancipation. Without it Emancipation will be only half done. It is our duty to see that it is wholly done. Slavery must be abolished not in form only, but in substance, so that there shall be no Black Code, but all shall be Equal before the Law.
As to the power of Congress over this question, I cannot doubt it. My colleague assumes the power, without tracing it to any particular source. It may be a military power, precisely as the Proclamation of Emancipation,—and here the authority is as clear and absolute as in the District of Columbia; or it may be in pursuance of the Constitutional Amendment, which provides that Congress may “enforce this Article by appropriate legislation”; or it may be to carry out the guaranty of a republican form of government.
There are measures of my own, already introduced by me, now on your table, looking to the same result as the pending bill, which proceed specifically on the two latter grounds.
One of these is entitled “A bill supplying appropriate legislation to enforce the Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting Slavery,” from which I read two sections.
Here Mr. Sumner read sections 3 and 4, as given on a previous page.[25]
This bill proceeds on the idea that the Amendment is now part of the Constitution to all intents and purposes. And who can doubt this? Already it is adopted by three fourths of the States having Legislatures,—in other words, by “the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States.” The States having no Legislatures at the time of its proposition by Congress cannot be counted. Of what value is the enforced consent of disloyal and barbarous bodies pretending to act for certain States at the dictation of military power? Military power may govern during the war; but it is impotent to make a republican State, or to adopt an Amendment of the Constitution.
Another bill introduced by me, and now on the table, is founded on the guaranty clause. I give its title: “A bill in part execution of the guaranty of a Republican form of Government in the Constitution of the United States.”[26]
Both these bills are broader even than that of my colleague; for they point to the absolute obliteration of all legal discriminations founded on color, whether in the court-room or at the ballot-box; and to this conclusion we must come at last. But I confess that I feel the dignity, the grandeur, and the substantial value which would be found in a declaration of Congress, that an oligarchical government, denying rights to a whole race, undertaking to tax without representation, and discarding “the consent of the governed” as its just foundation, cannot be “republican.”
The most explicit, the most positive, the most mandatory words in the Constitution are, “The United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a republican form of government.” This great duty is thrown not upon any individual branch of the Government, but upon the United States. It is a duty to “guaranty”—which in itself is a strong term—what? A republican form of government. Now, by the lapse of State governments in the Rebel States, this duty is cast upon the United States. But the United States are represented in Congress, or rather by Act of Congress, which in itself is the embodied will of both Houses and of the President. Congress must, therefore, determine what is a republican form of government. Into this question I do not now enter. At the proper time I hope to consider it.[27] For the present I content myself with the remark, that it is absurd to say that a community founded on oligarchical pretensions, excluding from all participation in the government any considerable proportion of its tax-paying citizens, and ignoring the consent of the governed, can be considered a republican form of government. On this proposition I hope to be heard at an early day. Here is one of the greatest questions of our history.
After this brief review of the object to be accomplished, I am brought to consider the practical necessity of such legislation; and here it is my duty to expose the actual condition of the Rebel States, especially as regards loyalty and the treatment of the freedmen. On this head I shall adduce evidence in my possession. In the endeavor to bring what I say within reasonable proportions, I shall adduce only a small part of what has passed under my eye; but it will be more than enough. In bringing it forward, the difficulty is of selection and abridgment.
I begin with something relating to the condition of the Rebel States generally, and shall then consider the different States successively.
And now, first, as to the Rebel States generally. I know no testimony that has found its way to the public, with regard to the general condition of the South, which will compare in value with a series of letters by A. Warren Kelsey, a business agent of character and intelligence above question, who has travelled through the Rebel States. His communications with his employers show singular powers of observation, and are expressed with great clearness. Of course I can give only a few extracts.
“In travelling about, as I have, from one section of the country to the other, I have been able to compare opinions, and, as you know, I have had peculiar and favorable opportunities for ascertaining the views they have in common. I have endeavored to trace the motives from which they have acted and which now animate them, and their real purpose for the future, if they have one. In giving you my opinion now, it is proper to say that I have taken no one individual as a criterion of the whole, and have judged them only by the opinions I find they are generally agreed upon; neither have I any one’s statement for their thoughts and actions. My opinions, deductions, and conclusions are derived from my own experience and observation among them, and, whether they shall be confirmed or denied by others, are, notwithstanding, my honest and sincere convictions.
…
“While I am able to say that they have made up their minds that Emancipation is a fact, and not to be avoided, I am obliged to state my earnest opinion, that, so far as secession is concerned,—that is, the doctrine of State Rights,—it is more deeply rooted than ever among them. They are perfectly united in the belief that the division of this country is both right from a moral stand-point and politic as a measure of expediency. They have simply changed their base from the battle-field to the ballot-box, believing, as they very frankly admit, that greater triumphs await them there than they could ever hope for in the field. In almost every house hangs the old, worn Confederate uniform, which is displayed with pride and satisfaction to all comers. So far from repenting of the stand they took, they glory in it. They regret the result, and their non-success, it is true, but not one in a thousand will admit they were in the wrong.
…
“They argue that at least ninety-five in every two hundred votes at the North are sure to be thrown in their favor, and they can now rule the Union by giving up, which is cheaper than to persist in their idea of a separate government. That idea, however, is only laid aside for a time. Every boy at the South is being educated in the belief that the relations the South to-day sustains toward the North are the same as those of Hungary or Venetia toward Austria, or of Poland to Russia. They bide their time. They have adopted for their motto, ‘Patience, and shuffle the cards.’ The snake, so far from being killed, is barely ‘scotched.’ Meantime they deem it better to rule in the Union than to serve in the Confederate army.
…
“As to their affection for their military leaders, you will find proof in the elections at Richmond and South Carolina. No man has a better claim to their sympathy, and none stand a better chance of election, than those who were the last to give up. Motives of policy may induce them to nominate others, but the fact remains as I have stated. I repeat, that General Lee and Wade Hampton are the two most popular and best loved men in the South to-day. I have heard but one disparaging remark made of General Lee since I was at the South, and that was in this connection. I was riding one night in a hack across the gap in a railway, made by Wilson, and, as usual, the conversation turned on political affairs and the condition and prospects of the Southern people. One man said that General Lee stood the best chance for the next Presidency,—by the way, that is a very prevalent idea here at the South,—when another remarked that he would rather have Andrew Johnson. I was curious to know why, and inquired. He replied, that ‘he had but little confidence in Lee since he favored negro soldiers, and in his opinion he was not much better than a Black Republican.’
…
“At present every one at the South is occupied in his personal and family interests. There are no political parties,—very little coherence of opinion as to the policy best to be pursued. But I find among the knowing ones, particularly those who have been on to the North, and remained some time in New York or Washington, a sanguine belief that they can easily resume the reins of office; and these men are the only Unionists in the South to-day. You can depend upon it, that the Southern States in the future will present one solid, unanimous front; their leaders have them well in hand. And this is precisely what ninety-nine in every hundred of the men, women, and children believe sincerely as to the situation to-day: first, that the South of right possesses, and always possessed, the right of secession; secondly, that the war only proved that the North was the strongest; thirdly, that Negro Slavery was and is right, but has been abolished by the war. The Southerners are too smart not to see that Slavery is dead, but many of them hope as long as the black race exists here to be able to hold it in a condition of practical serfdom. All expect the negro will be killed in one way or another by Emancipation. The policy of those who will eventually become the leaders here at the South is, for the present, to accept the best they can get, to acquiesce in anything and everything, but to strain every nerve to regain the political power and ascendency they held under Buchanan. This they believe cannot be postponed longer than up to the next Presidential election. They will do all in their power to resist Negro Suffrage, to reduce taxation and expenditures, and would attack the national debt, if they saw any reason to believe repudiation possible. They will continue to assert the inferiority of the African; and they would to-day, if possible, precipitate the United States into a foreign war, believing they could then reassert and obtain their independence. They will, most of them, take any oaths you may cause to be adopted, and break them immediately, and without scruple. In one word, this people have placed themselves in resolute antagonism to the North, and this generation, at least, will always hate the Northern people, while the boys are being educated to the same idea.
…
“On the whole, looking at the affair from all sides, it amounts to just this: if the Northern people are content to be ruled over by the Southerners, they will continue in the Union; if not, the first chance they get, they will rise again.”[28]
Other testimony is in harmony. For instance, a trustworthy traveller, who has recently traversed the Gulf States, thus writes in a private letter to myself:—
“The former masters exhibit a most cruel, remorseless, and vindictive spirit toward the colored people. In parts where there are no Union soldiers I saw colored women treated in the most outrageous manner. They have no rights that are respected. They are killed, and their bodies thrown into ponds or mud-holes. They are mutilated by having ears and noses cut off.”
Such a people already talk of repudiating the national debt. To the question, “Would it be safe to trust white men at the South with the power to repudiate the national debt?” a person in gray uniform at once replied: “Repudiate? I should hope they would. I’m whipped, and I’ll own it; but I’m not so fond of a whipping that I’m going to pay a man’s expenses while he gives it to me. Of course there are not ten men in the whole South that wouldn’t repudiate.” Such is the spirit of these States. But a candidate for Congress in Virginia undertook to speak for the Rebel States.
“I am opposed to the Southern States being taxed at all for the redemption of this debt, either directly or indirectly; and, if elected to Congress, I will oppose all such measures, and I will vote to repeal all laws that have heretofore been passed for that purpose; and, in doing so, I do not consider that I violate any obligations to which the South was a party. We have never plighted our faith for the redemption of the war debt. The people will be borne down with taxes for years to come, even if the war debt is repudiated. It will be the duty of the Government to support the maimed and disabled soldiers, and this will be a great expense; and if the United States Government requires the South to be taxed for the support of Union soldiers, we should insist that all disabled soldiers should be maintained by the United States Government, without regard to the side they had taken in the war.”
A late writer, who within a few days has returned from an extensive tour in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and who now enjoys a seat in your Reporters’ Gallery, thus testifies with regard to the national debt:—
“The national debt doubtless seems to you beyond the reach of any hand. Yet I regard it as very probable that one or two or all of three things will be attempted within three years after the Southern members of Congress are admitted to seats,—the repudiation of the National debt, the assumption of the Confederate debt, or the payment of several hundred million dollars to the South for property destroyed and slaves emancipated. I met several shrewd and intelligent men who expressed the belief that Confederate bonds will be worth something in two or three years. One told me that large amounts were held in New York and England, and he expected steps would be taken within five years toward paying them from the National Treasury. I heard no man openly advocate the repudiation of the National debt, but scores argued to me that it would not be fair to make the South pay any part of it; and one man said he believed, if the case were only carried up, that the Supreme Court would so decide. The idea that the nation will pay the South for her slaves extensively prevails both in Georgia and South Carolina. It is incorporated into the new Constitution of Georgia, and is openly advocated by many influential men in South Carolina. Wherefore, I say, the national debt needs watching.”
Let the Secretary of the Treasury[29] take notice, and not expose the national finances to the peril which menaces them.
Passing from this testimony, which is general, I come to the neighbor State of Virginia. I read from a private letter received by myself from a Government officer there:—
“We who are here have a much better opportunity of knowing the feeling of the people than you at a distance, for they will not speak as freely before you as they will before us here and among themselves. The feeling of disloyalty is as strong here now as it was during the war, but they cannot show it as they did then; and with regard to the freedmen there is every disposition on their part to make them odious. They constantly talk of insurrection, insubordination, thieving, idleness, and every species of crime and vice; all of which I assure you is entirely false. They are perfectly subordinate to every law, and, so far as thieving is concerned, such an assertion is gratuitous or false; for all cases of thieving, certainly, I am sorry to say, are done by the whites.”
I also read from another private letter:—
“The clash of arms has subsided, the serried hosts of Rebels have been disbanded, and the huge paraphernalia of war have been scattered; but, notwithstanding these facts, the low mutterings of sullen discontent are yet heard, and the desire to persecute and break down all truly loyal men is exhibited on every hand with even more sly ferocity than while the war of sections raged.
“We are residents of this city, each engaged in public business, and consequently thrown into contact with all classes of citizens. Hourly we hear denunciations of the Government, and prayers for the removal of the military. And why these denunciations and these prayers, if the oath of allegiance had been honestly taken, to be sacredly observed? No, Gentlemen, the spirit of rebellion is not dead, and will never die while Democratic leaders in the South are relieved of their treachery and turned loose to stir up sedition and to incite rebellion. The men make loud professions of loyalty, and their press reverberates the echo from hill and valley; but you have only to read their fanfaronades on loyalty to satisfy yourselves of the bitter hatred that fills their breasts against the Union, and the burning hate with which they will proceed to pour out the vials of their wrath upon all Union men, when once they can secure seats in Congress and get possession of the reins of State government. In their hearts they cling as ardently to State sovereignty as ever, and once give them the power and they will tax the loyal people to the full value of the slave property destroyed by the war. Mark this prediction.”
Another private letter, from a person so situated as to be singularly well informed, thus foreshadows a system of Peonage:—
“The necessity of the courts is beyond all question. Even with these courts it requires watchfulness to protect the blacks. If they were left without these courts, the whites would keep them forever in bondage, by keeping them in debt; and I am afraid that the legislation of the States will be to the effect to establish here the Mexican system of Peonage, by using some very extraordinary terms to coerce ‘hatched-up’ accounts against the blacks.”
To this I might add indefinitely, exhibiting the bad temper and disloyal spirit which prevail throughout Virginia. Bayonets are no longer flashing there; bullets are no longer whizzing there; but the traitorous soul that inspired the Rebellion still fills the State with its malignant breath. Give it not, I entreat you, the power to rule.
From Virginia pass to North Carolina. Here the testimony is the same. During this week I have seen Government officers who have been in service, one since 1863, who report that it is not safe to speak one’s sentiments there; that liberty of speech does not exist; that the freedmen, so far from being lazy or remiss, are willing to work, but that they are exposed to unutterable hardship and cruelty. On these points the testimony is explicit. A loyal resident of North Carolina writes me:—
“I tell you, Sir, the only difference now and one year ago is, that the flag is acknowledged as supreme, and there is some fear manifested, and they have no arms. The sentiment is the same. If anything otherwise, more hatred exists toward the Government. I know there is more toward Union men, both black and white.”
More hatred toward the Union men, both white and black, than one year ago! Such is the condition of North Carolina.
In accordance with this is other testimony.
“Two women, school-teachers, who were recently sent from Wilmington to Fayetteville to establish a school for colored children, were informed by the sheriff of the county that they would not be allowed to start their schools, nor would they be allowed to land; but they might remain on the steamer until her return to Wilmington, inasmuch as they were women; if they were men, they would receive such treatment as was awarded to such meddlesome characters before the war.
“Mr. Dickinson says, that, while he was in Fayetteville, a negro was strung up by the thumbs in the public square, and received forty-nine lashes from a civil officer recently appointed by Governor Holden.”
A Wilmington paper makes the following report.
“General Ames, General Duncan, and Colonel Donnelson have returned from an official visit to Fayetteville, where they went to ascertain the truth of the reports coming from there in regard to the treatment of the colored people.
“The result of their visit substantiates the fact that the negroes have been cruelly treated, not only by the civilians, but also by the civil authorities there.
“Two negroes were tied up and publicly whipped by the sheriff, on the sentence of a magistrate.
“Other negroes were tied up to trees and whipped, and left tied to the trees until a storm came up and prostrated the trees, and the poor negroes fell with them.
“Citizens exercised the authority of masters over the negroes, and punished them at their will with such severity as to them seemed fit.
“It is even reported that negroes have been killed in the most cruel manner.”
Why heap instances? They might be piled high; but why pain the heart by such an exhibition?
From North Carolina pass to South Carolina, where the testimony is, if possible, still more explicit. The spirit of this Rebel State, yet rebel in heart, appears in the well-known letter from Wade Hampton, which I do not stop to quote. It is especially manifest in the frank speech of James R. Campbell in the Convention, from which I read an extract.
“I believe, that, when our votes are admitted into that Congress, if we are tolerably wise, governed by a moderate share of common sense, we will have our own way. I am speaking now not to be reported. We will have our own way yet, if we are true to ourselves. We know the past; we know not what is to be our future. Are we not in a condition to accept what we cannot help? Are we not in a condition where it is the part of wisdom to wait and give what we cannot avoid giving? I believe as surely as we are a people, so surely, if we are guided by wisdom, we will by the beginning of the next Presidential election, which is all that is known of the Constitution, (for, when you talk of the Constitution of the United States, it means the Presidential election, and the share of the spoils,) I believe then we may hold the balance of power.”
That Mr. Campbell spoke according to the sentiments of the prevailing politicians is attested by a private letter which I have received from a Government officer so situated there as to know the real condition of things. I read extracts only.
“The speeches in Convention and Legislature are doubtless known to you, and the animus pervading all action of these bodies. Mr. Campbell expressed it exactly. Let us do what we have to, as little as we are obliged to, get into Congress somehow, and then pay off the score. One or two minor matters in this connection I mention as showing how the current sets.
“1. The election for members of Convention, 4th September. The favorites in every contested case were those most prominent in Secession proceedings of past years. The majority of them did not take the amnesty oath.…
“2. Not even the prospect of securing a favorable recognition in Congress could secure the election of any man tainted with Unionism, in opposition to any candidate thoroughly established as an opponent to the Government in past time.
“3. And yet, strange as it may seem, the people—by which I mean the planters generally, exclusive of the politicians—are not savagely disloyal; and this is one main point to which I desire earnestly to testify. It is a fact that the political working of the State is in the hands of one hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty men. It has taken me six months to appreciate the entireness of the fact, though of course I had heard it stated.
“It seems to me a most Providential opportunity is now offered to break up this maladministration of politics. The people among whom I move are becoming restive under present disadvantages, and criticize sharply the acts of the Legislature, which seem to delay Reconstruction. If the State is refused representation in the present Congress, and the acts of the State Legislature, its speeches, its Black Code, its general fractious and combative attitude, its spirit in accepting the Constitutional Amendment and refusing the annulment of Secession Ordinances are brought to light,—if, in a word, it can be shown that the long recognized politicians of the State have thoroughly damaged the State by taking her out of the Union, and have also kept her from coming in, there will be a political revolution in the State in less than two months. The Rebels so promptly pardoned by the President will meet no such complacency from the people. I know this to be true,—am taught it anew every day.
“If the State authority is to be recognized, and the present Legislature triumphs by forcing the State into the Union, I anticipate very disastrous consequences. The freed people are well enough; they do not know as much as could be desired, but they know quite as much as could be expected, and are open to instruction. But that instruction must come from the Government, through the military, untrammelled by any fractious jobbing of State Legislatures. There is no confidence on the part of the freed people in the State; they only know the United States Government, and no other will answer.”
Here is a letter from a South-Carolinian who served in the Rebel army, but who now sees the error of his ways.
“I am sorry to say Governor Orr’s inaugural yesterday received no applause at all from the audience: its sentiments were too Union-loving for them. I am sorry also to say that the South-Carolinians generally entertain to a great extent their old ideas and prejudices, so disastrous of late to the State. One is almost compelled to think they insanely wish to bring upon themselves more and greater mortifications. Witness the vote given Hampton, who refused to be a candidate. What an unwise display of a factious and discontented spirit! Few seem willing to admit the simple proposition that all causes of ill-feeling between North and South have been settled by the arbitrament of the sword, and we must submit sincerely. They seek rather to keep alive the ill-feeling that has made us unhappy for so many years, and that ill-advised disposition to supervise the actions of the United States Government.
“If this war does not settle all issues, and settle them forever, it will be because the General Government fails to use the power it has obtained. I am as dear a lover of South Carolina as any man in it, and for that reason I wish to see peace and harmony restored throughout its borders. But that can never be, if the men who tried hardest to break up the Government are, immediately they find themselves unsuccessful with the sword, allowed to take seats in Congress and recommence the agitation with their tongues and by their arguments and votes. More inflammatory speeches were not made in 1860 than have been delivered during the late canvass. If examples are not made, if leading men are not made to feel some ill effects from an unsuccessful attempt to revolutionize, then agitation will never cease, but will be kept up by ambitious men of mean talents, who can hope to rise only in times of disorder, or by operating upon and influencing the passions of the multitude.”
To cap the climax of this iniquity, a body of men calling themselves the Legislature, but having small title to be considered a legal body, have undertaken to enact a Black Code, separating the two races, in defiance of every principle of Equality. I quote a provision fastening apprenticeship or serfdom in new form upon the unhappy freedman.
“Colored children, between the ages mentioned [males two and twenty-one, females two and eighteen], who have neither father nor mother living in the district in which they are found, or whose parents are paupers, or unable to afford to them maintenance, or whose parents are not teaching them habits of industry and honesty, or are persons of notoriously bad character, or are vagrants, or have been, either of them, convicted of an infamous offence, may be bound as apprentices by the District Judge, or one of the magistrates, for the aforesaid term.”[30]
Under these words no colored minor in the State is safe for one moment from compulsory serfdom.
The lash is also prescribed as a means of enforcing contracts.[31] The lash once more is to resound.
The planters at their public meetings give utterance to the same brutal spirit. Here is a series of resolutions, where, after calling for the withdrawal of the troops of the United States, and declaring themselves pledged to the existing state of things, and that it is their “honest purpose to abide thereby,” they proceed as follows.
“Resolved, That, if inconsistent with the views of the authorities to remove the military, we express the opinion that the plan of the military to compel the freedman to contract with his former owner, when desired by the latter, is wise, prudent, and absolutely necessary.
“Resolved, That we, the planters of the district, pledge ourselves not to contract with any freedman, unless he can produce a certificate of regular discharge from his former owner.
“Resolved, That under no circumstances whatsoever will we rent land to any freedmen, nor will we permit them to live on our premises as employees.”
Thus is the freedman, whose liberty the United States are bound to maintain, handed over to compulsory service, and under no circumstances is land to be rented to him. And yet these people announce that they accept the existing state of things, and that it is their honest purpose to abide thereby! Of course they accept a state of things which leaves them once more “masters” of their former slaves. Of course they will abide by this. Be it our function to teach them the duty and necessity of Equal Rights.
From South Carolina pass to Georgia, and there is the same wretched story. The spirit of the State appears in the language of Mr. Simmons in the Convention:—
“Let us repudiate only under the lash and the application of military power; and then, as soon as we are an independent sovereignty, restored to our equal rights and privileges in the Union, let us immediately call another Convention and resume the debt.”
Testimony from various quarters shows the same spirit. A recent writer, of unimpeachable authority, now sitting as reporter in your galleries, thus testifies:—
“In the stage between Augusta and Milledgeville I rode with two gentlemen of considerable local weight and prominence, who were both anti-secessionists in 1860-61. They talked of the approaching Convention, and of its probable action in redistricting the State for Representatives. ‘Well, Colonel,’ said the younger, himself a man of over forty years,—‘well, Colonel, what will be our proper course, when we are once more fully restored to the Union?’ The answer came, after a moment’s consideration: ‘We must strike hands with the Democratic party of the North, and manage them as we always have.’ There was a pause while we rattled down the hill, and then the questioner responded: ‘That is just it; they were ready enough to give us control, if we gave them the offices, and I reckon they have not changed very much yet.’ There was then conversation on other matters; but half an hour later, after a mile or so of silence, the Colonel suddenly resumed: ‘Yes, Sir, our duty is plain; we shall be without weight, now that Slavery is gone, unless we do join hands with them. Andy Johnson will want a reëlection, and the united Democratic party must take him up. It shall be a fair division: we want the power, and they want the spoils.’”
The same writer, in another letter, shows how Rebels were honored in the Convention.
“‘I’ll be d—d, if I vote for any man who did not go with the State,’ said one of the delegates, while the canvass for officers was going on; in accordance with which spirit the secretary is a gentleman who was a colonel in the Rebel army, and the doorkeeper a gentleman who lost an arm in the service.”
Where such a spirit prevails, the freedmen fare badly. In Georgia they are treated cruelly. A traveller writes:—
“The hatred toward the negro as a freeman is intense among the low and brutal, who are the vast majority. Murders, shootings, whippings, robbing, and brutal treatment of every kind are daily inflicted upon them, and I am sorry to say in most cases they can get no redress. They don’t know where to complain or how to seek justice, after they have been abused and cheated. The habitual deference toward the white man makes them fearful of his anger and revenge.”
An official of the Government, after traversing Mississippi and Alabama, writes from Georgia in a very recent letter:—
“Every day the press of the South testifies to the outrages that are being perpetrated upon unoffending colored people by the State militia. These outrages are particularly flagrant in the States of Alabama and Mississippi, and are of such a character as to demand most imperatively the interposition of the National Executive. These men are rapidly inaugurating a condition of things, a feeling among the freedmen, that will, if not checked, ultimate in insurrection. The freedmen are peaceable and inoffensive; yet, if the whites continue to make it all their lives are worth to go through the country, as free people have a right to do, they will goad them to that point at which submission and patience cease to be a virtue.
…
“I call your attention to this matter, after reading and hearing from the most authentic sources, officers and others, for weeks, of the continuance of the militia robbing the colored people of their property,—arms,—shooting them in the public highways, if they refuse to halt, when so commanded, and lodging them in jail, if found from home without passes, and ask, as a matter of simple justice to an unoffending and downtrodden people, that you use your influence to induce the President to issue an order or proclamation forbidding such wicked and unlawful proceedings, and, if he deem it prudent, forbidding the organization of State militia. The only military force NEEDED in the South is more regular and volunteer troops to keep in proper subjection those lately in rebellion, and to teach them to treat the freed people in a manner becoming a civilized community.”
Another witness, himself a Georgian, with ample opportunities of information, testifies:—
“I have personal and friendly relations with many leading men of this section: I had before the war. I have met many of them in New York and in Washington within the past few months, and have, as a citizen of the South, had frequent conversations with them upon our future, and the means that should be employed to begin it auspiciously. These interviews have been free and open in interchange of opinion, and I must believe that I had laid before me the intentions of those who must and will again assume the leadership here. If they are not so honored, their opinions will show how they would lead, had they the power.
“Among these were four ex-governors of three different States, who had received pardons from President Johnson. Our conversation naturally and necessarily turned to the future of the emancipated negroes. Their past and present condition was discussed, and their chances as well as our own were of course considered, and everything that could bear upon their future was canvassed. The course to be pursued by the Legislatures of the reconstructed States, and the laws to be enacted, in order to obtain the fulfilment of contracts with the freedmen employed, occupied no small portion of consideration. In this way I had full opportunity to learn the opinions of those who have been and will be again looked up to as the leaders and directors of Southern opinion and sentiment.
“The unanimity of all was not the least singular thing, especially regarding the status of the freedmen and their rights hereafter. If legal chicanery can avail, those rights will be but nominal, and they will remain, as they have ever been, isolated and apart,—free in name, but slaves in fact.”
It seems that in Georgia there is a body of men known as “Regulators,” who are thus described by a correspondent of that journal which has for years whitewashed the enormities of Slavery, the “New York Herald”:—
“Springing naturally out of this disordered state of affairs is an organization of ‘Regulators,’ so called. Their numbers include many ex-Confederate cavaliers of the country, and their mission is to visit summary justice upon any offenders against the public peace. It is needless to say that their attention is largely directed to maintaining quiet and submission among the blacks. The shooting or stringing up of some obstreperous ‘nigger’ by the ‘Regulators’ is so common an occurrence as to excite little remark. Nor is the work of proscription confined to the freedmen only. The ‘Regulators’ go to the bottom of the matter, and strive to make it uncomfortably warm for any new settler with demoralizing innovations of wages for ‘niggers.’”
Such is the unimaginable atrocity which, according to friendly authority, prevails in Georgia. The poor freedman is sacrificed. The Northern settler, believing in Human Rights, is sacrificed also. Alas that such scenes should disgrace our country and age! Alas that there should be hesitation in applying the necessary remedy!
Surely this is enough. I do not stop to dwell on instances of frightful barbarism. One is authenticated in the court of the provost-marshal, where a colored girl was roasted alive! And another writer, in a letter just received, describes a system of “burning” in Wilkes County, Georgia, as “a mild means of extorting from the freed people a confession as to where they have their arms and money concealed.” He says, “They were held in the blaze.” Think of it, Sir, here, in this Republic, they are held in a blaze! And the National Government looks on!
From Georgia pass to Alabama, only to find the same evil spirit and the same succession of enormities, intensified, if possible. Here again I am embarrassed by the variety and extent of evidence.
A recent private letter from Mobile testifies:—
“The press and people here, with one voice, are loud in their praise of President Johnson, for his wholesale manner of dispensing pardons. But I have yet to see the first signs of repentance on the part of those who have received clemency from the Chief Magistrate of the Government. The existing feeling is, that no man who did not support the Confederacy is worthy of trust; and all offices are given to those who did their best to break up the country. President Johnson will find in the end that he has been too liberal in the exercise of clemency. And unless he changes his course, or is checked by Congress, the most corrupt men in the South will again get into power, and sway the destinies of this section of the country.
…
“And until the labor question is adjusted between the planters and the freedmen, we cannot look forward to a time of prosperity. The indications at present are not favorable to a satisfactory solution of this difficult problem. The planters hate the negro, and the latter class distrust the former; and while this state of things continues, there cannot be harmonious action in developing the resources of the country. Besides, a good many men are unwilling yet to believe that the ‘peculiar institution’ of the South has been actually abolished, and still have the lingering hope that Slavery, though not in name, will yet in some form practically exist. And hence the great anxiety to get back into the Union, which being accomplished, they will then, as I have heard it expressed, ‘fix the negro.’
…
“I look forward with deep solicitude to the approaching session of Congress. I hope there will be strength and moral courage enough in that body to keep the ship of state right. The President has a difficult position to fill, and needs all the sympathy and aid he can get from right-minded citizens. But there is no question that he has been most sadly imposed upon within the past few months by designing and corrupt politicians.”
Another private letter, from a person so situated as to be accurately informed, makes this painful report:—
“The Government, in taking the responsibility of freeing this people, tacitly engaged to protect them in their freedom. The various departments of Government have solemnly declared the black man entitled to equal rights before the law with the white man. Yet it is the simple fact, capable of indefinite proof, that the black man does not receive the faintest shadow of justice. I aver that in nine cases out of ten within my own observation, where a white man has provoked an affray with a black, and savagely misused him, the black man has been fined for insolent language, because he did not receive the chastisement in submissive silence, while the white man has gone free. It is the simple truth that the most flagrant crimes against the blacks are not noticed at all; and, indeed, a man loses caste, if he interests himself about them.
“It is the simple truth that black men are not allowed to use their own property to the best advantage, or in any way to make such use of their capabilities as would be likely to elevate them in social position.
…
“The above are but specimen facts, and they are facts. Every provost-marshal who has been in office here will testify to the truthfulness of the picture. Meantime companies are forming to import coolies and European immigrants to drive the black man from the little chance that is left him. The whole thing may be summed up in one word: The South is determined to have Slavery,—the thing, if not the name. And if all restraint is removed, it is as certain as fate that their condition will be far worse than it ever was before. It will be the old system, with all its mitigations rescinded and all its horrors intensified.
…
“The prospect for the coming winter is overwhelming in its horrors, at best. If the freedmen are left friendless, it will be the very valley of the shadow of death. Let Congress keep these States out of the Union till the shape and tone of their legislation is seen and understood as relating to freedmen, and then keep them out until it is clearly shown whether the people will obey the legislation or make it a dead letter from the beginning.”
And still another letter furnishes these revelations:—
“Do not let yourselves be deceived by the influences which reach you. These influences are energetic, active, spare no pains or expense to accomplish certain purposes. I know this people well; I was born and reared with them; they are far more hostile to the Government to-day than they were in 1860. Every demonstration in the State since the surrender has been, in one shape or another, that of hostility to the Union; and every new concession they make is simply made with the hope of thereby obtaining that degree of independence which follows, as they understand and expect it, the resumption of the status as States again.
“The elections are just over. The Secessionists were united to a man,—hopeful, active; the Union party disorganized, discouraged, and dispersed among the Secessionists. President Johnson and Governor Parsons are responsible for it. The enemies of the Union have defeated us, horse, foot, and dragoons, in all parts of the State. The stanch favorites of our party are defeated everywhere.
…
“In a word, the friends of the Union are completely under; the successful party are the Secessionists and renegade Unionists, enemies of the Government. It is to the Union party of the North that we are to-day indebted for being able to live here.”
The person who is styled Provisional Governor of Alabama thus in a late message alludes to Rebel trophies, and stirs the ashes of the Rebellion:—
“Several of these had been deposited in the executive department, and were not removed when the Capitol was evacuated. They were not destroyed, however, by those who took possession of it, but came to my hands as the representative of the State for the time being, and are now carefully preserved and ready to be delivered to the governor elected under the Constitution. We should preserve these sacred souvenirs of the courage and endurance of those who went forth to battle under their folds, and who manfully upheld them with their life-blood.”
With such a person in high office, we could expect little else than the barbarism which rages there.
From Alabama pass to Mississippi, and there the same hideous scenes are renewed. Here is the testimony of a citizen of that State, once a slave-master, in a private letter:—
“In respectful earnestness I must say, that, if, at the end of all the blood that has been shed and the treasure expended, the unfortunate negro is to be left in the hands of his infuriated and disappointed former owners to legislate and fix his status, God help him! for his cup of bitterness will overflow indeed. Was ever such a policy conceived in the brain of men before? After a great step and a mighty victory, you are expected by President Johnson to withdraw your protection from this people and turn their destiny over to those who for centuries have ground them into the dust. Truly, by such a course will your fruits become bitter ashes.
“As a man who has been deprived of a large number of persons he once claimed as slaves, I protest against such a course. If it is intended to follow up the abolition of Slavery by a liberal and enlightened policy, by which I mean bestowing upon them the full rights of other citizens, then I can give this movement my heart and hand. But if the negro is to be left in a helpless condition, far more miserable than that of Slavery, I would ask, What was the object of taking him from those who claimed his services? As things seem now approaching the position of rendering loyalty at the South a disgrace, and those who, amid many dangers and trials, stood true to the Union and the Constitution are to be left to suffer the scorn, contempt, and oppressions of Secessionist traitors,—I say, as this seems to be the settled policy of the Government to the whites so situated, I fear there will remain but little hope for them or the negroes, unless the true men of the country will present a barrier between them and those who are anxious to punish and destroy them.”
The pretended Governor of Mississippi, like the pretended Governor of Alabama, exults in Rebel victories, and fans the Rebel flame. Both Convention and Legislature abounded in bitter treason. In the Convention, one of the speakers declared it good policy to accept the present condition of affairs, until the control of the State is returned into the hands of the people, and “to submit for a time to evils which cannot be remedied.” Another speaker, urging the acceptance of the Union, revealed the plot:—
“If we act wisely, we shall be joined by what is called the Copperhead party, and even by many of the Black Republicans.”
Such is the voice of Mississippi.
Naturally the freedmen are exposed to untold hardships and atrocities. Here is testimony:—
“A Superintendent of the Bureau reports the poor creatures coming in with cruel grievances that are unredressed by these magistrates. General Chetlain tells us, that, while he was in command, for two months, of the Jackson district, containing nine counties, there was an average of one black man killed every day, and that, in moving out forty miles on an expedition, he found seven negroes wantonly butchered; and Colonel Thomas, Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau for this State, tells us that there is now a daily average of two or three black men killed in Mississippi: the sable patriots in blue, as they return, are the objects of especial spite.”
There is another authority of peculiar value. It is a letter dated at Webb’s Ranch, Issaquena County, Mississippi, November 13, 1865.
“I regret to state, that, under the civil power, now deemed by all the inhabitants of Mississippi (since the order of President Johnson revoking General Slocum’s decree in relation to the State militia) to be paramount, the condition of the freedmen in many portions of the country has become deplorable and painful in the extreme. I must give it as my deliberate opinion, that the freedmen are to-day, in the vicinity of where I am now writing, worse off in most respects than when they were held as slaves. If matters are permitted to continue as they now seem likely to be, it needs no prophet to predict a rising on the part of the colored population, and a terrible scene of bloodshed and desolation; nor can one blame the negroes, if this proves to be the result. I have heard, since my arrival here, of numberless atrocities that have been perpetrated against the freedmen. It is sufficient to state that the old overseers are in power again. The agents of the Freedmen’s Bureau are almost powerless. Just as soon as the United States troops are withdrawn, it will be unsafe for the agents of the Bureau to remain. The object of the Southerners appears to be to make good their often repeated assertions, to the effect that the negroes would die, if they were freed. To make it so, they seem determined to goad them to desperation, in order to have an excuse to turn upon and annihilate them. There are, within a few miles of where I sit writing, several Northern men, who have settled here, designing to work plantations. They all assure me that they do not consider themselves safe in the country; and two of them, ex-colonels in the United States army, are afraid to leave their places without an armed escort. Other Northern lessees do not dare remain on their places.”
These are grave words, opening in fearful vista the tragical condition of the freedmen, and the perils of Northern settlers.
And now the pretended Legislature is engaged in fashioning an infamous Black Code; but I do not dwell on this, as it has been already exposed by my colleague.
From Mississippi pass to Louisiana, where anarchy is beginning under the sway of returning Rebels emboldened from Washington. Unionists are menaced in safety. The story is so familiar that I content myself with a glimpse. I give the testimony of a responsible person.
“During the canvass, I made a tour through the northern portion of the State, where I have resided for many years and have a large acquaintance among the people, and was surprised to find the spirit of the people more hostile to the Government than at the breaking out of the war. This is especially the case with the leaders, who asserted to me in private conversation that they were more impressed with the truth of Secession than they ever were; that the war against the United States was a just one; that they would not support any man for office who did not participate in that war; and that the only true policy for the Southern people to adopt is to support the Democratic party in opposition to the Republican party of the North. They say that the whole war was an aggression on the part of the Government, and that they intend to use every means in their power to destroy the Government.
“A prominent member of the Legislature, now convened in this city, said to me a short time before the election, that he was a stronger Secessionist now than he ever was, and that he hated the United States Government, and intended to do all in his power to destroy it. This man is a leading member of the Legislature, which, in the House at least, is composed of more than eight tenths who entertain the same feeling, and are now legislating for the loyal citizens of this State.
“There are several respectable men now in this city who are refugees from their homes in the interior of the State, being recently expelled on account of their Union sentiments.”
Here is a private letter from an interior town of Louisiana, written by a lady to a lady in New Orleans and communicated to me:—
“The poor colored people are in a constant state of alarm. There is a Mrs. —— in this place, who teaches the colored children; but the inhabitants, I suppose, not liking their having the advantages of education, expressed their disapproval by shooting at the teacher. At one time she was nursing a sick baby, when a shot passed over her shoulder. No attempts were made to discover the guilty party. Of course all in office here are Rebels. The teacher, who is a poor widow, became so much alarmed for her safety that she petitioned the officers to allow the troops to remain, which they did for a few days. The attempts on her life not being renewed, the troops were obliged to leave, and it was only on her account that they remained as long as they did.”
Enough of this. Nor is it all. The pretended Legislature is plotting, like such bodies elsewhere, against the freedman. But I forbear to dwell on the elaborate machination. And yet how can I fail to denounce, with all the energy of my soul, these most cruel and most vindictive attempts to oppress the freedman, to despoil him of rights, and to nullify the great Act of Emancipation? Talk of Nullification! What Nullification in our history comparable to this most wicked attempt? The difference between a revenue law and the great statute of Freedom is as wide as the space between earth and heaven.
Where such things are done, there can be small security for those faithful Unionists who fondly hoped for protection under the national flag. Already they talk of abandoning the State and finding in exile the safety denied at home. The flag they had longed for is now prostituted to the purposes of Rebels, and they are thrust out from the shadow of its folds. Hard fate, almost without parallel in history! For myself, I know nothing more touching than the story of Unionists, loving their country and loving freedom, tyrannized by returning Rebels.
In Texas there seemed more hope than anywhere, because a sincerely loyal person had been placed in power there.[32] But a private letter from a loyal Texan cries out:—
“What we of the South fear is, that President Johnson’s course will, by its precipitancy, enable the old set to reorganize themselves into place and power. For Heaven’s sake, preserve us, if you can, from this calamity.”
Surely you will preserve them.
But there is special evidence, not to be forgotten. The same authority adduced with regard to the general condition of the Rebel States writes from Galveston, in Texas:—
“If any man from the North comes down here expecting to hold and maintain ‘Radical’ or ‘Abolition’ sentiments, let him expect to be shot down from behind, the first time he leaves his house, and know that his murderer, if ever brought to justice, will be acquitted by the jury. If the military are withdrawn, his house even will be no protection, and he may expect to be hung from his own chamber window. I tell you, Mr. ——, these men are only taking breath and recuperating. Not that there is the slightest danger of any immediate outbreak. No,—the Southern people are too smart for that. They will never again measure strength with the North, unless their success be assured beforehand. In case of foreign war, or a domestic convulsion at the North, they will rise; but they will never try it alone and without assistance. Meantime they propose to ‘take it out in hating.’ Already our officers are the subject of a social ostracism. I repeat, that any man of Radical views who comes down here to plant cotton will be in constant danger, night and day, unless he holds his tongue. The ministers of the Gospel, of all denominations, the instructors of the youth of the country, the women, and the young men, all hate the North with a degree of intensity that cannot be exaggerated.”
Small temptation here to the Northern capitalist! Small welcome to the Northern emigrant! The first condition of prosperity is security; but this is absolutely wanting throughout the unhappy region.
There is also Tennessee, where authentic testimony shows a painful condition of things. I content myself with official documents. It seems that a committee was appointed to consider what could be done to arrest crimes and disorders in this State. Addressing Governor Brownlow, they remark:—
“In the discharge of this duty, we would respectfully and earnestly call the attention of your Excellency to the many dreadful crimes that are becoming so common, not only in and immediately around the capital of the State, but over the whole country.
“Quiet and peaceful citizens are met on our most public highways and robbed of their money and property, often cruelly beaten and abused, and in many cases murdered outright. This state of things is not only greatly injurious to the business of the country, but shocking to all sincere advocates of law and order, and to humanity itself.
“We, therefore, with the earnest desire to see security restored to life and property, and the majesty of law reasserted, appeal to your Excellency, who are the chief representative of power in the State, to exercise your power, and give the weight of your great influence to correct these sore evils, of which the whole country so justly complain.”
The Governor communicated this paper to the Legislature by the following message.
“State of Tennessee.
“Executive Department,
Nashville, November 22, 1865.
“Gentlemen of the Legislature: The reputation being acquired by Nashville, the capital of your State and the great commercial emporium of Middle Tennessee, is humiliating to every friend of law and order. Murders, robberies, and burglaries are the order of the day. No man is safe, day or night, within a circuit around Nashville whose radius is eight or ten miles. The most of these outrages grow out of the abundant use of intoxicating spirits, connected with those gambling hells to be found in full blast on every street in the city. The same may be said, to a considerable extent, of all the larger cities and towns in the State. Life and property must be protected, or the country will go to ruin. I therefore call upon you, most respectfully, but earnestly, by prompt and decisive legislation, to remedy this growing and alarming evil. Should you fail to apply the necessary remedy, my next appeal will be made to Major-General Thomas to close up all these dens of wickedness, so prolific of fights, murders, and robberies of every description. The Sabbath is violated, the sanctuary of the Lord is ruthlessly invaded, and ladies and gentlemen are insulted at every corner and on every highway. Again I appeal to you, Gentlemen, to relieve the suffering people from this outrageous condition of affairs.
“W. G. Brownlow.”[33]
I add a few sentences from a Tennessee paper, “The Southern Loyalist.”
“Do the authorities at Washington realize the fact that there is very great danger of wide-spread anarchy and bloodshed? Do they realize that it is the supineness and imbecility, or worse, with which the Freedmen’s Bureau has been conducted at this point, that is the cause of danger, and, it may be, of much bloodshed? God knows we speak in all sincerity, and we believe we speak the sentiment of nine tenths of the loyal men of Memphis.
“When colored men have remonstrated against injustice,—against the very discriminations against freedmen that the War Department declared should not exist,—they have been told, ‘If you damned niggers think I am going to give you any rights that you had not under the old State laws, you are damnably mistaken.’ This may not be exactly literal, but it is very nearly so. When colored people have asked for wages hardly earned in the cotton-field, but not paid by rascally employers, they have been in very many cases told to go about their business, or left to get their claims as they could.”
Such is Tennessee, the most advanced of the States claiming recognition in the government of the country. Besides this testimony, there is other derived from its own statute-book. Tennessee refuses to the colored citizen his right at the ballot-box, and even his right of testimony in court. I quote from the ignoble statute.
“A negro, mulatto, Indian, or person of mixed blood descended from negro or Indian ancestors, to the third generation inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation may have been a white person, whether bond or free, is incapable of being a witness in any cause, civil or criminal, except for or against each other.”[34]
I say nothing of Florida and Arkansas, for the special testimony which has come to me with regard to these States is not at hand. But it is not needed. The same tragical report proceeds from these States also. But, even without any report, all this must be inferred. How could it be otherwise? Abandoned to themselves, with unchecked power, ancient slave-masters naturally continue the barbarism in which they have so long excelled.
Mr. President, I bring this plain story to a close. I regret that I have been constrained to present it. I wish it were otherwise. But I should fail in duty, did I fail to speak. Not in anger, not in vengeance, not in harshness, have I spoken, but solemnly, carefully, for the sake of my country and humanity, that peace and reconciliation may again prevail. I have spoken especially for the loyal citizens now trodden down by Rebel power, and without representation on this floor. Would that my voice could help them to security and justice! I can only state the case. It is for you to decide. It is for you to determine how long these things shall continue to shock mankind. You have before you the actual condition of the Rebel region. You have heard the terrible testimony. The blood curdles at the thought of such enormities, and especially at the thought that the poor freedmen, to whom we owe protection, are left to the unrestrained will of such a people, smarting with defeat, and ready to wreak vengeance upon these representatives of a true loyalty. In the name of God, let us protect them. Insist upon guaranties. Pass the bill now under consideration,—pass any bill,—but do not let this crying injustice rage any longer. An avenging God cannot sleep while such things find countenance. If you are not ready to be the Moses of an oppressed people, do not become its Pharaoh.
Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, followed Mr. Sumner. Then came Mr. Cowan, of Pennsylvania, who said he was “not disposed to allow the speech of the honorable Senator from Massachusetts to go to the country without a very brief reply. If that speech be true, and if it be a correct picture of the South, then God help us! then this Republic, this Union, is at an end.” He then vindicated President Johnson and General Grant against the charge of “whitewashing,” quoting passages from them. In the course of his speech, he said:—
“If the honorable Senator from Massachusetts, and those who think with him, desire that these people should have the right of suffrage, why not say so broadly?”
Mr. Sumner. I do say so.
Mr. Cowan. Very well; that is so much that is clear. Make it broadly; we may differ from him, but the people will decide.
Here again was issue joined on the great political question which awaited judgment.
The debate continued another day, but after that Mr. Wilson’s bill was never resumed. The object proposed was accomplished by other measures.
THE WHITES vs. COLORED SUFFRAGE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Remarks in the Senate, on presenting a Petition from Citizens of the District, December 21, 1865.
I offer a petition of citizens of the District of Columbia, similar to petitions presented by me yesterday, calling upon Congress to provide irreversible guaranties in the work of Reconstruction, so that there shall be such security for the future, and, among such guaranties, proposing the enfranchisement of the colored race.
Sir, I am glad to present this petition from citizens of the District, because it shows that there are good people here who are not entirely indifferent to the great cause of Equal Rights. I am more disposed to make this remark because I see notice of a public meeting of whites here in the hope of arresting this cause. The whites can meet, if they please, and such a meeting, called under such auspices, may vote to continue their unjust pretensions; but any vote by them will be, under the circumstances, little better than an absurdity. The whites of the District of Columbia, in respect to the colored people, are no better than squatters, and those who for generations have squatted on the rights of others do not quietly give up. But it is our duty to dispossess them. Hereafter nobody should be allowed to squat on the rights of others, civil or political.
I move the reference of this petition to the Joint Committee on Reconstruction.
PROTECTION OF THE NATIONAL DEBT, AND REJECTION OF EVERY REBEL DEBT.
Constitutional Amendment in the Senate, January 5, 1866.
Mr. Sumner asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to bring in the following joint resolution, which was read twice, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed.
Joint Resolution proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States for the protection of the National Debt and the rejection of any Rebel Debt.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two thirds of both Houses concurring,) That the following Article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three fourths of such Legislatures, shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution, namely:—
Article —.
Section 1. The national debt is hereby declared to be of paramount obligation, to which the faith of the nation is pledged; and Congress shall not, at any time, do anything, directly or indirectly, to impair this obligation in any part, but shall in all ways maintain it in full force and virtue.
Section 2. Debts and liabilities incurred in aid of rebellion are without any just consideration, and void; and no tax, duty, or impost shall be laid, nor shall any appropriation of money be made by the United States, or by any one of the States, or by any county, town, or corporation therein, for the payment of any such debt or liability, or any part thereof.
June 20th, Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported this to the Senate, with the recommendation that it be indefinitely postponed, and it was so postponed. Meanwhile both Houses had adopted the Fourteenth Constitutional Amendment, reported by the Joint Select Committee on Reconstruction, which contains a kindred proposition.
KIDNAPPING OF FREEDMEN.
Remarks in the Senate, on a Resolution of Inquiry, January 9, 1866.
January 9th, Mr. Sumner offered the following resolution:—
“Whereas it is reported that persons declared free by the Proclamation of Emancipation and by the recent Amendment of the Constitution are now kidnapped and transported to Cuba and Brazil, to be held as slaves, and that in this way a new slave-trade has been commenced on our southern coast: Therefore,
“Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be directed to inquire if any further legislation is needed to prevent the kidnapping of freedmen and the revival of the slave-trade on our southern coast.”
The Senate proceeded to its consideration, when Mr. Sumner explained it.
Before the vote is taken, I desire to state some of the information that has come to my possession. For instance, here is a letter from Alabama, from which I will read a short extract.
“Another big trade is going on,—that of running negroes to Cuba and Brazil. They are running through the country, dressed in Yankee clothes, hiring men, giving them any price they ask, to make turpentine on the bay, sometimes on the rivers, sometimes to make sugar. They get them on the cars. Of course the negro don’t know where he is going. They get him to the bay, and tell him to go on the steamer to go around the coast, and away goes poor Cuffee to slavery again. They are just cleaning out this section of the country of the likeliest men and women in it. Federal officers are mixed up in it, too.”
Mr. Johnson [of Maryland]. Who writes the letter? Give the name of the writer.
Mr. Sumner. It is from a person in Alabama, whose name I am requested not to communicate; but the writer is well known to members of the other House. I have also a letter from the District Judge of Florida,—his name is familiar, and will be found in the official lists of the country,—communicating a letter received from a person well known to him, and for whom he vouches, in Florida, dated December 14, 1865, from which I read a brief extract.
“I am advised that certain parties here intend to make a business of importing negroes into Cuba. It is said that there have gone two vessel-loads of them already. Titus & Co. have bought a steamer for the ostensible purpose of carrying fish from Indian River to Charleston, but most people think that his will be carried the other way. There have been more gunboats ordered down in that region to look out for the fishmongers.”
Here are two letters from different States, Alabama and Florida. Add also verbal communications received during the last week from Texas, from Louisiana, and from Mississippi, three other States, all to the same effect, that in each of those States a system of kidnapping has already been commenced, and a new slave-trade started on that coast. I do not know that the laws on our statute-book are sufficient to meet this untold enormity. I desire that our Committee, in which we repose such confidence, should apply themselves to it, and see if there is any remedy for this terrible crime. I desire, also, that every branch of the Government should do its duty in this business: that the Department of State should address all its agents in Cuba and in Brazil, requiring them to look after the liberty of these people, to which we are pledged; that the Navy Department should forward proper instructions to our cruisers; that the War Department should send proper instructions to our troops in that region; and that the President himself should take notice of this unexpected enormity of outrage, and see to it that everything possible is done to arrest it.
Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, thought it “altogether probable that the Yankees have reopened the slave-trade.”
The resolution was adopted.
February 7th, Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, from the Judiciary Committee, reported “A Bill to prevent and punish Kidnapping,” which he stated was upon a resolution introduced by Mr. Sumner. February 15th, the Senate proceeded to its consideration, and it passed that body.
May 18th, the bill passed the House of Representatives, and, May 21st, it was approved by the President.[35]
THE LATE HENRY WINTER DAVIS.
Article in the New York Independent, January 11, 1866.
The death of Henry Winter Davis at this moment is a national calamity. His rare powers were in their perfect prime, and he had dedicated all to his country. At this crisis, when the best statesmanship, inspired by the best courage, is so much needed, it is hard to part with him.
He was born at Annapolis, Maryland, August 16, 1817; was a Representative of Baltimore in the Thirty-Fourth, Thirty-Fifth, Thirty-Sixth, and Thirty-Eighth Congresses; died in Baltimore, December 30, 1865. His career in Congress made him famous.
Nature had done much for this remarkable man. Elegant in person, elastic in step, and winning in manner, he arrested the attention of all who saw him, and when he spoke, the first impressions were confirmed. He was rapid and direct. He went straight to the point. He abounded in ideas. Language lent her charms. Among the living orators of the country he had few peers. Professional studies and political experience added to his powers. Had he lived, I know not what height he might have reached. Never before had he been so completely master of himself, and never before did he see so clear and glorious a line of duty. As the occasion was vast, so I doubt not would have been his efforts. He looked to nothing less than the complete enfranchisement of his country, and the redemption of all the promises of our fathers in the Declaration of Independence. In this cause he was a leader.
In a recent publication[36] he had touched this great question to the quick, when he said that a State which denied the elective franchise to a considerable portion of its citizens could not be considered “a republican government,” and he earnestly insisted that all such States should be reformed. He was right. All honor to the champion! Alas that he is not here to help in the battle now at hand! With what force and beauty, with what intensity and eloquence, he would have illustrated the congenial theme!
He was zealous, and, like all zealous men, when great questions are in issue, sometimes gave offence. It is hard to strike strong blows without leaving bruises. It is hard to restrain the rage of a generous indignation so that it will not seem severe. There are times when justice is severity. There are times when gentleness will not do. Falkland, in England, and Barnave, in France, were gentle in nature. Honor them for their virtues, but do not expect everybody to carry into the deadly controversy with Slavery that softness which must surely fail. Sterner stuff is needed. Fox had a heart which overflowed with human kindness, like that of our friend; but when duty called, he was terrible in debate. Words boiled and bubbled from his wrought soul, and he did not hesitate to call things by their right names. On one occasion this great parliamentary orator exclaimed: “I state it to be my firm opinion that there is not one fact asserted in his Majesty’s speech which is not false, not one assertion or insinuation which is not unfounded.”[37] On another occasion he said, in words which I seem almost to hear from the lips of the late Representative of Baltimore: “Oh for the good old parliamentary word jealousy, instead of its modern substitute, confidence!” This was the exclamation of Charles James Fox. It embodies the spirit of Henry Winter Davis. There were things he could not bear. His warm nature glowed at the thought of wrong or usurpation; nor could he check the currents of his soul, even if they threatened to dash against persons powerful in place or influence. A President like Abraham Lincoln was not above his honest, fearless criticism.
His country owes much to him. Living in a State which panted with the throes of the Rebellion, and surrounded by a disloyal population, he was from the beginning austere in patriotism. He made no compromises. He stood by the flag at all hazards. And as the conflict deepened, he was among the foremost to see that Slavery was the great Rebel. Against Slavery he struck. He had the inexpressible satisfaction to witness the first stages of its overthrow, and he was girding himself for the final battle with the transcendent offender under the new form it assumed. In striking against Slavery, he set an example to his fellow-citizens everywhere. If he, whose home was in a Slave State, and whose friends were slave-masters, could strike such blows, it was hard to see how citizens of other places, where Slavery did not prevail, could hesitate. Hereafter, when recent events are recorded in faithful annals, his name will be mentioned proudly and gratefully.
There is one community that will cherish his memory with especial reverence. It is his native State of Maryland. Among all the sons she has given to the country, there is none who can be named before him. I do not forget William Pinkney, the finished lawyer, or Charles Carroll, the signer of the Declaration of Independence; but there is nothing in the career of either of these to evince superiority over that of Henry Winter Davis. Hereafter, when Maryland is fully redeemed, and a happy people rejoices in all the manifold blessings secured, then will hearts throb and eyes glisten at the mention of this noble name. Better for his memory than any triumph of genius at the bar will be his devoted championship of Human Freedom. Maryland may not now be ready to do fit honor to her departed son; but the time cannot be long postponed. Her advance in civilization may well be measured by sympathy with his name.