“Provided, That nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to vacate any of the offices now filled in the State of Georgia, either by the election of the people or by the appointment of the Governor thereof by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of said State; neither shall this Act be construed to extend the official term of any officer of said State beyond the term limited by the Constitution thereof, dating from the election or appointment of such officer, nor to deprive the people of Georgia of the right under their Constitution to elect Senators and Representatives of the State of Georgia in the year 1870; but said election shall be held in the year 1870, either on the day named in the Constitution of said State or such other day as the present Legislature may designate by law.”
In the Senate, after several days’ discussion of this proviso, as in Committee of the Whole, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, moved a substitute of opposite character, as follows:—
“Provided, That, in consequence of the failure of the General Assembly of Georgia to perfect a legal organization for a period of over eighteen months, it be, and hereby is, declared that the term of service of the said General Assembly shall date from the 26th of January, 1870, and shall continue until the persons to be chosen on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1872, as members of the General Assembly of said State, are qualified: Provided, That the last clause of the second subdivision of the first section of the third article of the Constitution of Georgia, in the following words, ‘The General Assembly may by law change the time of election, and the members shall hold until their successors are elected and qualified,’ shall never be by any Legislature exercised so as to extend the term of any office beyond the regular period named in the said Constitution; and the said General Assembly shall by joint resolution consent to this fundamental condition before this Act shall take effect.”
April 5th, Mr. Sumner spoke on the pending question as follows:—
MR. PRESIDENT,—Whatever its result, this debate will be ever memorable. For the first time the African has pleaded in this Chamber.[6] But the curious observer cannot fail to note that he was obliged to plead still for his long-oppressed race. The Senator from Mississippi sits among us, and speaks; but the battle is not yet won. Slavery still asserts her ancient predominance, finding strange voices. No longer is the claim made directly. Nothing is said of Slavery, but the old cause is defended under an alias. It is now State Rights which are invoked, or it may be alleged irregularities,—as if State Rights or any irregularities could prevail against the sovereign duty of Congress to see that Georgia is so organized that good people shall be protected in their rights. To this end all else must be tributary, while every pretext of State Rights and every allegation of irregularity are of less consequence than the breath with which they are urged.
It is sad that the Senator from Mississippi should be doomed to encounter this spirit. As he entered the Chamber, the evil genius should have departed; but it is not so. And strange to say, the voices by which it has spoken have been the voices of friends. But so it has been always. How often in other days have the opponents of Slavery been saddened by encountering the voices of friends! The argument of technicality is always at hand, as the well-seasoned weapon of the lawyer,—and this debate is no exception.
I had hoped that this question would be decided without debate, at least on our side,—in short, that all would appreciate the exigency, and unite harmoniously in applying the remedy. I am disappointed. But I shall say very little. Feeling as strongly as I do, and seeing the way as clearly as I do, I cannot be entirely silent.
The case is very simple. From unquestionable evidence it appears that Georgia, while still in transition from the old to the new, while still in process of Reconstruction, and before the work is completed, has lapsed into a condition of insecurity and uncertainty, so that, without the intervention of Congress, the people cannot be assured in the enjoyment of their rights.
This is the broad statement, which is confirmed by the present as well as the past. By an unparalleled audacity colored citizens were expelled from the Legislature simply on account of color, while the orgies of the Ku-Klux-Klan prevailed throughout the State. And now this same Ku-Klux-Klan continues its terrors, while former Rebels threaten to regain their pernicious power. The State is in peril. I do not use too strong language. All evidence is at fault, if it be not as I say. To allow these Rebels to prevail is to sacrifice Reconstruction, and to offer up the Unionists, white and black. It is to do a deed of shame and desertion. Are you ready for this degradation? Shall Congress descend to this vileness?