1B ll IK
As
mm
C- B- GOODLANDER. Editor and Proprietor.
PBINCIPLES, not VLES.
TERMS :--$2 00 Per Annum, if paid in advancs
1 VOL. XXXVIII. WIIOLC NO. 1893.
CLEARFIELD, PA., WEDNESDAY, FEB. 23, I860.
NEW SERIES-VOL. VI. NO. 32.
111 iDlrtDt
rill ll ll ri ma
srEF.cn
or
i
SENATOR W. A. WALLACE,
OP CLKAHFitLD couxtv,
4 concluded.
pf Jamaica, and let him remember
J hat theso people cannot develop the
J ind, that to enable them to do so,
f ma, unit iu vudoie in iu uu w,
there must be there an overruling race
i-not men that will enslave them I
look to nothing of the kind ; but they
ok to nothing ol the kind ; Put they
inust have there a race whose intellect
3s greater and better than theirs
hey must have somebody, to depend
upon. Jhcse people never can ana
f never will, unaided by the white race,
develop that country. Jruc, they
j have the muscle ; but muscle, without
I brains, never did anything. They i
ave not the capacity, the intellect. 1
1 ou must depend upon tho 6upcnor
race for the brains, and use the mus
cle of tho negro lor the labor, i
ELEVATE KOTU RACES. J
"It is necessary to develop the la
borer," the Senator says. I admit it
is necessary to develop the laborer,
but you must not develop him to the
injury ot the race that Jives sido by
hide with him. Xo,6ir; raise them
from their degraded condition, lift
tlicLi up, but do not attempt to place
thera on the same platform with the
whites. I accord to them all their
natural rights; lam willing to raise
them from their degradation; Iain
willing to fit them to learn the great
lrr'bs of the Gospel, to do business, to
uccome intelligent, so that they may;
nakc contracts and preserve the fruits
of their labor. I am willing to do all
this : but I am unwillingto bring them
to an equality with a race that is far
above them, and thus aid in lowering
Loth. Your nicely rounded periods
of sympathetic and eloquent diction
about the improvement of races, and
tho triumphs of humanity, are hut too
palpably proven to be myths idle us
the vapor, empty as the wind when
you go to e:;aininc the practical work
ings of your theory. 1 he spending of
hundreds of millions of dollars by the
mother country in Jamaica to develop
those people, to learn them how to
lake caro of themselves, you rind hap
demonstrate! the truth 1 assert. The
'(gitimate result of your humanitarian
ideas have there culminated m ft most
inhuman and barbarous msa rc with
in the pnt year. This is imt one in
stance of the results of your "improve
ment of races," one illustration of your
theory of "conacUy f r progressr' on
tbc part of tho colored race.
IIATTI.
Let lis take another instance. Ilay
ti. Her independence was declared iu
103; and tl.y negro was placed in
tho entire control of the Government ;
the reins of government were fully
committed to his keeping. No white
there tocneumber him, no white brain
to direct him, the negro not only had
cxclusivo control of that fertile island,
but he alone managed its affairs. The
Government vested in the people equal
fi(V;tical rights such as we enjoy. In
1790, the exports of the United States
in coffee, sugar and rum amounted to
a little over twenty and a half millions
of dollars worth, while Hayti export
ed twenty-eight millions of dollars
worth of those commodities. Con
trast the reliilivc situations of the two
countries and tho facilities of each for
developing their respective capacities.
Here is the negro in a fertile land;
ho is blessed with all the advantages
that we possess, and the inducements
to excel which should present them
selves to him are the samo that are
held out to the whito man; the insti
tutions nndcr which ho lives have
been modelled after our own ; (the
humanitarians of ! ranco having form
ed tho
frtvernment nf fsl. I Inminirn ,
i
and given to that government all need- i ,liat "solution a propos.tion granting
ful political advantages;) while the ! !t ,,lj0 t0 Vrgo K M Clellan, aiv
exports of that island are several mil-d,,aUHe- was vo,0(1 (lo? n li'
lions in excess of thoso of our ownlll,c I'l"''' "" I'"p3" horo' ns 1,10 rt'c:
country. On the other hand, wo aro ord Wl" 1,1,0 w- "e tll(,r0'"I'c U'J
in a land that is sterile and iinproduc.jnainst tl,c resolution in fo-f. -Hut,
tivc and which requires labor anj1 sir, to go beyond that, I hold it to be
time to bo made of value. Such wcrc'm3' ,Ju,y ,l niember of party Hint
the relative positions of Hayti and ,,"ve Vcsi-Um, to extend the hand
tho United States at that day. Dut!of fellowship to every man who pla
where is that island to-day and ccs himself uj)on thoue prinnj.lcs nnd
where are wc! While ive havo as-! whether he be peasant or President,
cended in tho scalo of prom-ess and tutail wi11 1,11 niJ' ability,
humanity, they havo retrograded ' with a" m.v for(,' in Parrying out and
Their institutions wero founded uiion succcst-fully vindicating thoso princi-
our maxims or political justice and of
right, and you sought in vain through
their written laws and legal customs
for any traco of Africa. Control
their condition of to-day with our own.
Iiook at what they nre. They aro de -
graded and brutal; their main char-
B.v i j vi v.iiniuvi.-b ni.u
show ; ihpy have not a form of gov.
nrf At-iat ia aia lswk rf jM.nnAr,f jin, I
vo not n lorm oi gov.
s we havo ; religion is
n ; heathenism is run-
;h the land, and sens-
ei ii men i Kueu as we nave
almost unknow
ning Hot throng'
tiahty reigns sujiremo. Hayti is raj-
idly retrograding into barbarism. Tho
aiegru 'a happiness, his chief delight,'
ns It in character has unfolded itselfin
that island is what it is hero nnd what
it is in his native land: idleness and
an apparently instinctive bloodthirsli-1
ness arc its attributes. I refer you
1 to the numberless revoliitionsand mas-
'sacres that have occurred there, and
I assert that bis highest delight is in
massacreing his npecies If evidence
js wanting, it may be found spon ev-
is wanting, it may lie lound spoil ev-
ory page of the history of emancipated
n.,yii. Hostility to'the foreigner is
rulm? passion with tho Havtian:
a ruling passion with tho Havtian;
agriculture is abandoned, their com-j
mercc is dying out, and their popula -
jtion is decreasing with a rapid ten -
dency to convert tho whole country .
ito n forest.
I rc:id from Mr. Mackenxic's He-
port i
placed
the bh
in l.'.O. In LSU3 Ilavti was !
entirely under the control of
Li,,, .L-o oiwi ;.. icto ! m ..,.t .
reported to tho hngush
as follows :
government
"In lTf9, thcr ytrr exportrd Hl.OPS.CSt
pouccU of nigir, 7,004,274 fmundi of col ton nl
76, $35,219 poumls ofci ffr?. In 1 S26 there were
exported 32rl p- undo of ruirnr, 620,572 pounds
of cotton and 2,lsy,7S4 pounds of butTee."
There is a consideration of some
importance in this connection bearing
upon the position that I assume, that
is, that sugar (the production that is
most palpably diminished) requires
constant toil in its cultivation ; while
coffee (that maintains itsstatus better)
grows wild through the country. The
latter has continued an article of com
merce and is largely exiorted. The
plow does .not exist in llayti ; it has
ceased to exist. Tho gold and other
mines there arc being neglected; the
machinery is worn out or allowed to
rot out; the forests arc returning.
Ilavti is rcec ling from tlio light f
civilisation; the people arc becoiD'.ig
savage; their lmbits are disputing
and heathenish. Tho couir.iion of
Hayti re asserts tho pos''iou that 1
maintain, that this race have no ca
pacity for progress. "Look at Mexico ;
sec what a conglomeration of revolu
tions is there; see tho degeneracy of
that country: tho legitimate result of
a coininioiiug of blood. Seo Central
America and. tl.u ; Sj.ani.-U colonics
sout1. all these furnish additional cv
ionccs ol tho truth of tho fact I as-
SClH..
LEARN UT EXPERIENCE.
Let us then l-o warned by the ex
perience of the jast, taught by the
lessons of history. If God's law be
tho elevation of humanity, let us con
tinue to elevate ourselves and with
christian charily aid those below us
to climb tho ascending grade. If the
law of tho world be the law of jiro
grcss, let us be satisfied with the jiroud
position we enjoy, trying no new path
mt energetically
moving upward in
our yet bright career, iet us not let
ter ourselves, by halting midway to
enable tho African to reach us. Let
us bo wise and preserve the sovereign
t) of our race. Let us estimate it at
its true value and refuse to share it
with those of whom hitory is silent,
whose land is voiceless, whom your
ow n experience teaches aro your in
feriors, Uon whom privileges aie lost,
and whom the mournful lessons of a
century havo but served to demon
strate their inertness and stolidity.
Chain i s not to "the iiodv of this
heath."
wr rosirio.v toward the president.
Let me reply to an attack which
the Senator from Erie has made iion
my friend, tho Senator from Derk.s,
Mi. Clym-fr, and impliedly upon
myself. Tho Senator attempts to
show that in lsfi.'l. the Senator from
Berks voted against granting tho use
of these balls to Andrew Johnson, then
Provisional Governor of Tennessee,
lie forgot to state, sir, that tho Dem
ocratic parly rejucsented Uon this
floor, introduced as an amendment to
TJ 1,118 uf 11 0 Pon m j resMnn,j t,,.,...,,;, molli (2,75!1,04! ;)
dent Johnson, he has our right hand j U(0 w,i(iK, niiml,CP m.0iVed was
01 miowsnip; n n oenoi ins position,
1,e i,HS our ojoilion.
iiatti a bad polict.
' Let me now turn for a moment to
some of the arguments of the Senator
rM O , I r i 1 1 . . : n I .
4JVM1 jji t:tiii)ni. iie sn n, Mr, ine
pcojdeoftho South havo no rights'
pcojue oi the .South have no rights
that we should respect save to be hung
and to be damned." This is his very
language. 1 regret, sir, that such
languago as this should come from
tho lijis of any Senator.
Mr. LAX DON. I quoted that as
tlio language of Governor Brownlow,
of Tennessee. It was not original
with mo.
Mr. WALLACE. Tlio Senator by .
using it becomes responsible for its
sentiment.
"They have no rights ; they arc to
bo hung and to be damned." Alas !
.Is this the nineteenth century, and
are wo enlightened men? Sir, go
are wo enlightened men: Sir, go
back to subjugated Hungary, to con-(
ipiered Poland, ami see there men,
trodden in the dust, with tho heel of
trodden in tho dust, with tho heel of
tyranny upon . them ; aco tber.lhe
' sore oppression of the Austrian and
'tho Kussian upon the necks of those
men, who dared to rebel against a
government that was above and not
of them : and say if you want to re-1
peat in this country the scenes that
have been there enacted. 1 trust that
your soberer moments, your more so- and brunt of tho day ; I want to bear, lor all practical purjioses,the immcdi
rious reflection will cause you to blush 'something of tho men who,in all those : ate representatives of that constitu
at such language, to shudder at such ; lour years of strife, were constantly ' cncy,und tho will of that people ought
doctrines and to remeinher that "to
err is human, to forgive divine." Sir
the Senator had upon bis lips at
most the same moment the expression,
'beauty for ashes, tho oil of joy for i
mourning." If, with the ability that 1
I know he possesses, and out of re-i
spect for tho vocation that he profess-1
es, he had proclaimed the doetrinesof ,
the sermon on the .Mount and ol that I desire to do no suih thing. lhc re
glorious .salutation of the angels,"' suit is that the black has had his race
"Peace on earth, good will to men," 'emancipated while '.ho white man has
ho would havo been nearer, much j had hi Government maintained. Let
nearer tho position that ho should oc-Jus bo satisfied witk these resulls. The
cupy. Sir, t'.io hour for hate has pass- black has obtained w hat, in the opin
ed and tbo hour for forgiveness has ion of the Scnatorf rom Erie,he fought
come; they who are statesmen should for ; nnd tho white man, if you would
riso lo the htighlh of the occasion ;' beliveim.has obtained what he fought
au however much their vindictive for; because if you tell him that he
passions might wish to wreak ujvin ;
theso people just punishment, yet tho'
good of their country, tho good f,
their race, tho future prosperity ol
four millions of blacks and five mil-
I10119 of whites, depend uixin the ndop-.
tion of some other policy.
A fLASTIC GOVERNMENT.
Sirs, the Senator says that tho Gov-
ornmunt U t.l,,-t, n innst fnnvoiuon
word pfiTtfr that it may bo formed ,'
aud moulded by the hand. And.truly, -
it is a plastic Government aye, a juogmein us u ii.il urvugov on
i.lastic Government when now, in ! that great calamity. The men who
obedience to King Caui us, ut Wash-'t"deJ it North and South, I do
ington, a cabal of men rule the nation nounce in unmeasured terms ; Abolit
irresjtcctive of legislative or executive ! mnisU and secessionists are equally
functions, and take upon themselves puilty. Great Ap.lauso. A voice:
the power of a French Directory. I "That's played out." Sirs, it may be
Well may you say the Government is ! "rlnJ'cJ m,t" o',w''n tho warnings
plastic. Go back to the tin;.- of 17S! of reason and exjieneiiee cannot yet
and remember that then the French ""'itcrtte the col sequences of that
Government was;.V.sf7r,too;that it was fanaticism ; and there may bo other
moulded and manipulated to suit tho l'1'"9 in vuur rule nndro.gn "played
ideas of designing men, and used to "t too.
oppress nnd destroy the pcojde; and i
out 'if it came blood-lied fearful,)
awful, horrible bloodshed. No, sir;
as has been well said by the Senator
from Berks, (Mr. Clymcr,) this is no
plastic Government. It is a govovcrn-
ment of law that you and 1 swore to
sujiport when we took upon us our
duties in this chamber ; and they iii
Washington have upon them thesame
obligation. There is to be no plastic
government in this country ; there
tiro rights recognized by the Constitu
tion that arc to be maintained ; tho
rights of individuals and the rights of
States. Sirs, tho secessionists ii. ISlil
undertook, ty war and Moodshcd. to
break up this Government, and they
failed; lour long.fearf'ui years of strug-
gle saved the Government. Dut your ty, tho energy and tho o' of tho
.7?c Coi-i rnnuitt would now seek to An-rlo Saxoii, the Teuton, and the
dobyunconstitutional legislation what (Vlt in this country will, when your
tho secessionist failed to do in four culminating point has been reached,
years of war. Is not thisso? Sirs, rj,0 down, batter to pieoe,lrcak into
where now is your rallying cry f Aro utter fragments any race that dares
you how for the Union ? Or arc you.in to raise its hand against them and to
obedienco to this cnbnl of men at nsk for equal rights in tho govern
Washington, under the lead of Stev- ment. 1 trust that a war of races is
ens, (immortal from his deeds in these never to-come ; hut I ati'iriii.Scuatora,
halls,) moulding your j.lastic (Jovern-' thut you aro driving tho entering
ment to sever ami divide tho Union ? ( wedge, you aro increasing the number
Is this so? oris it not so? Are yon of points nt which these races aro to he
for this Government as a whole.or aro thrown together. The points of con
you on the other side of the Issue? tact between the two races are 1 e
This is a question that must bo answer- ing multiplied, and the old fable of
cd sometiino and somewhere. !ln. iron not nnd Hm ebiv iit. will r.
the colored soldier.. pPat itself; in every contest where 1hei further exierience may assist to guide
The argument that tho colored sol- atronger raco conies in competition us 10 n M'i0 eorTclusioii as to the joli
dier took his musket and did his mite with tho weaker race,(ho weaker must (3' ,0 1,0 "'h,l),ed in time of peace. I
for the protection of the Government, ' and will givo way. j share with Congress the strongest do-
has been used, nnd is the great shikj Mr Jcm,rson (m (C(I , sire to secure to the freodnua the full
boleth in his favor. Tho whole nuni, Moni,ieiir Vvmvli) htt l0lhin 3 , enjoyment of their freedom and their
ber of sohliers culled for from 1SC1 to' ,. ..jonrlv wriitm in ll.e book" of rF"J . 01,J '"r indu-
1S6S. as found in the report of tho
Secretary of War, was two millions l,l.t.'ks'7aii(l it is equally certain that tracts f.-iMhcir lahor ; but the h. l.,e
seven hundred nnd flHy-nine thousand lh , ' wi ' lipp : .lBlfl foro me contains provisions which, in
nnd1
"
two
million six hundred and fifty-eight
.1. ....,! 1 ...... I ..... 1 I !....
nit- iiuniiiiu i.iva in n i"i u
(2,r.r,.S"i3). The wholo number of
colored troops ennsitHi is one Minorca
and seventy-eight thousand nino him
.1 i ...... il n -
ureu iiiiu re em -im e, j 1 1 r1,.' t , r inn
quite 200,000,118 the Senator said. Tho j
quite iiu,uoo,ns the nenalor said. J no
greatest number of colored trooj.s in
service nt any one time was 1 T)f ;
and that sirs, was on tho l.rth of July
last, some three months
after the rc -
i hellion had been crushed. Laughter.
Supposo that these 12.1,1 .M) men,
about whom so much noise is made,
('and who nresnid to have fought
bravely") snpoo that those 12-3.1 of
men were Yankees or Dutchmen or
( Irishmen, how much would they have
been missed in Uio whole two million,
:six hundred and fifty-eight thousand ?
There are four lnillions of these color-
cd people, and out of these four mill-j
ions, one hundred and twenty-three i
thousand carried the musket as against
two million and a half of tho white 1
freemen of this (I'overnment.who took
Aip their arm did battle bravely
in its behalf. I say thaticosnparative -
'ly considered, their rights sink into
utter insignificance; and Senators
should be ashamed to prate about the
great deeds of tho colored soldiers. !
Sirs. I want to hear 6oniethinr of the i
men who dn the batto in tho heat
doing all that they could ; and let us
not be told only of tho "heroism" of a
al-'few who wcro mainly placed there
against their will. Dlack soldiers j
w ere equal in bounties and pay with
tlio white soldiers. Tho colored man
has been emai cipated. Senators say
1 desire to send Lim back into slavery.
I pray you do not commit mo to that,
fought to emancipate negroes ho will
tell you "it is false,"lhat is the answer
you will get from rive-sixth of them.
Jiut it you tell him that helonglitto
protect and defend tho Government,
he will saj, "that is so, that is what 1
went to do and what I did." Tho war
is ended ; tho Government is protect
ed nnd the black is emancipated, as a
ConsC(UellCe of the War. Shall I do
nounce the means that brought about
that civil wnrr Miall I hero express
A WAR OF RACES.
Now, sir, what are you disposed
to do! To agitate. In 101. you pro
posed "to agitate." You commenced
"to agitate" in 1 830, ami you have
Ik-cii agitating ever sinco ; yon agita
te I to ns n war, and we have got
through that war with an enormous
sacritico of money and of blood; ami
you propose to agitalate further. The
entering wedge is before us; agitation
is to continue ; and we are to go on
from bad to worse until, as the Sena
tor from Bradford tell u, it rulmi-
rmtes in a war of races.
Ileaven help
day comes.
tbo weaker when that
Sirs, tho instinct of blood is stronger
far than the lust for power. The in
f.tinct of blood possessed by the vitali
,,,:,. ,( ' ,, ..:.: f,i.
, i i . . i
of equal freedom timer the same gov-
1 .ii .1
till llllii l, nt' l lir-l' l uuill ll ut uiu lliu tuu
. .
i.i. .1..,
obstacles wnicn nature, naiut ami,
omiiioim
tUMn
.w.v, vsu.uoM.eu
ii I I . ...
Ih.s is theop.nionof one whoknew
lua" raoe9-
the will or the people.
j
Tb
, right
: trict
This lull, sir, proposes to grant tho
d.t to vote to tho negro in tho l)is-
trict of Columbia and to take from the
'hani. - i of the white in .in (becauso that
is its practical effects) tho control of
that munripil overnnicnt. There
arc some fifteen thousand negroes in
the city and vicinity of Washington,
and some eight or ten thousand voters'
in the District. Thisgives the control
of tho muncipal affairs of tho District er than the President of the United
to the negro. 1 suppose they will bo Slates, acting through tho War Dc-
discreet and not elect u negro as tho ipartment and the commissioner of tho
first mayor, jfreedmen'a bureau. The agents to
It is a vital point inthe argnnicnt,that( carry out this military jurisdiction
when tho people of n State or district, are to be selected cither from the ar-
have expressed themselves in an cm-,
lthutic manner mrainst a certain mens-
;uro it is an outrage to force that meus-,
jure upon them. The will of th
jplo lies at the foundation of our
j eminent, and those who do note
ie peo-
of our .tiov-
donotcxnress:
lhat'wiil are not truly tho people's i
representatives. It may be said that
tho men in Congress were not elected
by the people of the District of Col urn-
ma. 1 hey were not: vet thev arc
to bo oliovcd.
Mr. Dowry. Who ere the people ?
Mr. Wallace. Tho white people of
the District of Columbia,
Mr. Dowry. The white
people ?
the whites
Mr. Wallace. Ves, sir:
have snmo rights left yet. They have
tho right to govern that District ; and
until they say they are willing that
tho luirro should partako of those
rights they should not be conijelled
to tharo them with him.
protect the white laborer.
The olicy of my state wpon this snb-
ject, sir, is my jiohcy. In 1S0, she
emancipated tho slaves that were here,
and in lS.ii? si c declared that the
white raco should govern the State. I
accord to Ihcse pcojtlc all their natur
al r'ghts the right of life, liberty,
property and tle pursuit of happiness ;
but I deny to them political rights.
IHs afrty and the maintenance of our
riirhts demand this. This is a govern-
ment made by white men and to be sol
perpetuated. Sir, that flag is the and passion. 1 he trials having tiein
svi.iU of tho majesty of a white man's I origin under tin's bill, aro to take place-
j. . . i . j t i . j
government, mo ensign oi mo sane-:
tity t a w hite man s law, the her
ald of tho capacity of the white man
for self-irovernnient. Tho ballot is
tin emblem of the whito man's sov
ereignty. Theso shall never be the
badges of our weakness, the trophies
of a weaker race.
Sirs, the proud head, tho honored
neck of tho whito laborer yes, the
white l.miorer, for "to this complex
ion doth it come aflnst" shall never
with my consent be bowed to the level
of the African slave applause or to
an eotiality with the colored man. .Sir,
his blood shall lc maintained in un
sullied purity. Krectin his manhood,
protected in his labor ami in his power
of sovereignty, the while laborer in
the shop, the lield, the highway, the
sovereign of tho iScpublic, ho shall be
in iho f uture, ns in the past, the sinew
of tho State, the vital element in the
prosperity of the nation.
PRESIDENT J0HNS0SS VETO MES
SAGE.
The liezvo Bureau Smashed Up.
Washington, Feb. 10, 1SGG.
7t the Scnitc of tin' Uiiitrtl tSirc .
1 havo examined with care the bill
which has been passed by the two
Houses of C ongress to amend an Act
entitled an Act to establish a Hureau
for tho ldief of Freedmen and refs-
irors. and for other purposes. Having
with much regret come to the conclu
sion that it would not bo consistent
with the public welfare to give my
approval to the measure, I return the
bill to lhc Senate, with my objections
to its becoming a law. 1 might call
to mind in advance of theso objections,
that there is no immediate necessity
for lhc proposed measure.
The act to establish a bureau for
the relief of treed men and refugees,
which was nrovcd in the month of
.March last, has not yet cxjiued. Jt
was thought stringent and extreme
enough tor thcpurjmso iu view intinio
of w ar. Diilore it ceases to have c fleet,
p and equality ia making con-
my opinion, aro not warranted hy the
.. .. ' , ,. J .. ,
Constitution, and are not well suitei
. ,. , , .
to accomplish the end in view
n-, , ,. M. , .
! lit. fill I'l til.'.rt- n t;7.titiMlci t't
nutl0rity of Cou,.ress military juris-
Stntcs t(,lUili J rcf mJ frovJ.
men. It would by iw very nature ni-
! ,,y wiL, tie ln0!it fovve to those parts
of tho United States in which the
freed men most abound, and it express-
ly extends the existing temporary
jurisdiction of tho freeduien's bureau,
with greatly enlarged powers, over;
thoso States in which the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings has been
interrupted by the rebellion.
The source from which this military
Jurisdiction is to emanate is none oth-
my or from civil hie. the country is
to bo divided into dint rift nnl tnh.
districts, and tho number of salaried
agents to be employed may bo equal
to tho numlmr ol counties or parishes
in all tho United States where fieed
inen or refugees are to bo found.
i ho subject over which this mihta-
!rv iurisdiction is to extend in every
Dart of the United States includes nro-
tection to nil employees, agents and
oflicers of this bureau in the exercise
of the duties imposed upon them by
the bill in eleven States. It is fur
ther to extend over all cases affecting
freed in en and refugees discriminated
against by local laws, custom or pre
judice. In those eleven States the bill
subjects any white person who may
be charged with depriving a freedman
of any civil rights or immunities be
longing to whito persons to imprison
ment or fine, or both, without, how
ever, dvfiiiing tins civil rights and im
munities which are thus to ce secured
to the freedmen by military law.
This military jurisdiction also ex
tends to all questions that may arise
respecting contracts. The agent who
is thus to exciriso the ofticeol'a judgo
may be a stranger, entirely ignorant,
of the laws of the place, and exposed
to the errors of judgment to which all
men are liable. The excrciso of pow
er, over which there is no legal 6
pervision, by so vast a number eft
agents as is contemjilated by thisbiJli,
muKt, by tho very nature ol man, bo?
attended by acts of caprice, injustice
.rmioui uic iij.-rcnnoii oi njuryanut
without any fixed rules of law orvi-
denco. The rules on which offiinees.
are to be lieard and determined by tho
numerous agents, are such rule audi
regalationn as tho tho lVcsuJentV
throHgh the War Department,, shall
prescribe.
No jircvions presentment is rtairedi
noraay indictment charging thoai
mission of iKTinio against th laws,,
but the trial must proceed on vVargo
and specifications. Tho punislimenti
will be, not w hat the law dcclares.but.
such as a court-martial may think
proper; and from theso arbitnrrr tri
bunals there lies no aj.peal, no. writ ot
error to any of the courts iu which
the Constitution of the United Stat
vests exclusively the judicial rsx-rof
the country. V.ilo the territory- and
ilk classes of actions and offences tiaU
aro made subject to this measure ar
so extensive, the bill itself, sWuld it
become a law, will have no limitation
in jo'mt of timn but will f.rm part of
the permanent legislation of Uieej.m
try. 1 cannot conceive a system of military
jurisdiction of this kind with lUs word
of tho Constitution, w hich declares
that "no person shall bo hehl to
answer for a capital or otherwise) in
famous crime, unless on a presentment
or indictment of a grand jury, except
iu cases arising in tho land and naval
forces, or in the military when in
service in timo of w:ir or jmblio
danger," nnd that "in nil eriminal
proceedings tfio accused shall enjoy
the right to a speedy and public trial
by an imiartiai jury oftheSiate or
district wherein tho crime shall havo
been committed."
The safe guards which the experi
ence and wisdom of ages taught our
fathers to establish ns securities for
the jtrotcction of tho innoceRt, the
punishment of the gnilty,and the equal
administration of justice,nro to be set
aside; and for the sake of a more
vigorous interiosition in I'ehalf of
justice, we are to take the risk of tho
many acts of injustice that would
necessarily follow from an almost
countless number of agents establish
ed in every parish or count v iu nearly
a third of the States of tho iTnion over
whose decisions there is to be no super
vision or control by the Federal courts.
The power that would be thus placed
in theliajids of the President is such as
in time of jn-ace certainly ought never
to be entrusted tonnyoneman. If it
be nsked whether the creation of such
u tribunal iu a State was warranted
as a measure of war, the question im
mediately presents itself whether wo
aro still engaged in war. Let us not
unnecessarily disturb tho commerco
and credit and i.idustry of tho coun
try, by declaring to tho American
people and to the world that tho Uni
ted Slates are still in a condition of
civil war. At present thero is no part
of tho country in which tho authority
of tho United States is disputed. 01-
fences that may bj committed by in-
i
!
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