WEI)NESI?A Y, FEBRUARY?!, 1866. • r Th'e ! pHntlng presses shall be n-ee to every person 4 who undertakes to examine the pro* oeedihgs of the legislature, or any branch of government; and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereot The free comma nlcatfon of thought and opinions is one of the Invaluable rights of men; and every citizen may freely speak, write and print on any sub tect; being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. In proseontlons for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of offi cers, or men in public capacities, or where the matter published is proper for public informa tion, the truth thereoi may be given in evi enoe.” To the Democracy of the City and Connty of Lancaster. Iri pursuance of authority given the un dersigned at a meeting of the County Coin jnfltee, held on Monday the 29th inst., you are requested to assemble in the several wards of the city, and boroughs, and in the townships of the county, on Saturday, the 24th'day of February, 1866, to elect not less than three nor more delegates, to represent such district in a general County Convention to be held on Wednesday, the 28th day of February, at 11 o’clock A. M., at Fulton Hall, in the city of Lancaster, for the.'purpose of electing six delegates to represent the Democracy of the County of Lancaster in the coming State Convention to be hold at Harrisburg on Monday the f>th day oi March next. By the usage of the party the several Dis tricts will each nominate one person to serve as a member of the County Committee ior the ensuingpolilical.year, and also nomi nate ward, borough and township commit tees, being particular to designate their names in their respective credentials to the ensuing County Convention. A. J. Stkinman, Chairman. IT. T. SnuLTZ. Secretary. The Yeto Message. The message of President Johnson vetoing the* Freedman’s Bureau Bill, which we publish to-day, will be read witlTinterest by all. We believed from the moment of its passage that the Pres ident would promptly veto it. He has done so, giving at the same time his reasons for so doing, in which will be approved and endorsed by every right-thinking man in the nation. The radicals, when they passed the bill, thought they had set a trap for Andrew Johnson from which he could not es cape. We can imagine their intense mortification when they find that he Inis cut their cuttingly-devised net into the trenchant sword of political truth. He has completely de molished the whole structure which they have been endeavoring *}o build up. His veto message sweeps away their crude theories like chair drivei before the wind. The radical platform is torn in pieces, and such men as Stevens and Sumner are left without a single plank to stand upou, As the masses of the people, both .North and South, read the calm and slaLesmanßke message of Andrew John son, a thrill of joy will animate every heart; and a glad shout *vill go up all over the laud. The President's wise words will be like oil poured on troubled • waters. The people of the diJlbrent sections, as they read them, will feel a *• thrill of the old emotion of pride ami pleasure, which moved every American heart in the days when we all gloried iji being brethren —children of a com mon country. This message will do more to unite the dissevered States, and to bring about harmony of feeling, and unity of action, than anything which has yet transpired. While the message is full of wisdom, it is firm as adamant. It shows that the chief ruler of this nation is not only a far-seeing statesman, but a man of iron will. The radicals are at the end of the rope. The Hat which must speedily consign them to merited oblivion has gone forth. Their policy cannot prevail wliile Andrew Johnson lives. He has announced another and entirely differ ent course of action as the one to be pursued. The people are with him; overwhelmingly with him; with him in the North and in # tlie South ; and with his assistance they will speedily drive from power the miserable set of fanatics, who are doing their best to disgrace the nation and to degrade their own race. The Democracy Jubilant. The glorious triumph of the Democ racy at the municipal election in this city, on the Oth inst., has infused new life intouur friends every where through out the Stale, and our exchanges come to hand jubilant over the result. It was a great light ami a still greater victory, and, being the first gun for 1800, is look ed upon as foreshadowing a still more extended and significant achievement in October next. The political sky is beginning to brighten? The dark cloud of radical Abolitionism, which for more than four years inis rested like a funeral pall over the horizon is being lifted up, and the election in this city—the home of Thaddeus Stevens —is the first gleam of a bright ami brilliant day for our be loved country. Woll may the Democ racy of old Lancaster be proud of their victory, for it is one whoso iniluence is felt in every nook and corner of the Commonwealth. All honor, therefore, to tlie indomitable and true hearted men, who so gallantly met the enemies of the Constitution and Union on Tues day week, and gave them a Waterloo defeat. The negro-suffrageites put their best foot foremost, selected by odds the most' popular man they had in their party as their standard bearer, spent money like water, and resorted to every foul means to accomplish their purpose and get an endorsement for Mr. Stevens at his Own home ; but it all would not do. They were routed “ horse, foot and dragoons,” and their party has gone to the dogs. Sic transit c/loria vnindi. Tlie negropholists, like the know-nothings, went up .like a rocket and have come down like a stick. Hlcstcr Clymcr's Speech, We publish to-day the great speecli of Hon. Hiester Clyiner, recently de livered iu our Slate Seuate duriug tlie discourse of the question of negro suf frage. Its length necessarily excludes much other matter from our columns.— We are sure, however, that all our read ers will he glad to hear what sued) a man as Mr. Clymer lias to say on one of (he most engrossing questions of the day. His speech is one of the most able ami exhaustive arguments we have ever read. We commend tlie speed) to our readers ns worthy of a careful perusal. Important Case. The Supreme Court lmsheard theopen ing of a very Important ease—a test one —involving very closely the relations of States to the general government on matters of revenue. It appears that in Massachusetts' the State laws prohibit the sale of liquor, and of course refuse a, license therefor. Licenses areobtained. however, under the United States In ternal Itevenue law, and parties pro ceed to sell under them. Several hun dred persons have therefore been arrest ed and fined, and in some cases imprisoned by the .State authorities. The test ease does not come up on an appeal, but reaches the Supreme Court under an old law passed twenty-five years ago, to meet acasein whicliHouth Carolina was interested. Caleb Cushing appeared for the plaintiff and Atloruey .General Reed for his own State. It U reported that some of the diplo matic corps at Washington are angry at the-strictures made in Mr. Uancroft’s oration upon the course of their govern ments during the war, and that the Aus trian Minister has gone so far ns to com plain to the Secretary of State. Forewarned Is Forearmed. Not less than thirty amendments to the Constitution of the United States have been offered since the present Con gress has been in session. Even radi cal Republican newspapers are becom ing alarmed at the folly of their friends. One of them Bays that the amendments already proposed, if estimated together, would of themselves be'about twice the size of the original instrument. That we have no doubt is a very moderate calculation. And every one of these .amendments has some especial or re mote relation; to the inegro. There is not one of the whole batch, which has not . been gotten up for the benefit of Sambo, in some one shape or another. If one half of them should be adopted, the Constitution of the United States would be little else than a string of enactments, discriminating against the white man and in favor of the negro. We have confidence in the people, and are sure that every one of these amend ments will be carefully scrutinized and that they will be repudiated. The people of Pennsylvania must not forget that in the election for members of the Legislature next this whole question will come up for decision. — The Senate of this State shown it self to be ready to endorse the doctrine of negro suffrage. Let them equivocate as they may, they cannot get rid of the record they have already made. Enough of the present members will hold over to prevent a change in that body. The white men of the State have onechance left, and only one. They must see to it that the House is purged of negro suf frageites. If the radicals be not signal ly rebuked by a great curtailment of their majority ih that branch of the Legislature, we may expect to see every amendment adopted by Congress en dorsed by our Legislature. Forewarned is forearmed. The White House Robbery We have heard it stated mof-e than once that the Presidential Mansion was robbed before the family of Mr. Lincoln left it, but the matter has always been glossed over, so that the public got very little information about it. The fact came out plainly in Congress yester day, when the House took up the mis cellaneous appropriation bill. The Clerk having read the clause appropriating forty-six thousand dollars to enable the Commissioner of Public Buildings to furnish and repair the President’s House— Mr. StcvenS explained that heretofore, be fore the incoming of the new administra tion, a certain sum was appropriated for a similar purpose. An item was inserted in the miscellaneous bill, which all know fuil eU to become a law owing to an amendment made to the bill on the motion of Mr. Davis, of Maryland. During the period betweon Mr. Lincoln’s death.and the leaving of the White House by Mrs. Lincoln, who was de tained there by sickness, the building was left a pray to comers, and when President Johnson took possession there was scarcely anything left. Spoons, linen, bedding and other articles were taken away, the house having been open to everybody. The stew ard was responsible, but - had failed in his duty. The President’s family had tried to gee along with gre.ateconomy. Some fifteen thousand dollars of the former appropria tions of thirty thousand dollars was autici eipated. The sum now proposed was ne cessary for the purpose indicated. Forty-six thousand dollars of the peo ple’s money gone to supply “spoons, linen, bedding and other articles,’’ car ried off from the Executive Mansion during its occupancy by Mr. Lincoln’s family! Let the people remember that the White House never was robbed of its spoons Ac. till it fell into the occu pancy and control of the radicals, and let them now firmly resolve that it shall never again be occupied by a member of the Setvens and Sumner Spoonion party. An Alarming Proposal, Among other radical, schemes that ought to alarm all citizens of the United States who set any value upon the liberties they enjoy, is the proposal to put the whole telegraph system of the country in the hands of the General Government. Senator Brown, of Mis souri; the embodiment of the “Red Re publicanism’’ with which the European disturbances of IS4B have streaked our politics, is said to be hard at work on a speech he intends to deliver iu favor of the bill authorizing the Government to purchase and establish telegraph lines, to be managed as a part of the postal system. If the radical majority in Con gress could win the President over to their way of thinking, they would pass this bill without hesitation. They would do so not because the public are not well euough served by the various com panies that have dotted the landscape of America with telegraph poles, but because the control of the telegraph would aid the dominant party in the maintenance of its power. The ex periment was made under the beneficent administration of the saintly Lincoln, whose paternal government kept watch and ward over the private affairs of the people, even to the extent of seizing their telegrams and opening their let ters. It was found to work well for the men who committed the outrage. It gave them an immense advantage over their political opponents, and contrib uted in a large degree to promote the re-election of Mr. Lincoln and to ex tend the power of the radicals in Con gress. The radicals would gladly put the control of the telegraph in the hands of the President if they were sure of his allegiance to their party ; but just there a strong doubt comes in, which may save the country from this new and alarming move iu the direction of gov ernmental espionage and influence over private affairs. Asserting their Kight to Equality We have advanced greatly of late. Our regard for the coming man of America is shown by setting apart a gallery in tlie Senate for the use of such legroes as are enabled by the bounty of tlie Freed men’s Bureau to loaf about Washington in idleness. There the common colored trash congregate; but Unit is not in accordance with the ideas of Fred. Douglass ami his associates, tlie members of tlie negro delegation, which composes what Horace,Oreeley calls “the outside Congress!” These distinguished “American citizens of African descent” refuse to be separated from their white brethren. They not only demand equality, hut iusist upon enjoying it. Oil last Saturday Fred, Douglass and George T. Dowling, members of the ne gro branch of the present rump Con gress, appeared in tlie white people’s gallery of the Senate. The doorkeeper politely requested them to leave. They woutd’nt do it. Not they. They were there for the purpose of nsserting'their right to equality, and they made good their poiut. The doorkeeper did not in sist upon removing them, because he knew the radicals would remove him if he did. As it is, rumor says Sumner will move to have him severely repri manded for insulting these distinguished negroes. So we go, step by step toward negro equality. The Connecticut Republicans do not enter the canvass iujthatState in a very amiable frame of mind. At a Hartford meeting to elect delegates to the State Convention, resolutions indorsing ihe President were voted down, and Post master Cleveland was hissed for ad vocating them- The General Hawley (Radical-delegates were chosen. Prom the way tilings look it would seem that the Republicans in that State are getting things in shape to bp very* handsomely Whipped next April, ' The fn^llnr^doancfi&T As is natural the contest now going on between the Select and Conjmon Councils of this city excites considerable comment amongmur people. v . It is alleged by there was a miscount*of tire vo|e’fdr Common Council men in ' t the North West ‘Ward. This allegation is leased entirely upon an in the returns. Two of the election of ficers, the Judge and one ofthe Inspec tors, and at least one of the clerks posi tively deny that any mistake occurred. The other Inspector and one felerk wer4 satisfied that the count was’fairly made. 1 They cannot say that any mistake did occur. They saw nothing that would induce them to think so, at the time the count was made; and they base any opinion they may now entertain Bolely upon the apparent discrepeucy that was afterwards discoved to exist in the fig ures. This was not noticed until the next day, when their attention was call ed to it by some suspicious outsider. On the morning after the election some sharp Republicans, thinking they had figured out a mistake, demanded that the ballot-box of the North West Ward be delivered up and a recount made of the votes. The Alderman, into whose custody it had been given by the officers of the election, very properly ie fused to comply with their absurd de mand. He knew, as every man who has the least knowledge of law ought to know, that lie had no right to give upa sealed ballot-box to any parties except to those properly authorized to receive it in case of a contested election. On Friday morn ingnext, after the day ot election, the members elect of Com mon Council met together in pursuance of the following clause in the city Char ter: * . She. J. And be it further enacted, That ine said select and common councilman, elect shall meet at such place in the said city as the said councils, each for its own body may alter thetirstelection agree upon; and afterwards at such place as by any or dinance duly passed may he tixed for that purpose; beiwwn. the hours of ten and Dvelveot the in tlie forenoon, on the r inlay next IlhiLowing each and every elec tion ot select and comnmu eouncilinen, to be held in pursuance of this act, and shall then and there-receive die returns aforesaid, and shalll forthwith proceed to examine the same and to judge and determine thereon; and tor that purpose, and to the end and in tent tnat this act or the provisions herein contained may not be ineffectual, the said select or common councilrnon elect, as the case may be, who shall he elected and re turned as aforesaid, ora majority of them, who shad be a quorum for all business, shall be judges of their own elections, und shall have full power and authoritv to ap prove thereof, or set aside the same, orafter nards to vacate the senL of unv member, for misbehaviour, neglect of dufv, or other misdemeanor.* When Common Council assembled,, in pursuance of the above clause of the city charter, four Democrats ami one Republican presented themselves with certificates of election properly signed by the proper officers in the North West Ward, Ihereturus were brought iu. from the I’rothonotnry’s office and duly examined. There being nodiscrepancy then discovered, and no one either contesting their seats or filing a single objection, the members certified to be elected in the North West Ward were each sworn into office. That was the proper time for any one who had an idea of contesting the seat of another to have put iu his petition or protest. Nothing ot the kind was done, and, aw we have alreafiy said, not the slightest objection was made to the swearing in ofthe four Democratic memberscertified to be elected from the North West Ward. Section Ist of an ordinance passed February loth, IST), provides that 11 the Select and Common Councils shall, on the second Tuesday of February in each year, and whenever any vacancy shall occur, elect in joint meeting, a City Treasurer, Solicitor," and oilier officers named. In compliance with tlie above ord nance tlie two brunches of Council met each in its own chamber on last Tues day. Prior to tlie taking of any steps toward going into joint meeting by either body, tlie Select Council cleariy and distinctly recognized tlie Common t ouucil as fully and properly organized by joining with that body in tlie pas sage of a joint resolution fixing the rate of taxation for tlie coming year, and otlier business. When a Committee from the Common Council informed the Select Council that they were ready to go into joint meeting for the purpose of electing city officers for the coming year, that body passed the following resolution and sent'it to the Common Council: Jtcsolved , By the Select Council of the C’iLy ol Lancaster, that in consequence of an alleged miscount of the vote for Common Council in th <irih West Ward, that tlie Convention tor the election of citv officers be deferred until Wednesday, Hie i-ttli inst. at 11 o’clock I*. M., to give tlie Common Council an opportunity in the meantime to have a recount of such votes, if thov decide to have it doin’. The Common Council, a co-ordinate branch of the city government, and vested with equal powers, had a right to feel themselves outraged and insulted at the reception of such a resolution. By the Charter of the city each branch of tlie City Council is made the sole and absolute judge of the qualifications and elections of its own members. What right, then, have the Select Council to attempt a review ot the proceedings of the Common Council on that subject? Was not their action completely revo lutionary? Up to the time when the above resolution was sent to the Com mon Council Chamber not the first step toward contesting the seat of any one of the sitting members of that body had been taken. Those holding seats were not only in undisturbed possession of them, but they had not even been noti fied that a contest would he made. Of course under such circumstances the only proper thing for the Common Council to do was to refuse to concur in tlie insulting resolutidn of the dictating body. This they did; whereupon the Select Council adjourned without going into joint meeting for the purpose of electing city officers. ’ On Thursdayanother meeting washad, but the Select Council still persisted in contumaciously refusing to go into joint meeting. Thereupon the Democratic members went over into the chamber of Common Council and a number of bal lots were had for city officers, but with out electing any oue. It is to be hoped the members of Select Council will not attempt to persist in their foolish and revolutionary course. They ought to know that the Common Council have no right to go into an irregular and un authorized count of the ballot box of the North West Ward. They have no legal power to do so. It can only be done by a committee of that body, duly appoint ed to examine into the matter, when a regular case of contested election shall have been made up between the parties now sitting and those who claim their seats. Up to this period the action of the Democratic mem hers has been right and proper, that of their opponents wrong and revolutionary. The Democratic members have complied with every re quirement of the law. By the law they will stand or fall. Those holding seats in the Common Council from the North Westward will not give them up until a proper legal contest shall decide the case against thetrj. They are confident that (ihey were fairly elected. The re turns show that two of them received more than one half of all the votes poll ed, and that the others were only some two or three votes behind. No objec tions were made to their taking their seats and they will only give them up when by a proper contest It shall be de cided their opponents are entitled to them, yhey ask nothing hut what is right, fin 3 jf ill submit to nothing that is wrong, ’ 'eloot me Freedmcn’s Bill fUfesldent Johnson's Message. Cv; || a “ *T- K ;~ xfothefrtoateorth} UniU>aUs: \ fit 1 oMtoined ®M»»re Jp s beep l*#|Bs«Lby the two amenftjin act'entitledan adt io es iblish-a bureaicbfor thei; relief .df freadmea' fS? d r S?. gees » 4*s for Q&er vS I ®' jJr*-?. m 9«Ci , oouclu-c jt oofcfce consistent the public welfare to give my approval to the | measure, I return the bill to the Senate.with m 7 objections to its becomingalaw. I might to mind in advance of these objections that there is no immediate necessity for the ! 'thlf a^ t -eatobliab a ; - gees, •‘which was apprdved in the'month of i aw^ %ittBt ».' haBaT,or 7 er eXpired.~Tt was' thought stringent ana extreme enough for the parpose in : view iu timeof war. Before it ceases to hiive eflect, further experience may assist to guide us to a wise conclusion ! as to the . policy to be 1 adopted in time of I peace. I share with Congress the strongest j desire to secure to the freedmen the full en- | joyineut of their freedom and their pros perity, and their entire Independence and equality in making contracts for their labor; but the bill before me contains provisions which, in my opin ion, are not warranted by the Con stitution and are not well suited to accom plish the and. in view. The bili proposes to establish, by authority of Congress, mill* tary jurisdiction overallparts of the United States containing refugees and freedmen.— It would, by its very nature, apply with the most force to those parts of the United Suites in which the freedmen most abound —and it expressly extends the existing temporary jurisdiction of the Freedmen’s Bureau, with greatly enlarged powers, over those Slates 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 other thun the President of the United States, acting through the War Department and the Commissioner of the Freed uieu’s Bureau. The agents to carry out this military jurisdiction are to be selected either irom the army or from civil life; the country is to be divided into districts and sub-districts, and the number of salaried agents to be employed may be equal to the number ot counties or parishes in all the United States where freedmen or refugees are to lie found. The subjects over which this military jurisdiction is to extend in every the United States, includes protection to all employees, ugents and offi cers ot this bureau in the exercise of the duties imposed upon them by the bill in the eleven States. It is further to extend over all cases alluding freedmen and refugees discriminated against by local laws, cus tom, or prejudice. In those eleven States the bill subjects any white person who may be charged with depriving a freedman of any civil rights or immunities belonging to white persons, to imprisonment or lino, or both, without, however, delining the civil rights and immunities which are thus to be secured to the freedman by military law. This military jurisdiction also extends to all questions that may arise respecting con tracts. The agent who is thus to exercise the office ofa judge mav be a stranger, en tirely ignorant of the laws oftbe place, and exposed to the errors of judgment to which all men are liable. The exercise of power, over which tiiere is no legal supervision, bv so vast a number of agents us is contemplated by this bill, must, by the very nature of man, beniteiuied by acts of caprice, injustice and passion. Ihe trials having their origin under this bill, are to take place without the interven tion of a jury und without any lixed rules ot law or evidence. The rules on which otfenses are to be heard and determined by the numerous agents are such rules and regulations as the President through the War Department shall prescribe. No previous presentment is required, nor any indictment charging the commission of a crime against tlie laws, but the trial must proceed on charges and specifications. The punishment will be, not what the law declares, but such as a court-martial may think proper, and irom these arbitrary tri bunals there lies no appeal, no writ of error, to any of the courts in which the Constitu tion ot the United States vests exclusively the judicial power of the country. While the territory and the classes of actions and oltenses that are made subject to this meus ure are so extensive, the bill itself, should it become a law, will have no limitation in point of lime, but will form part of the per manent legislation of the countrv. 1 cannot conceive a system of military jurisdiction of this kind'with the words of the Constitution which declare that “no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment ofa grand jury, excepting cases arising in the land, naval torces, or in the militia, when in service in time of war or public danger,” and that “in all criminal proceedings the accused shall enjoy the right to speedy and public triall.y an impartial jury of the triot wherein the crime shall have been com mitted." The safeguards which the experience and wisdom of ages taught our falherstto estab lish as securities for the protection of the innocent, the punishmeiitof the guiitv, and the equal administration of justice, are to he set aside, and for the sake ofa more vig orous interposition in behalf of justice, we are to take the risk of the many’ acts of in justice that would necessarily follow from an almost countless number of agents es tablished in every parish or countv in nearly a third of the States of the Union, oyer whose decisions there is to be no super vision or control by the Federal courts. The power thnt'would be thus placed in the hands of the President is such as in time of peace certainly ought never to been trusted to any one man. If it be asked whether the creation of such a tribunal in a Slate was warranted as a measureof war, the question immediately presents itself whether we are still engaged in war. Bet usjnot unnecessari ly disturb the commerce and credit and in dustry ot the country, by declaring to the Americun people and to the world that the United Stales are still in a condition of civil war. At present there is no part of our country in which the authority (»l the United | Slates is disputed, offenses that maybe i committed by individuals should not work a, forleiture ot the rights of wholecommuni ties. The 'community has returned, or is returning, to a state of peace and industry. Ihe rebellion is at an end. The measure, therefore,seems to be us inconsistent with the actual condition of the country as it is at variance with the Constitution of the United States. It passing irom general considerations, we-examine the bill in detail, it is open to weighty objections. In time of war it was eminently proper that we should .provide for those who were passing suddenly from a condition of bondage to a state of freedom, but this bill proposes to make the Freed men’s Bureau, established by the act of 180;"), as one of many great and extraordi nary military measures to suppress a for midable rebellion a permanent branch oi the public administration, with its powers greatly enlarged. I have no reason to suppose, and Ido not understand it to bo alleged, that the act of March, ISO"), has proved delicieut for thepur pose lor which it was passed, although at that time, and lur a considerable period thereafter, the Government of the United States remained unacknowledged in most of the States whose inhabitants had been in volved in the rebellion. The institution of slavery, for the military destruction of which the Freedmen’s Bureau was called into ex istence as an auxiliary. has been already cllectually and finally abrogated throughout the whole country by an amendment oftbe Constitution of the United Slates, aud prac-' tienlly its eradication has received Lhe assent and concurrence of most of those States in which it at any time had an existence. lam not, therefore, able to discern in the condi tion of the country anything to justify an apprehension that the powers and agencies of the Freedmen's Bureau, which were effective for the protection of freedmen and refugees during the actual continuance of hostilities, wilTnow, in a time of peace, and alter the abolition of slavery, prove inade quate to the same proper ends. If lam correct in these views, there can be no ne cessity for the enlargement of the powers of the bureau for which provision is made in the bill. The third section of the bill au thorizes a general and unlimited grant of support to the destitute and suffering refu gees and freedmen, their wives and child ren. Succeeding sections make provisions for the rent or purchase of landed estates for freedmen, and for the erection for their benefit of suitable buildings for asylums and schools, the expenses to be defrayed from the Treasury of the whole people.— The Congress of the United States has never heretofore thought itself empowered to establish any laws beyond the limits of the District of Columbia except for the benefit of our disabled soldiers and sailors. It has never founded schools for any class of our own people, not even for the orphans of those who have fallen in the defense of the Union, but has left the oare of their education to th much more competent and efficient control of the States, of communities, of private associations and of individuals. It has never deemed itself authorized to ex pend the public money for the rent or pur chase of houses for the thousands, not to say millions, of the white race, who are honest ly toiling from day to day for their subsis tence. A system for the support of indigent persons in the United States'was never contemplated by the authors of the Con stitution. Nor can any good reason be ad vanced, why, as a permanent establishment, it should be founded for one class or color of people more than for another, Fend? ing the war many refugees and freedmen received support from the government, but it was never intended that they should henceforth be fed, clothed, educated and sheltered by the United States, Tbeidea on which the slaves were assisted tp freedom was that on'becoming free they would be a self-sustaining population, ana any legisla- • tion that shall imply that they are not ex pected to attain a self-sustaining condition, must have a tendency inj urions alike to their character and their prosperity. The ap pointment of an agent for every county and parish will oreate an immense patronage, • and .the expense of the numerous officers and theif clerks to be appointed by the i President,'will be great in the beginning, < with a tendency steadily to increase. The L ( appropriations gsked by the Preedmen’s Bareau as now established Tor the year 1866 and'it may be safely •‘estimated that the cost to be incurred under ;% pending bill will require doable that aqpM3gfet, more than theqjmre sqm expend- ■ etjiaamy one year tiOffiof-the Becond Ariama. pf \ v ' % . v •ITtbe presence of agents in jeyery pariah :or cjpunty is to be considered airji war mea • opposition, or even resistance, might foeinamfeed, so that to give defect to their •jurtSOKtlMi troops would hatfeao be sAHon ed within/each of every one of them, and tbusji_large standing force be rendered ne cessary. Laige appropriations would,there fore, be required to sustain and enforce mil itary Jurisdiction in every county or pariah ’ Potp/nac to thf Rip jGrande* ,The fcc«dl£ioplo£<dur, fiscal affaifi enw*ag ljbg» T but.in sure of pubirc TOnfidence'it is necessary that we practice -not ‘merely; economy, but, as far as possible,Revere re trenchment. In addition to the objections already stated, tbe i fifth' section of the bill proposes to take away land from its former owners wiUiout any legal proceedings be ing first bad, contrary to that provision of the Constitution which declares that noper son.shall be liberty, or prop erty without due process of law. It does not appear that a part of ihe land lo which this section refers may not be owned by minors.or persons of unsound mind, or by those who have been/aitbful to all theirob ligatidns as citizens of the United States If any portion of the land is held by such persons, it is not competent for any author ity to deprive them of it. If on the other hand it be found that the property is liable to confiscation even then it cannot be ap propriated to public purposes, until, by due process of law, it shall have been declared forfeited to the government. There is still further objection to tl\e bill, on grounds -seriously afiecting the class of persons to whom it is designed to bring re- It tend to steep the mind of the freedman in a state of uncertain expectation and restlessness, while to those among whom he lives it will be a source of constant and vague uppreheusion. Undoubtedly the freedman should be pro tected, bur he should be protected by the civil authorities, and especially by the exer cise ot ail the constitutional powers of the courts ol the United States and of the States. His condition is not so exposed at first be imagined. He is in a portion ofthe country where his labor cannot well be spared. Competition for his services from planters, trom those who are constructing or repairing railroads, and from capitalists m his vicinage or from other Slates, will en able him to command almost his own terms. He also possesses a perfect right to change his place ol abode, and if, therefore, he does not find in one community or State a mode of life suitable to his desires, or proper re muneration for his labor, he can move to another, where that labor is more esteemed and better rewarded. = Iu truth, however, such State, induced by its own wants and interests, will do what is necessary and proper to retain within its borders all the labor that is needed for the development of its resources. The laws that regulate supply and demand will maintain their force, and the wages of the laborer will be regulated thereby. There is no dan ger that the exceedingly great demand for labor will not operate in favor of the laborer, neither is sufficient consideration given to the avidity of the freedmen to protect and take care of themselves. It is no more than justice to them to be lieve, that as they have received their free dom with moderation and forbearance, so they will distinguish themselves for their industry and thrift, and soon show to the world that in a condition of freedom they are self-sustaining, capuble of selecting their own enjoyment and their own places of abode, ot insisting for themselves on a pro per remuneration, and of establishing and maintaining their own asylums and schools. Lt is earnestly hoped that instead of wasting away, they will, by their own efforts, es tub.ish lor themselves a condition of re spectability and prosperity. It is certain that they can attain to that condition only through their own merits and actions. In tiiis connection the query presents it* sell, whether the system proposed by the bill will not, when put into complete opera tion, practically transfer the entire care, support and control of four millions of emancipated slaves to agents, overseers or task masters, who, appointed at Washing ton, are to be located in everv county and parish throughout the United States con taining freedmen and refugees? iSueh a system would inevitably tend to a concen -1 tration of power in the Executive, which would enable him, if so disposed, to con- I troi the action of this numerous class, and to use them for the attainment of his own political ends. I cannot hut add another very grave ob- to the bill. The Constitution imper atively declares, in connection with taxa tion, that each .State shall have at least one representative, and fixes the rule for the number to which in future times each state shall be entitled ; it also provides that the Senate of the United States shall bo com posed of two Senators from each State, and adds with peculiar force, that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in-the Senate. The original art was necessarily passed in the absence ol the States chiefly to be affected, because their people were then contumaciously en gaged in the rebellion. Now the case is changed, and some, at least, of the States are attending Congress by loyal representation soliciting the allow ance of the constitutional right of represen tation. At the time, however, of the con sideration and the passing of this bill, there was no Senator or Representative in Con gress from the eleven States which are to be mainly affected by its provisions. The very tact that reports were and are made against tlie good disposition of the country is an ad ditional reason why they need and should have representation in Congress, to explain their condition, reply to accusations, and assist by their local knowledge in perfecting measures immediatelvatfectingthemselves while the liberty of deliberation would then be tree and Congress would have full power to decide according to its judgment, there could be no objection urged that the States most interested had not been permitted to be heard. The principle is firmly fixed in the minds of the American people that there should be no taxation without representa tion. Great burdens have now to be borne >y all the country, and we may best de land that they shall be borne without ’.urmur when they are voted by a majority tlie representatives of all the people. would not interfere with the unquestionable ri.irht of Congress to judge and act for itself ot the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, buttbutauthority can not be construed as including the right to shut out, in time of peace, iniv State from the representation to which it ‘is entitled by the Constitution at present. All the people of eleven States are ex cluded ; those who were most faithful dur ing the war not less than others. The vStute ot Tenuessee, for instance, whose authori ties engaged in rebellion, was restored to all her constitutional relations to the Union bv the patriotism and energv of her injured and betrayed people. Before the war was brought to a termination they had placed themselves in relation with the General Government; had established a State Gov ernment ot their own, and as they were not included in the emancipation proclamation they, by their own act, had amended their Constitution so as to abolish slavery within the limits of their own State. I know no reason why the State of Ten nessee, for example, should not l'ullv enjoy all her constitutional relations to the United ■States. The President of the United States stands towards the country in a somewhat different attitude from that of any member ot Congress chosen from a single district or State. The President is chosen by the peo pie of ail the States. Kleven States are not at this time represented in either branch of Congress, and it would seem to be his duly on all proper occasions, to present their just claims to Congress. There always will be differences of opin ion in the community, and individuals may be guilty of transgressions of the law ; but these do not constitute valid objections against the right of a State to representation, and would in no wise interfere with the dis cretion oi C ongress with regard to the qual ifications of members, but I bold itmy duty to recommend to you in the interests of peace, and iu the interest of the Union the admission of every State to its share in pub iiclegislation when, howeverinsubordinate insurgent or rebellious its people may have been, it presents itself not only in an atti tude of loyalty and narmonv, but in the persons of representatives whose lovaitv cannot be questioned under any existing constitutional or legal test It is plain that an indefinite or permanent exclusion of any part of the country from representation mast Ue attended by a spirit ol .disquiet and complaint. It is unwise and dangerous to pursue a course of measures which will unite a very large section of the country, however much the latter may pre ponderate. The course of emigration, the development of industry and business and natural causes will raise np at the South men as devoted to the Union as those of any other part of the laud. But if they are ail excluded from Congress, if in a permanent statute they are declared not to be in full constitutional relations to the country, they may think they have cause to become a unit in feeling and sentiment against the government. Underthepolitical education of American people, the idea is inherent ana ineradicable that the consent of the ma jority of the whole people is necessary to se -CU^?a^n acquiescence in legislation. 1 he bill under consideration refers to cer tain of the States as though they hud been ftuly restQfed in all their constitutional re latihns to the United States.” If they have notj let us at once act together to secure that desirable end at the. earliest possible mo ment. It is hardly necessary for me to in forjjt Congress that in my own judgment most of those States, so far at least as it is dependent ontheirown action, haveaireadv been fully restored, and are to be deemed as entitled to enjoy their constitutional right# as members, of the Union Reasoning from the Constitution itself, and from the actual situation of the country I fw D^k n ll ®S ti i led , bnt bound *> assume that with the Federal courts restored, and those of the several States in the full exer oise of their functions, the rights and interest of all classes ol the people will, With the aid of the military, jp.case ijfresistahcetb the law, be essentially protected against uncon stitutional iniringement and violation. Should this expectation unhappily fail which>d<vnot anticipate, then the Execu tfjwis already fully armed with the powers the actoOfJttarch,-;d865, estab-: Hwnngtne Freedmen T s hewk o&er, aa he can employithe land and naval forges of the country to sripprgas inaurrecticm, or to overcome obsfcructioiis to the Jaws, in accordance with the-Consti tution.y - ' ..v; " . • ,j..' I ret urir the bill to the Senate inTheearn a measure involving questions so important to • the country will not become a law, unless upon deliber ate consultation by the people it shell re ceive the sanction of an enlightened public /judgment Andrew Johnson. » Washington. D. C., Feb. IS, 186(3. How the Veto Message was Becelved In the Senate. ~ A special despatctioto the Philadel phia Age gives the following account of the manner in which the message veto ing the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill was re ceived in the Senate. It says: The President's message to the Senate the Freedmen’s Bureau Eill fell like a .bombshell in the radical camp. As soon as it became known that it was in the Senate, crowds of members of the House of both parties hurried over to hear it read. Shortly after three o clock it was called up and read from er^' 8 desk, and was listened to with profound attention. When it was concluded the white people in the gal leries cheered loudly ana the negroes indulged in a torrent of hisses. The Presiding officer (Foster) ordered the white gallery to be cleared, but the darkies were not molested. The veto creates great excitement among the radicals—they are swearing overit bitterly. The conservatives here, of course are in fine spirits over the un mistakable* blow atone of the favorite measuresof the Black .Republican party. They will now endeavortln pass it over the President’s veto. -(ThUttempt is being made in the Senate this after noon. As I write; the radicalsUn that body are engaged in a little game of fil hbustenng. It is currently reported that a special Cabinet meeting on the subjeet of the veto was-held this morning, and that four members of the Cabinet (believed to be Messrs. Stanton, Wel'les, Denui son and Harlan) were in favor of ap proving-the bill asitpassed both Houses of Congress. The President, hon-ever was firm, and resolved to adhere to his determination to veto it. Hence the glorious message above referred to. The fight between the White House and the Capitol promises to be very in teresting. Thad. Stevens & Go. vs. Andrew Johnson— which will triumph? We need have uo fear of the result, as we have a President who intends to ad minister die government according to the Constitution, and not after the fash ion of the band of destruetionists that now control Congress. An Example that will be Followed. The Connecticut Republican State Convention, which assembled on Wed. nesday last, set an example that will no doubt be followed by their brethren of Pennsylvania on the 7th of March next. The ingenuity of Connecticut Yankees has long been celebrated. The wooden hams they used to peddle deceived |the eyes of the sharpest housekeeper, while it took a regular epicure to detect tlie flavor of beecliwuod on their nutmegs, even after they had been grated. Their shrewdness has not ..forsaken them, nor have tlieir hands forgotten the cunning which made Con necticut pedlers distinguished us the most unmitigated cheats in existence. They are as keen in the pursuit flf office as they are unscrupulous in Hie tricks of trade. They never stick for the want of a lie, and are always ready to adopt any method of deception. Of course they'nominated a soldier.— According to all accounts, he is a model of his kind, a well built fellow, a man of huge proportion, put up after the style of Jack Falstaif, fat and well fed. All tlie fatigues and hard marching of tlie war failed to reduce his proportions. Having the soldier candidate, the next thing needed was a juggling platform. Of course they got it up. That must be a very difficult piece of cheatery to which a set of Connecticut Yankees of tlie popular school oi politics are not equal. They were too siiarp to starve like the donkey between two bundles of hay ; indeed, they hud no choice to make. On the one hand stood Thud. Stevens and his policy, on the other the President with his. They dared not pre fer one while they repudiated the other, so they endorsed them both. Their en doisement of President Johnson is in very general terms, and does not mean much ; that of the radical majority in Congress is hearty, outspoken and sin cere. The same double dealing game will be tried in this State. We shall have a Republican plutform which may mean almost anything. Wesuggest that they make short work of the matter by pass ing the following resolution : lU'Mhcd, ThuL we endorse Andrew, Julm son and Tliad. Stevens, (especially the lat ter); that we are in favor of the restoration policy ot the former, and, its opposite, the reconstruction theory of the latter, (purlieu- Iftrly the latter); that we are for - negro suf irago, and against it; that we are proud of our Congressman who voted for it, and equally so of those members of our Stale Senate who wore too weak in the back to do so ; that (in short) wo have no princi ples except seven, viz: the live loaves and the two fishes ; and that to secure those we haveconcluded to run a newspaper general.” 1 hat single resolution will, we ven- ture to predict, embrace the whole sum and substance of the platform adopted by the Republican State Convention of Pennsylvania. The Yankees of Con necticut have set the example, and the Pennsylvania radicals will as naturally follow, where Xew rascality leads as a dog follows his master. Fornejsnjs the Negroes Must Vote. Col. John W. Forney was recently waited on and serenaded by an assem blage of Negroes. He responded in a speech from which weextraetas follows. ■‘Thoiinestionis now whether, lnivinjr been liberated here in the District of Columbia and treed through nil the .Southern Stales— whether, haying fought fur your citizenship you are to be permitted to remain in the lower grade which you occupied before the war begun, save only that you are no longer to be kept,physically in servitude; and thatis the great question now before the American people. When the Rebellion closed I was not ol those who believed that the Union party of this country would make the civil enfranchisement of manumitted millions their policy. In other words, I did not be lieve that we were strong enough to tuke ground in favor of what is popularly called universal sutfrage. But Tam now here to say that I was mistaken. I did not appre hend the full logic and dutv of the case and now, without turning back upon the past, I avow myself in favor of the trial of that groat experiment which the statesman would be a coward to postpone, and the philanthropist unworthy of his name if he did not meet it half way; and here, in the District of Columbia, we may safely meet the issue. ” Duriugthe campaign in tlusStatelast fall Forney denied most bitterly that his party was in favor of negro suffrage. A very few months have been sufficient to change his views. He knows the question cannot be shirked any longer, and so he comes out aud meets it square ly. What will the coming Republican State Convention do? Will it try to dodge the issue? It may, but the effort will be utterly futile. The people of Pennsylvania cannot be fooled by such transparent trickery. It is stated on reliable authority that the radical Post-master at Lafayette Indiana, has been superseded against ; the earnest protest of Hon. G. S. Orth, Republican member of the House from that district. Mr. Orth is a follower of Stevens, and voted for the n egro suffrage and other monstrous bills, that have lately passed that body. Hence his re commendations are not regarded at the White House. An appeal will be made to the Senate by the friends of officers who may displayed by the President, and that radical body will no doubt re fuse to confirm tbe(r successors. But tpftt’a a small matter, ?f they can stand it, the. President can, and the work pf removal will 0° on notwithstanding tacit opposition, . ” nsgbo suffrage. SPEECH. OF ' HON. HIESTBR-CJ^TMER. ,v> . f&F BERKS COUNTY, *; On Senator fandon's PesblutioiC-Approving we action of-those hfembers of Congress from Pen-nsyfnania who voted, in favor of i&e District Of.Oolumbia.Wegro SujJ'rage JtiU,.and instructing the Pennsylvania U. it senators to support the same in the U. - v . Senate. t’ Ir - c lymer said: Mr. Speaker, wore lat tms hour to consult my own feelings, I shou d certainly not rise to address the Senate For several days I hnve been suf ferine from a severe indisposition, and I do not- know- tbat-I will be able to say what f for , m y»i‘lf. With that clear ness and that precision which I conceive the great importance of the question demands; and I should g adly remain silent did I not feel that u higher duty than is usually im posed upon a Senator falls to my lot. 1 feel sir, that when one is charged to speak, by every man wholias voted for him and whom he immediately represents, aud by thou sands oi others who have hitherto opposed him, who say, “for the sake of right, for the sake of justice, lor. our sake, aud for those who are to come after us, give utterance to our sentunetits in the Senate of Pennsvl vama I say, when called upon by such voices coming up irorn every hiU and vul- ] Q 7. of . the Commonwealth, I could not re frain from speaking, however imperfectly the duty may be performed. In addition, fiV o u l ua v et * upon by past memories m this btute, by the past actions of the go. ,d and great men who laid her foundations upon certain immutable principles, and who guided her destinies siuce she was a weak and dependant colony. By all these considerations I ieol con strained, at this hour and upon this subject, to say something to this honorable body, and in so doing I shall not diverge from the issue directly made by the resolutions offer ed by the Senutor from Bradford, (Mr. Run don.) I will not, unless compelled so to do, travel over the wide field embraced in the remarks of that Senator, and in tin* dis .u**ort °f the Senator from Indiana, (Mr. \\ bite.) I intend to coniine myself to the question upon which instructions are proposed to bo given. And, sir, for myself and lor the people of this .State, 1 thank the' Senator from Bradford that he, first of all here, has had the hardihood, the boldness ave, sir I may call it the darinu counuic, here and now to distinctly avow, and glorv in the avowal, that all the blood aud trea sure spent, that all the ills untold which have belallen our land, that all the debt, that the calamity and misery, the carnage and harvest of death through which we have just passed, was, sir, not to preserve a Constitution aud restore a broken Inion but was to keep the party to which tlie Sen ator adheres in power, through the co-ope ration and bjOhe votes of an inferior and debased race, whom they already proudly call their allies! [Applau se.J (> li, sir, I confess to vou it'does require nerye and courage to ,to it. Hut I thank Cukl the Senator has made the deliberate avowal, right here, where it may be met bv tlie indignant scorn of the people of this State, and that the member of Congress Irom the Lancaster district, (Mr. Stevens-,)' bastinade a similar avowal upou the floors of Congress. He alone, of all his party, dared make it there. The Republican party of this State may not hereafter deny its po sition on this question, it bus long denied tlie issue. Would, sir, that it could have been fairly made years ago. How much of sorrow and of blood would it have spared this land? But, sir, tlie musk is thrown aside, the hideous purpose is at last dis closed; the hour of trial has come. The people shall sit in judgment; and woe be to those who have so long deceived them thereby drenching the land with blood ami mortgaging the present and future gene: Boris with endless debt. Speaker, the resolutions before the Senate are in these words: Whereas, A bill enfranchising the colored citizens of the District of Columbia lately pas sed the lower house of Congress, receiving the earnest support of our Republican members • t eretore, be it Jie.iolued by the (Senate and House, <( c , That w» approve aud commend tlie action of our mem bers In support of this measure, and our Sena tors are requested and hereby Instructed ti vote lor the same. hesotved. That the Governor be requested to forward to each of our members aud .Senators In Congress a copy of this preamble ami reso lution’ ‘HI-: Dot TRINE of INSTRUCTIONS—UPON WHAT FOUNDED. Before discussing the policy of the mea sure, for which our Representatives in (’on gross are thanked for having voted, ami for which it is proposed to instruct our Sena tors to vote, I design brielly to discuss the doctrine of instructions. It is bused upon the supposition that those who give the instructions truly and un questionably represent the majority of the whole people of tlie State; ami that the question upon which instructions are given was a recognized principle in the general platform of the party buving the ascend ency in the State, or a distinct issue made before and approved of by the peoplo in some proceeding election. I conceive these to be the only groundson which instructions can have any binding force. DOKS TilK SKSATB OK PENNSYLVANIA, AS NOW CONSTITUTED, FAIRLY REPRESENT PARTIES IN THIS STATE? In order to ascertain whether, il these in structions aro passed by the (Jeneral As sembly, they will truly represent the upin ions of a majority of the whole people of Pennsylvania, or whether they will merely be an expression of the opinion ot certain Senators and members who hold their seats in these halls by means of gerrymandered districts, or upon issues other than the one now presented, I shall have to refer to some facts and figures. At the Presidential election, iu ls(H, a larger vote was polled than ever before in State, amounting in the aggregate to .■>(>2,707. Of these Mr. Lincoln received 200- 201, and General Mct’lellun 270,210; Mr/ Lincoln’s majority being 20,072. If you will divide the whole vote by the number composing this body, (thirty-three,) it will appear that the average number of voters to each Senator is 17,021. h follows, then, f the people of this State were fairly and honestly represented on Uns Moor, and tin if the State had not been wilfully and wick edly, by party drill and under the party lash' gerrymandered, there should and would be sixteen Democratic Senators hold ing seats here instead of twelve, and but seventeen Republicans instead of twentv nnn ' It were a useless waste of time to point out the by which this nefarious scheme was accomplished, but I nun- not , refrain from citing one specimen of the honesty and fairness of the Republican ma jority which fustened this injusticeandout rnge upon the people of this State. At the Presidential election, thecountvof Lancaster polled 22,1)17 votes. At thosamu election, Berks county yolled votes. Lancaster polling biU2,<m votes morethari Berks, ana yet Lancaster has two Senators in this body and Berks but#ne; and in the 'House Lancaster has four members and Berks only three!’—thereby giving the pj'4l voters which Lancaster has in excess of Berks one Senator and a member!!! I might cite other cases of like injustice ami fraud, but I will not detain the Senate hv referring to a subject for which there is no present remedy. But, sir. assuming that there should />, sixteen Senators’on this tloor representing the Democratic vote of the State, and Unit at least three, if not u greater number of Republican Senators, will decline to vote or, if voting, will do so against the resolu tions, I ask, sir, whether even if you pass them, will they be the voice of u majority Of the whole people of the State? There i* sir, but one answer to the question. They will Ije the instructions of a majority ot the General Assembly, but clearly not of the whole people, and therefore of no binding force or effect upon our Senators. I trust I have made this point clear and beyond Cavil. HAS TIIK QUESTION OF NEGRO SUFFRAGE ; EVER BEEN FAIRLY IN ISSUE BEFORE THE PEOPLE OF THIS STATE? My second proposition is that you cannot instruct upon a question which was not a recognized principle iuthegeneral platform of the party in the ascendency in the .State, or which was made a distinct"issue and ap proved of by the people at some preceding election. ' ® : Will any Senator, Republican or Demo crat, assert that the question of negro suf frage in the District of Columbia, in the Southern States, or in a State of the Union ever entered into the platform of the Re publican party, framed at Baltimore, in 1554, or into the one made in this State last August, under the guidance and direction of Mr. Cessna, the chuirrnan of the State Committee of that party? On the contrary su-, wheu the charge was made that a forcer! construction of tnat kind might attach to the Cessna platform of IWJ.S, it was indig nantly and officially denied bv that gentle man. It was asserted vehemently and with emphasis by every Republican speaker everywhere in the State, so far as it came to irty knowledge, that the Republicans us a Pfrty were opposed to the doctrine and they never would, and never could l>ocom mitted to any such policy. I will not speak for the Senator from Bradford, (Mr. Lan don,) nor for the Senator from Erie, (Mr. Lowry.) I know how often they are far in advance ot those who usually act with them, and how likely they are to tell the truth when others dissemble. I will not aver whut they might have said; but I assert that else where—everywhere in this broad State—it was denied to be an issue; and I claiMenge you now, my Republican friends, to say if you had dared to make that issue, where you would have been. [Applause.] You wouJd have been where the people of this .hi? i. Wil aXire }Z consign you, after yon shall have voted for these resolutions J THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND THE DUTY OF CONGRESS TO LEGISLATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VIEWS, WISHES AND INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE OF THAT DISTRICT. lla Remonstrated that theresolu- Hons, if passed, will not represent the will ot a majority of the whole people of the state; that they are not upon a question embraced in the general platform of the 1 aqminant party, or arising from an issue involved in the late election in this State. * shaU now proceed to discuss the subject mattor<lrtli(>'resolutiomHifohisfoinstruot our Senators to vote for the bill before Con thß ‘Wro in the Dis triLt of Columbia, and thanking and com ffie Republican members of Con fr°“? Poll >«ylvania, for having advo thntbody VOtCC f ° r Baid bill-when before Viroin i lle ‘ S,ales of Maryland and rit ™ ,T led < ' erl, “» portions of their ter ritory for tho purposes of a seat of Govern - [“‘"l V nilod absolute nuthor- CmarraL ,1 ls ." ct was «onrerred npon the ten f he L mled States. Ido not in ,? :, , I ISplUe this f “«. on the contrary, I m e Civ broadest, and most nniqunocal signification. Commas was u‘se e tbe cTor“ U ’ Un ? U ’ Ui ‘ ied ’ mld * if 1 m “y district Hm 381 ™ eternal control of that Bradford will 311 "’ W o tdo Senator from voUnc for t , ““ y , Senator who Intends voting for these resolutions, pretend to suv that « hen that clause was put into tlie Coii stltutmn ot tho I'niled States, it was ever supposed, by those who framed it, that the day would come when Congress would dare ldewif' S “T’ s «l>ject, against tlie ' and wishes and interests of the peo- PiT “ r !‘ at dl , Nl rlot? Was it not, on the con trarj. Hie only recognized doctrine, that the representatives of the people were ever to espeet ami obey tlieir views, wishes ontir"V t ‘ reSt!,? . I,id ,10t that principle enter lay at the very foundations of our d, eo" r i"" U ‘" t? , ' Vas U not implanted so e l’ do "." m die lie-arts of those who made dietonstm,tion, that it could never have OitfiMippused by them that evil hours like heproem might entne upon our country? or'o,so' . y "'ere too jealous of the rigid* dm n 'r’ ar mv ” conferred tl power bus uidiimted iiml illimitable, over their n n ,“'r P t>s,t 'rity, who were to in i abfi l fiat district, had they supposed that view ,1 ’ yer exercised against tlieir \ li "s, their wishes and their interests. Let ' 1" 'dlen.pt to denv this proposition e who may deride it. I tell him dial onr past liiMoi-y Will prove it; every principle dial cn.crt-d into die forniutioii of our (Jov einUH-nl will establish 11. Those who Irauicii the Constitution hail waged a seven >car> war, to enable ilium ami their iios tcrit\ to maintain this; doctrine, andcniorcc it, and they w,mid have been the hot men on earth to have committed any portion of iheir lollmv-eitizens to the lender merrier oia law-making power, in which IbfOr views, u islies and intere.st.s were not to ho rcsj.eete.l and obeyed. And, sir, that body to which this supremo juris aietion was given, was ever in con templation ot those who conferred it, to legislate in accordance with tin* demands and wishes oftho-peoplcofthodistriel. They allowed that people no representative; they deprived them of a vote upon national uf tairs; u territory anomalous in condition was created, without representation vet ••ml >jeel to taxation. But, sir, tie- Staled of \ irginia and Maryland, which’ceded the ten itnrv, and lie ist* win* made llu< mi pre me law, wliieh gave t’ongress the exclusive and absolute control nwr it, .lid so because they conceived that they were confiding that power to a body which, at no time, and under no circumstances would violate t hose fundamental principles, which so long as one (ioveniuient was administered with justice, were to govern the action of every legislative body in the land. WHAT ARE THE VIEWS AND WISHES OK THE PEOPLE ()F Til E DISTRICT ON THF SUM.) KCT. This being admitted, how does the fad as to the views, wishes ami interest.* of Un people of that District stand? This could best be determined by a vote of that people It was taken, and the Senator [Mr. |‘mi ilon] well knows tho result. Nearly soveti thousand against and btilsixty odd’in favor ot the proposition. Seven thousand white men have deliberately said, “We wish In) admixture of races; we wish to meet no man here, on either political or social e.jali ty, other tlutii those whom, under our tune honored ustiages, wo have been accustomed to meet. It is against our views, our wishes, and we conceive against our best inter ests.” And yet, sir, in defiance of this clear and explicit declaration, the Re publican majority of tho present Con gress elected from Stairs, a large ma jority of whom have persistently and 1 ever denied this “right,” “ this ' privi lege,” its a Senator ( Mr. Lamlon j rails it, to V the cob-red citizens within tlieir borders, have forced this measure upon them. Tt has been done, as is boldly proclaimed hern and there, for tho purpose of testing public sentiment, to know how far they mav go without danger of being hurled from power. It has been done as an “ entering ivedr/e" for the cnliancliisemenl of negroes (liens* and elsewhere throughout the land. They have done that to the District of Columbia which, as yet, they would not dare allempL ill their States. Vet, sir, negro sntfrage is to lie forced upon the District of ( olumhia by the votes of Congressmen represenimg States which saving Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and N\ York admits them on a freehold qual ification of two hundred and fifty dollars, so there the property voles, not the negro.’ 9 I say, sir, that every Congressman who vo ted lor this iniquity, save those from tho States which I have nauiqd, voted for that to which their own people will not suhniit. They did it too in finl opposition to the al most unanimous wish of the people of the District. Is this just? Is it right ? Is it lair? Will it be submitted to? Will not tlie hour come when the judgment entered against the views, the wishes and tho inter ests of the people of tlie District of Colum bia, by an irresponsible bodv, bv a Congress organized and existing on such revolmiun ary principles that doubts mav well arise as to the legality of any of its acts? Will not the hour come when that judgment if it be concurred in bv the Senate, will be ru verseil? IS THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE ONE OF THE, NATURAL RJoHTS OF MANKIND? These, sir, are my views in regard to the question so fsr as it relates to the District of Columbia. In order to reach the general principle, I propose brie/Iv to examine this doctrine enunciated by (he Senalor from Bradford, (Mr. J.andon.) that elective fran chise is one of the natural nyht<ujj inanlciial. It is true the .Senator did not entineinieil in specific terms. His argument was general in its character, but I drew tho conclusion that hoduimed it to by a natural rit/hf If I am wrong I beg to he corrected here ami now. Mr. Speaker, I Imve always considered, and, I beiicve.y very writer on the subject’ ha.s hil hcrto adjudged that l hi* nut urn I rights ot men an? protection to life, to liberty, to reputation, to property. If thermit to vote is one ol the natural rights of men, it should bo exorcised by all mankind, without limi tation as to ago or sex, race or color at all tunes, everywhere ami under nil circum stances; because all governments i>ro/, : .5.5, at least, to furnish protection to life, liberty reputation and property. Hnt, sir, hasaiiv f lovoniinenl any where, at any time, grunt ed unlimited, unconditional sulJrage ? To state the;propo*jtion is to show its absurdity 1 localise if it Ik» h natural, ru/ht it should bo exercised by all men, of civ,y age. by both sexes, and at all times. Has* this ever been permitted any when?? It is not, on the contrary, a right which belongs to and is vested in the tchoft: body politic, whose ex clusive right it is to determine when where ami by whom it shall be exorcised and under what restrictions ? It is, therefore, not a natural rujht . but purely a conven tional or political right, to be exercised by those only who are adjudged worthyof it bv tile whole body of the people. TIIK HISTORY OF FEN N.s YI. VA NIA ON THE srnJKJT OF NKORO SFVFUAO K. I I lave said, Mr. Speaker, that no govern mont, in any ago, or ut any time, has granted (his cotiventionuj or political rigid to all men ot all ages, regardless of sox and color. The history of our own State is illus trative of the position I assume. It is writ* ton in her Constitution that “ih elections by tite citizens every white freeman of the age of i wontv-one years, having resided in this Stale une year, and in tho election district where he odors to vote ten days immediate ly proceeding such election, and within two yours paid a Shite or county tax, which shall have been assessed at Joust ten days, before the elect ion, and shall enjoy the rights of an elector.” ® Ami further to Jlustrnte inv argument and tor the information of those who have Jailed to understand the reasons which lead to the adoption of the clause of our (’omfti lulion which I huvo just read, I propose,at this time, to cite the opinions of one of the ablest of our lawyers and statesmen, whose virtues, learning ami eloquence will obtain tor him tho admiration of after times, In reference to the policy and necessity of in serting the word “white” in the first’ section of the third article, I refer to the Attorney (Jenerul, Mr. Meredith. He wasu member ot .the convention which framed the exist- Conhtitutinn of tho Coinnionw'ealth. EXTRACTS FROM THK SPEECH OF Hoy. w„ * M. MEREDITH, DELIVERED IN THK RE FORM CONVENTION OF ON TJUJ *UIU~ JECT, /'’On !iio 17th of January, KW, the conven tion resumed the consideration oAhe report of the committee to whom was referred the third article of the Constitution. Mr. Martin of Philadelphia, moved to further amend' the first section of the article by inserting the word “uhitc" before the word“freeman " The motion led to a prolonged and able de bate; in which Mr. Meredith said: “ The rlyht of mU'rage ought to be the le>;e of white citizen* alone. And where Is t' o Injustice? The Macks came here fugitives in>m slavery, reeking from the ohuJns of per sonal bondage. Js it not enough that they are proteeted by our laws? Are we houmi to do more lor them than for tho KugUsh and Ger man emigrants who come Into our State ami troru whom. we ourselves hav© descended re motely and proximately ? How Is It with these ♦•migrants? Is the right of snn'rae© bestoweifa upon them without a servitude of seven yeain and the process of naturalization after oaths have Lean tiled? Viewing the question ana statesman ami uot as connected with themes of the equality of the human race « what have we to require of slaves wl** coiuo here as fugitives trom bondage? NolhlmT Every citizen of Lite; State of ono ys-Kr’s deuce, whojhas paid his tax, is entitled to voi« While the ingl&lmuin, .lid ( S Frenchman, who come into the State S tovotl eVen >eaiH beforu x **y he permitted! >hcar«ument sound,whkk reijnlred us to open the polls to these blacks, H#* shuddered at the conseouenca or pkrowlpg open our polls to all who might come here to exercise tho right of Btttfruge ' thought it wiser not to iucurtta rlakufiiavinS our institutions controlled by a race to whlef?" we do not belong; No one denies ‘the mmm! wasasßW-aSss
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