A STAND FOR LIBERTY.
MR. BLACKIU'RN'fI STATEMENT OF THE
DEMOCRATIC POSITION.
A Hall Called rm the Hadienl Polity q f f'm
atitutional Subvention — 7'A People'a
Trust Must Not he Hrtrayed
—"He Who Doubt* is
Damned."
Wo herewith republish from the
Congrrwional lircord the magnificent
speech delivered by Mr. lilnckhurn in
the House in defense of the position
taken by his party with inference to
the repeal of the damnable Radical
election laws. The Democrat who
docs not read it disowns his party:
Mr. Blackburn—Mr.Chairman, I tru I
that in what I may have to submit lor
the consideration of this committee,-!
shall in no wio derogate from or lower
the pilane of fairness and dignity with
which in the main thi- discussion has
been conducted by colleagues ou this
side of the chamber. I trust tbat no
utterance of mine will give color to the
charge that in my judgment any sec
tional question is involved in the con
sideration of the issue before this com
mittee. *
I do not intend, sir, to be jiermnnl in
nny thing that 1 may say. There tins
come from different members of the
other side of the House, during this de
bate, that which, in my judgment, re
quires and merits notice, nr.il 1 shall go
back, before I shall have finished, sev
eral days to reply as best 1 may to the
p>oints that have been made bv the dis
tinguisbed gentlctnun from Ohio (Mr.
Garfield).
1 take it, sir, tbat nobody is surprised
at the ap>p>earanco of the honorable gen
tleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rnhcaon)
who last occupiied the floor. This do
bate would not have been complete or
fairly rounded out unless some member
of the p>rivy council of that imperialis
tic dynasty under whose administration
these very vicious piractices grew up,
which • is now sought by this amend
ment to repeal, should have npqieored
upion this floor to testify in their behalf.
It is charged, sir. not that the amend
ment under consideration involves of
itself an unconstitutional p>iece of legis
lation, but it is urged by various distin
guished members on this floor that it is
revolutionary in its character; that it
lias no piroper pdace on an apq>ropriation
bill; that it is out of line, and deserves
the condemnation of the House because
it is an exotic in this connection and
should have been considered us an in
depvendent bill. It is charged tbat the
tendency and operation of it will be to
restrict the power of the President a
commander in-chief of the army of the
United States.
Now, Mr. Chairman, h"i* but a poor
student of this country's history who is
not able to satisfy himself that from the
very formation of the Federal Consti
tution down to the piresent time it has
ever been held, and that by the highest
authorities of the land, and never suc
cessfully denied, tbat it was a pxiwernot
only of the American Congress but a
piower of this House to control the em
piloyment of the army by a withholding
of supplies.
The debate* upon tho formation of
the Federal Constitution which lie be
fore me show that the brightest intel
lects assembled in that convention as
serted this doctrine in its broadest term
and no man dared gainsay it. It is one
of those features of English liberty tbat
have come down to us by adoption.
It was so stated in the debate* upon
the formation of this instrument, n*
given to us, that it is ever and always in
the piower of the House of Representa
tives, by coj>ying the example of the
House of Commons of England in with
holding supplies, to control absolutely
the employment and conduct of the
army. You may follow that theory
down at short intervals, nnd in 1819,
when an army np>p>ropiriation bill was
considered and p>.wcd in this chamber,
and it was proposed to restrict the
piower of the President by sp>ecifying
the purpioses to which the apq.ropna
tions should be ftppdied, the very same
argument was made against it then that
our friends upon the other side hurl
against us now.
It was upion that*occasion that Mr.
Mercer, one of the brightest among
lawmakers of the Government of his
day, asserted upion this floor, without
encountering contradiction, that it was
in the power of the House of Repre
sentatives to withhold supplies alto
gether for the maintenance of the army
if, indeed, that should become neces
sary to control its operation. It was
then that one whose patriotism has
never yet been questioned, though it
has survived through the greater por
tion of a fading century only to grow
brighter as tho ages go hy—it was then
that not only Kentucky's, but Ameri
ca's great commoner. Mr. Clay, declares!
in his burning words of eloquence, ut
tered where we now sit, that he was
ready to make the issue with the Execu
tive and oifer him a hill with the ob
jectionable features incorporated in it,
and to say to the Executive: " Sign or
refuse to sign it; but if you do refuse
to sign it, declaring that we have not
the piower to piass it, then my answer to
you will be, Deither has the Executive
the power that you arrogate to your
self. ' And you may come down from
then till now, and never in the history
of this Government has it been denied
that the Constitution itself, which give*
to Congress the right to piass these
money bills to pirovide means for the
supiport and maintenance of a military
establishment, carries with it the result
ant right on the piart of Congress to
withhold those apipiropiriation* when in
its judgment it is necessary to prevent
abuses in the employment of the mili
tary.
In the verv nature of things this pro
posed amendment of the law cannot he
revolutionary. It is a repealing statute ;
its only uurpiose and object is to repeal
an existing Uw. I will not now piause
to tell how or under whst circumstan
ces it was piassed ; I will not now piause
to delineate the motives which, in a
great measure, because of the preva
lence of natural piassions, inspired, if
they did not excuse, the passage of this
law. But in the very nature of things
this amendment cannot be revolution-
ary. Negative lugislation is nevor
revolutionary. This is not aflirmutivo
legislation, twist the issue as tflo gentle
mat) from New Jersey (Mr. Rotioson)
may seek to ilo. Buckle, the most
philosophic of nil historians either an
cient or modern, has told us that the
statesman unci the law maker seldom,
if ever, render a benefit to mankind by
thu enactment of Htlirniativo laws ; that
it is rather by the repealing of obnox
ious and vicious enactments that they
entitle themselves to the gratitude of
humanity.
As 1 have said, this measure is in its
very nature anything but revolutionary.
Will it be claimed—is there a gentleman
upon that side of this chamber who w ill
undertake to claim —that by reason of
any provisions of the Federal Constitu
tion the President now holds the power
of which this amendment proposes to
deprive him? Is there a man left in
this House on either side who, after the
clear and logical presentation of the
issue made a few days since by mv col
leauge frotn Kentucky {.Mr. Carlisle),
will undertake to assert that there w is
any such power on the part of the Ex
ecutive prior to the act of Congress of
1798 f
Sir, if the utmost be granted, if it be
admitted instead of being denied, as we
deny it, that this power was originally
held by the President, it was held by
reason of a Congressional statute, and
of necessity the authority passing that
statute and confer)ing that power must
he clothed with eipiul authority to re
peal it.
The Constitution does not give to the
President the right to send the armed
forces of this Government into any
State, even to suppress domestic vio
lence, when the Legislature of that
State, or its Governor, the Legislature
not being convened, shall make a requi
sition upon him.
He is not to proceed upon apprehen
sion, he is not permitted to antieipatc
domestic violence. Neither he, nor the
Executive of the State, nor its Legisla
ture are permitted to exercise aueh an
ticipation. It must be upon a preex
isting slate of things. Domestic vio
lence must exist, and that fact must be
certified by the Legislature of the State
whose peace is disturbed, or when that
Legislature may not lie convened, then
by the chief Executive of tbat Common
wealth.
The President of the United States is
the recipient of no power of implica
tion. Thqro i not a prerogative that
he holds which is not clearly defined
and clearly limited by the provisions of
our organic law. That Constitution has
made this Congress, in express terms
by the |>ositive provision, the grand
reservoir into which all powers of im
plication How. No, sir; this amend
ment cannot in the very naturo of
tilings contemplate revolutionary ac
tion.
But is said that it is not in its proper
place when engrafted upon an appro
priation bill. Is there a gentleman in
this chamher who will dare deny or take
issue with me upon the assertion—and
1 make it measuring the full imports of
my words after a careful examination of
the statutes—that more than one-third
of the permanent Ibgislation affecting
or relating to the army of this Govern
ment, as a stands up the statute looks
of our country to-day, has been put
there as riders upon army appropria
tion bills ?
1 do not care to trench upon the pa
tienre of this committee by any elabor
ate review of the countless instances
which that side of the Itouse has furn
ished ns in the shape of precedents for
the action that we take. Sir, if letters
upon revolution are to be read tout, let
them come front some quarter and from
some member jvho is not himself con
victed on the record.
The gentleman front Ghio (Mr. Gar
field) told us that this was an etfort. an
unmanly effort, to starve the Govern
ment to death. He contrasted it with
what he termed the bolder and braver
action of certain members of Congress
in 1861, when they left their seats in
these two chambers and carried their
isstte to the field of carnage. He tells
us that this is revolution, and he dc
nounces any cfTort we make to adopt it.
Mr. Chairman, better would it have
been for the peopde of this land if the
well-earned power of the distinguished
gentleman from Ohio had leen employ
ed at an earlier pieriod of his political
history in averting, denouncing anil opt
ioning revolutionary legislation. I)oes
the gentleman rememtwr the record
that he made in 1815 upon an amend
ment offered by Mr. tvilson, of lowa,
propiosing to revolutionise the judicial
sysu-m of this country. proposing to
rob a co ordinate branch of the Govern
ment, nod that, too. the last barrier lie
hind which the liberty of the citizen
finds shelter, p>roposing to stripi the Su
preme court of the I'nited States of the
prerogative and p>ower with which the
Federal Constitution has clothed it ?
l>oes he remember the record he made
when Mr. Wilson's amendment, wbicb
reads as follows, was offered ?
/'rwiiW, hoverrr, That If any circuit
or district court of the United Stales shall
adjudge any act of Congress to he uncon
stitutional or Invalid, the judgment, before
any other proceeding shell be had upon it,
shall la- certified Up to the Supremo court
of the United States, and shall be consid
ered therein, and if upon the consideration
thereof two-thirds of all the members of
the Supreme court ahall not affirm said
judgment below, the same shall In declared
and held reserved.
Upon the rail of the yea* and nays
the gentleman from Ohio ia found vot
ing " yea and then that amendment
was paused through this House by the
aid of that gentleman'* vote. That
court then consisted of eight judge* •
and under the bill it required six of the
Supreme court judge*, more than a
quorum, to affirm the opinion of a dis
trict or circuit Federal court declaring
unconstitutional one of the gentleman'*
own ill advised, hasty, crude, if not par
tisan measure*. Here, sir, 1 beg the at
tention of the committee for a minute.
A district Federal judge might hold one
of the hasty law* unconstitutional;
upon appeal the circuit Federal judge
might affirm that decision. What then?
The United Ntate* district attornev
might concur in the judgment rendered.
No appeal might be asked. Hut under
that act, which received the support of
the gentleman from Ohio, it became ab
solutely imperative to certify the reoord
without appeal (n body complaining)
to the Supreme court of the United
States. And then what? llndur the
law a majority of that court constituted
a quorum. Five is a majority of eight.
Five of those Supreme court judges,
clothed in their spotless ermine, might
he upon the bench. All live of tliem
might, by unanimous concurrent ac
tion, declare that the two lower judg
ments were cotrect, and yet that law
was to be held, under the bill which
the gentleman supported, conatitiftionnl
and valid. Revolution ! What is there
(before J gel through I will a*k this
committee tft tell tnel that the parly
the gentleman so ably leads has not
done in that direction?
Hut, sir, thi* is not all. The gentle
limn from Ohio, in that effective and
aide speech to wlii'-h he treated this
House a p w day* ago, used the follow
ing language, which I r>-ud from the
ftecord:
In opening Ibis debate, T challenge al'
comers to show a single Instance in our his
tory where this consent lis* been coerced.
What consent? The consent of tho
Kxecutive by extraneous mutter injected
into appropriation hills.
This is the great, the paramount issue,
which dwarfs all others into insignificance.
I accept the gage of battle that the
gentleman throw* down, I read from
the records and show him the instance
he seeks. I find that on the 2d day of
March, 18U7, a thing occurred in this
House, of winch the gentleman should
have been cognixant, for lie w. then a*
now an honored member on thi* floor.
I find the following message w.i* sent
by the then President of the United
State* to the House of Representative* ;
To thr //--use of I{rprr*fiitat\rr
The art entitled "An act making appro
priation* for the supjiort "f the army'
Ah. by singular coincidence that too
wna an army hill, just as this is.
The set entitled "An act making appro
priations for the support of the army fr
the year ending Juno, 80, IKUS, sn-l for
other purposes," contain* provision* b>
which 1 must call attention. Those pro
visions are contained in the "M-nrid section,
which, in certain cases, virtually deprives
the President of his constitutional functions
as commander-in-chief of the army, and In
the sixth ection, which denies to ten slates
of tin* Union their constitutional right to
protect themselves in any emergency by
means of their own iivi 11liss. These pro
vision* are out of place in an appropriation
act.
I' d the gentleman from Ohio borrow
hi* recently used protest froln thi* olli
cial protest of the Executive of the
country t
Th-*c provisions are out of place in an
appropriation act. I ant compelled t> de
feat these necessary appropriation* if I
withhold my signature to the act. Pressed
hy these consideration#—
I grant you, he doe* not aay "coerc
ed."'
Pressed by these consideration*, I fuel
constrained in return the lull with n>y tig
nature, hut to accompany it with my pro.
teat against the aectiona which I have indi
cated. AKKHKW JOIIXSOX.
March 2, IM7.
la there no coercion there? Why,
air, the record ia full. In an act mak
ing appropriation* for the sundry civil
expenses of this Government for the
year ending Jnne 30, IM>. P >, it was prv
viile'l that in the courts of the United
.States there should be no exclusion of
any writnee* on account of color, or in
any other civil action because he is a
party interested in the iaaue to l>e tried.
Is not that extraneous matter. Yet
upon this bill the record shows that the
gentleman from • hio ia found voting in
the list of yeas.
Itut, air, worse than all this, 1 find
that on a memorable occasion in the
Thirty-ninth Congreaa, of which the
gentleman from < 'hio waa likewise a
member, that occurred which will never
fade from the mind# of the American
people. 1 refer to the proceed in ga look
ing to the impeachment of the Chief
Executive of thi* Republic, which cam#
so nigh resulting in conviction. <>n
that occasion I find that a colleague of
the gentleman from <'hio, Mr. Ashley,
moved to suspend the rules to allow
him to make a report from the commit
tee on what? Judieary ? No. air.
Prom the Committee on Territories, in
the nature of a resolution impeaching
the President of the American Govern
ment for high crime* and misdemean
ors. On the yea and nay vote I find
the gentleman from Ohu> voted "yea."
And I find further, sir. the counts
upon which thoe iniiearhment articles
were predicated, nnd I Jjieg to rsll the
attention of this committee to them.
Mr. A*hley said :
I do impeach Andrew Johnson, Vice.
President and acting President of the
Unilcd States, of high crime* and misde.
meanors.
I charge him with usurpation of power
and violation of law.
And now come the five counts in the
indictment, and I beg the careful atten
tion of this committee, for I will bring
it home to the very issue that the gen
tleman from Ohio has courted in thia
contest:
In that he has corruptly used the ap
pointidg power.
I put the gentleman on his candor
and submit to him to say whether he
ever intended to impeach the President
for thatt The country knows he did
not. That appointing power had not
been wielded in such away aa to merit
the censure of the gentleman himself.
ftecondly, in that he has corruptly used
the pardoning power.
I >id the gentleman from Ohio mtan
to impeach him for that? I wilt an
swer for him, no. Every body know* he
did not.
Thirdly, in that be baa corruptly used
the veto power.
And that was where tba sting came
in. It waa the exercise of that consti
tutional prerogative | it waa the em
ployment of tbo veto power, for which
the House and the gentleman from
Ohio voted these articles of impeach
ment, coupled with one other offense
only.
Fourth In that he ha* corruptly disposed
of the public property of the United Hlatea.
That waa a mere formal count in the
indictment, and I doubt not that the
gentleman from Ohio will admit it.
Piflhly, In that he baa oorruptly Inter
fared—
In what?
In tho elections arid did acta which in
contemplation of tho Constitution aro high
crime* and misdemeanors.
I horn wero but two counts in that in
dictment upon which it woa |>ro|Kisod
to itupeach the Kxecutive; it was the
exercise of the veto power, and it was
his interference, not in elections, but hi*
interference to prevent the interference
of the armed power of this Government
in the elections of this country. \V*
the denunciation still ringing in that
gentleman's ears which the then I'resi
dent hud employed in his interview
with Gen. Ktnory, denouncing u* sub
versive of all the principles of free gov
ernment the interference of the mili
tary with the rights of suffrage at the
{•oils ?
Hut, Mr. Chairman, these counts in
this indictment were voted on mora
than once. The gentlemarf from Ohio
i* recorded every time as voting in their
favor. And may Ihe permitted tore
. mind this committee that the record of
j that Congress shows that he wis sup-
I ported in his action, that he had stand
i ing by him, voting side by side with
, film to inipeu' h t!i President for the
legitimate exercise of the veto power,
i one who was then comparatively ob-curo
. and who but for n combination of acci
dent* would have remained to this day
and until hi* dying 'lay in that ulmeuri
•ty for which nature and his Creator
seemed ao designedly to have fitted him
j —that side by side with the gentleman
| tiom Ohio stood and voted with him
jMr. Rutherford R. Hayes, with whose
1-riwpective veto wo aro threatened.
Applause and laughter. | Now , ir, I
lieg you to tell tun by what rule of con
sistenry does tho v -nth-man from Ghio
come upon tin* floor to flaunt in the
, face of an American Congress an antici
pated exert;ia<* by th.s Kxecutive of Ins
veto when he and tlmt Kxecutive both
I stand committed uj on the record to I i
ini ji-u( It merit if he dares to employ it ?
And while 1 am at this point 1 might
ik by what sort of authority cither that
gentl- man or any othi r cornea upon
this fl lor to threaten us with the proba
hlo or poible action of that Kxecutive
at all ? Wliut provision of th<- Federal
Constitution, what law enacted by any
preceding Congress to clothe anybody,
either that President himself or one of
j the privy council, even including hi*
premier, hi* Secretary of State, to sit a*
he did on the floor of this chamber on
Saturday of last week and by hi* {ires
cure and his indication* ot approval
seek to intimidate, overawe < rie* of
"Oh !'' on the Republican side] and
browbeat an American Congress ? Who
commissioned the gentleman from Ohio
to tell us that we had best be careful
tier a use the i*#ue was made and the
Kxecutive would not be coerced into a
; message of approval?
I would ak, does the gentleman
j from ' 'hio, or does any other gentleman,
put so low an estimate upon the self
respect, the integrity, the courage and
the manhood of this House, without re
gmrd to party, a* to believe that such a
threat so flaunted is to intimidate the
law-making branch of thi* Government
to shape it* action on measures of legis
lation ? I cannot think that we are
measured by so short a standard.
Hut, sir, I am not through with the
speech which the gantleman has made.
He tell* us:
The proposition now is, that afier four
teen years have pa<*l, and nut one |rti
lion hum one American ciliseti has come
to us asking that this law In- repealed,
white not <<ne memorial has found its was
te our desks complaining of the law, so far
a* 1 have hear I, the Democratic House of
Representatives now hold* that if thev are
not {-ermitled to force upon another House
upon the Kxecutive against theirconsentsnd
the rereal of a law that iVmocrst* moil",
this refusal shall fie considered a sufficient
ground for starving thi* Government to
death. Thst is the proposition which wo
denounce as revolution.
And that was received with applause
on the Republican side.
lK>e* the gentleman fmm <hio mean
to stand iifmn thst declaration ? Ry
that significant nod he say* that he
does. Ioe* he not know that the Con
gress just expired bore upon it* files
{•etition after {w-tition, memorial after
memorial, in contested election cases,
sent by the house to it* committee, pro
testing against the presence of the mili
tary at tlie {mil*, and denouncing the
usurpation, demanding its repeal, in
order that • free ballot might l>e bad ?
|soe the gentleman fail to remember
that the state of Ixxiisiana, a sovereign
state of thi* confederacy once more,
thank God, sent her memorial to these
. halls, in which in thunder tone* she
uttered her anathemas against the very
practice which this amendment seeks to
| correct ?
Hut that gentleman did more; he
went further, and, if possible, he did
worse. I mean to deal in exact fairness.
I even mean to lie liberal in the con
struction I put ujon his utterance*.
Mr. Chairman, it is generally true
that the grave suffices to silence the
tongue of detraction. It is not often
that its darkened portal* are invaded to
pronounce severe criticism, even though
richly deserved, if it is to be pronounced
upon the dead. Hut the gentleman
from Ohio, forgetting himself in bis
speech on last Saturday, forgot also to
observe this manly and magnanimous
rule, fly that speech he certainly must
have aought, or, if not seeking, he wo*
unfortunate in producing the impression
that a distinguished dead senator from
the state of Kentucky had introduced
into the Federal Senate chamber the
bill which we by this amendment seek
to repeal, and send hi* name down to
{•oaterity to be blasted by the act, if in
deed be had performed it, and that
charge to rest upon that genlleman'a
own high authority. 1 hold in my hand
the very bill, No. 37, which was intro
duced upon the fith of January, IWJ, by
Senator Powell, of Kentucky. There
liea before me on my desk the manly,
statesmanlike ami patriotic, bold utter
anoea that be delivered in the shape of
a speech upon the consideration of that
bill. 1 challenge the gentleman to find
within the limiU of this measure sin
gle, solitary provision, line, sentence,
word or syllable that thia amendment
aeeka to repeal.
Ih>e* not the gentleman know—lf he
does, not, it b his fault—that the amend
ment Incorporated upon this bill which
we now seek to repeal waa incorporated
and ungrafted upon it, not when the
Senate waa in Committee or the Whole,
but la open Senate, upon motion of
Senator Potneroy, and when the rote
wu* taken upon that amendment hy '
ya* and nay*, eve ry solitary Democrat
in that chamber voted ngninst it and
put the <-hI ol their condemnation uj/on
It, Mr. Powell anions the number ?
Horn stand* Senator Powell's utterance,
in which lie explain* how and why it
wa that the liemocratio members in
that body and thi* body at I*l accept
ed thi* a* the best that could he had :
noth withstanding. against tin ir protest,
the ingrafting of the Poinoroy amend
ment, Iwchuso it. was to be taken in
lieu of what they charged vra* true, of
what the President of the United State*
in an official communication to Con
gress had declared to he true, that in
the absence of even the limitations that
amended bill would give, the military
authorities and officers of the Govern
i incut had arrogated to themselves the
j power in ull the lately seceding states
| of declaring what should he the qualifi
cation of voters and what, should he the
i qualification to hold office. It was a*
I the h-asl nlli-nt-ive of two offensive alter-
I natives. It was not candid, it wa> not
fair; the record rebukes the gentleman
for seeking to pl-.ee a dead statesman
in such a false position.
Hut, Mr. Uhnirmun, it is iis-ip§ to
follow lliwn thing* further. It ;* r,t.
sir, for me to waste the time and trench
upon the patience of this committee b>
following out the tergiversations through
which the I'"publican party ha* wound
11self to this high plana of protaai
I against revolutionary legislation. Why,
I ir, the gentleman from <lliio, in 187*2,
| ma lea speech upon this floor which
jhe will not deny. It was, as is always
the case with his efforts, an adro.t a*
well us an al-h- *p e< h. In that he de
clared that the minority to which wc
then belonged, t. lit which in God's pror
j i lence wo ar no longer found—he do-
I dared that the minority were guilty of
revolution. For what* Recafiise thev
insisted that extram-ou* matter should
not he put upon appropriation tills.
Il said that wa revolution. | Laughter
and applause.J We took linn at hi*
word, and now where doe* he stand?
It wa revolution then to rei*t the in
jection of extraneous matter over the
protest of the majority. It is revolution
now for the majority to re*it the same
protest of that minority ; but in the one
case it was hi* side protesting, in the
other it was ours.
Ah, Mr. Chairman, let one take the
darkened pages of his country's history
for the last seventeen long years and read
it carefuiiy, and teil me then whether
it lies in the mouth of that worthy lead
er of a once great hut wanning party to
read lecture* to anybody, either upon
the scare of revolutionary legislation or
of extraneous introduction* into appro
: priation bill*, Iletter far in I lie fare of
the record that they have made, Wtter
to listen patiently to th confirmed in
ebriate as he dilates upon the virtues of
tetnj-eranre, l-etter let the queen of the
denn monde, elaborate the beauties of
female virtue, or let the devil prate of
the scheme of universal redemption,
than for homilies upon good moral* and
lecture* u|K>n revolutionary legislation
Ito be delivered from such a source.
(Applause,
i There i* hut one issue here, and lin
, sist that neither lids House nor the
people of this countrv shall be allowed
to wander from It. St is hut this, and
nothing more; whether the military
power shall bo allowed at your {tolls:
whether the election* shall 1-e guarded
Iby the mailed hand of military {tower;
whether the l>allol-hox, that last and
safest shield of the freeman's liberties,
shall lie turned over to the tender mer
cies of the armies of your land. Or to
| slate it yet more tersely and probably
more fairly, it is simply whether the
spirit and the genius of this Government
shall Ite reverses!, and whether the civil
shall be made sul-ordmate to the mili
tary power.
Why, sir, among the most farored,
the most cherished ami precious princi
ples ingratifled on our system of govern
ment from our old prototype, the Kng
! li*h people, is that provision which
: would not tolerate not only the inter
ference hut the presence of the military
j at the {>oll*.
over one hundred year* ago an Kng
lish statute declared the will of Kng
! lishmen upon this Tital question.
I read the statute :
He it enacted by the King's most excel
i lent Msjstj, hv sml with the advice and
I consent of the lyortb, spiritual and U-mpr
f rai, and Common* in Parliament assemble,!,
.and by the authority of the tame. That
when and as often as any election of any
• peer or peer# to represent ths peers of
Scotland in Parliament, or any member or
: member* to serve in l'arliar.n nt, shall lie
appointed to he made, the Secretary at
War for the time being, or in case there be
no Secretary at War, then such person
who shall officiate in the place of the Sec*
1 retarv at War, shall, and is hereby requir*
od, at some convenient time before the day
appointed for sikh election, to issue and
send forthprojicr orders, in writing, for the
removal of every such regiment, troop or
csimpany, or other number of soldiers as
*hall he quartered or billeted in any such
city, borough or town or place where auch
election shall be appointed to be made, out
of every such city, borough town or place,
onc-dav at the least before the day ap
pointed for such election, to the distance .f
two or more miles from such city, borough,
town or place, as aforesaid, until one Jay
at the least after the {sill to lis taken at
such election shall be ended and the poll
books closed— S/ahit* tfsosyr 11.
From that time till now I do declare
that it is not within the power of any
man to find a single scion of the Saxon
race that has not held in utter abhor
rence the efforts of him or them who
sought to control the freedom of the
ballot by the employment of the mili
lary power, {Applause- j
The very artuy of this country protests
against such a prostitution of its service.
I see before me the justly distinguish
ed general in-chief ot our artuy, and I
do not believe that 1 overstate the fact
when 1 say that from him down to the
private in the ranks it ia difficult to find
one who has not recoiled tront Ibui ser
vice which they have been called upon
to render. [Applause.]
ft is this question, and It is none
other, that I insist shall be kept before
this House. We are declaring that the
ballot shall be free. We are denying
that it is either constitutional, legal
just, fair or decent to autyeot the so*
sign to the surveillance of the soldier.
Now. upon that iwue the gentleman
from Ohio and his associates tells us
that they stand committed. I amser
•o do w... W.! * r - willing to discus* it,
and (or my part, 1 ahull opsone any
limitation being put upon tin* debate.
If we cannot stand upon an issue *o
broad, so constitutional. ao catholic, ao
fair, ao free aa thin, then tell me in
heaven'* name where urn there battle
ments strong enough for ua to get be
hind ? I<et it go the country that one
party aaacrU that the manacle* shall
tall from the lirnb* of the citizen, and
that the army ahull bold it* mailed hand
at the throat of the sovereign, and that
the other refuses to releoae the throt
tling graap, and declare* that it. will
block the wheel* of the Government
and bring it to atarvation.
1 am willing, mid those with whom I
Ktand are willing, to accept thi* i**n,
and we go further, we tender it. We
are the one* to make the iaue and we
are ready for you to accept it. i'lant
, ing ourselves upon thi* btoad ground,
we welcome controversy. We neck no
quarrel with you, hut (or the fir-l time
in eigysen year* pa*t the Democracy are
hack in power in t*otli branches ol the
begialature, and *he projiose* to signal- ,
ize her return to power; she pro]>o*r
| to celebrate h r recovery of ber long
l'>*t heritage by tearing oil these de
-1 grading badge* of servitude and destroy-
J trig the machinery of a corrupt arid
partisan legislation.
W * do not lutc-nd to stop until we
have stricken tn la*t vestige of our
war measures (rotn the statute hook,
which I.Ie these were Uirn of the pas
•ion* incident to civil strife and looked
to the abridgement ol the liberty o( the
citizen.
\l e demand an untramtr.eled elee
tion ; tio supervising of the bailot 1.-y •
the army. Free, at>*olutely free right
to the citizen in the deposit of his ha!-
I lot a* a condition precedent to thepaa*-
j age of your hill*.
Now, sir, if the gentleman from Ohio
; i* to be excused, for surely ho cannot
be justified, if be i* to be excused for
parading before this House the tiireat,
Ihe argumeiUum ta I' rrorrn, of a veto that
m already cut and dried to he placed
upon a hill that is not yet paascd ; if be
i to he pardoned for warning thi*
: House that the bxccutive branch of this
Government wili never yield in <-nr
! to this measure in it* present form, may
' I not he warranted and justified in em-
I ploying equal candor, and may 1 not as
sure that gentleman and hi* associates
l (hat the dominant party of this Con
gress, the ruling element of this body,
' i so equally determined that until
their just demand* are satisfied, de
mands sanctioned by ail laws, human
and divine, protected and hedged
t around by precedent* without number,
| demanded by the people of this land
without regard to section, who are
i clamoring for a free, untrammeled bal
; lot (not for the South. I beg you to re
member, for if there be sectionality in
thi* i*ue 1 cannot discover it); for
I'hiiadelphia a* well a for New Orleans,
j for Ssn Franciao and ikiston a* well a*
i for Charleston and Savannah—that this
side of the chamber, which ha* demon
strated its jsower, never mean* to yield
or surrender until thi* Congress si. *ll
; have died by virtue of it* limitation.
Applause on tho Democratic side.|
Wo twill not yield. A principle ciannot
be compromised. It may be surrend
ered. but that can only lie done by its
advocates giving proof to the world that
1 they are cravens and cowards, lacking
the courage of their own conviction.
We cannot yield and will not surrender.
I<et tne as*ure my friend, and it it a
, picture thai I know he does not dwell
u|>ori with pleasure, that this is the res
toration to jxiwer of a |arly a* old a* our
Government itself, which for almost a
hundred year* ha* stood the boldest,
fairest, fr<*est ex{>onent and champion
and defender of ths doctrine of consti
tutional limitation* again*t the doctrine
of the aggrandizement of power. It is
thi* organization that ha* come hack to
rule, that mean* to rule, and mean* to
rule in olwdienoe to law.
Now, sir, the issue i* laid down, the
gage of battle is delivered. Lift it when
you please; we are willing to appeal to
: that sovereign arbiter that the gentle
i man so handsomely lauded, the Amen
; can people, to decide between u.
Standing uj>on such grounds, w# in
tend to deny to the President of this
Republic the right to exercise such un
constitutional power. We do nntynean
to pitch thi* contest upon ground of
"objection to bim who happens, if not
| by the grace of God, vet by the run of
luck, to be administering that office.
I tell you bere that if from yonder
oanva* ipointing to the picture of Wash
ington) the first President of thi* He
public should step down and resume
tliosn power* that the grateful |>eople of
an infant Republic conferred ujoo him
as their first Chief Magistrate, if he
were here fired by that patriotic ardor
that moved him in the esriier and bet
' ter days of thi* Republic, to bim we
would never consent to yield sueh dan
gerous anil unwarranted powers, to rest
the liberties of the citizen u|-on any
one man's discretion, nor would be re
; oeive it.
It was not for the earlier hut for the
later Executives of this Government to
grasp and seek to retain such question
able prerogatives. You cannot have it.
The issue is made: it is made upon
principle, not upon policy. It cannot
be aliandoned ; it will not be surrend
ered. Standing upon such ground,
clothed in such a panoply, resting this
case upon the broadest principle* of
eternal justice, we are content to appeal
to the people of this land. There i* no
tribunal to which we are not willing to
carry this case of contest; and we are
willing to allow Him who rules the des
tinies of men to judge between u* and
give victory to the right.
Ido not mean to tasue a threat. Un
like the gentleman from Ohio, I dis
claim any authority to threaten. Rut
I do mean to say that it is my deliberate
conviction that there is not to be found
in this majority a single man who will
ever consent to abandon one jot or tittle
of the faith that is in him. He cannot
surrender if be would. 1 beg you to be
lieve he will not be coerced by threats
nor intimidated hy parade of power.
He must stand upon his conviction, and
there we will all stand, lie who dallies
it a dastard, and he who doubts is
damned. IG reat apple use on the Demo
cratic side. ]
How to acquire short-band —fool
around a buss saw.