The Montrose Democrat. (Montrose, Pa.) 1849-1876, March 06, 1866, Image 1
A. J. GERRITSON, Publisher.} SPEECH ()Fib PRESIDENT JOHNSON. WAsnmoTox, Feb. 22. _ After the iajoninmeiit'of the meeting at Grover's Theatre, the assemblage vis ited the White House to serenade Presi dent Johnson. The chairman of the met ing at the theatre announced to the mul titude that Mr. Johnson had consented to address them. ,Mr. Tendall said : Fellow-citirens, lam one of the com mittee which, on behalf of- the people of the District of Columbia, has just waited on the President of the United States to present to him the resolutions adopted by the meeting held to-day. The committee requested the President to present him-; self to you to give expr ession to his sen timents, and he has accordingly come out to do so. The President, as he appeared, was re ceived with enthusiastic and long contin ued applause. When it bad subsided, he spoke as follows: THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH. Fellow citizens, for I presume I have-a right to address you as such, I come to tender to you my sincere thanks for the approbation expressed by your Committee in their personal address and in the resolutions submitted by them as having been adopted by the meeting which has been held in this city to-day. These resolutions, as I understand them, are complimentary to the policy which has been adopted by the Administration, and has been steadily pursued since it came into power. I am free to say to youjt is extremely gratifying to me to know that on this occasion so large a portion of my fellow citizens approve and indorse the policy which has been adopted and which it is my intention shall be carried out. (Great applause.) That poliei is one which is intended to restore all the States to their original relations to the Federal Government of the United States. (Renewed applause.) APPROPRIATENESS OF THE DAY. This seems to be a day peculiarly ap propriate for such a manifestation. It is the day that gave birth to that man who, more perhaps than any other, founded this Government. It is the day that gave birth to the Father of his country. It is the day that gave birth to him who pre sided over that body which formed the Constitution under which all the States entered into this glorious Confederacy.— Such a day is peculiarly appropriate for the enti.ir.emeut of a policy whose object is the restoration of the Union of the States as it was designed by the Father of his country. (Applause.) Washington; whose name thiscity b ‘ars is embalmed in the hearts of all who love free Government. Washington, in the language of his eulogist, was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. No people can claim him— no nation can appropriate him. His rep utation is commensurate with the civiliz ed world, and his name is the common property of all those who love free gov ernment. THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. To-day I had the pleasure of visiting an association who have been devoting their efforts to the completion of the monu ment which is being erected to his name. I was proud to meet them, and so far as I could, to give them my influence and countenance in aid of the work they have undertaken. That monument which is be ing erected to him who, I may say,found ed the Government, is almost within the throw of a stone of the spot from which I now address you. Let it be completed. (Applause.) Let those various blocks which the States, and individuals, and as sociations, and corporations have put in that monument as pledges of their love for this Union, be preserved, and let the work be accomplished. I, :4.3:# In this connection let me refer to the block from my own State, God bless her, (applause,) which has struggled for the preservation of this Union in the field and in the councils ofthe nation;and which is now struggling to renew her relations with this Government, that were Inter rupted by a fearful Rebellion. She is now, struggling to renew those rela tions,.. and to take her stand where she had'ever stood since 1 . 196 until this Rebellion' broke out. (Great applause.) . Let me repeat the sentiment that that State has inscribed upon the stone which she has deposited- in that monument of freedom which is being raised in com memoration of Washington. She is strug gling to get back into the Union, and to stand by the-sentiment -which is there in scribed, and- sh e is willing to sustain it.— What is it ? It is .the sentiment which was enunciated by her dietingnished son, the immortal, the illtistidons ,Taekson:— " The Federal I:Tnionit must bepreserv ed !" (Great applause.) If it were possi= ble for that old man *hose statue is now before me, and. whose portrait is behind me in the R,aeciltivelfftaision, • and *hose sentiment-hi thuspreserved inthatAult!U• in mentyour vicmitY, toU Called fort from the grave, or if it were possible to communicate with the spirit of the illus trious dead, and make him understand the progress of faction and rebellion and trea son, he would turn over in his coffin, and be would rise, and shaking off the habili ments of the tomb, would again stand erect, and extend forth his long arm and finger, and reiterate that sentiment, once expressed by him on a memorable occas ion : " The Federal Union—it must be preserved." (Great applause.) HISTORIC REMMISCENCEt3. We have witnessed what has transpir ed since his day. In 1833, when treason and treachery and infidelity to the Goii ernment and Constitution of the United States stalked forth in the land, it was his power and influence that crushed the ser pent in its incipiency. It was then stopt but only for a time. The same spirit of disaffection continues. There were men disaffected to the Government,both in the North and in the South. SLAVERY There was, in a portion of the Union, a pecnliar iustitution, of which some cora plained,--atid to which others were attach welled. One portion of cur countrymen in the South advocated that institution, while another portion in the North op posed it. TWO EXTREME PARTIES. The result was the formation of extreme parties, one especially in the South,which reached a point at which it was proposed to dissolve the Union of the States for the, purpose, as was said, of securing and prey serving that peculiar institution. There was another portion of out countrymen who were opposed to that institution, and wh,:t went\ to such an extreme that they were willing to break up the Government in order to get clear of that peculiar iusti• tution of the South. I say these things because I desire to talk plainly and in familiar phraseology. I assume nothing here to-day beyond the position of taAitizen ; one who has been pleading for his country and the preserva tion of the Constitution. (Immense cheer ing.) These two parties, I say, were ar rayed against each other,and I stand here before you for the Union to-day, as I stood in the Senate of the United States in 1800 and 1861. BOTH WERE TRAITORS. I met there those who were making war ttpuit the Constitution, those who wanted to tt,„ a„„,,,,,„ r denounced them in my place l'Een and there, and exposed their true character. I said that those who were engaged in the work of breaking up The Government were f _traitors.have never ceased, on all proper occasions, to repeat that senti ment, and as far as my effort could go, I have endeavored to carry it out. (Great applause.) I have just remarked that there were two parties, one of which was for destroying the Government and sepa rating the Union, in order to preserve slavery, and the other for breaking up the Government in order to destroy slavery. True, the objects which they sought to accomplish were different, so far as slave ry was concerned, but they agreed in the desire to break up. the Government, the precise thing to which I have always been opposed, and whether disnnionists come from the South or from the North; I stand now as I stood then, vindicating the Union of these States and the Consti tution of my country. (Tremendous ap plause.) SECESSION Rebellion and treason manifested them selves in the South. I stood by the Gov ernment. I said then that I was for the Union with slavery—l was for the Union without slavery. In either alternative I was for my Government and its Constitu tion. The Government has stretched forth its strong arm, and with its physical power has put down treason in the field. The section of the country which then ar rayed itself against the Government has been put down by the strong arm. What did weqlay when this treason originated? We said, "No compromise; you your selves in the South can settle this ques tion in eight and forty hours. I said again and again, and I repeat it now,"Disband your armies in the South, acknowledge the supremacy of the Constitution of the United States, acknowledge the duty of obedience to the laws, and the whole question is settled." (Applause.) Ailhat has been done since ? TRE REBELLION CRUSHED. Their armies have been disbanded, and , they come forward now in a proper spir-; it and say, "We were mistaken. We made an effort to carry out the doctrine of Secession and to dissolve this Union.— In that we have failed. We have traced this doctrine to its logical and physical results,. and we find that we, were ken. We acknowledge the - ,flag, of our country, and are willing to obey the Con stitution and yield to the impreinney of the laws." (Great applause.) Coining in that spirit, I say to them, " When you have complied itb the requirements of the Constitution, when yon have yielded 'to the law i . Nihen - yoU hav,ci lektiowleilged `yoor allegiance titi the . COnstitutiiM,l will, so far as I can, open the door of the Un ion to those 'wholiadcrred and Strayed froth. the - fold of theiffethere foteiltne (Great epplanse.) Who hue suffered more by the Rebellion than I have ? I shall MONTROSE, PA., TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1866. not repeat the story of wrongs and, suffer ings inflicted upon me; but the spirit of revenge is not the spirit in which to deal with a wronged people. I know there has been a great deal said about the exer cise of the pardoning power, so far as your Executive is concerned. THE LEADING TRAITORS. There is no one who has labored with more earnestness than myself to have the principal intelligent and conscious trait ors brought to justice, the law vindica ted, and the great fact judicially estab lished that treason is a crime, (applause) but while conscious, leading and intelli gent traitors are to be punished, should whole communities and States and peo ple be made to submit to the penalty of death ? No, no ! I have perhaps as much asperity and as much resentment as men ought to have, but we must reason in great matters of government about man as he is ; we must conform our actions and conduct to the example'of Him who founded our holy re ligion, not that I would make such a com parison on this occasion in any personal aspect. BEGESNING OF THE ADMINISTRATION. I tame into this place under the Con stitution of the country, and by the ap probation of the people, and what did I find ? I found eight millions of people who were in fact condemned under the law, and the penalty was death. Was I to yield to the spirit of revenge and re sentment, and declare that they should all be annihilated and destroyed ? How dif ferent would this have been from the ex ample set by the Holy Founder of our re ligion, the extremities of whose divine arch rest upon the horizon, and whose van embraces the unixerse ! He who founded this great scheme came into the world and found man condemned under the law, and Lis sentence was death.— What was His example ? Instead of put ting the world, or even a nation to death, He died upon the cross, attesting, by His wounds and his blood, that He died that mankind might live. (Great applause.) BIASSES OF THE SOUTH. Let those who have erred repent, let them acknowledge their allegiance, let them become loyal, willing supporters and defenders of our glorious Stars and Stripes and of the Constitution of our country.— Let the leaders, the conscious intelligent Ibi t fl,fre ( l itgilgiiii,)" %tit to the great mass who have been forced into this Rebellion in many instances, and in others have been misled, I say clemen cy, kindness, trust and confidence. (Great aplause.) THE PRESIDENT'S POSITION My countrymen, when I look back over the history of the Rebellion, I am not vain when I ask you if I have not given as much evidence of my devotion to the Union as some who croak a great deal about it ; when I look back over the bat tle fields of the Rebellion I think of the many brave men in whose company I was; I cannot but recollect that I was some times in places where the contest was difficult and the result most doubtful ; but almost before the smoke has passed away, almtiat before the blood that has been shed has done reeking, before the bodies of the slain have passed through the sta ges of decomposition,what do we now find? PRESENT STATE OF AFFAIRS The rebellion has been put down by the strong arm of the Government in the field, but is that the only way in which you can have rebellion ? Our strug gle was against an attempt to dissever the Union, but almost before the smoke of the battle-field has passed away, before oar brave men have all returned to their homes mid renewed the ties of affection and love to their wives and their child ren, we find almost another rebellion in augurated. We pat down the former re bellion in order to prevent the separation of the States, to prevent them from flying off, and thereby changing the character of our government and weakening its power, but when that struggle on our part has been successful, and that attempt has been put down, we find now an effort to concentrate all power in the bands of a few at the Federal head, and thereby bring about a consolidation of the Gov.. ernment, which is equally objectionable with a separation. (Vociferous applause.) WIIAT WE NOW FIND We find that powers are assumed, and attempted to be exercised, of .a mOst ex traordiaary character. It seems that Governments may be revolutionized. Gov ernments; at least, may be changed' with out going through the Wife of battle. I believe it is i fact attested in history that sometimes revolutions most disastrous to - a people are effected without the shed; ding of.blood. The substance of your Government may be taken away, while, the form and the shade* remain to you: What is now beingpropOsed ? • L,, D/lIECTOBY IISURPA110:11;+ We find that in point of fact nearly alit the p,owera of the Governmentare assnmi; ed by an irresponsible central directo ry whith does not even consult•lhe , legisl tive or,tbegxecutive Departments of th . Government; by.resplutionsreported fro a committee, in whom it seems that pr tically the legislative power of the Go eminent is now vested; that great princi ple of the Constitution which authorizes and empowers each branch of the Legis lative Department of the Senate and the House of Representatives to judge for it self of the election returns and qualifica tions of its own members has been virtu ally taken away from the two branches of the Legislative Department of the Gov ernment, and conferred upon a committee who must report before either House can aCt tinder the Constitution as to accept ing the members who are to take their seats as component parts of the respec tive bodies. By this rule it is assumed that there must be laws passed recognizing a State as in the Union, or its practical relations to the Union as restored, before the re .speotive houses, under the Constitution, can judge of the election returns and qual ifications of their own members. What a position is that ? You struggled for four years to put down a rebellion; you denied in the beginning of the struggle that any State could go out of the Union; you said that it had neither the rightdlor the pow er to do so. The issue was made, and it has been settled that the State b ad nei ther the right nor the power to go out of thc Union; with what consistency, after it has been settled by the military arm of the Government, and by the public judg ment, that the States bad no right to go out of the Union, can any one now turn round and assume that they are out, that they shall not come in. I am free to say to you, as your Executive, that I am not prepared to take any such position.— (Great applause.) I said in the Senate, in the very inception of this Rebellion, that the States bad no right to go oat ; I as serted too that they bad no power to go out; that quistion has been settled, and it being settled I cannot turn around now and give the lie direct to all that I have professed, and all I have done for the last five years. When those who rebelled comply with the Constitution; when they give sufficient evidence of loyalty; when they show that they can be trusted; when they yield obedience to the law that you I and acknowledge obedience to, I say extend them the right hand of fellowship, and let peace and:union be metered. .(Tre mendons applause.) TOR BORTHERN TRAITORS. I fought traitors and treason in the South. opposed the Davises, the Sli -1,315H", vttte atd.afiang iist.4)Loth: repeating the names. Now, when I turn round and at the other end of the line find men, I care not by what name you call them, who still stand opposed to the restoration of the Union of these States, I am free to say to you that I am still in the field. (Great applause .) _ I am still for the preservation of the Union. I am still in favor of this great Government of ours going on and on, and filling out its destiny. (Great applause. Voices—give us three names at the other end.) THE 2,7OETHE.RN TRAITOB.S. I am called upon to name three at the other end of the line. lam talking to my friends and fellow-citizens, who are inter ested with me in this Government, and I presume I am free to mention to you the names of those to whom I look upon as being opposed to the fundamental princi ples of this Government, and who are la boring to pervert and destroy it. (Voices, "Name them !" " Who are they ?") The President—Yon ask me who they are. I say Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, is one ; I say Mr. Sumner, of the Senate, is another; and Wendell Phillips is anoth fn. (Long continued applause.) (Voices, "Give it to Portrey !") The President— Its reply to that, I will simply say I do not whine my ammunition upon dead ducks. (Great laughter and applause.) I stand for my country; I stand for the Constitu tion. There I have always placeemy feet fiOm my advent to public hfe. They may traduce, they may slander, they may vt trerate me, but let me say to you, all tis has no influence upon me. (Great applause.) HE IS NOT TO BE BULLIED. Let me say further, that I do not in- Ond to be overawed by real or pretend -4d friends, nor do I mean to be bullied by by enemies. (Tremendous applause.) HE WILL STAND BY THE PEOPLE. Honest conviction is my courage, the onstitution is my guide, I know, my otintrynien, that it has been insinuated, o, not insinuated, it has been said direct ly in high places, that if such a usurpation )if power as I am charged with had been r p e a rcis . : u d la e r reeign. ,o i t hund r edwotiwould d haveco s t yearsago a i n n Individual his head. (Great laughter.) Of what usurpation has Andrew Johnson peen guilty ? None. None. Is it a usurpation to stand between the beople and the encroachments of power, ecause In a conversation with a fellow /citizen who, happened to be..a. Senator, I ,said that I ihqught aMendinents to the Constitution oughtnattOcifiequentlyto be • made; that if it-was continually tinkered Iwith it would lose all its prestige and dig -1(l the old instrument wcmldbe, lost sight of altogether in a short time, and because, in-the same uctnyersation I hap pened to say that if it were , amended .at all; such and such an amendment ought to Ibe adopted, it was charged thatt was guilty of usurpation of power that would have cost a king his head, in a certain pe riod of English history. (Great laughter.) From the same source the exelanration has gone forth that they were in the midst of earthquakes ; that they were trenibling and could not yield. (Langhvr.) THERE IS AN EARTHQUAKE. Yes, fellow citizens, there is an earth quake, coming; there is a ground swelling of popular judgment and indignation. (Great applause.) The American people will speak, and, b = y their instinct if not otherwise, they will know who are their enemies. I have endeavored to be true to the people in all the positions which I have oconpted, and there is hardly a posi tion in this Government which I have not at some time filled, I suppose it will be said that this is vanity (laughter,) but I may say that I have been in all of them.. I have been in both branches of the State Legislature. (A voice; " You commenc ed a tailor.") NO PATCH WORE The President—A gentleman behind me says that I began a tailor. Yes, Idid begin a tailor (applause,) and that sug gestion does not discomfit me in the least, for when I was a tailor I had the reputa tion of being a good one, and of making close fits (laughter,) and I was always punctual to my customers, and did good work. (Applause.) Voices—We will patch up the Union yet. The President—No, I do not:want any patch work of it; 1 want-the original arti cle restored. (Great applause.) But en ough of this facetiousness. I know it may be said, " You are President, and you must not talk about these things;" but, my fellow citizens, I intend to talk the truth, and when principle is involved, when the existence of my country is in peril, I hold it to be my duty to speak what I think and what I feel, as• I have always done on former occasions. (Great applause.) I have said, it has been declared else where that I was guilty of usurpation which would have cost a king his head, and in another placel have been denounc ed for whitewashing. When and where did I ever whitewash anything or any body ? I have been an alderman of a town, I have been in both branches of the legislature of my State, I have been in both Houses of the Na ongress, I Inwt_been at the )2 , xecutive Vice President of the 1• . tes, - Titia lam now in the position .14. I occupy before you, and during all this career where is the man and what portion of the people is there who can say that Andrew Johnson ever made a pledge which he did not redeem, or that he ever made a prom ise whion he violated ? None. Now point me to the man who can say that Andrew Johnson ever acted with infidel ity to the great mass of the people. (Ap plause.) THREATS OS ASSASSINATION. Men may talk about beheading and about usurpation, but when I am behead ed I want the American people to be the witnesses. Ido not want it, by inuendoes and indirect remarks in high places, to be suggested to men who have assassination brooding in their bosom, there is a fit subject. Others have exclaimed that the Presidential obstacle must be gotten out of the way. What is that but a make-use of a strong word inciting tonssastination? No doubt, I say, the intention was to in cite assassination, so the obstacle which the people had placed here could be got out of the way. Are the opponents of this Government not yet satisfied; are thosewho want to destroy our institutions and to change the character of the Gov ernment, not satisfied with the quantity of blood that has been shed? Are they not satisfied with one martyr in this Place?, Does not the blood of Lincoln appease their vengeance ? Is their thirst stall un slaked ? Do they still want more blood ? Have they not honor and courage enough to seek to obtain the end otherwise than through and by the hand of an assassin. I am not afraid of an assassin attacking me where one brave and courageous man will attack another. I only dread him when in disguise and where his footstep is noiseless. • If they want blood let them have the courage to strike like men. I knOw they are willing to wound but afraid to strike. If my blood is to be shed because I vindi cate the Union, and insist on the presbr; vation of this 'Government in its onginal purity, let it be shed; but let au 'altar to' the Union be first erected, and then; if necessary, take me and lay ma upon it, and the blood that now warms' 'and' ani mates my existence shall be poured out as the last libation, as a tribute to the Union of these States. (Great applatise:) But let the opponents of this Government re member when it is poured out,that the blood 'of the martyrs is the seed of t he church.' This Union will , grow, and ii will continue to increase in ,strength and power; though it may be cemented and cleansed in Wood. I have already spoken to you lo,ngpt th9 .s I intended when r 5 00 Out. (Go ori) cosszthri;z9.4* ,rnerely intended to, make mylacknowl. edgmenta,for the honor , your bate =dQrie me; but before I close allow me to say a word in regard to thequestiona of amend- IVOLUME XXIII, NUMBER 10. meats to the Constitution of thelTnited States. Shortly after I reached Wash ington, for the purpose of being inaugu rated as Vice President of the United States, I had a conversation with Mr. Lin coln in regard to the condition. of -affairs. We talked particularly in reference to matters in my own - State. I told hirit that we had called a Convention, that we had amended the Constitution, and that we had abolished slavery in that State, which was not ineluded 'in his Emancipa tion Proclamation. • AR these things met hfs'appiobation, and' he gave me words of ecieottragement. We talked then about Weirs — generally, and upon the subject of 'amendments 'to the Constitution of the 'United States; he said to me " When the amendmentothe Constitution nbw proposed is adopted by three fourths of the States, I ain pretty near done or indeed quite done in favor of amending the Constitutioaif there was one other adopted." I asked him, "What is that, Mr. Presi dent ?" He said "I have labored to Rre ! , serve this ~I have toiled during four years; I hal% been, subjected to umny and misrepresentation. My great and solo desire has beeato preserve these States intact under the Constitu tion as they were before." I asked him again, " Mr. President, what amendment is that which you would propose?"— "Why," said ,he " it is that. there shopid bean' amendthent added to' the. CODSUtn tion which would compel the 'States to send their Senators and Representatives to the Congress of the United States. (Great applause.) The idea was in his mind that as a part of the doctrine of Se cession one of the means to break up this Government was that the States, if they saw proper, might withdraw 4heir Sena tors, and Re presentatives, _ or refuse to elect them. He wanted even to remove that difficulty by a constitutional amend ment, compelling the States to send Sen ators and Representatives to Congress. But what do we now find ? The Con stitution of the country, even that portion of it which allows amendments to the or ganic law, expressly provides that no State, without its consent, shall be de ; prived of its equal . suffrage in the Scnate, and it also provides that each State' shall have at least one Representative' inthe House of Representatives; but yet the po sition is taken that cert* States shall not bilAtirglieuttiL • We impose taxes upon them"; we , send our tax gatheres into every, region and portion of the States. These people are fit subjects of Govern ment for the collection of taxes, but when they ask to participate in the legislation of the country, they are, met at the door and told no, you must pay taxes, you must bear bupiens of Government. but you cannot participate in its legislation which is to affect you through all time to come; is this justice, is it fair? , (No, no.) ME UNION-TRUE LOYALTY-THE SOUTH SHOULD BE ALLOWED nioassasrAwsubs. I repeat I am for the Union, I am for preserving all the States. lam for ad mitting into • the Councils of the nation all the representatives who are unmistak ably and unquestionably loyal. A who acknowledges allegiance to the Govern ment, and who swears to support the Consti tution, must necessarily be loyal. , A man cannot take that oath in good faith unless he is loyal. A mere amplification of the oath, makes no difference as to the principle. What- ever test is thought proper as evidence and as proof of loyalty, is a. mere matter of detail, about which I care nothing; but let a man be unmistakably and unques tionably loyal, let, him acknowledge alle- Mance to the Constitution of the United ates, and be'willing to support the Gov ernment in its hourlof. peril and, its hour of need, and I am willing to ;trust him.— (Applause.) I know that some, do not attach . as much importance to this point as I dO, but I regard it as a fundamental The'principle that carried us thrciitgh the revolution was that; there should.tie no taxation with Out representation. 'I hold' to that principle, which was laid dotin . as fundamentalfathets.. If it was good thin- it is - good no . w.-t If it was worth standing by then, i t tiordi stand ing by now. It islundamental, and should be observed as long ~as free go' ernment lasts. , THE, COSEuxi 110/4: - AOAIN TTIE , LAW. I am aware that- in - the midst of the Re bellion was said:by some that the Con , stitntion bad bben rolled tali as a.pieee of parchment: and, laid away ; that in timeuf war and rebellion there was no Constito-' Lion. Weindw that sometimes, in gteat neeessity, under great emeiginey, 'stitntional things must sometimes neces sul l y be Acme i in airderto'.. preserve the: Constitntion - itself ; 400 if; while_ the Re hellion _was .going on the' Constitution was rolled up and laid away; if it }artia elated in some o'rib:salamis' order to ‘ sive the government, which may be excused end justified, Incense in saving the Gov ernment you really saved the Constita- TILE CONSTITUTION VIOLATED. TICE TO THE SOUTH. ZEST OATHS • ARE lIICELEt3I3 •L IPITITDABIEEMTAL PRINCIPLE.