VOLUME 3.
SPEECH OF HON. THOS. WILLIAMS
In the House 01 Representatives,
On tbv Reeonslruotlon l»ollcy
of lb« President.
from th* Pittsburgh Commercial.
We have received the speech of Hon.
Thomas Williams, of the 2Ud District,
on •• Keconsti uctiou,"delivered on the lUth
just. On account of the great length
over uineteeu columns ot the (jitter,—
we do not think it advisable to publish it
cutire, which we intended to do. \\ e
will secure it more readers, and thereby
do Mr. r* iliiams more justice, by print
ing extracts embracing the most pronii
oent points, and giving a liberal abstract
of the rest in order to preserve the
thread of the argument from the begin
ning to the end. The speech is regard
ed as Mr. William's greatest effort, and
we have no doubt that there are many ot
his friends he e who will be glad to get
it in the form we present it this morning.
Mr. WillUnis began with the allusion
to the course he had taken in Congress
nearly two years ago ou the question i I
the relations that had been produced by
the war. By the infirm of laith his
course then had been thought to bo pre
mature ; but Congress thought otherwise,
and passed a bill, which Hid not, howev
er, "meet the approval of the Executive
because it interfered with a plan of li s
own that had not pioved acceptable to it.
aud the question was adjourned without
advice from that body, and in such a way
as to leave the field open for experiments
with which it was not in condition t> In
terfere."
The people by their representatives —
the law making power —are here again
"to decide for themselves what slill be
done with the Territories that have been
couquetcd by their arms" While it is
agreed oil all hands that tlicy shall event
ually be readmitted to the Union, it is
not pretended by any that they can
come back of their own volition and
without our consent. Our power to ex
.elude thcui does uot depend upon our
right to determine the qualifications of
our own members. There is an organic
lesion forbidding their return, wli.eli can
only be supplied by a new orguniz itum
The first inquiry is, what is the posi
tion of these Territories as it has b"*eu
aff< cted by the progtess and results of the
war, which has just been determined bv
their enforced sunmission to the authu.i
ty of lie nation ?
80 far as armed resistance is e interned
the war is at an end. The d iuue i com
munities lie conquered and heipiesi and
iu social ruins at our lect, deprived "I all
the organism that was essential to llio
maintenance of their old idali-ios to the
Union. The civil law of ill I uioii is
■dethroned, and its military pO'.ver is ail
that remains to bold ttiese Stales in suti
jeetion to our authority. The l'leMiieut,
feel in/ that tiny were not in a rendition
to be trusted to themselves, instead ol
sheathing the swoVd, lias preferred to
aw lit the U'.ual t >eriod of out assemblage,
and appointed li.s lieutenants an I pro-ruli
siils to goveiu the 1 111 tiie mean tine with
the ail of armies ami the arbitrary rule
of martial 1 iw. Our first duty is tore
hove tli it officer, and to furnish some se
etirity to the conq tureJ pt- <jjie by (.be
aubslitu im ol a geot er iule. He did
not question the exercise of »urli a gov
ereignty in the aosence of 1 ong es>, a
he bad previously maintained ilitt thus •
Stales hid eeuset toe nrember* »>f the
Union, and ha I passed into th - 0 mdition
of territories. Had they v.'utuiued t>
be States until their resistance eeised,
•they would have ut once re-tuned their
e>Mistitutiouil rights unimpaired, and all
that has been done aiuee would h.ve been
dearest usurpation.
'•Taking theui, however, to have been
'deprued,' in the language of the proe
tarnations,'of all civil government wlnt
ever,' it was but a I •gitimate interference
of the Kxeoutive tlwt they 11.1 I not only
forfeited their elective tran.di si, and lost
their property in slaves, but placed them
selves in a conditiou where they were no
longer entitled even to th benefit of the
constitutional guarantee without a new
birth. The idea of any State, except
that of natfcc, without any 'civil gov
ernment whatever,' is as incomprehensi
ble to me as that of a State being in the
Union, or indeed anywhere, thu is u liuit
ted to have no existence whatever.
'•No more would Ib inclined to quar
rel with those who, starting from these
premises, are still disposed to insUt that
these States were never out. The differ
ence is perhaps only the result of a want
■of precision in the use of terms, or a di
versity of opinion in regard tothoir mean
ing. Mr. Burke bis furnished us with
* distinction here that meets the case pre
eisely. 'TUe w-ird S.ate,' lie roinarks in
his letter to Sir Hercules Ltnigrishe, 011
the subject of the extension of the elec-
tive franchise to the Irish Catholics, 'is '
one of much ambiguity. Sometimes it
i< used to signify the whutc common
all its orders,with
the several privileges belonging to each
Sometimes it sigmties only the higher,
•od ruling part of the commonwealth
.which is couiuioniy called tlio govern
naent.' Io the former of these senses, il
is not to tie doubt«d that Uicse-comuni
fies still exist, and are in the Unpin, orof
the Union, because their territories belong 1
to it, and their people owe it allegiance.
In tin Litter. howe\er—and thut is the
one that connects them with our political
•ystem as the proclamations concede—
they are admitted by the s.inia proclama
tions to have been destroyed, i«d faß, of
> •our*t\ to nowhete."
can be n i d'tpnte between the
President and his Northern friends as to
Aba; postal* of tbero dilapidate! members.
AMERICAN CITIZEN:
liy lii» treatment tie lias practically ore"
gard<yj them as conquered provinces.—
Mr. Williams deprecated the fullacio"
doctrine which hud encouraged the dis
affected in the North and the unrepent
ant robels in the S"U'h that these »1 !«• r
g tnized States have never ceased to be
members of the Federal Union That
is the present theory of every traitor.
North and Soqth, who has been insisting
lor four lung your* of war on the right as
well as the tact ot secession. With as
surnnees of pardon, they can afford to
ri-k their plea of belligerency upon which
they claimed immunity for their crime, if
it will restore them to their rights.—
• Jraut that secession WAS not a fact, and
it tlicy cannot invalidate the war and the
debt made by it. they will stagger your
court# with the question, by what author
ity you have deprived the people ot a
Slate in the Union by proclamation and
without judgment of law, of their fran
chises and property. Once in, they will
insist that all your intermediate acts as
well as theirs are nullities.
The next inquiry is whether they are
in a condition to return, and what agen
cies and terms through and upon which
the consummation is to be effected. This
question more than any othor belongs to
the people of the loyal States. Eleven
of the columnar supports of our political
cdiliec are lying around us in ruins. Who
is to these columns to their places?
The questions arising out of tl is are
problems which might well embarrass the
profoundest of our statesmen, and will
require the wisdom of the nation tosolve
Ihe war itself was nothing in compari
son I'here never Wis a reasonable doubt
of the suppression of the rebellion, if
the 1 iyal States proved true to themselves.
Ihe only real danger was in the process
of reconstruction. Although the rebel
lion, so far as armed resistance iB concern
ed, is over, we still tread on the ashes of
an unextinguished volcano. If these
State governments have been destroyed
and must be organized snsw, nothing
short of an act of Congress can accom
plish that woik. Hut there is no hurry
even as to this. To heal the wounds in
flicted by a four years' civil war, is not
i lie work of a day. We must begin at
the bottom and work slowly to the sur
face
The Piesidenf, acting OR the preval
ent idea that it is the duty of the Govern
ment to take the initiative in the process
of restoration, without waiting for an
expression from the people of the rebel
States of their desire to return to the
Union, lias, in the recess of this body,
ordered their organization, and has "in
dicate I bis plan iu a scries of proclama
tions, which are all of the lik« tenor,
though differing in some respects from
the plan of his predecessor." It was [we
suuied that this would conform to the
iaw lie prescribed, and having completed
that he. although admitting ihe alternate
decision to rest with Congress alone,
would recommend and enforce their ad
mi-s'.on with all the power he could law
fully exert.
The proclamations rest on tho idea of
assuring to all these Stairs a republican
form of government. 'J hey do not de
cl ue the war to be at an end, but llie
contrary. Mr. Williams makes the fol
lowing analysis of the prop sitions con
tained in the proclamations:
'•1. They admit the continuing exis*
truce of a stale of war, and profess to
rest on the twofold authority of the Pres
ident as Commander in Chief of the Ar
my and Navy of the United States, as
well as supremo civil executive magis
trate of the Union.
'2. They declare tho pepplo of these
Stats to have been deprived by their
.own acts of i.ll civil governments what
ever.
''3. They confess the necessity of a
new organization for the purpnso of re
sStr.ns* their constitutional relations with
the Federal Government, and presenting
such|form of Government as will entitle
them to the benafit of its guarantees, and
therein admit that they are not so enti
tled in their present condition.
' 4. They concede that the new organ
i izatiou must receive its impulse and di
rection from without, and be assisted by
the co-operative action of the Federal
authorities.
' 3 Confessing, however, that these
States are not now entitled to the benofit
of the constitutional guarantee, they as
sert, in effect, that under it the Federal
Governuieut is bound to place them in a
position which will enable them to claim
it, and assume that tho fulfillment of that
guarantee, is purely executive function,
to be porf'ormed in such a way as the
judgmeut of the President may determ
ine.
"6. They direct accordingly, tho as
semblage of conventions at the earliest
practicable day, and define and ascertain
the qualification of the voters.
"7. In fixing these qualifications, they
adopt a standard that is entirely new, by
limiting the frnnchise, not to the white
niofl generally, but to such only of the
people who were invested with that pre-'
rogative uuder the government that is
admitted to have been destroyed aa are
I yal, and will swear to support, not the
Constitution only, but all laws aud proc
lamations during the rebellion having
reference to the emancipation of slaves.
"8. Admitting, moreover, that these
States are without any civil government
whatever, and that they Jfiust necessari
ly organize anew, they insist that it shall
be done upon the partial recognition of a
goveruuient that has been de-troyrd, )jy
a p ocess, not of organization at all, but
of amendment and alteration only, that
sh ill work simply on part of the
(defunpt corpus which was left untouched
by the ordinances of secession, and who&c
contiuucd would involve a de
nial of the right (if Federal interference
"Let us have Faith that Right makes Might; and in that Faith let us, to the end,dare to do our '<jty as we understand it"— A. LINCOLN
BUTLER, BUTLER COUNTY, PA., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 18GG.
and is in direct contradiction of the prem
ises on which these proclamations rest.
'•0. They look, moreover, to the em
ployment of the military arm in the exe
cution and enforcement of the scheme of
restoration which they will inuolve."
These were evidences either that the
proclamations had not been properly di
gested. or that the ?B KH might profitably
have been transferred from tl.c "other
end of the avenue" to the proper forum
—Congress—which is vested with the
exclusive power iif leaiil a ting for the
Territories and the admission of new
States.
A .state of war is utterly irreconcilable
with such an organization as the genius
and texture of our Government demand.
A republican State cannot exist without
the spontaneous volition of the majority
of the people. A minority Government,
sustaiued by armies, would be the merest
mockery of a republic; and so long as it
needs an army or a Federal legate—by
what name soevor called—to govern it.it
is uot in condition to govern itself. The
President holds the Territory by milita
ry law—a power that is absolute, and it
is folly to talk of restoring civil govern
ment by the people, for he is supreme.—
flic power he wields is above and sileu
ces the law, and be is essentially a dicta
tor, whether his motive be good or bad.
Our fathers were jealous of military law,
and made it subordinate to the civil.—
Conventions assembled, voters named and
Congressmen elected by it, are its crea
tures and a reyublic organized by if,can
not be the product of a free people.—
Freedom recoils at the idea. It will not
do to say that the sword bearers were not
present in the body. When the fiat
went forth to the North Carolina synod
to repudiate the rebel debt, every knee
weut down in humble submission to the
Commander-in-Chief. .The rebel Gener
al and Governor of Mississippi, Hum
phreys, stated in a recent message that
it was under the pressure of Federal bay
onets that the people of that State had
abolished slavery. These so-called con
stitutions are dictated by the Executive
as a conqueror. Governor Orr, of South
Carolina declared that the State Conven
tion had "done all that the President had
requested to be done." lieneral Hamp
ton of that State tie lined to run fbrUov
crnor because he might embarrass the
I'jzecutive in his benevolent designs in
favor of the South, lie did not approve all
that the Convention had dotfe, but advis
ed acquiescence, as the President had
shown a disposition to protect the South
against Northern radicals. When Ilainp
ton talks about "the radicalism of the
North," we know he means the Union
party that fought down the rebellion and
elected the President. The President
answers this presentation by informing
us that wc have nothing to do with the
terms of settlement.
It is urg#d that this is a measure of
peace, to enable loyal people there to dis
pense with armies. It'suehr was the pur
ple there tail be no permanent piacj
without continued protection, as is the
case in Tennessee. The idea is, if not to
make the disloyal majority our nmsterj,
to tree them of our authority in the hope
ol peace and submission in tho future.—
t'lns is not peace. The victory is ifut al
ways to the strong. The demon spirit
which animate! the rebellion, and caused
all the crimes ooiiimitted by it during the
war, ending with tho murder of our Pies
iuent, "still lives' unrepentant, unsub lu
ed, ferocious and devilish as ever" The
battle still rages under a new phase.
As to the admission that the seceded
States have been deprived of all civil
government.
Taking the word State as contra-dis
tinguished from that of government, it
may be admitted that they arc ttill in the
Union. Jt must then signify tho terri
tory, or the people, or both. It cannot
be the territory only, for'it would con
tinue to be a State; nor the people only,
because that would make theui a Slate.—
In this sense it is a compound idea, one
element of which is necessarily a loyal
people. It is enough for my purjio.se that
their political organizations have been
destroyed. The proclamations say that
they have been deprived of all civil gov
ernment. lie means all local govern
uieut. lie cannot affirm a condition of
anarchy, as he maintains that th3y are
still in the Union, and subject to its laws.
It is admitted that they have not the pow
er of self-resurrection —that tl.ey must
roceive impulse from \yitbout. The Pre*
ident has undertaken to give the impulse,
and the question remains, where the pow
er resides and how it is to be exercised.
The proclamations assume that the power
is an executive one, ou the ground that
each State Government must be republi
can in form and that it is the President's
duty to execute the laws. If this be true
the President must be the Uuited States,
or that this executory uj're^ent ll ' aw
that cau be enforced by the sword only
Hut it is not true. Congress itself has ■
uotyet decided what a republican form of
government is in tho meaning of the
clause or how it is to be erected i n case
of overthrow, lu the former plm the
power was conferred on a tithe of the vo
ters, who might take the oath cf allegi
ance and forswear slavery. In the pres
ent one it is confined to the loyal men
who had voted before without reference
to number, though it was clear that there
was scarcely a loyal man in those States
that was not excluded. There is no high
er act of sovereignty than that whiab
founds or reconstructs a State and pre
scribes suffrage. Tho ijian that makes
the elector makes the law and is a dicta
tor. In the extrepiity of a State sueh'a
power is necessary for its safety, and the
Presideut was right to goyefo the con
quered territories by martial in the
recess of Congress. The occasion for
these things has passed away. But there
never was anythiug in the power to war
rant the erection of a State by executive
proclamation.
The object iu bringing these new gov
ernments to our d Kirs at the opouing of
the session was to anticipate the action of
Congress. 'J'he President like his prede
cessor had his plan; he had a right to his
opinions. Hut being a Southern man, a
citizen of one of the offending States, he
was uot likely to think as do the twenty
millions of the loyal Slates who fought
the a eat battle. He had never declared
strongly against slavery except as It was
in antagonism to the Union. He bad
been loyal and faithful under great trials
and for that was the choice of the Uuiou
party for tho second office in the Repub
lic The bloody hand of treason opened
the way for his succession to the first.—
Although it was his right and duty to
urge his opiti iou upon Congress,he should
bave tfken no step without us. He has
taken a difficult course, by treating with
the rebels directly. I regard his course
as a challenge to Congress and the free
North upon a question of jurisdiction.
Mr. Williams then referred to the great
importance of meeting the assumption uf
executive power promptly. The great
discretion of the President, his immense
patronage, durin? the war, had given
to the belief that it was he.and neither
Congress or the people, who had saved
the nation, and that it was his business
to restore the parts. His claim of pow
er iu the proclamation of December, lhOo,
provoked no aniiuadvorsion here, and the
Hons , bill failed ou a second trial. The
press and politicians uf the nation have
been silent, only complaining iu whispers
that he has extended suffrage to the black
man.
People inquire only wlnt does tho Pres
ident inteuci and the Associate Press by
daily bulletins reports every phase uf the
imperial pulse. The tiu>e has come to
rectify these errors, and assert the powers
of this bydy.
"With the highest admiration of the
constancy and heroism ol the present. Ex
ecutive under the severest trials, and with
every disposition to support his Admin
istration-so far as fidelity of my own high
trust will allow. 1 cannot consent that a
question like this, in which the interests
of so many generations are involved, shall
be withdrawu frota the people of the
loyal States, who hatfe suffered and sac
rificed so largely, aud settled by the de
cision ofauy one or even seven oieu, no
matter whence they come or what posi
tions they may hoid. No more can I al
low myself to be instructed here, that
while the power of setting the terms of
read mission is with the President, I have
no jurisdiction as an American legislator
except to register the acts that he has
done, and thou humbly inquire as a
member of this House only, whether the
candidates who present themselves for
admission here have complied with the
mere formalities which his Legislatures
have prescribed. It is here only—iu these
Halls, that American liberty can live.—
They arc her inner sanctuary, her holy
of holies, her strong tower of defense, her
last refuge and abiding place. Here are
her altars, and here her priesthood. It
is only here, too, that my owu great State,
whose blood has been poured out like ruin,
and whose canonized dead are n ivv sleep
ing on every buttle field of freed Jin, has
been called iuto counsel during the last
lour years. She has no voice elsewhere.
On tho theory of the President aud the
results of his experiments she has given
out no uncertain sound. She bids her
sons whom she has placed on guard at
the Cnpitoi iu this liour'of the • natjons
trial, stand firmly, as did her heroes in
the bloody trench, by theiv triists as Rep
resentatives, and resist with jealous
watchfulness every attempt from what
ever quarter to encroach If the per
formance W this duty should involve a
difference with the Executive of her
owu choice, whjlc she would deplore the
necessity she will expect her .Represent
atives to take counsel from those who sent
them here, alike una wed by the frowns
and unsedueed by the blandishments of
power. I dread the conflict, which is
not a new one in the world's history, but
I cannot choose but meet it when it
comes; and 1 have a trust that we shitlt
yet be able to discuss the great question
of the times, and to settle it, too without
prejudice, aud in utter oblivion of the
tact that the Executive has any theory
on the subject.
It has been said that these plans were
merely experimental, and that C'ongre-s
must at least judge of the eligibility of
its members. It appears, howeyer, that
the power referred to us is only that of
each House to act separately as to its in
| dividual members. The President hav
ing founded the new governments, claims
for his offn creation the right to resume,
of course, atjd without inquiry into his
work or rtleirs the places they held be
fore among us, inakiug, as he says,"the
work of restoration thereby complete,"
aud instructs us then it will be our duly
to judge of the smaller matters ot the law
-' the election, returns and qualifications
of our own members." Nothing is left to
Congress but to register the edicts and
ratify the work of the Executive. The
speaker objected strongly to the courseof
the President, and said that he might as
well have prescribed the whole law to the
Sonth as a part of it. There is no occa
sion for experiments which tend to a con
flict between Congress and the President.
The function is legislative and not exe
cutive—the President having his veto
only.
The reply may be made to this tha
the object was ujt to found a new Stat«,
but to alter and amend the old form ot
of government and to restore it to its
fyjjner relations to the Federal authority.
'J'he proclamations state these as a part
of the objeet; bat the reojtals npon which
they rest say that the States have been
deprived of "all civil government," and
authorise the conventions not to "alter
or amend" but to "organ le." The ex
pressions "reconstruction" and "restoiara
tion" were then commented on. Mr
Williams would accept either, but pre
terred the former. The lntter is sufficient
to hupiy. if not destruction, at least dis
placement. Ihe revolting States have
defleote i from thcirorbits, gathered round
a ucw centre, and ceased to be parts o(
our system, or to be obedient to our laws.
They compose a part of our system de
jure only, but not in fact. Something
must be done to reestablish their former
relations. They cannot do it themselves.
The Ulere repeal of their secession ordi
nances is not sufficient. The Executive
thinks that by their treason the people
have forfeited the right ol self govern
ment, that to this extent their Constitu
tions as they stood before tha rebellion
are abrogated, and tnat their sovereignty
has elapsed—but not to us. A commit
tee of the last llouso insisted that it, re
turned to the conquered ptoplc. The
President claims it for himself, aud has
acted accordingly.
The President says the State still lives,
with ouly an "impaired vitality,"although
its government has been destroyed, aud
it is contended that he has power to re
store all its parts and former vitality,and
to lead it forth as full and perfect as it
was before the rebellion. Let us exam
ine the question. If the acts of the State
had been simply an excess of power, this
view might be correct. But here the
fundamental law was changed, whether
rightfully or not is not the question
True one of the stated objects is to ena
ble theui to restore themselves. Hut
this is inconsistent with the grounds on
which the proclamations rest. If these
States were still in the Union, no pro
cess of restoration to their rights was nec
essary, because they were entitled to them
by the Coustitutiou. It is because they
are not that the President proposes ma
king them so by his own act, without
our agency. It' these Stale constitutions
arc in force as they existed before secess
ion, because all that lias been enacted
since in violation of Federal law is simp
ly void, what then was the occasion for
any amendment? In that case they may
return tit any time without any legislation.
As a ques iju of amendment tney may
amend or not, and if they are in the
Union there is no power there to say
what or when they shall amend, The
executive admits tliat something must be
done to restore their original status. We
agree in thinkingthat by the war the
slaves have beeu emancipated, and suff
rage destroyed with the government. —
Emancipation is a question for the courts,
aud cannot he drawn in here except by
assuming that these States a-re out aud
must be formerly re admitted. Then you
may prescribe terms. Without that you
must open when they knock without in
quiry as to their constitutions.
Taking it that their constitutions re
quire to be amended, how is it to be done?
Not by the Executive, for he has no
more power to set up a new class of elec
tors in South Carolina than in Massacbu
setts. The only way is in accordance
with their own law, which must have sur
vived if any part of thoir constitution
did. To ignore the law, as do the proc
lamations, is revolutionary. The people
had not asked for the privilege of coming
back, although it is urged that the proc
lamations were intended to cn ible thein
to do the work for themselves. It was
not essential that they should come back
until they were ready for it. The proc
lamations were imperative not permltisive
Suffrage was more than a right—a duty.
The wliito men who could take tho oath
must reconstruct the State
Mr. Williams then discussed the way
in which the power claimed by the Presi
dent ha* bcen^sxcrcised.
If the funetran were nieroly an exceu
t:ve one it could extend no further than
permissisn to the people to instruct. To
say who should or should not vote was
more than an executive act. In the ab
>ence of ail government, as the procla
mations admit, all were remitted to the
natural equality recognized in the l>ec
laration of and which had been suspen
ded by the force of civil institutions,
which had then ceased to exist. The
negro, whether bond or free, previously
h d the same rights as the white man,
and neather could deny to th? other the
right to vote. All privileges of eastc
and complexion had disappeared with the
constitutions which established them. If*
cannot be said that it was not right for
the President to confer the privilege on
this particular class.
"It was not his to eonfer on anybody,
white or black. If he had left the elec
tion to the citizens who owed allegiance,
paid taxes, and were subject to bear arms,
they must have voted without distinction
of color. The only question was, not
whether he could confer it but whether
he could take it away. He has taken it
away from others—from all who were uot
qualified jinder the old constitutions, and
from all who are disloyal or refuse the
oath to support the laws and proclama
tions in regard to slavery. Tho old gov
ernment with their black codes, which
were the fruitful nurseries of treasonable
sentiment, and have destroyed themselves
by hurrying their people into the rebel
lion. are alloyed to furnish the rule and
standard of electoral fitness, on the hypo
thesis that there y something left of
them still lives, like the tail of a
defunct reptile after the life has
been crushed out of its body, and are
only to undergo alteration and repair .at
the hands of the same cunning workmen
who had destroyed their machinery alto
gether. It is the same class precisely
that is to renovate the Iruc, it i<
with the condition of loyalty, and a n»w
oath, oapen'Jded. But who aretheloy
al? Nut certainly those who committed
treasoßagaiD.st lie nation by naming war
against it, or giving aid acd counsel to
its enemies? Hut if they are excluded
who are to be the voters, when tlie only
class that proved true to its allegiance is
precisely the one which was excluded
under the old rei/ime that is uow sought
to restore? How mauy of the original
voters, beyond those who were driven
iutj exile, have stood by the old flag in
the hour of trial ? Was it a majority—
was it even a tithe ? Ca.j there be as
many such uien found as would have sa
ved Sodom from destruction ? We know
that there cannot, because we know that
they would uot have beeu tolerated ou
Southern soil. We know it, too, from
the declaration of the Governor of Vir
ginia, that unless the law that disfran
chised the trators only froui January,
1861, was repealed, there would not be
men enough left to orguuize the State.
And is it seriously proposed that the pow
er ol erecting governments, ip order to
enable these States to resume their phi
ces iu the Union, shall be vested in a
score of men out ot a population counting
by millions? Hut how is the question
of loyalty to be determined ? Not by
oath, because that is merely cumulative,
and is not o(Tared either as a test, or by
way of purgation for the past offenses.—
If as a test, the word might as well have
been omitted altogether. How then ?
Is there a virtue in the amnesty which
works not only oblivion for the past.but con
verts a pardoned traitor into aloval man?
Is it by judgment of law on conviction
of Crime? Is it by attainder on procla
mation by the Executive ? Is it by a
trial in pais or by compurgators at the
hustings ? Tf the old constitutions are
still in force, either by construction of
law or by virtue of the proclamations,
tho exclusion a ven of those who may bo
impeached of disloyalty looks amazingly
like the forfeiture of a legal franchise,
without judgment and without law,' and
is too high a power to be exercised by
any other than the saverelgn.
••Hut there is anothef condition super
added by way o' abridgmentof the right;
and that is the execution, even from the
loyal, of the oath to support the procla
mations and laws relating to slavery.—
No friend of the country will of course
object to any wholesome limitations upon
the privilege ; but if it was not compe
tent to the President, not to confer, but
only to permit it to the black man, what
authority was there to limit it in this
way to the white man ? Neither the
Constitution of the Uniled Statei nor
that of any of the States has ever re
quired an oath of this sort from the vo
ter. If he could impose this, what was
there to prevent him 112 rom swearing them
to the observance of all acts of Congress
acd all proclamations, or requiring them
to swear that .hoy hail never given any
aid or countenance to the rebellion ? If
he could disfranchise the unconvicted
traitor, what was there to prevent him
from enfranchising tlje loyal man who
has become free ? Hut what is the secu
rity which it furnishes ? How long is tho
obligation to endure? Did it hind the .
members of the conventions ? And if
theso bodies have defined the qualiiica
tion in a different way, are the voters uow
free ?"
The effect of the programme is to re
commit these governments into the hands
of the very men who hurried them into
rebellion, upon the only condition of a
new oath of fealty after having broken
a previous one, and tosurrendor the field
to the conquered as soon as it is won.—
Hut there is nobody in the loyal Stutes
willing to release all the securities, rights
and advantages gained by the war, upon
such terms. Our past experience teach
es us that these pe.iple have never kept
faith with us. Yhosa who were most
forward in abjuring their allegiance hero,
will be the first to viola'e their new made
vows by swearing themselves back into
legislative power and honor. Will you
surrender your few faithful white allies
and thousands of friends among the blacks
t i these unrepentant rebels ? If you are
wise you will not be content with such pro
fessions as have beeu purchased by ne
cessity. Security is much more to bo de
sired than punishment, and you must
render them unable to deceive you again.
If the function be executive, how does
the performance square with the object
Bought to lv,e attained?
"The obligation u toassurc a «ovcrn
ment that shall be republican. The
meaning of this is that it shall be a gov
ernment ot the people. The process
adopted, iu direct contravention of the
principles of the message, is to the
power in the hands of a priviledgcd class,
the same that held it before, distinguish
able only by the accident of color, along
with a disloyalty to the Union that was
almost universal, and composing, in some
instances, a minority of the whole popu
lation. i>oes this look like a fulfillment
ot'the obligation, or even a squint in that
direction ? 'I he form, it is true, may be
republican, because it looks to reprcscn
t»tioq by election. But that is not the '
test; if it were, e.very constitutional mon
archy in Europe might be brought with
in the category. It is thp distincton of
classes, the permanent limitation of the
right of suffrage to a favored few, that
makes the difference between the aristo
cratic and republican forms, and tboro U
none other. Ju this case the right is
confined to the loyal white man who will
take the oath. This, however, if not an
oligarchy, or Government of the tew, is at
least an aristocracy or government of
classy, furnishes a perfect exemplifi
cation of just that species ot legislation
which is so earnestly reprobated in those
passages of the uiesiage where the Presi
dent informs us that 'this Government
springs from and wan made for the peo-
NUMBER 12
pic; that'it should, from the veiy con
sideration of its origin, bo strong in its
power of resistance against the establish
ment of inequalities;' that 'monopolies,
perpetuities, and class legislation are con
trary to the genius of a free Government,
and ought not to be allowedthat 'hero
there is no room for favored classes or
monopolies,' and that 'we shall fulfill our
duty as legislators by according equal and
exact justiiw to all men, special priviliges
to none. It I have found to
commend his practice at the expense of
his theory upou the question of State sin
lessness an J State injnjortality, subscrib
ing as most heartily to these 'axioms
of political science, I shall feel myself
compelled to adjust the account by follow
ing his advice in opposition to his practice
here, 'Class legislation* and
privileges'of a sovereign character are
the distinguishing features ot his plan,
and it is, therefore, by the erection of ai)
arisfocrasy that the guarantee of a repub
ic to be made good !"
Whether these States be in or out of
tho Union, the President, by his effort to
provide them with Governments, admits
that they are without them. Tho same
result would have followed the condition
of change in the slavo. A Government
is uot Republican that not only denies to
the majority of its citizens a share in its
administration, but refuses their testimo
ny and interdicts thcin in the pursuit of
knowledge. The speaker quoted from
Uurke in regard to the exclusion of class
es, and said that in America office woulcj
Stand on the same ground as franchise.
Mr. Williams contended that t|ie elec
tive franchise is a natural right, although
he had in Congress heard it called a po
litical right. Our institutions are frco
because they allow us the privilege <JTgoy.
erning ourselves, and wc are freemen for
no other reason than that we are armed
with tho ballot for our protection as citi
zens. Strip mo of that and lam at your
mercy. You may deal gently with me,
but that makes no difference. You may
as well deny me all rights of a citiien—
because they nre all pojitical—as that one,
which is necessary to protect tho resiJhe.
You must cither settle the principle that
this is a white man's Government,or sharo
all political privileges with men of al}
complexions.
'•The proclamation has made the negro
nominally free. He counts in the rcpre
uitation. Ho pays taxes, and must bear
arms if necessary, and he has done if.—
No sensible man now pretends to doubt
that he is a citizen, or can doubt it in
view of these considerations. The inter
ference of the Executive i« pi}t express
ly on the ground of the obligation of the
national authority to secure a republican
form of government to each of the states
To effect this, it is essential that a nls.
jority be allowed to enjoy tho political
rights of governing, and that all should
share alike in its direction. To put any
class under the State would be to deprive
them of the rights of citizens, and to re
duce them in the words of the authority
just cited, to a state of civil servitude.—•
It is essential, moreover, that it shrnld
rest, in the language of tho Dpclaration,
on 'the con-ent of the governed.' An
establishment that docs not conform to
these principles is not republican, wheth
er the power bo lodged with the r.Ugoi or
she orinlni. No matter as to its forms.—
We are not to be cheated "by appearances
or names. It was more than the mere
form tlmt the Constitution intended to
secure. And yet the process here ignores
things, and rests cither upon the
dimmest perceptions of free government,
or upon tiio Southern theory that fbe n*-
gro is not a man, or that this Government
was only intended for white men. If
the proposition were to exclude all men
of Celtic blood, what a sensation would it
not produce among the democracy ? If
the difference, however, is only against
the African, consistency would require
that he should also be excluded from tho
euumeration hereafter. With the end of
the 'divine institution,' the three-fiftfyq
clause, which stipulated for a representa
tion, not of or for him, who was not then
a man, but for his master, has ceased to
operate. If the freed slave is now a cit
izen, he has the right to all the privileges,
as he i? confessedly subject to all the du
ties which that relation involves. If in
stead ol rising from the fractional valuq
to that of an integer, he is no longer a
member of the Btate, ho must cease to
owe any other than a domiciliury allegi
ance, and tho idea of a representation
founded on his existence here, mast bq
exploded forever. And from this dilem
ma there is no escape. Ii he is a citizen,
the elective franchise is his right. If he
is nor, representation on that basis is log
ically inadmissible."
The effect of this oligarchic process 1*
to restore the governing class as before
witfiouf any check upon it. This we
cannot afford to do. Fortunately there is
a loyal element among tliein which help-r
ed us to tiring them back, and may Le
used in keeping tho peace by restoring to
them tho rights of which they have been
deprived. If a State government it not
Republican in form, we have full power
to make it so This powei cannot be ex
ercised by the President, neither by a re
fusal upon the part of Congress to admit,
tor that would be non-pcrformanoo, but
by an act of legislation, to enforce whipfe
will be the President's duty. These
States being without Governments, it is
our duty to supply them with new ones,
republican in form. If theijr black, pop
ulation ina sts upon a government that
shall admit them tothe rights of citizen
ship we cannot evade performance upon
the plea of a want of constitutional pow
er. According to our practice and the
spirit of our institutions the duty should
be left to the peoplo themselves in the
first instance, but if they falF'to 'do it, I
know of no other way than for