Newspaper Page Text
Enterprise
(SEMI-WEEKLY.)
Xi. C. BRYAN, : : : : Editor.
THOMASVIJLiLE, GA.:
TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1867.
SPEECH OP MR. BROOKS.
We give up our space to-day to the
great speech of Mr. Brooks of New York,
io Congress on the 9th of July. We pub
lish that part of his speech only, in which
\\e analytes the amended Sherman Military
Bill, but every paragraph is a volume in
itself, and worthy of the most careful
study by every reader. -This speech
proves Mr. Brooks to be one of the ablest
men in the United States, and entitles
him to be ranked among the purest patri
ots of the country. Considering the cir
cumstances under which this speech was
delivered, and the character of his audi
ence Mr. Brooks’ boldness is surprising,
amounting almost to audacity, and his
great depth of thought, comprehensive
grasp of mind and powerful eloquence
must have fallen like successive peels of
thunder upon the corrupt hearts of the de
generate Radicals.
LATEST DISPATCHES.
P.lm. in order the latest dis
patches by telegraph, which are received
id. Thotnasville at 2 oclock P. M. Our rea
ders will doubtless approve the small delay
when they find that it furnishes them with
twelve hours later dispatches, than could
be obtained from any other source.
LAYING THE TRACK.
We have received information through
Mr. Maxwell, Chief Engineer of the At
lantic & Gjtlf Railroad, that the company
■Will commence on Thursday next to put
’down the iron on the extension from Thom
asville to Bainbiidge, and that the whole
track through to Bainbridge, will thereaf
ter be laid down with very little expected
delay.
Pay Yoon Taxes. —Tax payers are re
quested to read the notice we publish in
another place from Mr. 11. F. Mai,belt
Deputy Internal Revcnuo Tax Collector.
Those who fail to pay their taxes as requi
red must expect the penalties annexed.
g@“Registration in the Thomasville pre
•cinct stands as follows :
Whites, - . - 122
Colored, - - - 152
Total, ... 274
TELEGRAPH OFFICES
OPENED.
We are requested by Mr. W. 1).
Bryan, the operator at Thomasville,
and take pleasure in announcing that
Telegraph offices were opened in Vali
dosta and Quitman yesterday. Wo
congratulate our cotempories ot the
Times and Banner upon their good
luck.
Mr. Editor. —Please state In your paper
that the report getting into Circulation
that those registering have to pay a fee, is
•false and is oaloulatc-1 to provonl some
from Registering. Those circulating such
■a report are violating General Order No.
20, and are laying themselves liable to be
arrested.
Yours Respectfully.
ALVIN B. CLARK.
President Bord Registration.
TELEGRAPHIC
Western Union Telegraph-
Special to the £nterpri«e.
The Times’ Statement False.
Columbia, 8. C., July 30.—The state
ment made in the N. Y. Times this morn
ing is an exaggeration. Messrs. W. Arm
strong and J. O. Thompson, correspond
ents of (lie Cleveland paper, were assault
ed night before last by two drunken men.
Both were arrested beforo midnight by Iho
Chief of Police, who is a bi. : iier of one of
the assailants. The citiz i without ex
ception denounce the assault. It, was the
result of liquor and entirely unpremedi
tated.
Cholera, Trouble in Tennes
see and Rentuek.v.
Washington, July 29,—Dispatches from
Ellsworth, Kansas, says fifteen eases of
Cholera and five deaths have occurred.
The town is almost deserted and an Indian
raid expected.
Gov. Flanders returned to the city last
evening, and reports five deaths from yel
low fever and seventeen from clioler , last
week, The weather is cloudy with light
showers.
The prosecuting Attorney, Carrington,
in the Surratt trial, occupied the whole
day and is not done yet.
The President undoubtedly intends trans
ferring Gen. Sheridan to active duty: The
administration apprehends deplorable re
sults in Tennessee on Thursday.
The true substance of Gen. Thomas’ dis
patch to the President is, that the troops
in Kentucky cannot be spared, as they are
much needed there to maintain order.—
Gen’l Thomas hopes with the troops in
Tennessee to be able to maintain proper
order in the large cities of that State.
The Paris Moniteur of this morning de
clares the rumors of war, prevalent on the
Continent, without foundation.
The London Sincerity Monitcurs, repeats
the denial of war rumors, which arc doubt
ed here. The Times says these rumors
will check trade generally until next spring
From Mexico.
Gen’l. Berriozabel is having the earth
works around Matamaras levelled and the
ditches filled up. Fort Colleglo, com.
manding the road from Brownsville, al
ready gone} nine more forts to be raised.
The works were built by the French and
tGenaral Mejia.
Savannah Market.
Savannah, July 29.—Cotton firm and
moderate demand; 26 1.2 to 26 for mid
dling ; receipts 154 bales.
The first bale of New Cotton was re.
eeived by F. W. Sims & Cos., to-day, from
Florida.
New Orleans Market.
New Orleans, July 29.—Sales 600 bales,
firmer; low middling 25; receipts 629;
Louisiana sugar very quiet, stock light;
fully fair 44 a j ; Cuba sugar firm, light
•took, good enquiry ; fair 12} a 13 ; Cuba
Molasses,, large supply, moderate demand,
60 a6, according to lots; Flour dull no ; '
minnl choice, old §l3, new §l4 ; Corn dull,
weaker 115 to 40, whole range ; Oats firm,
stock light, 115; Pork quiet, but firmer,
26} ; Bacon only moderate, Jobbing’s de
mand, shoulders 14 a 14 1-4; clear 10 1-4
a 4 ; choice sugar hams 22 a3; Lard quiet,
but firm, stock light, tierces 13 1»2 ; Gold
forty to one quarter; Sterling 62 a 4 1-4 ;
York, sight, 1-2 a 5-8 premium.
New York Market.
New York, July 29.—Cotton quiet; sale 8
nine hundred bales; Flour dull, State, -six*
thirty and eleven, Southern nine ; nmberi
2.46, white 2.474, sixty-five; Corn active
and unchanged ; Pork twenty-three, eigh
ty-five-
Still Later.
Washington, July 30.—The Malta has
arrived at New York from Europe.
At Gloucester, Mass., a series of gas
explosions occurred in the cellar of the
Mansion House. The house is seriously
burned, and fifteen or twenty firemen are
reported dead.
London—Noon. —Consols 94, Bonds 72}.
Liverpool Cotton Market quiet, unchanged,
s lies 900 bales.
Savannah, July 30.—Noon Cotton
Firm ; prices unchanged from yesterday’s
quotations.
[FOR THE SOUTHERN ENTERPRISE.]
TO THE MEN OF COLOR IN
THOMAS COUNTY.
Number 6.
In my last I brought you down to
it. , iisv, wliulc United Stated
was a slave country; when slavery was
tolerated by the Articles of Confeder
ation, which governed the whole States,
and by the Constitutions of each of the
old Thirteen States seperately. Aii
that time every Yankee State held
slaves, and so continued to hold them
for about thirty years ; and during the
whole of that period we do not hear of
the first “compunctious visitings of
conscience” in regard ei’her to the hor
rid butchery among them while bring
ing them here, or the enormity of
holding them in bondage after being
brought here. The gain in gold kept
the conscience of the Yankee perfectly
quiet on the subject.
Thus matters went on until a Con.
vention of Delegates from the whole
people of the United States set aside
the Articles of Confederation, and es
tablished in its place the present Con
stitution ot the United States. This
was in the year 1788, seven years af
ter the close of the Revolutionary war.
Well, what was done by these tender,
footed Yankees in regard to slavery
then? Oh, just nothing at all. The
Yankees still owned all the ships, did
all the trading abroad, and the slave
trade still continued to be a very ex.
cellent institution, according to their
view of it; that is, they made a great
deal of money out of it; and as to its
barbarity and sinfulness, that was a
question that could be settled hereaf
ter. It was consequently sacredly
guarded by the provisions of the new
Constitution, and the Yankee made no
objection.
During these transactions in this
country, Wilber force, Clarkson, and
others, were operating powerfully in
England to suppress the slavetra.lo
and do away slavery in the British
West India Islands. This they finally
accomplished, and in the mean time
had raised a large abolition party in
Great Britain. This party, having
completed their work at home, com.-,
monced operations in the 11. States.
They were aided considerably by the
fact that white emigrants from Europe
were fast pouring into the Northern
States, quite equal to tho supply of
labor which they there needed. It
was further discovered that the white
emigrant could do more work than tho
negro in a cold climate; and above all
that, that white labor would savo tho
first cost of tho negro. A cliango very
suddenly came over the spirit of the
Yankee’s dream of gold and gain. Tho
negro was put into hits pocket, by sell
ing him at a good round profit to the
Southern Planter, and the cinigrunt
was substituted by them in his stead.
By this time the abolition party at. the
North had become quito numerous;
and, content as they were before, a
panic and horror suddenly took pos
session of tho Northern mind bocauso
of slavery and tho slave trade ; for they
did not any longer need tho slaves
themselves, and what they had they
Wanted to sell to their friends at tho
Sou tli.
Their first step was to fix a period
at which tho slave trade should bo
abolished, which was limited to the
year 1808, giving them time enough
to sond t.hcir slaves South and sell
them. To this tho South barely con
sented for the sake of peace. The
Constitution was so altered ; nnd the
Southern peop'e took It for granted
that the Yankees would then let them
nlono in quiet possession of the pro
perty which they had brought to them,
sold to them, and guaranteed to them
by the provisions of tho Constitution
as sound property. But so far lrorn
being satisfied with these multiplied
advantages, their appetites were but
whetted for more plunder, which I will
endenvofr to show you in my next num
ber.
Y’our loving
Uncle Ben.
NOT RECONSTRUCTION BUT
DESTRUCTION.
nEMAIIKS OF Tlir
HON. JAS. BROOKS,
lit the llouke, .liilj 0, |SU7.
Mr. Brooks having gained the floor
proceeded to speak, and thus analyzed
the “Supplementary Military Bill,” on
reconstruction :
Analysis oj the Bill.
This bill itself in its grand outlines
is a Pcntarchy—a bill creating five
monarclre—a bill ignoring tho Decla
ration of Independence and the Cou
stitution of the United States, nnd
over ten States of this Union install
ing the pcntarchy, or five monarchies,
more fearful, more odious, more dam
nable even than any that reign over
Europe or Asia, or even Africa, Let
us analyze this bill, then, and see
whether I exaggerate its character.—
What is its first section ? It subverts
the Governments in four of the old
States of this Union and in six othgr
States not of the original thirteen. —
It goes further than the two bills
which have preceded it, making worse
what seemed as bad as possible before,
in not only declaring those State gov
ernments “illegal,” but by going fur.
therand deelating them “void.” Hith
erto we have heard of “dead States”
—an idea first started, I think, in tho
Senate of the United States—States
whoso corpses only were existing.—
But here for the first time it is pro
posed to put into the form of law the
solemn declaration that the Govern
ments of ten States are void-; that
those States are dead, their govern
ments not only illegal, but void; and
these ten States of our Union, four of
them of the original thirteen that
formed the Constitution of the United
States.
No Respect in it, for the Memories of
the Mighty Dead.
Mr. Speaker, in framing this bill
no regard has been paid to the histo
ry of the past, not even to a sentiment
nor a recollection. When the name
of Greece or Home or any classic land
or anv classic institution is finp-le.l in
our ears, whenever we read of them
in history, there is associated with the
Parthenon, or with Marathon, or with
the Pantheon, the Capitoline Ilill, or
Tarpeian rock, something that touch
es the heart and makes the blood run
warmly through all our veins. But
here is a State across the Potomac
whose history is ours, that did more
for the creation of this Government
than any other State whatever; a
State more classic and glorious iu its
history than the Parthenon of Greece
or the Pantheon of Rome; a State
struck out of existence by the first
section of this infamous bill. Sir, I
have been upon the plains of Mara
thon and by the passes of Thermopli
ylte, and my heart has warmed as I
reflected upon the history of the noble
Greeks that there saved their native
land; hut never, nevor, amid all such
classic scenes have I over felt the en
thusiasm which inspired me upon the
rising grounds of Mount Vernon, be
fore the tomb of Washington, or upon
tho plains of Montpelier, or upon the
heights of MonticelJo, or when I have
fallen on my knees before the tomb
of Marshall. In no part of the earth
where an American may go, in no
place whore history makes a record ot
life, is there ground so classic and so
glorious as that within a fifty miles’
radius around tho city of Riohmond,
in Virginia. There, within that radi.
us, was born the father of his Country;
there flashed out the fiery and electric
eloquence of Patrick Henry; there
was born tho President of the first
Congress; there the homes of the Ran
dolphs and Harrisons; there the illus
trious Jefferson and Madison and
Monroe; there was born our Winfield
nnil fliprn bnvo Loon nuroed Iu«.
t,o existence somo of the most illustri
ous commanders of our own federal
Army.
And yet this State whoso record is
thus bright all over in history, a do
formed Congress, a mutilated Con
gress, a congress horn from the blood
and genius ot Virginia, strikes out
from tho Union that glorious star, the
star ol Virginia, a lost pleiad in dur
own history; a pleiad that will return
back with somo returning orb to shine
brighter and more beautiful ii tho
constellation of our country, brighter
than Orion or tho Pleades ever shone
in the ustionomical history of the ge
ographer.
South Carolina, too, is struck out,
the land of Rutledge and of Pinck
ney, and of Marion nnd of Sumpter;
Georgia, also, that gave tho c luntry the
two great Slates of Mississippi and Al
abama. Sir, whatever may have been
the errors of those States of the orig
inal thirteen, whatever wrongs in the
misjudgment of tho Constitution tlioy
mry have inflicted upon tho country,
whatever crimes they may have conn
milled, in the warmth of your hearts,
if you wero but men in your feelings
and sympathies, you would lccl now
“8 you feel for struggling Greece or
for tho Cretans in their contest with
the Turks, whoaro not inflicting upon
those people barbarities in principle
greater than those you proposo to in
flict in tho aot beforo you.
The I tola tion of the 'Treaty Acquir
ing Louisiana.
Now, Sir, two of theso ton States.
Louisiana and Arkansas, obliterated
by your bill, are but part of the great
Louisiana purchase. The faith of troa*
ties in the most solemn of obligations
is violated hero in the act which you
propo-o to pass into law by depriving
them of all protection for their liber,
ty and property. Arkansas, you will
remenibet, or you all know, is a part
of the Louisiana purchase. Arkansas
and Louisiana wore parts of that ter.
ritory of Franco, and which under tho
treaty of that purchase (1803,) arti
cle throo, lias tho following solemn
compact .-
“The inhabitants of the ceded ter.
ritory shall be incorporated in tho
Union of tho United States and ad
mitted as soon as possible according to
the principles of the Federal Consti
tution, to the enjoyment of all the
rights, advantages and immunities of
eitizons of tho United States; and in
tho moan time they shall be protected
and-maintained in tho enjoyment of
their liberty, property and tho religion
which they profess.”
This bill violates that troaty, that
solemn troaty; and Franoc, with all
her power, will havo tho right, the le
gal right, if this bill becomes a law,
to appear before us, and to claim that
ah tho civil institutions, all the rights
--tho rights of liberty and property
which we have shull also bo theirs
as citizens of the United States, W*
are solemnly pledged to a foreign
Power to govern the people of these
States according to the Federal Con
stitution, not by military commissions
nor by martial law.-; and hence what
we are doing is 'not only in violation
of high moral principles, but in viola,
tion of a most solemn treaty we have
made with France for the purchase of
Louisiana.
Retrospective , Retroactive , and Ec>
Dost- Facto.
.The last words of the first section
of the bill are as follows :
“And that thereafter said govern
ments, if continued, were to be con
tinued subject in all respects to the
military commanders of the respect
ive districts and to tho authority of
Congress.l’
No broader words can be used in a
grant of power. “Subject in all re.
spects to tho military commanders.”
If human genius had exerted its grea
test ingenuity to devise to rob the
people of their rights and, privileges,
to degrade and dishonor a people, to
trample twelve million people under
foot, it would have used these very
words, “subject in all respects to Hie
military commanders.”
In the second section, Mr. Speaker,
these military commanders arc given
the power—
“To remove Or suspend from office
any municipal orstate officer or per.
son exercising aotbority under or by
virtue of any so-eulled State govern
ment existing in his district; and that
the said officer so assigned to coin,
m ind as aforesaid is hereby empower
ed to appoint auother person in the
stead of an officer or person so remov
ed, if he shall deem proper so to do;
and whenever he may deem it neces
sary as aforesaid to prohibit, suspend
or set aside any act or proceeding of
any such State or municipal govern
ment, or any act or thing done under
or by virtue of its authority, and all
acts heretofore done by any such offi
cer in accordance herewith shall be
•deemed valid.”
All jets heretofore done shall be va.
lid ! Here are embodied tho most vi
olent principles of legislation, against
which we have attempted to be guar,
ded in the Constitution of of the Uni
ted States. It is a law to be not only
“retrospective,” which might in some
cases bo justified, but a law “retroact
ive,” which is unjustifiable, and a law
“<:.e post facto,’’ which is in defiance
of the Constitution of the United
States - It affirms and legalizes all
acts done heretofore by any such offi
cers. It is declared that they shall
bo deemed valid.
What it Legalizes in the Past.
Nor, have tho members of this
House given any attention to what we
are legalizing, what it is that is to be
deemed valid ? * * *
The Edicts of Sickles,
Tho genius of Sickles has been-pro
lific of edicts. I bold in my hand a
hatch of* them almost as voluminous as
tho Pandects of Justinian. He insti
into* o.lio»o iho oollnnfciou l/f
modifies tho ex sting laws for the en
forcement of judgments, utters decrees
for the payment of money, sets aside
proceedings instituted in tho courts,
prohibits in certain cases the right to
bring suits, enjoins proceedings on ex
ecution for tho term of twelve months,
giving new items in certain - cases, es
tablishes homestead exemptions, de
clares what shull be a legal tender,
abolishes in cortain eases the remedy
by foreign attachment, abolishing bail
as heretofore authorized in cases ex
eontracto, but not in other eases known
as actions ex delicto, &e., &o.
* * * *
And hero all these extraordinary
edicts of Sickles ruluting to property
and individual rights aro declared by
tho Anal line* of tho third section to
bo valid and to be as laws of the Uni
ted States under tho Sickles monarchy
of the Oarolinas.
One Thousand Edicts.
Sir, I know not how many orders
have been issued in all, from tho five
monarchies, but, from tho best infor
mation I can get, on computation I
can niako them someone thousand In
all. And hero, groping in the dark,
without knowing what wo do, we pro
nounco all these edicts or orders retro
spective, retroactive, cx post facto;
wo pronounce them all to be legal or
valid law.
Hoards of Registration, Black, White
and Yellow.
Tho third section of this bill directs
the registration I know not by how
many boards in tho Southern States,
hut I presume the computation is
small when I say that they must num
ber son e two thousand in all, for tlioy
have already cost 8500,000, and a sum
as much xUora is necessary in order to
keep them up. Theso Boards of Re
gistration are made up of white, black
and mulatto, the black predominating
in many cases, or tho mulatto balanc
ing the Board, so that there wilt be an
equal number, half white and half
black. These Boards, thus created,
are forbidden to regard the oath which
the citizen takes, and at their pleasure
they may strike jroin tho list the
name of any (mo already registered,
who in their judgment improperly
took the oath. And record evidence
is not to ho required, but parole evi
dence shall bo sufficient. The evil
donee of any negro or mulatto against
any white citizen will deprive him of
his right 'to vote. In all these doings
these two thousand boards of registry,
white black and yellow, arc “not to be
bound or governed in their action by
any opinion of any offioer of tho Uni
ted States Government;” for such are
the words ot the aot.
What a government and registration
you are thus creating in the Southern
States! Over two thousand boards
with different laws, different exposi
tion of the laws, different construe,
tions to be given to thorn throughout,
from the Potomac to the Rio Grande;
and however diverse or adverse shall
be that construction, no opinion of any
offioer of the government is binding
upon them, and there is to be np uni.
formjfcy of construction. Why, one of
the very blessings of government is
uniformity of action and cf law; but,
there you enact that tlrcre shall be two
thousand different laws of registration,
with no Federal officer or any other
power to create uniformity. The white
man is given up to tho negro, where
negro registers predominate, or vice
versa, if you please, and a premium is
thus created to start a war of races.
Overthrow of Courts, both Federal
and State.
The fourth section of this act not
only annihilates all State Courts —what
you have done before, but it goes yet
further, takes one new step, and for
the first time, strikes at the Govern
ment of the United States by deelar
ing—
“That no civil court of the U. States
or of any State shall have jurisdiction
of any proceedings, civil or criminal,
against any such di-trict commander,
or any officer or person acting by his
authority for or on account of the dis
charge of the duties imposed upon
him by this act.”
At first you were but bold enough
to strike out of existence the State
courts ; but now you are bold enough
to strike out of existence the courts of
the United States—to destroy them at
one fell blow, l'our ban is general
against courts and judges in any form.
\ T ou seem to have a horror of the wig
or the gown, and to trust only in epau
lettes as fit government for the people
of ten States.
Direct Attack upon the Constitution.
The fifth section deolares—
‘ That no district commander shall
be relieved from the command assign
ed to him, under the aforesaid acts,
unless the Senate shall have first ad,
vised and consented thereto, or unless
by sentence of court martial he shall
be cashiered or dismissed from the
Army, or unless he shall consent to be
so relieved.”
Sir, I know not what tho President
of the United States may do; I know
not what ho may feel it his duty to do;
I know that he is tho Executive Offi•
cer of the United States, pr mounced
at one time to be the Government ol
the Unitc l States, against whom it
was disloyal to utter even a word of
censure. I know that ho was the
gre it power, the Brobdjngnag of the
Government. But lie has suffered
himself to be bound by a set of miser
able Lilliputians, and there in the
cords with which they have bound him,
ho struggles, but now struggles in vain
to free himself. Thus, having bound
him you now propose to re-'violate the
Constitution, (article two, section 2,)
and to take from him the command of
the Army of the United States. Ybu
forbid him to exercise his constitu
tional authority to post his generals
where lie thinks tho public interest,
demands. Sir; if I were President of
tLo TTnito.l Statoß, before I put a veto
on this high-handed act, I would send
Sheridan to govern the States of Mas
sacliusettcs aud Maine, to make or un
make their governors, judges, their
police, what their Representatives
seetn to rejoice in when practiced upon
others ; while I would send Sickles to
Walrussia to eduoate the Esquimaux,
or to be educated by them’in the prin
ciples of civil and constitutional liber
ty. But you tell me you would then
impeach the President. Sir, there are
worse conditions in life than being im
peached by a mutilated Congress of
these United States, and ono of them
is being used to destroy tho Constitu.
tion and Government ol these United
States. I tell the President the only
oh an co he now has of being re-elected
President of the United States is in
being impeached by a Rump House,
and turned out by a ltump Senate,
and the Presiding Officer of tho Sen.
ate being forced into his place. Sir,
if the revolution ends thus, the histor
ical end of all such revolutions as we
are passing through, and if we make
President that gentleman who with
Senators has been “swinging round
the circle” in Nebraska, Missouri, and
Kansas, there making, as reported,
agrarian speeches, ala Prudhomme ot
the French Revolution, then, when we
oomc to his divisions of property, be,
ginning here in this House, say. with
the Representative from Boston, or,
the Representative from the Taunton
district and ending with him from
Lyon, then, I say, such will bo the
common re dry, that in the intoxica
tion of our joy, wo may rc-el -et the
present President ol tho United States.
By tho Constitution, the higher law,
t he supreme law, the President is made
commander of the Army and Navv ;
and ho is faithless to that Constitution
if in the apprehension of impeachment
lie suffers that power to depart from
him, as you propose in the fifth sec
tion.
Made Fiercer and Fiecer By Amend
ments.
And now, ns if this bill was not bad
enough, gentlemen after gentleman
proposes to make it fiercer, to add ot its
ferocities. The honorable gentleman
ftoui Ohio [Mr. Ashley] amends the
bill by ordering all State, county and
municipal officers to take the test oath,
in order to concentrate all local re
presentation in the military order.—
Another honorable gentleman from
lowa. [Mr. Wilaonj from whom 1
had expected better things, proposes
to punish any person who attempts to
pnvent or obstruct the execution of
these acts by a fine of $3,000, to be
levied Iy the military commander, or
imprisonment of one year, or both the
S3, fine and jail, as the military
commander may will. Another gen
tleman, from Missouri, [Mr. Benja
min,] proposes to be less merciful than
his Maker, which is to allow no pres,
idential pardon to avail an unhappy
southencr, but to keep him forever
excluded from his citizenship—his
right to vote. There seems to be a
competition among gentlemen on the
other side to out bid each other in the
arts of cruelty and all the devices of
degradation and punishment; and we
are indebted to'the tender mercies, it
seems, of the gentleman fror Pennsyl*
vania [Mr. Stevens] to save us from
another Draconian code.
Magna Charta, Bill of Rights , SfC.
Mr. Speaker, I was about to be so
much out of order as to quote the
Constitution of the united States and
to show this House that this bill could
not be passed by men who have sworn
here to support that Constitution ; but
I forbear. I know there is but little,
very little respect for that instrument
here, and some on this floor have gone
so far as to pronounce it “played out.”
There is, however, gome respect felt
in this House —more especially by
lawyers here—for what are known as
Magna Charta, the petition of right,
the bill of rights, extorted by our
British ancestors from their kings.—
Uern-o, I propose to go back to those
< cat eras ot British liberty, in order,
i passible, to arouse tho American
lawyers hero to that noble defense of
human rights, which British lawyers
have seldom or never failed to make.
In the most disastrous days of British
history, when all liberty seemed to be
cloven down, the British bar ever sent
forth some brilliant men to uphold
Magna Charta and the bills of rights,
while I regret to say the American
bar, have failed us in the hour of trial.
I beg the Reput lican lawyers, then,
in this House to hear me read a chap
ter from Magna Charta, which was ex
torted from King John in the year
1215 by oursemi-barbarious ancesturs.
*****
“No freeman shall be taken, or im
prisoned, or disseized of his freehold
or his liberties or free custoraes or bo
outlawed or bacnished, or in any way
destroyed; and we will not pass upon
him, nor condemn him but by the
lawful judgement of his peers, or by
the laws of the land. We will sell
(referring to justice and its adminis
tration) to no man, and we will not
deny nur defer either right or justice
to any man.”
This was as long ago as 1215. Tho
confirmatio ehartarum in the reign of
King Elward wa3 in 1297; and in the
reign of Henry 111 there was a like
declaration. The right of trial by jury,
by a jury of his peers, was guaranteed
to every British-born subject, even iu
barbarious ages. But here, in this
Congress, in spite too of our Declara
tion of Independence, here, too, in
this mournful year 1867, twelve mil
lions of human beings, white and black,
are denied all trial before their peers,
all courts or processes of law; and we
propose to enact a measure more bar*
barious in principle, more indefensible
than any of the violent and extraordi
nary acts of King John, from whom
the British barons extorted this char
ter.
Our own Declaration of Rights, Sp.
Sir, if there is no respect paid here
to tnagna chatta extorted from King
John by the barons at Runnymede, 1
trust some respect will be paid to the
illustrious spirits of our own history
who in tho last generation, in all tho
States of this Union, copied from.
Magna Oharta, and embodied in their
various State Constitutions, similar
princibles of human liberty.
North Carolina Declaration.
North Carolina is one of the States
that you propose to strike out of the
Union —North Canlina, where origi
nated the Dcrlaration of Independence
—the Mecklenburg declaration, which
was adopted some time before Mr.
Jefferson had drafted the Declaration
put forth by the Continental Congress
The first declaration of the State of
North Carolina contains these provis
ions :
“That all political power is vested in
and derived from tho people only.
“That tho people of this State ought
to have the sole and exclusive right of
regulating the internal government
and police thereof.
“That no freeman shall bo put to
a swer any criminal charge, but by
l'i meat, presentment, or impeach
! I', J
• li it no freeman shall bo convicted
my crime but by tho unanimous
verdict of a jury of good and lawful
men in open, court, as heretofore used.
“That no freeman ought tube taken,
imprisoned, or disseized of his free
hold, liberties, or privileges, or out
lawed, or in any manner destroyed, or
deprived of his life, liberty, or proper
ty, but by tho law of the land.
“That tne people have a right to
bear arms for the defense of the State ;
and as standing armies in time of
peace are dangerous to liberty they
ouuht not to be kept up; and that the
military should be kept under strict
subordination to, and govorned by, tho
civil power.’’
Massachusetts!. New Hampshire and
Vermont Declarations,
Hut North Corolina is a Southern
State. I call the attention of gentlei
men, then, from Massachusetts to ther
own princibles of liberty, their own
declaration of rights:
* * * * *
The Rights in the Declaration of In
dependence.
Sir, the Declaration of Indcpcni
donee in numerous sectiont cendemns
in spirit and intent the whole prii ci
oiple ol this bill, and I do not wonder
that on the 4th of July last the Repub
lican party lailed to celebrate it as
heretofore, for this Declaoation of In
dopende ce cannot be read now in a
Republican assembly without making
evory Republican blush.
But, Southrons are Subjects, no more
Citizens.
I know I am to be told that wc have
the power, as the South is a conquer
ed people, to pass the bill; that the
constitution is abrogated there aud
that by the right of oonquest we cart
niako this extraordinary law. Sir, ther
honorable gentleman from Fenqsylvat
nia, (Mr. Stevens,) who introduced!
this bill, proposed at first only confls*
cation, but here is an enslavement of*
twelve millions of human beings in
this bill. First it abrogates all their
rights of property. The liberty of
the citizens is entirely in the hands of
(he military commanders. The life of
evsry man is at the absolute disposal
of one man and that man the PresD
dent of the United States. Tell me,
oh ! tell me not, then, of four million
black people having been emancipated
from chattel slavery, when by this act
you impose a cruel legal slavery in its
most odious forms, without the right
of property, liberty, or life, without
any personal right, upon eight million
white human beings, a worse than
chattel slavery.
I deny, Sir, that there is anything
which justifies confiscation, or tho
passage of such an act under the right
of conquest. 1 could read whole
chapters from Grotius, or Vattel, or
Puffendorf, and from Wheaton and
Story and Kent, which condemn this
bill. It is in utter defiance ot natu
ral, and national, and constitutional
law, and L say to you now, that may
be concerned in it, many of you will
live to repent of the tyrany here
about to be perpetrated, as bygone ty
rants have repented of like tyranny
perpetrated upon their people. I
might cite the prize cases if I had
time, and show that tlu-y condemn the
principles of this bill.
All history condemns it too. Rome
was built up in utter defiance of this
bill. Romo governed every country,
not by conquest and subjugation such
as you propose, but by assimilatiug tho
conquered .subjects with the Roman
citizens, by giving them Roman right*
and Roman privileges and Roman cit*
izenship, while here are eight million
white human beings whom you deprive
of every right At an American citizcnv
Even the Tartars, when they conquer
ed China, did not destroy the institu.
tions of China, but assimilated their
institutions with those of the conquer
ed. And' when- 1 yrus conquered the
Assyrians of old, he respected their
rights and privileges, and guaranteed
to them all the liberties they possess
ed.
There is no parallel in-history for
this bdl hut that of the infamous con
duct of the Duke of Alva, in Spain.
Answer me not that lie destroyed
twenty shousand live3, for here you
destroy what is more precious thaw
life; the right of man to his liberty,
the sentiment that he is a man, that
he is equal before other men. Why,
Sir, I. had rather lose my life a thous
and times thud live under tho govern
ment of these five mon&rcba-as- estab
lished by the infamous principles of
this infamous bill. Our*English an*
cesters, even Charles IL after th«s
bloodiest of civil wars, gave peerages
to Monk and Fleetwood and a mitre
to Baxter, while you only give mili
tary tyrants to your people, and de
declare a total abnegation of their
rights. Even Louis XVIII, though
a Bourbon, made marshals and states
men of Bonapartists. while you have
exerted in this bill all your ingenuity
to deprive the white people of their
right to vote. When Hungary was.
subjugated and overthrown tho Em
peror of Austria did not exert suchr
tyrauieal power over the Huus, for ha
gave them a constitution and ho gave
them a parliament, while you take
away frbm the Southern people their
constitution and laws, and refuse theta
representation in the national legisla
ture. The Duke of Wellington and
Sir Robert Reel, two great tories, were
more liberal and merciful to the Irish
people thau you arc to tho people of
the South. Although O’Connell was
the instigator of riots in Ireland, the
Duke of Wellington and bis party did
not refuse him a scat as a member
from tho county of Clare, while yon
shut out tho Kentucky delegation
from scats here simply for the reason
that they differ from you in politics,
and for that and that, alone.
Sir, I deprecate the passage of this
bill in its effect upon the people of the
Southern country. Far better wculd
it bo for that land, from the I'otomao
to tho Rio Grande to boas it was one
hundred and fifty years ago, a howling
wilderness, tliau to be subjected to the
amalgamation of races which you are
proposing in this bill. Our country is
now made up of many different races,
not only Caucasian, Mongolian, Indian,
Chinese, with Japanese about to come
here in the Pacific steamers hy thou
sanJs, and at last the Esquimaux ; but
you have selected the least intelligent,
the poorest informed, except the Es
quimaux' ; you have selected tho Af
rican to share with you copartnership
in this Government, while your own
wives and children, your minor boys
are shut col from the right of suffrage.
You have given to the negro equality
and copartnership with the white mac.
Sir, it is impossible for these two ra
cee, in my judgment, ever to live to
gether on terms of intimacy, amity
and friendship, as you propose in tbit
bill. You have stored up and are yet
storing up for them the elements of
awful strife whioh will produce a per*
petual conflict of races.
Sir, the negro Hayticn is wiser than
you lie allows no white mat) to own
real estate on that island. The black
Liberian is wiser than you. lie ah
lows no white man to share with him
the government of that country, ibe
experiment in Jamaica of a mingled
government has broken down, and all
tree government there is absorbed by
the Hntish Parliament, which now
{hrough orders in council, disregard'
mg both white and blacks, exercises
supreme power. Nowhere on earth
has ever this mixed government sac
ceeded.
One race is superior to another—-