Southern enterprise. (Thomasville, Ga.) 1867-1867, July 30, 1867, Image 2

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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—-