pH8^ DISPERSION OF THE LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE AND THE GENERAL CONDITION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES. SPEECH OF GEORGIA, UNITED STATES SENATE, JANUARY 39, 1875. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1875. H qL^^ SPEECH ^ OP HON. JOHN B. GORDON. Tlio Seuatc having under consideration the resohitiou sn\)mitted by Mr. ScriURZ . on the 8th of January, directing the Committee on the Judiciai-y to inquire what legislation is necessai-y to secure to the people ol tlie State of Louisiana their rights of self-government under the Constitution — Mr. GORDON said : Mr. President : I am compelled to ask a lieariug ou this subject ouce more. lu my recent remarks in the Senate Jf/irZ not denounce, as has been 80 ronndly asserted, either the Government of the United States, or the present Administration or any man connected with it. I made no allu- sion to President Grant, none to General Sheridan, none to recent events in Louisiana. And although in a representative republic I can conceive of no higher duty of a citizen than to defend the princi- ples of his government and its administration when right, or, on the other hand, to criticise the latter when wrong, yet I abstained from all discussion of these, expressly stating my purpose to do so for rea- sons given at the time. I rose then simply to correct the erroneous impressions Avhich prevailed here and to repel assaults made upon the southern people, and to express my abiding confidence that the spirit of animosity manifested in this deliate was not the spirit of the north- ern people, soldiers or citizens. This, and only this. Apprehensions, however, expressed at the time, that the utterances of any southern man upon this floor would be misconstrued and misjudged, have been abundantly coniirmed. But, sir, no such violent demonstrations as we have witnessed, no such exhibitions of prejudice and of passion, however irritating under other circumstanees, should swerve from the discharge of duty nor tempt an American Senator to descend from the height of this great argument, nor silence his confident appeals to reason and to the sense of justice of the American people. What are tlie questions which we ought legitimately to discuss without passion or prejudice ? First. Was the recently dispersed Legislature of Louisiana a law- ful body ? Second. Independent of the question of its legality or illegality, was the Constitution of the United States by that dispersion broken ? Involved in those is a third question, to which I shall give most of my time, namely, the general condition of the Southern States. As to the legality of that body, I have heard but four objections urged : First. That the clerk was prevented from propounding the ques- tion and deciding the result upon the election of speaker ; Second. That that question was propounded, and the result declared in the midst of great excitement and confusion; Tbird. That tlie yeas and nays Averc not ordered and recorded upon xLe eleitiuii of sjieakcr; and Fourth. Tliat after the organization, five members who did not liohl certitiiates of election were admitted to seats. I beli»'ve I have stated the cjuestions and tlie objections fully and fairly. Nnw, it has been repeatedly said that it was the duty of this clerk to projiound the (|uestion and declare the result. When the Senator from New York [Mr. Conkijxg] on yesterday announced that he intended to show that such was the duty of the clerk, I was prepareil to see some other law ])roduced than that whicli has been so often quoted. The only provisions of law so far as the duty of the clerk is concerned may be foinid in section 44, act 98, 1872, and are iu these words : That it shall bo the daty of the secretary of state to transmit to the clerk of the liouso of n-pri'sentatives and the seciotaiy of the senate of tlie last Gentiral Assem- lily a list of the names of such persons as, according to the returns, shall have been eleete;.ive to place the names of meniliers "p"" the !• iiled tliat there is any law, eoiistitu- tioiial or statutory, wliich letinired hiiu to preside aud xHit motions and declare results. But in Peiiusylvaiiia, the moderator wliora Cleveland ignored is expressly made by the constitution of the church itself and by its laws the proper and only organ to preside during the organization and to put motions and declare results. One clause of the constitu- tion of the church, article 2, defining the duties of moderator, says he shall, "require the members * * * always to address the <-hair." In all questions he shall state "the object of the vote,^' and " shall then declare how the question is decided." In article 3 of the church constitution it is also prescribed " the moderator * * * shall be chosen from year to year," * * * " aiid shall hold the chair until a new moderator is chosen." Here, then, the law upon which the church rests and which pre- scribes the office of moderator, defines his diities and the time of holding office and declares that he and he only shall preside, except in his absence, when some one else may be called to the chair ; and he and he onlj- shall i)ut motions and declare results. A motion there- fore put and declared by any one else was clearly illegal, revolution- ary, and void. Sir, where is the law in Louisiana or anywhere else requiring of a clerk any such duties, or conferring upon him any such powers ? It does not exist. Wliat becomes, then, of the Sena- tor's argument ? In this church case cited by the Senator from New York the chief justice, delivering the opinion of the court, says: " When the organization of the whole had proceeded to a certain point by the instrumentality of the moderator of the preceding session, who for that purpose v.as the conslitiitional organ," «&c. In another place the court declare hiui " the estahlished organ" &c. In still another, " he -was the mechanical instrument of their organization, and till that %pas accomplished they were subject to his rule." Now, sir, whenever the Senator from New York or the majority of the Senate produce any siich law, or any law whatever, declaring it the duty of the clerk, and none other, to preside, to put motions, and declare I'esults, then the country will agree that the act of Mr. Bil- lieu in ignoring the clerk of the Louisiana Legislature was an illegal act ; but not till then. Article 22 of the constitution of Louisiana declares that the House shall choose its speaker and other officers ; but how it shall choose them, whether tnva voce or by ballot, whether by electing a temporary chairman, whether upon the motion of a member put by the clerk or by the member making it, is left entirely within the discretion of that body. As to the second objection, I have only to say, that if putting a question and declaring a result in the midst of excitement and con- fusion be valid, it would destroy the legality of a large number of Legislatures in the United States. The third objection is that the yeas and nays were not ordered and recorded upon the election of speaker. Th^ honorable Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Frelinghuysen] and the honorable Senator from Ohio [Mr. Sherman] have both labored long and ably to show that there was in this a palpable violation of law. There is no proof, so far as I have seen, that the call for the yeas and naj^s ever reached the ear of the propounder of the motion. If it did not, then in point of law it was really never made. But suppose the yeas and nays were called and that the call reached the ear of the mover of that resolution, and he by a wrong decision overruled this call and arbi- trarily refused to put it, would that render illegal the organization 6 of that body? If so, it places it within the power of any jnesiilino- oflicor of a legishitive assenihly, by an unparlianientaiy, illegal, or iineonstitntioiial rnlinj;, to (lissii)ate the le<;ality of any body and resolve it into its orij^iiial elements. That portion of the const itutioii of Louisiana recited by these lioiH)rable Senators which reciuiies the yeas and nays to be recorded upon the jonrnal at the desire of any two nienibers does not, cannot by any ruh^ of lej^al or parliamentary eonstrnction, refer to tlie election of offieci'S, but it refers to Ic()>slat)re ])roccedinama they are without any (|ui)rum of tliose who hold certifi- cates according to law. In Louisiana tliey have largely more than a quorum of those who hold such certificates. In Alabama they organize under othceis unknown to the law, and in direct, o]>cn, ]ial]iable, acknowledged violation of the fundamental law of that State — flie const itution of Alabama. In Louisiana they are organized, as I have shr)wn, whatever may be said of irregulari- ties, without any violation of law, and at least with greater conform- ity to constitutional re((iiirement. Yet this Alabama reiuiblican Leg- , lature, conv<'ning at a court-house with less than a quorum, with jio clerk to call the roll, organized in absoiutii violation of the consti- tution of the State, is allowiul to send its re])rcsentative to thisCliam- ber, and a majority receives him. In iiouisiana a conservative body, organized (crlaiiily wiili great i-r <'niitrocedurc ? Informalities ! What did the Senator from Indiana say in the Alabama case ? Then informalities wei-e not at all of essence. Then the absence even of a quorum was not vital. Then the meeting in a place unknown to former Legislatures Avas not vital. Then the admission of members without certificates was not vital. Then a palpable violation of the constitution of the State of Alabama, as he acknowledges himself was the case, was not vital. That was a repub- lican body. But now, in a conservative body, irregularities, excite- ment, and informalities, the admission of members without certifi- cates, are so vital, that they justify the dispersion of a Legislature by the Ajmy. Does the Senator reply, as he did, that subsequent examination showed that those who held no certificates in Alabama were really elected ? The reply is that subsequent investigation shows that those who were excluded in Louisiana were also really elected. How then, let me ask, is the reception of members without certificates by a republican Legislature a lawful procedure, while the very same act is, when done by conservatives, a gross fraud ? How is a republican Legislature thus constituted competent to elect a United States Sen- ator, while a conservative Legislature similarly constituted is to be regarded as a riotous mob ? The honorable Senator from Indiana was either right or wrong in the Alabama case. If he was right then, he is wrong now; for it is logically impossible that he can be right in both. If he was wrong in the Alabama case, then a Senator holds his place, to use the strong language employed by the Senator from Indiana, by a fraud and the body which sent him here was a mob. If he was right in the Ala- bama case, then unquestionably a lawful body in Louisiana has been dispersed by the United States Army and the Senator approves. Let him take either horn of the dilemma. Sir, these conclusions are too logical to require argument. The facts are clear, pertinent, and overwhelming, and there is no escape from them. Ah, sir, the Senator from New York [Mr. Coxklixg] was right yesterday when he said that times change and men change with them. Let me paraphrase that a little, and apply it to the course pursued by that honorable Senator and the majority of this body in the cases of the republican Legislature of Alabama and the conserv- ative Legislature of Louisiana. I mean no disrespect when I put it thus — party necessities change, and with them the majority changes its ideas of constitutional laAV. When party necessity requires it, a republican body, organized in acknowledged violation of the State constitution, is held constitutional enough to elect a Senator. When a conservative body is organized with certainly far less of irregularity it is held illegal, a fraud and a mob, to be dispersed by the Army. Mr. President, the people of the United States have not lost all ideas of law and consistency and they will never sustain the Senate in a course in conflict with both. It will be observed that I have made no comment Tipon the officers of the Army or their action ; nor is it my purpose to do so now, for reasons of a peculiar character. But inasmuch as there seems to be an inflexible purjjose to mistake all that I can say, I beg to reproduce as my i)reseiit sontimeute words uttered by me upon another occasion. I said : I may as well express an opinion liere which I have often expressed in'private, and wliieh I now rc^peat iu this most public Imannor, namely, that had the questions which have so disturbed the country been left to the soldiers of the two armies aftiT the surrender, we should hiive iiadlessof ill-will between the. sections. It was my fortune, as the c«>iiiinaiidi-r of one wing of the southern army at Ap- pomatto.x, to be .selected to confei- with tlie general ofhcers of the Federal Army as to the terms of surrender and parole. Letnie state a fact which ought to be re- corded as most honorable to the commanders of the successful army. In the long conference between us no word of exultation escaj)ed the lips of these commanders ; but, on tlie contrary, they avoided any semblance of exultation which might in- crease the giief of the defeated. So careful were these officers, that they declined to speak of battles iu which they had been successful, and with a consideration and deference which deeply iui- pressed me, turned the conversation to engagements in which they themselves had ueen defeated. The soldiers of both armies can but respect each other. Alike, they were hon- est, earnest, and true to their convictions. Alike, they endured the fatigue of the march, the privations of the c:amp, and the lonely bivouac of the jiicket. Alike, they felt the chagrin of defeat and theglory of \'ictory ; and together these soldiers woulil liave united in writing the epitaph of the dead of both ai-mies. " They fell in the discharge of duty." To show the feeling of generous regard which pervades the whole body of confederate soldiers, I wish to have read the resolutions adopted by the survivors' association of confederates, held iu Macon, Georgia. The Secretary read as follows : R^Kolrrd, That this association is not intended to keep alive the i)assions aroused by the late civil war, but for the puri)ose of perpetuating the memories of our fallen comrades in anus, who illuslrated upon the battle-field, when opposed to those wore at that time their foes, tlic heroism and fortitude of true American soldiers ; aiul, further, to aflfbrd such aid and support as in our power lies to their widows and orphans. Renolved. Tliat we cordially greet all true northern men who fought again.st us in our late untVn-tunate struggle as foemen worthy of our steel, and award to them the Slime meed of piaise tliat we claim for the confederate soldier. lleHnlved. Adopting the motto, ''United wo stand, divided we fall." welongtosee the day when all tlie biave men now liviug who wore the "blue" and the "gray" may bo once more fully united iu feeling and sentiment, and our whole country lestored to i»eace and jirospority. Mr. GORDON. As further evidence of the fact that I have not been mistaken in the spirit of the northern or southern peophi, sol- diers or citi/eus, I heg to refer to another fact, which rellects houor upon both sections. At the last confederate memorial service in the city of Montgomery, Alal)aiua, a galhmt cr)nfederate officer delivered an address, which was reproduced in the nortliern press. It chanced to fall under the eye of a northern woman, who caused to be sent to that confederate officer a beaiitit'ul goblet, with tliese words engraved upon it: From a nortln-rii woman, widowed and bereft of her .sons by the war, to Major Thomas G. Jones, of Mnntgimiery, Alabama, as a token of appreciation of his maiily and generous words in reference to the northern dead. As further evidence of the fact thtit I did not mi.sjudge when I said that tlie constant references in tliis debate to those who were here by tlie chiiii'iicji of the (lorenimevi and the bitter anatluMuas daily ))oured out against tlie southern people did not liiid an echo in tlic liearts of northern soldiers and citizens, and that such efforts would fail to lire the Nortli with these dead ii.i.ssions and consolidate tbe jieople of tliat wet ion for iurllor oiiiuession of the .South, I 1)eg to have read fnuu the disk th ■ letter ot one who is the equal in all respects except 9 in official positiou of any upon this floor — a man whom I never saw, but who is vouched I'or by a leading republican Senator hero as a gentleman o*f the highest character. I ask the Clerk to read that portion which I have marked. This is one of vei y ninny letters of similar character which have reached me. The Secretary read as follows : I have read ■with interest your speech in the Senate of yesterday, ns leporled by the Associated Press, and I desire to thank you for the sjiirit and tuniper dis- jtlayed in it. I do not wonder that you aie indignant iu view of what lias been done and said. * * « j ^jj^ very glad you were so gnarded and tenii)erato in your comments. * * * That yoii may imderstand that it is not from democrat-'^ alone at the North that yon are to expect sympatliy and friendship foi' the South, I will mention tliat I was three years in the Union Army, was iu three of the prisons of the South, and have always voted the republican ticket since that party was formed ; yet 1 am indignant at what has been done iu New Orleans this week, and I have seen much to condemn in the party with which I voted in its treatment of the South for several years, and I kuow that very many republicans feel as I do at this time on this entire subject. As you said yesterday, the differences of the war ai-e in the past. Divisions be- tween citizens of our common countrj' mvist be by other lines than those which separated us at Richmond and Petersburgh, when we of the twenty-fourth army corps came to have such hearty respect for yourself as a soldier, and for the bravo men whom you led so gallantly. Indeed I may say what I presume you know, that the old soldiers of the Union Army have a. peculiar attachment to and confi- dence in those who stood over against them iu the confederate army, and fought out their difterences to the end. I write this to you. personally. I do not wish to be brought into any public politi- cal controversy. * * * i only speak as I do because I know that many rispubli- cans who were Union soldiers feel as I do on these que.stions, and I want you to understand this. The true-hearted and sore-tiied southerners who have borne themselves with patience and bravery under ciicumstances the most perplexing have the respect and warmest sympathy of many, very many, at the North who were opposed to them in the days of war, and are not at one witli them in political questions. Mr. GORDON. Once more. I shall now read the closing paragraph of a proclamation issued under circumstances not dissimilar to those which surround us now and which we are discussing — issued by one who in all the cjualities that make up a great soldier, in efficiency, in ability, in courage, in devotion to his flag and his country, was the equal of any, and who without doubt was one of theknightliost soldiers of the Federal Army; one whose sword, while war lasted, was ever gleaming in the front of battle, but who when war was ended laid his untarnished blade on the altar of civil law. I refer to Major-General Winfiiild S. Hancock. I will read: Solemnly impressed with these views the general announces that the great prin- ciiHes of American liberty are still the lawful inheritance of this people, and ever should be. Tile right of trial by jury, the habeas corpus, the liberty of the press, the freedom of speech, thenatural rights of per sons, and the rights of property, must be preserved. These are words, sir, which ought to l>e stamped on the records of this land as tliey are on the hearts of that same i)eoplB who to-day plead for a restoration of their civil government. But to resume the argument. The second question is, whether the Constitution of the United States \yas broken in the dispersion of the Louisiana Legislature ? It does not matter so far as this question is concerned whether that body was legal or illegal. It will not be seriously urged, I presume, tliat a condition of aftairs existed at the time of that dispersion which could by any possibility bring the use of troops within the purview of the Federal Constitution. There is no word iu all the length and breadth of that instrument which contem- plates, even remotely, that the Federal Army or Federal authority shall decide upon the constituent elements of a Legislatiu-e ; nor is 10 it any oxouse to say Kollofjg ordered it. Kellogg had no more right to deteruiiue whetlier live men wlio Averc ejected were entitled to seats there than yon had ; nor had he any right to arrest one claim- ing to he a mendicr. That hody could just as lawinlly, hy the same iustrnmentality, have arrested him and ejected him and his subordi- nates and his courts from their positions. The constitution of Louisi- ana provides expressly for police regulations for keeping order, for the arrest of persons, for the compelling of attendance, and for the expulsion of members by its own powers and otificers, and this prerog- ative belongs nowhere else. Nor does it strengthen the case to plead that the conservatives iirst asked the military to keep order in the galleries or to clear the galleries. The request by a body itself that order shall b<^ kept in the galleries, or that the galleries shall be cleared by an outside force, certainly cannot logically be pleaded as an excuse for the invasion of that bodj^ and for an iufjuiry by the invading force into tlie rights of members, with power to disperse. But I will not pursue this argument further. These positions have not been met because they cannot be met. The Senator from New York, who has just taken his seat, spent much time in proving how small a difficulty might be regarded in law as a riot ; but he failed to show either that there was a riot in the Louisi- ana Legislature, and, if there was, by what law such riot justified the Army or Kellogg in deciding who were and who were not entitled to seats in that body. No other Senator on the other side of the Chamber, I think, has as yet come any nearer to the great constitutional question. When asked to ]ioiut out the law which authorized that intervention, the rei)ly is. "murders," "assassinations," "White Leagues," "ojiposi- tion to the civil-rights bill." Such evasions of the true issue Avill not divert the American people from the startling fact that the law has been broken by those who, under the law, are made conservators of the law. The honorable Senator from Ohio [Mr. Sherman] said the other day that in this government of the people by the people the majority must rule. I {)refer to say that in this governnu^nt of the people, the sover- eigntj' of the people nuist express itself through a majority in accord- ance with laiv. Sir, the law is our greatest sovereign. An old English jurist, the greatest of them all, said that even "the kiug in his realm Inid two superiors, God aiul the laws." The people of Arragon said to their chosen luonaich, "there is one between us and thee greater than thyself; it is the law." Our fathers said that no man, however exalted his i)osition or meritorious his services, should ever transgress the law ; and that its ])rotection should extend forever, to remotest generations, to themselves and their posterity, embracing the hum- blest and the vilest citizen of the land. And in every country, in ev(;ry age, whenner justice is administered or freedom has afoot- hold, the law has been a restraint upon majoiities, a iirotection to minorities; higher than sovereigns, stronger than armies — the sole legis of liberty. Why, sir, what protection is there for the East against the popu- lous West, or for the West against a combination of the East and Middle, States, if the law is not arbiter? It will not do to say that in this enlighteneil ag<; majorities will do no wrong. They will do wrong, 'llii^ history of all ])0|iiil;ir go\ernnients that ever existed upon ('arth proves the truth of the assertion. Von can just as easily break . 1 >u noi say, then, tliat wp attemi)ted toovtn-t'.iiow your Ooveniiiifut; for tliero it sttMxi, after' wo left you, ouo of the greatest aud most powerful nationalities npon the face of the earth. There was no disputo between the two .sections ahoiit the form of government. Devotion to llu^ Conslitution, to the ])riii(iiilcs of American fiecdom, was the foun- tain at which botli sections drank in inspiration for the stnpcnilons war which they maintained. And when tliat war closed witii defeat for the South and victory for the AOrth the controvcsrsy was closed also. The rc.snlt of that victory has been to I iiiboily in the (Constitution two fiieat principles — the legal indi.ssolubility of the American Union and the universality of human freedom on the American conti- nent. Mr. GORDOX. One otlior remark I wish to make in this connec- tion. It is tliis: When this country shall he united and concord and confidence restored, and when a conflict Avith foreign powers shall come, that then some of those who now are hadgered on this floor hy some of the victors, will he found as near the front and spilling their hlood as freely in the commoudefeuse and for thelife of theKepublic, astheir i^satiato judges. I5ut I have been betrayed into a digression. I have said that in making up the record as to the. condition of the Sotith I should intro- duce no witness whose integrity and truth would he impeached. I shall not attempt to answer the absurd charges of intimidation in dis- tricts Avhere both j>arties indorsed the same candidate, nor to reply to statements drawn from sources inaccessible to the j)ublic and from hearsay and rumor. Mr. President, as a sample of some of the testimony which has T)ecn introduced, I refer you to evidence recently taken before a committee in the other end of the Capitol. A witness in the last few days appeared and testified that at Eufaula, Alabama, in the last campaign, 1 had made a speech in Avhich I advised the democrats of Alaljaina to carry the election by force. There is the same amount of truth in that charge as in many others made against the South ; and the facts are that I made no such speech anywhere. I was not within three hundred miles of Eufaula at the time, and have made no political speech in Alabama at any point for five years. Yet there staruls the testimony. Among the witnesses I introduce there will be no "Jack Browns," who run for office first upon one side and then upon the other, demo- crat in 1872 and republican in 1874, and always beaten on both. [Laughter.] I shall not Introduce any witness who assigns as his reason for becoming a candidate for Congress the fact tliat he had failed at everything else and was obliged to liavo an office. I prefer a dilferent class of witnesses and a ditlerent kind of testimony. Georgia is stronger democratic than any of the gulf States; and if the southern people are, as represented, such oppressors of the negroes and republicans, if, indeed, it 1)0 true tSiat no man could live in the Son'ih and be a republican, if the whites liad possession of tlieir State governments, certainly there ought to exist in Georgia a reign (if terror, of lawlessness, and of lilood which, as the Senator from Indiana charges, I c(uild not resist. What is the condition of Georgia society? I ask to have read a telegram from a gentleman who4s very Avell known here, who bears an honored name — a northern man who has voted tiie republican ticket since that party was organized, who has the confidence of tiie present Administraticni atid but a few months ago lield a position under it. lie is a gentlfmaii ; and such have always found and will never fail to find hospitality beneath a southern roof as h)ng ;is there is money left to extend it. The witness is Mr. W. C. Morrill, lately of Maine. I a.sk the Secretary to read his telegram. 13 The Secretary- read as follows : Atla\t.\, Georgia, January, 9, 1,S75. Hon. John B. Gorpon, United States Senator, Washington. ■ The treatment I have received from tlie people of Geoi^^ia iluviug a resideuce of nine years has been more than kind, and better than I deserve. W. C. MORRILL. Mr. GORDON. I ask also to have read a telegram from the same gentleman, who was the Freedmeu's Bureau agent, and ought to have some knowledge of the suhjeet-matter of which he speaks. I wish the country to kuoAv what Mr. Morrill has to say of the treatment of negroes in the democratic State of Georgia. The Secretary read as follows : Atlanta, Geo;!(UA, January 12, 1875. Hon. John B. Gordon, Washington : Tor the last four years my residence has been in the city, and during that time have had no reason to believe that the colored people have been treated different from any class of laborers. Piior to that time and while I was agent of the Freed- men's Buieau, I found very little if any bad treatment from former slaveholders, but all trouble that came to my knowledge almost invariably was from that class that never owni-d citbcr land or slavis, liut usually rented. I think you will find the above substantiated by nearly all the late iiitelli'^cnt agents of the Bureau. W. C. MORRILL. Mr. GORDON. I ask now" to have read a telegram from the gov- ernor of my State as tathe educational privileges of the two races in Georgia. The Secretary read as follows : Atlanta, Georgia, January 12, 1875. Hon. J. B. Gordon, United States Senator, Washington : No distinction between whites and blacks. Under our school laws the whites pay npon two hundred and sixty-six millions of propeity, the blacks upon six millions of property ; of general taxes, about oue-liftieth paid by blacks ; of poll-tax, about one-tenth paid by blacks. Over forty two thousand colored children at public schools last year ; about ninety-thousaiul wliito ciiildreu. JAMES M. SMITH. Mr. GORDON. Now I ask to have some hrief extracts read from a very long letter written by Mr. W. H. Savage, of New York, who has been teaching colored schools in Mississijipi, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama for the last four years. I have selected a few i)assages which I will ask the Clerk to read. If any Senator desires to hear the whole lettei', I should be glad to have it read. The Secretary read as follows : For the last few years I have been engaged in the work of educating the colored people. * * * * * An experience of over four years in the South (in Tennessee, Alabama, Missis- sippi, and Georgia) has taught me that the people of the South are able to lay aside little political diffei'ences in opinion and welcome a gentleman as such if he comes among them as au honest man, let him be from whatever section he may. And I give it as my honest opiiiion that most of the so-called outrages are nothing more than occur in any otln i St lu from time to time, but here every lawless deed of any outcast and ruffian is ili-~ioi ii-d into enmity toward the Federal Government. I have known many instances wliere villainous carpet-bag ijolilicians have been allowed to leave the country with much less piniislnueut than tlu'y merited ; for all must know' that the South i's flooded with a class uf nwu who followed the armies and have scattered themselves tliroughout the South — men who would not be re- cognized in any respectable houseliold of the North; and yet they complain that they are not welcomed into the laiuilies of people whose characters they malign most unscrupulously for sclfisli political ends. Hastily, W. H. SAVAGE, Principal Excelsior Colored School, Griffin, Georgia. 14 Mr. GORDON. Other tostiraony from eciually respectable republi- can sources coubl be introduced. But, sir, what is the use, when none but those who defanu> are believed? Wheu your own republican committee, appointed by a rei>ublicau Congress, is charged with mak- ing a irhitcuash'niff report. It cannot have been forgotten, that Geu- ei'al (4rant himself made a tour of the Southern States since the war, and that he reported what he saw and heard. Yet even General Grant was charged with "whitewashinfj" the southern people. Gen- eral Grant has not been in the South since, and all the informa- tion with reference to that section which has reached him or his subordinates, lias come through those whose business and interest it lias been to slander that people for the last nine years. Mr. President, as illustrative of these times. I shall now read a l)aragraph from the history of Titus Oates and the great " popish plot," which, with change of dates and names, would fitly describe the present condition of the South. If you will substitute for Titus Oates tlie "carpet-bagger" and southern people for Catholics, you will have a perfect daguerreotype of southern society under the rule of adventurers. Speaking of Titus Oates, the great prototype of the present carpet- bag declaimer upon southern outrages, the historian says : Ho cansed a wi'itten narrative of a couspiiacy of the Jesuits to murder the kiug and subvert the Protestant religion to be drawn up and laid before the king. The king saw they were monstrous falsehoods, and paid no atten- tion to them. He then, says the historian — Enlarged his fiction, and in September made a deposition before Sir Edmondbury Godfiey, a justice of the peace. He added to his stoiy at various times ; and the substance of it finally was that * * * the Jesuits were the authors of the great fire of 1666. and that they were then plotting to burn all the shipping in the Thames. At a given signal the Catholics were to rise and massacre all the Prot- estants in the kingdom. * * *• * * * * Some color waslent to the suspicion by the death ***** of the magis- trate before whom Oates's deposition had beeu taken. The body was car- lied to tlic grave with evei-y demonstration of popular excitement. Sir Edmond- l)ury Godfrey was styled a martyr to tlie Protestant cause. "The capital and the whole nation," says ilacaulay, "went mad with hatred and fear. The penal laws, which had begun to lose something of their edge, were sharpened anew." "Almost in a moment he was raised from beggary to wealth." Just as the carpet-bagger has been in the South. Says Roger North : Uo walked about with his guards, assigned for fi-ar of the pajjists murdering him. Fit archetyi>e of our political adventurer, seeking the guard of United States troops to protect his i)erson ; and, like our modern Titus Oate.s, ho was, says the historian, "called, or most bhtsphcmously called himself, the savior of the nation." Wo have many saviors among us. [Laughter.] Whoever lie pointed at was taken up and committed. As in Alabama, as I shall presently prove upon the authority of a Federal ollicial — His example was imitated by a multitude of tlie most despicable wretches of London, one of whom swore tliat he had been otiered canonization and JE500 to murder tlio king. How many assassination plot shave our Titusesdiscovered? [Laugh- ter.! No lie was too gross t» be l>elieved against the Catholics, [the sotttJiernfirs.] No evidence was sull'ered to weigh in tlirir favor. At last tlie utti'r imi>rol>ability of Oatos's story, liis froiiueut self-contradictions, and his notoriously bad eliaracter, began to be considered. 15 A few more revelations of the characters of our Bullockes, Blodgetts, Kelloggs, and Ludelings will imcover the real character of ouy Oateses. Sir, history will never record a truer story of the state of affairs at the South than that which is here given, except that where England had one Titus Gates the South has a hundred. Every negro and every republican killed in a broil is canonized as a modern Sir Godfrey, and a martyr to liberty aud the faith. Ah, Mr. President, is it any wonder that a people so circumstanced and so systematically slandered are restive ? Bereft of all possibility of defense, disarmed, plundered, and powerless ; every friend who defends or lifts the voice of sympathy in their fearful crucifixtion denounced as a sympathizer with murderers and assassins! O, sir, is it any ^^^ouder thej^ are restive ? Is it not rather a source of uumingled surprise that they have not long since yielded their hope aud madly followed the temptations of despair? One more witness before I leave Georgia. I \}\\t the Senate upon notice that this witness is a white man, a democrat, and a southern man. But he can tell the truth notwithstanding. I am aware that the place of his birth, his color, and his politics discredit him very much in this Chamber, but I may as well remark here, in passing, that it is just as great a mistake to suppose that all the honesty and all the truth among us are concentered in the adventurers in our midst, who have lirought ruin to that section and carry strife wher- ever theij go, as to 8ux»pose that these virtues were monopolized by Mm who brought ruin to paradise and carries strife Arhorever lie goes. The witness I now propose is my neighbor aud my friend, and a gentleman of character ; but as he is a democrat, in order to give him standing with the majority of the Senate, I prefer to have him indorsed by the present reiuiblicau member of Congress from his dis- trict. [Laughter.] The Secretary read as follows : House of Repeesentatives, Washington, D. C, January ^z>, 1875. This is to certify tliat I know Colonel E. A. Alston, of Atlanta, Georgia, to be a gentleman of the highest charactor in every resxiect. .T. C. FREEMAN, Member of Congress, Fifth Distrief, Georgia. Mr. GOEDON. That is a good indorsement. Here is his telegram in reference to the condition of two colored men who were tenants upon his place. I want this telegram read ; for, while it refers to but two men, it shows the utter falsity of the charges that the negro is wronged even in the populous white sec- tions of that democratic State. The Secretary read as follows : Atlanta, Georgia, January 20, 1875. General John B. Gordon, ^Senate Chamber, Washington, D. C: Lawrence had, 25tli of last December, four fine mules, a buggy, carriage, two good wagons, six hundred bushels corn, three hundred bushels potatoes, fodder, hay, a thousand bearing fruit-trees, inid ciittlo, Iiohh, and jxiultry, and five years' lease on the land. Bill Ezzard's condition was still IxttiT, having a fine Morgan buggy-horse in addition to mules, two thousand fruit-trees, conking-atove, sewing- machine, and every comfort that any laboring man could desire. General Dodge, of Statistical Bureau, has been on my place and knows how they lived. In addi- tion they have four muskets and shotguns. K. A. ALSTON". Mr. GORDON. Sir, 1 know those eoloreilniei). Their trpatmeut at the hands of the lanil-owner was but a sample of that accorded to the black race in the democratic State of Georgia and all over the South. If, as the Senator from New York has just declared, the record of the whites of Louisiana has been .one of God-daring and man-hating ferocity, why in reason's name do not these hellish pas- sions record themselves in blood iu Georgia, which has been for j'ears in democratic liands? Great stress has been laid upon the outbreaks in Louisiana ; but, sir, bloody as tliey have been, whatever the causes, the President himself seems to have been imposed upon in some particulars. Upon what other hypothesis are we to explain the statement in his message that all the Colfax "miscreants go unwhipped of .justice," in the face of the fact that many were arrested, tried before Judge Woods of the circuit court, and live convicted ; and that the very decision which tlie President quotes has undergone revision and reversal by Mr, Justice Bradley, of the Supreme Court ? Is it true that the murders in the South are x^ei'petrated by demo- ocrats or white people solely ? Let an official record speak. I hold in my hand the record of the one hundred and two murders commit- ted in the last few years in the city of New Orleans, of which seventy- three were by radicals and twenty-nine by democrats, eight by black women, and one by a white woman. If any one calls for it let it be read. Mr. WEST. I would like to hear it. Mr. GOEDON. I have no objection to having it read, except that it will take time. Mr. WEST. I do not insist, as it is very long. I will read it at my desk. Mr. GORDON. I will send it to the Senator's desk. Here it is : Xew Okleaxs, January 12, 1875. Ex-Govemor A. Voonnres, JVczi' Orleans: After pernsal of the official dispatch of General P. H. Sheridan, calling the people of the i)ari.sh of Oih'aiiM a sit of bandits. I felt it my dnty to give you a list of mur- derers committed to tlic pai isli prison during my administration as captain of the same, witli their politital slutus. Charles Earle, wiiite, radical, ex-policeman; John Garvey, white, radical, ex-po- liceman; Dido I'.aptisto, white, radical; Francis Martin,' white, radical; Peter Lewis, colored, radical; Oscar Btirns. wliito man; Beainvgard Janiisson, colored, radical; Hob West, colored, radical : AVm. Bradley, colored, radical ; Austin Smith, white, raxlical, on the jiolice Inrce whin eoiiiniitted murder; Ei A. Giroux, white radical; James O'Brien, white, radical, pardoned by Kellogg, uowscrving term for robbery; John Bennett, white, radical, on the police when he killed the man, now in State-house; Clias. I'ossier, white, radical; J. P. Collins, white, radical, from Tangipahoa; Kd. West, white, radical; Samuel Barrett, wliiti'. radical, ii;ird(ined by Kellogg; B. F'. River.s, white, radical ; Gt^orge Hays, colorepointing all officers from chief justice to justice of the peace. Let the list I hold in my hand be incorporated in my remarks. It is a record of thirty-one happy recipients of Kellogg's overwhelming executive clemency, by virtue of which these murderers, thieves, and rapers, were turned loose upon society : Osman Ledoux, of Saint Landry, shooting into a dwelling house, and seutencecc' to six months ; Jacob Haberlin, of Orleans, robbery ; Sam Bowman, of East Baton Rouge, robbery, sentenced to twenty-eight years ; William H. Page, of New Or- leans, manslaughter, sentenced to two years ; James Davis, of New Orleans, lar- teny, sentenced to eighteen months ; James Hackett, of East Baton Rouge, man- 2 A ' 18 .slaughter; Martin Caulfield anil Mcrryman Caul field, of East Feliciana, murder; Samuel Green, of Caddo, assault with' intent to kill; Levi Hill, of Lafourche, lar- ceny ; Henry S. Utz, of Madison, attempting to bribe a witness ; Louis Edward, of Iberville, theft; F. M. Henley, of Caddo, murder; Angelo I'rudhomnie, of Saint I/andry, murder; Palmer Dickson and Hugh Dick.son, of Bossier, shooting and kill- ing Thomas C. Kirk; Keuben Ked. mui-der; Isaac Sadler, of Claiborne, shoot- ing a eow ; Elijah Aubrey, of Claiborne, murder; Jacob Alexander, burglary: Dicey Itoysden, of "Webster, receiving stolen goods; William J5row)i, of Assump- tion, assault and battery ; 1). M. Bnwsard, of Lafayette, larceny ; John Wallace, of S;iiMt Lau(h-y, rape ; Thoma.s McGuire, of Orleans, entering with intent to steal ; George Williams, of Orleans, biu-glary ; John J. IMcCort, of Orleans, burglary; Mary Williams, of Orleans, embezzlement; James O'Brien, of Orleans, manslaugh- ter; Samuel Bv'll, of Bienville, murder; Edward A. Higgins, of Orleans, larceny ; James H. Boler and ^'alentille Smith, concealing stolen jiroperty. ilr. Presiilent, how long is our Titus Gates aud bis confederates to inflame the public mind with his marveh)us stories of white conspir- acies and of tlie killing of negroes for amusement in thefaceof these facts, which record his condemnation? In all the range of history, civilized or barbaric, where will you find such an infinitude of prov- ocations as the southern people have luid since the war? They have been the subjects of misconstruction and the victims of slanders, of rapine, of insult, and of bad government. Is it not true that these adventurers have plundered our treasuries, stolen our railroads, aud burdened us with debt? Where is Bullock, the former carpet-bag governor of Georgia? A fugitive from justice in the Dominion of Canada. Where is Foster Blodgett, who was elected to the Senate in violation of law by a republican legislatiu'e, who, in charge of a rail- road, the jiroperty of the State, which now pays regularly into the treasury $!:500,OU0 per annum, stole or wasted not only its income, but run down its machinery and. left it burdened with debt ; aud by numberless frauds enriched himself and his confederates ? Where is he ? Safe in the province of South Carolina. AVhere is Littlefield, of North Carolina f Mr. PATTERSON. .Will the Senator from Georgia allow me to ask him a (|iiestion? Tiui riiESIDENT pro tempore. Does the Senator from Georgia yield lo the Senator from South Carolina ? Mr. (JOliDON. I have no objectioji to answering a question. Mr. I'ATTERSON. I do not }>ropose to make a speech. I just Avant to ask the Senator a question. Mr. GORDON. Go ahead. Mr. PATTP:RS0N. I understood the Senator to say that Mr. Blodgett is safe in South Carolina. Now, it Mr. Blodgett is amenable lo the laws of Geoigia, they can get him, and why do they not send for him? Mr. GORDON. I think the effort has been made ; but I am not cer- tain. I know the governor made requisition for Bullock; but he could not be found. As to Littlefield, I learn an eftbrt was made to secure him, but he is still safe in Florida. Mr. PATTERSON. I ask the Senator from Georgia if they ever made a retpiisition on the governor of South Carolina for Mr. Blod- gett. Mr. GORDON. Foster Blodgett did not dare to go back Mr. PAT'i'ERSON. Answer my question. Mr. GORDON. If the Senator will give me time I will tell him what I know about it. Mr. PATTERSON. You cannot answer it. Mr. GORDON. I know tiiat there was great anxiety to get Mr. Blodgett back to testify, but he luxs never returned to Georgia, and 19 1 think it was proposed to give him a passport back without arrest ; but I am not sure about that. Mr. PATTERSON. That is not tlie way to get a criminal from one State to another. If Georgia wants Mr. Blodgett, let them call on the governor of South Carolina for him. Mr. GORDON. I did not give way for a speech. Mr. PATTERSON. They can get him very quick. Mr. GORDON. Mr. President, I simply state facts, so far as I know them. Blodgett had possession of the railroad belonging to Georgia. He retained most of its income, which under the management of a Senator upon the floor and his associates now amounts as rental to the sum of .$300,000 per annum. Blodgett loft engines, cars, and track worn out, and an immense debt uj^on it, amounting, I think, with fraudulent contracts to at least half a million dollars. He left Geor- gia when Bullock left it. Mr. SPRAGUE. I would like to ask the Senator from Georgia a question. The PRESIDENT pro lempore. Does the Senator from Georgia yield ? Mr. GORDON. Certainly. Mr. SPRAGUE. What Senator in this Chamber is interested iu the railroad now ? Mr. GORDON. I would rather not answer that question. The Senator knows to whom I refer. He is an honorable man and the rental is regularly paid into the State treasury. But, Ml'. President, the interruptions have led me from my argu- ment. Why stop to talk of Blodgett ? What of others who are loudest iu their denunciations of the South ? What of Kellogg himself, the governor par excellence, around whom gathers all the power of the Executive and of the American Senate ? He now holds place which your own committee declares was accpiired by fraud, while he de- nounces as murderers the people whose lawful power he usurps, and opens the prison doors and deluges society with his pardoned crim- inals. What of Lndeling, his chief justice, the man on whose shoulders hangs the ermine of the hightest judicial office in, the State of Louisiana ? Condemned, not by democrats, but by the highest judicial authority known to this Government, as guilty of a gross fraud and a breach of a sacred trust. What of Hawkins, his judge of the superior district court ? Indicted, not at the instance of the conservatives of Louisiana, but of Ex-Governor Madison Wells, tiie j)resideut of the Kellogg returning board, and a true bill found by a grand jury for embezzlement. What of the returning board? Con- demned by a republican committee of a republican Congress as guilty of the grossest frauds and of an outrage upon the rights of the voters of that State. Mr. President, I will not run down the list any farther. Suffice it to say that this is the class from which fjovernors and legislators and judges and members of Congress are manufactured to order for a de- fenseless people. Sir, these are terrible truths ; but they stand adjudicated by the committee of this Senate, or by the highest judicial tribunal, or by the logic of recorded and undisputed facts. I am speaking now of the bitter i^rovocations to which the people of all the Southern States have been subjected, in view of which all fair-minded men will judge them. I hold in my hand an account of the destruction of the Borun family in Mississippi — his house and his children burned, hinjself murdered, 20 and his iniiocont, defenseless wife outraged — I must be pardoned for speaking plainly — by six negroes, and found dead after the atrocious deed. This crime, so shocking, which was almost unknown to that race until they were taught hostility to the whites, is becoming now so fiecpient that it would fill with frenzy tlie most stolid community upon earth. I have a list of such cases well authenticated ; but it is useless to produce it. Let me say, injustice to the negro, that the increasing- frequency of these occurrences is due not so much to an in-bred bru- tality as to that which luis been acquired by the cultivation of his worst passions. Let me ]iot be misunderstood. I do not charge, nor do I believe, that even the bad men who assume to control his political conduct countenance such crimes. This however is true. An ignorant race, just emancipated from slavery, daily taught hatred to tlie south- ern whites and by appeals to color prejudices made audacious and aggressive in their hostility, will not long be restrained by considera- tions which move an enlightened and cultured race. Ah, sir, is it just, in view of these terrible truths, which cannot be disproved, to judge a people assassins and murderers because of dis- turbances inevitable to such a situation ? Is it just to condemn a great people — and I profess to belong to a great people, and no tineg of shame has ever yet mantled my cheek because I belong to that people — is it just, I ask, to condemn them upon these iuevitable iso- lated outbreaks, howcA'er wrong or bloody ; upon these fitful vents of passion, however extreme? I repeat, their provocations have been infinite. The black race arrayed against them by self-seeking politi- cal tricksters, slandered by those who claim to represent them, placed under the ban of a powerful Government, governed by men notori- ously corrupt, robbed by adventurers supported by power, and goaded to madness bv brutal license. Mr. PEASE. Mr. President Mr, GORDON. Mr. President, the Senator from Mississippi occu- pied nearly a week pouring out the vials of his wrath upon the soutJiern people. I hope I shall be allowed an hour to defend them. The PRESIDENT i)ro tempore. Does the Senator from Georgia yield to (he Senator from Mississippi? Mr. (;< )KM)()\. Excu,se me ; I would rather not. The I'RESIDENT jjro tempore. The Senator from Georgia declines to yield, and he is entitled to the floor. Mr. GORDON. Let me proceed. I have already shown by official records that, so far from all the murders in Louisiana being committed by white democrats, more than two-thirds in New Orleans were by rcpuldicans. I have further shown that wholesale pardons were issued by Kellogg.- Also, how much more certainly the laws were en- forced in Georgia under the rule of the people, whose every conceivable interest demands their enforcement, than under Bullock's adminis- tration. These facts were adduced from official records. I wish now to refer to the testimony of Mr. J. P. Southworth, who is the present special assistant attorney-general of the United States in Alabama, to ])rove that a white man in that much-abused' State is as easily con- victed as a negro; that the law is as reailily enforced as in a ny ])ortion of the United States ; and that the facts drawn from tli is high official — a most respectable lepublican source — utterly explode the baseless faltrications or the ludicnms absurdities and i)hantoms with which our Alabama "Titus Gates" filled his imagination. Sir, what does this Fedeial official say ? I take an extract from the telegraphic re|)ort : 21 He wont to Alabama fi-niu Illinois in 1868; that he was and had always been a republican, and that he had spokon (luring the last campaign in Sc.lma for the republiivni Static tickft. He said 1h;it lie tiiouglit lie knew tlir rrcncral conditimi of thr State as well as any (viif rdiild: that his oliicial and pi-cii'cssional duties fodk him to all parts nf it, aiid that there was no eouuty in which a republi('an could not live and advocate ])olitical principles, oven in an offensive manner, without molestation. He tlieuiiht thi' ett'eetof sending troops to the State was injurious to the people and the State, and tliere liad been no time when they were needed, or when the country would not have been better without them. Wiien asked if negroes could vote it troops were not stationed there, he replied that he th(uight it made very little diflt'ereuce. The negroes would not vote any way if they were not massed by their leaders. The negroes had no interest in politics, and were simply used by men who could not lemain in power but for the negro vote. In the face of these facts, what becomes of " Titus Gates," with his monstrous tales of falsehood, his reports of democratic excesses and intimidations, his convulsions of terror at the prospect of his own martyrdom, and of the necessity for a guard to protect him from the democrats ? Charity dictates that we should attribute these stories of our " Titus " in reference to democratic manias for blood and south- ern epidemics of murder to a diseased imagination or insane credu- lity rather than to atrocious invention. Ah, Mr. President, these modern Titus Oateses all over the South, these instigators of race-conflicts, these authors of our woes, have prepared and tired their magazine filled with all the combustibles of alarm, and have discovered by its light a modern " popish plot" — " a new southern rebellion." Of all the wild lunacies yet attributed to the South, none is com- parable to this. A people utterly bankrupted bj' war and the subse- quent ills of bad government, their Commonwealths prostrate and desolate, a people armless and powerless in the midst of four mill- ions of recently emancipated slaves changed by unscrupulous trick- sters from friends to foes ; a people sick of war and strife and panting for peace and (juiet, a people thus circumstanced on the eve of a new rebellion, and who voted overwhelmingly for Horace Greeley and have by confederate votes sent Andrew Johnson to the Senate ! [Laughter.] The first scene of this "plot " I believe was laid in Louisiana. What does Colonel Morrow say about the new rebellion? I not only do not believe, but I am absolutely certain, that there will not be at any time ini Louisiana any organized or authorized resistance to the General Gov- ernment. If the expressions of the people are to be beliex cd, and I do believe them— Our virtuous Titus Gates is astounded at tlie credulity of this officer — there is a very sincere desire to live quietly under the protection of the Consti- tution of the tluited States and enjoy the blessings of the National Government. But there is no disiiuisiii;^ the fact, the protection afforded by the Federal Admin- istration to the govei'nnient of the present State executive' is the cause of bitter personal and political feeling in the breasts of nineteen-twentieths of the white inhabitants of the State. Mr. GORDON. Now, who is Colonel Morrow? Ls he also a white- washer f General Emory says he was selected because of his experi- ence and the high confidence reposed in him. What does General Sherman say ? Headquarters of the Army, Saint Louis, Missouri, January 4, 1875. This paper is most respectfully forwarded to the Secretary of "War,-with a re- quest that lie submit it for the personal peinisal of the President. I know of no ©Ificer of Colonel Morrow's rauk who is better qualified to speak and write of mat- 22 ters like this, antl his o^lini()n3 arc entitled to great consideratioD. I profess t(y have some knowledge ot the people of that section, both white and black, from a> long residence among theui before the war and several visits since; but I shall not intrude my opinion in the confusion in which the subject is now enveloped. "W. T. SHERMAN, General. Is General Shermau also a "whilewasJter." He developed a geniiis for war certainly equal to any officer in the Federal Army. Where 18 Ills superior? But General Sherman belongs to that class of sol- diers whose courage is more conspicuous in battle than in debate. Gen- eral Sherman also l)clongs to that class of soldiers who cease to fight when the fight is over, and prefers the restoration of concord to un- ending animosity. General Shermau indorses Colonel Morrow's report, not only from his knowledge of that officer's competency and high cliaractei', but from his own personal knowledge of the people of Louisiana from long residence among them. Such was the oiiiuion of General Grant when he saw for himself. Such is the opinion of the special assistant attorney-general of the United States in Alabama. Such is the opin- ion of the republican investigating committee sent to Louisiana, of Colonel Morrow, and of General William T. Sherman. Yet there are Senators, very few I hope, who still disbelieve any reports that are not stained all over with blood and rel>ellion. Tltey did not believe General Grant in IdGT ; they do not lielieve their own connnittee ; neither would they believe though oue rose from the dead. Mr. President, is there no higher and broader plain upon wliich we may consider this question ? Are there no causes for the disturb- ances at the South otlier than those which lie upon the surface ? Has the statesmanship of the country exhausted itself, when, deny- ing the testimony from the high sources I have mentioned and giving credence only to tlio testimony of interested partisans, it proceeds to legislate upon the monstrous idea that the southern people are mad with an insane hatred of tlie black race and the still more insane disregard of every consideration which moves other men ? Is no ap- peal to be made to reason and to the philosophy of human action. Do the southern people differ so widely from "the rest of mankind that the laws of action which apply to others are inapplicable to them ? They have the same instincts of self-defense ; the same love of self-government, of justice, of humanity, of peace, and of law ; the same pride of race ; the same devotion to" liberty and detestation of tyranny which have marked the Anglo-Saxon race and crowned it with honor at every step of its progress and in every quarter of the globe. Sir, what away a whole generation ; but the same bad government will ^iro- duce another generation like it. There is no interest, public or private, whether of property, of society, or of civilization, which gov- ernment does not at some poiut touch and affect. When government is pure and just and righteously administered, private virtue is strengthened and the citizen is elevated ; but when government be- comes corrupt, Avhen j udicial frauds and official embezzlements become common ; when public theft is galvanized into respectable thrift by the glitter of official station; when political integrity is banished 24 from public place, and pollution is left — wherever government makes its track, thou the foniulatioiis of society give -way and all its couserv- ativ(^ forces are dissolved. The same (•(iiiditioiiof public allaiis would [iroducc like turbuleucc in auy .State iu this Union, (iive to each .State the i^ovcrnnicnt of Louisiana; a <^overuor forced in otticc by such means, with judge and .jury dcpeuilcnt upon his will, the high- est judicial othcers impeached for fraud or (iuibezzelmeiit, the voice of the people silenced by a rcturiung board convicted of the grossest frauds, intelligence and virtue rs, more powerful than jtartics. It will not permit us longer to hold out hope to Louisiana only to doom her to death. Itwill not permit us longer to whisi>er in her ear the high-sounding Avords of self-government and of constitutional law, while these words mean to her but the i>ompous trap])ings which cover the dead body of a prostrate Commonwealth. It will not permit us to longer hold in vassalage a large Ijody of our fellow-roiiutrymeii, who are vindicated by their own words ami acts and by your rci)ubliean connuittee, and who, when their trials and persecutions and wrongs are known, what ever may have been their nustakes, their follies, or their crimes, will stand vindi(!ated before llie bar of all the future, and of Him who shall judge us all. as fur- nishing an example of htuxiic endurance and of ]>atient for])earancc under wrong unparalleled in history and lustrous in despair. But, sir, there is another general truth which ought not to be overlooked iu discussing the uuhapiiy condition of thosi> .States and the causes which produce it. It is this: That nothing but C(uumo- tion, disorder, and blight can be the lot of .auy people who.sc rulers r(!tain jjower by arraying race against race and labor against capital. He who ])rotects labor against unjust Laws and iuiipiitous exactions is a b(!iu'factor as well as a wise law -maker ; but he who for the sake of oflice would poison the nnmlsof theiginnant negro laborer against tlie laud-owners of the country, has the temerity to lii'c a ni.'tgazine over which eight nullions of ))eople are sleeping. The effect of such a course with lis is not only to disorganize the labor of the .South, thus destroying it-i jirospcrity, but with this theiuarket which the South hitherto furnished fiu- the ])roducts of the Last and the West. If not only makes financial success imp.os- sible with us, but it affects the financial condition of tin; whole coun- fiy, for the South can no longer betlie great c(uisunu>r. These jHilit- ical interine(hllers are therefore indirectly contributing to the busi- iu;.ss stagnation of the wlude country, st()pi)ing mills, paralyzing euteriirise, and bringing starvation tothe white laborerof the North, while they train the Idack laixiicrof flic South in the art of keeping tlicin in office. Xot only so; l)uf they are thus exciting the bad jjassions of this black laborer and provoking a conflict too fearful to contemplate. Is it statesmanship to snjiport such men in place and coutinne such pol- icies by the whole influence and power of the Government? Such a conflict will never come in the South except through the agency of the men who have no interest in the South except to grow rich from its offices. These, Mr. President, are questions of the greatest moment and would tax the wisest statesmanship of this country or this age. This conflict of labor and capital is one full of danger. It filled Paris with fire and blood and terror. It appalls kings, shakes thrones, threatens the peace of nations and the stability of institutions. I had desired to discuss this portion of the subject at much greater length, but the lateness of the hour forbids. Mr. President, siu'ely the Senate will not longer insist upon a policy toward the South so hostile to the material interests of the whole country and to the genius of representative government. Surely in the face of the overwhelming testimony of those who have most intimate knowledge of our condition and the least interest in misrep- resenting us, and in view of the great political maxims familiar to all, which pour their floods of light upon the causes of all the disor- ders in our midst — surely the Senate will not fail to see these caxises, nor insist upon retaining these men upon the transparent plea of "Titus Gates" that he has discovered a "plot " or new rebellion. Whatever may be the action of the Senate, I do not doubt the ver- dict of the people. In the darkest hour of our distress I have never lost hope that the American people would, when the facts were known, no longer by the strong arm of power subject the South to the insatiate rapacity of her slanderers. I have steadfastly believed that the daj"^ would come when any man, wherever circumstances, education, and conviction may have placed him in the late war, who would raise his voice in the cause of honest government, of justice, of concord, and of unity, would crush through the thin wall of pas- sion which has too long divided us and find a listening audience in every section of this great country. And now I think I shall commit no sacrilege if I conclude what I have had to say in the words of Him, in obedience to whose mandate there is at the same time the highest statesmanship and the simplest justice, "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them." 3 A LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiijiiiiiiiii 013 789 935 8 % /Vs / \ A LIBRARY OF CONGRESS I 013 789 935 8