Mr. HENDRICKS. Mr. President, no argument that could be presented would probably change the result of the vote of the Senate; yet, sir, I feel it to be my duty to say that I approve the sentiments of the veto message which has just been read. I think, sir, upon principle, as well as upon experience, we are justified in saying that a system such as the Freedmen’s Bureau is necessarily vicious and can only produce evil. It is a measure that places the labor of one section of the country under the control of a few. If we could say that all men are entirely honest and virtuous, then we should be safe in placing the labor of such a large class of persons under the control of a few; but when we know that where power is given to men without sufficient and sure restraints and control upon their conduct frauds and corruption must be the result, we are justified, I think, upon principle in saying that a system like this is vicious. We have not very satisfactory evidence, perhaps, upon the practical workings of the bureau. We have some evidence; we have the evidence communicated to the Senate in the early part of the session in a communication made by GenlGrant‘to the 38?“ President, which the President communicflea‘ to Congress. in which GenlGrant ms " in many localities, at least in sol the affairs of the bureau are misn have the report of Generals Stu Fullerton upon the subject, and Iis much wro and so much corruptii developed any oihei report that h. made to Cu ! ess for the last 2 sessic An efforl Eras been made in the coinv depreciate that report by attacks upon the (in tinished gentlemen who gathered the foe“! an communicated them to the President. T h” effort I thmhihns not been successful. The report made by these twb generals has commanded to a very large extent the confidence of the country, whatever action Congress may take upon this question. But, sir, very recently I observed in ajournal of great weight and in finance with some gentlemen a communication, the veracity and verity of which they cannot question, which sustains the report of Generals Steedman and Fullerton; an being justified somewhat by the example of the distinguished Senfrom Massachusetts, I will read from this communication. It is found in a news aper. This communication is dated Boston, one 18, 1866, and is signed “ James Redpath, ” and is published as reliable in the National Anti Slavery Standard. Ordinarily this paper does not have so much weight with me, [laughter] but as evidence against the gentlemen who claim it to be authority, I read it. This writer says that he accomanied General Steedman, who was inspecting teoperations of the Freedmen’s Bureau, on a raid into Alabama, and then 'ings that took place through that raid. That was during the war. He says: “Let mesay a few words about General Steedman. He belOIllfS. honestly and heartily. to the President's part. chasgoneso far and nofurther. And therefore o is neither a traitor nor aronc ads. The same views which we denounce in the resident today the general advocated. privately and vehemently, 3 years ago. I regretted s ndcombated these views then. as I do now; but neither then nor since have I seen cause to brand either the President or the general as a traitor. Butler alone excepted. I know noneof our generalswho were so 'rough on. traitors as this Steedman. General Saxton was as true asWendell Phillips is: yet neither of theseemi nent men over hated a rebel. Their culture and characterforbadchate. But Steedmanwas a terrible hater. Now. do not let us forget his past servicesin criticising his reports. If he is not just. we can well afford to be. And although I do not come forward todefendGeneral Steedman. I feelimpelled in justice to saythat the same reports which he gave fromNCarolina weremadeto me by menwhom he did not see – menof unquestionnble veracity, whose laborswereamongnegroes, and who are as muchde voted to their cause as you or I. To one of these gentlemen I said, 'It is only the radicals who so port the bureau in the horth.’ He answered. the radicals know how the bureau is conducted in this State they would not support it.‘ I heard mnny storiesin that State which staggeredmy faith in the utility of the bureau. It was only when I reached SCarolina and found liow faithfully and Well General Saxton guarded the rights of the negroes that I yielded my fast growingbelief that the bureau had better be abolished inthe interest of the freedmen g. ain. I believe that there are several Statesin which it would be better for all arties black and white, for the bureau to be abolished. How 18'", in Alabama. for example and Arkansas and Georgia as a whole? MN 0 stories I have board are truestoriestold byanti slavery men – the bureau in those States is an ally of the rebels.” Then he goes on to speak of the treatment General Sexton has received at the hands of the General Government. That art of it does not bear necessarily on the question before the Senate, and therefore I will not read it. He adds a postscript: “ P. S. I sentfor this letter. after I had mailed it to you. becauseIfound that I had omittedtosliowwithout possibility of misinterpretation. that I believed the commissmnershad done a groutwrong to general Sexton. At the same time I wishedto add. that in my opinion. the President’s smqs.’ its you call them.have rendered a valuable service to the Bureau. It won t do. in dear sir, to defend bureau officerswho cultivate pantations. Tbis fact necessarily ident iflesjlieir mterests With the planters. This is not an opmionformpd in in library; it is the result of my observations in the eld. Let me add emphatically.since I soc that you bavet praised General Whittlesey, that this opinion wasorced on me in NCarolina and that I believe that you are entirely in error res acting the antislavery character of that officer. In my opinion he should have been discharged long ago.for either he is no friend iKndipie; euro 0' no is an inefficient oer. Teachers H" '; W'7e Nhoavm "! teoabreobin ice; idence on this afihfed. iid I saw Wlih they are 12i‘tnd' hoard r‘witmy ownparstoomlXCl] of me Tm, b as NCarolina to be willing to have arid“ even in the taco of your, film Li.‘.r f licuc M'hittle sev. if these roan sthenegro: it is right aieofr rhc military I 'Ifoar that our, w,0&3 will show that i slavery peoplu salting: to the 0 mac the bureau illfl "the ond‘of the war. i8 a compreenvoy ‘1“ lg Moe. hnnncotuimmtpraon BW'JMUWDCBTH WanLmbut In.” " and the bureau lnllfflamfuly he “bollgh, "'Il fie it exists timid 5"‘ublieans willglndly ‘avuii the lvesof it to quiet Meir consciences and Kl " tread rue whole of the letter. Mr. Ihr., "communication from one of the most prominent antislavery men of the country, published in one of the most earnest antislaveryjournals of the country, as evidence that the report of Generals Steednian and Fullerton is true; not a matter of opinion given by this writer, but a statement of facts upon his own observation and knowledge of facts which he gathered in the country where the bureau has its field of operations, a statement of facts which he says made him sick at the outrages perpetrated h the agents of this bureau upon the blacks themselves, forcing upon him the conviction of the bureau ought to be abandoned in the interests of the freedmen. I know, sir, that when the question CL.s up between a veto of the President and.ue Senate, even this communication will probably not control an votes; but it is right that this should be made somewhat public to the country‘when we now, against the reasons given by the President, fasten upon the country and the country’s burdened freasnry an engine of oppression and corruption. I say that no where in the world is it safe to place one set of men in their labor under the control of a few. What are the facts? That in whole States the men who control the negroes by the 1000s become interested in the cultivation of plantations; they become interested in cheap abor and the high price of productions; they become interested in a system and policy that restores the negro to slavery without im using upon the master the responsibility and the interest of his protection. Under the old system the master had an interest in taking care of the slave, in feeding and clothing him well that he might be a useful property to him. But under this system the Freedmen’s Bureau agent who becomes interested in the cultivation o plantations becomes interested in making for the year the most possible out of the labor which he controls with a power that is not restrained by any letter or word in the Freedmen’s Bureau act. What is your definition of his power? What is your restraint upon his conduct? You simply say that there shall be a Freedmen’s Bureau to “take charge of” the freedmen. What sort of a definition of power is that? Would you place the white men of this country under the control of an agency the power of which is defined by such power as that “to take charge of?" What does that mean? What may he do? What may he not do? Whatis he doin? What he may not do no Senfrom the language creating this bureau can say. What he oug it to do, one Senator may give one opinion upon and another Senator a very different opinion. GenlGrant says that because of the difference of opinions among the different agents of this bureau the affairs of this bureau are managed very differently indifferent localities; while if you had a law that well defined the power and well restricted the exercise of that power you would have some uniformity in the conduct of the bureau’s agents; but you have no such law. You havea general declaration that this bureau through its agents shall take charge of 4 million people. Do Senators say that that is a safe law? Would you enact such a law as that as a constitution and form of government for any set of white men in the werld? Would you say to the people of Montana, now perhaps 30 or 40,000 in now her, we will appoint a Governor and SecyState to take cliargeof you, and that shall be the limit and definition of the ir power? Among statesmen it is regarded as of the 1st importance when a government is established that its power shall be accurately defined and sufficiently restrained. It is the boast of our form of Government that the Constitution defines its power and restrains the officers in the exercise of those powers by well expressed limitations; and when on come to establish a government for 4 millions of negroes, a government that not only touches the negroes, but reaches over upon the white people in their intercourse with the no roes for such a government you consider it sufficient and safe and right to say in general terms that the agents who may be appointed by GenlHoward shall take charge of these people. When Whittlesey and his subordinates compelled these poor people to work for their profits; when they are amassing large fortunes out of the sweat of the negroes, they will say to you, “We have taken charge of them.” They have not gone outside the letter of thcir authority, and they have not departed from the form of government that you gave them. That is, they have taken charge of them. They have taken charge of them and worked them that they and their families may grow, rich; and you say that is for the safety of this country! When the POTUS informs us that such a system has resulted in fraud and corruption, it is not a matter ofsur prise, for such is the frailty of huniun nature, that if you give one man the unrestricted power of control over a large number, and he has the power to work them according to his pleasure. that there shall be fraud and corruption of course every one would expect. It is the history of the race that under such circumstances there will be fraud. To prevent it we establish our systemoflaws, restraints, and nulifications. Then, sir, we have not only teassurance that we gather from human nature itself, from the loose character of the law that created this bureau, from the want of restraint and limitation upon the power of the officers of the bureau, but from the testimony of GenlGrant, from the testimony of Generals Steedman and Ful lerton, and now from the testimony of the high est antislavery authority in the U.S., that there is fraud, that there is corruption, that there is outrage under this bureau; and yet you are asked to pass a law over the veto of the President giving very strong reasons why the bill should not pass, to continue this bureau for 2 'cars longer. Where is the evidence that this bureau has in reality protected the black man anywhere? Where is a satisfactory assurance upon that subject? You have to rely for that testimony upon the agents themselves. Whittlesey, in NCarolina, who is well described by Redpath in his communication oflast month would tell you that his dept is a model 0 government; that nothing like it is to be found on earth; that the negroes are happy as princes, and the white people as contented as lords is going on well, e would tell you, while the secret is that his subordinates have the opportunity to become rich under the operations of the bureau which he controls. Mr. President, I shall regret to see this law continued for 2 years longer. Surely senators know very well that there are in this bill several sections regulating real estate in the southern States, and that the bill in regard to those sections was only considered fora few hours in the Senate, and I venture to say out side the committee who examined the bill in the committee room, there is no Senator here who can state what are the provisions of the bill in regard to the real estate which it reaches. You have ageneral idea that it confirms certain tax titles; you have a general idea that it relates to the lands set a art to the negroes by GenlSherman ; but what the provisions are, how it adjudges title, where it makes a title right that ought to be so, I think the Senators here have not that sort ofinformation that they ought to have in passing a bill of this importance. This bureau, as is suggested by the President in his mes e, is to continue for several months yet. I think it has done evil enough and little enough of good to justify us in ablll doning it when it'shall cease to exist acing to the original provisions of the law cming it.:lr‘l One suggestion more, Mr. President, andl 11 shall leave this question, hoing not to refer to it again in the Senate. this claimed thll the negroes are citizens of the U.S. that we have made them citizens by virtue the civil rights bill, as it is called. if they are citizens, how is it that we can set over them a government peculiar in its framework, entirely unknown to the Constitution, not conteni plated or thought of by the fathers? By virtue of what authority in the Constitution is it that you send an agent of a bureau down into Georgia to make and control a contract made by a citizen? Can you send an agent of this Government into Indiana to control me or my constituents in the making of their contracts? Every one says no. If I am a citizen I make my own contracts. I am free to regulate them according to my own pleasure. Then you say, and you enacted it into a law, that the negro il a citizen free as any of us. What! a man free to do everything except to regulate his contracts and his persona service? If he is not free for that, in what respect is be free? And yet you appoint a bureau, with its agents without an] restraint or authority, to control them in the making of their contracts, to force them to work. I saw a very singular order very ro ceutly made by one of the bureau officers. He stated that there had come to be within his region such laziness and vagabondism among the colored people that he would put them to work upon the roads I think that was his language if they did not return to the thrill where they had made contracts to labor, to work out their time. If they did not do that he would put them to work upon the high ways. Now, I ask Senntors, where is the authority for this in the Constitution of the U.S.? Where is the authority for any Officer of this Government to say that if a white man does not serve out his contract for a year’s service, somebody will put him to work on the highways as a matter of punishment? I want to know where is the authority for the establishment within this Government of a system like this. Mr. President, I feel that I have done my duty in resisting this thing. I believe that the country will sustain the President in his veto. He has sought that these people now made free shall be governed by the laws and (h. Constitution of the land. He has resisted to the extent of his constitutional power the establilshment over them and the white people among whom they are found, of a system of government unknown to the Constitution and to our institutions. He has done his duty, and I believe, sir, that the country will sustain him.