Mr. PERHAM. During 4 ongand bloody years the people of this country have struggled for national ife and the vindication of the imperishable truths of the DeclarIndep. Nearly half a million of newly made graves. the laniciitations of mourning mothers. widows, and orphans, the presence of maimed and battle scarred soldiers in the streets, and a debt of enormous proportions attest to the ficrceness of the conflict. But thanks to our noble officers and men who, in the hour of danger, left the endearments of home and kindred, and, baring their breasts to the storm of battle, triumphantly bore our flag on 1,000battle fields, until the weapons of treason wcic shattered in the hands of their supporters, and the supremac of the national nut iority established throng out our entire fzirisdiction. A grateful nation will do honor to its living heroes, and the people will make pilgriuiages of love and affection to the graves of the slain. The old ship of state which our fathers, 80 years ago, built according to the best model of that day, and freighted with the fondest hopes of the world, has recently en countered a terrible storm. Darin its severe trial it has braved the winds and billows. at times appearing almost ingnlfed in the angry surges, t n proudly rising in her majesty. the admi ration of her friends and the envy of her ene ecutive mies, she ontrode the storm and anchored in State in this Union a republican form of the peaceful waters. cond but reveal whatever defect existed in the material or construction. Sonic tiuibers have been larted, some holes in the bottom and sides have been made, into which the waters have for some time been rushing, requiring a portion of the crew constantly at the pumps. these holes must be stopped up; some slight repairs to the old ship must be made for her own safety and that of the passengers and crew. We have also exchanged a portion of the freight for an increased number of passengers in the shape of citizens of African dese ent. Some portion of the vessel heretofore used for the storage of freight must now be appropriated for the accommodation of these aditional pas sengers. Their comfort and well being must be provided for. They cannot be disposed of as you would store away bags and barrels and boxes. such reconstruction must take place as will best secure the rights, comfort, happi ness, and harmony of all on board and it is absurd to object to these necessary and indispensable changes in the fear that the old ship might not be recognized. We have been sent here by our constituents, charged with the important duty of reconstructing this Union in accordance with the enlight ened and progressive spirit of the age, and on the basis of complete and impartial justice. They bid as ask nothing more, and charge us, by all the sacredness of our obligations, to accept nothing less. The send us here with no vindictive spirit. The orrors of Fort Pil low and andersonville have inspired no feelings of revenge. They justly feel themselves masters of the situation, and will not stoop to exalt over a fallen foe. While the demand that “treason shall be made odious, and that ample guarantees shall be given against the recurrence of another rebellion, they are willing to accept the least possible amount of unishment and concession that will secure these results. In this spirit I address myself to the discussion of the important questions arising from the presentcondition of the States recently in rebellion, and whether they are in a suitable condition to be entitled to rercsentation in Congress and intrusted with all the rights and powers of loyal States. Much has been said and written upon this subject, and the theories are about as numer ous as the people who advocate them. But, for our purpose, it is of but little importance whether we regard those States as dead, according to the theory of some members of Congress, or their functions suspended, as the President declares. In any view of this subject these great practical facts remain. In that portion of the South recently in rebellion there is territo, limited and defined byState lines, within the purisdiction and subject to the control of the U.S and there are people. citizens of the U.S and owing allegiance thereto, but without State governments and without any power of themselves to create them. Theorize as we may on this subject, this is the common ground to which we must all come. i The President recognized this principle when he prescribed the manner in which these States are to be reorganized. If they are States in the Union now that the military power of the rebellion has been destroyed, entitled to the rights ofloyal States. by what authority has the president exercised, practically, their judicial, exand legislative powers? y what authority has be appointed provisional governors, authorized conventions to form constitutions, prescribed the qualifications of voters for dele gates to such conventions, and declared what the constitutions when formed should be, and exercised numerous other powers which he could not exercise in the loyal States? Finding these States, then, at the close of the war without State governments and without power of themselves to create governments, it becomes our duty, in accordance with that provision of the Constitution which makes it the duty of “ the U.S. to guaranty to every 1i All this unparalleled trial government, ” to provide for the establishment of State governments that shall correspond with the spirit of this and the other provisions of the Constitution, and to guaranty in the strongest possible manner the perpetuity of such form of government. This is ust. what we have been trying to do for the last 5 years, butwith partial success. It is the duty of the U.S., not cal to see that new States to be admitted have sue governments, but to “guaranty a RFG" in the old States as well. It makes no difference Whether the rebellious States are dead or living; the duty of the U.S. is the same. It is just as much our duty to see that the government of aStatecon tinues republican in form as to requii c it as a condition of admission. Now, what is a “RFG?" It is one in which the republican principle is fully recognized: in the common acceptation of the term, it is a government by the people, one in which the rights of all the citizens are equally respected. Can we guaranty a RFG in the States recently in rebellion by porsuing the policy heretofore adopted? The president, on iis accession to the esidency, with the best of intentions, as we are bound to believe, inaugurated a.policy which he declared to be an experiment, to be modified or abandoned whenever it should become necessary. He has been more than generous toward the late rebels, pardoning them, restoring to them their property, giving them in many instances the entire control of new State governments, doing everything that it is possible for man to do, in the way of kindness, to gain their confidence and good will and secure acompliance with the requirements of good citizenship. But have these acts been reciprocated? Instead of growing better and more loyal under the presidents policy, they have grown worse and more disloyai.) Iiisteadofacceptingin good faith the results of the war, they openly declare that they are only subdued for the time being, and they will now rely on their influence inside the organization of the Government to accomplish what they have failed to do outside by the bul let. Their policy is to render it so uncomfort able and hazardous for loyal men to live among them as to compel them to leave. Many 100s of northern men who have made investsments and attempted to make themselves homes in these States have been driven away. Others have been murdered in cold blood as a warning to all northern men who should attempt to settle in the South. Officers charged with the execution of the laws have been intimidated by threats of violence, and brutally murdered for a faithful discharge of duty. In Kentucky the courts hold that otheers and men who have been in the Union Army are personally responsible for arrests made and property taken during the war by order of their superiors. Many have been imprisoned, and actions are now pending against 3500 more in pursuance of this ruling of the courts; while officers and men who have been in the rebel arm are by the same courts exempted from such liability because of their rights as belligerents. This is but foreshadowing what will take place in all the seceded States as soon as the military force shall be withdrawn. Governor Brownlow, of Tennessee, who did more, perhaps, than any other man to secure the nomination of AndrewJohnson at Baltimore, in a recent address said: " You may thinkit a little strangs that I give such counsel. I do it becauseif General Thomas Wereto take away his soldiers and pull up stakesand leave here.you would not beallowed to occupythis school room a week: and if General Thomas and his military forceswere to go away land leave us this Legislature, at the head of which I am place. would be broken up by a mob in 48 ours." On the 8th of March, 1866, he wrote to a member of this House a letter, from which I make some extracts. He says: “Since pardons have been so multiplied and no man has conpunished, they have everywhere he come impudent and defiant, until in inesteountiesln ?! Middleand WestTennessoeitis disreputable to have beenffLlllOIljnlln, or as a southern man. to have servedin the L nion Army and mattersare growin wmoeins, cand the threre caotnesntrinngctethdtermaitworisthopse hnolyotcinugrsoinrgloya hang sini fe;, bwohailsetinwgetahlal tltchcel yth have the President tsopnolitchyeiirs ruine usto us.” “ Every rebel in all this country. everyMcClellan man, and every pxgucrrilla chic, are loud and en tbusiasticin praise of the President. The men who but nfew months since were cursing him for an ab politionist and traitor and wishing him citccuted.are nowfor executing all who dare opposehis policy or even doubt its success. "There is twice the amount of bitterness and intolerence in the South to da toward the Union and everything northern that t ore was at the time of Lees surrender. Abuse of Union men, of the radical majority in Congress, and self assumed superiority on the part of the southern chivalry have arisento such. a height thatloyal lD tncannot travel on astcambout or iriii railroad car Withoutbeinginsulted. As itwas during the war. so it is now; all concessionsfrom the North or from the majority in Congressare regarded as evidence s of fear. All the old rebel prosse sof 1861 and many new onesarcinfull blast.threateningCon fiesspntl the horth with ultimate vengeance and ng of southern prowess.The mostpopularmen m the largest portion of Tennessee today are the men meet distinguished for their hostility to the North and what they are pleased to term the radical congrees, and they are the class of men selected to fill omens, “ the lath county elections show. The same is true of the entire South. only to a greater extent. In a word, theyare resolved on breaking up the governmaat, and they expect to carry out. their scheme through the ballot box and how men of candor and intelligence can represent them as loyal and kindl d is a mystery to me, even in this ageof rebellion and treachery. Why. str, many of them aroon acting the President to disperse Congress with the bayonet, as Crom well dispersed the long Parliament. The southern breast is being rapidly red to deeds of valorandall this and more.as I believe has been caused by the mistakes of State President. Enitssplalasnhoaftdruasntinflg rebels exactly cot exthe opposite of what ho intended. It has ruined the prospects of the Union men and the feel that there is no safety for them unless Longresss all choose to protectthem. Even 3 claysagoGeneralThomss had to send troops into Marshall county, some 60 miles dixtan to protectloyal men and freedmen who were fleeing or safety and coming to t a city." NCarolina has been regarded one of the most loyal of the rebellious States; but, judo in from the following from the Raleigh Stand ar, this State, too, is followin her sisters in rebellion in the work of rewaring rebels and punishing loyal men: "The town of Wilmington. in this State has recentlypsssed by popular election from the hands of loyal Union men into the handsof original secession ists and latter day war men. The same is true as to the county court of NewHanover, under the appoint the Legislature. It. isment of magistratesmade by considered urepntablo in ilinington to be an out woken unconditional Union man. General Robert Ransom. lately of the confederate service.has been thortminiirshnl of the town. with asalary of 82000. General ii. is. we presume.still unpardoned." Colonel Stokes, one of the true men elected to this House from Tennessee, in a recent speech said: “ We know that admission now would destroy the Union element of the States. Congress is doing right in holding them back. When the rebel armies 1st surrendered. there was everywherea disposition to ward loyalty; but I stand here to night to say that there is nowa feelingas bitter toward the Union men of the South as there was in18661 and the facts have proved that Congress.in its cool and deliberate treatment of the matter. deserves the thanks of all Union mi nain giving an opportunity for theserebels to show their hands. Time will show that Congress was right." This view of the spirit of the South is confirmed by the necessity which prompted GenlGrant. to issue an order, on the 12th of January last, directing the military power to protect the loyal citizens of the rebellious States mm the prejudice and violence of their rebel neighbors, and further to protect colored persons from prosecutions charged with oileuses for which white persons are not prosecuted or punished in the same mapner an de rec. All the accounts we receive from loya sources, from Grant, from Sehurz, from the agents of the Freedmens Bureau, from every loyal man from the North who has yisited the South, from every truly loyal man in the South, by petitions and entreaties. all agree that, if the Military force should be removed, it would be impossible for Union men, black or white, to remain there. Allid yet the reconstructed governor of Mississippi says they (the Union soldiers) are not needed, that they are. a disturbing element. a nuisance and a blighting curse.” The rebels desire that the U.S. troops shall be withdrawn, and their places supplied by State troops composed of officers and men from the rebel army, who would sooner protect the rebel oppressor than the loyal men. While important service in the rebellion is a sure passport to political and social position and distinction, a systematic effort is made to brand every man with disrace who has been true to the Government, as openly and de fiantly rewarding treason and punishing 10y alty. It is a fact, to which I challenge contradiction, that in spite of all the caution, expostulations, arguments, and demands of the President in regard to the election of loyal men in the States he is attempting to reconstruct, with every consideration of policy urging them to a decent regard, for the time being at least, to the loyal sentiments of the country, the men who have been the most active and efficient in the rebellion are the most popular at the polls, and receive the largest vote. It is very true that some good men, under the pressure of circumstances, have been elected. A few such have been sent here as claimants of seats in this House men who would honor the position they claim, and with whom we should all be most happy to be associated as members of this Congress, could we feel that they had a loyal constituency, able to maintain a loyal government. in many instances the dislo alty of the persons voting, or the persons e ected, has been so notorious that the President has been comclled to declare the election void, and with old the certificate of election, or forbid their entering upon the duties of the office. The SecyTreasury and the PostMGenl both declare that they are unable to find loyal men enough in those States, who are willing to take the prescribed oath, to fill the offices under their Depts, and we are called upon to repeal or modify the oath so as to allow these men, just out of the rebellion, to accept some of the most responsible and lucrative offices under the same Government they have been laboring for 4 long years to destroy. To a proposition so flagrant] y wrong and perilous I will not consent by my vote. If there are not loyal men enough in the South who have been true to the Union to fill these offices, I would appoint some of the heroes of the war, and bid them take part in the administration of the government in the States they have saved by their valor. A communication from Colonel De Cress, addressed to GenlHoward, and dated at Houston, Texas, December 15, 1865, says: “Ihave the honor to respectfully report that in some portions of this State the negroes are not yet free; that the pass system is still in force, and when a freedman is found at large without a pass he is taken up and whipped.” Lieutenant Eldridge, writing to the same o the cr, from Vicksburg, Mississippi, on the 28th of November, 1865, says: “I have the honor to inclnse herewith. for your consideration, the freedmens bill. which has just bocome a law in this State, and would respectfully ask your attention to the following oints therein: “Section one prohibits the holding, leasing, or renting of real estate by freedmen." “Section 4 excludes freedmen from testifying in "cases of whites. Section 5 authorizes mayors and boards of policc. by their sole edit t. to prevent any Freedmen from doing any independent business and to compel them to labor as employees.with no appeal from such decision. “Section 7 gives the power to any white citi sen over the person of a freedman unknown to any other law. an denies the right of appeal beyond the county court." Major General Terry, in an order issued at Richmond, Virginia, January, 24, 1866, refer ring to a statute passed at the present session of the Legislature of Virginia entitled “ A bill providing for the punishment of vagrants, " says: “The ultimate effect of the statute will be to reduce the freedmen to a condition of servitude worse than that from which they have been emancipated – a condition which will be slavery in all but its name." A law recently passed by the Louisiana Legislature provides that anyone who shall feed, harbor, or secrete an person who shall leave his employer without is consent shall be liable to a fine or imprisonment; thus reviving. as far as possible, the principles of the old slave code. These facts might a multiplied indefinitely, but enough have been presented to show that, while these people accept the fact. of emancipation, they believe the principle is wrong, and intend to make the condition of the freedmen as near that of slavery as possible. There are, to be sure, very many good and loyal men in the South, and had they the control of the States all would be well; but the unwelcome truth is the rebels are in the aseendency. Loyalty is the exception and disloyalty the rule. Governor Cox, of Ohio, in his report of the Presidents conversation on the 21st of February last makes him speak of what he is doing in those States for the purpoae of “stimulating loyalty" no less than 6 times in that short conversation. I fear that too much of the lit tle loyalty we see manifested by these men is of the “stimulated” kind; that it is a sickly plant at most, and will die out as soon as the stimulation shall cease. I have no confidwce in this “stimulating” business. My own observation proves to my mind that, though you may get a little more out of a subject for a day by administering stimulants, in the end he wii. sink just as much below his natural condition as he has been raised above it. The facts in this case show that the Presidents southern patient has been stimulated too long, that the medicine has ceased to have any effect, and he is rapidly sinking, and is now even lower than when the 1st dose was administered. This is a sad picture, but it represents the spirit of the men who rule a large portion of the 11 acceded States today, and but for the presence of the military force would rule them all. Mr. Lincoln held that those States were “ out of their practical relations with the Union, ” and no one will deny that this state of things exists at the present time. The great work before us is to restore these States to their “practical relations with the Union" at the earliest moment. consistent with the future security, peace, and perpetuity of the Government. On whom devolves the duty of deciding when these States are in a condition to be represented here 3 Notthe Executive. No such owar has ever been delegated to him. Not the HoRep or the Senate acting independent of each other, but the lawmaking power of the Government alone is competent to perform this important duty. In confirmation of this view of the subject. I add the express declarations of the President himself, through the SecyState. On July 24, 1865, Mr. Seward telegraphed to the “ provisional governor" of Mississippi: “ The government of the State will be provisional only, until the clvil authorities shall be restored with the approval of Congress." So, on September 12, 1865, he wrote to governor Marvin, of Florida: " It must. however. be distinctly understood that the restoration to which your proclamation refers will be subject to the decision of Congress." Thus it is seen that, as late as September, 1865, both these distinguished men agreed with the majority of Congress that the readmission of these States is to be subject to “the approval of Congress.” In accordance with the Presidents and Mr. Sewards original plan, Ihold that it is the duty of Congress to take the whole subectip to consideration, as it is now doing, an decide just what guarantees it is absolutely necessary to require to secure equal and exact justice to all the citizens, and to prevent the recurrence of another rebellion in t ie future. This should be secured by such constitutional amendments aseniine t fail to accomplish the object; and, on the ratification of these amendments by a vote of the people of those States, as a pledge of their sincerity and loyalty I would allow them to be represented in Congress on am equal footing With the other States, I venture to suggest some of the guarantees which, in my judgment, would best secure the well being an mutual interest both of the North and South. 1. The leading intelligent traitors who knowingly and willingly went into the rebellion those denominated by President Johnson “con se ious traitors" should be deprived of all political rights for the present at least, and until they shall have brought forth fruits meet for repentance, or the loyal sentiment of the States shall have become so strong as to render them powerless for evil. Aside from a few leaders, who by their official position or infernal conduct have sea the representatives of treason, on whose heads 5 ould be visited the extreme penalty of a violated law as a vindication of the supremacy of law and order, and a notice to coming generations that henceforth “treason is a crime to be punished and made odious, ” I would allow them to live in the country if they desire, and would heap coals of fire on their beads by securing to them full and complete protection of their persons, and the enjoyment of the fruits of their labor. This all they expected when they laid down their arms; and, it appears to me, is all a rebel ssessed of common decency would ask. ven Lucifer himself never had the presumption to insult the Almighty by goin back after the overthrow of his rebellion an asking to be permitted to assist in the administration of the government he attempted to destroy, much less to claim the privilege as a right. [here is no evidencethat these men love the old Union any better now than when they were openly fighting against it. Their arms have been broken, but they are defiant. still. They may accept the fact of cmancipation, but they still believe that slavery is the best condition for the colored race, and it; is but reasonable to suppose that as far as possible this idea would, If they were allowed to govern, be embodied in law, and carried out in their intercourse with the colored people. If I believed slavery to be right, an the relation of master and slave the best condition for both whites and blacks, I should use my influence to make the condition of the colored population as near that of slavery as possible, and if I disliked the form of Government under which I live as those men professed to hate the old Union, I should not cease my efforts to supplant the hated government and establish one more in accordance with my own idea. Nothing less than this could be expected of me. Is it reasonable to suppose that the recent rebels would do less? Do not the acts of the Legislatures of many of these States just quoted answer the question with alarming significance? The disloyal leaders who vacated their seats in this Hall in 1861, after having spent 4 ears in an infamous attempt to destroy the nion by force of arms, and in vilifying the Constitution of our fathers without so much as professing to love the “old Government” any etter than when they were fighting against it, with the blood of 400,000 mur dered patriots still unwashed from their hands, ask to come back into the Halls of Congress; and they and some others in high and low places seem to think it very strange that they are not permitted at once to become the guardians of the institutions they so abhor. Before such cool agfrontery Satans rebellion in heaven falls into insignificaucc. They have been here before and basely violated their oaths and took advantage of their official position to overthrow the Constitution and Government they had sworn to protect. They are no better now, and we should be false to our high trust to allow these men to come back again to renact the scenes of 1861. Suppose in this contest the rebels had succeede, the old Government been overthrown, and the confederate government, based on the divinity of slavery and the right of secession, had become the government of this nation, what would have become of us here? lf we had been permitted to live, we might have thought our selves fortunate. But suppose the members of this Congress to have been elected to the l Congress of the new government. Our Democratic friends on the other side, who have 1 always sympathized with the rebels in their treason and now regard them truly loyal, would find themselves very much at home, and might very properly cooperate with the confederate statesmen and exrebel generals in the work of such a Congress. But an unconditional Union man who hates slavery and treason and loves liberty could only go there for the purpose of molding the Government in accordance with h is own views. Just so will it be with these exrebels if we admit them to legislate for a Government for which they have no sympathy. It will be like taking to our bosoms acid, warmin into life the scorpion whose sting is death. I we should err in this matter and keep the States in question out (or in the position they voluntarily assumed) a little longer than is absolutely necessary, the error can be corrected; but if they are admitted with treason in the hearts of the governing classes of the people the evil may he irreparable. In this view of our duty in regard to the neatment of leadingtraitors utter no new declarations. These are the settled convictions of a large portion of the Union men of the country. They were the principles boldly advocated by President Johnson in his better days, before his head became giddy with power, and southern rebels and northern co perheads led him captive at their will. In the Senate of the U.S., March 2, " 1861, he said: Show mewho has beenengagedin these conspir acies, who hasfired upon our flag. who has given instructions to take our forts and customhousesand arsonsis and dockards, and I will show you a trai tor. Wore I POTUS I would do aslhomnsJefferson did. in 1806.with Aaron Burr. I would have them arrested, and if convicted within the moaning and scopeof the Constitution, by the eternal God I would execute them." In a speech made in Nashville, Tennessee, Ju] nc 9, 1864, indicating his acceptance of the nomination made at the Baltimore convention, 2 days before, he said: “Treason must bomade odious and traitors must be punishedand impoverished. Their great plantations must be seized, and divided into smal farms, and sold to honest, industrious men. The day for protecting the inn 5 und ucgr oes of theseauthors of rebelliouis papt. tis high pine: t was.” C C I “But in calling a convention to restore the State, who shall restoreand reiistablish it? Shall theman who gavehis influenceand his means to destroy the Government? Is heto participate in the nreatwork of reorganisotion Y Sha lhe who brought this misery upon t 1cbtato be permittedto control its destinies? If this beso, then all this precious bloodof our brave soldiers and Officers so freely poured out will have been wantonly spilled. All the Glorious victorieswon by our noble armieswill go for naught and all the battle fields which have beensown with dead heroes during the rebellion will have been made memorable m vam. I quote further from the same speech in proof of my statement: “Why all this carnage and devastation? It was thatt onmight beputdown and traitors.iunished. There are I say that traitors should take a uck seat in the work of restoration. I saythat the traitor has ccused to be acitizen, and in oinin the rebellion has becomeapublic enomy. c for cited his right to vote with loyal mon when he renounced his citizenship and soughtto destroyour Government. We sayto the most honesl and industrious foreigner who comcsfrom England or Germany to dwcll amongus, and to add to the wealth of the country, Before you can be acitizen you must stay bore for 5 yours. If we are so cautious about forcimers. who voluntarily renounce their homes to live with us, what should we say to the traitor, who, although born and reuredamongus, has raised aparricidnl hand against the Government which always protected him 1 My Judgment is that he should a suluccted to a severe ordeal before he is restored to citizenship. A fellow who takes the oath merely to save his property and denies the validity of the oath, is n perjured man, and not to be trusted. Before these repenting rebels can be trusted, let them brlng forth the fruits of repentance. He who helpedto make all these widows and orphans, who draped the strcets Of NaShVllle in mourning, should suffer for his great crime." These are precisely the doctrines I advocate today, and, in the name of the people I represent, I call upon the President to cooperate with Congress in giving them practical application. 2. All the civil and political rights belonging to citizenship, including the right of suffrage, should be guarantied to all loyal citizens, irre spective of race or color. The loyal men, white and black, who have always loved the old flag and were true to it in the darkest hours, can now be trusted to aid in the administration of the Government. Right here it is objected that by placing the colored people on an equality before the law with the whites you will hrin about a war of races and this cry has been card from the lowest groggery in the landu through all the dos of society to the White 1 case. Do not t icse people understand that the measures they pose are the only measures that can possib bring about a war of races in this country? What creates a war of races? It is the apphcation of one law to one race and another to another race in the same community. It is granting privileges to one race which youwithhold from the other, thus engendering jcalousy, hatred, revenge and terminating in open hostility. I admit that 150,000 men, trained to war, representing 4 or 5 million people stung to madness by the refusal of the Government to recognize their manhood, would be a dangerous element in any Government. But give the colored man the common rights that belong to man, give him an equal opportunity with the whites, subject him to the same laws, award to him the privileges on claim for yourself, hid him God speed in is efforts to raise himself from his degraded condition, and awar of races will be impossible. Our fathers gave the right of suffrage to free colored men in nearly all the States in the Union, and without any evil results: The idea that the black man has no rights that white men are bound to respect is of modern invention. We have paid dearly for our refusal to do justice to the colored race. Had we emancipated and enfranchised the colored men when Mr. Seward declared the “irrepressihle conflict, ” secession would have been impossible. These 4 years of blood and anguish have been the fearful punishment for our refusal to obey the demands of Gods eternal justice. The sins of the fathers as well as our own have fallen upon us with terrible consequences, and are to be visited upon comin generations in the shape of an enormous cbt and now, though we have given the colored man what. we had no right to withhold from him his liberty, if we fail to give him the common rights of citizens we may depend on still further ndments from Him who made the black men lac, and the white men white, and stamped upon both His own image. When Mr. Lincoln, on the 1st day of Janu ary, 1863, proclaimed liberty to the bondmen, freedom to a race in slavery, and invoked upon the act “the blessing of God and the considerate judgment of mankind, ” he meant something more than the mere form of freedom. That act was intended to carry with it the common rights of manhood and when we called on the black men to assist in saving our imperiled country, we did not intend to avail ourselves of his services on the field of danger and then abandon him to the tender mercies of his former master, made doubly malignant because of his efficient aid to the Union cause. Unless we protect him in his civil rights his liberty is buta solemn mockery. The colored man, by rallying to the standard of a nation which had given him no rights except those of a slave, and bearing aloft our flag in the thickest of the fight, has earned his rights to all the privileges ofaman and if we deny him those privileges a God of justice will frown upon us, and mankind will curse us for our perfidy. The practicalquestion presented is, whether we will restore the government of the States recently in rebellion to the loyal or disloyal men. Will you trust the men who were hunted down by dogs, plundered of their property. imprisoned in loathsome dungeons, compelled to see their wives and little ones crncll y treated, exiled from their homes, driven 1b the mount ains, to caves, and rocks, compelled to see their loyal associates shot down like dogs, dragged to the scaffold and hung as felons, and subisse. g iected to all the outrages and indignities that devils could invent, and still stood true to the old do. faithful among the faithless, or the men who were the authors and active pere trntors of all these cruelties? Shall we give heed to the entreaties of the men who have always been true and never faltered, and who now implore us to protect them from the rage of their rebel neighbors, or the recent traitors in arms who come to us with their hands still reeking with the blood of our murdered broth ers, and, without any evidence of sorrow for what they have done, or the least signs of regret for their stupendous wickedness, demand an opportunit to accomplish by the ballot and other civil in uences what they have failed to do by the sword? Some say if you ive the ballot to the negro his old master will control it. So when we talked about putting them in the Arm it was said they would turn against us and ght for their old masters; but when were soldiers truer than they? Go ask at Port Hudson, at Milli kens Bend, and Fort Wagner, where their fiirita went up from their black bodies to their od in defense of liberty, the Constitution, and the Union, and tell me whether these men can be depended on. The men who will peril their lives on the field of battle in defense of our Constitution will vote for it if you will give them an It is objected optigrttunthitey.colored people are too ignorant to be intrusted with the ballot, but it is an objection that applies only to color. The most ignorant foreigner that ever landed from an emigrant ship, the most henighted poor white in all the South, is deemed a safe depositary of this important trust, providin he has no shade of African blood in his veins. scarcely a black man can be found in the whole country who was so ignorant that he.did not know and choose the right side during the war, while his intelligent master was generally on the wrong eide. I would sooner trust it lo 1 black man with the ballot than a disloynlw iite man. The argument that would exclude a poor or ignorant colored man from the right to vote would also exclude the poor or ignorant white man. The more this Question is discussed the stronger are the convictions of the people “ that the only way to secure and perpetuate our Government in its purity is to confer upon all the races of men equal rights, or such opportunities as will preare them for the enjoyment of equal rights.” An the time is not for distant when the people of this country will acquiese e in this principle as fully as they now do in the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, which our Dem 0cratic friends so strenuously opposed. In these views I also find myself sustained by the declarations of the President. In his ashville speech, before referred to, he said: “If there be but 5,000 men in Tennessee loyal to the Constitution, loyal to freedom, loyal to Justice. those true and faithful men should ontrol the work of reorganization and reformation absolutely." In August, 1865, the President recommended to Governor Sharkcy, of Mississippi, the extension of the franchise “.to all persons of color who can read the Constitution of the U.S. in English and write their names, and to all persons of color who own real estate valued at not less than $250 and pay taxes thereon.” In October last the President was in favor of negro suffrage. He then said to Major SilflfliS: " My position hero is differsnt from what it would be if I wore in Tennessee. hero I should try to intro inm necro suffrage gradually: 1st, those who had served in the Army: those who oould rain!and write; and perhrtpsa propel t qualification for 0th; is; snay 200 or 250 dol In October, 1864, just before his election, AndrewJohnson addressed a gathering of colored people in Nashville, and said: " I. AndrewJohnsou. hereby proclaim liberty. full, broad.unconditional liberty, to everyman in Tennessee. I will be your Moses and lend you through theRed Sea of strug lo and servitude to a future of liberty and peace. ebellion and slavery shall no morepollute our State. Loyal men, whether white orblack shall govern the State.", 8. We should forever prohibit the payment of the confederate and State debts contracted in aid of the rebellion, and prohibit the nation and the States from making payment for emancipated slaves. Already the less cautious rebels are talking about being able, by the aid of northern Democrats, when they shall be rep presented in Congress, to comcl the General Government to assume their debt or repudiate the whole. James L. Orr, the socalled gover“noIr of SCarolina, says: therefore cherish the hopethat Congress will. as sJuosotnaansdtehqeu public adrerbatnigsepmreonvitdtoedmfaokre. Mthaek CelislZoCmlelS of the South some compensation for the slaves man umitled by the U.S. authorities.” General Sehnrz, in his reporttothe President, says; pa“pIner faarctitc, ltehse, rpeuabrleicabundant indications, in news speeches, and electioneering documentsof candidates, which render it eminently probable {buton the claim of compensationfor their emancipated slaves, the southern States. assoonas readmiliedte representatiop ip Congress, will be almosta unit. In the MlSSlSSlDDel convention the idea was broached by Mr. Potter. in an elaboratespeech. to have the late slave Statesrelieved from taxation for hers to come, iu consideration of debts due them for the emancipated slavesfand this plan I have frequently hear advocated in private conver sations." Hon. John Covode, in his account of an interview with Governor Wells, of Louisiana, sa“ys: He beganto Mlkn dsmands yvithregard to what Government should do. He said that Government must ay forslaves that had been emancipated.for it ha taken or destroyed property enough for that purpom. This is the programme now shadowed forth, and which, ifiiot put to rest forever, will be a source of infinite trouble to us hereafter. We owe it to the loyal tax payers North and South to provide that they shall not be taxed to pay the expenses of a war to destroy the nations life; and we owe it to the holders of our national securities, as well as our own credit and financial stability, to provide by amendment to the fundamental law that none of these pretended claims shall ever be aid. 4. The doctrine oipsecession should be repudiated and branded with everlasting infamy. This proposition is too plain to need argument now. the excrience of the last 4 years, the graves O 400,000 fallen heroes, the emblems of mourning all over the country, all speak in thunder tones, demanding that this doctrine hereafter shall find no place among the possibilities of the country. The Union members of Congress earnestly desire to avoid any conflict with the President. They will have none except so far as he repudiates the principles which have him the election in 1864. they ask noting that the principles heretofore expresse dby him, and enforced in his administration of affairs in the States recently in rebellion, do not absolutely justify and require. But it is objected that our plan contemplates amendments to the Constitution, and the resident says, “Amendments to the Constitution ought not to be so fre sent that their effect would be that it would use all its prestige and dignity.” The President lost sight of this idea when, in the Senate of the U.S. in December, 1860, he r osed no less than 9 amendments to the constitution in one day. He repudiated this idea when speaking for the votes of the American people in Nash ville soon after his nomination for VEEP. He said: “ I hold.with Jeffersen, that Governmentwasmade for the convenienceof man and not men forGovernment. The laws and constitutions weredesignedas instrumentsto romotchis welfare. Amlhence. from this principle, conclude that Governmentse an and ought to be changedand amendedto conform to the wants.to the requirements, and regress of the people iand the enlightenedspirit of the ago and let me say that ncw is the time to securo those fundamental principles, while the land is rent with anarchy and upheaves With the throes of a mighty revolution. Vliile society is in this disor dered state, and we are seeking security. lot us fix the foundations of the Governmenton principles of eternaljustice which will endure for all time." and now, in 1866, the loyal people of the country say amen, and call upon the author to l cob crate with theirrepresentatiVes in securin snc amendments as the changed condition u things demand; and to conform “to the requirements and proess of the people and enlightened spirit of the age, " anl to “ fix the foundation of the GOvernment on principles of eternal justice which will endure or all time.” Because of the enunciation of such principles as I have quoted, and others corresponding thereto, the true men of this country rallied around AndrewJohnson, and triumphantly elected him to the 2nd office within their I have quoted to some extent the declarations of the President to show that when a candidate for the suifrages of the people, and even later, he favored every proposition that the majority of Congress desire to adopt. If he will now, in his high position, carry out the principles he then avowed, a confiding people will rally around him and hold up his hands in the cat work, and future generations will hold his name in grateful remembrance. Failing to do this, the terrible judgment of popu lar condemnation awaits him. Mr. Speaker, I am no alarmist. I believe in a glorious future for this country, but on the express condition that we prove ourselves deserving such a future. he day of our l is not yet past. Already in the North a urge, and in some States a powerful, party who from the beginning of the war have sympathized more with the rebi llion than the government, are comin forward to meet their southern friends, an over the graves not yet covered with the verdure of a single season of the nations fallen heroes, whom one has branded as murderers and the other has slain, they propose to shake hands, and pledge themselves to place this Government in the hands of those who but yesterday were striving to destroy it, and threaten revolution if their demands are not acceded to; and, “ tell itnot in Goth, ” they claim a President elected by loyal votes to cooperate with them. Already a Senator rises in his place and declares that “it is the duty of the President to ascertain who constitute the 2 Houses of Congress, " and calls upon him to “recognize the Opposition here and the southern members as a majority of the Senate.” Another Senator, at a recent meeting in this city, is reported to have said that “ he believed to dziy that a revolution is pending, and President Johnson would have better work for southern men than hangin them. He believed today that when Jc Davis left the Senate he wasabetter Union man than Abraham Lincoln. This he would say on the floor in Congress before he got through.” The NewYork World suggests that the “present national Legislature should be put down by force, " and the Constitutional Union talks about the “2nd advent of Cromwell of England, or of Napoleon of France, ” while the Macon Telegraph echoes back from Georia the sentiment of its northern allies, and declares that “the ballot box is too slow a remedy for existing grievances, ” and adds: “Let the President put down the rebellion in congressand appeal to the ballot box to sustain that.” and continuing further in the same strain, it says: “We preferenceablemeans: but. these failing. the President should issuehis proclamation declaring the Union full restored and inviting the southern members of congress to enter the Capitol and take their seats. If refused admittance.a regiment of U.S. troo a should be sent to put the southern mombersin t cir places." The proclamation has been issued, but the southern members and the regiment of U.S. troops have not yet appeared. The Chicago Times says: "We do not hesitateto declarethat it is those lcmn duty of the President to follow his words by deeds We do not licsitnte to declare that it is the solemn duty of the President to command the arrest of Thaddeus Stevens, Wendell Phillips, Charles Sumner and their confederates in Conirrcssand all over the country. for the crime of treason. In no other way can this northern rebellion be promptly quelled and the pu“blic quiet restored and ifthe rump Congress shall riots cedlly abundon its seditious. revolutionary, and awlcss prac tiees. if it shall persist in excluding the representatives of 11 Statesfrom their rightful seats.andin exercising the powersof the Congressof the U.S. we do not hesitateto declare that it will be comethe solemnduty of President Johnson to constitute himself the cromwellof the time, and dissolve the rump by military power." C. C. Burr, a Democratic orator and writer, in his paper, the Old Guard, in the issue of January, 1866, in eulogizing General Mr. E. Lee, says: " It is a question which imiartial and inexorable history will have to settle whether asucccsson his part would not haveprovedabenefit.to hise ountry." He further says:. “ When every Democraticeditor will speak out his real thoughts and say boldly and defiantly that he believes men like General RobtELee to be patri. ots, and men like Stanton and Seward to be traitors. there will be more honestmen in the land than there are now, and there will be better hope for liberty for our countrys lasting peaceand honor." When I remember that those “Democratic editors” have never uttered a word in condem nation of the action of General Lee from the time he ignominiousl betrayed the confidence of General Scott am the country, and basely drew his sword against the Government on whose patronage he had lived, to the present time, and that they have never ceased to apply the vilest epithets to the other 2 distinguished men named, I cannot avoid the conviction that Mr. Burr speaks what he knows on this subject. For myself, standing in my place in the American Congress, representing a people who have freely oured out their treasure and their blood that tiis nation might live, and speaking for 1,000s of homes made desolate by the war, with the dust of the bravest and best of my constituents sleeping in patriots7 graves, almost within sound of my voice, I am ready to swear, by all the sanctity of this free will offering, that I will never consent, bym vote, that the Government of this country shall be taken from the loyal citizens who have saved it by their blood and given to traitors. Could I he so false and base as to do so, I should expect the gory dead to rise up in judgment against me. We. have emerged from the greatest military struggle on record, and now a moral contest has commenced. Already we have had seeming defeat. Already our enemies boast that our chosen leader is in sympathy with them and against us. God grant that the experience of the war may not be reeated; and that we may not be subjected to tiiree years of political McClellnnism and Chickahominy anguish, before a Grant shall be found to lead us on to victory. There is a grandeur in the contest we are entering amounting to the sublime. Our people have stood unawed and invincible in the midst of the thunder and smoke of terrible battle, when carnage and death held high car nival. It remains for us to show to the nations of the earth that we can stand erect in this moral conflict, and, with hearts strong and undaunted, meet every responsibility incident to the great work which devolves upon us. The result of this conflict is not doubtful. We may not now be worthy to enter the promised land of peace and prosperity which ies before us. Months and years even of severe conflict may intervene, but we shall surel win at last. While God sits on His throne, right and justice are indestructible. Men may attempt to raise their uny arms and fight against His purposes, but they will be paralyzed. The man who expects to turn the Union party of this country from its convictions of duty by executive influence, will soon find he has mistaken the men who comuse it. They have written their principles in etters of blood and will not abandon them. The equal rights of all men before the law in this country is foreordained of God; and he who puts himselfin the way of its accomplishment will find that the terrible “ground swell of popular judgment, ” referred to by the President in his speech of the 22d of February, will Open a chasm beneath his feet in which he will be buried out of sight. While the nation today, in her tears and of the ghastly wounds, bows her head before Him who as given us the victory, she makes the solemn pledge that justice and equal rights to all her people shall be the rule of her conduct, and that every element which tends to injustice and oppression shall be removed from the ba sis of the reconstructed Union, and that our glorious banner with every star restored, shining forth with a brighter luster then ever be fore, with liberty written in letters of living light on its ample folds wherever it may float, on land or sea, shall be the symbol, not merely of might and power, but of justice, and the highest civilization of human governments, in spiring the great heart of universal humanity with better hopes, and prompting to nobler endeavor.