Mr. HiANTs. Mr. Speaker, I have not trespassed upon the time of the House with much speaking since I have had the honor of a Seat. but in view of the transcendent importance of the questions now under consideration I propose to state briefly some of the reasons for the votes I am about to give. When, at the last session, Congress adopted and sent to the States for their ratification the proposed amendment to the Constitution of {}. the States, I understood it to be done in good faith, as a basis of reconstruction; and that when ratified in like good faith by the disorganized States, Representatives from such States having the qualifications required by said amendment should be. i. Upon that understanding I voted for the amendment, and also for the admission of Tennessee, she having complied with the terms. That, sir, was my understanding at the time. That it was likewise the understanding of my State is proved by the fact that the Union convention of Ohio adopted that amendment as the sole platform of the party upon that subject. Upon that platform, so adopted and indorsed, I accepted a renomination to the 40th Congress and in a very full canvass before the people o my district it was made the text of every speech during the campaign. Upon that issue, fairly and distinetly made, the people rendered their verdict. I do not assume to speak for others, but I do know that the people of my district, and I believe of my State, did emphatically indorse that amendment as the basis of reconstruction, conditioned, of course, upon its acceptance by the unrepresented States and the conforming of their constitutions and laws to its provisions. And, sir, I stand by that platform today, and so far as I am advised I believe the people of my district and State are yet willing to abide by that understanding. Mr. Speaker, that amendment may not, in all respects, be all that the people would have desired, or the best plan that could have been devised. But satisfied that it was the very best thing practicable, as being the only scheme upon which all the Union members could be brought to unite, and good in itself as far as it went, I accepted and supported it in good faith, both here and before the people. But I everywhere stated that if the people of the rebel States should madly refuse to accept the terms thus offered terms of unparalleled mag nanimity that then I would feel myself released from ife, ress or implied obligation created thereby, and free to adopt such other measures as the exigencies of the country might demand. Mr. Speaker, the action of the controlling element of those States has made it manifest that they have not only refused to accept the more than generous terms proposed, but have rejected them with contumely, and with the haughty and insulting bravado of assumed superiority demand that the nation shall submit to such terms as they shall dictate. I am preE.; therefore, to take the step in advance. but in doing so I do not repudiate the amendment or intend to supersede it by the action about to be taken. For while by the action of the rebels themselves it has ceased to be practicable, as the basis of settlement, it is if of vital importance to our future security as conforming our Constitution to the changed circumstances, of the country resulting from the rebellion. I therefore hope and trust that that amendment will yet be ratified by the States having a right to act upon it, and thus become a part. our fundamental law, not now as the only basis of reconstruction, but as right and important when reconstruction shall have been consummated. And I am now ready for further action. But, sir, while I sympathize fully with the purpose sought to be accomplished by the authors of the bill and the substitute now under consideration, I am free to say that I am not fully satisfied with either. I shall, therefore, vote to refer them both, with the proposed amendments, to the JtComReconstruction, with the hope that something ap nearer to my views may be devised. but in saying this I do not wish to be under stood as indicating a purpose to vote against either of the bills as they are if the judgment of the House should differ from mine in this respect. I have learned in my short experience here that in practical legislation it is the part of wisdom to accept the attainable good, although imperfect, rather than to strive in vain for. off". perfection which is unattainable. I shall therefore vote for the proposition in that shape in which it shall be finally presented for our votes, unless encumbered with features such as I have no right to suppose will be given to it by the committee or the House. I take this stand because I believe that the end proposed will be in a good degree reached by embodying the main propositions of either bill into a law. That end, as I suppose, is to give the count repose from the terrors of the anarchy which now reigns in one section of it and the apprehension of financial ruin which paralyzes the energies of the other. Believing J. the enactment of such a measure into a law, and its due enforcement, will give such repose, I shall give it my vote. Sir, if history teaches any lesson with an unbroken series of examples, it is that material " and social progress are only possible where life and person, and property are secured by laws approaching at least toward justice, and administered with some degree of impartiality. It might, perhaps, be possible to have all these in large measure, if men would be so contented, without political liberty. But unfortunately for the advocates of class legistion the aspirations of all men are toward freedom; and wherever this is not enjoyed the relations between the rulers and the ruled become those of irreconcilable antagonism. And hence, ever brewing revolutions are suppressed by the bloody instrumentalities of despotism, or despots are unseated by successful revolution. And, alas! too often anarchy lies between, making even despotism itself a relief from the greater horrors of contending and unrestrained factions. And the no longer concealed thought that here and there finds expression indicates that there are those in the country now who dream of a monarchy as an escape from the rule of the people, which they esteem as the reign of the mob. But that thought is insanity. Whatever else may come, it will not be a king securely enthroned upon the ruins of this Republic. But, sir, the country must have repose; it will have freedom; not the quiet of despotism, not the license of the mob, but that peace which comes from the full enjoyment of rational liberty secured by the enforcement of impartial law. This the people in their majesty have decreed, and that decree will be executed; and if accidental Presidents and fossilized judges and whipped insurgents and pardoned andorebels and their sympathizers throw themselves in the way, why, then, Mr. Speaker the decree will be executednevertheless; for the will of the people in this country is and will continue to be, in political matters, omnipotent!, Those who attempt to thwart that will may be as brave as the bull that, fought the locomotive, but they partake of his discretion likewise. Sir, every interest, every section, and every class of our people demand at our hands the settlement of this question. 4 million freedmen, black although they be and degraded by oppression, send up their mute appeal to us for protection an appeal which we may not disregard. With a sublime trust in God and the pledged faith of the nation in its day of mortal peril they gave themselves to our cause in every way in which they could aid us; and with a patience and endurance without a parallel they have suffered and waited, and still suffer and wait for the fulfillment of that promise and the fruition of their hopes. By every sentiment of honor, by every dictate of duty, by every motive of self interest, we are bound to give them security in their lives, their persons, and the fruits of their labors. It needs no citation of evidence to show that no such protection is now accorded to them. Left in the power of those who formerly enslaved them no one at all acquainted with human nature had any right to look for results differing from those that come to us in every day's o:of wrong and outrage. for generations the slaveholders, in absolute disregard of every idea of right, lived in luxurious idleness upon the unpaid toil of these people. Not only revelling in the wealth produced by the labor of the slaves, many used them for viler purposes; and to gratify their avarice or their ostentation, sent their own dusky children to the auction block and the shambles. This state of things bred up another class there such as can only exist in a slave cursed land a class too poor to own slaves, too lazy to work, and too ignorant to comprehend their own utter degradation. Without one redeeming quality they were more servile to the master class than the slaves themselves, having no other idea of liberty than to “kick a nigger” with impunity, or of patriotism than to curse the Union. Between these 2 classes there were 100s, and I have no doubt1,000s, who, in the midst of the surrounding pollutions, kept themselves free from the vices of their section, and in whose earts burned unquenchably the fires of a true patriotism and the sentiments of honor and right. But they were either in the minority or were overawed by the other classes, which, like the upper and the nether millstones, ground them as well as the negroes to powder. To perpetuate their rule these slaveholders and their stupid dupes struck with traitor's arms at the nation's life I need not recite the history of the rebellion. More than 300,000 graves, sanctified by the remains of martyred heroes, make up one chapter! 50 ioni empty sleeves and bootless limbs another! The land filled with widows and orphaned children, and homes draped in mourning, still another! And a mountain of debt and burdensome taxation continues the story ! But, sir, while the rec ord is mainly written in blood and can only be read with melancholy reflections, there is, thank God! one bright chapter that which chronicles the eternal overthrow of the whole infernal system! And shall we blot out that only fair chapter by permitting these same conue.re.d.traitors to seize again these millions of and hurl them back to the condition of slaves? How shall we answer at the bar of God and the righteous opinion of the civilized world if we suffer this great wrong? No, our duty to this wronged and patient people demands at our hands the passage o Sonae measure of reconstruction. And, sir, the Union men of the South and I have said there are 1000s of them there demand this action at our hands. Nobler and truer men never lived than are the Union men of the South; and living men never suffered and endured as many of them did for their fidelity to their country. They were fully entitled to the protection of the Government they loved and to the extent of their ability upheld. But the Government during all the bloody years of the rebellion was unable to give them that protection. The war has closed; the Government lives, and these noble men, ruined in fortune, are still its friends, but hated, despised, and persecuted by the conquered traitors. Will that Government, dare it, now in the day of its triumph and its power, withingratitude unexampled, with folly inconceivable, refuse them that protection, and turn them over, fettered and unarmed to the merciless vengence of their unrelenting enemies? Sir, for one I will never consent to so inexcus able a wrong. For the protection of the Union men of the South, therefore, I will sustain in some form this measure. Again, sir, the true interests of the rebels themselves, although in their madness they will not see it, require the settlement of this great question. So long as they retain the slightest hope of defeating the o of the people and again reveling in the spoils of their victims it will be impossible to restore security and prosperity to the South. Havin heretofore lived in idleness upon the labor o the negroes, they will not resort to any honest means of procuring a livelihood until their last hope oft. plundering them is blotted out forever. The only source of national or even individual wealth and prosperity is the products in some form of human labor. But the rebels will not labor so long as there is any hope of making the negroes work for them. And the negro is, at least, so far “a man and a brother’” that he is not over zealous to work for nothing. The result is even now a oapproaching to absolute starvation for oth. And this state of things will not only continue but must grow worse if the relations between these classes are not definitely settled. But let it be settled once for all that these rebels shall not defy all law and outrage every sentiment of justice with impunity and they will be compelled either to resort to some more honest calling where they are or remove to some other section where they will be ab sorbed into a better population. As the true friend of the rebels themselves, therefore, I shall vote for this measure. In short, sir, the interests of the whole people of the country require this settlement. As I have just said, national wealth and prosperity depend upon labor. Agriculture, manufactures, and commerce the production of the raw material, its conversion into fabrics and their interchange constitute the wealth of the world; and they all depend upon labor. Where labor is best respected, encouraged, and aided by machinery, there will e the largest measure of national wealth, prosperity, and progress. But here we have a state of things that utterly paralyzes the ener gies and prostrates the labor of a population of 12 millions, and excludes the use of machinery that would make them equal, in the production of wealth, to 100 millions. he consequence is, that outside of the disturbed districts every class of the people are affected injuriously in their business. }. the people of the loyal States are not only injured in their business, but they are also seriously affected by the onerous burden of taxation imposed upon them in consequence. The credit of the nation must be sustained; the interest on the public debt must be paid; the expenses of the Government must be provided; and all this must be done by the levy and collection of taxes in some form; but these taxes at last are but a%. upon the products of the labor of the country. While, then, the condition of the South remains such that the labor of her people 1/3rd of the whole population of the country is unproductive, the whole burden of taxation is necessarily thrown upon the labor of the other 2/3rds. I have not time to exhibit the various forms in which the loyal States are interested in this settlement. Suffice it to say that we shall have failed most signally in the performance of our duty if we do not “exhaust the resources of statesmanship” in securing a speedy and permanent settlement. In the hope that it may be so reached I this shall vote for measure. But, sir, if I am asked if I expect the rebels in the South to accept the provisions of this or whatever measure we may adopt and to become reconciled to the new era which it proposes to inaugurate, if, in short, they will cordially fra ternize with loyal men, I very frankly answer that I do not. I never expect them to be any less the enemies of loyal men than they are now. Nor do I expect them ever to cease plotting against the Union and fraternizing with its enemies wherever found. I have not studied human nature so imperfectly as to hope for any such absurdities. If asked again if I expect a perpetual sectional antagonism between the North and the South, I answer unhesita tingly that I do not. I do expect the antago nism between the loyal and disloyal elements to continue, but not that between the sections. If the South was as densely populated as Ire land if an overcrowded population was forcing emigrants out of the country, instead of its vast unoccupied territory inviting immigration to it I say frankly I would have no hope of the future. It is, sir, because there is abun dant room for a population of 200 millions in the section which now contains but 12, and nearly 1/2 of them loyal, that I look not only with hope but with confidence to the future. Settle this question of reconstruction; take the murderous weapons from the hands and the local governments from the control of the rebels; make it safe to do so, and there will be such an immigration to the South as the world neversaw. And it is on this immi gration I build all my hopes. Of the ten millions in the unrepresented States nearly 4 millions are negroes, and all loyal. Of the whites I think it is safe to assume that 2 millions are friendly to the Government, leaving but 4 millions of the disloyal element; and a considerable fraction of these, for the sake of peace and security, would quietly acquiesce and gradually come to a tacit if not cordial support of the Union and the Constitution. This would leave not more than 3 millions of a hostile,rebellious, and dangerous population. But of this number not more probably than 400,000 are of mature age. Settle the question permanently, and not one will ever be added to their present number. On the contrary, with the extinction of all hope of ruling the nation or of disrupting it the number will rapidly diminish. . old will die, and the ambitious will leave the scene of their humiliation, and left without their leaders the great mass of the remainder will give no serious trouble. This is one side of the picture. Let us look a moment at the other side. These States embrace the garden spot of this continent, if not of the world. The sun shines upon no equal area so favored in every respect as this. has a climate varied, salu brious, genial, and healthy beyond compari son with any other, and suited to all tastes and all conditions. It has a soil as varied, and prolific in all the agricultural products which give sustenance, luxury, and wealth to its cultiva tors. It has mineral resources of unimaginable richness waiting development. It has mountains pillared up with copper and iron and coal, while they are underflowed with salt and petroleum and covered with forests of valuable timber. It has broad valleys watered by beautiful rivers, and water power which if properly employed might weave and forge for the world. It has 1000s of miles of ocean and ulf coast indented with bays and harbors, the inevitable seats of an undreamed of commerce. And this natural Eden invites to its bowers the immigrants from all lands. In looking back to the settlement of our western Territories and their erection into States and incorporation into the Union, the imagination itself becomes staggered at the result. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,Mis souri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, California, Oregon, Nevada, Nebraska, Colo. rado, and our free Territories, have all, within the memory of living men, been redeemed from the wilderness, clothed with cultivation, dotted over with cities, and checkered with railroads. The very air has become tremulous with the mu sic of machinery, and every avenue is crowded with commerce. The busy millions of the ever increasing population occupy homes of comfort and elegance, while churches, schools, academies, and colleges mark as mile stones the very by paths of the land. Whence, sir, this miracle of population and development? Immigration and its natural increase answers the question. Have the sources of this mighty immigration been dried up? No! they are increasing, and the condition of the Old World, as well as portions of the New, make it certain that these streams will be greatly augmented in the future. Hitherto this immigration has been diverted from the South by the curse of slavery before the war and by the “reign of terror” that has been kept up by the rebels since. Give the pledge of security and it will flow to the South as it never did to the West. Give them assured protection, and from the farms and workshops and manufactories and marts of trade and commerce of the old States and of Europe I will guaranty in 5 years an addition of 5 millions to the loyal population of those States a number quite sufficient to over shadow the disloyal element and reconstruct, not the political institutions alone, but the social life of the South. With this immigration will come the capital, the intelligence, the enterprise which have characterized the like class in the East, the North, and the West. Social intercourse, commercial and business relations, and varied reciprocal interests will thus be established..A free press, free speech, and free schools will necessarily follow. These will assimilate the society there to that of the loyal States, and thus blotting out forever the insane sectionalism that, fostered by slavery, has hitherto been the bane and curse of our country, we will become in fact a homogeneous people., And here, sir, opens to the imagination a vision of future glory that from want of time I leave with some regret. Each one, however, can fill up the picture for himself. But with the hope a its realization may not be prevented by our want of concert, I shall vote for this measure. A word, Mr. Speaker, upon another element of this great problem, and I have done. It need not be denied that many good and true men are greatly embarrassed in their action in view of what is to be the future of the African race in this country. It would not be candid to say that this problem is of easy solution from the stand point of many gentlemen. But it is a problem that I do not intend to discuss at any length in this connection. Time, if nothing else, forbids it. The unsettled question of the equality of races may, for 1000years to come, form the theme of the philose her in his study, as it has for 1000years in the past; but legislation can hardly wait for its settlement. Whether the negro is physi cally ormentally equal to the white race is not the question here. But the real question which I affirm, is, that each race, and each individ ual, has a natural, inherent, and equal right to the full and free exercise of whatever faculties he may possess, restrained only so far as to prevent the violation of the equal right of ever other person, and that by impartial law. would establish such a law, and let every one work out his own destiny. I would strike “black” and “white” alike from all laws, making our legislation to descend, like the dews and the rains and the sunshine of our common Father, upon all, and with a like impartialty. This I honestly believe would in a very short time solve all difficulties. But for the sake of those who honestly fear a contest between the races, or the possible supremacy of the negro, I will but suggest the fact that of the 36 millions of our population, not more than 4 millions at most belong to this long oppressed race. Admit their inferiority to the dominant race if it be so, and what is the danger of throwing over them the mantle of impartial law? Weak in numbers, wholly without wealth, devoid of influence, where is the danger? But the disparity in numbers will increase from year to year. The negroes will have no accession to their number by immigration; while the white race, like a great reser voir, is receiving such accessions by millions. In the struggle of life the natural increase of the whites will far exceed the ratio of the blacks. Indeed many, and especially those whose prejudices are strongest against them, believe that the colored race will die out; that it is in fact now in the process of extinction. I do not myself look for such a result, but I do not look for any rapid increase of the race in this country. We have today a white population of at least 30 millions. That number will be doubled in less than 25 years, while the increase of the negroes will be in no such ratio. With absolute confidence in the result I here predict and place it upon the record that 25 years hence the white race in the U.S. will number 60 millions, with a corresponding increase in wealth and power, while the colored race will not exceed 6 millions. Why then disturb ourselves with apprehensions which must, in the very nature of the case, be purely imaginary? if I am asked why I so contend for the rights of this race if it is to bear so insignificant a art in the future of our country, I reply that it is not because they are negroes nor wholly for their sake that I so contend. It is because I believe there is an all embracing and superintending Providence over the concerns of men and nations who looks with the same paternal regard upon all His children; and that no individual or class or race can, under His government, disregard the rights of others but upon the irreversible condition in some form, “With whatsoever measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.” I now yield the residue of my time to the Gentfrom Pennsylvania, [Mr. MILLER]