Mr. WARD addressed the House. [His remarks will be found in the Appendix] Reconstruction. SPEECH OF HON. A. H. WARD, of KENTucky, January 19, 1867. The House having under consideration the bill l(aHt.elRy. No. 543)to provide for restoring to the States in insurrection their full political rights Mr. WARD, of Kentucky, said: Mr. SPEAKER: A novice and almost a stran f. upon this floor, I congratulate myself that bear no scars inflicted by any member of this House, and no one can complain of any inflicted by me. I have heretofore engaged in no war of words, and do not therefore need the kind offices of the Reconstruction Committee. It occurs to me that if the politicians of the country would teach and practice God's law of kindness instead of inculcating the doctrines of hate and vengeance between man and man and between section, and section, you might discharge yourJtCom on Reconstruction; its occupation would be gone. I find myself, Mr. Speaker, in a novel position in being called on to resist and condemn involuntary and compulsory secession. The people of the South in 1861, believing they had a right to secede from the Union, undertook to do so. This movement Iopposed, because I then thought they were wrong. not think secession and rebellion could possibly remedy the evils complained of, but would be the fruitful source of incalculable and perhaps incurable mischiefs. The bill under consideration assumes that ten States, with a population of ten or 12 million white citizens, are out of the Union, foreign States, and their people aliens. The distinguished Gentfrom Pennsylvania [Mr. STEVENs] announces the starth ng fact that 4 years of war was prosecuted by the Government to turn ten States out of the Union and to make all of their white inhabitants slaves and aliens; not only so, but it is contended and asserted in the bill under consideration that these ten States have lost their State governments by the war. Mr. Speaker, I have been taught to believe that the Constitution framed by our fathers in vested Congress with the power to admit States into the Union, but gave that body no power to turn States out. The same great charter confers upon Congress power to pass uniform naturalization laws, but gives no power to destroy citizenship ounder them. How, then, can Congress make aliens of native born citizens? These southern States fought 4 long years to get out of the Union, and the contest was carried on by the Government of the U.S. to keep them in. This was what our bravest and best soldiers of the war fought for; they did not fight to turn these States out of the Union, nor to make aliens and slaves of the white people of the South. No one dared to announce such an infamous purpose as this. Gentlemen did not even dare at the commencement of the war to say that it was waged to free the negroes, who now boldly assume that it was waged to turn States out of the o Union, to destroy their State constitutions, and to enslave their white population. I assume, Mr. Speaker, that the Constitution provides for the admission of States into the Union, and successful revolution can alone open the door for their exit. It is true that the relations of these States to the General Government were suspended during the late unhappy war; but its successful termination at once restored the authority of the Constitution over all their territory and These ten States certainly were States before the war; if they are not States now, what are they? Certainly not Territories; no territorial governments have ever been or could be properly provided for them: and if their citizens are not citizens of the U.S. I would be obliged to the author of this bill.if he will tell me of what country they are citizens? In the exaction of all their duties to the General Government on the part of these ten States this Congress has repeatedly recognized them as such. Mr. Speaker, the nation needs and must have repose; the war is over, but the whole surface of society is covered with frightful wounds, which must be healed. You cannot heal them by irritation nor by vindictive legislation. We must have peace, substantial, healthful peace; this can only be obtained by the speedy and complete restoration of all the white citizens of the late rebellious States to equal rights under the Constitution and laws. But gentlemen say that the people of these ten States cannot be safely trusted with a voice in the Government of the country, because they are disloyal. It seems to me a very important truth is overlooked in this line of argument. It is this: the people of the South did not make war upon our RFG nor seek to destroy it; they only sought to make 2 republics out of one. They are now and have been all the time as much attached to our system of free republican Government as those who abuse them for disloyalty. Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that if gentlemen wanted to make these people hate our Government they could not devise a measure better calculated to accomplish that object than the one under consideration. It is natu ral for the citizen to love a good Government, which affords him perfect protection and perfect equality; but by what sort of reasoning do you expect him to love a Government which denies him every right of a freeman and degrades him by making him subservient to his former slave; and all this is accomplished by this bill in the most outrageous and odious manner. By its terms you declare all the white people of these ten States aliens, and at the same time, by the amendment of the distinguished Gentfrom Ohio, [Mr. SPALDing] you suspend the writ of habeascorpus in reference to these foreigners and proclaim martial law over all of these ten States. Mr. Speaker, such a system of legislation as this must inevitably destroy the national credit and lead to national bankruptcy and ruin, and I fear its legitimate end will be frightful, bloody anarchy and final despotism. There is no rebellion now, no invasion threatened; the public safety is not endangered; then why suspend the writ of habeascorpus and proclaim mar tial law? Sir, we have had too much martial law already; in its practical operation it is military despotism. Mr. Speaker, I honor the true soldier who perils his life in defense of constitutional liberty; but I would greatly prefer to meet him with the olive branch in his hand instead of the sword, owith the blood of his own countrymen. I want to see no more civilWars. I want to see my whole country united, pros perous, and happy. Mr. Speaker, what is our condition at the end of this unhappy war? We have a debt of nearly 3,000 million dollars hanging over the nation; and it will require the untram meled brain and muscle of every man in Americatepay it. What does the measure now before us propose?. It not only proposes to make slaves of nearly 1/3rd owhite population of the U.S., but it absolutely proposes an experiment which will cost this nation untold millions of treasure. If the Gentfrom Pennsylvania [Mr. STEvens] or any other gentleman. that you can enslave ten or 12 million white people in the U.S.A. in this 19th century without the expenditure of a vast amount of blood and money, he is most egregiously mistaken. Now, sir, what is the true policy of the government in regard to these people? A nation cannot prosper unless its individual citizens are prosperous. When every individual is perfectly protected in his life, liberty, and property, he then invests his labor to advantage, he crowns his domestic board with plenty and accumulates a pile of surplus from which a rill of gold flows into the public Treasury. Now, suppose you admit all these southern people to equal rights under the Constitution and laws; give them their representation here; do not thrust the hand of the Government into their pockets to take their money to sustain the Government and refuse them representation; let them come here and have an equal voice in making the laws under which they are to o be and they will help you to pay the public debt. I understand the distinguished Gentfrom Pennsylvania to be opposed to closing the rebellion. He wants to put an appendix to it. He wants to continue it until he, with the aid of others, can make a “perfect republic.”. Now, let us see how this is proposed to be done by the measure under consideration. I will concede at the commencement of the argument upon this question that every man, not only in the?. States, but every human being upon the face of God's earth, ought to be free, provided he is capable of governing himself; and I say, at the same time, that the man who governs himself is free, and that he who is governed by somebody else is a slave, be he white or black. Now, I say, Mr. Speaker, that this proposition undertakes to regulate man's right of self government in the following manner, as provided in sections 4, 5, and 6 of the bill under consideration. The 4th section provides — That the persons who shall be entitled to vote at both of said elections shall be asfollows: all male citizens above the ageof 21 years who have resided 6 months in said State and ten days within the election district; and no person shall be deprived of the right to vote, or otherwise disfranchised, by reason of other than convicintisounrraencdtio pnuonristhremaesnotn for any crime of treason. The 6th section disfranchises every man who renounced his allegiance to the U.S and swore allegiance to the confederate government. Butlet us look at the proviso. It provides — That on taking the following oath the party bein $oise qualified shall be allowed to vote and hold office: I, A B, do solemnly swear, on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, that on the 4th day of 1864, March and at all times thereafter, I would willingly have complied with the requirements of the proclamation of the POTUS, issued on the 8th day of December, 1863, had a safe opportunity of so doing been allowed me; that on the said 4th of March, 1864, and at all times thereafter, I opposed was to the continuance of the rebellion, and to the socalled confederate government, and voluntarily gave no aid, or encouragement thereto, but earnestly desired the success of suppression of all the Union and the armed resistance to the Government of the U.S.; and that. I faithfully support, will henoeforth the Constitution of States, and the Union of the U.S. thereunder. These are qualifications for suffrage embraced in that section. But there is another section on the same subject. The 5th section reads as follows: Abife:, That the word citizen, as used in this act, shall be construed to mean all persons born in the U.S or duly naturalized. male citizen abovethe ageof 21 years shall be competentto be electedto act as delegate to said convention. The 4th section of the bill provides that no person shall be debarred from exercising the right of suffrage on account of having been convicted of any crime. Now, what is the effect, I ask you, of these provisions? Why, sir, in the 1st place every man who ever committed manslaughter, rape, arson, or burglary, and was thus rendered infamous and disfranchised by a judgment of conviction, is to be a prominent and qualified voter in the reconstruction of these States. And not only that. There is the temptation held out in the proviso to the 6th section to every man in the confederate States to commit E. The man who went into the rebellion from interested motives, or a mere camp follower, may take this oath, while the man who thought he had a right to secede and who fought honestly and manfully to carry out that idea will not take it, because he cannot do so truly; he will not perjure himself., You will catch all who will swear falsely, and you will lose all who have integrity enough to swear truthfully. In addition to that, what do you get under the suffrage regulations of this bill? You get the votes of all the negroes, the votes of men who have learned the science of self government in the school of slavery for nearly 200 years. You get the convicts of the penitentiary, all of the jail birds and unpardoned scoundrels who prey upon society, the men who would perjure themselves by swearing they were opposed to the cause for which they were fighting; and this is what the distinguished Gentfrom Pennsylvania calls a H.Republic. All of the people who have onesty enough to say what they are and what they have been, are disfranchised. And this is the perfection of a Republic in the estimation of the distinguished Pennsylvanian. But how does the thing work if you look at it a little further? The constitution is to be made in this manner: Congress is to elect 3 commissioners who are to select judges of election; and I suppose they will select them without distinction of race or color—bound to do it. I suppose that they will be guilty of a violation of the sentiment which seems to prevail in this House if they make any distinction as to race or color in the judges. I suppose the judges must be loyal, and of course they will be of the colored race. Now, these gentlemen sit there as judges of the election with the Army of the U.S. at their back to keep the peace at the polls, as gentlemen say. Sir. we have had some of these peace makers at the polls in Kentucky, and God forbid that we should ever see such peace makers again. They were put at the polls for base and infamous partisan purposes; they were put there to disfranchise the free, qualified voters of my State. Now, these negro judges will sit and hold this lection, backed by the U.S. Army. That is rather an elevated position for the new made freedman; the habeascorpus suspended, martial law proclaimed, the Army at the back of the negro conducting an election to reconstruct States. [Laughter.] I suppose the Freedmen's Bureau men will have something to do with it as it progresses. Now, look at it. Congress finding the negro incapable of self government, passes an act creating the Freedmen's Bureau to govern him. Congress controls the Freedmen's Bureau, the Freedmen's Bureau governs the negro, and the negro, with the U.S. Army at his back, governs the white men, [laughter;] and this is what the gentleman is pleased to call a perfect Republic. [Laughter.] Why, sir, I hope I may be pardoned for alluding to a caricature that I once saw. It was a picture of an old lady flourishing a broom stick over the head of her husband, with a negro in the background holding a dog by the neck, and flourishing an uplifted lash, with these words issuing from the mouth of the darkey: “Missus whips massa, massa licks me, and so you infernal dog I gib you dedebbil.” [Great laughter.] Congress backs the Freedmen's Bureau, the bureau backs the darkey, and the negro gives the white man the devil, [renewed laughter;] and this is your perfect Republic! But gentlemen undertake to say, when this constitution is thus formed and presented to Congress, Congress are to pass upon it, and say whether they will approve it or not, or whether they will make it over again. Do gentlemen assume that Congress has power to make a constitution for a State or Territory either? I deny it. There is not a vestige of authority for it anywhere. There is not a line in the Constitution, which is the great charter, that authorizes Congress to make a constitution for a State. The States have the right to make their own constitutions, to alter or amend the same as they please. Congress only has the power to guaranty to the States RFGs; and if you confer this power upon the negroes of the ten States it is very likely they will exercise it in their own way. Now, the Gentfrom Pennsylvania really contemplates that at some future day in the dim distance these people of the seceded States are to be restored. Suppose that Cuffy, when he comes to make a constitution, shall think better of his former master, and should happen not to hate him so bitterly as the author of this bill seems to do, and shall make a constitution declaring that all of the white men over 21 years of age shall vote without being naturalized, will you reject his constitution on that account? Why, sir, how long, I would like to know, do gentlemen propose to keep these people of the seceded States out? How long do you think it is necessary to keep them in a state of bondage before they will learn to love the authors of their oppression and graduate in loyalty and the science of self government? The rule adopted in regard to the negro is, that he is eminently qualified and has learned to be perfectly fitted for freedom by a probation oft. 100 years in slavery. Do you propose to hold the white population of these ten States in a preparatory state for 200 years? Or how much short of that will you stop? You intend finally to restore them; you think that having felt the chains of bond age around his neck and the manacles upon his wrist the white man there will have learned to love a Government which should owe its strength to the approbation and consent of those"governed by it. You propose to teach him to love the Government by smiting him through that Government; you undertake to make him loyal by persecuting him. You undertake to punish a man who has been par doned for all his political sins; and this is the perfection of a republic. Now, I am glad the Gentfrom Pennsylvania [Mr. STEvens] proposes at some time to restore these people. I am one of those who think that J. onger a man is free the more capable he becomes of being free and exercising the rights of a freeman; and the longer you keep a man in bondage, the more likely he is to remain in bondage and the less capacity he is likely to acquire to throw off his bondage. When a man is free I am in favor of keeping him free. But these gentlemen here say that at some future time they intend to let these people come back. There was a man who once came to my neighborhood and preached what he called the doctrine of restoration in reference to a better and higher world. He said that all sinners would finally be restored to the enjoyment of paradise, and be permitted to walk the streets of the NewJerusalem; but he said they would 1st have to go to the place of perdition, the pit that burns with fire and brimstone, and stay there until they had expiated all their sins. An old man who was present and heard him, one who was noted more for his straight forward and blunt o: than for his piety, ot up and said: “Why, brother, after E. F. in that sulphur and fire burning long enough to have Ali my sins burned out of me, don t you think I would be a d d pret singe cat to go to heaven?” [Great laug o And that is what the gentleman is pleased to call a perfection of the Republic.