Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

Such a people already talk of repudiating the national debt. To the question, “Would it be safe to trust white men at the South with the power to repudiate the national debt?” a person in gray uniform at once replied: “Repudiate? I should hope they would. I’m whipped, and I’ll own it; but I’m not so fond of a whipping that I’m going to pay a man’s expenses while he gives it to me. Of course there are not ten men in the whole South that wouldn’t repudiate.” Such is the spirit of these States. But a candidate for Congress in Virginia undertook to speak for the Rebel States.

“I am opposed to the Southern States being taxed at all for
the redemption of this debt, either directly or indirectly;
and, if elected to Congress, I will oppose all such measures,
_and I will vote to repeal all laws that have heretofore been
passed for that purpose_; and, in doing so, I do not consider
that I violate any obligations to which the South was a party.
_We have never plighted our faith for the redemption of the war
debt._ The people will be borne down with taxes for years to
come, even if the war debt is repudiated. It will be the duty
of the Government to support the maimed and disabled soldiers,
and this will be a great expense; and if the United States
Government requires the South to be taxed for the support of
Union soldiers, we should insist that all disabled soldiers
should be maintained by the United States Government, _without
regard to the side they had taken in the war_.”

A late writer, who within a few days has returned from an extensive tour in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and who now enjoys a seat in your Reporters’ Gallery, thus testifies with regard to the national debt:--

“The national debt doubtless seems to you beyond the reach
of any hand. Yet I regard it as very probable that one or
two or all of three things will be attempted within three
years after the Southern members of Congress are admitted to
seats,--the repudiation of the National debt, the assumption
of the Confederate debt, or the payment of several hundred
million dollars to the South for property destroyed and slaves
emancipated. I met several shrewd and intelligent men who
expressed the belief that Confederate bonds will be worth
something in two or three years. One told me that large amounts
were held in New York and England, and he expected steps would
be taken within five years toward paying them from the National
Treasury. I heard no man openly advocate the repudiation of the
National debt, but scores argued to me that it would not be
fair to make the South pay any part of it; and one man said he
believed, if the case were only carried up, that the Supreme
Court would so decide. The idea that the nation will pay the
South for her slaves extensively prevails both in Georgia and
South Carolina. It is incorporated into the new Constitution
of Georgia, and is openly advocated by many influential men
in South Carolina. Wherefore, I say, the national debt needs
watching.”

Let the Secretary of the Treasury[29] take notice, and not expose the national finances to the peril which menaces them.

* * * * *

Passing from this testimony, which is general, I come to the neighbor State of Virginia. I read from a private letter received by myself from a Government officer there:--

“We who are here have a much better opportunity of knowing
the feeling of the people than you at a distance, for they will
not speak as freely before you as they will before us here
and among themselves. The feeling of disloyalty is as strong
here now as it was during the war, but they cannot show it as
they did then; and with regard to the freedmen there is every
disposition on their part to make them odious. They constantly
talk of insurrection, insubordination, thieving, idleness, and
every species of crime and vice; all of which I assure you is
entirely false. They are perfectly subordinate to every law,
and, so far as thieving is concerned, such an assertion is
gratuitous or false; for all cases of thieving, certainly, I am
sorry to say, are done by the whites.”

I also read from another private letter:--

“The clash of arms has subsided, the serried hosts of Rebels
have been disbanded, and the huge paraphernalia of war have
been scattered; but, notwithstanding these facts, the low
mutterings of sullen discontent are yet heard, and the desire
to persecute and break down all truly loyal men is exhibited on
every hand with even more sly ferocity than while the war of
sections raged.

“We are residents of this city, each engaged in public
business, and consequently thrown into contact with all classes
of citizens. Hourly we hear denunciations of the Government,
and prayers for the removal of the military. And why these
denunciations and these prayers, if the oath of allegiance had
been honestly taken, to be sacredly observed? No, Gentlemen,
the spirit of rebellion is not dead, and will never die while
Democratic leaders in the South are relieved of their treachery
and turned loose to stir up sedition and to incite rebellion.
The men make loud professions of loyalty, and their press
reverberates the echo from hill and valley; but you have only
to read their fanfaronades on loyalty to satisfy yourselves of
the bitter hatred that fills their breasts against the Union,
and the burning hate with which they will proceed to pour out
the vials of their wrath upon all Union men, when once they
can secure seats in Congress and get possession of the reins
of State government. In their hearts they cling as ardently to
State sovereignty as ever, and once give them the power and
they will tax the loyal people to the full value of the slave
property destroyed by the war. Mark this prediction.”

Another private letter, from a person so situated as to be singularly well informed, thus foreshadows a system of Peonage:--

“The necessity of the courts is beyond all question. Even with
these courts it requires watchfulness to protect the blacks.
If they were left without these courts, the whites would keep
them forever in bondage, by keeping them in debt; and I am
afraid that the legislation of the States will be to the effect
to establish here the Mexican system of Peonage, by using
some very extraordinary terms to coerce ‘hatched-up’ accounts
against the blacks.”

To this I might add indefinitely, exhibiting the bad temper and disloyal spirit which prevail throughout Virginia. Bayonets are no longer flashing there; bullets are no longer whizzing there; but the traitorous soul that inspired the Rebellion still fills the State with its malignant breath. Give it not, I entreat you, the power to rule.

* * * * *

From Virginia pass to North Carolina. Here the testimony is the same. During this week I have seen Government officers who have been in service, one since 1863, who report that it is not safe to speak one’s sentiments there; that liberty of speech does not exist; that the freedmen, so far from being lazy or remiss, are willing to work, but that they are exposed to unutterable hardship and cruelty. On these points the testimony is explicit. A loyal resident of North Carolina writes me:--

“I tell you, Sir, the only difference now and one year ago is,
that the flag is acknowledged as supreme, and there is some
fear manifested, and they have no arms. The sentiment is the
same. If anything otherwise, more hatred exists toward the
Government. _I know there is more toward Union men, both black
and white._”

More hatred toward the Union men, both white and black, than one year ago! Such is the condition of North Carolina.

In accordance with this is other testimony.

“Two women, school-teachers, who were recently sent from
Wilmington to Fayetteville to establish a school for colored
children, were informed by the sheriff of the county that they
would not be allowed to start their schools, nor would they be
allowed to land; but they might remain on the steamer until her
return to Wilmington, inasmuch as they were women; if they were
men, they would receive such treatment as was awarded to such
meddlesome characters before the war.

“Mr. Dickinson says, that, while he was in Fayetteville, a
negro was strung up by the thumbs in the public square, and
received forty-nine lashes from a civil officer recently
appointed by Governor Holden.”

A Wilmington paper makes the following report.

“General Ames, General Duncan, and Colonel Donnelson have
returned from an official visit to Fayetteville, where they
went to ascertain the truth of the reports coming from there in
regard to the treatment of the colored people.

“The result of their visit substantiates the fact that the
negroes have been cruelly treated, not only by the civilians,
but also by the civil authorities there.

“Two negroes were tied up and publicly whipped by the sheriff,
on the sentence of a magistrate.

“Other negroes were tied up to trees and whipped, and left tied
to the trees until a storm came up and prostrated the trees,
and the poor negroes fell with them.

“Citizens exercised the authority of masters over the negroes,
and punished them at their will with such severity as to them
seemed fit.

“It is even reported that negroes have been killed in the most
cruel manner.”

Why heap instances? They might be piled high; but why pain the heart by such an exhibition?

* * * * *

From North Carolina pass to South Carolina, where the testimony is, if possible, still more explicit. The spirit of this Rebel State, yet rebel in heart, appears in the well-known letter from Wade Hampton, which I do not stop to quote. It is especially manifest in the frank speech of James R. Campbell in the Convention, from which I read an extract.

“I believe, that, when our votes are admitted into that
Congress, if we are tolerably wise, governed by a moderate
share of common sense, we will have our own way. I am speaking
now not to be reported. We will have our own way yet, if we
are true to ourselves. We know the past; we know not what is
to be our future. Are we not in a condition to accept what we
cannot help? Are we not in a condition where it is the part of
wisdom to wait and give what we cannot avoid giving? I believe
as surely as we are a people, so surely, if we are guided by
wisdom, we will by the beginning of the next Presidential
election, which is all that is known of the Constitution, (for,
when you talk of the Constitution of the United States, it
means the Presidential election, and the share of the spoils,)
I believe then we may hold the balance of power.”

That Mr. Campbell spoke according to the sentiments of the prevailing politicians is attested by a private letter which I have received from a Government officer so situated there as to know the real condition of things. I read extracts only.

“The speeches in Convention and Legislature are doubtless known
to you, and the _animus_ pervading all action of these bodies.
Mr. Campbell expressed it exactly. Let us do what we _have to_,
as little as we are obliged to, get into Congress somehow, and
_then_ pay off the score. One or two minor matters in this
connection I mention as showing how the current sets.

“1. _The election for members of Convention, 4th September._
The favorites in every contested case were those most prominent
in Secession proceedings of past years. The majority of them
did not take the amnesty oath.…

“2. Not even the prospect of securing a favorable recognition
in Congress could secure the election of any man tainted with
Unionism, in opposition to any candidate thoroughly established
as an opponent to the Government in past time.

“3. And yet, strange as it may seem, _the people_--by
which I mean the planters generally, exclusive of the
_politicians_--are not savagely disloyal; and this is one main
point to which I desire earnestly to testify. It is a fact
that the political working of the State is in the hands of one
hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty men. It has taken
me six months to appreciate the _entireness_ of the fact,
though of course I had heard it stated.

“It seems to me a most Providential opportunity is now
offered to break up this maladministration of politics.
The people among whom I move are becoming restive under
present disadvantages, and criticize sharply the acts of the
Legislature, which seem to delay Reconstruction. If the State
is refused representation in the present Congress, and the
acts of the State Legislature, its speeches, its Black Code,
its general fractious and combative attitude, its spirit
in accepting the Constitutional Amendment and refusing the
annulment of Secession Ordinances are brought to light,--if, in
a word, it can be shown that the long recognized politicians
of the State have thoroughly damaged the State by taking her
out of the Union, and have also kept her from coming in, _there
will be a political revolution in the State in less than two
months_. The Rebels so promptly pardoned by the President will
meet no such complacency from the people. I _know_ this to be
true,--am taught it anew every day.

“If the State authority is to be recognized, and the present
Legislature triumphs by forcing the State into the Union, I
anticipate very disastrous consequences. The freed people are
well enough; they do not know as much as could be desired,
but they know quite as much as could be expected, and are
open to instruction. But that instruction must come from
_the Government, through the military_, untrammelled by any
fractious jobbing of State Legislatures. There is no confidence
on the part of the freed people in the _State_; they only know
the United States Government, and no other will answer.”

Here is a letter from a South-Carolinian who served in the Rebel army, but who now sees the error of his ways.

“I am sorry to say Governor Orr’s inaugural yesterday received
no applause at all from the audience: its sentiments were
too Union-loving for them. I am sorry also to say that the
South-Carolinians generally entertain to a great extent their
old ideas and prejudices, so disastrous of late to the State.
One is almost compelled to think they insanely wish to bring
upon themselves more and greater mortifications. Witness the
vote given Hampton, who refused to be a candidate. What an
unwise display of a factious and discontented spirit! Few seem
willing to admit the simple proposition that all causes of
ill-feeling between North and South have been settled by the
arbitrament of the sword, and we must submit sincerely. They
seek rather to keep alive the ill-feeling that has made us
unhappy for so many years, _and that ill-advised disposition to
supervise the actions of the United States Government_.

“If this war does not settle all issues, and settle them
forever, _it will be because the General Government fails
to use the power it has obtained_. I am as dear a lover of
South Carolina as any man in it, and for that reason I wish
to see peace and harmony restored throughout its borders.
But that can never be, if the men who tried hardest to break
up the Government are, immediately they find themselves
unsuccessful with the sword, _allowed to take seats in Congress
and recommence the agitation with their tongues and by their
arguments and votes. More inflammatory speeches were not made
in 1860 than have been delivered during the late canvass. If
examples are not made, if leading men are not made to feel some
ill effects from an unsuccessful attempt to revolutionize, then
agitation will never cease, but will be kept up by ambitious
men of mean talents, who can hope to rise only in times of
disorder, or by operating upon and influencing the passions of
the multitude._”

To cap the climax of this iniquity, a body of men calling themselves the Legislature, but having small title to be considered a legal body, have undertaken to enact a Black Code, separating the two races, in defiance of every principle of Equality. I quote a provision fastening apprenticeship or serfdom in new form upon the unhappy freedman.

“Colored children, between the ages mentioned [males two and
twenty-one, females two and eighteen], who have neither father
nor mother _living in the district in which they are found_,
or whose parents are paupers, or unable to afford to them
maintenance, _or whose parents are not teaching them habits
of industry and honesty_, or are persons of notoriously bad
character, or are vagrants, or have been, either of them,
convicted of an infamous offence, may be bound as apprentices
by the District Judge, or one of the magistrates, for the
aforesaid term.”[30]

Under these words no colored minor in the State is safe for one moment from compulsory serfdom.

The lash is also prescribed as a means of enforcing contracts.[31] The lash once more is to resound.

The planters at their public meetings give utterance to the same brutal spirit. Here is a series of resolutions, where, after calling for the withdrawal of the troops of the United States, and declaring themselves pledged to the existing state of things, and that it is their “honest purpose to abide thereby,” they proceed as follows.

“_Resolved_, That, if inconsistent with the views of the
authorities to remove the military, we express the opinion that
the plan of the military _to compel the freedman_ to contract
with his former owner, when desired by the latter, is wise,
prudent, and absolutely necessary.

“_Resolved_, That we, the planters of the district, pledge
ourselves not to contract with any freedman, unless he can
produce a certificate of regular discharge from his former
owner.

“_Resolved_, That under no circumstances whatsoever will we
rent land to any freedmen, nor will we permit them to live on
our premises as employees.”

Thus is the freedman, whose liberty the United States are bound to maintain, handed over to _compulsory service_, and under no circumstances is land to be rented to him. And yet these people announce that they accept the existing state of things, and that it is their honest purpose to abide thereby! Of course they accept a state of things which leaves them once more “masters” of their former slaves. Of course they will abide by this. Be it our function to teach them the duty and necessity of Equal Rights.

* * * * *

From South Carolina pass to Georgia, and there is the same wretched story. The spirit of the State appears in the language of Mr. Simmons in the Convention:--

“Let us repudiate only under the lash and the application of
military power; and then, as soon as we are an independent
sovereignty, restored to our equal rights and privileges in the
Union, let us immediately call another Convention and resume
the debt.”

Testimony from various quarters shows the same spirit. A recent writer, of unimpeachable authority, now sitting as reporter in your galleries, thus testifies:--

“In the stage between Augusta and Milledgeville I rode with
two gentlemen of considerable local weight and prominence,
who were both anti-secessionists in 1860-61. They talked of
the approaching Convention, and of its probable action in
redistricting the State for Representatives. ‘Well, Colonel,’
said the younger, himself a man of over forty years,--‘well,
Colonel, what will be our proper course, when we are once more
fully restored to the Union?’ The answer came, after a moment’s
consideration: ‘_We must strike hands with the Democratic party
of the North, and manage them as we always have._’ There was a
pause while we rattled down the hill, and then the questioner
responded: ‘That is just it; _they were ready enough to give us
control, if we gave them the offices, and I reckon they have
not changed very much yet_.’ There was then conversation on
other matters; but half an hour later, after a mile or so of
silence, the Colonel suddenly resumed: ‘Yes, Sir, our duty is
plain; we shall be without weight, now that Slavery is gone,
unless we do join hands with them. Andy Johnson will want a
reëlection, and the united _Democratic party must take him up.
It shall be a fair division: we want the power, and they want
the spoils._’”

The same writer, in another letter, shows how Rebels were honored in the Convention.

“‘I’ll be d--d, if I vote for any man who did not go with
the State,’ said one of the delegates, while the canvass for
officers was going on; in accordance with which spirit the
secretary is a gentleman who was a colonel in the Rebel army,
and the doorkeeper a gentleman who lost an arm in the service.”

Where such a spirit prevails, the freedmen fare badly. In Georgia they are treated cruelly. A traveller writes:--

“The hatred toward the negro as a freeman is intense among the
low and brutal, who are the vast majority. Murders, shootings,
whippings, robbing, and brutal treatment of every kind are
daily inflicted upon them, and I am sorry to say in most cases
they can get no redress. They don’t know where to complain or
how to seek justice, after they have been abused and cheated.
The habitual deference toward the white man makes them fearful
of his anger and revenge.”

An official of the Government, after traversing Mississippi and Alabama, writes from Georgia in a very recent letter:--

“Every day the press of the South testifies to the outrages
that are being perpetrated upon unoffending colored people by
the State militia. These outrages are particularly flagrant
in the States of Alabama and Mississippi, and are of such a
character as to demand most imperatively the interposition of
the National Executive. These men are rapidly inaugurating a
condition of things, a feeling among the freedmen, that will,
if not checked, ultimate in insurrection. The freedmen are
peaceable and inoffensive; yet, if the whites continue to make
it all their lives are worth to go through the country, as free
people have a right to do, they will goad them to that point at
which submission and patience cease to be a virtue.

…

“I call your attention to this matter, after reading and
hearing from the most authentic sources, officers and others,
for weeks, of the continuance of the militia robbing the
colored people of their property,--arms,--shooting them in the
public highways, if they refuse to halt, when so commanded,
and lodging them in jail, if found from home without _passes_,
and ask, as a matter of simple justice to an unoffending and
downtrodden people, that you use your influence to induce
the President to issue an order or proclamation forbidding
such wicked and unlawful proceedings, and, if he deem it
prudent, forbidding the organization of State militia. _The
only military force_ NEEDED _in the South is more regular and
volunteer troops to keep in proper subjection those lately in
rebellion, and to teach them to treat the freed people in a
manner becoming a civilized community_.”

Another witness, himself a Georgian, with ample opportunities of information, testifies:--

“I have personal and friendly relations with many leading men
of this section: I had before the war. I have met many of them
in New York and in Washington within the past few months, and
have, as a citizen of the South, had frequent conversations
with them upon our future, and the means that should be
employed to begin it auspiciously. These interviews have been
free and open in interchange of opinion, and I must believe
that I had laid before me the intentions of those who must
and will again assume the leadership here. If they are not so
honored, their opinions will show how they _would_ lead, had
they the power.

“Among these were four ex-governors of three different
States, who had received pardons from President Johnson. Our
conversation naturally and necessarily turned to the future of
the emancipated negroes. Their past and present condition was
discussed, and their chances as well as our own were of course
considered, and everything that could bear upon their future
was canvassed. The course to be pursued by the Legislatures
of the reconstructed States, and the laws to be enacted, in
order to obtain the fulfilment of contracts with the freedmen
employed, occupied no small portion of consideration. In this
way I had full opportunity to learn the opinions of those who
have been and will be again looked up to as the leaders and
directors of Southern opinion and sentiment.

“The unanimity of all was not the least singular thing,
especially regarding the _status_ of the freedmen and their
rights hereafter. If legal chicanery can avail, those rights
will be but nominal, and they will remain, as they have ever
been, isolated and apart,--free in name, but slaves in fact.”

It seems that in Georgia there is a body of men known as “Regulators,” who are thus described by a correspondent of that journal which has for years whitewashed the enormities of Slavery, the “New York Herald”:--

“Springing naturally out of this disordered state of affairs
is an organization of ‘Regulators,’ so called. Their numbers
include many ex-Confederate cavaliers of the country, and their
mission is to visit summary justice upon any offenders against
the public peace. It is needless to say that their attention
is largely directed to maintaining quiet and submission among
the blacks. _The shooting or stringing up of some obstreperous
‘nigger’ by the ‘Regulators’ is so common an occurrence as to
excite little remark. Nor is the work of proscription confined
to the freedmen only._ The ‘Regulators’ go to the bottom of the
matter, and strive to make it uncomfortably warm for any new
settler with demoralizing innovations of wages for ‘niggers.’”

Such is the unimaginable atrocity which, according to friendly authority, prevails in Georgia. The poor freedman is sacrificed. The Northern settler, believing in Human Rights, is sacrificed also. Alas that such scenes should disgrace our country and age! Alas that there should be hesitation in applying the necessary remedy!

Surely this is enough. I do not stop to dwell on instances of frightful barbarism. One is authenticated in the court of the provost-marshal, where a colored girl was roasted alive! And another writer, in a letter just received, describes a system of “burning” in Wilkes County, Georgia, as “a mild means of extorting from the freed people a confession as to where they have their arms and money concealed.” He says, “They were held in the blaze.” Think of it, Sir, here, in this Republic, they are held in a blaze! And the National Government looks on!

* * * * *

From Georgia pass to Alabama, only to find the same evil spirit and the same succession of enormities, intensified, if possible. Here again I am embarrassed by the variety and extent of evidence.

A recent private letter from Mobile testifies:--

“The press and people here, with one voice, are loud in their
praise of President Johnson, for his wholesale manner of
dispensing pardons. But I have yet to see the first signs of
repentance on the part of those who have received clemency from
the Chief Magistrate of the Government. The existing feeling
is, that no man who did not support the Confederacy is worthy
of trust; and all offices are given to those who did their best
to break up the country. President Johnson will find in the end
that he has been too liberal in the exercise of clemency. And
unless he changes his course, or is checked by Congress, the
most corrupt men in the South will again get into power, and
sway the destinies of this section of the country.

…

“And until the labor question is adjusted between the
planters and the freedmen, we cannot look forward to a time
of prosperity. The indications at present are not favorable
to a satisfactory solution of this difficult problem. The
planters hate the negro, and the latter class distrust the
former; and while this state of things continues, there
cannot be harmonious action in developing the resources of
the country. Besides, a good many men are unwilling yet to
believe that the ‘peculiar institution’ of the South has been
actually abolished, and still have the lingering hope that
Slavery, though not in name, will yet in some form practically
exist. And hence the great anxiety to get back into the Union,
which being accomplished, they will then, as I have heard it
expressed, ‘fix the negro.’

…

“I look forward with deep solicitude to the approaching
session of Congress. I hope there will be strength and moral
courage enough in that body to keep the ship of state right.
The President has a difficult position to fill, and needs all
the sympathy and aid he can get from right-minded citizens.
But there is no question that he has been most sadly imposed
upon within the past few months by designing and corrupt
politicians.”

Another private letter, from a person so situated as to be accurately informed, makes this painful report:--

“The Government, in taking the responsibility of freeing this
people, tacitly engaged to protect them in their freedom. The
various departments of Government have solemnly declared the
black man entitled to equal rights before the law with the
white man. Yet it is the simple fact, capable of indefinite
proof, that the black man does not receive the faintest shadow
of justice. I aver that in nine cases out of ten within my own
observation, where a white man has provoked an affray with
a black, and savagely misused him, the black man has been
fined for insolent language, because he did not receive the
chastisement in submissive silence, while the white man has
gone free. It is the simple truth that the most flagrant crimes
against the blacks are not noticed at all; and, indeed, a man
loses caste, if he interests himself about them.

“It is the simple truth that black men are not allowed to use
their own property to the best advantage, or in any way to make
such use of their capabilities as would be likely to elevate
them in social position.

…

“The above are but specimen facts, and they are facts. Every
provost-marshal who has been in office here will testify to the
truthfulness of the picture. Meantime companies are forming
to import coolies and European immigrants to drive the black
man from the little chance that is left him. The whole thing
may be summed up in one word: _The South is determined to have
Slavery,--the thing, if not the name._ And if all restraint
is removed, it is as certain as fate that their condition
will be far worse than it ever was before. It will be the old
system, with all its mitigations rescinded and all its horrors
intensified.

…

“The prospect for the coming winter is overwhelming in its
horrors, at best. If the freedmen are left friendless, it will
be the very valley of the shadow of death. Let Congress keep
these States out of the Union till the shape and tone of their
legislation is seen and understood as relating to freedmen, and
then keep them out until it is clearly shown whether the people
will obey the legislation or make it a dead letter from the
beginning.”

And still another letter furnishes these revelations:--

“Do not let yourselves be deceived by the influences which
reach you. These influences are energetic, active, spare no
pains or expense to accomplish certain purposes. I know this
people well; I was born and reared with them; they are far more
hostile to the Government to-day than they were in 1860. Every
demonstration in the State since the surrender has been, in one
shape or another, that of hostility to the Union; and every new
concession they make is simply made with the hope of thereby
obtaining that degree of independence which follows, as they
understand and expect it, the resumption of the _status_ as
States again.

“The elections are just over. The Secessionists were united
to a man,--hopeful, active; the Union party disorganized,
discouraged, and dispersed among the Secessionists. President
Johnson and Governor Parsons are responsible for it. The
enemies of the Union have defeated us, horse, foot, and
dragoons, in all parts of the State. The stanch favorites of
our party are defeated everywhere.

…

“In a word, the friends of the Union are completely under; the
successful party are the Secessionists and renegade Unionists,
enemies of the Government. It is to the Union party of the
North that we are to-day indebted for being able to _live
here_.”

The person who is styled Provisional Governor of Alabama thus in a late message alludes to Rebel trophies, and stirs the ashes of the Rebellion:--

“Several of these had been deposited in the executive
department, and were not removed when the Capitol was
evacuated. They were not destroyed, however, by those who took
possession of it, but came to my hands as the representative of
the State for the time being, and are now carefully preserved
and ready to be delivered to the governor elected under the
Constitution. We should preserve these sacred souvenirs of
the courage and endurance of those who went forth to battle
under their folds, and who manfully upheld them with their
life-blood.”

With such a person in high office, we could expect little else than the barbarism which rages there.

* * * * *

From Alabama pass to Mississippi, and there the same hideous scenes are renewed. Here is the testimony of a citizen of that State, once a slave-master, in a private letter:--

“In respectful earnestness I must say, that, if, at the end of
all the blood that has been shed and the treasure expended,
the unfortunate negro is to be left in the hands of his
infuriated and disappointed former owners to legislate and fix
his _status_, God help him! for his cup of bitterness will
overflow indeed. Was ever such a policy conceived in the brain
of men before? After a great step and a mighty victory, you
are expected by President Johnson to withdraw your protection
from this people and turn their destiny over to those who for
centuries have ground them into the dust. Truly, by such a
course will your fruits become bitter ashes.

“As a man who has been deprived of a large number of persons he
once claimed as slaves, I protest against such a course. If it
is intended to follow up the abolition of Slavery by a liberal
and enlightened policy, by which I mean bestowing upon them the
full rights of other citizens, then I can give this movement my
heart and hand. But if the negro is to be left in a helpless
condition, far more miserable than that of Slavery, I would
ask, What was the object of taking him from those who claimed
his services? As things seem now approaching the position of
rendering loyalty at the South a disgrace, and those who,
amid many dangers and trials, stood true to the Union and the
Constitution are to be left to suffer the scorn, contempt, and
oppressions of Secessionist traitors,--I say, as this seems
to be the settled policy of the Government to the whites so
situated, I fear there will remain but little hope for them or
the negroes, unless the true men of the country will present a
barrier between them and those who are anxious to punish and
destroy them.”

The pretended Governor of Mississippi, like the pretended Governor of Alabama, exults in Rebel victories, and fans the Rebel flame. Both Convention and Legislature abounded in bitter treason. In the Convention, one of the speakers declared it good policy to accept the present condition of affairs, until the control of the State is returned into the hands of the people, and “to submit _for a time_ to evils which cannot be remedied.” Another speaker, urging the acceptance of the Union, revealed the plot:--

“_If we act wisely, we shall be joined by what is called the
Copperhead party_, and even by many of the Black Republicans.”

Such is the voice of Mississippi.

Naturally the freedmen are exposed to untold hardships and atrocities. Here is testimony:--

“A Superintendent of the Bureau reports the poor creatures
coming in with cruel grievances that are unredressed by
these magistrates. General Chetlain tells us, that, while
he was in command, for two months, of the Jackson district,
containing nine counties, there was an average of one black
man killed every day, and that, in moving out forty miles on
an expedition, he found seven negroes wantonly butchered; and
Colonel Thomas, Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau for this
State, tells us that there is now a daily average of two or
three black men killed in Mississippi: the sable patriots in
blue, as they return, are the objects of especial spite.”

There is another authority of peculiar value. It is a letter dated at Webb’s Ranch, Issaquena County, Mississippi, November 13, 1865.

“I regret to state, that, under the civil power, now deemed
by all the inhabitants of Mississippi (since the order of
President Johnson revoking General Slocum’s decree in relation
to the State militia) to be paramount, the condition of the
freedmen in many portions of the country has become deplorable
and painful in the extreme. _I must give it as my deliberate
opinion, that the freedmen are to-day, in the vicinity of
where I am now writing, worse off in most respects than
when they were held as slaves._ If matters are permitted to
continue as they now seem likely to be, it needs no prophet to
predict a rising on the part of the colored population, and a
terrible scene of bloodshed and desolation; nor can one blame
the negroes, if this proves to be the result. _I have heard,
since my arrival here, of numberless atrocities that have been
perpetrated against the freedmen._ It is sufficient to state
that the old overseers are in power again. The agents of the
Freedmen’s Bureau are almost powerless. Just as soon as the
United States troops are withdrawn, it will be unsafe for the
agents of the Bureau to remain. The object of the Southerners
appears to be to make good their often repeated assertions, to
the effect that the negroes would die, if they were freed. To
make it so, they seem determined to goad them to desperation,
in order to have an excuse to turn upon and annihilate them.
There are, within a few miles of where I sit writing, several
Northern men, who have settled here, designing to work
plantations. _They all assure me that they do not consider
themselves safe in the country_; and two of them, ex-colonels
in the United States army, are afraid to leave their places
without an armed escort. Other Northern lessees do not dare
remain on their places.”

These are grave words, opening in fearful vista the tragical condition of the freedmen, and the perils of Northern settlers.

And now the pretended Legislature is engaged in fashioning an infamous Black Code; but I do not dwell on this, as it has been already exposed by my colleague.

* * * * *

From Mississippi pass to Louisiana, where anarchy is beginning under the sway of returning Rebels emboldened from Washington. Unionists are menaced in safety. The story is so familiar that I content myself with a glimpse. I give the testimony of a responsible person.

“During the canvass, I made a tour through the northern portion
of the State, where I have resided for many years and have a
large acquaintance among the people, and was surprised to find
the spirit of the people more hostile to the Government than at
the breaking out of the war. This is especially the case with
the leaders, who asserted to me in private conversation that
they were more impressed with the truth of Secession than they
ever were; that the war against the United States was a just
one; that they would not support any man for office who did not
participate in that war; and that the only true policy for the
Southern people to adopt is to support the Democratic party in
opposition to the Republican party of the North. They say that
the whole war was an aggression on the part of the Government,
and that they intend to use every means in their power to
destroy the Government.

“A prominent member of the Legislature, now convened in this
city, said to me a short time before the election, that he
was a stronger Secessionist now than he ever was, and that he
hated the United States Government, and intended to do all in
his power to destroy it. This man is a leading member of the
Legislature, which, in the House at least, is composed of more
than eight tenths who entertain the same feeling, and are now
legislating for the loyal citizens of this State.

“There are several respectable men now in this city who are
refugees from their homes in the interior of the State, being
recently expelled on account of their Union sentiments.”

Here is a private letter from an interior town of Louisiana, written by a lady to a lady in New Orleans and communicated to me:--

“The poor colored people are in a constant state of alarm.
There is a Mrs. ---- in this place, who teaches the colored
children; but the inhabitants, I suppose, not liking their
having the advantages of education, expressed their disapproval
by shooting at the teacher. At one time she was nursing a sick
baby, when a shot passed over her shoulder. No attempts were
made to discover the guilty party. Of course all in office here
are Rebels. The teacher, who is a poor widow, became so much
alarmed for her safety that she petitioned the officers to
allow the troops to remain, which they did for a few days. The
attempts on her life not being renewed, the troops were obliged
to leave, and it was only on her account that they remained as
long as they did.”

Enough of this. Nor is it all. The pretended Legislature is plotting, like such bodies elsewhere, against the freedman. But I forbear to dwell on the elaborate machination. And yet how can I fail to denounce, with all the energy of my soul, these most cruel and most vindictive attempts to oppress the freedman, to despoil him of rights, and to nullify the great Act of Emancipation? Talk of Nullification! What Nullification in our history comparable to this most wicked attempt? The difference between a revenue law and the great statute of Freedom is as wide as the space between earth and heaven.

Where such things are done, there can be small security for those faithful Unionists who fondly hoped for protection under the national flag. Already they talk of abandoning the State and finding in exile the safety denied at home. The flag they had longed for is now prostituted to the purposes of Rebels, and they are thrust out from the shadow of its folds. Hard fate, almost without parallel in history! For myself, I know nothing more touching than the story of Unionists, loving their country and loving freedom, tyrannized by returning Rebels.

* * * * *

In Texas there seemed more hope than anywhere, because a sincerely loyal person had been placed in power there.[32] But a private letter from a loyal Texan cries out:--

“What we of the South fear is, that President Johnson’s course
will, by its _precipitancy_, enable the old set to reorganize
themselves into place and power. For Heaven’s sake, preserve
us, if you can, from this calamity.”

Surely you will preserve them.

But there is special evidence, not to be forgotten. The same authority adduced with regard to the general condition of the Rebel States writes from Galveston, in Texas:--

“If any man from the North comes down here expecting to hold
and maintain ‘Radical’ or ‘Abolition’ sentiments, _let him
expect to be shot down from behind, the first time he leaves
his house, and know that his murderer, if ever brought to
justice, will be acquitted by the jury_. If the _military_ are
withdrawn, his house even will be no protection, and he may
expect to be hung from his own chamber window. I tell you,
Mr. ----, these men are only taking breath and recuperating.
Not that there is the _slightest_ danger of any _immediate_
outbreak. No,--the Southern people are too smart for _that_.
They will _never_ again measure strength with the North, unless
their success be assured beforehand. In case of foreign war, or
a domestic convulsion at the North, they will rise; but they
will never try it alone and without assistance. Meantime they
propose to ‘take it out in _hating_.’ Already our officers are
the subject of a social ostracism. I repeat, that any man of
Radical views who comes down here to plant cotton will be in
constant danger, night and day, unless he holds his tongue. The
ministers of the Gospel, of all denominations, the instructors
of the youth of the country, the women, and the young men,
all hate the North with a degree of intensity that cannot be
exaggerated.”

Small temptation here to the Northern capitalist! Small welcome to the Northern emigrant! The first condition of prosperity is security; but this is absolutely wanting throughout the unhappy region.

* * * * *

There is also Tennessee, where authentic testimony shows a painful condition of things. I content myself with official documents. It seems that a committee was appointed to consider what could be done to arrest crimes and disorders in this State. Addressing Governor Brownlow, they remark:--

“In the discharge of this duty, we would respectfully and
earnestly call the attention of your Excellency to the many
dreadful crimes that are becoming so common, not only in and
immediately around the capital of the State, but _over the
whole country_.

“Quiet and peaceful citizens are met on our most public
highways and robbed of their money and property, often cruelly
beaten and abused, and in many cases murdered outright. This
state of things is not only greatly injurious to the business
of the country, but shocking to all sincere advocates of law
and order, and to humanity itself.

“We, therefore, with the earnest desire to see security
restored to life and property, and the majesty of law
reasserted, appeal to your Excellency, who are the chief
representative of power in the State, to exercise your power,
and give the weight of your great influence to correct these
sore evils, of which _the whole country_ so justly complain.”

The Governor communicated this paper to the Legislature by the following message.

“STATE OF TENNESSEE.

“EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
NASHVILLE, November 22, 1865.

“_Gentlemen of the Legislature_: The reputation being
acquired by Nashville, the capital of your State and the
great commercial emporium of Middle Tennessee, is humiliating
to every friend of law and order. Murders, robberies, and
burglaries are the order of the day. No man is safe, day or
night, within a circuit around Nashville whose radius is eight
or ten miles. The most of these outrages grow out of the
abundant use of intoxicating spirits, connected with those
gambling hells to be found in full blast on every street in the
city. The same may be said, to a considerable extent, of all
the larger cities and towns in the State. Life and property
must be protected, or the country will go to ruin. I therefore
call upon you, most respectfully, but earnestly, by prompt and
decisive legislation, to remedy this growing and alarming evil.
Should you fail to apply the necessary remedy, my next appeal
will be made to Major-General Thomas to close up all these dens
of wickedness, so prolific of fights, murders, and robberies of
every description. The Sabbath is violated, the sanctuary of
the Lord is ruthlessly invaded, and ladies and gentlemen are
insulted at every corner and on every highway. Again I appeal
to you, Gentlemen, to relieve the suffering people from this
outrageous condition of affairs.

“W. G. BROWNLOW.”[33]

I add a few sentences from a Tennessee paper, “The Southern Loyalist.”

“Do the authorities at Washington realize the fact that there
is very great danger of wide-spread anarchy and bloodshed?
Do they realize that it is the supineness and imbecility, or
worse, with which the Freedmen’s Bureau has been conducted at
this point, that is the cause of danger, and, it may be, of
much bloodshed? God knows we speak in all sincerity, and we
believe we speak the sentiment of nine tenths of the loyal men
of Memphis.

“When colored men have remonstrated against injustice,--against
the very discriminations against freedmen that the War
Department declared should not exist,--they have been told,
‘If you damned niggers think I am going to give you any rights
that you had not under the old State laws, you are damnably
mistaken.’ This may not be exactly literal, but it is very
nearly so. When colored people have asked for wages hardly
earned in the cotton-field, but not paid by rascally employers,
they have been in very many cases told to go about their
business, or left to get their claims as they could.”

Such is Tennessee, the most advanced of the States claiming recognition in the government of the country. Besides this testimony, there is other derived from its own statute-book. Tennessee refuses to the colored citizen his right at the ballot-box, and even his right of testimony in court. I quote from the ignoble statute.

“A negro, mulatto, _Indian_, or person of mixed blood descended
from negro or Indian ancestors, to the third generation
inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation may have been
a white person, whether bond or free, is incapable of being a
witness in any cause, civil or criminal, except for or against
each other.”[34]

I say nothing of Florida and Arkansas, for the special testimony which has come to me with regard to these States is not at hand. But it is not needed. The same tragical report proceeds from these States also. But, even without any report, all this must be inferred. How could it be otherwise? Abandoned to themselves, with unchecked power, ancient slave-masters naturally continue the barbarism in which they have so long excelled.

* * * * *

Mr. President, I bring this plain story to a close. I regret that I have been constrained to present it. I wish it were otherwise. But I should fail in duty, did I fail to speak. Not in anger, not in vengeance, not in harshness, have I spoken, but solemnly, carefully, for the sake of my country and humanity, that peace and reconciliation may again prevail. I have spoken especially for the loyal citizens now trodden down by Rebel power, and without representation on this floor. Would that my voice could help them to security and justice! I can only state the case. It is for you to decide. It is for you to determine how long these things shall continue to shock mankind. You have before you the actual condition of the Rebel region. You have heard the terrible testimony. The blood curdles at the thought of such enormities, and especially at the thought that the poor freedmen, to whom we owe protection, are left to the unrestrained will of such a people, smarting with defeat, and ready to wreak vengeance upon these representatives of a true loyalty. In the name of God, let us protect them. Insist upon guaranties. Pass the bill now under consideration,--pass any bill,--but do not let this crying injustice rage any longer. An avenging God cannot sleep while such things find countenance. If you are not ready to be the Moses of an oppressed people, do not become its Pharaoh.

Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, followed Mr. Sumner. Then came Mr.
Cowan, of Pennsylvania, who said he was “not disposed to allow
the speech of the honorable Senator from Massachusetts to go
to the country without a very brief reply. If that speech be
true, and if it be a correct picture of the South, then God
help us! then this Republic, this Union, is at an end.” He then
vindicated President Johnson and General Grant against the
charge of “whitewashing,” quoting passages from them. In the
course of his speech, he said:--

“If the honorable Senator from Massachusetts, and those who
think with him, desire that these people should have the
right of suffrage, why not say so broadly?”

MR. SUMNER. I do say so.

MR. COWAN. Very well; that is so much that is clear. Make
it broadly; we may differ from him, but the people will
decide.

Here again was issue joined on the great political question
which awaited judgment.

The debate continued another day, but after that Mr. Wilson’s
bill was never resumed. The object proposed was accomplished by
other measures.

THE WHITES _vs._ COLORED SUFFRAGE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

REMARKS IN THE SENATE, ON PRESENTING A PETITION FROM CITIZENS OF THE DISTRICT, DECEMBER 21, 1865.