CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



197 



ing to serve upon that committee. He gave 

 among other reasons the following : 



I shall not serve on that committee, being con- 

 vinced, as I am, that no good, but harm only, can 

 come of it to the ^Republican party. 



" Why could harm come through investiga- 

 tion to the Republican party? Because he 

 knew, and knows now, as the country knows, 

 that these calumnies against the whole people 

 of the South are manufactured falsehoods, and 

 that investigation would prove them to be so. 



"Well, sir, after the passage of the House 

 resolution, and the refusal of six of the eight 

 Republican members to serve on the commit- 

 tee of investigation, a resolution came from 

 the Senate for the appointment of a joint com- 

 mittee, which also passed the House, thus 

 again showing that this body was against legis- 

 lation on this subject without investigation. 

 Then, to the surprise of every one, there came 

 a message from the President; and it was 

 whispered about that Mr. Butler and Mr. 

 Morton had been in council with him, and, 

 contrary to the wishes of a majority of the 

 Republicans in Congress, the message was the 

 result. It was a great triumph for the gentle- 

 man from Massachusetts (Mr. Butler), a triumph 

 which demonstrated that if he is not leader 

 here he is master somewhere else. 



" Now, sir, this message, which is the basis 

 of the bill now before the House, charges, first, 

 that life and property are insecure in some of 

 the States, not one fact being given to sustain 

 the charge. The second allegation in the mes- 

 sage is that carrying the mails in the South is 

 dangerous ; no fact stated to sustain the charge. 

 But it is known to the country that in one sin- 

 gle instance, in Kentucky, and nowhere else, 

 toward the latter part of the month of January, 

 as stated by Senator Stevenson, four persons, 

 supposed to have been soldiers in the Union 

 Army, feeling outraged at the appointment 

 of a negro to the position of route agent, for 

 which they had applied and had not been ap- 

 pointed that these four men, one of whom 

 was armed, iu violation of the laws, for which 

 violation I hope they may be punished, rode 

 up to the cars, and one of them assailed this 

 negro mail-carrier. 



"This was about the 26th of January last. 

 What action was taken in the premises ? Dur- 

 ing the month of January none. The fact 

 was known at Washington, was known to the 

 President, was known to the Postmaster-Gen- 

 eral, was known to the President's Cabinet. 

 Yet January passed, February passed, and not 

 until nearly the middle of the month of March 

 were the mails withdrawn on the route from 

 Lexington to Louisville. And on that late 

 day, although no new offence had been com- 

 mitted, by order of the Postmaster-General the 

 mail was stopped. Why? It has been de- 

 termined to irritate the people of that State 

 into some act of indiscretion. But, although 

 trade suffered and business was embarrassed, 

 the people bore the wrong with patience. 



"In this connection let me ask another ques- 

 tion : Why is it that Kentucky, and not Ohio, 

 or Illinois, or Pennsylvania, was selected as 

 the place where a negro route agent should 

 be appointed? Will not the country believe 

 that it was intended as an aggravation to the 

 people of that State ? I denounce the act of 

 the man who assaulted the mail-carrier, but 

 I think that every honest man within tho 

 sound of my voice must believe that the ap- 

 pointment of that negro mail-carrier was a 

 premeditated means to create disturbance. 



"Sir, we have seen that the judgment of a 

 majority of the Republicans of this House was 

 against legislation on this subject until facts 

 could be obtained which would justify it ; and 

 if the charges against the South were found to 

 be false then not to legislate at all. The ques- 

 tion to be determined now is whether Con- 

 gress is a coordinate branch of the Govern- 

 ment ; whether the Legislature is an indepen- 

 dent branch of this Government, or whether 

 we are living under the domination of a mon- 

 arch who issues his edicts which we have to 

 obey. 



" Now, sir, if you want to preserve peace to 

 the South, if you want to preserve peace and 

 tranquillity to the whole country, if you are 

 not determined to strike a blow which may end 

 in the total subversion of our free institutions, 

 change your policy to the South ; instead of 

 disabilities give amnesty ; instead of vengeance 

 offer reconciliation ; instead of hostility tender 

 the olive-branch, and peace, prosperity, and 

 happiness will bless our whole country. 



" Sir, I, with you, with every good citizen, 

 denounce the violation of the law wherever 

 the law is violated. But, to punish an indi- 

 vidual crime or to punish a few crimes, do not 

 strike down the institutions of our country. 

 Stop sending to the South your tax-gatherers 

 from Ohio and from Massachusetts and from 

 other States of the North. When you know 

 that the people of the North themselves are 

 restive under the burdens of taxation, is it 

 strange that the people of the South should be 

 equally so when you require them to pay taxes 

 to support the Government which has kept 

 them under political disabilities during a period 

 of six years after the close of the war, and 

 sends strangers among them as conquerors and 

 tax-gatherers ? 



" Change your policy, proclaim general am- 

 nesty, show that you are worthy to be the 

 representatives of a great and free people. 

 Change your policy, so that, in future times, 

 the blessings and not the reproaches of poster- 

 ity may rest upon your names." 



Mr. Beck, of Kentucky, said : " I listened 

 carefully to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 

 Shellabarger), when he tried to find some war- 

 rant of authority for the third and fourth sec- 

 tions of his bill, as each is a link of the chain 

 which is to bind the States and people to the 

 chariot- wheels of the Executive. And after 

 reading section four he announced, with an 



