Studies in American History 
307 
Another dissenting voice from Indiana, whose opposition to 
Johnson was more significant because of the greater influence 
and following of the man, was that of Schuyler Colfax of 
South Bend, speaker of the House of Representatives of the 
previous Congress. The occasion was an address to a group 
of serenaders in Washington on the evening of November 18, 
1865. The speech was a plea for more adequate guarantees 
for the rights of the freedmen and for more deliberation. 
“Let us make haste slowly”, he declared, “and we can then 
hope that the foundations of our government, when thus re- 
constructed on the basis of indisputable loyalty, will be as 
eternal as the stars. 
President Johnson severely criticized the address as an 
effort to prejudice the members of Congress ahead of time 
against his own plans. On the other hand, Colfax received 
only words of praise from the Republican leaders. The In- 
dianapolis Journal ventured the opinion that he spoke the 
sentiments of ninety-nine out of every hundred of his party, 
both in and out of Congress.® 
The Thirty-ninth Congress convened on the first Monday 
in December, 1865. Indiana was represented in the House of 
Representatives by nine Republicans and two Democrats.® Col- 
fax and Julian were among the number. The former was 
re-elected speaker. As speaker he named the House mem- 
bers on the joint-committee on reconstruction. He proved in 
every way an acceptable official to the majority party, as he 
was at all times in accord with the reconstruction acts of the 
body over which he presided. 
Julian had no difficulty in qualifying as one of the most 
radical men in Congress. He continued his demands for the 
punishment of the leaders of the Confederacy, “that treason 
may be adequately branded by the nation” and “traitors made 
infamous”.^® In like manner, he continued to demand suf- 
frage for the negro. 
Outstanding among the members of the minority party in 
the early days of the Thirty-ninth Congress was Daniel W. 
Vorhees of Terre Haute, whose seat was later successfully con- 
tested by his opponent. He remained long enough to deliver 
a notable speech on reconstruction, January 9, 1866. This 
^ O. J. Hollister, Life of Colfax (New York, 1886), 270-272. 
^Indianapolis Daily Journal, November 24, 1865. 
^ Tribune Almanac for 1865, 25. 
10 Congressional Globe, 39 Congress, 1 Session, 2282-2285, 
