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REPLY TO MR. NYE. -
CONGRESSIONAL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY.- WELCOME TO BOSTON. - SOUTHERN TOUR. -
CONVENTION AT WORCESTER. - SPEECH AT MARLBOROUGH. - BANGOR. - FANEUIL
HALL. - WORKING-MEN. - HISTORY OF THE RECONSTRUCTION MEASURES IN
CONGRESS.
THE system of peonage, or
servitude, for debt, was in force in the Territory of New Mexico, and
about two thousand persons were held in thraldom. Mr. Wilson saw that it
was inconsistent with the spirit of our liberal institutions, and
therefore introduced a bill on the twenty-sixth day of January, 1867,
for its abolition, which, on the 2d of the following March, became a
law; and thus was the last vestige of human servitude in this land
obliterated.
On twelfth day of
February, 1867, he reported two bills in the Senate, - one of which, in
eleventh section,
prohibited whipping in reconstructed States; and the other, that the
word "white" should be stricken from the militia-laws, so that colored
persons might become a part of the militia of the United States.
In order to carry into
effect the measures of reconstruction already passed, Mr. Wilson, on the
7th of March, 1867, introduced an important bill supplementary to the
act providing for "the more efficient government of the rebel States,
and to facilitate restoration;" which, after long discussion in both
Houses, became a law over the veto of the president on the twenty-third
day of the same month. In a sharp encounter during the progress of this
bill with Mr. Nye of Nevada, who was very severe in denouncing the
rebels, and thought Mr. Wilson was extending his Christian charity too
far towards them, he thus, in the spirit of wise and liberal
statesmanship, replied: -
"I remind that senator in
the outset that this nation has been engaged in mighty contest of ideas,
a bloody struggle, in which all the passions of this people, South and
North, have been aroused. That bloody struggle is ended; that contest of
ideas is closed. Patriotism, Humanity, and Christianity bid us of the
North and of the South subdue, hush, and calm the passions engendered by
the terrific conflicts through which we have passed, and to call the
dews of blessing, not the bolts of cursing, down upon each other. We
should remember the words of one of our own poets of freedom and
humanity: -
'Always he who most
forgiveth
In his brother is most just.'
"Whatever the champions
of the lost cause in the South may do, we of the North, whose cause is
triumphant in the fields of war and of peace, should appeal, not to the
passions and prejudices and hatreds of the people, but to the heart and
conscience and reason. Unreasoning passion may applaud violent appeals
to-day; but unclouded reason will utter its voice of condemnation
to-morrow.
"The honorable senator
from Nevada is pleased to tell me that I am anxious to welcome rebels
here. I do not propose to welcome rebels here; but I do desire to
welcome tried and true men of the South, the representatives of the
seven hundred thousand enfranchised black men, the ever-loyal white men
of the South, and the men compromised by the Rebellion, whose affections
are again given to their native land, and who would now peril their
lives for the unity of the republic and the triumph of the old flag. I
believe that the enfranchised black men of the rebel States, the men who
have ever been loyal, and the men reluctantly compromised by the
Rebellion, who are for their country, and many fiery, generous, deluded
young men of the South, who have seen their political illusions vanish
in the smoke of lost battle-fields, can immediately take the direction
and control of these rebel States. I believe these States must pass into
the hands of patriotic men, who comprehend in their affections the whole
country; of liberty-loving men, who believe in the sublime creed of
human equality. I believe these States will soon pass into the hands of
radical and progressive men who are true to country, true to the equal
rights of man, true to the laws of human development and progress. I
would facilitate that great work; I would welcome these men into these
chambers with heart and hand. Does the senator from Nevada wish to keep
such men out of these chambers? The honorable senator from Nevada, and
those who agree with him, fear our enemies, and distrust our friends. I
do not fear our enemies, and I have confidence in our friends. This is
the difference between the honorable senator from Nevada and myself.
"The honorable senator
from Nevada dooms it matter of reproach, now the bloody contest is over,
the rebels beaten, and their cause lost forever, that I should not
entertain and express toward my defeated and fallen countrymen of the
South the same stern condemnation, the same sentiments of censure and
reproach. They are not alien enemies; they are not of another lineage
and language: they are our countrymen. These States must continue for
ages to come to be a part of our common country; and these people, their
children, and their children's children, must continue to be our
countrymen. I do not consider it either generous, manly, or Christian,
to nourish or cherish or express feelings of wrath or hatred toward
them. At this time, when these misguided and mistaken countrymen of ours
have been conquered, when we have absolutely established our ideas,
which must pervade and be incorporated into their system of public
policy, it seems to me to be a duty sanctioned by humanity and religion
to heal the wounds of war. Sir, I have fought the battle for the
country, I have fought this battle for the equal rights of man, not to
pull down anybody, nor to be the personal enemy of anybody on earth.
That is my position now, and it will be my position hereafter. Our words
should not rekindle the prejudices, passions, and hatreds engendered by
the bloody struggles of civil war; but our words should be fitted to the
changed condition of affairs and the needs of country."
Anxious to save some of
his associates at Washington from the baleful influence of strong drink,
Mr. Wilson, early this year (1867), instituted the Congressional
Temperance Society, of which he was chosen president. At the first
meeting the hall of the House of Representatives was densely crowded,
many standing in the aisles and at the doors. On taking the chair, Mr.
Wilson said, -
"Several senators and
representatives, mindful of the numerous evils and sorrows of
intemperance, had formed a society, in which they had pledged each to
the other, and all to the country, to put away from them forever the
intoxicating cup, and to commit themselves and all they have to the holy
cause of temperance. They. humbly trusted in the providence of Almighty
God that they might contribute to arrest the evils of intemperance winch
were sweeping over our land."
Among those who spoke was
Senator Yates of Illinois, who had been, like many others, reclaimed by
the kind efforts and example of the president of the society. His
remarks were very touching, and were listened to with sincere delight. A
noble man had come to his right mind. He ascribed his taking the pledge
to Mr. Wilson, who came to him "in the kindness and goodness of his big
heart," and said to him, "Governor, I want you to sign a call for a
temperance meeting." He replied, "With all my heart," but did not wait
for the meeting before he signed the pledge. He had now "promised the
State, and all who loved him, Katy, and the children, that he would
never more touch, taste, or handle' the unclean thing."
For his eloquent words
and earnest efforts on behalf of temperance at Washington the citizens
of Boston tendered Mr. Wilson a public reception, on the fifteenth day
of April, at the Tremont Temple. The building was crowded, and the
utmost enthusiasm prevailed. On taking the chair, the president (William
B. Spooner), said, -
"You have been invited to
come here this evening to give a cordial welcome to Mr. Wilson, and to
receive words of encouragement and wisdom from one who has always been
true to this subject, to this cause, as he has always been true to the
cause of the weak, suffering, and down-trodden, on all occasions.
(Applause.)
"He has never forborne to
speak his mind on this subject, whenever occasion called; he has never
failed, in low places or in high places, wherever he has been, to give
his example in favor of temperance. I have known him thirty years. When
quite a young man, I used then to be with him in the temperance
movement. He was always ready, and did not stop to ask whether the cause
were popular. He asked whether it were right (applause). He asked, 'Can
I do any good? Can my example, my word, in favor of the cause, benefit
my fellow-man?' That it has done good is manifest. His example is one
which in this State, if a man wishes for promotion, he had better
follow; that is, do whatever is right under all circumstances.
(Applause.) He asked only the questions, 'Is it right? Can I do any
good?' His recent efforts at the capital of the country in forming a
total-abstinence society among the members of Congress and the other
officers of the government have turned the attention of his state and of
the country anew to him as an advocate of temperance." Mr. Wilson was
introduced amid the most enthusiastic applause, and then made an address
of remarkable force and fervor. In the course of his speech, he said, -
"You have made mention
to-night, sir, of the organization of the Congressional Temperance
Society. Sir, I claim no honor for that. At the last session of Congress
we organized a Congressional Temperance Society, composed of some of our
ablest, truest, and best men; and I thank God to-night that it lives in
the strength of its purpose and its power. (Applause.) Judging from the
words that come to us from all parts of the country, it has contributed
something to advance the holy cause of temperance throughout the land. I
say to you to-night, what I believe to be true, that there is no city of
the Union where there are, in proportion to the numbers, more true,
earnest, and devoted temperance men than in the city of Washington.
(Applause.) There are more than six thousand members of temperance
organizations in that city (applause); and such men as Gen. Howard
(applause), one of our noblest, bravest, and best, are giving their
influence to advance the cause. More than seven hundred liquor-shops
have been closed in that city, not by law, but starved out by the
people; and there are hundreds of other shops that are eking out a
precarious existence.
"The prairies of Illinois
are all aflame in favor of the cause, following in the grand movement
their loved and honored senator, Richard Yates. (Applause.) He has been
one of the victims of the curse of intemperance. Every man and woman and
child in his State knew it. Last winter he came to me, or rather I went
to him, and asked him if he would sign a call for a temperance meeting
to organize a Congressional society; and he said he would do it with all
his heart. Before I could get up the meeting, he became earnest in the
matter, and committed himself to the cause; and, by the blessing of
Almighty God, I believe he will stand to it. He goes home in a few days,
and will be welcomed at Chicago as you welcome me here to-night.
(Applause.) His influence will tell with powerful effect in that State,
where he is honored and loved for his devotion to his country, to
freedom, and for his generous personal qualities.
"Two years ago, after the
humiliating scene of the inauguration, I secured the passage of a
resolution in the Senate, forbidding the sale of intoxicating liquors in
the Capitol. In spite of that resolution, liquors were brought into the
committee-rooms and into other places. Again I introduced the subject of
banishing liquors from the Capitol; and Congress adopted a joint rule
forbidding the sale, and empowering the sergeants-at-arms of the two
Houses to keep all kinds of liquors out of the Capitol of the nation.
(Applause.) No more can intoxicating liquors be brought into, sold, or
given away in, that magnificent edifice. This banishment of liquors has
been followed by the adoption of a rule requiring the members of the
Capitol-police to sign the total-abstinence pledge; and they all have
done it (applause), and more than four-fifths of the Senate employs have
signed the pledge." (Applause.)
He closed his grand
address by saying, -
"I thank you, ladies and
gentlemen, for this generous welcome and these applauding voices; I
thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your words of kindness and approval: and I
close with the expression of the hope that the hallowed cause of
temperance will be advanced in the state and nation. In this hour of
trial let us invoke upon it the blessing of Almighty God, and the
prayers of all whose hearts throb in sympathy with tempted and
struggling humanity." (Prolonged applause.)
In order to examine the
condition of the South, encourage the colored people, and defend the
policy of his party, Mr. Wilson made, in the spring of 1807, a tour
through the Southern States. At Richmond, Va., he addressed some six
thousand people from the steps of the Capitol. He was introduced to them
by Gov. Pierpont, and assured his hearers that the Reconstruction Bill
had in view the highest good of the whole country, and advised all
classes to unite on the basis of the Republican party. "The Richmond
Times" announced him as "a Puritan radical under the shadow of the
monument of the great Virginia rebel."
At Petersburg, April 4,
he spoke as openly as he would have done on Bunker Hill. The mayor
presided at the meeting, which numbered several thousands. In respect to
the war, he said, -
"it had to come; it was
unavoidable. It came, and we fought it out; and, when the last gun was
fired, I was in favor of forgetting all the bitterness engendered by the
contest, and of marching with you shoulder to shoulder in favor of a
united country. . . . There was only one cause of the war, - human
slavery in America." To the colored people he said, "Go for the
schoolhouse and the church. Get homes and lands, however humble they may
be. Touch not the bowl whose contents degrade humanity."
At Goldsborough, N.C.,
the white people manifested signs of animosity; and one rebel declared
that he should like to put a bullet through his head. He spoke, however,
with fearlessness, and no violence was attempted.
At Wilmington, N.C.,
which he reached on the first day of May, he met with an enthusiastic
reception. The public buildings were decorated with the national flag,
streamers, &c.; and mottoes were suspended across the streets in many
places. A procession of the colored men was formed with music, and
marched to Dudley's Grove, a short distance from the city, where a
public meeting was held. Among the mottoes noticed upon the banners
borne in the procession was the following: "Equal rights before the law:
we will ask no more; we will take no less."
Gen. Estes was president
of the meeting. Resolutions were adopted, thanking Congress for passing
the Military Reconstruction Bill; promising to reconstruct North
Carolina with loyal Inca; to give colored men the right to sit on
juries; and to secure rights and privileges for the poor white men by
establishing a Republican party in the State.
Mr. Wilson spoke about
two hours. He declared that the Republican party was not responsible for
one life lost in the war; but, before God and history, the supporters of
slavery were responsible for every life sacrificed and every dollar
spent in it. He invited the colored people to vote with the Republican
party, declaring it vitally important that there should be no black
party or white party formed.
In reply to Mr. Robinson,
editor of "The Despatch," who endeavored to throw the responsibility of
the war upon antislavery agitators, Mr. Wilson declared that the
abolition of slavery by the General Government was the result of the
Rebellion. He congratulated Mr. Robinson upon the change already
effected in his views by his willingness to have the colored people
educated; and thought, that, in a few months more, Mr. Robinson would be
fully affiliated with the Republican party.
As to colored men not
holding commissions in the colored army, he declared that his own son,
who died recently, served as a lieutenant, captain, and lieutenant
colonel in a regiment whose major was as black as any man in the
audience.
He arrived at Charleston,
S.C., on the second day of May, where he was cordially received by many
distinguished citizens. He addressed a vast audience on Citadel Green,
and was serenaded in the evening. He visited and addressed the citizens
of Savannah and Augusta, Ga., Montgomery, Ala. (May 11), and New
Orleans; and, although he was sharply questioned by the disloyal men, he
was, in general, heard with attention, and treated with courtesy and
respect. In a letter dated New Orleans, June 3, 1807, Gen. James
Longstreet said of him, "I was much pleased to have the opportunity to
hear Senator Wilson, and was agreeably surprised to meet such fairness
and frankness in a politician whom I have been taught to believe
uncompromisingly opposed to the white people of the South."
Mr. Wilson's impressions
of the South were favorable; and, on arriving home, he spoke hopefully
of the future prospects of the Southern people.
His friend Mr. Pierce had
invited him to embark for Europe on the nineteenth day of June; but the
continued illness of Mrs. Wilson led him to postpone his foreign tour.
Still distrusting the
policy of the president, Congress, after taking a recess, assembled on
the third day of July, 1807; when Mr. Wilson introduced a bill vacating
the offices held under the pretended State governments, and for other
purposes, which was not carried. His amendment authorizing district
commanders to appoint civilians to perform the duties of persons removed
from office was, however, incorporated in Mr. Trumbull's bill, which
became a law over the veto of Mr. Johnson on the 19th of July, 1867.
"The passage of the bill," said Mr. Wilson, "would complete the work of
restoration. I rise now," continued he, "to express the hope, that,
throughout that part of our country, men of all parties and of all
sentiments and feelings will clearly, understand, that, if they comply
with the terms and conditions of these three reconstruction laws
honestly and faithfully, all obstacles will be removed, and they will be
admitted into these chambers."
On the 11th of September
Mr. Wilson was chosen president of the Republican Convention at
Worcester, and, on taking the chair, presented his views of the
condition of the country in an earnest and felicitous speech, during
which he paid the following compliment to the gallant Gen. Sheridan.
Not appeased by striking
down the great war secretary, Andrew Johnson has laid his hand of
violence on that brilliant, honored, and loved soldier, Philip H
Sheridan, whose record in the field glitters with glorious achievements,
whose record in the fifth military district is instinct with patriotism
and justice. This brilliant hero of the Valley of the Shenandoah, and of
battlefields made immortal by his genius and valor, is sent from his
department, hurried away to the distant plains, to the gorges of the
Rocky Mountains, to chase the wild Indian, with an admonition that his
energies will there find a fitting field for action. Time, it is said,
brings about its revenges. Perhaps it may so happen that an outraged
nation, that is master of presidents, congresses, and generals, may bid
this man - drunk at least with unreasoning passion - descend from that
lofty position from which he smites down her honored statesman and her
brilliant general, and go back to that famous Tennessee village, where
his abilities will find an appropriate sphere of action in filling once
again the office of village alderman. It is not given to men of the
capacity or character of Andrew Johnson, however lifted up to exalted
positions, to belittle Edwin M. Stanton or Philip H. Sheridan. The
illustrious commander of our army, who is now enduring the burden
imposed by patriotism, as did his predecessor through weary months,
uttered the voice of loyal America when he expressed his appreciation of
the 'zeal, patriotism; firmness, and ability ' with which Edwin M.
Stanton had discharged the duties of secretary of war. I remember, too,
- for I could not forget it, - the generous tribute the same great
commander paid a few weeks ago to the genius of Sheridan. 'The people,'
he said, 'do not fully appreciate Sheridan. I think him the greatest
soldier the war developed. Were we to have a great war, and to call out
a million of men, I think Sheridan the best fitted to command them. Some
persons say I have done a great deal for him; but I never did any thing
for him: he has done much for me.' Such is the statesman and such is the
general Andrew Johnson has thrust from posts of duty, and striven to
disgrace."
He closed by this hopeful
view of the republic:-
"If the Republicans of
Massachusetts and of other States subordinate minor issues, personal
ambitions and interests, and rise to the full comprehension of the high
duties now imposed upon them, the complete unity of the country, and the
perfect equality of the rights of the people, will speedily come. Then
the republic, redeemed and purified, the people free to run the race and
win the glittering prizes of life, will daily illustrate the power and
beauty of free institutions. Then the people of the North and the people
of the South will vie with each other in fidelity to the country, and
devotion to liberty. Then the bitter memories of the stern conflicts of
civil war will fade away in the prosperity and renown of the great
republic. Then the sons of patriots and the sons of rebels, whose
fathers fought and fell on bloody fields, will glory in the name and
fame of their common country, and cherish, honor, and love their
countrymen. Inspired by these lofty purposes, animated by these exalted
hopes, we, the Republicans of old Massachusetts, here and now call the
battle-roll anew, and move forward to the conflicts of the future with
the light of victory on our faces."
Though detained at home
considerably this season to watch at the bedside of his sick wife, Mr.
Wilson made many public speeches on behalf of temperance in various
towns and cities of this State. In a grand address at Marlborough in
November, he said -
"I was born in a section
of the country where New England rum was used at births and at funerals;
used to keep out the heat of summer and the cold of winter sold openly
at the cross-road groceries, where too many of the companions of my
boyhood were wont to assemble, instead of going to lyceums and
associations for mental and moral improvement, and spend their evenings
in drinking poor rum. I have seen the effects of the use of intoxicating
liquors on the farm, in the workshop, and in the halls of legislation. I
have found that in the field in the heats of summer, in the forests in
winter, in the mechanic's shop, in our own State legislature, in the
Congress of the United States, everywhere, the men who use intoxicating
drinks are the first to fail in the performance of duty. During fourteen
sessions in the Senate of the United States I have witnessed many severe
contests, lasting through the hours of the night until daylight streamed
into the windows; and I have always found that the men who resorted to
intoxicating liquids for strength found weakness, — were always the
first to retire to their rooms or their homes."
During the summer and
autumn of 1868, Mr. Wilson heartily advocated the election of Gen. Grant
and the course of the Republican party. On the 27th of August he spoke
to a vast throng in Bangor, Me., on what the Republican and Democratic
parties have done, and what they propose to do. Referring to what the
former organization had accomplished, he said, -
"It was said of
Wilberforce that he went to God with the shackles of eight hundred
thousand West-India slaves in his hands. The Republican party enters the
forum of the nations with four million and a half of riven fetters in
one hand, and four million and a half of title-deeds of American
citizenship in the other. These broken fetters, these title-deeds, it
holds up to the gaze of the living present and the advancing future. In
the progress of the ages, it has been given to few generations, in any
form or by any modes, to achieve a work so vast, so grand, so sure to be
recorded by the historic pen, or flung upon the canvas in enduring
colors. Defeat and disaster may come upon the Republican party; it may
perish utterly from the land it saved and made free but its name will be
forever associated with the emancipation of millions of a poor,
friendless, and hated race, their elevation to the heights of
citizenship, their exaltation to equality of civil rights and
privileges, and, crowning act of all, the prerogative 'to vote and to be
voted for.' These beneficent deeds will live in the hearts of coming
generations, and 'brighter glow and gleam immortal, unconsumed by moth
or rust.'
Speaking of the coming
contest, he said, - and his prediction time and events have verified, -
"In November there is to
be another struggle between these two parties for the control of the
national administration. The Republican party met at Chicago, reaffirmed
its policy of reconstruction, pronounced against all forms of
repudiation, for the reduction and equalization of taxation, for the
equal protection of American citizens, for the recognized obligations to
our soldiers and to the widows and orphans of the gallant dead, and for
the removal of restrictions imposed upon rebels as rapidly as the safety
of the loyal people will admit. The convention than presented the name
of Gen. Grant, the great captain who has so often marshalled our armies
to victory; and Schuyler Colfax, a statesman of pure life, stainless
honor, and commanding influence. If success crowns its efforts, if the
administration shall be intrusted to Gen. Grant, with a House of
Representation to sustain that administration, the policy of
reconstruction will be perfected, the States will all be speedily
restored to their practical relations to the General Government, equal
rights will be assured and disabilities removed, the nation's faith will
be untarnished, its currency and credit improved, and 'Peace,' in the
language of Mr. Lincoln, 'will come to stay.' Then the blood poured out
like autumnal rains will not have been sited in vain; for then united
and free America, with liberty for all and justice to all, will enter
upon a career of development, culture, and progress, that shall insure a
'future grand and great.'"
His speech in Faneuil
hall on the 14th of October most clearly exhibits him as an earnest,
strong, and sensible defender of the interests of the working-people. He
stands upon the side, as he has ever done, of those who bear the heat
and burden of the day. He said, -
"To provide for the
expenses of that Democratic rebellion, the Republican party were
compelled to take the responsibility of arranging a system of taxation;
and they so adjusted that taxation as to make the burden bear as lightly
as possible on the productive interests of the country and upon the
working-men of the country. More than one-half of the duties levied on
imports are assessed on wines, brandies, silks, velvets, laces, and
other articles of luxury, chiefly consumed by the more wealthy portion
of our countrymen. The duties imposed on the necessaries of life - upon
tea, coffee, sugar, and other articles entering into the consumption of
the masses of the people -arc made as low as possible; and
discrimination is made in favor of our mechanical and manufacturing
industry.
The Republican party
spurns this Democratic doctrine of taxing every species of property
according to its value. It believes in discriminating in favor of poor,
toiling men, and of putting the burden of taxation on accumulated
capital and large incomes. In time of war, when the nation needed money
so much, the Republicans exempted nineteen out of every twenty dollars
of the incomes of the people. This was done to relieve the working-men,
whose small incomes were required for the support of their families and
the education of of their children. We exempted all incomes under six
hundred dollars; and this exemption included the incomes of nearly all
the laboring-rnen, mechanics, and small farmers, of the country. We
taxed all incomes from six hundred to five thousand dollars five per
cent, and all incomes over five thousand dollars ten per cent. That was
not equal taxation: but it was just taxation; for it was based on the
sound policy of putting the burden upon capital, and taking the burden
from labor. Now we have taken the tax from all incomes less than a
thousand dollars, and we tax all incomes above a thousand dollars five
per cent, thus relieving the working-men and and nearly all the
mechanics and farmers from taxation on incomes. We Republicans intend to
stand or fall by this policy, which discriminates in favor of the poor,
the mechanics, the small farmers, and the working-men, of the country.
We serve notice on the Democratic party, on all the supporters of this
anti-democratic doctrine of the equal taxation of every species of
property according to its value, that we Republicans will never agree to
the taxation of the little earnings of working-men at the same rate we
tax the incomes of the Stewarts and the Astors, the great corporations
and capitalists, of the country. We give the Democracy notice that we
will never tax sugar, coffee, and tea at the same rates we tax silks and
wines and brandies; that we will never tax a gallon of milk as high as
we tax a gallon of whiskey. We give the Democracy notice that we will
not tax the tools of the mechanic, the horse of the dray-man, the little
homes and farms of the poor, and the incomes of working-men needed for
the support of themselves and the support of their households. We
Republicans will never consent to the putting of the burdens of the
government equally on the the small accumulations of the poor and there
capitals and large interests of the country. That is the position of the
Republican party; and it is a position in favor of the productive
interests of the nation and the interests of the working-men: and we
Republicans mean to stand by it, or fall by it; live by it or die by it.
Every laboring-man in America, every mechanic, every farmer, and every
business-man, who desires to develop the mighty resources of this
country, and carry it upward and onward in career of power and
prosperity, should trample upon this democratic doctrine of equal
taxation, which is against labor, and in favor of capital; against the
loyal, and in of the disloyal, portions of the land."
Inured to steady and
persistent intellectual labor, Mr. Wilson finds in it his chief delight.
To him idleness is misery. He is a working-man, who believes in actual
work: and his system being, by his temperate habits, always in
working-order, he turns off work with astonishing ease and celerity;
work, too, that has a meaning and a purpose, - guiding legislators in
their course, and enriching the historical literature of his country. In
addition to his official and public labors this year (1868), he
published a handsome volume of four hundred and sixty-seven pages,
entitled "The History of the Reconstruction Measures of the Thirty-ninth
and Fortieth Congresses, 1865-1868. By Henry Wilson." In this important
work the author traces vividly the course of legislation during those
eventful years which followed the collapse of the Rebellion, and the
contest between Congress and the president on the various questions
growing out of the reconstruction of the Confederate States. "My purpose
in this work," the author says, "has become to narrate with brevity and
impartiality this legislation of Congress, and to give the positions,
opinions, and feelings of the actors in these great measures of
legislation." In the treatment of his subject he brings forward in
proprid persona the different speakers,— Sumner, Trumbull, Fessenden,
Wilson, Davis, Hendricks, Howe, and others, - and presents them as they
introduced, opposed, or advocated incasures in the legislative chambers.
The very words of the disputants are given, which imparts dramatic
interest to the subject, and makes interesting what otherwise might,
except to a statesman, prove dull reading. The combatants stand forth
prominently on the canvas: the blow of every champion is made manifest.
When the author himself speaks, the style is manly, clear, and
forcible,— an evident advance upon his former record as a writer. To the
student of our political history this book is invaluable, bringing the
subject - matter on great questions before the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth
Congresses, which runs through several thousand pages of "The
Congressional Globe," into the compass of a single portable volume. The
reconstruction of the Confederate States demanded comprehensive views of
the condition of the country, generous sympathies, and decisive action
and strong men who took the lead in legislation through the war came up
with fearless front to resist the policy of the executive, and save the
nation from the rule of rebels. As an impartial record of this struggle
by one who himself home no unimportant part in it, Mr. Wilson's book
will doubtless ever hold a prominent place in legislative history.
The home of Mr. Wilson
was enlivened on the 25th of December, 1868, by the marriage of Lieut.
Alexander L. Smith, who was in Gen. Sherman's army when he made his
grand march to the sea, and Miss Annette Howe, a daughter of one of Mrs.
Wilson's brothers, and an estible young lady.
During the Fortieth and
Forty-first Congresses Mr. Wilson was steadily engaged in framing and
carrying important measures for the public good. Among them may be
mentioned a bill to amend the elective franchise of the District of
Columbia; a bill for the reduction of the army; a bill to equalize
distribution of banking capital; a joint resolution as to the management
of the Freedmen's Bureau, - of the Fortieth; and bills to establish a
line of steamships; to appoint a commission to examine claims of loyal
persons for supplies; to grant two million acres of land for education
in the District of Columbia; to remove disabilities from persons engaged
in the Rebellion; to grant increase of pensions to widows of officers;
and joint resolutions granting Lincoln Hospital to Columbia Hospital for
women, and respecting pay of enlisted men, of the Forty-first Congress.
On these and many other measures Mr. Wilson made remarks evincing great
legislative experience and ability. The pages of "The Congressional
Globe" bear constant testimony to his senatorial industry and
efficiency. His eyes were ever open to watch, his tongue was ever ready
to defend, the rights of the injured and oppressed. No senator ever
framed and carried so many bills through the Senate of the United States
as Mr. Wilson; and some of them are the most important ever enacted in
this country. In his management of measures in the Senate he has shown
the practical good sense of a sound and accomplished statesman. When he
has found it impossible to carry a measure as first presented, he has
been willing to accept such modification or substitute as might secure
its passage consenting willingly that another should receive the credit,
if by any change or compromise the end could be obtained. His idea has
been, that one step in advance is better than no progress: so that,
while others have insisted on the whole or nothing, he has accepted the
best he could at the time secure; and, gaining that, he has often found
himself in a position to gain the whole. His bill for the soldiers'
bounties finally appeared in another form, under another name, and for a
lower sum than he proposed; but he rejoiced that eighty millions were
secured, though his original measure was defeated.
His method is to throw
himself out of the question, and to support a measure on its own merits:
and this, in part, accounts for his success; for a statesman attempting
to carry himself with his measures generally finds himself overborne by
the burden. |
