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4 The fury of a four years war which has ravaged our be- loved country, has now happily been superseded by the calm of peace, some of the distracting topics which plunged our be- loved country into the worst horrors of fratricidal and civil war, have been adjudicated by the bloody arbitrament of the sword. The vitality and power of the National Government has triumphed, and its authority been established in the sup- pression of the gigantic rebellion. The first question in point of order as well as magnitude, the solution of which distracts the National Councils is, what is the status of the rebellious states, and what the course to be pursued in regard to them? Your committee do not propose to solve this ques- tion, or to enter into an elaborate argument thereof, and have aluded to it only because of collateral issues connected with it, which to a greater or less extent excite the anxiety of our people. Whether those States lately in rebellion are living States in the Union; whether their functions are merely suspended, or whether they are to be held and considered as conquerd, is not the province of your committee to determine. The application of the term reconstruction, is the admission of the fact that they are not living States in the Union, otherwise there would be no necessity to reconstruct. If then there is a necessity for reconstruction, it is the duty of Congress in reconstructing them, whether from suspended functions, or as conquered territory, to demand and receive security for the future, indemnity for the past is impossible and therefore in- expedient. The nature and extent of this security is a mat- ter with Congress, not us. The question of Negro Suffrage is the most perplexing in- volved in this connection; but your committee conceive it one which has so far as the State of Maryland is concerned, been recently determined by her people for themselves, by the adoption of the present Constitution, and therefore not to be seriously discussed by your committee, but left so far as it concerns the rebellious States in the hands of Congress, where it properly belongs. The passions and predjudices of men, too frequently control and shape their judgment. The contest just passed has excited the passions and predjudices to their highest pitch, its smoke and dust have not yet passed away sufficiently to allow the unclouded operations of a fair and just judgment, and therefore in the opinion of your com- mittee the time has not arrived for the final adjudication of this question. "In the multitude of counsel there is safety," we therefore leave its solution to Congress. The principles enunciated in the year 1823, by Presiden- Monroe, in regard to foreign interference in the political af- |
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Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1866
| Volume 107, Page 572 View pdf image (33K) |
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