CHAPTER XV. VETO OF THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU BILL. THERE is no trait of human character more thoroughly worthy of respect than consistency. So common is the yielding both in private and public life to feelings of expediency, of interest, of personal and political prejudices and antipathies, that to see a man acting under all circumstances with a firm and steady adherence to principle is sure to excite admiration. The present age can afford no grander example of this noble virtue than the conduct of President Johnson in his policy of again restoring to its full life and healthful action the broken and disordered members of the once glorious Federal Union. He early took the ground that the secession of a State was an entire impossibility, that an ordinance declaring it was in its every conception null and voïd, and that upon the close of armed opposition to the General Government the States engaged in it resumed, as a matter of course, their original position. The Congress in session at the commencement of the late civil war took the same view of the subject, when, after the first terrible defeat of Manassas, it unanimously adopted a resolution to the effect that the war was not waged for the purpose of interfering in any manner with the rights of the States, nor with their domestic institutions, but solely and entirely for the preservation and restoration of the Union itself. The present Congress, however, refuses to abide by the act of its predecessor, and though hostilities have long since ceased, the late insurgent States are denied all State attributes, and condemned to the painful and ignominious fate of conquered provinces. This stand of Congress, directly in opposition to the well-known opinions of the President, has brought out all the independence and energy of his character in a manner calculated to electrify the people, and to cause them to rely with the utmost confidence upon his capacity to restore once again the unity, the prosperity, and the happiness of the country. An opportunity was afforded him in his famous veto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, and his speech in response to the congratulations of his countrymen upon that auspicious event, to proclaim to the whole world the strength of his convictions, the purity of his patriotism, and the indomitable power and courage of his soul. We give these remarkable utterances in full; for no sketch of President Johnson can be complete without this crowning evidence of the wonderful consistency of his political career: "Constant as the Northern Star ; Of whose true, fix'd, and resting quality "TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES: "I have examined with care the bill which originated in the Senate, and has been passed by the two Houses of Congress, to amend an act entitled 'An act to establish a bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees, and for other purposes.' Having, with much regret, come to the conclusion that it would not be consistent with the public welfare to give my approval to the measure, I return the bill to the Senate with my objections to its becoming a law. "I might call to mind, in advance of these objections, that there is no immediate necessity for the proposed measure. The act to establish a bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees; which was approved in the month of March last, has not yet expired. It was thought stringent and extensive enough for the purpose in view. Before it ceases to have effect, further experience may assist to guide us to a wise conclusion as to the policy to be adopted in time of peace. "I have, with Congress, the strongest desire to secure to the freedmen the full enjoyment of their freedom and their property and their entire independence and equality in making contracts for their labor. But the bill before me contains provisions which, in my opinion, are not warranted by the Constitution and are not well suited to accomplish the end in view. The bill proposes to establish by authority of Congress military jurisdiction over all parts of the United States containing refugees and freedmen. It would, by its very nature, apply with most force to those parts of the United States in which the freedmen most abound; and it expressly extends the existing temporary jurisdiction of the Freedmen's Bureau, with greatly enlarged powers, over those States in which the ordinary course of judicial proceedings has been interrupted by the rebellion. The source from which this military jurisdiction is to emanate is none other than the President of the United States, acting through the War Department and the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau. The agents to carry out this military jurisdiction are to be selected either from the army or from civil life. The country is to be divided into districts and sub-districts, and the number of salaried agents to be employed may be equal to the number of counties or parishes in all the United States where freedmen and refugees are to be found. The subjects over which this military jurisdiction is to extend in every part of the United States, include protection to all employees, agents, and officers of this bureau in the exercise of the duties imposed upon them by the bill. In eleven States it is further to extend over all cases affecting freedmen and refugees. discriminated against by local law, custom, or prejudice. In those eleven States the bill subjects any white person who may be charged with depriving a freedman of any civil rights or immunities belonging to white persons to imprisonment or fine, or both, without, however, defining the civil rights and immunities which are thus to be secured to the freedmen by military law. This military jurisdiction also extends to all questions that may arise respecting con tracts. The agent, who is thus to exercise the office of a military judge, may be a stranger, entirely ignorant of the laws of the place, and exposed to the errors of judgment to which all men are liable. The exercise of power over which there is no legal supervision, by so vast a number of agents as is contemplated by the bill, must, by the very nature of man, be attended by acts of caprice, injustice, and passion. The trials having their origin under this bill are to take place without the intervention of a jury and without any fixed rules of law or evidence. The rules on which offences are to be heard and determined by the numerous agents, are such rules and regulations as the President, through the War Department, shall prescribe. No previous presentment is required, nor any indictment charging the commission of a crime against the laws; but the trial must proceed on charges and specifications. The punishment will be not what the law declares, but such as a court-martial may think proper; and from these arbitrary tribunals there lies no appeal, no writ of error to any of the courts in which the Constitution of the United States vests exclusively the judicial power of the country; while the territory and the class of actions and offences that are made subject to this measure are so extensive, that the bill itself, should it become a law, will have no limitation in point of time, but will form a part of the permanent legislation of the country. I cannot reconcile a system of military jurisdiction of this kind with the words of the Constitution, which declare that 'no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or |