On the record
If it stood by itself, I could not, with my notions of the possibility and practicability of establishing civil governments in the South, based upon loyal suffrage, vote for this bill.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “If it stood by itself, I could not, with my notions of the possibility and practicability of establishing civil…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine states that he cannot support the bill without the possibility of establishing civil governments based on loyal suffrage.
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Under such circumstances, to send a military force into any State, with orders to act against the people, would be simply making war upon them.
The right of the General Government to preserve itself in its whole constitutional vigor by repelling a direct and positive aggression upon its property or its officers cannot be denied.
Without the exercise of those functions which belong exclusively to the civil service, the laws cannot be executed in any event, no matter what may be the physical strength which the Government has at its command.
Is any portion of the people bound to contribute their money or their blood to carry on a contest like that?
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