60 treason, there must be judgment, and the pardon can come only after the sentence. We will add, that the pardon so liberally bestowed, places you in a position to exact guarantees without being accused of bearing heavily on the South, and in the least abusing your victory. CONCLUSION.. XVII. My conclusion, Mr. President, is simple. It is summed, up in two sentences—a reconstruction as prompt and. complete as you can desire ; the right of suffrage secured to the negroes of the South, with as much prudence as you can desire. I speak of the negroes of the South and not of those of the North, because the Northern states that still refuse the right of suffrage to the colored race do not need to be readmitted, and Congress is not called upon to impose conditions on them. It has the right (it is its duty, I should say) to impose them on the South, which has attempted to overthrow the Federal Constitution by violence, and which, moreover, in proportion to the number of its negroes, and its traditional habits, inspires every one that reflects with horrible fears which a bold vote of Congress can alone dispel. The opportunity is at hand. Congress is called upon to do a vast work to-day, which it will be out of its power to do to-morrow. No one imagines that the termination of the negro question will be possible after the admission of the Southern representatives. No one imagines that any action can be expected from the Southern legislatures, when once they have regained their independence. The point at stake, therefore, is not whether to «be more or less patient, but whether or not to have done with the slave party, with the cause of the civil war. As to the transitional regime demanded, provisionally, for the protection of the Southern negroes, it may be defined in a few words—the continued action of the freedmen’s bu
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