oldiers and sailors. It has never founded schools for any
class of our own people. It has never deemed itself authorized to
expend the public money for the rent or purchase of homes for the
thousands, not to say millions of the white race who are honestly
toiling from day to day for their subsistence."

"The answer to that is this," said Mr. Trumbull: "We never before were
in such a state as now"; never before in the history of this
Government did eleven States of the Union combine together to
overthrow and destroy the Union; never before in the history of this
Government have we had a four years' civil war; never before in the
history of this Government have nearly four million people been
emancipated from the most abject and degrading slavery ever imposed
upon human beings; never before has the occasion arisen when it was
necessary to provide for such large numbers of people thrown upon the
bounty of the Government unprotected and unprovided for. But, sir,
wherever the necessity did exist the Government has acted. We have
voted hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars, and are doing it
from year to year, to take care of and provide for the destitute and
suffering Indians. We appropriated, years ago, hundreds of thousands
of dollars to take care of and feed the savage African who was landed
upon our coast by slavers. We provided by law that whenever savages
from Africa should be brought to our shores, or whenever they should
be captured on board of slavers, the President of the United States
should make provision for their maintenance and support, for five
years, on the coast of Africa. He was authorized by law to appoint
agents to go to Africa to provide means to feed them, and we paid the
money to do it. And yet, sir, can we not provide for these Africans
who have been held in bondage all their lives, who have never been
permitted to earn one dollar for themselves, who, by the great
Constitutional Amendment declaring freedom throughout the land, have
been discharged from bondage to their masters, who had hitherto
provided for their necessities in consideration of their services? Can
we not provide for these destitute persons of our own land on the same
principle that we provide for the Indians, that we provide for the
savage African?"

"But," continued Mr. Trumbull, "the President says we have never
rented lands for the white race, we have never purchased lands for
them. What do we propose to do by this bill?