“That upon the application of any person of color to the nearest United States Commissioner, setting forth that he, she or they desire to emigrate from any of the Southern States and designating the point to which he, she or they wish to go, with a view to citizenship and permanent residence in said country, and also setting forth that he, she or they are too poor to pay the necessary traveling expenses.... That it shall be the duty of the Quarter Master General of the Army on receipt of such application, to furnish transportation to such.” ...[230] For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this bill an appropriation of $5,000,000 was asked. The bill excited some interest. It received most naturally the unqualified support of Senator Hampton, and it was also acceptable to Senator Vest of Missouri, and other Southern men of prominence; but it was not only opposed by Northern and Western senators but also by one at least from the South, Senator Vance, of North Carolina, although the argument of the latter was marked by neither strength nor depth of thought. On the other hand the argument with which Senator Butler presented his bill deserves consideration at some length and is apt to receive it in the future. While presented in a different style, it is comparable to the utterance of the great orator and debater of his State, Senator Hayne, upon somewhat the same subject in 1827. Senator Butler said: “I shall confine myself to a dispassionate and simple statement of facts and of such reference to events, as candor and truth justify.... To my mind it is too grave a subject to be diverted by party considerations or confined within the narrow boundaries and limits of party lines. It is all pervading, momentous and important.... Whoever concludes, that the quieting of the agitation which concerns the political status of the Negro would be a settlement of the race question, discloses, how little he knows of its magnitude and comprehensiveness and how superficially he looks at it.” ... Proceeding with his argument Butler suggested: