Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-04-19
OHIO LEGISLATURE.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
rV,,,,.n,,.y mil I9 1851
ADJouRNED 8 assloN.

perative. The purposes OF the confederates
can no longer be disguised They mean to SUD
vert and overthrow this Government Neither
Is this on their part the design Of to-day-6nt
the long maturing OF purpose oft declared In
Southern conventions, reaching back through
period Of more than ten years. 1t has been their
long declared design TO break up this Govern
ment whenever the power to administer it should
pass from their grasp. This contingency has
now come, and true to their threat, they are in
hostile array against the authority OF the Fede-
raj Governnent,fo for no other cause than that the
people have seen fit to place it in other hands.
Will zoe submit, ia now the only question Tor us
to decide. Decide We must, and that speedily.
1t is idle to hug the delusive phantom OF peace
longer to our bosoms. Can any one IN TINS nan
doubt the necessity Of prompt, immediate ac'
tion2
Does gentleman on this floor believe that
the proclamation OF the President, issued on last
Sunday, for rs, 900 troops for the defence OF our
common government would ever have been pen
ned, had there hot been necessity as stern as
life or death to our beloved country No, Mr..
Speaker: when the mild conciliatcry policy Of
the present Administration culminates 10 such
document, at this time, on such day, no
one is at liberty to doubt that danger dire,
hangs over US. The kilograms to-day tell US
L
to make Richmond bis head. quarters, as COM
mander in chief of the Confederate forces =
Who can doubt their aim2 II ia the Federal
Capital That lost, 10 Gods name what will
gentlemen then propose to dot Unless retlken,
| We are from that moment but dependencies, and
vassals. Foreign nations will ackno Rledge that
which is de facto to the government. Then the
Montgomery Constitution and Pelican take the
place of the Philadelphia one our fathers made,
and with 1t the Eagle lies disgraced and dis
lhonored 10 the dust. In the name OF all that
freemen hold dear, let us act promptly; let the
rule be suspended, and this bill pass.
Mr.. GAMBLE said; i.
Mr.. SPEAKER, desire to say word before
voting on this bill. The reading of President
Lincoln's proclamation at the Clerks desk, the
other day, sounded in my ears like the fre-bell
in the night. Italarmed me, it filled me with
terror.
/ con:idered it at once as the death-knell Of
the Union. The events which have transpiTei
SINCE and which are now traDspiriDg, have more
than confirmed my worst fears. now have no
hope of ever again seeing peace, prosperity,
union and harmony among these States. But
do expect in very few days, to see fifteen States
on one side and sixteen on the other, engaged in
deadly conflict.
expect TO see an army Of one hundred thou
sand men on each side, armed to the teeth with
all the deadly weapons that modern science has
been able to invent, excited and maddened to
frenzy against each other, striving to see which
can do the other the greatest injury in the de-.
struction of their lives and property. expect
to see more, Mr.. Speaker--I expect that when
this war ehall be fully inaugurated, John
Browns will be plenty. Guerilla parties, bandits,
thieves and robbers will spring up all over the
land. The disregard of laws has already COM
menced. The freedom Of speech and Of the
press ia threatened with mobs. Aud our beaut
full system Of government, which has 60 long
given us peace, prosperity and security, will be
blotted out, and be superseded by reign Of ter.
ror, and may God grantit may not terminate in
vile military despotism!
The indications are so plain that these terri.
BILE calamities are coming upon us that that It
seems to me no man can mistake it.
Ineed hardly cay, here, who i'll to blame for
: this state of things. Leeme only say, that we
have been warned Of it beforehand. The last
words that George Washington, the Father Of bis
Country, ever uttered TO us in public capacity
we're, to warn us 10 the most solemn manner
"against the formation of political parties on
geographical determinations, and to indig
nantly frown down the first daWniDg OF every
attempt TO ALLEVIATE one section of our country
against the other" In the face of these warn
ings, and in the face of the warnings ofall good
men OF that age and of the present age, politi
cal party was organized, based on geographical
determinations. And what is most strange,
they claim to be followers of Washington. The
! war OF words, and Of elimination and re crimina.
tion, go long carried on, is over, and we are now
about to reap its fruits. Il is no longer words,
but action, which must settle this controversy.
And how shall weac That is the great ques
tion.
As for myself, / know no other rule, can
not permit myself for one moment to entertain
any other idea, than to maintain the Constitution
and laws Of my country. President Lincoln, in
pursuance Of the Constitution and laws Of the
United States, has issued his proclamation, in
which be declares that claws of the United
States have been opposed and obsructed in sew.
eral States by combinations too powerful to be
suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial
proceedings, or by the powers vested in the Mar.
shals by law" and calls upon us to aid him
| in suppressing said combinations, in order
that the laws may be duly executed. And
now, Mr.. Speaker, hold that have no
legal right to go behind this, and say will
disregard the Constitution and laws of my
country, because Mr.. Lincoln has done wrong,
however much may think he is wrong. By
the Constitution and the lave Of Congress, be is
made the sole judge of whether aid is necessary
to enable him to execute the laws. He has
exercised his judgment in this matter,an called
on us for sixteen regiments Of men, and this
bill is to enable the Governor to comply with
his demand.
And now, Mr.. Speaker, as an American citi-
zen, as citizen Of the State Of Ohio, and e
member Of this General Assembly, bound by
oath to maintain the Constitution and laws OF
my country, shall vote for this bill. / shall
vote to give the President Of the United States
all the men and money he has lawful right TO
demand, holding, that the for manner in which he
will make use of il, he shall be held to strict
and rigid accountability to our people, to our
posterity and to our God.
Mr.. DICKEY said:
Mr.. SPEAKER:--I feel happy 10 the belief that
30 great responsibility never devolved upon
nober hearts or more patriotic and united
body Of men. have steadily, as is we'll known ),
opposed coerclye policy by the Administration
toward the seeding States.
have steadily opposed and voted against
every messureiwhich believed. was calculated
TO widen the breach In our now utterly dissolved
country, or place Ohio In hostile or threaten
ing attitude. i have been striving, by every act
and vote Of mine, for peace, and | thank God
that, by no vote or act Of mine, have ! assisted
in any form TO inaugurate the terrible condition
in which we now behold our once beloved Union.
Impartial history must In future record that
the determined, cold blooded calculation Of de-
signing men and scbeming demagogues has
wrought the destruction Of this government
the fall Of the hope Of tho civilized world.
Sir, / had hoped for peaceful solution, but
now all hope is gone!
War--ciyil war, the bitterest aud most bloody