Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1862-05-31

The Senate having resumed the consider.
alton Of he bill Is No I5l) to coni>cale
the property and .ree the slaves of rebels-
Mr. WADE said
Mr.. President 1t was not my intention
10 say any hing III regard to this bill, for
the rrASUu that ] have been anxious and
impatient that it should pass but those
"ho Will probably vote with me- and Who
take The sime view Of The subject that do,
have so frequently been assaed in the
cuu 81 Uf The Argument on this measure ns
Te'Nors WHO have 80 regard to the Consti,
.ntl,n Of the country, and as hclng Hing
~ all tunes To break it, and lectures have
been 50 frequently read to us from every
s.de "t 'hs Chamher on the sacrcdurSs Of
If tie Constitution and our obligation to
observe It, that to rcmain or ger silent un
dei these constant charges would be i'm
proper.
| am not nnmindfuI hat when ook my
seat on this auOr | raised nay hand to q d
aud sWore thai / would observe the Consi.
tuition. believe um just as mindful of
aS those Hho 50 often ! cture us on the sub
Ject. il is an arrogant assumption on their
part that they are the peculiar friends and
observers Of the Constitution, while We on
tins side of lhe chamber are uumluhful Of
It's Obligations. do moi believe there is
anything in this hill that cuutrnvenes one
word Or syllable of that Constitution. |
agree that The defence Of thai G. eat instru.
ment, the palladium Of our freedom, is the
most Ied duty that drvolyes on any man
who lakes seat OH this hucr aud | am
The last man who, knowingly, would do
anything to contraVene any Of its pro-
Visions
The genIlrmen who oppose us on this sub
ject, and who have come to the conclusion
that this bill rs unconstitutional do not agree
among themselves as TO What provisions of
the constitution it violates If / under.
stand the Senator from Illinois, Mr.
Browning he holds that this government
has as much power 10 suppress treason aud
to maintain It's authority us any government
on the face of Gods earth aud believe
him. The only question then is, where is
this authority lodged lie contends it is
altogether iu the President of the U S
that the moment war is declared the PreS-
dent is despot, armed with irresponsible
power to do just what be thinks the neces.
sity of the occasion requires A more
dangerous construction Of that instrument
could not be conceived Ii is altogether
anomalous II is not in ha mOny with any
provision OF the Constitution, or the spirit
of our Institutions. / suppose the rights
Of war do Invest this Government with all
the power that is necessary to maintain it.
self intact. The Senator from Illinois, if |
recoIlect him Alright, aud he is M excellent
lawyer, said that it il were necessary to
MAINTAIN the Constitution, we night not
Only forfeit and cOuG,cale the property of
rebels, but lake the life of every man of
Them Yes, SIR, know we eau. A gov.
ernmenl, III the last resort, shorn of these
great rights, would stand at The mercy of
pirates and a>Sasslus who might conSpire to
destroy IL. No doubt that was sound doc
Irlne but the simple question is,whU shall
nxercse the power ? do not know tnat
even the Senator from Pennsylvania Mr.
Cowan contends that there is no powe er Of
selt-deieuce sopewhere lodged in the II.
Stltution equal to its preservation uuder
any emergency. Does he suppose that We
are somehow fettered by the Constitution
so that we cannot defend it
Mr.. CowAN. believe precisely as the
honorable Senator from Illinois Mr.
Browniug] does. l think The power is
in the President, full, ample, to do every
thing shat is necessary, aud think he is
oil absolute despot against the rebels. lie
has the right to do everything necessary to
suppress he rebellion That is warrantable
10y The law of civil d war
Mr.. WADE am very glad TO hear it,
sir, tor was not quite clear from hearing
ll'e SENATOR'S argument, that he did not
believe there was somewhere some limit by
which we, who intend TO maintain The con
sIIluuon. must lie down inert, defeucrless,
aud allow rebellion to triumph lest We should
violate some provision of that instrument
III attempting its defence. am glad 10
bear hat such an absurdiIy has not taken
Iodgment 10 the brain Of the Senator,
though en- sorry TO hear that the Presi-