, 1862-01-30
SENATOR BRIGHI-S TREASON.
speech OF Senator Clark of New FORK
In fnEor of Kpel1Ing the traitor
Bright from the Senate,



PROPOSED EXPULSION OF MR.. BRIGHT.
Mr. SUMNER. now call for the order Of
the day.
The Secretary read the following resolution.
submitted by Wilkinson Gu the lGtl day Of
December lust: ~
:, NHEEEAz Hon. lessee D. Bright heretofore, On
th he 3sf day Of March 1851 wrote letter. Of which
WAEH1sGTos, March /, 1861.
M pEAE s1n: Allow me to introduce to your
aSsaua1ntanee S NJ friend Thomas B. Lincoln, Of
Texas lie visits your capital mainly to dispose Of
%hat he regards atgreat improvement in Firearms.
recommend hin to yonr favorable consideration
Io'ls e.s respect JESSE 5aEsE$ E!f9Y 8 bK6PSHr 6fg55;
To His ExecTenc5: Jefferson Davis, President of
the confederate States
tencG Of dis1cyalty to the EuiteG States, and is
eaicnlated to O. g1ye aid and comfort to the public
Be il resozrtd That the said Jcssc D. Bright il
expelled from his seat IN the Senate of the United
The PRESIDING OFFICER: The question
Is on the adoption Of that resolution.
Mr.. CLARK, {Rep., n. T. referred TO the
letter written BY Bright to JEFF. Davis, and
thought that letter and the circumstances
sufficient cause to eSpe1 the Senator from IN
diana. The expulsion was absolutely de-
manded, We could not properly satisfy the
country Or support the Administration If we
II,
suppose letter had been found on the per
MS follows: -
''zo JohR Broom, leader eJ' the Nfyyo LusuY.
atetien, Hd3per's Ferry:
Allow mel to introduce ny friend Copp{c, who
comes TO put III your hnnd= fire arms recon-
mend him as q gentleman and Trustworthy in
every respect; Td,-z +z,,
How long would tho Senator from Massa-
chusetts have held his seat, and how soon
would the senatag from Indiana have voted for
his expulsion? If IN open rebel ought to be
expelled, ought not the person 10 be expelled
who furnished aid to the open rebel to make
the rebellion successful? He contendcd that
the Senator could not plead Ignorance
that he went with the intention to
M sen improvements mp M IN firearms, nor of tho
When the Rebel Chief left the Senate his last
words were to utter his determination to 1ight
# peaceful rebellion could not be accomplish
IN that speech Of the Senator from Mississippi
Dayis, the arch rebel declared, that if they
could not have a peaceful rebellion, they
would trust themselves to the God OF Battles
offence Of tie Senator trom Indiana
| and go out among the troops aud
u1ge thcm , to tight and drive away the
What will they reply: @"Urge US to lght,
guilty Of sending tLeir friends to the South with
! firearms that might be put in the hands Of
| rebels to murder u.s. What answer have We
to make them: Go and ask 1lis Adnlin-
turn out from the Departments any man
who Is tainted with treason. What will they
| say: 60 back and turn out from the Senate
the Alen who write letters to Jeff Davis
| Sir, If you had here little page who was
guilty Of any such dis1oyalty, or his father
even. W1n16 at1orr ,t1.o
10th; and yet it is proposed TO rrtatn the
Senator from Indiana. Sir, an outraged pco-
| pic, in my opinion, will receive no such excuse
rs is presented BY the Senator and his friends.
lhey demand that this rebellion shall be
crushed, and they will not be trihed nj tn by
any such pretense, that snch letter Z tie
Senator gave was i thing Of course, and only
mconsideratcly done.
To allow arms to be used against the Gov
crnnlent, or to propose to do 50, is a thing 50
nation Of the Senator from Indiana, If be had
been loyal man, and would have made linn
denounee Lincoln as nlcrcunary traitor in
stead OF sending him. rs a trustworthy man. :,
the chief rebel This is the charge make
upon these facts, against the Senator from In
diana, that he aided, or intended to aid, those
Two rebels, Lincoln and Dayis-knowiugly
aided them III the prosecution Of their sche1ncs
OF treason. And here I takc issue with the
Senator from New jersey (,lr. Ten Eyck) !, who
AieStu tHtlt ~ uOts uoL appear tlat LINCOLN
ever visited JEFF. Davis. do not care whether
he did or not. Tie Senator from Indiana.
when he gave him the letter, completed his
otensc. That the rebellion existed aud was
in arms the Senator knew. He knew that
Davis was its leader and that they wanted
arms, for the Southern troops were seizing
and stealing i'll the arms they could get; aud
he knew that Lincoln had arms to sell,
These two rebels did not know each other,
The Senator from Indian, knew the purpose
Of one was to sell arms and the purpose of
the other was to overthrow the Govern
ment By force, If necessary; and yet
with that guilty knowledge he deliber-
ately commended this traitor to 20 and
sell this improved fre-arm to the rebel
Chief. But in all this the Committee think
there is nothing to justify us in expclling the
Senator. Sir, NC owe it to ourselves to drive
him from this high place. Will we receive
him into our counsels to permit him to take
part IN the Legislation which is to preserve
the country? 4 man who aided or who would
aid to arm the rebellion against that country
We owe it to the country to expel lin, and
above all We owe it to the patriotic State Of
1ndiana. Even now the telegraph flashes the
news that her 10Th regiment has been ncarl:
decimated. Her sons lie dead upon tie
ground. slam in defence of their country, and
shall we retain here Senator who would aid
to furnish the rebellion With arms that arc TO
Kill aud destroy her own citizens?