Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-02-04
A Plea for the Preservation Of Con-
sfitufioual Liberty.

Senator SALISBURY, of Delaware in the course
of his speech ON the BRIGHT case. in the Senate
on Wednesday last, made an eloquent appeal for
the preservation of constitutional liberty We
copy the concluding portion as we find il reported
in the Globe. the official paper of Congress, and
which is permitted to be transported to all loyal
sections of the country by the Government mails:
Mr. President, we are in the midst of civil
war Those having the power 10 determine the
policy of the Government have far rejected
every proposition for peaceable adjustment. and
have resolved upon continuance Oh the policy
of coercion You have the right to continue
that policy within the limits of the Constitution
The question is not one OF right but OF expedi
ency. While | may distruSt your ability guide
the ship OF State amid the storms that heset her
while Won act within the limits and in accordance
with the spirit and meaning OF the Constitution,
| shall wish YOU speedy anu glorious success
shall offer no flctious opposition 70 your
sures Those of them which my judgment APP
proves shall vote for; those which involve only
questions of policy, from which | dissent but
which are approved by the majority. who are re
spOnsible for the proper prosecution of the war
| shall not in the future have not in the past
oppose, but leave the responsibility for their adop
ton where il properly belongs Those of them
I
Constitution OF my country, will oppose by all
honorable mems, and 10 the utmost extent of
my power. Ii YOU cannot carry on this war in
accordance with the Constitution, which was
made Tor all times. both of war and peace. YOU
have no right % carry il on az all. will vote
tor any honorable proposition for the peAceable
adjustment OF our national troubles by which the
Union may be maintained and the Constitution
preserved. | have never vet seen the day when
l wouii have voted tor the sunderinc eft the one
or the ATTRACTION of the other How long il will
be before the lovers ct constitutional liberty will
be compelled 70 weigh their devotion To the
Uuion, with its blessings IN one scale. and that
liberty. With tS indispensable advantages, in the
other. it will be for you to determine.
In ms place in the Senate and al my home and
everywhere go a private citizen. viii make
continual claim on NV own behalf on behalf of
NV children and my fellow counirymen, 10 that
priceless liberty with all It's constitutional safe
guards which | and they have inherited from our
fathers. anu under no circumstances viii ever
abate one particle OF opposition to those uncon-
siituii0nal measures adopted under the tvrant :
plea OF necessity. or which may hereafter be -
adopted. Never has there been a Government in
the administration OF which is Constitution has
been So often 80 violently, and so causeles>lv in
fracted in which civil liberty has been preserved.
l. i tins alarms me- audit Is this alarms the con
servaiive everywhere. In the language Of eel
ebrated jurist OF the present tay, himself a son
OF one OF the trainers Of the Constitution. and A
devout friend of the Union Chancellor : )
Nicholas, OF Kentucky. whose opinions oppose
to those of the Senator from that State, Mr..
Davis.l
The following powers are given exclusively
20 CsngreSs;
Il To increase the Army
- To increase the NAVY
B To Appropriate the nations money.
- To regulate commerce with foreign ma
tions
- To regulate commerce between the States
80 To contract debt ou behalf of the nation
a. To suspend the wri, Of kabsas corpus"
THE following powers are denied to both Con
gress and the President:
Il. To proclaim martial laW
- To arrest without legal warrant.
3 Imprisonment or other punishment; with
out conviction upon legal trial
- Punishment uuGer ex post facto or non "a
Istrg law
IS The Introduction OF letters De osehef. has
tiles. and the midnight secret proceedings Of the
lRquIsstlOn.
g The Introduction Of exports.
- The tavoring Of some ports 70 the prejudice
OF Others.