Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-05-06

conquest. Here is an attempt to get possession
of all that property Of individuals which have
been concerned in this rebellion. And howl As
a beIIigerent. According to the laws of nations
a belllgerent does not get il | know that the
Constitution provides that Congress may issue
letters of marque and reprisal, and make regula-
ions IN relation 70 captures or seizures By sea
and land. That looks 20 a state Of war.
doubtedly. Mat Is a seizure or capturel What
y the meaning of the termi Something that
you take. make prize of, carry away Can
you carry away the farms Of an enemy Are
they subject 10 capturef Not AZ all
But. Mr.. President when. after a with
other nation. YOU make peace with it, all matters
are ended, depending on the form Of your arti-
eies Of peace IL may be the status aRfe beIlum,
Il may be uti possidsfes. depending on the terms
OF your treaty; but all matters are then ended
Now when We have conquered thes epeopIe, taken
military possession of the country, can We not
punish the men who have been in rebelion2 can
we not render it legitimate TO hang theml Ger
tainly. Could YOU do so with enemies with whom
you have made war and peaceg No; but in such
cases. when peace was declared, the past would
be wiped out.
Again, 10 treat with them, and treat about
them, "a being bellgerents, is to acknowledge
them, so far this war is concerned. as a CO
equal power. We have complained that any for
egn nation acknowledged and recognized them
as IN a state Of belligerency. We thought il was
pretty hard usage to us. / do not see il in that
light exactly; but az any rate, especially after
what has been said TO the other nations of the
world by our functiOnary and correspondent Of
the State Department, it III becomes Us TO take
measures founded on the ground that they are
co-equals and belligerents and that We NAV make
pie bound by the laws that we here make, and
at the same time egislating for them as enc
mics and belligerents not bound by the laws we
make, IL. TO my mind. utterly inconsistent utter
ly irreconcilable. and shall not therefore, make
any further remarks in relation 10 what might.
by possibility. be done by as bellgerents.
THE PLEA OF MILITARY NECESSITY.
favorite argument with the ultra Republ-
cans, in justification Of the radical legislation
they propose is that of military necessity" and
upon it they base many of the schemes they seek
to enact into laws Military necessity with them
overrdes the Constitution and is made to sanction
every form of tyranny. On this point. Judge
CoLLAMER said:
But | insist that the Executive, his
Generals. the military power. are the sole judges
that can. by legislation. provide for the prose-
cution Of the war in all respects, and enact the
laws by which, IN all cases. It shall be governed.
War even in its most modified FORM is in a great
measure the law of retaliation. You do what is
necessary to meet the enemys acts; YOU retaliate
him, and 60 sometimes to great extremity
laying waste his country, spreading over it utter
desOlatiOn. IL may be a military necessity TO do
that; but to undertake to sit here and make laws
ia al.
what they may, and what they nav not consider
military necessities. is utterly idle, because
they are constantly changing with the changing
circumstances; and, as have before said on an
other occasion. when YOU undertake to make the
laws TO regulate what they may do, YOU ueceSsa-
rily imply that they must not do any thing but
what YOU have regulated 1t was said by the
Hon. Senator from Ohio (Mr Ste-man) yester
day. that the Executive, through his officers may
take ships and burn them. Did make any
law for thatI No. Dove complain of its being
done wrongfullyI No 1t did not need any law
then to do it. Ii does not need any law
to stop ii. Ii is said that this cOn6scation is a
military proceeding. military necessity. II it
isl do not decide that poipt-we know here to
60; We know who is to decide whether it is or is
not; and, if we do anything that takes away from
the Executive and his Generals the deciding upon
what is military necessity, we usurp their rights,
we usurP their powers
WHAT LEGISLATION is CALLED FOR
Mr. President, the legislation which is called
for at the hands of legislative bodies depends in
great measure upon the exigencies OF circum-
stances. and ought to- be addressed to them fitted
to them. The old law of the mischief and the
remedy, lawyers well understand We should
look To what is the present law. and see what is
needed, and what shape the law should take to
~. Il. 4 Il
through its Generals and its armies, shall have
put down the armed rebelliOn-and nothing of
great Importance here can be done until that it is
'etfected-what is wanted what i needed? Moth
IN can now be offered by the President to these
people but that if they will return TO their allie
glance and be obedient, they shall not be hanged.
We all perfectly well know that the idea of
hanging a hundred thousand men. thou
sand men, or ANYTHING of that kind is idle.
Nobody apprehends it; nobody has any fears of
II; and trust nobody has any hopes of il. Then
that will not enable the President TO hold out any
inducement at all. because they have no appre-
tensions on that subject. All rebellions that
unsuccessful, that are suppressed, among any
civilized people, end in bill of amnesty, from
which some reserved and executed Tor pun
ishment. The great body OF the people are par
dOned. i recOllect among a civilized people of
but one rebellion that was ever attempted To be
uedteu IN any Other way, ana that was the Mon
mouth rebellion, under the Duke of Monmouth
in England, in the time of james Ia very
foolish rebellion and one which was readily sup
pressed King James sent Jel'ries. and he hung
two hundred and odd people, including females;
it was called "Jefreys' western campaign"
Though the people of England disiked the man
for his bigOtry, they disiked that rebellion; but
when that experiment was tried on the British
people. when it shocked the humanity of the
British nation it produced the elimination of the
public disgust with that same James / l., and in
less than six months from that time Jeffreys was
in the Tower and his master was fleeing from the
throne OF England. That was an attempt 10
deal IN another way with Il rebellion
| look TO no such result in this country |
know people exceedingly exasperated,
and participate in that feeling myself as An IL
dividui. But revenge, evaporation. feelings of
vengeance should not be entertained by nations,
nor by bodies representing nations Rebels
must be treated with severity to extremity:
proper number OF those who are needed for ex
ample for It's wholesome influence afterwards,
should be brought to condgn punishment; but
the great mass must have an amnesty.
HOW EXTREME MEASURES WILL WORK.
4 short time since Mr. Cave Johnson was at
ClarkSvie and he informed Commodore Foote
that the rebel army had gone away from Clarks-
vile. and he had better come there and take the
town and take care of it. These people had all
been engaged in the army pretty much. but Com
modore Foote came and took possession. The
people were in great CONSERVATION. not knowing
what would happen; and he published card in