The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1862-04-03

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pose its provisions fully carried out =
s:Our armies have overrun the whole ter
ritories of the Confederate States; resis-
tance has entirely ceased and the Presl-
dent and his officers being masters of the
country, they have time to finish the res
idue of their work, by gathering in the
balance of the property of the rebels not
already taken to supply the military ne
cessities' of the suppression. The rebels
themselves are homeless, houseless, anG
propcrtyless and the question arises,
have you made them loyal by your sever
ity Are you assured their love for the
Union will return again after this chas-
tisement? Have you thought how they
would shout at the-sig4t of the glorious
old tanner-'the Stars and Stripes'-
which brought them such deliverance ~
"Mr. President, these people are to be
again our brethren and kinsmen, if such
| a thing is possible; but Is does seem to
me that, by such laws as this, you will
make that possibility very remote one.
Will not their women and children hate
you, and their cllildren's children hate
and curse you down to the latest genera
ton; and whenever they get chance
will they not rebel against you? Have
you not sown the seeds Of many rebelljons
by this one ill-advised act All this
might make little or no difference, if they
were of hostile race and alien enemies,
and if We were making war upon them
for conquest and subjugation. But that
is not the fact We have here in these
Halls of Congress solcmniy declared that
the war was for no such purpose, but that
it was for the purpose Of compelling obe-
dence to the Constitution and the laws !;
and l am for standing upon that declara-
ton.
"The Constitution and the laws being
restored and obedience rendered, is this
law one of them Now, we suppose that a
large number of people everywhere in the
Confederate States were constrained, even
by force, to join the rebeiliOn-are these
to suffer on the same scaffold with the
willing traitor; and is there no difference
to be made between the general who be-
| trayed his country, and the soldier he has
compelled to march at his bidding at the
head of rebel column? This bill makes
none and if it did, it makes no provision
| to try it and determine its value when it
| is found the officers have seized the
| property, and the victim Of force in the
beginning ends by being the victim Of
wrong and injustice"
Another argument urged against the
bill in question by the learned Senator,
may be here briefly noticed. Under the
Constitution, the President is Commander
in-Chief Of the Army and Navy He is
invested with the war-making power, and
is only restrained in so far by Congress in
that he must depend upon them to foot
his bills and authorize his levies He
organizes the forces, appoints the officers,
directs their operations, and is responsible
for the failure or success of the campaigns
and whether those who resist him are alien
enemies, or disafected citizens in revolt,
he must conduct the war upon the princi-
pies recognized by the ''Laws of Nations, y
which are obligatory upon all belligerents
everywhere. And while making copious
extracts on this point from VattePs Law
Of Nations and Sheaton's Elements OF
| International Law-both works of un-
doubted author:ty-the Senator sho US
the utter impropriety and indeed impossi-
bility of changing these laws by Legislative
enactment, adding that "The President,
or his generals, with their armies, have a
right to attack the rebels in arms ; and
kill them if they do not submit He has
also a right to take, by way of capture, all
their public property used in the war,
such as forts, ships, arms, ammunition,
stores of every kind, &c, but he could not
do as this bill proposes to do; he could
not follow the rebel after his surrender
and take from his house The private prop
erty which he had left there for his wife
and children, while he was at war. And
all this because Il Christian civilization
has taught the nations that such modes ol
making war are nsteniy not necessary
but that they are in all cases mischievous