The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-02-04
sPEECH
HON. CLEMENT LAIRD yALLAN-
DIGHA8E, OF OHIO.
In the House of Representatives. January IA,
1868.
IcoNrINurD FROM LAST wrEK


r fCoNTINBED FROM LAST WEEK
scale the most costly and gigantic in its pro
i portions, of creating love by force, and devel
TOPPING fraternal affection by war and history
twill record. too, OF the same page, the utter
disastrous, and most bloody failure of -the-e='
But to return /: the country was at war and
1 belonged to that school of politics which
Eteaches thatswhen we are ut war, the Govern
] ment-I do not mean. the Executive alone,
but the Government-is entitled TO demand
and have, without resistance, such number of
/ men, and such amount of money and supplies
generally, as may by necessary for the war,
Until an appeal can be had to the people, Be-
fore that tribunal alone, in tie first instance,
must be the question of the continuance of
the war be tried. This was Mr.. Calhoun's
/ opinion, aud he laid it down very broadly and
strongly in speech on the loan bill, in 1S41.
Speaking of supplies, be said
81 bold that there is distinction in this re-
spect between a state Of peace and war. In
the latter, the right of Withholding supplies
ought ever to be held subordinate to the ener-
getic and. successful prosecution of the war. /
60 further, and regard the Withholding sup
plies, scifh pfeio of forcing the country into
ldishonoroJle peace, as not only to be what has
been called, moral treason, but very little short
tof actual treason itself"
Upon this principle, sir, he acted afterwards
linthe Mexican war. Spet king Of that war
in l84z, he raid
I"Every Senator knows that I sWas opposed
to the war but none knows but myself the
depth Of that opposition. With my concep.
tion of its character and consequences, it Was
Impossible for me to vote fcr it
And again, in 1848:
aBut, after the war was declared, by au-
,hority of the Government dcquiesced in phat
could not prevent, and rh,eh IL .as in,pos.
siblc for me to a.rest and / felt it to be my
duty to limit my efforts to 9ire such direction
10 the .-dr as would, as far as possible, pre-
rent the erils and dangers irith rhich it threat.
encG the country aud ITS instifutions."
Sir, / adopt all this as my own position and
my defense though, perhaps, in civil war,
l might fairly go further in opposition.
could not, with my convictions, vote men
and money for this war, al would not,
Representative, vote against them. / meant
that, without opposition, the President might
take all the men and all the money he should
demand, and then to hold him to strict ac-
eountability before the people for the resnlta--
Not believing the soldiers responsible for the
war, OF its purposes, or its consequences, /
have never withheld my vote where their sep
arate interests were concerned. But / have
denounced from the beginning the usurpations
and the infractions, one and all, of law and Con-
stitution, by the President and those under
him; their repeated and persistent arbitrary ar
srest the susper s. of haLeas corpus, the viola
tion of freedom of the mails, ef r,rrutc
of the press and of speech, and al the other
multiplied wrongs and outrages upon public
liberty and private right, which have made
this country ono of the wo-st despotisms on
earth for the past twenty montlis and l will
Il 4 = l. Al. al.
end and the people, thank God, have at ]: s. s.
heard ard needed, and rebuked them, too. To
the record and to time Iappeal again for my
Justification
And now, sir, recur to the state Of The
Onion 10. day. What is it7 Sir, twenty months
have elarsed, but the rebellion is not crushed
out its military power has not been broken
the insurgents have not dispersed. The Union
10 not restored; nor the Constitution maintained,
nor the laws enforced. Twenty, sixty, ninety,
three hundred. six hundred days have passed;
thousand millions been expended and three
hundred thousand lives lost or bodies man.
glcd and to day the confederate flag is still
near the Potomac and the Ohio, and the con-
federate government stronger. many times.
than Mt the beginning, Not State has been
restored, not any pars of.any State has vclun-
tairly returned to the Union. And has any
thing been wanting that Congress, or the States,
or the people in their post generous enthusi-
asm, their most impassioped patriotism, could
bestow Was it power And did not the
party ofthe executive control the entire FEEDER
al Government, every State government, eve
r county, every city, town, and vii age IN the s
belonged TO it. Was it influence? What
moref Did not the school, the college, the
church, the press, the secret orders, the mu-
nicipality the corporation, railroads, telegraph
-rzrrers essApeniAe, ihe voluntary association,
all. all yield il to the utmost Was It ulan-
imityl Never was IN Administration so sup
ported in England or America. Five men
and half score of newspapers made up the
opposition. Was it enthusiasm The ethusi-
asm was sanatical. There has been nothing
ike it since the Crusa6es. Was it confidence
Sir, the faith of the people exceeded that of
the patriarch They gave up Constitution, law,
RIG hit, liberty, all at your demand for arbitrary
power that the rebellion might, as you prom
ized, be crushed out in three months and the
Union restored. Vas credit needed? You
took control Of country, young, vigorous,
inexhaustibie in wealth and resources, and of
Government almost free from public debt,
and whose good faith had pever been tarnish-
ed. Your great national loan bubble failcd
miscrably, as it deserved to fail; but the bank
ers and merchants of Philadelphia, New York,
and Boston lent you more than their entire
banking capital. And when that failed too,
you forced credit by declaring your paper
promises 10 pay alegal tender for all debts.
Was money warted You bad all tho reve-
nues of the United States, diminished indeed,
Tut stillfn gold The whole wealth of the coun-
try, to the last dollar. lay at your feet Pri-
vate individuals, municipal corporations. tha
State governments, all in their frenzy gave
you money or means with reckless pTod:gality
The great eastern cities lent you 81 so, ,D00.-
000 Congress voted, first, $3.50, 900 900,
and next $500, 900 900 moro in loans !; and
then, first. s50,oeo, 900, then. SIC, COO, 900,
next SOC, 600 o0o, and, IN July last, sc, coo, 81
coo in Treasury notes !. and the Secretary has /
issued also . paper postage currency, -. D
sums as low as Eve cents, limited in amount
only by his discretion. Nay, more already
since he 4th d. July. 1851, this Houso has