Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1863-01-22
,iei1ahH5sA sPEECTI OF g %
HON. 9. L. VALLANDIGHAM,
THE WAR, ,
Lately Delivered in the House of Rep.
resentativesr of the, United States.

Nm. ndorsed at the recer
election within the same district for which
still hold q seat on this floor, by majority fou
times greater than ever before, speak to-da
In the name and by the authority Of the peopl
who, for six years, have intrusted me with th
office Of representative. Loyal, In the tru,
and highest sense Of the word, to the Constltu
tiono and the Union, they have proved them
selves devotedly attached to and worthy of The
liberties to secure which the Union and the
Constitution were established With candol
and freedom, therefore, % their representative
and with much plainneas of speech, but with thl
dignity and decency due TO this presence,
propose TO consider the STATE or THE UNion TO-
day, and to inquire what the duty is of every pub
lie man and every citizen In this the very crisil
Of the Great Revolution.
1t is now two years, sir, since Congress- as
Haembled soon after the Presidential election -
A sectional HntisiavUry party had Just sue
oeeded through the forms of tho Constitution
For the fret time President had been chosen
upon platform Of ayowed hostility to an insti
tuition peculiar 10 nearly one-half OF the States
of the Union, and had himself proclaimed thai
there was an irrepreasible conflict because o.
that institution between the States; and tina
the Union could not endure "psrt slave and par
free" Congress met, therefore, in the mids
Of the profoundest agitation, not here only bu
throughout the entire South. Revolution
glaied upon US. Repeated efforts for concilia.
ti0n and compromise were attempted In Con.
gress and out Of IT, ALI were rejected by the
party just coming into power, except only the
promise In the last hour Of the session, and
that, too, against the consent of majority OF
that party, both In the Senate and House, that
Congreas-n0t the Executive--should never be
authorized to abolish or interfere with slavery
in the States where II existed. South Carolina
seeded; Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Missis.
sippi, Louisiana and Texas speedily followed.
The Confederate Government was established.
The other slave States held back. Virginia
demanded Q Peace Congress The Commits.
sioners met, and, after some time, agreed upon
terms of fnal adjustment. But neither in the
Senate nor the House were they allowed even
0 respectful consideration. The President elect
left his homo in February, and journeyed TO-
ward this Capital, iesting a. he dame; proclaim
log that the crisis was only artificial, and that
'nohody was hurt" He entered this city un.
der cover of night and In disguise. On the 4th
Of March he was inAugurated, surrounded by
soldiery; and, swearing to support the Constl.
tuition OF the United States, announced In the
same breath that the platform of his party
should be the law unto him. From that mo.
ment all hope of peaceshle adjustment fed
But for little while, either with unsteadfast
or In premeditated deceit, the policy
Of peace was proclaimed, even to the evacua.
ton Of Sumter and other Federal forts and srs
senals in the seeded States Why that policy
was suddenly abandoned, time will fully dis
close. m ...
But just after the spring elections, and the
secret meeting In this. city Of the Governors Of
several Northern and Western States, a feet
Of --- vessels, carrying ------- men, was
lsut down ostenslbly to provision Fort Sumter.
Tho authorities of South Carolina eagerly ac.
cepted the challenge, and bombarded the fort
Into surrender, while the feet fred not gun,
but, just as aoon as the flag was struck, bore
away and returned to the North. Il was Sun
day, the 14th Of April, 1861; and that day the
President, In fatal haste and without the advise
or consent Of Congress, issued bis proclamat ation,
dated tho next day, calling; ont seventy Ave
thousand militia for three months, to repoesess
the forts, places and property seized from the
United States, and commanding the insurgents
to disperse In twenty days. Again the gage
was taken up by the South, and thus the flames
Of civil war, the grandest, the bloodiest and
saddest In history, lighted up the whole heay-
ems. Virginia forthwith seceded. North
Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas followed,
Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri
were In o blaze of agitation, and, within
week from the proclamation, the line of the
Confederate States Was transferred from the
Cotton States to the Potomac, and almos. to
the Ohio and the Missouri, and their population
and fighting men doubled -.
In the North and West, too, the storm RACED
with the fury Of Q hurricane. Never In history
was anything equal to IL. Men, women and
native and foreign born, Church and
State, clergy and laymen, were all swept along
with the current. Distinction Of age, sex.
station, party, perished In an instant Thou.
sands bent before the tempest; and here and
there only was one found bold enough, fool
hardy enough 10 may have been, to bend not.
and upon him 1t fell as o consuming FIRE The
spirit of persecution for opinions sake, al-yst
extinct In the Old World, now, by sorne rnyste-
rious transmigration, appeared incarnate in the
New. Social relations were dissolved; friend.
ships broken up; the ties OF family and kindred
asunder. Stripes and hanging were
everywhere threatened, sometimes executed -
was invoked; slander sharpened
his tooth; fslsehood crushed truth TO the earth
reason fed; madness reigned. Not Justice only
escaped to the skies, but peace returned to the
bosom Of God, whence she came. The gospel
Of love perished, hate sat enthroned, and The
of human blood smoked upon every
altar. ! 'ahl V54tiad sSaG
But the reign Of the mob was inaugursted
,nly TO be supplanted by the iron domination of
arbitrary powers. Constitutional Limitation
vas broken down; hGbeas corpus fell; liberty Of
The press, Of speech, Of the person; Of mails, Of
travel, Of ones own house, and Of religion; the
right to bear arms, due process of law, judicial
trial, trial by jury, trial OF all; every badge
and imminent Of freedom In republican govern
nient or kingly government-all went down a,
o blow; the chief law officer of the croWn---I
beg pardon, cir, but II is easy to fall into this
couryly ianguage-the Attorney General, frat
OF all men, proolaimed In the United States the
maxim Of Roman servility: Whatever plesses
the PSesident, that 10 lac! Prisoners of State
were then first heard Of here. Midnight and
arrests commenced; travel was inter
dicted; trade embargoed; passports demanded
Bastiles wore introduced: strange oaths inyen.
ted; secret policy organised; "piping'' began
informers multiplied; spies now fast appeared
In America. The right TO declare war. TO raise
and support armies, and to provide and maintain
Q navy was usurped BY the Executive; and In q
little more than twormonths q naval and land
force Of over three hundred thousand men Was
In the field or upon the sea. An army of pub
lie plundesers followed, and corruption stfug-
gled with power In friendly strife forihe mastery
at home.J IN 4snisss fosd ,,o,., X. r.a',
g On the 4th Of July Congress met, not to seek
peace; nor 70 rebuke usurpation nor to restrain
powts; not certainly to deliberate; not even "a
legislate, but TO regiater and fatify the edictl
- -E-T. KEa n. AZ