Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1863-08-13
Least Speech
.uua s.d 70 as OF THE .asef
HON. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS,
s7,h ,4JyassI In THE H.i ,tantgA|
y a., SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. - 4
N ,7alltaluwa1 r y ,ast0l o. d,41l
he Declares War to be Disunion.
he Advocates Peace as the Only
W Policy That VIII Lead to
EIH .lin } Union ia Ht
!. l SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
Declares War to be Disunion
PROPHETIC wARNIMc.
Deliversd 18th Of March, 1861.

r. The following extract 10 from the last speec
Mr.. Douglas made in the United States 6enat,
and the closing official act of bio life. Tbu
far, his prophetic warnings have proved tru,
Read and ponder them, fellow citizens:
We are told that the President is going [
enforce the law In the seeded States. How
BY calling out the militia aud using The. arm
and navy. These terms are used as freely an
as hippantly as II we were military Govern
me1t, ghere martial law was the only rule Q
action, and the will Of the monarch was the onl
law on the subject.
Sir, the President can not use the army o
the navy for any purpose not authorized bv Ia y,
What Is tbatf If there be an insurrection Il
any State againet the laws and authority there
OF, the President can use the military TO nm
It down only when called upon BY the Sat
Legislature, II IL be In session, or il IL can no
DC convened, by the Governor. He can no
Interfere except whom requested. If, on th
contrary, the insurrection be against the laws o
the United St,tes, instead Of O State, tbe,
the President can use the military as a poss
comlatus in aid of the marshal In such cases
are so extreme that judicial authority and IN,
power OF the marehal can not put down tb
obstruction. The military can not be used /,
any case whatever, except In aid of civil prooss
%, assist the marshal to execute the writ.
shall not quote the law on the subject. bnt |;
the gentlemen will refer to the acts of I7gt
and leO5, they will find that by the act of l79r
the militia only could be called out To aid In
the enforcement of the laws when resiated to
such an extent that the marshal could not over.
come the obstruction. By the act Of 1908. tbe
President Is authorized to use the ar#y and
navy to aidin enforcing the laws In all caser
where 1t was before lawful 10 use the militia
Hence, the military power, no matter whether
naval or regulars, volunteers or militia, can be
used only in aid Of the civil authorities.
now sir, how are you going to create a case
10 one Oh these seeded States where the Prepl
dent was authorized to call out the military
You must procure a writ from the Judge de.
ecrioing the crime; you must place them in the
hands Oh the marshal, and must meet such OBJ
structlone as render IL impossible for him e
execute "; ana then, and not till then, can YOU
call on tne military. Where Ia your Judge In
me seceaea Statesf Where is your marahal
You have no civil authorities there, and the
President, In bis inaugural tells you he does moi
intend to appoint any. He said he intended to
aso the power confided in him to collec, the
revenue, bat beyond that he did no. intend Co
90. You are told, therefore, in the inaugural,
mat heis going to appoint no Judge, no marshal,
20 civil officers In the seeded States that can
execute the Law, and hence we are told tha, he
does not intend to use the army, the navy, or the
militia, for any such purpose. l.T
Ills your purpose to rush this country blindly
into war st cost Of $500, ,0OO, 600 per annum (;
70 levy 2OO,OOO,0OO direct taxes upon the peo-
pie, and then call upon them TO pay It because
you nave involved us In civil Wat7 Sir,
expect to stand by my country under all cIroum. &.
stances, and hence, will save he., if can,
from being plunged into civil war of indefinite
duration, that will require quarter OF million
OF men and exorbitant taxation, levied on one
half OF the American people, to subdue tho
other half Remember this extraordinary
amount Of revenue, these extraordinary num-
bers OF men, are TO be called for in eighteen
States to fight fifteen; for It is useless 70 dis
guise the fact, that whenever you make the
question one of peace or war the slaveholdinR
States will be unit, and will be fifteen against
eighteen, Are We prepared for civil war With
all lie horrors and calamities2
lrepeat thatit is time that the line of policy
was adopted, and that the county knew It. In
my opinion, we must choose, and that promptly,
between one of the three lines Of policy:
i. lie restoration and preservation of the
Union by such amendments TO the Constitution
as will insure domestic tranquility; safety and
equality ofall the States, and thus restore peace
unity and fraternity, to the whole country; or,
2 y peaceful dissolution Of the Union, by
the independence of such States as
refuse to remain In the Union without such con.
stltutlonal amendments-and the establishment
OF liberal system OF social and commercial iu-
tercourse with them, BY treaties OF commerce
and amity; or,
.. War, with view Of tubjugation and mil
itaPV Onnuna ti0n M
csdcd or may secede from the Unio1. $3.50 RI
Irepeat, that, In my opinion, YOU must adopt
and pursue one of these lines Of policy. Tbe
sooner you choose between them and proclaim
your choice 10 the country, the better for you,
The better for rs, the better for every friend Of
liberty cnd constitutional government through. |
'ut the wosld. In my opinion, the fret pr opo- |
'itlon is the best, and the last Is the worst.
am In favor Of such amendments to the Con- |
'titutiou 90 will take that question out of Con.
sress and restore peace TO the country. That
may be done by non-intervention popular
'oyereignty, ss IL Is called, or by the Critten-
len amendment, making an equitable partition
II the territory between the two sections, with
seliexecuting clause prohibiting il on one side |
md protecting II on the other. Il may be done
n various ways. a.a
] prefer such an amicable settlement to |
,eaceable disunion; and prefer Il thousand |
lines 10 civil war. II we can adopt such amend |
nents as will be satisfactory to Virginia, North
carolina, Tennessee, and other border States, |
ne same plan Of pacifostion which will satisfy |
hem will create Union party In the Cotton |
states which Will soon embrace large majority |
u the people In those .States, and bring them |
'ack OF their own free will and accord, and IN |
70 doing thus restore, strengthen and peEpetuate
ne glorious old Union forever. repeat, what !
over guarantees will Eatisfy Maryland and the |
border States (the States now In the UnioD), |
Tiil create Union party In the seceded States
nat VIII bring them back by the voluntary ao-
Ion OF theiP own people. You can restore and |
preserve the Government In that way. You can |
10 u In NO oTHER.
WAR is DISuNION !EWAR Is FINAL,
ETERNAL SEPARATION! Hence, dis
Iu'se u % you may, every Union man in Amer
co must advocate such amendments 10 the |
constitution as will preserve peace and restore
ne Union while every disunionist whether |
penly Or fecretly plotting its destruction, 10 the
,avooate Of peaceful secession, or Of WAR, &c
ne snregt meana Of rendering reunion and re-
construction MP0ssIBLE. have too much
espect fof his intellect to believe, for one mo-
nens, that there is man for war who is not
psr %.
Hence, do not mean, If can prevent It, |