The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1864-07-27
s r ID d 9 H
HON. GEO. H. PENDLET0N
Delivered i'm the House of Repre-
sentRtivcs of the United States,y
June Is, 1864. -...E
OF OHIO,

sentatives Of the United States,l
June 10, 1864. .E
The House having under consideration
the joint resolution proposing amendments
to he Constitution Of the United States
Mr.. lENDLETON said:
Mr.. SPEAKER: | approach the discus
sion of this question with great difhdencc.
/ believe i'll the constant pT0gress OF polltl-
cal silence, and am willing always to yield
to its just demands | believe in the con-
stsnt amelioraton of the condition of the
human race, and am anxious in every po-
sition in social OF political, in private or In
public life, to aid in every movement to-
ward that result. | believe in the constant
development of the human intellect; and
think it our bounden duty to apply It's ma
turing powers to the ever varying condition
OF affairs which the ages in their course
evolve. l revere the wisdom and the virtue
of the good men who have gone before us !;
but am unwilling blindly to believe that
either their principles or their actions have
attained to absolute perfection. l regard
their achievements as the landmarks by
which our course should be directed, not as
barriers by which our progress should be
stayed.
Bat sir, am profoundly convinced that
wise Iuen will not lightly touch the organic
Law OF government which has held its be-
naiicent sway over thirty million people, and
t,aaE their hesitation will be akin 10 solemn
dread when that government by the sparlng
exercise Of extremely limited powers has
5cea able to maintain social order without
.E't2rllng an unparalleled development OF
1..terial prosperity in the midst of the en-
.,3ynent Of civil and personal liberty une-
HI, h. l. r.P t,n
Constitution has existed for seventy-ive
years for sixty its provisions have been un-
changed Three times only has the hand
Of change touched it once when, in obedl-
ence to the requirements Of the conventions
witch ratified it, the First Congress propo-
sel amendments to the States again in
1874, when the Third Congress proposed an
am 1ndment to limit the power OF the Fed
erai Judiciary; and again after the struggle
Eor the Presidency in.lS0l, when it became
n:ee5Sary to change the mode OF eleclng
President and Vice President. It's worthy
of attention that not one Of these amend
monts added to the powers which were del
-egated to the United State and not one OF
inain added to the powers which we've pro-
'hibitel to the States All Of them except
the last, in reference to the election OF Pres
id3nt AMI Vice President, We've guarantees
Of the personal liberty Of the citizen, or de,
clarAtionsof Of the involabi!ity OF the reserved
rights OF the States
These sixty years have been cventful to
the Government. Three millions people
have become thirty millions. Our w estern
boundary then hidden in the almost un-
known valley Of the Mississippi now touch
es the Pacific, whose laughing waves reflect
the gems which sparkle on its golden shore:
France, Spain, Mexico on the South and
Great Britain on the North, have added to
the extent Of this magnificent domain, We
have had wars Of invasion, and have re-
PEELED the invader. We have had wars up
on the sea and wars upon land We have
had foreign wars and have tasted the tri-
umph of conquest We have had struggles
for the omohlments of office; we have had
struggles for the political powers Of the
government we have had partisan strife !;
we have had sectional strife, and this Con
stitution was sufficient for all of these things
But change has come over us. New
principles have been asserted. A new party
has come into power and that party IN the
first term of its administration, in the
midst Of the civil war which was colncldent
with its attainment to power, when million
and half Of men with serried ranks and
glittering bayonets invoke the arbitrament
vital point this Constitution. ....
object to this action for many reasons
I object to it because the time Is not auspl-
cous | know full well that in the excite
ments Of war; when all the elements OF
mind and matter are brought into conflict,
we attain in a moment, as 1t were, to results
which she experience Of an age OF peaceful
life would not develop But sir, these are
times for inventlng and not for pertectlng
They are times for experimenting and not
for the full maturing Of plans. They arc
times in which to try expedients. But it
requires the self-possession, the deliberatlon
the freedom from excitement which belong
to.the times of peace to lay securely and
Justly and wisely the foundations OF a per-
manent free government.
In 1861 before drop Of blood was she'd
before an army was put IN the held, before
excitement was rife, before exacerbaton had
sprung up, an eminent statesman, then III
the Senate, now in the Cabinet, spoke on
this subject. His theme was the pcr1ls
which enyironed the Union, and the true
method of avoiding them. All eyes were
directed to him, all ears were intent to hear
him. The country stood silent to catch the
word of hope. Gentlemen who were here
at that time wsll remember how this House
Z was deserted in order that we might heal
from ,if. Seward, IN the Senate, his remedy
aItoi,nonH NJ tha, nonr. He concluded his
] 1e,no", a,;th 81 tho tho ark no wI;ch & desre m to
sovGn VIZ - ,v ,,, f;nn5s m the onnos;tion
if H. ~ Tyan,her. ~ ai,o' 80 ~ '"1
SltV s3,t :, ';a1 ;fsb, lnre were nracticabe
l'I I' aofer 'r d;garont %0,a ,onrle namely
9Jo"' b"n tbn p'et cnentrc movements Of secession
wll de Sno euooh,III shsll have eniaJ in wbateye,
tarn sna % tbat end may nav csme, and the angry ex-