Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1864-02-25
CoNFIsoATED PROPERTY.
speech of Hon. y. r.. Woodbridge,
OF Vermont,


aN 70 ssgpress 6,si0rectioti, 70 punish trea
soa and rebelli0a, 10 se'se and eoHfsoote N
property Of rebcis, and for other purposes.
Mr.. Speaker, had not intended to oc
cupy the time of the House In discussing
the subject now under consideration, bul
As the debate has assumed proportions
which | did not anticipate aud as | am
a member OF the committee which re.
ported the joint resolution, II Is due 10
myself briefly rs | may, to express the
views which control my action. | shall
treat the conflscation act 80 far as leg.
islation is concerned, az res aayHticata y
The various questions arising under ii,
upon which the best minds OF last Con
gress honestly differed, will doubtless,
when the proper occasion arises, receive
q judicial construction from the highest
legal tribunal in the land
Admitting contlscation to be the set
tied policy OF the country and the con
tiscation act TO be the law Of the land,
shall direct my remarks 20 the point
as to how far the property OF the rebels
may be taken under il, and whether
there is any constitutional objection to
NAtNAN'AAN tN7 AipN W Nllt GAltlt
claimed by its friends
Respecting the rebelious States, two
extreme grounds seem to have been ia
ken. First, that they are still in the
Union, with all their former rights not
impaired, bat temporarily suspended by
violence and wicked rebellion, and that
upon its suppression all these rights
again vest. Second, that they are out
of the Union, having forfeited by sol
emu renunciation of their obligations to
the Federal Government and war upon
1t, all claim to the rights and privileges
accorded 10 them by the Constitution
and hence are TO be treated as alien enc
mics. | confess, sir, that with my pres
ent views, | am inclined as between the
two to adopt the first position with inn
portant notifications.
| am accustomed to listen to the dis
tinguished and experienced gentleman
from Pennsylvania with the greatest in
terest, and always distrust myself when
differ from him. but, sir when we adj
nit the rebelliouS States to be beiger-
ents and alien enemies, the war assumes
an aspect and is controlled By laws and
principles which do not propose to ex-
tend TO rebels in arms. As alien enc
mics they are to be treated under the
law of nations, and no municipal regu-
lation or law of ours can affect their
status either as to persons or property
or in other words it can neither add to
nor detract from their rights as estab-
lished by the law of nations. When we
concede them to be alien enemies, we con-
pnyA fha f,l, 10
be alien territory. BY force OF arms we
may occupy it, but by occupancy we do
not diyest the title to the realty except
so far as it may rest in the public
Suppose we were at war with Great
Britain, and marched our armies into
Canada. By the law of nations we may
occupy and use their lands for the CON
yenience and comfort of our armies, or
we may use or take away, subject to our
own municipal regulations, whatever
personality we may capture but could
we divest under the law of nations the
title to the realty / think not and
hence If we treat the rebels as alien enc
mics, the confiscation act is unnecesss
Sary.
Are the rebels alien enemies If the
rebellious States are dc Jase out of the
Union, they may be. If the rebellious
States are within the Union they cannot
be. The position of the South, SO far as
the character of the war is concerned,
depends, in my judgment, upon the so
luton of a single question. Can State,
either by an ordinance OF secession or by
the uprising Of the people take itself out
of the Union | do not consider it nee
essary to discuss this point to loyal and
intelligent gentlemen. Upon the other
hand, if we adopt the view that the re-
bellious States have not dissolved their
allegiance to and connection with the
Union, then confiscation law is not
only wise but may be legally enforced.
Treat the rebels as rebels, and the war
as rebellion, and the conflscation act
as municipal regulation is effective,
upon the ground that it operates upon
the property of those who have wickedly
renowned and opposed by arms the
Government to which they owe allegi-
ance. Treat them as alien enemies, and
the war as q contest between nations,
and the element of allegiance drops out,
and the law OF nations alone is applica-
BILE to the conflict. The municipal reg
uiations of neither one side or the other
can change the status or condition of
either person or property.
Now sir, the confiscation act proceeds
upon the distinct ground that the war is
a rebellion, and that those engaged in it
are rebels The first section provides
that every person who shall commit the
crime of treason against the United
States, and shall be adjudged guilty
thereof shall suffer death, and all his
slaves, if any, shall be declared and
made Free or, at the discretion of the
court, he shall be imprisoned for not less
than Ave years, and fined not less than
ten thousand dollars, and all his slaves
declared free; and that said fine shall be
levied and collected on the property,
real and personal, excluding slaves, of
which the person was the owner when
the crime was committed.
The second section provides that If
any person shall hereafter incite, set on
foot, assist, or engage in any rebellion or
snsr'reetion against the authority OF the
United States, or the laws thereof, or
Shpl .x,, 4 Fort hnr