Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1864-02-25


rebels and beea,Se then are reb,.s.
Now, sir, let us for q moment examin
the arguments used by gentlemen on III
other side OF the House against the con
stitutionality of the law
lt Is said the law is demonstrations
because Ii takes the real estate of per
sons engaged in war against the Gov
eminent and fOrteits IL in fee; that tn,
persons are IL tacf0 and do iare traitors
that their acts constitute the crime O
treason as defined by law; and that b,
the provisions of the Constitution no at
tainder OF t.ca 0- ehHll WORK oOrruntio,
OF blood, or forfeiture exc, during The
life of the person attainted, The answer
is, there is no attainder OF treason unAel
the law What Is an attaint7 Their,
never has been such a thing In this
country. In England 1t was the neces,
sary incident TO and consequence OF con,
Viction and Judgment for treason. and
carried with it corruption OF blood,
whereby the descendant of the fellen
could not inherit through the guilty an
cestor, and forfeiture IN fee Of not only
of the real estate which the felon own
cd in perpetuity, but also that which
/ he owned in entail. The forfeiture for
an attainder Of treason is not involved
In the cOnfscation law
AS punishment for treason py Sc
there is no forfeiture of estate, for in
/ 1880 Congress expressly declared that
there should be no corruption of blood
or any forfeiture of estate.
Now, the cOnfiscation act simply de-
clares that whatsoever shall commit the
crime Of treason and be adjudged guilty
thereof shall suffer death and forfeit his
slaves, or be imprisoned and fined not
less than ten thousand dollars. 1t also
declares that any person setting on foot
any rebellion or Instruction, or who
shall give aid or comfort to any person
engaged in any rebellion or instruction.
shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned,
fined and forfeit his slaves.
do not understand that it is contend
ed that slaves, personal chattels, may not
be forfeited absolutely as it is doubtless
the law, rs stated by the gentleman from
Pennsylvania, that the forfeiture of per
sonal property for an hour is forfeit
ure forever Certainly Congress has pow
er to declare what shall constitute trea-
son, and what the punishment shall be-
Under the law of the last Congress one
portion of the punishment was fine of
not less than ten thousand dollars, to be
levied and collected upon the estate both
real and personal As there is no pro-
vision of the Constitution, which by
any construction can render such pun
ishment Illegal it necessarily follows
that by indirection, Congress can work
an absolute forfeiture of all the real es-
tate of the convicted offender, while as
direct measure, if the gentlemen on
the other side are correct, it can only
forfeit a life interest. To a practical
man this is rather absurd. -
The great difficulty, however, on the
other side of the House, seems to rest in
the fifth section. Under this section the
forfeiture is not as a penalty for the
crime of treason, inasmuch as the sec
ton does not provide for a conviction
there can be no punishment. 1t merely
provides for the seizure of the estate of
certain persons who, as citizens of the
United States, have assumed to throw
off their allegiance to the government,
and by force of arms to seek to des-
troy it.
Is this seizure lawful In my judg-
ment, under all the circumstances it is.
BY natural law, which is the only law
by which individual rights are governed
before men form themselves into organ
lied societies. there is no such thing as
the right of property in real estate. A
person can only own and enjoy what he
occupies, and hence he is under the pro-
lection of no law except the law of
force. When for the sake of mutual
protection, men form themselves into
societies and organized governments,
those natural rights are abandoned, and
obligation to government is assumed
and protection from government guar
antied both as to person and property.
When our Constitution was established
it was not done by States as such. Its
preamble is, ave, the people of the Uni
ted States, in order to form more per
feet Union, establish justice, insure do
nestle tranquility, provide for the COM
mon defence, promote the general wei
fare, and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity, do Or
dain and establish this Constitution for
the United States of America" Now,
under this Constitution and the govern
ment based upon it, what were the
rights and duties of the citizen, and
what the power and duty of the govern
ment The duty Of the citizen was ale
glance, and upon the performance of that
duty rested his right to protection
The duty of the government was to ex-
tend to the citizen protection both to
person and property, and that obliga-
ton was only imposed by virtue of the
allegiance of the citizen. The duty of
the Government and the obligation of the
citizen are mutual Whenever the citi-
zen disregards his obligation, throws
off his allegiance, and thrusts the assas-
sins dagger at the heart of the govern
ment, he not only commits the highest
crime, but forever absolves the govern
ment from the duty of extending its
protection either to his person or prop
erty.
The rebels in arms are in this posi-
ton. They have broken the compact,
and it is the right and duty of Congress
to authorize the seizure of their persons
and property-to restrain their persons