Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-04-17

That Administration organ, the New
York Times, OF Thursday, declares itself
ashamed of the supporters Of Speaker Coli
FAx's resolution to expel Representative
LONG. 1t says they cite the votes in the
House twenty years ago, for expelling
JOSHUA r. GIDDINGs, and pronounces such
citation as an insult. Again, they point to
the expulsion of BRIGHT and REED and
BURNETT In the last Congress. But these
men, the Times AYERS, were not expelled for
their opinions, but for their acts-for overt
acts. They (CoLFAx and his supporters)
pour virtuous indignation, says the Times,
upon the doctrines of Mr.. LoNG's speech,
as If it was only necessary tomake speech
odious to make it punishable. 1t adds;
3 An this piling up of patriotic agony has
nothing to do with the real issue. The
question is. whether the freedom of debate
Is or is not under any other restriction than
that against ''dsorderly behavior" which
is designated in the Constitution as an Of
tense for which members may be punished.
It is not pretended that Mr.. Long was gull :
ty of .disorderly behavior" His speech
was perfectly calm and decorous, and from
the beginning to the end he was not once
called to order by the Speaker, whose duty,
under the rules, 1t would have been to call
him to order, had there been any breach or
1t. The offense was rot in. the behavior,
but in the doctrine. Can obnoxious doc,
trine justify expulsion That Is the vital
point. 1t has not been met. IL mas peen
evaded. . r a
The same journal continues its argument
p . . 81
by assuming that If two-thirds OF either
branch of Congress have a right to expel
the remaining one-third, or any member OF
it, for opinions urged in debate, then, our
claim to be a representative Government is
falsehood; and says: isd
1.-THE Second District Of Ohio have chosen
to send Alexander Long to the National Con-
gress rs their Representative, he has right
to be heard as such without intimidation or
constraint of any kind whatsoever. His
representative character is at an end the In
slant that freedom is interfered with. Ii Is
useless to say that he has abused his repre-
sentative trust. That Is q matter OF opinion,
and of it his constituents are the only law
full judges.
Referring to the great amount of gas ex-
pended about the reasonable character of
Mr.. LoNd's speech, particularly in express
ing his belief that there are but two alter
natiyes---the acknowledgment of the indie
pendence of the South, or their complete
extermination-a declaring his prefer
ence for the former alternative, The Times
says ''there is no more treason in that utter
ance than in the other utterance made
again and again in the House, directly and
indirectly, that disunion would be prefera-
BILE to restoration Of the slave power"
The Times is alarmed, as all the supporters
and defenders of CoLFAx's infamous reso-
luton of expulsion may well be, lest a turn
of tide may bring its ownparty leaders un-
der the ban. 1t gives this warning:
WHAT is Mr.. Longs case to-day may, next
year, be Mr.. Stevens case, or Mr.. Conway's
case, or Mr.. Grinnell's case, or some other
Representatives case. whose language two
thirds of the body may choose to put down
as treasonable. No debater in that body
can in future be safe if this precedent is es-
tablished.