The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1864-05-07


of the rebel contederacy, or of the men in
armed array beyond the Potomac bent OH
ejecting us from this Hall, is the fit co,hpan,
ion of gentlemen here, fit depository OF
his constituents vote, safe person to be
intrlSted here with the secrets of the United
States, worthy guardian Of the existence
of the Republic. Are we to be seriously
told that the freedom of speech screens a
traitor because he puts his reasonable pur-
POSTS in words Does the Constitution
secure the right of our avowed enemies to
vote in this Hall? May a man impudently
declare that his purpose here is so to vote as
to promote the success of the rebellion, to
cmharrass and paraiizc the Government in
It's suppression. to secure its triumph and
our overthrow, to bring the armed enemy to
Washington or arrest our army lest it eXter-
inmate that enemy? Then why dor not the
congress at Richmond adjourn to Washing
ton. push Us from our stools, and by parlia-
men,ary tactics, under the Constitution,
arrest the wheels Of Government? You
could not cxpcl them? Sir. that picture is
history, recent history. In 1860 that side OF
the House swarmed with the avowed enemies
Of the Hcpublc. One after one, as THEN
stars dropped from the armament of the
Union. they went out some with tears in
their eyes over the miserics they were about
to inlet; some of them with eXultation
over the coming calamities some Of them
with contcmrtuUus lectures to the members
in the llCuSc; some stayed behind to do the
traitors business in the disguise of honest
legislators in both Houses AS long as they
dared. One disgraccd the Senate for one
long session atter armed men We're soaking
tleir native soil with their blood, and now
he Is in the ranks of our enemies.
Are We to be told that gentlemen. enter,
tanning not these opinions but these pur,
poses. resolved to the extent of their power
% paralizc the Government, and only limited
IN what they can do by what it may be safe
o do, must be allowed not merely to be
members OF the House. bat to rise and inSo-
luntcly fling in our faces the avowal of tbcil
rnmity, and invoke the Constitution of the
United States il order that they may stab il
TO the heart? Shall men rise here and bc
allowed to express. whether in one form OF
phraScology or another as may best aid the
public enemy, their desire for the triumph,
d the rebel cause. and that, being too ten
Ter hearted to wish that the enemies Of the
United States may be disseminated, they
pr"lcr our tWin? And is it to he said that
that comes wNhin the sacred shield of the
freedom "t pGi'lic opinion. the right OF
debate. 'i' trccIom of speech? Why. sir,
it is rot opinion tRat we complain Of. 1t i,
uut liDtry Of speech that we wish To restrict
On the Cnl;trarE. th'hk the gentleman Mr..
Long for his speech, for il revealed an enc.
my. an ayo"el i! II ore respectable than
d. concealed foe. He Is more frank than the
Gentleman from New York. Mr.. Fernando
Wood. Who with similar sentiments, con.
rr!i.' them. He j. more manly than that
gentleman from New York. who on Satar,
dnN.roS hciorc the House with paper in
his hand, declaring it to be the identical
sheet from which the gentleman from Ohio
read, read il llauntingly III the face of the
House, and declared that he concurrcd in
every word of it. and that if the House
expelled the gentleman from Ohio it must
rHprll him also but to-day, frightened by
the explosion OF the indignation of the
ilouSc on the head Of the gentlemen from
Maryland. was careful to say that he did not
at all agree with the opinions for which the
Gentleman from Ohio is called in question:
Commend me, sir. 10 an open adversary.
can respect the one; | cannot have 50 much
respect for the other. Ii Is not for the free
lon Of the avowal it is the entertaining the
purpose wEich he docs avow; it i. not that
he violated tho order of the House. it is
because he violates the law OF the country
by his purpose to destroy it, that the gentle.
lnan from Ohio is arraigned. We do not
puni'h him for saying what he did. we pun
lsh him for meaning what he declared he
duoS mean TO do. And that is what we are
called upon to do by the highest consilera-
IONS OF public policy, the plainest dictates
of patriotic du,y.
Oh but we are told that il teaches the
ghts Of his constituents. Let his cunstit-
Hents have an opportunity to pass upon that
after tins declaration of purpose. But we
must have mutual consideration for each
other! Is there no avowal showing criminal
intent which wisdom requires We should
guard against before hand? What do YOU
suppose would be the fate of IL man sitting
in the capitol at Richmond who should arise
there and propose TO recognize the suprc-
macy Of The I nitcd States? DO you sup
pose that the freedom of debate which gen
tlcmcn have enjoyed on this floor would
have been tolerated. even if desired by any
body? Isl not certain that he would have
been expelled, if he lived long enough for
the vote Of expulsion to he taken? Suppose
that in the French Assembly. when the life
of France was at stake. as the lie of this
nation is now at stake. and when heroic men
we're struggling to maintain it, some one had
arisen and proposed to call bat X the Bour-
bons. and place the rcins Of Government in
their hands-how lon. would he have re.
manned member of that body? Suppose
that the day before the battle of Cullodcn,
or the day after the battle of Preston Pans.
some Iacobitc had arisen in the House of
ConmonS OF England and declared himself
of the opinion that the Pretender could not
be expelled without the determination of
the .Iacobitcs, and that therefore they should
place him on the throne Of England! Do
you think the traditional liberty of speech
in England would have saved him from sum.
mary expulsion? Do you think there is
any law in England that could have stood
between him and, not expulsion, bu: death
Would not the act have been considered
crime. and the declaration of it in parlia
ment have been considered an aggravation
of the crime, demanding his expulsion >
Would not the vote of that body have been
instantaneous, and his execution swittcr
than that vote? ...
Are we to be told here that men are to
rise III this Hall, where the guns of the
impending battle will echo in our ears,
when we sit here only because we have one
hundred and fifty thousand bayoncts between
us and the enemy; when Washington is u
great camp, the center of thirty miles of
Notifications stretching around us for our
protection; are we to be told that here,
within this citidel of the nation, an enemy
may beckon his hand to the armed foe,
assuring him Of friends within the people S
Hall, at the very center of power, and We
cannot expel him?
Sir, let me say to this House that if it were
constitutional right so to speak, in my