, 1864-02-18
Gbifago-: Qril,uete.

GENERAL JAMES 4. GaRFIzLD
OF oHto.
| Late Chief Of Staff Of Con ,Ro.ecraps,-
! ON TEE: d. -:--. =,
ccAFIsoA3IoH or PROPERTY OF
| REBELS. -.
pE11vE1:;:D II. TIE roreE OF, E--::s@rs =SrA71vE-
1 5AEuART =, 1855.
The House hayins under consideration thu
con6seation OF tie property Of rebels, MIR
/ Garfield E:fd: -
NJ. S,.EAKEE-Fec1ingt that, in some sna1
| degree, represent On this floor tho army o.
| tic Republic, ] am thc more c.nboldeued tc
| ercak on the subject before US: hare beeu
surprised tla1 in SO lengthy and able discus
eion 60 little reference has been made to The
| merits Of the resolution itself Very much o.
| tic det1te hes had. reference 10 questions
! wi:icl, believe, with all Difference to the bet
ter judS neEt and maturer experience Of 9th
en-. nrc not gernsne to the subject before the
| In tic wide range Of discussion, tho yarlou.
| theories Of their legal and political etatus o1
the rcbellious States have been examined
/ s..
iftlles do, whether they aro In the Union Of
ont of it. It is perhaps necessary that We
take ground upon TINT question as prelimiua.
| rv to the discussion Of the resolution itself
| Two theories, differing widcl: from each 9th.
| er, Lnve BEEN proposed; but I cannot consid,
er either OF item es wholly. correct. ! can
! not agree with the distinguished gentleman
from PENNSYLVANIA, Mr.: Stevens who ac-
knowlcdgrs that these States nro out Of the
Union and now constitute i foreign people
Nor can !, on the Otter Land, agree with those
who believe that the icsura cnt States arc not
only In tho Union. but have lost mono of their
rights under the Constitution and laws Of the
Union.
Our situation affords singular parallel to
that of the people Of Great Ezitafn in their
great revolution Of the seventeenth century.
From time immemorial 1t was, the fiction Of
hereditary, and inalien;.b}e; that the king
was king by the grace Of Gods" he could
do no wrong, and his throne could never be
vacant. But the logic of events brought
these theories to practical test -
james left the throne, threw the great seal
Ct tfe kingdom into tic Thames, and fleeing
from bis own people, took rctnge in Franco
The great statcsmeu Of the realm took conn-
sci together on some Of the very questions
which NC are. discussing to-day. One said =
Tho king has abdicatcd; we will put an
otAer In lis place. Another said:- +" The
CiuNH l6 t!tfEelt4ly We must put Inc heI IN
his place. The men Of the books aud black
letter learning answered: " Nsmo ct Aer.:
v:,r'tfs:' the king is alive and eau have no
heir. Another eaid, "NVe will appoint re-
gent, md consider the kinsship I'd allegiance
until the king rcturns.'' The people eaid,
We will hare king, hut not james,
apparent; the throne was vacant, and their
King was unworthy 10 I'LL it. The British na-
rion cut through tho cntcns]encnt of words,
and filed it with the man Of their choice.
We arc taught by this that whenever great
people desire to doa thing which ought 10 be
'sonc they Will find the means OF doing it.
In this Government We have thrown of the
kinsly fiction. but there Is another which wc
are following as elaVishly as ever England
followed that-here, corporations arc more
than kings. It is tho doctrine of our COM
mon law ff We may be said to havo a COM
mon law that coEpozat:ons have neither souls
or consciences; that they cannot commit
crimes; that they cannot be punished, aud
that they arc immortal These propositions
arc being applied to the. rebel States. Thoy
are corporations Of q political character, bod
les corporate and polite; they arc immortal,
aud cannot be touched by the Justice Of law,
o. by the power Of an outraged Government.
They hover around our borders like ma1i.-
nant, bloody fiends, carrying death in their
course; and yet We are told they cannot be
punished or their ancient rights invaded.
Tile people Of the South, under the direc-
tion Of those phantom States, are moving the
powers Of earth and hell to destroy this Gov
crnmcnt- They plead tho order Of their
States as their shield from punishment, and
the States plead the immunity Of son1less
corporations.
But the American people will not be delud.
ed by these theories, nor waste time in dis
sha1ns with the sword, and find a practical
solution as England did And what is that
practical solutione The Supreme Court Of
the United States has helped us at this point
In ono Of the prize cases decided March 5,
165S. It is there decided in effect
hs,s @ afs be as + ss a,a a s gP,ss ssss
silne in the districts declared h5 the Presidents
Proclamation t. be in rebellion"
or taieT geaiss CONVERT every citizen Of he hostile
A;; ;ns.' whatever mar have been his previous con
'That all the rights derived from tho laws OF
var may now, sine 1851, be !awiu'ly and constltn-
tienai!y exs1s'sed against all citizens Of The DIS
They decided there that the same laws Of
war which apply to hostile foreign
States are to be applied to this r.
belllon. Bat in so. deciding they do
not decide that the rtbellious States arc
necessary to admit that they are foreign
people. I do not admit it. / claim, On tho
contrary, that the obligations Of the Consti-
tution still hang OYER them; but by their own
set Of rebellion they have cat themselves OF
from al their rights and privileges under the
Constitution.
When the Government of the United States
declared that we were In state Of war, the
rebel Stntes ca1nc nnder the laws of war. BY
their acts OF rebellion and war they. swept
away every yestige Of their civil and political
rights under the Constitution Of the United
States. Their obligations stu remained;
but the reciprocal rights which usually &C.
company obligations they had forfeited.
The question then lies open before us: In
state Of War, under the laws Of war, is this
resolution legal and polite: ] insist, Mr..
Speaker, that the question involved in the
Government, In the exercise OF Its rights Of q
belligercnt under the laws of war, cannot
punish these rebels and confscnte their es-
tates, both personal and real, for life and for
ever. That is the only question before LIS:
Gentlemen have 1earncd1y discussed the
constitutional powers Of Congress to punish
The crime OF treason: 1t matters not how
that question is decided; 1t has no bearing
whatever on the resolution before tho House.
will say In passing that the Supreme Court
las never decided that the clause Of the Con-
stitution relating to treason prohibits forfeit
ure beyond the lifetime Of persons attained.
No man IN. this house has brought decision
of the Supreme Court giving the rendering to
the Constitution which these gentlemen on
the other side Of tho Chamber hare given to
it. They can claim no moro than that the
question is rcs MOI 11jud 'cua. The arguments
Wc have heard arc sufficient evidence to nc,
at least, that the framers Of our Constitution
intended that Congress should define treason,
and provide for its punishment: but the rule
of the English common law which permitt& d
attaiEder, corruption Of blood, and forfeiture
after the death Of the attained, should. not
prevail In this country. To me the clause
preted to mean that treason, the highest
crime known to law, shall be punished with
less severity, so tar as it regards the estate Of
the criminal, thau auy other crime Or mtslc-
Iueanor whatsoever. But, as before said,
the present law Of contiscation is based on
tie rights Of bclligcrcDts under the Laws Of
War.
HOW TORIES wEEE TREATEp Br OUR An
CEsIoRs.
The gentleman from New York, {Nr. Fer
nendo Wood q few days since, In his address
to the House, gave us history of the rebel
1ionB which hare occurred III this country.
wish to call his attention to one Of our re-
bel1ions, Tery important one, which he did
not notice, and In which the question of con-
fscation was very fully and very practically
discussed. This.fact las not, believe, been
brought to the attention Of the House. Do
gin in revolution, and that confisc8tion play
ed very important part in the war OF that
reyolutlone It Wcs civil ssar, and the colo
mics were far more equally divided On the ques-
tion Of loyalty than the States Of the South
now nre on the question Of to-day. Many OF
the thirteen colonies had almost equal parties
for and against England in that struggle. In