Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-05-12

Chase prOred 10 be q DtSuHjoniSt- Tor
ruptions and Thierery az tie 1reosury
Department Ecposed- DeUeiopn,ent
of Operations in Colvmbus, Ohio-How
Jay Cooke DC Co. Feathered their Nests.
From the Congressional Globe of April 28.l
Il \
When resumed my seat in this House,
| felt myself constrained by sense Of duty
to my constituents to ask for a committee to
investigate the manner in which the "regu-
lations of trade with the States in insur-
rection have been carried out by the Secre-
tary of the Treasury But it seems that
the Sccrctary's friends had not the same
confidence in Committee of Congress as [
have shown for when l asked for a COM
mittee to investigate the charges which had
been made against the Secretary, of sacri
licing vast public interest to advance his
ambition, his friends upon this floor refused
it; and was assailcd in all the newspapers
Of the country with having made that ale
cation against the Secretary Of the Treasury,
because he had stopped my liquor specu-
lation.
Now, Mr. Speaker permit me to say
that when the Secretary Of the Treasury
was advanced To his present position, altho'
my good wishes were worth nothing to him
at the time, yet he had them. | was in IA
vor Of his appointment. As a matter of
course that was Of very little consequence
so far as his appointment was concerned
yet it is a fact well known. 1t is of conse-
quence simply so far as it shows that | was
not inimical at that time to the Secretary
The reason Of my change Of sentiment to-
ward was that understood that he had au-
thorized the Mayor Of Baltimore to pro-
claim on the streets Of that city on the 10Th
of April that he was in favor Of letting the
States in rebellion . go i'll peace, and be-
cause also took this impression from the
tenor Of his conversation that it was his
opinion and wish that they should be allow
ed to go in peace. understood the same
thing from the publications made BY news
papers in his own State which were regard
ed as expressing his sentiments. The ale
CATION was made that such was his position,
and it was never denied by him. 1t was ac-
ccpted as a fact by ALL
l know, and he eeiW not dcny lis ,crittcn
and rccorded opjnioa, that he was opposed
to the reinforcement Of Fort Sumter. |
. knew that after Fort Sumter had fallen he
had opposed the calling out Of large and
sufficient force to put down the rebellion,
and although he and Others Of the men OF
his party and my party then (but | hold
no party relations then or now with peace
mem were compelled by the war cry that
: went up after the fall Of Sumter to abandon
!. apparently their peace position Yet Mr.
Chase, | soou found, never really abandon
ed his determination to cut off the South
ern States. On the contrary, he has en-
deavored to work out, by another pro
gramme, the very thing he was then in ta
vor Of doing-of letting the South 60 II,
is now for making them go, so far as thei
condition as States is concerned. He j
not willing that they should ever return
to interfere with his Presidential aspira
. tons
Why, sir, it was poriecty understood il
the second session-the long seSsion-of th,
last Congress, that he favored the annihla
, ton Of the State governments OF the South
His friends in both Houses made that prop
osition. And it is pressed again in this
House this winter in a disguised and insid
ious form, and under the pretentious title Of
Reconstruction, but which is in fact in
tended for the destruction Of those States
but this being the very crime of which the
rebel in arms are guilty, and which the
gentleman from Ohio Mr. Ashley charges
the operation another name. The bill re-
ported by the distinguished gentleman from
Maryland, Mr.. Davis, representing the
committee on the rebelous States, which
by the way, is composed to a considerable
extent ofthe Pomeroy private circular com
mittec, for | understand that the gentle
man from Maryland, Mr., Davis from
Ohio, Mr.. Ashley and from Missouri
Mr.. Blow, are members of both these
committees, is "A bill which could very prop
erly have come from the Pomeroy commit
3. tee 1t is bill which should have been en-
titled IA billf for the permanent dissolution
of the Union, to disfranchise the white;
and enfranchise the negroes, to prevent any
; of. the States from coming back in time tC
vote for Mr.. Lincoln for President, and tc
promote the ambition Of the Secretary Of
Z. the Treasury" 1t is a bill which requires
the consent of Congress for the re-admissior
of any Of these States into the Union.
The gentlemen proceed upon their dis.
tranchising bill upon the pretext that the
usurpation of the rebels for the hour has
destroyed the States, or that the forces Of
the United States sent to drive out and
overthrow the rebel power which held tho
State and National Governments in the
South alike in allegiance, are to be consider
ed conquering forces, eXtinguishing the 10
cal constitutions the nation is bound tC
guaranty. Looking to the root Of the mat
ter, the cause Of all our disasters, prove
that instead Of considering the State Gov
ernments abolished, Congress would bes
perform its functions by amending the Con
stitution of the United States itself so Il
, to eradicate slavery from our whole system
This simple remedy which can be attained
by adhering to the forms OF the Constitu
ton ITSELF supercedes the Revolutionary
schemes of those who would convert th
States into Territories and assert absolutisn
, over them in regard to their future admis
sion into the Union. The founders Of tn
Government saw the lurking evil in admit
ting the slave tolerating clause III the Con
stitution; they toretold its fatal tendency
Our present Chief Magistrate, before h
: was thought of for the place he held pre-
e dicted that this Government could not en-
dure permanently half free and half slave.
And can there be better solution Of tn
danger than that furnished by the Senate
bill Incorporating Jeiiersons ordinance Q
freedom with the fundamental law of tn
nation? Is it not better than distranchisin
e. States and robbng loyal men of their rights
putting them on footing with rebels a
: ready distranchised by their bloody treason
Our soldiers invoke the loyal citizens Of tn
South to join their ranks, and patriot
everywhere would call on the loyalists
the South to renew the glorious associatio
, of free States of the North and South b
joining with its armed deliverers in the re
st election of the man who first organized fire