Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-02-13
! ~ SPEECH OF
HON. WILLIAM E. 'FINCK
~ ON CONFIsCArIoN: =
Delre,ed In ue House of Congress on the 2Sti
~ Of January 1864.

i aes9 q iapl eh - se 'd F7'r :
| [COncluded.l
Gentlemen will also remember the abl
correspondence of Mr.. Secretary Marcy
with the French minister, Count Sartiges
having reference to the propositions of pub
lie law laid down by the congress at, Paris
in which it was claimed by this distinguish
ed statesman that the doctrine that private
property on land should be exempt from
seizure by the enemy, and which was fully
admitted as a, principle of public law, in
! that congress, should also be extended to
| private property on sea. The correspond
ence was ably conducted by Mr.. Marcy
and reflects lasting credit upon him as D
statesmanof enlarged and liberal views. ]
beg the attention of the House while Tread
few words from this able state paper
read from page 3S, message and documents,
1867:
| The. wanton page or uncompensated appropria-
ton Of Individual property by an army even pos
session o. enemys country is against the usages Of
modern times. .l'-- e'>'' ,
| Again.: aeg
The undersigned is directed by the President to
say that TO this principle Of exemptng private prop
erty upon the as well upon the land, applied
without restriction, he yields most ready and will
The reasons in favor of the doctrine that private
property should be exempted from seizure in the op
eraions of war are considered in this enlightened
age so controlling as to have secured its partial adOp-
tion by all civilized nations; but IT would be diff
cult to find any substantial reasons for the distinction
now recognized in its application to such property on
land and not to that which found upon the
And on page AZ, speaking of the practice
of seizing private property on sea, he says I:
Justice and humanity demand that this practice
should be abandoned. and that the rule in relation
to such property on land should be extended to it
when found upon the high seas. q
Sir / respectfully submit that the author
tiles which have presented establish the
doctrine that private property upon land is
mot, by the modern usages of nations,
subject to seizure and confiscation by u bel
ligerent.
But, sir, the paramount and all-absorbing
question, which we can not avoid if we
would, and which we should not if we could,
still forces itself upon us: How are we to
conclude this war, and preserve the union
Fof these States. How does the President and
his friends on the other side of this House
propose to do ii? Not, answer, by simply
breaking down the rebellion and bringing
to punishment its most guilty leaders. This
will not satisfy the Administration.
Something more is required before the
war shall cease. These States must be sub
jugated and their slaves emancipated. 1t is
not enough that the people in these States
shall give up the contest, throw down their
arms, and say, sWe have been deceived; we
will now abandon those leaders who have
deceived us, and return again to our true
and faithful allegiance to the old Union and
Constitution, consecrated by. the blood and
wisdom of men Of all sections of-the Re-
public" No, no, this will not do; but con-
diIlons ana oatns are 10 De required, which
VIII SUBSTANTIALLY eilect what the honorable
gentleman rom fennsylyania Claims sn0ulu
DC uone, namely, 10 treag the Whoie oi these
people as conquered anu -supJugated, VINO
are not 70 pe ailoweu 70 resume tnelr reia-
tlons Win tne Feoerai government on the
condltion OF the oatn OF arrogance, put on
thecondition tnat !hey VIII swear 10 sup
port the emapeipatlon proclamations OF the
rresidenG ana lne ieglsiation oICongress on
the slavery question: t.,..i- .,i1lyr 2
Gracious Heavens! is this the statesman.
ship by which the wounds of this bleeding
and afflicted country are to be bound up
and healed. Sir, to the purpose for which.
this war was5at the beginning declaredoto
be waged is to be added other purposes,
which can not fail to excite renewed and
more determined resistance on the part of
those in insurrection. %NC~Hr
, Rut II is said tbe oath nroposed Is only
binding on those who take II until the
CHARACTERIZATION proclamation shall be declar-
ed llnconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
But does this render Il less objectionable
When tbe oath is taken the title nv which
tbe Marty held his slaves IL nTacticaily aban-
doned and IL would he idle to tell the man.
If in the future the Supreme Court should
oyerrule this proclamation, YOU can have
your slaves provided YOU can get possession
of them. The proposition Is practically
this: that portion, of the people, In the in
surrectionary States NAV resume their rela-
tions with the Federal Government on con-
dition' that they will throw down.ther arms
and admit the right of the President of the
United States to dictate what shall be their
local Institutions. Does any reasonable and
fair man believe that this policy will bring
peace? Be not deceived, sir. In place Of
limiting the duration of the war, this prop
osition will bat tend to. prolong the unhap-
py struggle. But the proclamation of the
Executive not only proposes to inflict, for,
feiture on the guilty, but on the innocent
also, the widow and the orphan, the man
who all the time has been devoted to the
Union, whose heart and sympathy has been
all the time with the Government but who,
on account of this Government, failing to
afford him protection, has BEEN compelled
to acquiesce in the usurped government
These equally with the guilty are to suffer
the. loss of their property under the policy
Of this Administration and It's friends, Is