Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1865-12-29

& having State governments still subject I,
= the jurisdiction of the United States-stil
d under the Constitutional control of tn
e National government; and that in our deal
/ ings with them we are to be guided anC
$ governed, not simply by our sovereign viii
f and pleasure as conquerors, but by restric
4 tions and limitations of the Constitution o
: the United States necessarily, as we are res
e trained and limited in our dealings with al
q other States of the American Union.
e do not think that the treason of Jeffer.
: son Davis has anything to do with the in
human treatment to our prisoners of war.
merely allude to the matter. l might have
/ elaborated it when | said that because we
had granted to these States as power wag-
ing war rights usually accorded to nations at
war we were not therefore excluded from
proceeding against them as traitors The
decision of the Supreme Court to which |
have once referred, understand it, aught to
assert that we have the right TO proceed
against them as traitors or rather that we
had the right to exercise against them both,
the power of sovereigns and of belligerents (;
that the one did not exclude the other Now,
if according to the view | have presented
We are to deal with these States as States
still within the Union, the next question
that recurs is, how are we to deal with them?
The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Fink who
preceded me, took the ground that they had
only to resume their places and their powers
IN the National Government, that their rep
resentatives have only to come into this hall,
and take their seats without question, and
without conditions of any sort. | cannot
concur, sir, in that view. l do not think
that these States have any such rights. On
the contrary, | think we have full and per-
feet right TO require certain conditions in the
nature of guarantees for the future, and that
right rests primarily and technically on the
| surrender We may and must require at their
hands. The rebellion has been defeated,
and defeat always implies a surrender, and
In political sense a surrender implies more
than transfer Of the arms used on the field
| of battle; it implies in the case of civil war
a surrender of the principles and doctrines,
of all the weapons and agencies by which
| the war has been carried on. The military
surrender was made on the field of battle to
| our generals as the agents and representa-
tives of the Commander-in-Chief of the ar
mics of the United States But this is not
all they have still to surrender.
will say that, in surrendering on the field
of battle, they surrendered to the generals
who were in command ofthe armies as agents
ofthe President of the United States, himself
the agent and representative ofthe American
people. If that explanation is satisfactory
to the gentleman, | am very happy to make
1t, and perhaps | am obliged to him for hav-
ing enabled me to state it little more spe-
citically and accurately than | did at first.
Now there must be at the end of the war a
similar surrender on the political field of |
controversy. That surrender is due as an |
Of iuctiaa from, fHo I Il
victorious party. 1t is due also and we have |
a right to exact it as guarantee for the fiI-
ture; why do we demand the surrender of |
their arms by the vanquished in every bat |
tie? We do it that they may not renew the |
contest. Why do we seek in their fall a |
surrender of the principles on which they |
fought? 1t is that they may never again be |
made the basis of controversy and rebellion |
against the Government of the United States. |
Now what are the principles which should |
thus be surrendered? The principle of State |
Sovereignty is one of them. 1t was the cor |
ner stone of the rebellion, at once its anima- |
ting spirit and its fundamental basis. Deep |
ly ingrained as it was in the Southern heart |
it must be surrendered The ordinance in |
which it was embodied must not only be re-
pealed, the principle itself must be abandon
ed, and the ordinances, so far as this war is
concerned, be declared null and void and
that declaration must be embodied in the
fundamental constitution. We have a right
to insist upon this; and it must be apparent
that so far as that principle is concerned, this
war was permanent success.
Mr.. Bingham The gentleman will allow
me to make the inquiry whether, if that were
done to-day by South Carolina and the peo-
pie of that insurgent State restored to all
their powers in this Union, they could not
blot it out tomorrow by every construction
that has ever been given to the operation of
the Constitution of the United States upon
any State maintainG its relations to this Gov
ernment. What guarantee would that be d?
An interesting coloquy occurred between
Messrs Raymond and Bingham, and between
Mr.. Jenckes and Mr.. Raymond, a report of
which is omitted for room.
Mr. Raymond said, in conclusion, can
not assent to the intimations thrown out by
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr Ste
vens) that the President concurred in the
views he had expressed or that he had |
handed the whole subject of pacifying the
States lately in rebellion, and of restoring
the States to the practical exercise of their
functions as members of the Union to the |
hands of Congress. l can find no warrant
in his message for believing that he designs
thus to abandon duties which are evidently
in his judgment devolved upon him as the
Executive in the Government and as COM
of the armies Of the United | ]
States. On the contrary, / find him rehears-
ing in clear and explicit language the steps
he has taken to restore the rightful energy Of
the General Government and the States. To
that end, he says Provisional Governors
have been appointed for the States, Conven-
tions called, Governors elected, Legislatures :
and Senators and Representatives J
chosen to the Congress Of the United States. c
At the same time, the Courts of the United Q
States, as far as could be done, have been re- L
opened so that the laws of the United States a
nay be enforced through their agency. The Q
blockade has been removed, and the custom !
houses re-established in ports of entry so c
hat the revenues of the United States may v
De collected. The Post Office Department a
'enews its ceaseless activity, and the General =
Government is thereby enabled to commu- u
licate promptly with its officers and agents. a
The courts bring security to persons and u
property, the opening of the ports invites 81
he restoring Of industry and commerce, the "
,ost Office renews the facilities Of social in o
ercourse and business. He has exercised
lis power of pardon. He has invited the r
states lately in rebellion to participate in II
he ratification of the constitutional amend a
nent securing the perpetual prohibition OF r
lavery. This done, he says, it will remain u
Or the States whose powers have been so u
Dng in abeyance to resume their places in J y
he two branches of the National Legisla- Is
1re, and thereby complete the work of re- u
toration. There it is for you felow-citizens a
f the Senate, and you fellow-citizens of the G.
Iouse Of Representatives, to judge each Of 10
on for yourselves, of the election returns &C.
nd qualifications of your own members. IN
IL but this has been done in the exercise Of re
is functions and in the performance Of his en-
uties az President of the United States and u'
) Commander in Chief Of their armies o'
he admission Of members Of Congress and IN
le restoration Of the judicial branch of the A'
vii authority Of the Government are neces- su
Irily referred to the deliberations and ac- "a !;
on of Congress. u
THE Empress Of Austria IL said to be one W.
the most beautiful Of the Princesses Of los
urope and from her description, would pc
.rtainly seem to be a very charming o'C
oman. She is tall, slender, with a very th,
hite skin, good deal Of color, large, linn on
d blue eyes, and an amazing head of light vi
lir, which she wears in eight massive al
aids, wound roundIand round her head,
rminp q mapni6cent diadem of hair zuch l