The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-02-08


hastily and not with that well-consid-
cred Judgment which generally charac-
teriZes those gentlemen. Sir, no man
in America ever was or ever could be a
slave if he was a white man. j know
white men have been held in bondage
contrary to law. But there never was
a court In the United States, in slave
State, or a free State, that has not ad-
mitted that If one held as slave could
prove himself to bewhite he was that
instant free. And therefore such an
exclusion, on account of previous con-
dltion of slavery, must be an exclusion
on account of race or color. Therefore
that objection falls to the ground.
Now the question is narrowed down
to the sole Question of choice between
the proposition of the Committee and
the proposition of the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Schenckl. There is no ne
cessity, then, unless desire to exhibit
in this matter. Nor do i propose to go
into an examination of what was per-
haps the net quite pertinent argument
of the gentleman from New York Mr..
Raymond). All / want is that two
thirds of each branch of this Congress
shall vote aff1rmatfvely on this ques-
tion. And while should take pleasure
in having the President approve of our
conduct, yet he has nothing to say
about it on this question. We do not
send it to him and ask his opinion
about it, and therefore it was all the
more kind in him to send us his opinion
without being asked for it.
But we know perfectly well that the
President has nothing to do with this
matter. The passage of this amend
ment by a two-thirds vote of both
Houses of Congress will carry it before
the State Legislatures for ratification
without regard to the approval or dis
approval of the President. 1t is true
that the Constitutional Amendment for
the abolition of Slavery was, after its
passage by both Houses of Congress,
sent fnadvertantly to President Lin
coin, for his signature. But although
he signed it because he approved 1t, yet,
acting with the sagacity and the mod
esty which were SO characteristic of him,
he sent to Congress message stating
that that body, in sending him that
joint resolution for approval, had done
what the Constitution did not require.
We shall not trouble President John
son by sending him this amendment If
it should be passed by Congress, be-
cause 1t is not necessary to submit 1t to
him for his approval.
AS said before, do not intend to re-
fer particularly to the able, elaborate,
and eloquent speech of my friend from
New York (Mr. Raymondl, because
that speech had, to great extent, no
connection whatever with this question,
except, possibly, so far as the status of
the States may be affected by this
amendment. BE still persists in say
ing that the seeded States are, and al
ways have been, in the Union; that the
Constitution would not allow them to
go out. He took the same ground be-
fore. had undertaken to prove that
they were ont of the Union, not by our
consent, but by operation of law. had
stated that they formed the Confeder-
ate Government as States; that they had
raised large armies; that they had done
what no State could Constitutionallydo do,
issued letters of marque which We're
recognized by us and the civilized world.
There is no doubt, sir, that for three
years we acknowledged that Rebel
Government as bellfgerent, as did the
whole civilized world. But whether
we so acknowledged the Rebels or not,
they had established Government,
and maintained themselves for sufh-
'cient length of time to rise above the
position of mere murderers or insur-
rectionists, they became belligerents;
and it does not make a particle of diff
ference whether the parent Government
recognizes them as bellfgerents. In this
case, however, the acknowledgment of
our own Government aud the well-set-
tied doctrine ofthe law of nations COM
bined in conceding to the States in re-
.bellion this position.
Z The gentleman cannot deny this state
of facts; and yet he reiterates the doc
trine, "once State always State."-
May / be pardoned for reading para
graph from Vattel
When nation becomes divided into two
parties absolutely independent, and no longer
acknowledging common superior, the State
Is dissolved, and the war between the two par
ties stands on the same ground in every re
spect as q public war between two different
nations"
Again, read:
tThe conventions, the treaties, made with
a nation are broken or annulled by q war
arising between the contracting parties"
This is the doctrine of Vattel, as.well
as of Grotius, and Rutherford, and Puff
fendorf. The gentleman from New
York denies it: 1 admit the weight OF
the gentleman'S authority; but am not
willing that all those sages of the law,
clad in the panoply of ages, and forti-
fed by the opinion of the civilized
world, should be broken down and an
initiated by. the single arm ofmy friend
from New York, however powerful he
may be in assault and cunning in de-
fense.4 81 ss,
One word as to another portion of the
speech. could not but
admire ian admiration mingled with
the amiability of temper, the
of heart, the generosity of
feeling, which must have prompted
some of the closing sentences of the
excellent and able speech delivered by
the gentleman on last Monday. His
words were these:
'The gigantic contest Is at an end. The
courage and devotion on either side which
made IL so terrible and so long, no longer owe
a divided duty, but have become the COM
mon property Of the American name. the
priceless possession ofthe American Republic,
ffh1nUh all time The dead of the
contendIng hosts sleep beneath the soil OF a
common country, under their common dag.
Their hostilities are hushed, and they are the
dead of the nation forevermore."
Sir, much more than amiable, much
more than religions must be the senti-
ment that would prompt any man to
say that 'sthe courage and devotion"
which so long withstood our armies,
prolonged the terrible conflict of
war, and sacrificing the lives of
thousands of loyal men, are here
after to be the common boast of the
nation, "the priceless possession of the
American Republic through all time to
Gomez" that it is the pride of our coun-
try so many infamous rebels were
so ferOcious in their murders.
Sir, we are TO consider these dead on
both sides as the dead of the nation,
tho common deadi And SO l suppose
we are to raise monuments beside the
to Reynold and others to
Oe eEecIeu III tue CeLueLefy Oh tue DhlIle
field of Gettysburg; we must there
build high the monumental marble for
men like Barksdale, whom have seen
in this hall draw their bowie-knives on
the Representatives of the people; men
who died upon the battlefield of Get
tysbnrg in arms against the Govern
ment, and where they now lie buried
in bitches ''unwept, unhonored and un-
sungp They are, I suppose, to be
raised and put into the forefront ranks
of the nation and we are to call them