The Portland daily press., 1866-03-12

inherent doctrine has been laid down here, and
IL mas been said that when gentlemen come ber q
clalmlng 70 represent these States We must hur-
ry TO admit them because they present creden
hals from States! What have gentlemen said
nerel Il present the credentials of A or b or
U; they are In due form" We may inquire as
70 the form. May we not inquire where is the
state constitution? Has it been presented to
usf Have we seen it Has there been any ap-
pucation FROM any of these States to be readmit-
.ed II you please to call it SO, under its consti-
tuition or TO have its new constitution recogniz-
ell and Its acts underit? Not one. We do not
know to this day officially in proper shape that
any one OF these States has formed a constitu-
| ton.
Mr. CowAN. You will no. allow us to raise
. me question. If you take up the question of
| Inc ADMISSION OF some of the gentlemen sent
here, Wa will show you constitution and duly
| cons ltuted legislature qualified to elect, and
that they were elected.
Mr. FEssENDEN. And what does that prevel
ihat when the question is asked whether there
Is constitution formed, the Senator from
pennsylvania pulls one out Of his pocket,
ana says, Here is a constitution That
is not the way to deal with Congress upon these
questions. What say is, that If their relations
to the Union have been dissolved in the way they
have been, what they have to do is to come here
| oy their organizations, their Legislature, or
| convention, and present their constitution to
Congress for examination, and ask that their
representatives be admitted under it, which no
one OF them has yet done That we have right
TO demand. Suppose their credentials ale in
Tue form, have we not right to 60 further and
inquire what the condition of those Statrs is and
has been since their former governments were
overthrownf Isuppose Senators now will ad-
| NIT that.
had no idea when l rose that should speak
so long on this matter, but o. have got into it
| may As well finish what have to say. wish
to notice some things that have been said more
than once by the honorable Senator from Penn
sylvauia, Mr.. CowAN.] He has talked to US
about the question of taxation and representa-
ton, and appealed to us to admit these people,
| to admit these States, to admit their Represeu-
| tatives and Senators, because, as he says, it is
gross injustice that they should be taxed and
not represented. How is thatf Had we no
right to tax them during the rebellion if we
could collect the tax? Were we bound, because
they chose to go into contest against this Gov
| eminent, to let them of and not levy taxes upon
| them? The Senator will hardly contend for that
While they were in rebellion does the Senator say
that We had no right to tax themH am very
glad to bring him to that point. He holds, then
We had no right to consider them as subject to
| the Constitution.
Mr.. COwAN. The honorable Senator will al
| low me to state my position fairly. will give
It to him. hold that it is the duty of every
Government to protect its subjects; and that
while 1t is unable TO pro ect them, and while it
Is not strong enough to suppress q rebellion
originating among them, and when it does not
protect them, when it leaves them under The do
mnion OF usurped authority, while this condi-
| ton OF things lasts, it has no right to tax them
| Mr.. FEssENDEN. In other words, Mr.. Presi-
dent, II the people Of particular portion of the
country choose to set themselves up against the
GENERAL Government, and to levy an army
against it, we lose all our right as a government
| over them We cannot control them, we cannot
| tax them, we cannot call upon tnem for the per-
formance of any duty. Wehave perfect right
to kill them, but not to treat them as subjects of
the Government. That is the Senator's position
he assumes that these people were people that
we did Tot protect, that when the power of a
state had passed into the hands of those mimi
cal to the Government, and when the whole peo-
pie en- masse had risen against the Government,
| we had ceased to protect them, and therefore we
nao no power OF government over them, no mat
how they are; that until we put down the rebel
lion all our power was to destroy. A very fra
| ternal and benevolent idea! I was puzzled. yery
| much so, from time to time, at the arguments of
the honorable Senator was puzzled some what
when he talked about the course Of other nations
over their conquered people and told us that
they at once took them into partnership.
| think he referred to the example Of Rome, and
said that Rome never made the people she con-
qaered slaves. have some idea that they did
tax them. that they sent proconsuls to govern
them. I H.. tst--a. - ~ -.il -
Mr. CowAN. What said of Rome was that
she always adopted one of two ways after
conquering q people. She either gave them
their original rights back again and very often
treated them as Roman citizens, or abe extermi-
mated them or scattered and drove them away
Mr. FEssENDEN. l did not hear that che ever
admitted their delegates into the Senate. I
never heard it claimed that they had right Of
representation in the Roman Senate. She did
have sort OF governor that she called procon-
| sui who ruled the conquered provinces.
| However, this conversation with the Senator
is, perhaps, out Of place, and shall proceed
with my argument, if it may be called an argu-
ment. The Senator has now commended (and it
is anecessary consequence of the position he as
sumed the other day. that we necessarily lost
all our power of exercising government over
these people as the United States of America, by
the simple fact that they were enabled to reb i
and raise an army to fight us. He has saved me
the trouble, therefore. of asking my other cues
ton. l was about to ask him if we had that
power while they were in rebellion, whether the
power of taxation did not continue for a little
while after the rebellion was queiled OF whether
we must necessarily wait until the Governnent
was restored in all its perfection and in all it's
parts over the conquered people, until they
came back into the Government as rulers with
u.s.
| Now, sir, let us look at this question. Gentle
men have been talking here from time to time
and in the other House about the great abuse
that these States We're not admitted TO represent
tatlon whAe the Government was going on to
tax them. Sir, the arms that were raised AgaiDst
US were never laid down until last April From
that time to December Congress was not in ses-
sion They were under the control OF the mill
tary power. We come together on the first Mon
day vi December. There has been an exhaust
ing war, four years of deadly struggle; hundreds
OF thousands slain ,huodreds of millions spent;
l WAT more m in sar mo ~
OF the enemy we had TO encounter than has
oeen known in modern times; in which the
most savage hate was exhibited against every-
thing that was not Of the confederstes, which
was distinguished, remarkable, for its character,
so distinct from all those wars that have marked
modern periods. We come together In Decem Der,
and Certain men presented themselves claiming
to be admitted AZ Senator's and as Representa-
tives upon these floors. We had not been to-
gether thirty days before gentlemen contend.d
here that they were entitled to admission upon
an equality with ourselves and as parts of the
governing power. Ii is not now ninety days
since this Congress met; and before the expira
ton OF ninety days, after this war OF four years
OF the character that existed and with denunci-
ations of the most bitter kind from all that peo-
pie, We are told that we are perpetrating the
most gross injustice because they are not already
here in these seats as Senators and Representa-
tives in Congress, and that our legislation is
substantially good for nothing because they are
net here. -' fih N'ie = u
1t is most remarkable fact in this connec-
ton that not only have we not been together
ninety days when we were called upon admit
these Senator'S and Representative, but we are
called on to decide that the condition of that
people is sach as to render it safe, when the
President himself, who calls upon us to do it,,
has not Withdrawn his suspension of the writ
4 Of habeas corpus throughout that territory,
but keeps his Army in that tsrritory. and
when all the generals and himself ct the head of
oil the generals tells that it is unsafe to with
draw it, that they cannot be left to themselves,
and that the Army must remain and they be kept
under military law. .-a-" E .e - ! :
8M. President, this strikes me assenewhst sin
guisr; and say this because want the coun-
try to understand il. Is no time to be allowed I?
Here, it 10 said, are eight million people; here
is a territory embracing do not know how