The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1866-03-22
SPEECH OF COL. I. P. GRAY.
CALM AND COURTEOUS DISCUSSION


" marty that can garner the fruits OF this
war. and settle this question OF recon
struction so as TO harmonic the country
and secure 10 all the blessings Of civil
and religious liberty. | am willing to
admit that there are differences or opin-
ions in tue ranks of the Union party on
this question of reorganIzng tue States
lately in rebellion against the nation |
hold that the Union party Is an intell-
gent party, that intelligence hegets dis
cussion. aud the discussion Of all ques
tions is the only way that we can arrive
at correct conclusions " discussed
among ourselves the conduct Of the var.
Some members of the Union party
thought Mr. Lincoln was too lenient;
some thought that he WAS not lenient
enough Some thought he issued the
Emancipation Proclamation too soon and
others thought that he did not issue 1t
soon enough, and few members of the
Union party thought he ought not to
have issued it at all Bet in the discus
sion of all these questions we opened not
our ranks that the enemies OF our coun
try should come in at the breach and ret
possession of the Government, from the
fact that we all desired the same consnm-
nation, the overthrow of tie mighty
hosts Of the rebellion and the Drcserva-
ton of the national life. / believe that
we should discuss this question Of recon
struction with the same regard for pro
priety and decorum that we have observ-
ed In the other case. II is our duty to
discuss this question with the gravity
that the Importance OF the subject de
mands and not to wrangle among our
selves, divide our ranks and suffer the
enemy, who has no sympathy with the
cause which the Union party espoHses 70
take advantage Of our divisions, get pos
session of the Government, and thereby
lose all the fruits of the war.
PRINCIPLES OF THE UNION PARTY.
hold that the principles of the Union
party are too sacred to be unnecessarily
frttered away l believe its principles
to be the principles upon which this Gov
ernment is founded, the principles which
the Constitution was ordained to carry
out They are more than this, they are
the principles of mankind every where all
over Gods earth, wherever men love lib
erty or are intelligent enough to appre-
ciate the blessings of a popular form o +
government
Now | do not want the Union party to
be like the democratic party, which at
the beginning of the war declared this
to be government of consent; q nation
al compact, copartnership of states.
and that whenever a State is dissatisfied
with the copartuership she has a right to
20 out, and that the Federal Government
had no authority to coerce such State in
to obedience to the Contitution. But
now that the South is defeated and lies
powerless at the feet of the national
authority. these democrats get in Con
nress and say that the States are i'll the
Union. have always been in the | Mon
and cannot 90 out of the | Mon: because
thew are now desirous of an immediate
organization of the rebel states, from the
fact that they think, by doing, they
will make these states a unit in support
of the Democratic party. 1t Is motor
ious fact that every state YOU organize
with rebels as voters, You make of il q
letter a, No l copperhead state. Ard
when | use the word "coppcrhead |
wish to be distinctly understood a to
what | mean by that expression ] look
ell into 4 late edition of the dictionary,
and found the word "copperhead, the
definition given was. g q northern man
who sympathized with the southern re
bellion" Now when l use the word
..copperhead" l mean just what the die
tionory saws, and if any man, here to
night, feels offended at my using the
word let him blame the man who made
the dictionary, and not me, for | am
speaking 10y the book, Applause
THE STATES STILL IN THE UNION.
Now the Union party started out at the
beginning OF the war denying the right
of secession. If any man iutimatcd,
either directly or indirectly, that there
was such right, we Immediately de-
nounced him a secessionist. II these
states did not GO out by secession, which
Of course we deny. there was out one
other way in which they could go out =
And that was the force of revelation and
we all know that that failed. Con se-
quently l take the position that the
states are in the Union. They were in
Union at the beginning of the war ani
are in the Union to-day. | can find in
the Constitution, nowhere, that a state
can commit treason; but the people OF
state can commit treason.
WHO SHOULD BE PUNISHED.
The Constitution SAYS that treason con
sists in levying war against the United
States, adhering to their enemies, giving
+ tuelu anu COlulOil- anu Ltlt Et' S'fil
offending shall be tried in the district
wherein the crime shall have been com
mitted This shows concluslvely that
the Government applies TO and operates
upon individuals and not upon States
] believe that the Southern people lately
in rebellion against the Union, have
committed treason. By the commission
of that crime they have put themselves
within the power of the Federal Gov
ernment. and are amenable to the law and
liable to punishment. By the commission
of this crime of treason they have strip
ped themselves of all political rights
They are entitled to no rights except
what the Federal Government sees prop
er to give them. The Government can
mete out to them just such punishment
f as she, in her wisdom. may see fit: hang
them. exile them or disfranchise them.
l believe that the precipitators Of the
! rebellion should be punished And when
II