Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1867-07-20
MISCELLANEOUS.
Grent Speech of Hon. Thnddeus
10 40 Stevens. t-.tla-ar,.., ~ ID

Great speech of Hon. Thaddeuf
10 ~ Stevens. -rlIa7ru'., (,
The following able address was delivered
in the House of Representatives on Tuesday
the 9th inst, by Hon. Thaddeus Stevens
during the debate on the Reconstruction
bill introduced by him into the House, and
which was finally adopted by q vote Of III
to 81 = s.,.;.+ '''''.i '.-'- 't' ''a
Mr.. STEVENS, of Pennsylvania, closed the
debate, saying confess that small por
ton of the blame for the acts of the Presi
dent, since Congress adjourned may be di
rected to Congress, in using improper Ian
guage In the bill, and that was owing to ar
indistinct knowledge of the country which
we were legislating for. If we had all
jagreed, as we have since agreed, that the
States lately in rebellion were conquered
territory, and eubject to this nation as con-
quered territory and if we had treated then,
accordingly, we should have had but very
little trouble in reconstructing this Govern
ment upon the principles of the admission
of new States, but we were not all perfectly
prepared for it in our understanding of the
laws Of nations, nor is it wonderful that we
should have been thus wandering in our
| views. ss3.svayp.vsf-tV ts.f.rGs-sy o,fs
will state what i suppose to have been
our real condition. The nation was afflicted
with civil war, which for time was an
insurrection, which divided its sway Some
twelve millions of inhabitants, claiming that
they no longer belonged to this Union, set
up an independent government. They
formed all the machinery of government,
both of national government and Of a State
under that national government, and they
/ thoir fn of 4 @l.;-
sions. a-- arr'sf B.. .tf
We, at the period when we declared a
| blockade, admitted them to be not an in
dependent nation, but an independent bel
| ligerent, rising above insurrection, and en-
! titled to all the privileges, and subject to all
the liabilities of an independent beligerent.
| The nations of Europe so treated them. We
30 treated them. In short, there can be no
| doubt of the fact. We were then at war as
two independent nations. 1t depended on
| the conqueror whether be would treat the
one that was vanquished after the war as
/ vanquished nation, or whether he should
punish him for violation of the sovereign
rights of the nation in addition, and we
conquered. q .rfygfs
| What did we conquer2 We conquered
the Confederate Government we conquered
all the States forming the Confederate Gov
ernment; we conquered a government which
by its own declarations owed no allegiance
to the Government of the United States.
That they should pretend after that they
had one right, under the Constitution, which
they had thus repudiated and attempted
to destroy, and that they were still States
within the Union, as asserted by the gentle
man from Wisconsin Mr.. Eldridgel. looks
like bold absurdty. Yet that was the
doctrine of the President-that is the doc
trine which gentlemen are fighting about
We declared them to be conquered pro-
vinces; we were treating them under mill
tary law. Now, what is the law in reference
to provinces conquered from foreign in
dependent belligerent7
| When you conquer from foreign nation
or from an independent belligerent the terri
| tory that is conquered is governed by mill
tary power-by the commander-in.chief of
the army (wlio, in this case, was the Presi-
dent), until the legislative power os the ma
tion shall have spoken and directed Swhat
laws shall govern /; but the moment that the
legislative power of the nation interposes
the military authorities cease to exist, aud
the commander-in. chief of the army has no
more to say to it than q corporal in the ranks
has to say-just what that legislative power
orders him to say. He has to do Just what
that Legislative power orders him to do, and
he can do nothing else. d ,....
A great deal is said about the President
acting as commanderin. chief of the army
until he was superseded in his authority by
Congress. have no fault to find with his
maintaining military rule, but he assumed
to exercise legislative powers he assumed
to establish governments; he assumed to
establish governments he assumed to ap-
point civil officers; he assumed that con
quered territory should receive back pre-
cisely the Constitution of the loyal States,
and be entitled to all the privileges they ever
had. No part Of that came within the
power of the commander.in- chief of the
army. ''
II Congress sends an army to quell the
Indian war in Nebraska, Congress orders
them to go there. What do the officers do
They pass no act of legislation They go
there and order these troops when to charge
and when to retreat. They drill them ; they
put them through all the military exercises
They can do no act which looks like regu.
lating the object of the war OF the object Of
the army. The Constitution takes express
reservation to show that there can be- no
such power II expressly declares that
Congress shall have power to make all rules
| auu rePulatlOnS ior the government OF the
land and naval forces ofthe United States
The Executive has nothing to do with it,
The Judiciary has nothing to do with it,
Congress is the only power Congress has
enacted rules and articles of war. Can the
President of the United States interfere
with them2 Can he add new articles. new
rules, new regulations No such thing
The military, officers that were sent as
commanders in these States were simply ap
pointed as agents of Congress
To be sure, originally the bill provided Q
military supervision simply, and we had in
tended to follow it up with law putting
reconstruction into the hands of civilians
This is what should have done. and what
/ had been prepared for; but if we choose
to adopt officers of the army-if Congress:
chooses to take them from the army and tc
assign them to that duty, they then become
agents of Congress, and neither the, Presi
dent nor any person under him has the
right to interfere, or do anyt thing but exact
ly what Congress has said. 1t can be re
duced, think ITO plain proposition: Tha,
Congress, and Congress alone, was the only
power that can reconstruct the only
power that can admit these outlying States
deny that the President had any righ,
to call upon the Attorney General or unor