Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-06-08

Mr.. Cox. Will the gentleman yield to m
for a moment?
Mr.. WILLARD. Yes, sir.
Mr.. Cox 1 think the gentleman miscon
strues my original resolution; l think b,
does himself injustice. He is a member oil
the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and if h,
will read carefully the resolution which
introduced here he will find that it was es
pecially guarded SO as to convey no expires
sion of sympathy with the Fenians. becaus'
| wanted the resolution to pass unanimousl,
in this House, with a view to creating a cor
rect and emphatic public sentiment on thi
subject. My resolution as originally intro
duced, and objected to by the gentleman from
Massachusetts,, IMr. HOOPER, asked simply
for the amelioration of these outrages or fol
the release of these prisoners. By no word
OF Implication does that resolution undertake
to sympathize with any armed movement in
this country upon Great Britain. l will re-
serve fuller expression of my views on that
point for a more proper forum.
Mr.. WILLARD. Mr. Speaker, il is true
that the word 81 Irish - and the word I" Fe-
nian " do not appear in this resolution, and
IT may be that the gentleman supposed that
this rose by some other name would smell
sweetcr in this House. But it is true that
whatever careful phraseology may ah=<. tsexsa
put into this resolution, however carefully
the gentleman may have guarded it SO that
il should not catch the ear as offensive, the
real purpose aud spirit of the resolution are
declaration of sympathy with the Irish
naturalized American citizens who are now
in British prisons, and who are there if they
are there at all because they have violated
the laws of Great Britain and have attempted
to divide that kingdom. The resolution sent
to the committee declares-
That the American people have heard with hor-
ror and indignation of the treatment of American
prisoners under English authority: that no Ian
guage is sufficient condemn the treatment of such
prisoners; and that we urge upon the national Ex-
ecutive the imperative duty of intermediate inter
yentiOn on their behalf.
Mr. BANKS That is not the resolution of
the committee.
Mr.. WILLARD. am speaking of the res
olution of the gentleman from New York,
and those who have listened to the remarks
of the gentlemen who have preceded me in
this discussion will understand that these
"prisoners - are Irishmen, Americanized
Irishmen, who after having foresworn their
allegiance to the kingdom of Great Britain,
after having come to this country and sworn
allegiance to our government and to our flag,
have been engaged in plotting, and not only
iu plotting but in actively working to sever
ireland from Lne Britlsn empire.
The SPEAKER. The morning hour he's ex-
pired, and this resolution goes over till to-
MORROW.
The resolution came up the next morning,
and Mr.. WILLARD concluded his remarks
He said
Mr.. Speaker, when the morning hour
closed yesterday | was replying to some re-
marks of the gentleman from New York,
MIR. Cox, who had said that was doing
him and myself injustice by connecting this
resolution in anv way with the Fenian organ
ization or with Feniau demonstrations in this
country.
Sir, it is true that one who did not know
that there was such an organization-who
did not know its previous history-might
not learn anything of its history from the
resolution introduced by the gentleman from
New York, Mr. Cox, or from the resolution
reported by the Committee on Foreign AZ
fairs. But the manifest purpose Of the orig
bal resolution well as the manifest pur
Ese of the report made bs~sSs = lmitsuud >
kathy with Irish-American citttnTdcmbersY
nj British prisons as political offenders siti-
which expression | was at liberty to under
stand that reference was made to American
citizens of Irish descent who, having FORE
sworn their allegiance to the crown of Great
Britain, and having sworn allegiance to the
government and Constitution of the United
States, had afterward embarked in enter
prises and instructions having for their
avowed purpose the dismemberment Of the
British empire.
gagged in such unlawful enterprises-enter-
prises which offend not only the laws of
Great Britain but which are almost equally
ofenses against the laws of the United States
that they have been arrested on British
soil and cast into British prisons. under
charges properly brought against them in
British tribunals, and for which they are yet
to be tried. And, sir, while l hold that an
American citizen, whether of native or for
eign birth-whether child of this country
because born on our soil, or whether a citi-
zen of the Republic because he has sought
an asylum on our shores and sworn allegiance
to our government-is entitled to all the
protection that we give to any American cit
izen while | would extend over the foreign
born American citizens the same shield and
protection that We extend over native-born
American citizens, | yet hold that we should
proceed with the utmost caution when we
are called upon to express our sympathy with
prisoners, whether of American or foreign
birth, who have been arrested on foreign soil
for a violation of the laws of a foreign juris-
diction.
l hold, sir, that the protection which this
government owes to its citizens of all ma
tionalities is protection to be extended to
them in their lawful pursuits wherever they
may go; but it is not a protection which
they are entitled to invoke, or which we ara
obliged to extend to them, when they attempt
to cover themselves with this robe of Ameri-
can citizenship, and under that protection to
assault the integrity of any other government
under heaven.
MR. WILKINSON. | wish to ask my col
league upon the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs whether he holds that the British
government is justified in arresting and i'm
prisoning " Fenians," if you please, upon
English soil for acts which they may have
performed on American soil?
Mr.. Cox. A very pertinent inquiry.
Mr.. WILKINSON. | base this question upon
the remarks which the gentleman from YER
mont made yesterday in stating why be op-
posed the seeming sympathy of this report,
and the original resolution of the gentleman
from New York, with the Fenians. The
gentleman said he was opposed to any ex-
preston of sympathy 's with those whom
they call our adopted fellow-citizens with
those who are plotting, who are planning,
who are raising money, who are organizing
in this country for the purpose of dividing
the kingdom of Great Britain and establish
ing separate government in Ireland"
| wish to know whether my colleague on
the committee holds that the English gov
ernment has right to arrest an adopted
Irish American citizen for the sympathy
which he may have expressed or the acts
which he may have done on American soil
Several Members. That is the point.
Mr.. WILLARD. Mr.. Speaker, do not un-
derstand that that question is necessarily in
volved either in the original resolution of
the gentleman from New York or in the re-
port of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Cox 1 do not wish to interrupt the
current of the gentleman's argument but