Year: 1862

north, as well as the bood-red doctrines
Of secession north or south


But come to the question whether it
be true that l have falsifed my pledges
Let my recorded votes speak for me, and
let unprejudiccd men be my Judges. /
have uniformly Uotea for all appropria-
tions that have passed Congress, and these
amount to some seven hundred millions of
dollars. l 0oted for the necessary tax
bills to raise these enormous sums of
money. 0oted to put in the field an army
OF six hundred thousand men voted for
all resolutions expressing the sentiments
OF the House as to the propriety of crush
ing out the accurscd rebellion, Furnishing
the leaders and restoring the government.
1 have upon all occasions, as conceived,
pursued conservative course, and attemp-
ted, at all times, to avoid any interference
with exciting sectional questions, regarding
the agitation OF them as grave, and / may
say insurmountablc objects to the restora-
ton of the Union and the suppression of
the rebellion, And who can entertain q
doubt of the truth of the position ?


1t is my candid opinion thatthe passage
of the slavery abolition bill was more
disastrous than to have added fifty thousand
men to the ranks of the rebels. How it
may be asked. BY cxcmplifying, in the
act, what they have uniformity charged
upon US, and which we have stoutly de-
MED, that it was war to emancipate ne
grocs, in place Of restoring the Union by
holding out to our army an issue Of eman-
cipation when the proclamation of the
executive, which called them to the field,
was to suppress the rebellion and protect
the persons and property of loyal men
every where. If the effect Of the passage
Of the bill is calculated to pro'ong the war
to weaken and demoralzo the federal
army and strengthen the rebel cause, then
indeed should have acted in direct OPP
position, not only to my pledges, but for
the best interest Of the country in giving
it my support


In my opinion this was net the time nor
the occasion to agitate the slavery question,
More momentous issues are upon our
hands. We have q government to save
and the homes of thirty millions of peo-
pie to protect. Life or death of the great
Republic should be The all absorbing qucs-
ton, and that alone, till it be solved
Never, since the sun first dawned upon the
globe, was there SO soemn--so responsible
a position as the one now occupied by the
people Of this country. No effort OF
which the human heart and the human
frame is capable Of exercising should be
omitted to rescue from ruin and overthrow
the United States of America. But one
thought should occupy the public mind,
and one impulse move the public heart
how is the government to be saved This,
and not negro abolition should agitate the
Congrcss--the nation-the people. We
should soohe the feelings of our loyal
brethren Of Maryland, kentucky, Virginia,
Tennessee and Missouri, rather than har.
row them up, and drive them to deeds of
madness by acts of legislation which have
a tendency to create distrust for, if not
the destruction Of, their social customs and
local laws Their sons are fighting side
by side with ours of the north on the same
battle field, and many Of them occupy the
same grave ! Amidst these terrible scenes,
honor and justice, nay the common decen-
cies Of life forbid that they receive insult
from that government which they are
pouring out their blood to defend 1t was
indeed out of time and place to lug in the
negro question at such a moment. Half
the people of the west were in mourning
over the slain at the battles of Fort Dom
elson and Springfeld-of Pea Ridge and
Pittsburg Landing, at the very time negro
emancipation occupied the debates in Con-
gress. Was the issue upon the bloody
fields the safety of the nation or the free.
dom Of the negro! If the latter were the
issue, then it was all right to pass the bill 4,
if the former, then the subject should have
been sc outed from the halls of Congress-
AT all events, expediency and a due re-
gard for the public interests demanded a
cessation Of hostility against the institu-
tions of the Border States, as they were
marshalled under the national banner
But suppose the nation in repose-the
great battle of freedom won-the States
reunited and the leaders of the rebellion
hung or in exile, were not Me people of the
District of Columbia entitled to a voice in
a matter which affected them so much I?
Ara the ScvpntU-fVa thnuson nd neonl,, of