Year: 1861




nation of President LINCOLN. The House
was Immediately organized by the election
of G. a. GRow, of Pennsylvania, Speaker.


In the Senate Mr.. CHANDLER gave no
tice that he should introduce bill to con-
fscate all property of all Governors of
States, members of Legislature, Judges Of
Courts, all military officers of higher rank
than Lieutenant, who shall take part
against the government of the United
States such property TO be applied and
restored to Union men in seeding States
for any losses they may have suffered.


The Presidents Message was sent in on
Friday, and during its reading elected
great attention, with occasional marks Of
applause. He commences with state
ment of the acts of the rebellious States,
from the first seizure of public property by
the rebels, TO the attack and capture Of
Fort Sumter, and then justifes his own
proceedings as follows:


SO viewing the issues, no choice was
left but to call ou. the war power of the
Government and so to resist the force en-
ployed for its destruction by force for its
preservation. The cal. was made and the
response of the country was most crafty
ing, surprising in unanimity and spirit the
most sanguine expectations. Yet none of
the States commonly called slave States,
EXCEPT Deleware, gave regiment through
the regular State organization. A few
regiments have been organized within
some other of those States by individual
enterprise, and received into the Govern
ment service of course. The seeded
States, so called, end to which Texas had
been joined about the time of the inaug-
uratlon, gave no troc ps to the cause Of the
Union. The border States, so called,
were not uniform in their action, some
OF them being almost of the Union,
while in others, as in Virginia, North
Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas, the
Union sentiments was nearly repressed
and slenced. The course taken in Vr-
giha was the most remarkable, perhaps
the nost important. A convention cleo
ted by the people of that State to consider
this very question Of disputing the Feder
al Union was in session at the capital of
Virginia when Fort Sumter fell. To this
body the people had chosen a large ma
jority of professed Union men. Almost
Immediately after the fall of Sumter mum
bers Of that majority went over TO the or
iginal minority and with them adopted
an ordinance for Withdrawing the State
from It's Union. Whether this change
was wrought by their great approval of
the assault on Sumter, or their great re
sentiment to the Governments resistance
TO that assault, is not definitely known.
Although they submitted the ordinance
for ratification to vote of the people, to
be taken somewhat more than a month
distant, the Convention and Legislature,
which vas also in session at the same tine
and place, with leading men of the State
Immediately commenced acting as if the
State was already out of the Union.
They pushed military preparations vigor
ously forward all over the State. They
sexed the United States armory at Har
per's Ferry and the Navy Yard at Gosport
near Norfolk. They received, perhaps in
yited into their State, large bodies Of
troops with their warike appointments,
from the so called seeded States They
formally entered into treaty with the so
called Confederate States, and sent mem.
bers to their Congress a: Montgomery, and
finally they permitted the insurrectonary
government to be transferred to their Cap
ital at Richmond


The people of Virginia have thus allow
ed this giant insurrecton to make its nest
within their borders, and this Government
has no choice left but to deal with it where
it finds il, and it has the less TO regret, as
the loyal citizens have, in due form, claim
ed its protection. Those loval citizens the
Government is bound to recognize and
protect, as being in Virginia. In the
Border States, so called, in fact the Middle
States, there are those who favor a policy
which they call armed neutrality, that is,
an arming Of those States to prevent the
Union forces passing one way, or the dis
nnion completely; fguratively speaking,
IT would be the building Of an im passabIe
wall along the line of separation and vet,
not quite an impossible one, for, under the
guise of neutrality, it would tie the hands
of The Union men and freely pass supplies
from among them to the insurrectionsts,
which It could not do as an open enemy
AT stroke it would take all the trouble
off the hands of secession except only
what proceeds from the external blockade.
Il would do for the disunionists that which
of all things they most desire feed them
well and give them disuuion without a
struggle o. their own. It recognizes no
tdelity to the Constitution, no obligation
TO maintain the Union. While very
many who have favored it are doubtless
loyal citizens, it is nevertheless very iniuti
Gus in effect.


The President then recommends that
Congress place at his disposal for making
the present contest a short and decisive
one, the number of four hundred thousand
men, end the sum of four hundred millions
OF dollars. lie says this number of men