Year: 1862




And we have the enormous sum Of. .S47S vi 1888


We did not feel that we should be justi-
fed in voting for measure which, if car
ried out, would add this vast amount to
our public debt, at moment when the
treasury was reeling under the enormous
expenditures of the var


Again, it seemed to us that this rcsolu-
ton was but the annunciation of a senti =
ment which could not or was not likely to
be reduced to an actual, tangible PROPOSE
ton. No movement was then made to
provide and appropriate the funds required
to carry it into effect and we were not en-
couraged to believe that funds would be
provided. And our belief has been fully
justified by the subsequent events. Not
to mention other circumstances, it is quite
sufficient for the purpose to bring to your
notice the fact that, while the re olution
was under consideration in the Senate,
our colleague, the Senator from Kentucky,
moved an amendment appropriating
$500, 900 to the object therein designated !,
and it was voted down with great unauim-
ity. What confidence, then couli we rea-
sonably feel that, if we committed our
selves to the policy it proposed, our con,
sttuents would reap the fruits Of the
promise held out and on what ground
could we, as fair men, approach them
and challenge their support


The right to hold slave is a right ap-
pertaining to all the States of this Union


They have the right to cherish or abol-
ish the institution, as their tastes or their
interests may prompt, and no one is au-
thorized to question the right or limit its
enjoyment. And no one has more clear
| y affirmed that right than you have
Your inaugural address does you great
honor in this repect, and inspired the
country with confidence in your fairnesss
and respect for the law. Our States are
in the enjoyment of that right We do
not feel called on to defend the institution,
or to affirm it as one which ought to be
cherished perhaps, if we were to make
the attempt, we might find that we differ
even among ourselves 1t is enough for
our purpose to know that it is a right !;
and, so knowing, we did not see why we
should now be expected to yield it. We
had contributed our full share to relieve
tie country at this terrible crisis we had
done as much as has been required Of 9TH
ers, in like circumstances; and we did not
see why sacrifices should be expected of
us from which others, no moro loyal,
were exempt. Nor could we see what
good the nation would derive from it.
Such sacrifice, submitted to us, would
have not strengthened the arm of this
Government or weakened that of the
enemy. 1t was not necessary as pledge
of our loyalty, for that had been man
ifested beyond a reasonable doubt, in
every form and at every place pass
ibe. There was not the remotest
probability that the States we represent
would join in the rebellion, nor is there
now or of their elccting to go with the
Southern section in the event of recog
milton of the Independence of any part Of
the disaffcted region. Our States are
fixed unalterably in their resolution to al
here to and support the Union they see
no no safety for themselves and no hope
for constitutional liberty but by its pres.
ervation. They will, under no circum-
stances, consent to its dissolution and
we do them no more than justice when we
assure you that while the war is conduc-
ted to prevent that depiorable catastrophe
they will sustain it as long as they can
muster man or command dollar. Nor
will they ever consent, in any event, to
unite with the Southern Confederacy.
The bitter fruits Of the peculiar doctrines
of that region will forever prevent them
from placing their security and happiness
in the custody of an association which
has incorporated in its organic law the
seeds of its own destruction.


We cannot admit, Mr.. President. that
if we had voted for the resolution in the
emancipation mossge of March last, the
war would now be substantially ended
We are unable to see how our action in
this particular has given, or could give,
encouragement to the rebellion. The res
olution has passed, and if there be virtue
in it, it will be quite as efficacious as if we
had voted for it. We have no power to
bind our States in this respect by our votres
here; and whether we had voted the one
way or the other, they are in the same con-
dition of freedom to accept or reject its
provisions. No, sir; the war has not been
prolonged or hindered by our action on
this or any other measure. We must look