Year: 1862

was not my purpose to have said on


word on this occasion. Itis very rarel,


that any question can come forwart


here that will provoke any reply from


me. | have listened to the two hoars


of platitudes which the gentleman ha:


uttered here, to which [ have not ont
single word of reply. They are pre-
cisely such as every lawyer makes wher
his client is on trial on an indictment
in bad case. He always appeals tt
those great guarantees of liberty tha
are so we'll provided for in the Englisf
law. Every lawyer of very little prac
tice seems to understand how and wher
to invoke them To that part of the
speech | have not one word to say.
agree with him entirely; I would be the
last man to raise my hand to break
down one single scintilla of those great
barriers of right and liberty to which he
has so often alluded, and which are
household words to us ALL He need
not have read his books, he need not
have quoted his authorities in an
American Senate on those points, be-
cause every man stands ready to sub
scribe an amen to all the doctrines to
which he has alluded


But, sir, he stepped little beyond
that course of remark. and violently as
sailed the committee of which | happen
to be the chairman.


Mr.. MCDoUGALL.-Will the Senator
allow me to ask one thing?


The PRESIDENT pro tempore.-Does
the Senator from Ohio yield the floor?
| Mr.. WADE-Yes, sir.


Mr.. McDoUGALL.-I shall probably
leave the Senate, but I wish to ask the
Senator question. do not know that
[ have a right to inquire whether this
arrest was made at the instance of the
Committee on the Conduct of the War
or not. 1t has been stated so and
rumored so. I understand the respon-
sibility is shifted from shoulder to
shoulder. l did not mean to say they
had done SO, or to assail them. know
it was necessarily done, according to
my information, by a person acting by
the authority of the Secretary Of War;
but | should like to be Informed if it
was not at the instance of the Com
mittee on the Conduct Of the War, for
should like to be able to think so we'll
Of every member of the Senate as to re-
lieve myself Of the suspicion that is on
my mind. | did not charge it on the
committee. l do not know, of my own
knowledge, that tiaoy-iaape- ever done an
unworthy OF improper thing.


Mr.. WADE.-You ought to know.


Mr.. MCDOUGALL.-Do not under
stand me as doing any thing more than
trying to make form Of inquiry, by
which l might be advised, in some form,
why this great wrong has been done.


Mr.. WADE-L did not yield the floor
to be catechised, but.for an explanation,
if the gentleman had any to make 1t
turns out that instead Of an explanation
and apology for what he has said, | am
to be catechised further on the subject
Now, the Senator says he does not know
what he has been talking about. did
not suppose he did. He says he made
the remark as a kind of fishing argu-
ment 10 see if he could not draw out
something from somebody that would
give him some light on this subject.


Mr.. MoDoUGALL.-That is my very
object. [ have sought light on the sub
ject with great labor and industry.


Mr.. WADE.-The Senator, in the
course of his remarks, alluded to the
committee IF which am chairman. [
cannot repeat exactly the words, but it
was to the effect that we had been made
use of, or that we practised stabbing
men in the dark; that we profess to
have some kind of testimony against
men, aud then throw it out to their
prejudice and the prejudice of their
characters. demand Of that Senator
now specifically to tell me what he
meant by it. Where has it been done,
and by whom?


Mr. .McDoUGALL.-If [ were aware
that the Committee on the Conduct of
the War had been responsible for this
act, l should have spoken of that Com
mittee as | spoke Of the person now at
the head of the War Department |
know by information that witnesses
have testified before your Committee,
because a gentleman told me he was
going before the Committee in relation
to this very matter.


Mr.. WADE-I want to know specif-
cally-


Mr.. McDoUGALL.-Do you want to
know the man?


Mr.. WADE.-I want to know person
ally and specifically from that Senator,
when and where it was that that Com
mittee threw out dark insinuations to
wound the character of any man? When,
where and how have they done it?


Mr.. MCDoUGALL-I did not state
that the Commmittee on the Conduct of
the War had done any such thing, and
you will find | am not SO reported


Mr.. WADE.-Then [ entirely misun-
derstood the Senator, for | understood
a charge of that kind to have been
made. I am glad to hear that the gen
tleman says now that he has made no
such charge, for | know that no such
charge can be sustained.


Mr. MCDoUGALL.-I am glad to hear
that also.


Mr.. WADE.-Why glad to hear it,
sir? You never heard the contrary;
never, never. While you throw out
dark insinuations against the Committee,
l ask of you to be specific, or to excul-
pate them from the charge you have
made. State wherein they have
stabbed any man in the dark. l can
tell the Senator the course of that Com
mittee toward Gen. Stone-not that /
mean to be provoked, under any con-
siderations, into a discussion of the
merits or demerits of that gentleman