Year: 1864

lCu anu ucBlTOyCu EOTbu buu DoutN, puu !
here is no Union all laws and all con-
,ttutions have been swallowed up by the
new Interpretation given 10 this war pow
er. There is no Union to day among the |
States not rebellion they are kept togcth-
er by this war power, the force of habit,
and the influence of money and plumber,
and the necessity Of meeting a common
foe. We are now floating at the murcy of
chance and the waves upon mere lrag-
ment of our broken Union, aud onr pilot
is bewildered by the contradic "pres
sure OF his advisers. And the New Eng |
land wreckers arc not burning bluc-lights !
to render aid and comfort 10 the oncmy,
but they arc holding up false lights that
will complete the wreck.


One set Of men tell him that universal
emancipation and reconstruction without !
slavery, as proposed in this bill, will save
his craft. l tell him it will extinguish !
State rights and make our form of gov
ernment different from that left ms in the |
Constitution. Another Sc, of men tell him
to couiscatc the lands of the Sonth in fee
and in violation Of the plain provision Of
the Constitution will restore the Uuion.-
tell him thatit will destroy the last hope
of reconstruction, and bring Us to tho
painful alternative of recognizing or an
Initiating the South and 10 neither Of
these conditions am prepared to give my
consent. You speak of bringing the South
back. | ask, back to wbatl back TO
what cannot be back to the Conslitu.
ton for the Constitution has been destroy.
ed, and all civil rights have been destroy
ed with it. And should they como back.
to the crude ana chaotic procIama,lons of
the Presidents military war power, that
has made camp of the entire land p
They have enough of war power at home
and with this war power and its procla-
nations, and our contiscntion acts and re-
construction bureaus there is no motive
for the South to come back. They can
but fare worse than to fight, and fight they
do.


One hundred and forty thousand Of tho
American people in my district have sent
their sons to the army to fight for and
maintain their Government as laid down
in the Constitution. They have sent me
here as their representative to maintain
the samo thing, and in their namo ask


what you have Gone with their Govern


ment! On the 4th day of March, 1861 +,


they placed their Government in your


hands. And in that Government was Sc


cured to the people free speech, a free


press, security Of person and property, and


the elective franchise uudsturbed by mil =
itary power, and to those suspected Of
crime fair and speedy trial, and to all
the benefit of the great writ of hdbeaS
corpus. What have you done with this
Government The one which you have


furnished secures none Of these rights -


Shall tell them you are not bound by
your oath in time of war that when you


made your oath to "preserve, protect, and


defend the Constitution" it was upon con.


dition that We had no war ? When do


you propose to restore 10 the people their


Government


The Interpretation which claim for the


Presidents war power is the only one


which will perpetuate our republican form


of Government. The history of every


day which passes over our heads is full OF


meaning and confirms this position. There


does not exist on Garth more despotiC


Government than tina. of Abraham Lin


coin. He is a despot in fact, if not il


name Tho constitutional right of the


citizen to bear arms has been denied, and


houses searched and arms taken from the


citizen. The right OF trial denied, and


citizens have bcen banished the country


without trial or conviction and | onlj


mention some Of the outrages perpetratet


by this war power 10 say that if our Gov


ernment has been fairly administered un


der this new Interpretation Of the wa


power for tho last three years it does no


matter how soon it is destroyed. 1t is no


worth to the people dollar or a battle o.


man. And it does not matter to the peo


pc whether their libcrtier have been akel
away by Abraham Lincoln as Presiden


or as Commander in-Chcf of tho Army


he is no less despot and they no lea


slaves.


1t is more than eighteen hundred year
J since Roman emperor first employed


spies aud informers to which the citizen
| overheard his private conversation il
hours of social intercourse, for informa
/ ton to convict the best and weathest cit
izens of disoyalty, and their property wa
then conGscatcd and divided between tn
Government and the informer This wa


less than seventy years before the Roma
, empire was put up at auction by the in
: perial cohorts and city guards to the high
D est bidder. And the right to govern tina
y vast empire was purchased by jcwelol
r who had heaped up great weal.h by sell
$ ing jewelry to the army contractors, tn
; men who had made haste 10 get rich OF
0 of the corruptions of the times; but th
q city of Rome had then been founded MOI
t than eight hundred years before an en-
0 peror could be found wicked enough and
y people corrupt enough to inaugurate th
G state of things, We have not existed as
Q nation century, and yet we hear ofspi'
/. and detectives, and are panied 10 kno
l. that American ctizens can be found d.
/. based enough to act in that capacity au
It this is one Of the results of the exercise