Year: 1868

ton to defend it's own existence. .
{. Madison, who is cslled the father ol
the Constitution, took up the words
and reiterated them in another form.
saying. s.It is in vain that you at
tempt to impose constitutional re
strietions on the impulse Of self
preservation" A higher law given
than Hamilton or Madison, anterior
to the birth of nations upon the
earth, gave out the law for the gov
ernment of individual and collect
i've men to preserve their life. 1t
is the duty of a nation, intrusted as
it is with the grandest and noblest
trust that was ever committed to q
political society, to preserveit it's own
life. That life was assailed for four
long years by armed revolt and
treason. Threeyears have elapsed
since the surrender of the armies of
the rebellion. When the cloud OF
battle lifted from the stricken fields
of the Potomac to the-banks of the
Rio Grande, the fact was disclosed
that State institutions, Constitution
al State Governments, had perished
in that conflict. The people Of the
United States asked no indemnity
for the past; they asked only securi-
ty for the future. In the PROPOSE
tions of restoration, as they were
presented in the year 1S65~it was
only asked by these late insurgents
in arms that a permanent covenant
should be placed in the Constitution
of the United States, by their con-
sent, and by our consent, which
would make like rebellion forever
impossible, and which wonld real
ize, by the silent voice and majesty
of the law, the grand purpose for
which the Constitution itself was
ordained, namely, the establishment
of justice and the security ofliberty.
This is what was asked. The peo-
pie of the North accepted it.. They
accepted it with a unanimity which
is without parallel in the political
contests of this age Or of any age
1t was rejected rejected with scorn
and contempt by those madmen,
who but yesterday lifted up their
hands in violence against the holy
temple of our liberties, and now
we stand here the representatives of
the people to take the ways and
means to enable such of the people
of the South as have returned to
their loyalty, and such of them as
never struck hands in that mad re
volt, to accept these conditions and
be returned, in the language of the
bill, to political power in the Union.
Let the people of the country decide
between US, whether the people Of
the South shall impose taxation to
reimburse the cost Of the rebellion;
whether they shall impose taxation
to reimburse the price Of e I ancipa-
ted slaves, and whether they shall
enter the halls of Congress in the
persons of their Senators and Rep
resentatives to repudiate and vio-
late the faith of this nation. That
is the issue that is made up here;
that is the issne on which we go to
the people; that is the ground on
which we enact this law. We say
to the General of the army, carry
out the provisions Of this act in
good faith.


Ny colleague Cary rises in his
seat and asks VIII hether the General
of the Army is resposible in case he
violates this law and tramples upon
the rights of the. people. I regret
that my colleague deemed it his duty
to make such an inquiry. say to
the general of the army, 1 say to
every other judicial and executive
officer of the Government, that he
is neither above the people nor
above 4he peoples laws. The Gen
eral Of our army is but the creature
Of Congressional enactment The
breath which made him General
may un-make him tomorrow. I
answer my colleague further, that
by the fifth section of the bill, if
the General of the army be guilty
of any violation Of this law, he is
liable by its very terms to be- ar.
raigned before the civil tribunals of
the United States on an Indictment,
and held to answer for his high
misdemeanor,and OF conviction is
liable to take his pace in the Peni-
itentiary, and pay forfeit, not ex
ceeding $4,000 I trust my col
league is satisfied with the severity
of the penalty. Another objection
raised by these gentlemen isthat we
invade the privileges and power of
the Judiciary. l respect the Judi
ciary as much as any gentleman
here who volunteers to be its defen-
der, but I cannot forget in this con
test, if I would, the utterances of
that profound thinker, Montesquieu,
who speaking of the three depart
ments Of the Government-the Ex-
ecutive, the Legislative and the Ju-
diciary-declared, touching these
matters which go to the foundation
of society, the Judiciary is next to
nothing; it has no force nor will,
nothing but judgment, and has no
power to execute that, save at the
pleasure of the Executive. The
Judiciary has it's functions. 1 am
perfectly willing the Judiciary
should be left free and untrammel-
ed in the faithful performance of its
function; but the Judiciary of the
United States has no power to re-
wise the question entrusted exclu-
sively to to the Legislative Depart
ment of the Government, as to
whether a State is within this
Union.


Touching the authority vested in
the General of your army by this
bill, it reads as though it had been
written for this very emergency