Year: 1867

! uHutl lllC laws VI MNl ldhC lllC DlOIltlll


of the rebel citizen and apply it either tc


the preservation Of the health of the city


or the lives of the people. If the gentle


man claims that the southern States are


now nnder the exclusive and absolute


control of Congre, s. and that his measure


is in the nature of tax, then it is illega


and unjust, because it is indefinite unequal


and without apportioument. If he justi-


fcs it upon the doctrine of sovereignty


superior TO the Constitution, then it Is


illegal, unwise, and unjust, because it i:
partial in its operation, and to be applied


without condemnation or any Of the or


dnary procedu res of law


/ know it has been said upon the floor
of this House, and more especially by
gentlemen upon the other side, that the
recent legislation Of Congress providing
for the more effective government of the
States is unconstitutional that it cannot
be justified by the Constitution, or under
the laws of war is no longer existing, and
hence is improper and cannot be sus.
taned.


Passing over that clause of the Consti-
tuition which says that Congress shall
guaranty to every State and the people
thereof "A republican form of government,
| strike higher ground, and justify the
law upon the doctrine of sovereignty, that
inherent and necessary power which rests
in every Government on earth. The de
nnl,n.,, -, ,,,I,,. :, ~
finger Of God. "Thou shalt not kill, "
Is the law for the guidance of every in
dvidual soul. And vet WHO does not
know that when man is called upon to
defend his own life that right is superior
even TO the divine commanda


1t is so with nations. Let me illustrate.
When Napoleon offered to cede the
tarr t ry of Lou. i ma to the United States,
President Jefferson was troubled because
he could find no authority in the Consti
tution, or in the Fcderalist which ex-
poun led it for making the hase. lie
consulted his friend, an eminent law
y.r, who told him that he had looked
in the wrong book that the con tuition
of no nation in Christ nd IN, written,
verbal, or traditional, contained any such
provision that it was an attribute of
sovereignty and belonged of right by the
law OF nations TO earth, and the purchase
was made under that sovereignty.
which authorizes Government to do
that which its own preservation demands


And 50 in the present case. The first
and paramount duty of The Government
Is to protect its citizens in their persons
and property When it fails to do that
lis vital force is gone; it becomes a dead
carcass, and is no longer a living power
Such being the case, lit was within the
power OF Congress, by virtue of its SOW
crelgnty, TO pass such regulations and or
dam such measures as would give to every
citizen in the southern States the protcc-
ton which Government is under obIga
ton to provide. when Government fails
to give that po'cction. then it is absolute
y destroyed Now, this being the case,
we had the right, in The exercise of SOW
ere gnty, to use al the means and forces
which Il Christian nation ever uses to
preserve the lite OF the nation. We cannot
Justly the measure introduced by the
gentlemen from Massachusetts Mr.. Brr.
LER upon that or any other tcnable
ground and hence am opposed to it.


The first, the coolest, and the most
hiariess objection made to the passage of
the resolution is that the condition of the
p 'blc Tr a 'nry will net ju.t f. lis passage.
sir, when a hJuse is on fire AMI u sweet
chlld Is at the window crying for help,
and the chances are that it may be snved
although danger might attend the attempt,
shall the fireman hesitate until the h,,mes
envelope the child? When the drowning
man is struggling in the wave shall the
strong swimmer hesitate to save him lest.
Perchance, the exposure may increase his
cold. Sir, should This great natior, bur
dencd it is true with debt, burdened il is
true with taxes, but boundless in lis re-
sources, eXhaustle5s and inmeasurable in
lis recuperative energies, fail to accord
snstenancc TO thousands of ITS starving cit
izens! | have no patience with such
I, asonng. 1t belongs to the politician,
an ! not TO Il statesman having in view
! II duty to his ielIow.man and his re-
sponsibiliiy to God.


Sir, the next objection is that if we
grant this relief the money we appropriate
will be bestowed upon enemies. What if
it should be? Are they enemies at war
do the cruel and bloody laws of war,
which justify a nation in inhicting every
injury IN lis power upon its enemy, now
prevail BY no means Peace has re.
turned We have turned from the long
and bloody night of war to the sweet and
dawning morn of peace, and amid the
parting clouds the grand oil arch has
struck high in the heavens. lfencmics at
all, they are no longer enemies in war,
and our divine Teacher says, ''If thine
enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts,
give him drink" But, sir, these are not
our enemies. They are the poor, down
trodden, oppressed whites of the South,
whose condition formerly was but little
removed from that of the slave, and who
now, in their time OF trouble and starva-
tlon, demand our sympathy and aid.
Although the men driven into the war,
who will brand MS an enemy the poor wo-
man remaining at home and struggling for
the sustenance of herself and children,
even while her husband was fighting
against our fagl Who shall say that
the infant drawing a miserable sustenance