f^ 
 
L/BRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 pH8J 
 
THE POWKR AND 1)1 TV 01" COXffiKSS TO PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON 
 DEl' EXCE A.M) THE SlL'l'liESSION OF THE HEUKIll ON. 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 RON. JNO. A. BTNGHA-iAr, OF OHIO, 
 
 I > 
 
 lu the IIouso of Roprcsontatives, January 15, 1862. 
 
 Mr. BINOriAM said : 
 
 Mr. Si'K*KKi{ : I am lor tins ji>mi rcsoiuiion, 
 whii'h orciors the ennctment of irbill to supply to 
 ■y I'or the cdmnion cip't-nco, bj l:»xa- 
 ■nd intlirect, $150,000,00(1 unniiHlly, 
 I bnil Buch lef^islatioa as responsive to the living 
 issno of tbe hour — the suppression of the nbel- 
 lion whirh strikes iit the nation's life. It in, in 
 mv juilfriiicnt, tlie liiity of the Ropr. sfntiitives of 
 thf people to provide tlie ways and nieiins, and 
 to declare by Uw the powe- which shall be cm- , 
 ployed by the Kxecutive for the unconditional 
 Kuppression of this ri-bellion, unparulliled in all 
 the past, uhi'tlier you Poiisidcr the territory and 
 resources whicli it commands, th*- numbers which 
 it summons t> its standard of revolt, or tlie great 
 interests and immortal hopes which ii stakes upon , 
 the issue. 1 
 
 That thi^ r<b?llion should be suppressed, all 
 good iron ti).'ri'c ; that it can be suppressed only 1 
 by the dr<ad arbitrament of battle is now no lon- 
 ger an open tiuestion ; that it shall be suppressed i 
 speedily and forever h the stern decree of that ! 
 gnat people whose sublime uprising in defence 
 of their nationality this day e.xcitcs the wonder 
 and cliuUingej the niimi?ation of the world. ' 
 This d crci> of the people can only.be executed 
 by force, authorized, organized, and governed by 
 law. To this end Congress should legislate, the 
 Executive should net, and the mi^ihty legions of 
 the pei pic should sfike wi h that terriblr power 
 with wliiili Omnipotence clothes a nation's arm 
 for the redress of wrong and the vindicatioa of I 
 justice. ' 
 
 The Republic, FJr, has the right to live and to 
 !> its separate place among the Towers of 
 h, until that right shall be forfeited by 
 crime. The life of thi* Republic depends upon 
 Just laws, their acknowledged supremacy, or their 
 rigid enforcement. The rebellion organized and 
 powerful over half the national domain, declares 
 the Republic dismembered, its Constttution and 
 laws repealed, and its atithority defied. This } 
 rebi llion must be put down ; and you, sir, and 
 all of us, mu?t by law provide for its suppression, ' 
 or the Ro]iublic dies. The supremacy of its lawg 
 is the breiilh of its life. The liepublic can no 
 more live without its supreme law duly obeyed 
 or duly enfored than can its citizens who com- 
 pose it live without air. 
 
 Mr.CA.Ml'BKM:. Mr. Speaker, will the gen- 1 
 tleman from Ohio permit mc to make an inquiry? I 
 
 Mr. mNGH.VM. Certainly. ' 
 
 Mr. CAMPBELL. I admit tbe necessity of] 
 making immediat<; and ade(juate provision to sus- 
 tain the public credit and to carry on the war, 
 but I would iii(|uire of the gentleman from (Jhio, 
 who Id a distinguished mtiuber of the Committee 
 on the. Judiciary, whether, in his opinion, it is not 
 as necessary to provide by law for depriving tbe 
 rebels of the "sinews of war ;' in other wordjs, to 
 confiscate their propertv and free their slaves ; 
 and I would respi-ctfully intjuire why the Judi- 
 ciary Committee have not reported a practicul 
 and unitbrm measure of that character? 
 
 Mr. BIN(;HaM. I win answer my friend that, 
 without censuring others, it is no (ault of mine 
 that such a law is not already enacted. Of the 
 right and duty of this House so to legislate I 
 shall presently speak. 1 was saying when inter- 
 rupted thiit ilie Republic could not live without 
 its supreme law duly obeyed and duly enforced. 
 
 What is the supreme law of this Republic un- 
 der which, youngest born of the nations, it came 
 to be, and only by the maintenance of which and 
 the care of the Infinite it can continue to be ? 
 Upon this question there is no room for doubt; 
 it was answered by those great spirits whem 
 Uod taught to found and to build tbe msjestic 
 structure of our civil institutions. In yoar 
 matchless Congtitntion they have declared : 
 
 "Tills ConFlltntion nml tlio |;iw.s nrthornlted Stnteg which 
 .'^luil !)•• mull' III pill -II. ill. i> thereof, and all tirutiea niiule 
 or wliili ."tiall I).- 1 I the aiilliorilv of Iho UuHiSd 
 
 .^^tiiltH, .'-lia:i lie till .iw iiflin- liiod." 
 
 These shall be tbe lupreme law of tbe land, 
 "anything in the constitution and laws of any 
 State to the contrary notwithstandin); ;' they 
 shall be supreme in every State of the Union, in 
 the Carolinaa as well m in distant (.»regon ; they 
 shall be supreme ovet every officer, civil and 
 military, in every department of Government, 
 State and national ; supreme ove/ every citizen 
 and every strangur within your gates ; supreme 
 over every ship bearing your (lag in every sea be- 
 neath the whole heavens ; supreme over your 
 army and navy and the mighty legions ol the 
 people themselves when they rush to the rescue 
 of a violated constitution. To-day this supremo 
 law fs defied and cloven down by the red arm of 
 rebellion in eleven States, expending from the 
 Potomac to the Rio (irande. To lift up over all 
 that vast region tbe fallen ensign of the Repub- 
 lic, and reassert and enforce its supreme law, is 
 tbe first duty and fixed purpose of the people ; 
 and allow me to add, the first dutj, as I trust it 
 
 458 
 
 > 
 
 / 
 
 ■^ 
 

 E45^ 
 
 is the fiied purpose, of the people's Representa- 
 tives, la the discharge of this p'atriotic duty, in 
 the execution of this sublime purpose of saving a 
 nation's life by enforcing a nation's laws, what 
 are the rights, powers, and duties of the Govern- 
 ment of the United States ? 
 
 Sir, answering this question, now upon ^very 
 tongue, standiJig upon the Constitution, not dar- 
 ing to look nor desiring to look beyond its grants 
 of power or its limitations of power, I affirm that 
 the Government of the United States may by 
 law authorize and by force do against these trai- 
 tors whatever, in consonance with natural jus- 
 tice, may be necessary to the speedy and complete 
 suppression of this rebellion. 
 
 I repeat it, sir, that whatever is necessary to be 
 done for the common defence and the maintenance 
 of the nation's life, may be done, and is required 
 to be done by the very terms of the Constitution. 
 And yet, sir, with a " sickly sentimentality," we 
 have been admonished upon this floor and else- 
 where that iiecessity is the plea of tryants. Do 
 not gentlemen know that it is onlj^ by wrongfully 
 arrogating and assuming the rightful powers of 
 good government, that tyrants rule ? Tyrants en- 
 force their assumed ^.uihority and unrighteous 
 decrees by arms ; does it thence rgsult that a just 
 and benehcent Government wrongfully and wick- 
 edly assailed and threatened with overthrow, 
 may not, if need be, protect and preserve its 
 own existence by arms? Why, sir, it is an ac- 
 cepted maxim of the common law of nations — 
 the growth of centuries, the gathered wisdom of 
 a thousand years — that whatever is necessary to 
 the preservation of a State is just, with this lim- 
 itation — that what is inherently unjust is. never 
 necessary. When a nation is driven to the asser- 
 tion of its rifjhts by war, the end of which is to 
 obtain justice by force, when not obtainable by 
 any other method, it has the right to do against 
 the enemy whatever it finds necessary for the 
 attainment of that end. " Right goes hand in 
 hand with necessity and the exigencies of the 
 case, but never exceeds them." That is the ac- 
 cepted law of the civilized world, recognised in 
 the courts of every civilized State, and uttered 
 by all the great writer? on international law. 
 
 War, then, is the necessary assertion of a na- 
 tion's rights by force, authorized by law; or the 
 wrongful invasion of a nation's rights by force, 
 and without authority of law. The one is just, 
 the other unjust. War may be international or 
 civil, foreign or domestic; that is, it may be 
 waged against one nation by another separate 
 and independe^nt nation, or war may be wrong- 
 fully levied by citizens of a State against their 
 own Government. This last is the war which 
 to-day shakes the Republic, and of which the 
 Constitution speaks when it declares " that trea- 
 son against the United States shall consist only 
 in levying war against them, or in adhering to 
 their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." 
 In the suppression of this civil war — this trea- 
 sonable war, waged by rebel citizens against the 
 Constitution and laws— the Government, by law, 
 may authorize, and by force do not only all that 
 is sanctioned by the law of nations in cases of 
 international conflict, but it may rightfullv and 
 
 1 * '^ ' \ 
 
 constitutionally do more ; it may inflict death 
 upon conviction, in accordance with its statute, 
 upon every person owing allegiance to it who 
 has levied or shall levy this unnatural war 
 against it, or who has adhered or shall adhere to 
 these rebels, giving them aid and comfort, either 
 within the United States or elsewhere. I cannot 
 and do not agree with what I have heard inti- 
 mated here — that because Great Britain has pro- 
 claimed herself neutral as between the United 
 States and these insurgents, that the treason of 
 the insurgents is the-eby legalized ; that your 
 statute against treason is thereby repealed ; or 
 that these traitors are thereby clothed with the 
 rights or entitled to the immunities of the subjects 
 of a belligerent but sovereign and independent 
 State. No, sir; all the foreign Powers on God's 
 earth cannot by {)roclamations of neutrality and 
 recognition of these insurgents as belligerents in- 
 vest them with sovereignty or absolve them from 
 the dread penalty of their crime. To ? .ppress this 
 rebellion and punish this treason, "ivbich has for 
 Its object the overthrow of the Constitution and 
 laws,, is the right of the Government, resting 
 upon and declared by the express provisions of 
 the Constitution. The President shall "take 
 care tha!t the laws be faithfully executed," and 
 shall " solemnly swear " that he " will faith- 
 fully execute the office of President of the United 
 States," and " to the best of his vbility preserve, 
 protect, and defend the Constitution." The duty 
 enjoined upon the President to execute the laws 
 of the Union — the supreme law of the land — 
 necessarily implies, inasmuch as tl^ Constitution 
 does not execute itself, that he shall be invested 
 by the law-making power with the authority 
 needful to that end. 
 
 What are the law-making powers of the Gov- 
 ernment, and what department of the Govern- 
 ment is authorized to exercise them? Look 
 again to the Constitution, the great charter of the 
 nation's rights — the written expression of the 
 people's will. That instrument provides thai 
 " all legislative powers herein granted, shall be 
 vested in a Congress of the United States, which 
 shall consist of a Senate and House of Represent- 
 atives." Of the legislative powers therein grant- 
 ed, I deem it only necessary to my present pui^- 
 pose to enumerate the following: 
 
 " Tlio Congress shall have power to levy and collect tases, 
 duties, imposts, add excises, to pay the dobia and provide 
 for th; COMMON DEfBXCE and gexbrai welfabk ol' the Unitod 
 Slates : 
 
 "To borrow and coin money, and regulate commerce:' 
 
 " To constitute tribunals inferior to the S\ipreme Court : 
 
 " To defnie and punish piracies and felonies committed on 
 the high seas, and offences against the law of nations : 
 
 " To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
 make rules concerning captures by land and water : 
 
 " To raise and suii]iorl armies : 
 
 " To v^roviile an<l niaiutaiu a navy : 
 
 " To make rules for the government and regulation of tho 
 land and-naval forces : 
 
 "To provide Ibr calling forth the militia to cxecnto tho 
 laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel in- 
 vasions : , 
 
 " To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining tho 
 militia, and for governing such part of them as may bo cm- 
 ployed' in the si-rvico of the United States : 
 
 ""To declare the luniisliment of treason : 
 
 " To make all laws which shall "be necessary and proper 
 for carrviHg into execution the fon^going powers and all 
 other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government 
 
or the UiilUJ StatoB, or in any JcpiUtinent or oflDcer U)cro- 
 
 of." 
 
 Thus have the people by their CoostUution 
 iulrubteil to Congress, iu order to provide by 
 latv lor "the cuiitiuon defence,'' these hiiiliest 
 powers of sovere'guty, in the exercise of whicli 
 are involved the issues of liberty aud property, 
 of liCe aud death. Surrounded by this wild 
 etorni of rebellion, in these clear grnDtj of power 
 to provide by l;iw fully and completely, not onlv 
 iot its suppression by force, but for ibj til pun- 
 isnnifut, I see that the fearledB uieu who trained 
 that instrument were taught what is lo essen- 
 tial io all b> man klTa'rs, " the righteousness 
 that there is in right understauding." With the 
 far-reachinft vImou of the soer, they perceived 
 clearly iind provided tully for every posflible na- 
 tional esigeucy. The c( njprebensive wisdom of 
 the Constitution stamps its authors as possess- 
 ing in full measure that highest quality of man 
 — the lar^e discourse which looks before and 
 aiter. I neither forget nor seek to conceal tit 
 fact that there are special guarantees to States 
 and persons io the Constitution, aod 8p»«ial lim- 
 itations upon the powers of Congress, and that 
 t( rity of the (iovernmeul is limited to its 
 
 (.: 1 powers, express or implied, lint, sir, 
 
 a careful ex:uiinaiiou of that wondrous instru- 
 ment in th> iight of its coutemporaueous con- 
 BtructioQ will convince any.one that the great 
 powers conferred by the Constitution upon Con- 
 gress, " to provide lor the common defence," arc 
 only limited in the extent of their exercise by 
 the public necessity and the eternal rules of 
 right aud justice, obi gatory alike upon men 
 and nations. 
 
 Sir, in all that I have said, or may sny, touch- 
 ing your unlimited power to legislate •* for tlie 
 common defence," I do not mean to ignore that 
 highest law, whose voice is the harmonv of the 
 world, and whose seat is the toeom of CJod — the 
 law, not of material, but of huiaau life; that 
 life which is more than breath, or the (|iii('k 
 round of blood ; that life which is a great spirit 
 and a busy heart, which is thought incarnate, 
 mind prccipiuted, and which we di-'Signate by 
 the sirotig word, man — by whom is made the 
 grtut liviii;; World of human thought and humaii 
 feeling ami human action. Nor wlien 1 8j)eak 
 of your uulimited power to legislate for ihe gene- 
 ral welfare, do I mean that you may rightfully 
 legislate to the hurt of the general welfare, or 
 in wanton disregard of those rights of human 
 nature, lo protect which all good government is 
 oriained. I admit, sir, that ciiil government, 
 with all its complex machinery of civil polity, is 
 bui a means tor thv atlaiument of a more im- 
 portant cud — the protection of individual man, 
 the devslopment of his deathless fticulties,t)l his 
 generous atfections, of the immortal sentiments, 
 hopes, and aspirations of his being. 
 
 But, sir, it is a part of the essential economy 
 of good guverumeut, thst individual intertsts 
 and iadividual rights must subserve, at what- 
 ever cost, tlie public good. No m<in lives lor 
 bimaelt aloiu-, but each lor all. Some must die 
 that the State may live ; individuals are but for 
 to-day ; the Cummoawealth is fur all time. 
 
 I reaflirm ray proposition that you are intrusted 
 by the people with the unlimited sovereign power 
 to make all-laws just and needful "tor the com- 
 mon defence." What limitation is there but ihe 
 public nev efcaity upon your power to lay and col- 
 lect taxes iu the manner prescribed, to contract 
 debts and borrow money, to declare war, raise 
 arm1«s and navies, and make rules for their gov- 
 ernment? The limitations of the Constitutioa 
 may bo cited : 
 
 " No person sli.tll bo <1cprlvcilftrUfo,ltbort7,or property, 
 
 but Oy 'luo priHeM uf Liw." 
 
 Nor shall private property be taken " for |«ub- 
 lic use without just compensation.' 
 
 •• In nM rritn.llfi! t .r. i. . int >> >! .^ t)ii. ;i(>-n^.-.l •.)■•>'' i.iil.iv t),.j 
 
 r f 
 
 I;. ' -,11 
 
 cuiiiliiiltcnl. " 
 
 When, to provide for the common defence, you 
 levy a tax, as recommended by this resolution, 
 upon the private jttO[)eriy of the citizen, aud in 
 default of its payment distrain, sell, and tran.sfer 
 his property to the stranger, not by the process 
 of your courts, but by the summ.iry action of 
 assessors and collectors, you take privaio prop- 
 erly tor public use by due process of law, but 
 without compensation. Why is this? Because 
 it is necessary for thu general welfare ; because 
 the safety of the Ilepublic is the supreme law ; 
 because every citizen, by the very constitution 
 of Government, holds his properly aud life iu 
 trust for the common defence. When you de- 
 clare war, aud raise armies and navies, and cuU 
 out aud organize the militia, and make rules 
 aud articles (or their government, aud thereby 
 sut ject the (itizen to the trials of the camp, to 
 the destruction of the pestilence which walketh 
 in darkness and wusleth at noonday, to the 
 slaughter ot battle, aud the restraints of military 
 di&cipliue, and the death penalties of a court- 
 martial, you deprive him of life aud liberty by 
 due process of law, and coademu and puuish 
 b:m as a criminal without a "trial by an impar- 
 tial jury of the Stale and district." When, by 
 your prize statutes, you provide, as you have 
 proviiied, fur the capture and sale ot prtiuu 
 proptrti/ for public use, you take private property 
 t»y due process of law, but wlllioul any compen- 
 sation. So, also, when by st.itu^u you proviUo 
 for the seizure aud forfeiture of goods imported 
 in fraud of your revenue laws, aud pay the pro» 
 ceed» thereof into the Treasury, you take private 
 properly for public use by due process of law, 
 but without comper.sation. In siiort, sir, that 
 expression of the Constitution, due process of 
 law, means only the Uiu- o/ ih< land. 
 
 Rnough has been said to show that these 
 great grants of power lo be exercised lor the 
 c^imou defence are vested in the National 
 n^islature wiihoui any special limitation. But 
 le^'t some ijuestiou might be maue whether the 
 people had given the power to provide by law 
 fo.- laying the life and liberty and property of 
 the citizen under contribution, when the com- 
 mon peril and the common defence made it ne- 
 cessary, they added the comprehensive grant — 
 
 'OnipO'csa shall tiave power to make all lawn xBcvAMir 
 aiid raoi-BK' • • • • "for carrying IlPj 
 
 / 
 
kl! 
 
 execution all powers vested by thfs Constitution in the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States, or in any department or offl- 
 cw thereof." 
 
 What room is tbere for doubt or equivocation 
 here? First, the legislative department, Con- 
 gress, shall have power to lay and collect taxes 
 and provide for the common defence of the 
 United States ; to make war, raise armies and 
 navies, and call out the militia to suppress in- 
 surrection and repel invasion, and to make laws 
 for their government; next, the executive depart- 
 njent, the President, shall take care that the 
 laws be faithfully executed ; A,nd, finally, Con- 
 gress shall have power to make all laws neces- 
 sary AND PROPER for Carrying these powers, thus 
 granted to the Legislature and the Executive, 
 into execution. What words could be plainer, 
 or more comprehensive? Congress shall have 
 power to make all laws necessary and proper for 
 carrying into execution all the powers granted 
 to the Government of the IJniied States, or to 
 any department or officer wereof. The words 
 "necessary and proper" are here used in their 
 'most general and unlimited sense. Congress is 
 the sole judge of what legislation is "necessary 
 and proper " for the common defence, the sup- 
 pression of insurrection, the repelling of invasion, 
 and the defence of the Constitution. 
 
 The word necessary, as used, is not limited 
 by the additional word ^^proper" but enlarged 
 thereby. 
 
 " If the word necessary were used in the 'strict, rigorous 
 eense, it would be ;ui extraordinary dcpartnrL" from tlie usual 
 course of the humau miiui, as exhibited in solemn instru- 
 inepts, to add another vvoril the only possible efleet of which 
 is to qualify that strict aud rigorous meaniug,and to presunt 
 (;learly the idea of a choice of means iu the'course of legisla- 
 tion. If no means are to be resorted to but such as are in- 
 dispenscUily necessary, there can be neither sense nor utiUty 
 in adding the other word ' proper ; ' for the indispensalle ne- 
 cessity would shut out\ from view all consideration of the 
 ^rf*prie<r/ of the means.'' — 3 Story's Cvmnientaries, sec. 122. 
 
 The character of the clause forbids its interpre- 
 tation as a restriction on the powers of Congress. 
 It is placed among the express grants of power, 
 and not among the express limitations of power. 
 It is inconceivable that the framers of the Con- 
 .stitution should have disguised a restriction upon 
 the powers of Congress under the form of a gi-ant 
 of power. (McCuUough vs. Maryland, 4 Whea- 
 ton, 420.) That the word is used without any 
 limitation, deliberately and intentionally, is ap- 
 parent from the fact that when intended to limit 
 the same word "necessary" employed in the tenth 
 section of the first article of the Constitution, the 
 framers were careful to prefix a word of liipita- 
 tion, as follows : 
 
 " No State shall, without the consent of Congress, laj' any 
 imposts or dntics on imports or exports, e.xcept what may 
 bo ABSOLUi-ELY NiiCK-ss.Mtv for exemilnig its inspection laws." 
 
 If any such restriction as what is absoluicly 
 uecessary, or indifpcmabl// necessary, had h^m 
 intended in this general grant of power to C^H- 
 gress, such word of limitation would have been 
 used. 
 
 "When the Constitut4,on was upon its deliver- 
 ance before the people," says Justice Story, ''no 
 one, in or out of the Sta,te conventions, ever 
 dreamed of or suggested" that this clause "con- 
 tained a restriction of power. The whole argu- 
 ment on each side of attack and defchce gij'.y.e it 
 
 the positive form of an express power." Away, 
 then, with that morbid, carping spirit of fake 
 construction and lurking treason which wouM 
 strip the noblest structure of human government 
 ever devised by man of the lawful m^ans of its 
 own defence and preservation, and make it a de- 
 lusive phantom of sovereignty; a splendid biu- 
 ble, the sport of every traitor I Whateve» legis- 
 lation, theii, is necessary for the common defence, 
 and to suppress insurrection, and secure the 
 fiithful execution of the laws, and is not int^n- 
 sistent with the humane spirit and declared ob- 
 ject of the Constitution, it is the right and duty 
 of Congress to enact, that the Government may 
 live, and that the supremacy of the Constitution 
 may be maintained in accordance with the law 
 of the land. 
 
 I pray gentlemen not to mistake me as intima- 
 ting that the condition of war confers upon Con- 
 gress any new powers of legislation, but only as 
 claiming that the condition of war makes the 
 occasion for the exercise of the powers expressly 
 granted "for the common defence." In my judg- 
 ment, no wiser or truer word was ever uttered 
 on this floor than the declaration of the "old 
 man eloquent" — John Quincy Adams — when he 
 said : 
 
 " There are two classes of powers vested by the Con.<!titu- 
 tion of the United States in their Congress and txecutive 
 Government ; the powers to be exercised in time of peaco 
 and the powers incident to war. That the jjowcrs of peace 
 are limited by the provisions within the body of the Consti- 
 tution itself, but the powers of war are limited aud regulated 
 only by the laws and usages of nations, aud are subject to 
 no other limitation." 
 
 'To the same point I cite the opinion of that 
 illustrious jurist and upright man who, in the 
 purer and better days of the Republic, siied the 
 light of his luminous intellect upon your judicial 
 decisions, and tbe construction of your Constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 Says Chief Justice Marshall : 
 
 " That war gives to the sovereign the full right to t.iko the 
 persons and CDuliscate Ihis properly of the enemy wh^recei' 
 fintnd is conceded." 
 
 But that the declaration of war does not of ita 
 own for>'.e authorize the seizure and condemna- 
 tion of the enemy's property, he says — 
 
 '( Is fairly deducible from the enumeration of powers 
 which accompanies Itiat of declaring war." * * * * 
 " Congress shall have ])ower " * * * * "to 
 grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules con- 
 cerning captures by laud and water. It wo\dd be restrain- 
 iug tins clausi^ within narrower Hunts than the words thcnv- 
 selves import, to say that the power to uiai<i> rules eoncern- 
 hig cai)lures on land and water is to be conllned to captiu-es 
 extra-territorial. What shall be done with enemy property 
 in our country " * * « * n jg a question of 
 policy proper for the consideration of a department which 
 can mollify it at wiix, It is proper for the consiileration of 
 the Legislature, not of the Executive or Judiciary." — 
 iiiuum vs. United States, 8 Criinch, 122 — 128. 
 
 No' formal declaration of war is necpssa'-y to 
 the exercise by Congress of these war powers of 
 legislation; it is tnough if actual hostilities 
 exist. (Talbot vx. Seaman, 1 Cranch, 28 ; Bos 
 w. TiDJey, 4 Dall., 37.) 
 
 Nothing, sir, m irks more clearly the difl'erence 
 between our Constitution and the constitutions 
 of monarchy than this ; that under the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States the power to declare 
 war, and all other powers esiential and incident 
 
to a state of wnr, are by the people intrusted to 
 . tlie national* Lt- (^idlature. The?o powers of 
 Bovereifrnty ftre, by the constitutions of mon- 
 HTc'liy, plncpil untiiT the discretion of the Trown. 
 Sir, to wliHtrvt-r depHrlincnt of (ioviTniM"nt 
 1'ii- ureiit iviwer of w;ir \a by theconsiitulioii of 
 iSt lit 9 coniniiltod, in whutevcr hands it luay ho 
 lodged, it is Rlwnyj und mcessurily unlimited 
 nnd unrestricted hy the fundanientul law. Kven 
 ill Hri)rl iiid, where, more than in any otiier (lov- 
 et ive our own, the liberiifs of the p«-ople 
 
 h n f/uarded egaiiigl ( xcf«5i\ e auiiiuiily 
 
 aud preroga'ive, the fact stands admitted »^d 
 unquestioned to this hour, that iho war powers 
 of the (loveriiment, which involve the peace, 
 tb ' lives of the people, are unre- 
 
 fci. ited. It i:i the pride and housl 
 
 of that people that by the ^reat revoliiiion of 
 lOSH, resultinR in the eleyation of the Prince of 
 Orange to the throne, and the restrictions upon 
 the ji .13 of the I'rown, by the fjreal L>ec- 
 
 laralii , its, the liberties of the ; eo;de were 
 
 made secure. And yet, sir, by thai Declaration 
 of Kightd it ia declared : 
 
 •' Tti.it rii.'in? or '-pojilnjr a utamling nrmy within Iho 
 k ■ '-^jUnUsa wi.k tlie cuimnt </ Parlia- 
 
 III 
 
 Never did the pulse oflib»rfy bpat in->re sfronp;- 
 ly in the breasts of the Enplish people than in 
 that great revolution ; never were they more 
 jealous of thtir rights, or more stroo;ily resolved 
 or better prepared than then to guard their lib- 
 _ erty* agaiiis arbitrary invasion. And yet the 
 very necessity of thinps compelled them to ad- 
 mit that the power for the comunn defence could 
 11' " cd, but must be limited only by th^ 
 
 pi y. Therefore they committed the 
 
 tiuinority of maintaiuinp standing armies, even 
 in time of peace, to the unliniittd discretion of 
 Parliament. Ku the fathers of the Ilepublic, 
 when they came ' 'uct a Con:Jlituiii)ii f(fr 
 
 the fabric of At ( iipire, hud the wisdom 
 
 to foresee, and the courage to declare, that there 
 could'be no Safety for the Stale, and no security 
 for the liberties of the people, unless a power "for 
 the common defence '' was, without lestriction, 
 committed to some department of the Govern- 
 ment. They wi.^ily cummitied this unlimited 
 power to Congress, the department neareit to the 
 people, and most directly responsible to the 
 people. That this power was conlerred without 
 constitutional restriction or limitation, I ask the 
 attention of the House to iheir witness, who 
 spejik to us from beyoud the grave. 
 
 Says Hamilton, who contributed by his great 
 intellect as much as any other to the formation 
 aud adoption of the Constitution : 
 
 tn I. . : 
 
 T!. 
 
 on- 
 
 .(■li' as Ihry art' unlviTP»l : 
 ■ I (■! liif rtii/ ; ii<' I" i! "im 
 ; (111- mit 1 
 
 ll IH to \)V ,. — 
 
 J 
 
 II 
 
 1* 
 
 a: 
 1 
 
 |..,„..: , 
 
 .hi 
 
 ■i |.^ IllV ' 
 
 t!iu 
 
 |i<i\Vll 
 
 IMi 
 
 kn.viiK 1 
 
 
 
 "The niilhorlllrg OBsontiat to ilio caro or tho common do 
 
 C.\t«^lll .1 
 
 »i 111,- 
 
 Tlirt rli . 
 
 wllicli 
 
 
 • ..s ro.1 
 
 
 ■11 tbo 
 
 ' liini of till- sumi- 
 
 I " ■■■ " "• ■- ■■•'• ■''■ 
 
 Itiii.,:' • «• ♦ • ., 
 
 lii/ci'ssary consfqaojice, ihiU thai ; ■>■ 
 
 of tUul authority which is to tiruviiic fur Uiv Ul-(vuu« aud )iro- 
 
 I 
 li'liiri- 
 
 tl 
 
 fri'lll ^. 
 oiitfht I" 
 
 t'tUclMlul, Su. '^, j,l) l„, '^{j. 
 
 Says Madisoo, Bouietimes called the father of 
 the Const itutioD : 
 
 .sill 
 
 • .i>vrlhi- 
 vo. Ih 
 
 pllig llt-< is Shi SH>JiK\ t 
 
 ■ r ; It i» Uiviilvi'd III 
 .in 
 
 ' I. il> « lu .i:^ 111 V* AK ? 
 
 im ami coiiclustvc aa 
 
 ., :,I,V Iil.M,. W.tU 
 
 . .) 
 ■ i.f. 
 * *• " ll W »l VUIU ll> o\>i>u»o 
 
 coii.stitiitiiiuni bnrrlcrs to tho Impulse uf HGir-prt-siTvaliua." 
 fhl^niUst, No. 41 , (i. 17^ . 
 
 So spake Hamilton and Madison when the Con- 
 stitution was on trial before the people. 
 I adopt the strong words of Mardhnil : 
 
 " TIk' li'iviTiitiiciit, wliirli luis a riirlit tii do an art, aud 
 ll 1 lli:it :irt, niUHl, ac- 
 
 i ' 111 Id ml<"Cl Iho 
 
 nil Ml.-. .»/' ' lin/l; I •• ,-. Ji'.iiy.iM<. , .i I'l iKMlllll, 40U. 
 
 The duty to provide for the "common de- 
 fence," and to that end to lay taxes, borrow and 
 coin money, contract d-ibts, raise erniies and 
 navies, and make laws for their government, is 
 imposed upon Congress : and therefore reason 
 declares, and the Constitution provides, that Con- 
 gress may pass all laws necessary to the faith- 
 ful discharge of that duty. As there is no e.x- 
 press limitation in the Constitution of any legis- 
 lation legitimate or needful to national defence, 
 either to suppress i"Surrection or repel invasion, 
 it follows that Congress may in the premises 
 authorize to be doue whatever in self-defence 
 against violence and war free and inilopmdent 
 nations may of right do. What nations may 
 rightfully do in the prosecution of a just war in 
 defence of their rights, or in vindication of their 
 lawlul authority, is dearly defined in the laws 
 of nations, and audibly at:e8ted by th( voice of 
 the civilized world. It is the established law 
 of nations that neckssity is the measure of vio- 
 lence in war, and hiiimtnity its tempering spirit. 
 
 Frum>all this it must be apparent that while 
 unnecessary or wan'on cruelty to the public 
 enemy is forbidden by the law of tiations, as well 
 also by tho Constitution, all else essential, how- 
 ever destructive of their lires and jiroperty, is 
 jiiftili;il)le — a right and a duty. If these rebels 
 in riiis against the Constitution and laws were 
 alien, not citizen enemies, the Gov(rnmefit of 
 the United States, by authority of Congress, 
 oould visit upon them all those dread penalties 
 of war, the <le truction of their liVes, aud the 
 conti-calion of their prop<rty, so far as neceitary 
 to the vindicKiitin of the nation's rights. That 
 ibey are citizen enemies does not relieve them 
 from such penalties, or in any wise mitigate their 
 guilt. But what is forbidden by the law of na- 
 tions towards alien enemies waging war ^galnat 
 
 ^ 
 
6 
 
 us by the authority of their sovereign, is ex- 
 pressly allowed by the Constitution of our coun- 
 try towards these rebels. Every one of them 
 taken in the overt act of rebellion, inasmuch as 
 he is a citizen of the United States, and owes 
 tiUegiance to the Government of the United Stales, 
 may be treated as a traitor, and, upon trial and 
 conviction, may justly be subjected to the pun- 
 ishment prescribed by the statute upon those 
 guilty of the crime of treason, and be subject?d 
 to such other penalties for his rebellion as may 
 be prescribed by law. No State in the Union 
 can legalize trtason or absolve any of its cit- 
 izens irom his allegiance to the Federal Govern- 
 ment. , • 1 » f 
 The Government is invested with the ngbt ot 
 self-defence and sell-preservation, and, to that 
 end, with the powt?r to provide by law fo" the 
 maintenance of its authority by force agnust all 
 conspiracies, however sanctioned by State stat- 
 utes, or State constitutions, or State ordinances 
 of secession. ^ , r^ 
 
 Such are the rights and powers of the Gov- 
 ernment. What are its duties, and especially 
 what is the duty in 'this hour of national peril 
 of the legislative department of the Govern- 
 ment ? Manifestly, si;, it is the duty of Con- 
 . grass, it is our duty as Representatives ot the 
 people, to pass all laws necessary for the sup- 
 pression of this rebellion. Judging from some 
 indications which I have seen, 1 fear there are 
 those who deem legislation unnecessary, and ac- 
 tive military operations unnecessary, to the sup- 
 pression of this rebellion^ who thiuk that diplo- 
 macy and reason will ultimately conquer a peace. 
 Reason is strong ; but reason uttered by legal 
 authority, and supported by legalized force, is 
 stronger lor the suppression of wrong. 
 
 Is it not the duty of the legislative department 
 to provide by law at once for the employment 
 of ail justifiable forca against the persons and 
 property of these rebels, to the end not merely 
 ihat the avenging arm of a a insulted people may 
 fall upon them, but that the nation may live, that 
 justice may be esttbUshed, that domestic tran- 
 quility may be rcstond, that the general welfare 
 may be promoted, that personal security and the 
 blessings of liberty may" be forever insured. For 
 these ends the C usiiiution was ordained by the 
 people ; not witi-out sutfering and martyrdom 
 and the sacrifice of blood. Let not these ends 
 fail of realization by any act of ours. The sa- 
 cred trust of providing for the common defence 
 ij in our hands ; let us not fail, to far as ii^us 
 lies, to execute it. 
 
 What are the laws already enacted for the 
 common defence— do they provide all that is ne- 
 cessary ? This is an important question. It 
 should be tally answered. The people demand 
 that all needful laws shall be enacted and eu- 
 lorced. 
 
 What are the laws on your statute-book for 
 the common defence? You have a statute de- 
 fiiiiug the punishmentof treason; a statute au- 
 thorizing the organiza'.ion of an army and 
 navy ; a statute authorizing the enlistment for 
 the suppression ot this rebellion of live hun- 
 dred thousand volunteers; a statute author-, 
 izing the President to call out and organ- 
 }z,6 tbe iftilitiaj a statuta for the govern- 
 
 \ 
 
 -'T 
 
 ment of all these forced ; and for the organiza- 
 tion of military courts summarily to try and 
 punich ail conceivable offences which any of 
 them may commit. You have also authorized 
 loans to the amount of $250,000,000, and have 
 provided for the capture and condemnation to 
 the public use of the ehemy's property taken on 
 the hi^h seas, and of such public stores of the 
 enemy" as may be taken in his camps, towns, 
 forts, or magazines ; and by your late statute— 
 which I cannot agree with my friend from In- 
 diana [Mr. Julian] was a legislative blunder-- 
 you have provided for the confiscation of all 
 property used by its owner's consent in aid of 
 this rebellion, and for the liberation of all slaves 
 used in the military service of the rebels by con- 
 sent of their masters. You have also appro- 
 priated $500,000,000 to support your army and 
 navy, but not tbe means to supply the money. 
 That, sir, is about the sum total of your legisla- 
 tion for the suppression of this gigantic rebel- 
 lion. ^ • tU 
 
 Is not further legislation needful to sustain the 
 credit and supply the Treasury of the country I 
 In my judgment, Congress should not only au- 
 thorize a limited amount of demand Treasury 
 notes, as contemplated by one of your bills re- 
 ported by the painstaking and laborious Commit- 
 tee of Wajs and Means, but should also author- 
 ize an additional lo.m fully equal to the public 
 wants, and provide for the prompt pajm^nt ot 
 the interest upon its loan, and the. redemption 
 of its demand and matured notes, by laying di- 
 rect and indirect taxes, -as recommended by thia" 
 resolution, fully adequate to that end. But 1 
 •submit that, after we shall have thus legislated, 
 we should go further. We should by law pro- 
 vide for the confiscatior. to public use and to tho 
 support of the Governm^-.^t, of all the property of 
 all who shall, after your enactment, engage m 
 this rebellion, their aidors and abettors. 1 do 
 not stop to further argue the constitutional pow- 
 er of Congress so to legislate, for on t^i at ques- 
 tion a m^uority of this House are concluded by 
 the enactment of the confiscation act of last ses- 
 sion Why should not this legislation be ex- 
 tended so as to authorize the seizure and confis- 
 cation to the public use of all the property, real 
 and personal, moneys, goods, stocks, credits, and 
 effects of these rebel enemies, their aiders and 
 abettors, wherever found, who shall Persist in 
 the rebellion? This property, retained by the 
 enemy is an element of strength. ^\ hy should 
 not the $300,000,000 worth of cotton, corn, rice, 
 sugar, and tobacco, now possessed by the enemy, 
 and to them a means of subsistence and a basis 
 of credit, be declared forfeited by law, and sub- 
 ject to seizure and confiscation in your courts 
 to the public use? Why should not the fer ile 
 land, of the enemy, as fast as they are wrested 
 from them by our arms, be by law subjected to 
 the r cupancy of loyal citizens, that by honest 
 culture they may be made to yield their annual 
 tribute to the national Treasury ? And above 
 all, sir, why should not the four millions of slaved 
 held by these rebels, and by whose unpaid toil 
 this rebellion waged by a half million of traitors 
 in arms is sustained, be by a law of Congress de- 
 Glared freemen, and forever released from their 
 unwilling servitude ? 
 
 » '. < ^) <i^",. • Vi/. '^'-^siii^-^' 
 
 , ^ i irrj M iy -vi|p, 
 
The loyal citizens npon the snmmons of the I 
 ' President, and by authority of your law, rushed 
 six huudrcd thousand strong; to the roscuo of the 
 (Government and iheauppresision of this rpbellion. I 
 Resolved upon this patriotic purpose, thpy stand 1 
 in arms to-day from the shores of the Dclawure 
 to the shores of the Mississippi ; in Maryland and 
 Virginia ; in the Carolinaa and Kentucky ; in 
 Missouri and Florida. These brave men are 
 remly, ay, ready to lay down theft livea like the 
 immortal heroi.a at Tin inopyhu in obedience to 
 the laws. I 
 
 8ir, if by a legislative act, forfeiting all proper- | 
 ty and liberating all slaves of these rebels, their | 
 ni'l'TS and abettors, you can diminish the bur- 
 dens of the loyal people, strengthen your arms, 
 and weaken the enemy, then is such lezislation 
 necessary and an imperative duly. Upon my 
 oath I dare not withliold my assent from such 
 ' n. By no a«t of mine can I consent that 
 
 ill be any unnecessiiry burdens imposed 
 upon the loyal citizen, or any unnecessary sacri- 
 lice of tbeir lives in this struggle. I know that 
 the loyal ami good are ready to give all their sub- 
 stance to the support of the^cau^e of the Govern- 
 ment. I know thai your citizen soldiers are ready 
 to give up life for their country. 1 know that 
 ■ those who bade them go, and invoked (Jod'a 
 blessing upon tlJcir going, and await with trem- 
 1 'iaii jolicitude their triumph and honorable re- 
 I'rn, will submit, if need be, without a murmtirj 
 
 that greatest of all sacrifice, which will to 
 4iem forever break the charmed circle of home, 
 and forever change to them the beauty of earth 
 and the imi^ery of heaven. If by enacting such 
 a law you can soften the bunlens of the people, 
 or save to any extent the i)recious lives of your 
 soldiers, every man here, 1 trust, would be for it. 
 
 I propose the confiscation of enemy property 
 by condemnation in your courts, and its forcible 
 seizure by arms. What constitutional restraint 
 prevents it ? Does someone say, "no bill of at- 
 tainder shall be passed ?" I agree to that ; I pro- 
 pose no bill of attainder. I am no advocate of 
 that "trauacendenl j)Ower of Par'iiam-'nt," of 
 which Coke speaks, and by whir h, without judi- 
 cial tritil, a man may bo ntta nted even after he 
 is dead. Does 'Ome one cite the limitation of the 
 Constitution upon your power to punish treason ? 
 I agree that by that limitation your power to 
 punish this great crime is limited to the life of 
 the offender, and that you cannot, by you;- stat- 
 ute, attaint t' e blood of his cfiildren. I propose, 
 sir, to deal only with living traitors ; to confis- 
 cate their property, and liberate their slaves. 
 Their slaves are uaiural-born citizens, and the 
 country has the right ti their services. 
 
 Pass your law liberating the 4,000,000 slaves 
 held by the rebels, and thereby break every un- 
 just yoke in that rebel region ; and let the op- 
 pressed CO tree, in oliediiuce to that conimatid 
 which coniei to us as a voice out of heaven, 
 "'Proclaim I berty throughout all the land, to all 
 the inhabitants thereof." Do you say tb's i'J 
 fanaticism? Dj you say (iod whs a fanatic [ 
 when he commanded it, and that the fathers of 
 the Uepublic were fanatics when they adopted it i 
 as the sign under which they should conquer, l 
 and burucd it with fire into the very bell whose ' 
 
 iron tongue summoned them i the e tern work 
 of resistance ? 
 
 Hut do you say we have not the constitution- 
 al power to enact such a law? Why not? Be- 
 cause, you 8ny, the slave is the rebel'.s property. 
 I cannot admit that; but, conceding it for iho 
 moment, has he not forfeited his property, as 
 well as his life, to the Government? Have you 
 not by your law authorized the taking of his life, 
 both by the sword and the gallows? Is his 
 right to his slave, which came by wrong, more 
 sacred than his right to his life, which is the gilt 
 of (Jod? Hi\3 the rebel special righn and im- 
 munities of property in his slave which you do 
 not acco d to the loyal citizen? Are you not 
 about to assert your jiower to take the properly 
 of the true and loyal citizen by taxation, to iho 
 extent needed for the put.lic defence? Do you 
 stop with a law demanding the property of tbo ' 
 loyal citizen? Do you nil demand his life aa 
 well, and the life of the fir?t-!'orn of his house? 
 Why. sir, the loyal citizen has no right or im- 
 munity which must not yield to the paramount 
 claims and wants of au imperiled country. Even 
 his houfe and home, the most sacred possession 
 of man on this side of the grave, must, by the 
 very terms of yoiir Constitution, be yielded up 
 lor the commim deleiico ; 
 
 " No RoUllcr shiill In time of i>oiu-o be qnarloroA In any 
 lioiinK witlimit llio oD.-i'iil of iis owner ; nnr In lime of war, 
 lini 111 ;i in.iiiiHT to be i)re.<)crilio<l by law."---3, AmemlmetiU 
 
 to thr Cinifiiliitiim. 
 
 You may thus in war exercisp a power which, 
 in time of peace, > ven under the constitution of 
 monarchy, is denied 'o the sceptre and the throne. 
 The words of the great commoner of England 
 will live forever. 
 
 " Tlip poorest man tnny In his cottnfro'hid dctianon Xn all 
 <li.' [KiwiTs of ilii- frown. It mi\y bo frail, ilA roof may 
 f<link<', th<' wmil ni.iy blow IbrouKli it. (In- stoim may i-nlcr, 
 the r;iin may enter, but tlio kiOK <li«ro not entrr --alt liia 
 r<iri:c'i> dare' not ciu8S Iho Uirc«ho|(l of Iho ruined tonc- 
 
 llUlll." 
 
 By your law this inviolable s'lnctily of the 
 hearthstone, whence comes the nation's strength, 
 may be swept away, and yet you cannot confis- 
 cate the property or liberate the slaves of rebels 
 in arms. Believe it not, sir, though one rose from 
 the de«d to proclaim it. 
 
 Against any legislation to this end, it has been 
 urged that the power of confiscation and eman- 
 cipation is a war power, and, ther' fore, to bo 
 exercised only by the Kxecutive as Commander- 
 in-Chief, or by those under him in the military 
 service. I admit that it is a war power ; but I 
 havo already shown that the Constitution has 
 invented the wir power in Congress, and the 
 power to pass all laws needful to its execution. 
 The speech of the venerable John Quincy Adams 
 has been cited as against the power of Congress 
 so to legislate. The speech was not fully cited 
 or considered. Instead of making any su^h de- 
 claration he declari's the (contra -y. th.it, i^ time of 
 insurrection or piibli- w.ir, 'he (tower to emanci- 
 pate the slaves ot rebels '■■"""•- "> :bw Huuso 
 und the Smate." 
 
 I have heard it inlii-aicd i w tn • i'esident 
 doubts tbis power. There is no room for such 
 intimation, inasmuch as the power, to a limited 
 extent, was exercised by Congress at its recent 
 session, by a statute which gave liberty to all 
 
slaves employed by tlieir ^maptsrs' conTent in aid 
 of this releliion, and confiscated all propepty 
 of rebel-j used by its owner's consent in aid of 
 the rebellion, and -which statute the President 
 approved. The Presi lent, loyal to the require- 
 ments of the Constitution and the laws, tells us 
 in hi« message to this sesiion that he has con- 
 formed bis official conduct to this statute of 
 Congress; and that "if a new law upon the 
 Bamevubjcct shall be proposed, its propriety will 
 be duly conside'red." 
 
 Sir, if such a law be passed it is said it will 
 not be effective. Why not elFectivo? Can you 
 not enjoin upoh the commanding officer of your 
 army the execution of a general law of confisca- 
 cation and liberation, in the s me mauner thai 
 by the Jaw of 180G the duty is now enjoined 
 upon him to secure for the public use the public 
 'BtoreB of the enemy taken in bis camps, forts, 
 magazines, and towns, and for the neglect of 
 which such commanding otficer shall be an- 
 swerable? (Fifty-eighth Article of War.) 
 
 But it is said such a law will no^, as to the 
 rebels' slaves, be effective. Why not? Is it be- 
 cause the knowledge of the fact cannot reach 
 these s-aves? Pa-s your law simply decla-ing 
 them freemen, and that they shall, if they fly to 
 your standard, receive the protection of your 
 army, and the joyful news will in ten days reach 
 every slave in the Republic, by means of that hu- 
 man telegraph whose living network overlies 
 fevery slave plantation, and is woven of the lace- 
 rated heart-strings of the victims of this infernal 
 atrocity. Will not your Jaw be effective if passed 
 and communicated to the slave? Why not? Is 
 it because he prefers slavery to freedom — the 
 bondage of death to the glorious liberty of the 
 sons of God? No, sir, there is no slave in this 
 land, not reft' of his reason by the providence of 
 God or by the torture of oppression, who would 
 not hail your statute of deliverance as the very 
 gift of life. Though he is a slave he is still a 
 man ; and however ignorant and debased, how- 
 ever closely imprisoned in that thick darkness 
 which may be felt, and which only falls upon 
 those from wh m tyranny shuts out the light, his 
 hope for liberty as his right is not and cannot be 
 extinguished, for it is alliei to his hopf of im- 
 mortality, and is bound up with the elements of 
 his soul, which cannot, but by annihila ing, die. 
 
 Pass your law, proclaim it at the he >,d of your 
 
 army, execute it summarily by allowing these 
 
 unwilling supporters of the reb Uion to escape 
 
 from their masters through your lines, and receive 
 
 your protection in return for their loyalty ; and 
 
 these children of oppression will make such an 
 
 exodus from the house of their bondHge as the 
 
 world has not seen since that exodus of God's 
 
 pec4)le which the dark-eyed daughters of Israel 
 
 celebrated in that sublime song: 
 
 " Tlio Lmil liath Iriumplmd gloriously ; the horso and his 
 rider liathTio Uirowu iulo tiic sea. 
 
 Pass this law, require its faithful execution by 
 3'our army, and tlieTebellion must cease, or its 
 authors, its aiders, and abettors perish for bread. 
 Do this, and crown yourselves with the immortal 
 honor of giving liberty to one portion of our 
 people and the serene blessings of peace to an- 
 
 SCAMIIELL & CC). , Trinlers, corner of Second slroot & Indiana 
 
 LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 other. It is said that upon such statute of libe- 
 ration, and by reason of its enactment, these 
 slaves will ri^e in insurrection. To say this is 
 to libel human nature in its lowest estate. 
 Gratitude is inseparable from the human heart 
 in every condition of life, in eve^y zone of the^ 
 earth's surface. To shiver tlie fetters which 
 bind in cruel bondage the souh of men will not 
 exci e in them hatred or anger or revenge, but 
 will attuue thflr hearts to the sweet melody of 
 virtue, and inspire them with hymns of thanks- 
 giving to their delivercs. 
 
 Sir, if, after your enactment of this stattlte of 
 liberation, the slave? of these rebel masters rise 
 in insurrection, it will not be because by your 
 law they are declared freemen, but because their 
 traitor masters, in defiance of your law, continue 
 to deny them their liberty. A slave insurrection, 
 however much to be deplored, w uld neither 
 weaken your arms nor strengthen those of your 
 rebel enemy. Whoever urges, therefore, such 
 objection to this needful and just, legislation, 
 must, whether conscious of it or not, assume 
 that rebels who, wi'.hout colorable excuse, wp.ge 
 a cruel and exterminating war against their fel- 
 low-citizens, should not be deprived by the 
 Government, against which they have revolted, 
 of the means by which they may make their re- , 
 bellion a success, and without wtiich they must* 
 ignonliniously fail. ,. 
 
 Pass this just and beneficent law as aa a(' 
 of justice to the slave; pass it as an act c 
 justice to your country; pass it ag an act ov 
 justice to your brave army of loyal citizen sol-' 
 diers who stand this hour between you and 
 the armed terrors of treason ia the capital; 
 pass it and crush this slave rebellion at once, 
 and thereby make a like rebellion for a like 
 object forever impossible in the Republic. I 
 put the question to Representatives: is the al- 
 leged property of these rebels in four million 
 of slaves, and in their lands and crops, goods, 
 moneys, and chattels, more sacred than the lives 
 of your soldiers and the life of your country ? 
 Mar God hide from my eyes and from the eyes 
 of my children the day when the dying agony 
 of my country shall begin!* By no act of ours, 
 either of omi-sion or commission, may we con- 
 tribute to that direst and blackest crime which 
 can be committed by any people — the crime of 
 national suicide. Who does not know that he 
 who has the power fo prevent the crime' of. 
 self-destruction and withholds or refuses its ex- 
 ercise, and thereby permits the deed, is himself 
 a murderer? . Why, I ask, in the name of eter- 
 nal justice, should the people's treasure be ex- 
 pended at the rate of $2,000,000 a day, and the 
 people themselves be mangled and maimed and 
 murdered by these rebels, rather than end the 
 sacrifice of treasure and of blood by a sublime 
 act of justice which will give liberty to the slave, 
 relief to the people, stability to the Constitution, 
 peace to a distracted country, and make the 
 Republic what its illustrious foundprs intended 
 it to be, a temple for the "perpetual residence 
 of an inviolable justice," a refuge for the op- 
 pressed, and a sacred sanctuary for the rights 
 of mankind. 
 
 aveuuo, ITiird Floor. 
 
 011 933 377 
 
 \ 
 
011 933 377 5