Ill III II I II 1 1 II II II I r II 012 027 002 3 4 J peRm^lrP6« pH8J E 458 .4 .fl42 Copy 1 SPEECH HON. WILLIAM J. ALLEN, OF ILLINOIS, THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, DELIVEIIZD IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 27, 1864 'WASHINGTON, D. C. r PEINTKO AT TttB OJTICE OF "TUE CONSTUl TIONAL CMO-N," SO SJO X OTREia 18I64* ■A4l SPEECH The TTonfo beinrr in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union — Mr. ALLEN said: Mr. Chairman : T propose to make some otservations upon the liit« aoDnal message of the PreBia.-nt. What I thiuk of it I shall say without prt-jude ; what I Injlievc of his notiou^i and purposes will not hn attended or followed by auy crinpinpr explanation or apolopy. I assert as my delib»'rate opinion that the mes- sage was prepared by the Prc?idfnt and those who actei a^ his immeHiato advisers with di- rect reference to a prolongation of tho war, atid that this desire to protract hostilities has for its objrct uo other or hifiber aim than the reprehen>iihle and criminal one of re-electing bimst'lf President, continuing the present party in power, and protrnctiug tlie existing reign of plntnler and robbery. By bis own words, and by declarations of his chief ad- risers, he stands convicted of criminal hy- pocrisy in regard to matters vital to the ex- istence of the country ; and now, having thrown olT those restraints which were for a wbila imposed alono by his timidity, he an- blashingly proclaims himself the arbiter of States, and as^nmes to deal with their go- vernments and tb'* rights and property of loyal people with a pway more crnel and des- potic than is claimed for any monarch or des- pot in the world. Kot content with violating his official and other pledge?, and a total dis- regard of the platform upon which be came into power, be has usurped the forbidden powers of the Constitution, and assumes to deal with individuals and States as though they were the plartlnngs of bis malice or mere fields of plunder for bis adherents. I shall pass by the causps of (he trar. With the executive department in bis hands, it proved inevitable. Though many believed ' that war, no matter bow produced, would in the then condition of tho public mind prove the grave of tho Republic, yet when the dire necessity came a very large rarjority of the people accepted the issue which rebellion had tendered, and lavishly offered tbeir blood and treasure to the c-ansc of the Government. And I assert that never, in ancient or modern times, were the issues of any war so clearly made or so sharply defined. On the one side was an open, bold, and organiz-d resistance to the lawful authority of the Federal Govern- ment ; on the other the military power of that Government was invoked for the purpose, the jo/e purpose, of putting down armed rt-bclliim and enforcing its rightful authority wl(.-rever it bad been obstructnd or oppos^d. I repeat that tbii wai the only issue, the sole purpose, for which, before tli.-"221 of Scptembor, 1 Still, a million soldiers had rallied beneath the llag of the Constitution. I said the Frosident and his advisers had been guilty of wilful decep'ion. I will make good the charge. It is true that in the at- tempt I shall submit nothing which should bo new to any meml>er present, nor can I hopn to excite evf^n a feeling of abame on the part of those who, though subordiuatf iu posi- tion, are in complicity with the I'rcridfut. Though less potential for mischief, th»-rc are present those who are bles.scd with better faculties and higher endowments than tho Prt'sideut, and who aro tbcrnforo no less guilty of tho wicked purposes which I iaputa to him. The object of war among civilized people should be pkacb. Wur as a means to any other end can nnver be justifi>'d. What, I re- peat, produced tho warf All men know it was armed resistance to the rigbtfnl autho- rity of the Government. What end and aim did Congress and the loyal people propose when they nnthoriaed the employment of the largest armifS of modern times f I,.'t Con- gress, the Executive, and bis r.dvlsprs an- swer; and when they have answered, let the unerring facts of history brand them as false- hearted trillers with the lives of t!ie brave men who are daily filling unnoticed graves ; and \ft patriots eTery\»here who still love constitutional liberty rise np, and by the powerful engine of the ballot, whi 'b des- potism cmnot now wrest from them, burl the present imbecile from power, and save the country, which at this moment is struggling in the agonies of et» rnal death. I omit, for the present, all reference to the Preridont's inaugural. When it was spoken hostilities had not be^un. 1 com" diwn to a later day, to the first battle of Bull Rin, at whi-h time Congress was in ?«ssion. B-^fore this the war had been regarded by public men of " the last dollar and last man" pcrsuision, an 1 by pc- soua who, however unsound on Chri;-f, were orthodox npiiu tho nigger, j*3 a mere holiday sport. Buggies, hack?, gigs. Jersey wagon?, males and horses were in demand at fabulous prices ; the road from Washington to Bull Ran was 1 crowded with Senators and Repreaentative?, contradora end courtesau?, eanucbs aud strong minded women, all int«ut upon wit- nessing iLe impeLding rout of the rebels. The seqnel is known. Th« panic in this city among those who are now chiefd among the loyal leaguers will be long remembered by all ■who thought the public safety would be pro- moted by retaining a quorum of members. "When th« panic wad over and Beauregard had failed to occupy the Capitol, the House of R:)- presentatives adopted the following resolution, introduced by the venerable and patriotic Crit- tenden, now no more, with but two dissent- ing votes: "That this war is not waged in any spirit of op- pression, or for any purpose of conquest or subju- gation, or purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of these btatcs, but ta defend and maintain thu supremacy of the Constitution and to p^c^e^ve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several Btatcs uniuipaircJ, and that ns soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease." Immediately after the passage of this reso- lution, every approach to the Capitol was crowded with regiments and brigades who had tendered their services in a war to be con- ducted for the holy purpose avowed in that resolution. So great was tho rush to arms that, Ehortly thereafter, tho chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs in the Senate tad to announce that more troops were being offered than the Government could accept. And much more than this, the Union men of the South were cheered and strengthened by this formal assurance that they had been right in defending the President vhen charged by the rebela with designing a jrand John Brown raid upon the slave States, and the degrada- tion of the whites to the level of the negro. A short time afterwards a similar resolo.ion was submitted to the Senate by Andrew John- son, of Tennessee, aiid, my recollection is, unanimously adopted. But a few days before this, on the 4th day of July, 18G1, the Presi- dent spoke to Congress as follows : " Lest there bo some uneasiness in tho minds of candid men as to what is to be the course of tho Oovernmciit toward the Southern States after tho rebclHon shall have been suppressed, the Execu- tive deems it proper to say it will be his purjiose then, as over, to be guided by the Constitution and the laws ; and that ho probiibly will have no differ- ent understanding of the powers and duties of the Federal Government relatively to tho rights of the States and the people under tho Constitution thun that expressed in tho inaugural address, lie de- •ires to preserve the Government, that it may be administered for all, as it was administered by the men who made it. Loyal citizens everywhere have th» right to claim this of their Government; and the Government has no right to withhold or noglcet i(. It i.>- nl the control of the Fcdcrnl author- ities, by leaving it to remain (ms, habits, and institutions ia either case will remain the same. '' It is hardly necessary to adil to this incontes- tible statement the further fact that the new I'resi dent, as well as tho citizens throuch whoso suf- frages ho has come into tho Ailuiinistration, has al- ways repudiated a'.l designs whatever and wherever imputed to him and them of disturbing the system of slavery as it is existing under tho Constitution and laws. Tao case, however, would not bo fully presented if I wero to omit to say that any such effort on his part would be unconstitutional, and all his actions in that direction would bo prevented by the judicial authority even though tbcy wore as- sented to by Congress and the people." — Instruc- tions to Mr. Daytou in IS61. Mr. Chairman, I might consame my hoar in producing the proofs of tUc falsehood and per- fidy of those who thus deceived and betrayed the people of th<« North, and insulted and ex- asperated the Union men of the Isouth. What other evidence is needed of this shameless perfidy than the fact that the murderous adherents of John Brown, and the rehel adherents of JctTcrson Davis were made glad ? For so soon as the President avowed his purpose to change tho war to one of cru sade against slavery, of plunder and extermi- nation, the apostles of Brown and the disciples of Davis were heard in mingled strains of joy and gladness. Each hoped and believed that the Presideuchad rendered a restoration of the Union impossible. Each being disunion- ists per se, each could afford to rejoice at every crime and blunder which paralyzed the arm of those who struggled and fought for peace and a reunited country. The effect of con- verting tho war into a struggle for the free- dom of the n-'gro and tho subversion of the slave States has unmistakably been to prolong end intensify the contest; and in that contest, while the South may ba victims of the torch and the sword ; while those who gladly wel- comed the flag may be robbed of their proper- ty, and compelled to starve or swear to b>- oome the slaves of Lincoln, in the free and populous North the seeds of corruption aod tyranny are begioning to bring forth their baleful fruits. Even here almc.st fvey house except the habitations of contractors and abj- litionista has l)ccocne the abode ( f bereave- ment, oftfu of dfHolition ; tixatioji is grind- iig all classes except the pett«d plnnderr^rs of the (lovt-rument ; and while national and in- 4ividual baiihraptcy ia Impending, a more terrible doom is apprehen«led and i..aitd. We canr.o: shut our eyes to tho fact that iLc elec- tive franchise is eudangort-d. We have seen tho rights of the people usurped in .Maryland and 1) laware oud in p;irti')ns of Kentucky. Wo have seen their constitutions and laws snppendfd by tho edicts of the I'rt-sideut and his minions, the ballot box trampled juto the dust, and tho Blavish creatures of his favorit- ism foisted into ofhce and honor, not to rep- resent tho interests or the voice of tho people of those States, not to di-chargo the duties incident to the olBcoi whi( h they obtained by a combination of fraud and force, but to regis- ter and assist ia executing the decrees of a master, whoso slaves, violator of the Constitu- tion as he is, they are totally unworthy to l>«. When this terribl« issue is presented to the people of tho free North next fall, as 1 am sure it will be, then we will see the brtgin^ aing of tho end. Every barricade which cruelty or malignity may erect between the voter and the ballot-box will be removed ; the corrupt infttruraent-i of so mrnstrona a proceeding, whether black or while, whether mere provost marshals or msjor generals, will find tho people of one Stato, at lea^t, more anxious to preserve the purity of the ballot- box than the carcasses of those who may seek to enslave them. The late message, fairly construed, amounts to an unblushinj avowal of this despotic intent. It is true that the purpose is at present avowed with reference only to the rebellious States ; but the Presi- dent has assumed to attach a condition to the right of suffrage there, which he may at any time as rightfully apply to the State in which I live. I do not now discuss the terms which he offers to rebels in arms. The ouiy answer most of them will make to his proposals is that of dkfiance. I allude to the fact that he denies the lo>/al men of the South the right of suffrage ; and asserts that they who hare committed no crime shall have no legal or po- litical rights unless they will first subscribe to a degrading oath, an oath so slavish that we may rightfully assume that it will be ev?xi- ed or disregarded by many of those wLo may subscribe to its terms. But I ask whence comes the President's power thus to deal with loyal men who have violated no law, and con- sequently forfeited no rights of person or pro- perty ? We can all understand bow the loyal men of the South may lose their properly. The armies which were created for the sola purpose of vindicating the law are statioaecl in the South ; the President is " Comtnauder- in-Chief," and he has grown fond of issuing imperial decrees which that Army is com- manded to enforce. Almost «verj officer o( Independence of cLaracter, who lias exhibited the slighteat repugnance to executing his de- crees, has, when blandishments failel to se- duce him, heen dismissed the service in a manner designed to insure his disgrace. Why, then, should the l^resident fe^r lo issue an edict as sweeping and unrelenting as the torch of Omar ; and by which, at one dash of the pen, he attempted to destroy property valued at $2,Uu0,li00,(.00, and that too, without refer- ence to the sex, age, condition, or opinions of its owners? The press had been muzzled ; Congress had become the mere register of his will; the loyal people of the South were either within rebel or Federal lines. Iso protest weuld be heard or heeded, while corrupt creatures might ev;.-'rywhere be found to liattcr the au- thor of such unpardonable maladministration. Or why then should we marvel that he who affected scorn for the Pope's bull against the comet should now claim mastery over the minds and consciences of men ; nor be deter- red from demanding of those who execrate his name and memory an oath — a solemn oath — to be true to his bulls hurled at sc/ereign States and the deep convictions of a majority of the people ? I repeat that the President proposes terms to the loyal people of the South which all sensible mt-n must know that they will regard as degrading. The jackals who follow the Army for the purposes of plunder are no part of the Southern people ; and the Loyal Leagues which they may form within military posts I do not take into the account. Nor do I allude to those excrescences upon the political and military system known as "mili- tary governors" — such adventurers upon the hazard of a terrible civil war as Johnson of Tennessee, and Hamilton of Texas. They have been selected, I suppose, to " govern" those who hate them, just as eunuchs are ap- pointed to guard the harem. Each excites the disgust of those who are compelled to en- dure their presence. But, Mr. Chairman, the highest degree of Iniquity in the President's bull against slave- ry and 'state rights, is to be found, perhaps, in his requirement of the same terms of the loyal men of the South to retain their rights, as' are tendered to the vilest rebels in the land as the conditions upon which theirs may be regained. Take, for example the State of Tennessee. More than sixty thousand free- men of that State refused to vote for the ordi- nance of secession. About forty thousand vo- ted against tlie secession of the State, although a large portion of it was occupied by rebel troops, and every means \ras used to overawe the ptople. That State hes now one of its citizens upon the supreme bench. It has fur- nished over thirty thousand troops to the Government. Yet these soldiers, and other loyal people of that State, are to be disfran- chised unless tbey will take the oath pre- scribed by the President lor armed rebels. I repeat, if these terms can be imposed upon the loyal people of Tennessee by the President, why may be not require the same t'ling of the people of Idi'iois ? Imagine, if you pleise, General Bu ler swearing in the chivalry in that hall at Charleston in which for so many days in 1S60 he alone, of all the men of New England, voted for his friend Jefi'trir.n Davis for President, in the hope of deit^ating the great Douglas by dividing the Democratic party sufficiently to make a victory of aboli- tionism certain, and thereby furnish a hollow pretext for Davis, Yancey & Co. to secede. Or, if you prefer it, go to Kuoxville and wit- ness the ministrations of Parson Brownlow while swearing in the Unijn men of East Ten- nessee — the true Union men who rcfuB^d so long to swear fealty to Jclf. Davis. They will hardly degrade themselves by kneeling side by side with their rebel persecutors, and swearing fealty to Lincoln and all his pro- clamations in regard to slavery. There is a building in Knoxvillf*, I am told, in which, in June, i860, that reverend cham- pion of " Honest Abe" penned end published an appeal to the people of Tennessee to rally against Lincoln, the Abolitionist, and Uamlin, whose color was suggestive of a ''free negro." In that building we will imagine him holding his highcourt of political expurgation. We can almost see him now as he opens the proceedings with prayer. Behind the reverend operator in Greek and hell fire may be seen the heroie but saintly face of Horace llnynard, whi!ethe martial form of Brigadier Gdueral Andrew Johnson, in full military dress, glows as brightly as when he wrote his letter to Abra- ham, assuring him of General Buell's treason. We can almost hear them no;v calling for mourners, and administering Lincoln's oath. No doubt those sturdy mountaineers will, on bended knees, solemnly swear to " abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the rebellion having reference to slaves." Mr. Chairman, at any other time such mockery would excite only that pity which we feel for the mummeries of the i-asane, and that contempt which fills us for those who engage only in works of sacri- lege. But the times are too perilous, the issues too grave, to be passed thua lightly by. And this is the medicine, this the great panacea which is offered as the re- storer of a dismembered Union. And there are those who profess to find in this silly pro- ceeding a " wise plan" for bringing peace to a distracted and bleedin» country. It does not rise to the dignify of respectable mad- ness ; it is too weak and contemptible for the epithet of imbecility. Sir, by what process are freemen not in the laud or navel service of the country to be deprived of lifo, liberty, or property ? ' Before the Constitution became obsolete the answer would have been, only by '^ clue procfss of law" after ^'prcscnlnttnt or in- dictment of a grand jury." But in this age of political prostitution aud iudisoriminate rob- bery, we liud that estates are conli-cated witb- out'indictment or trial; and, finally, the right of suffrage, the surest safeguard and final de- fence of a free people, is to be taken away by one who 13 beneath all the nsnrpcrs hewonld imitate in everything save in his disiageuaoas spirit. The usurpation is too monstrous to be defend^^d by any one who has justclainnto manhood, and in fact I am per.-iuad>-d limls but few defenders eave among the corrupt and slavish menials who arc unlit to be free. And this is the man whom my colleague [Mr. Ar- uoldT associates in argument with the Saviour of mankind, lie reads an extract from the irrepressible conllict speech which Lincoln made some years ago, and exclaims : "This, tho first cmphatio onuncialion of thophi- losophieal fact of ilio antagonism between lilM'.rty and slavery, the eternal lund ' irrepressiblu' conllict between theiu, clootrificd tho country, nnd ma.io Abraham Lincoln Prci-idont of tho United Slates." "When the Son of God proclairaod a common Father and tho universal brotherhood of man, Ho enuneiiitcd tho great moral prineipio which brought on tho irreprcssihlo conllict with slavery." Here he informs us that Christ only "enun- eiiitcd the great moral principle which Iruutjht on this irrepressible cunjiict," whilu it was reserved to Lincoln eighteen centuries thereafter to make "the Jlrst emphatic enunciation of the phi- losophical fact of the antagonism bcticcen liberty and slavery,^' which ho graciously tells us "electrified the country and made Abraham Lincoln President of the United States." I protest ajrainst this robbery of the illustrious dead. What will John Brown's ghof^t say when that apostle of bloody pikes finds him- self thus unceremoniously kicked out of the company of Christ to give the seat of honor to the saintly form of Abraham ? What will Jeanison and Montgomery say ? Lincoln had not so much as burned a barn upon the Mis- souri border, when saintly frcedom-shriekers, now occupying high stations, civil and mili- tary, were holding up their bloody hands for favor at tho orgies held over successful rob- beries, murders, and assassinations. What will Fremont and Hunter say ? It was they to whom was first revealed the saving grace of proclamations of freedom. What will some of the sanctimonious constituents of my col- league say when they remember their pious pilgrimage from Chicago to Washington ; and how, while they implored a proclamation in the name of God, Abraham was too carnal- minded to grant it ? What will be said by tho bolder pioneers in the "irrepressible conflict" who are now languishing in the peHitentiaries for negro-stealing ? They were brave enough to commence the work of emancipation with- out purse or scrip, each for himself, and soli- tary and alone, while Abraham could not come up to the good work until he thought himself backed by an Army of a million of armed sol- diers and sustained by the prayers of whole divisions of contractors and contrabands. If any one is to be placed before Christ, let it be John Brown or Montgomery or Jennisou. Even ray other colleague from the Bureau dis- trict [Mr. Lovejoy] has antecedents in this regard entitling him to a higher seat than our distinguished Chief Magistrate. deriously, Mr. Chairman, when my colleague [Mr. Ah- hold] again preceeds to enlighten us as to the pedigree* of these illustrious reformers, I hopo he will reconcile the commanil of our Saviour, that servants should bo "obedient to their mastf-rs," with tho injunction of Brown, Lin- coln & Co., which requires masters to be obe- dient to their slaves. But a few days aeo, a Norfolk correspondent of the Nt-w Y'ork I'mut wrote as follows in regard to a negro raid which (teneral Butler caused to be made into ^■o^th Carolina : "Tho material results of tho raid may bo »am» mod up as follows : Between two and three thon-fand slaves were released from bnndajro, with whom wore taken along about threeJ, and one of their numbor wa.s hanged ; and one hundred rifles, uniforms, infantry equipments, Ac., Tell into our hands as spoils, with a loss on the part of tho brigade of twelve killed and wounded and one man tatcn prisoner. Besides this, fourteen rebel prison- ers and four hostages wore brought in. "In regard to its moral and political rciulta, however, tho importance of tho raid cannot bo over- estimated. Tho counties invaded by tho colored troojis were completely panic-stricken. Scores of famdics, for no causo but a guilty conscience, fled into tho swamps on thiir approach. Never was a region thrown into sueh a commotion by a raid be- fore. Proud scions of chivalry, accustomed to claim tho most abject obedienco from th«ir slaves, literal- ly fell on their knees before theso armed and uni- formed blacks and begi;ed for their lives. I was frenuently asked how I, a citizen, dared to trust myself among such incarnate demons. ' What shall I do to be saved ?' was tho question aakcd on every side." Mr. Chairman, the faith of any one must bo weak indeed if, after reading the many glow- ing accounts of expeditions, of which this is a specimen, they do not regard the war as over, and the people of both sections ready to cm- brace and forgive each other. We are told that the guerrillas lost in killed and v/ounded the immense number of thirteen, while our victorious army burned only ten habitaiions I But the greatest satisfaction is felt when we are assured by the writer that "in regard to its moral and political results, however, the importance of the raid cannot be overestima- ted." Certainly they cannot. " Scores of families" " fled into the swamps on their ap- proach." The President, no doubt, feels well assured that those "proud scions of chivalry" who so abjectly "fell on their knees before these armed and uniformed blacks and be,TBed for their lives," exclaiming "What shall I do to be paved" will not hesitate in the pres- ence of these armed negroes to take th ^ oath he has so magnanimously prescribed. 0( one thing, that they will ke-p an oath administer- ed under such circumstances, ho can feel no doubt. Ilia rigid adherence to bis own oaths 8 will cause him to suspect no meatal reserva- tion in others. This raid, Mr. Chairman, is but a specimen of the movements which have characterized many of our military operations during the past year in the valley of the Mis- | sissippi, and especially in the department of I the Gulf. Plunder, wholesale and indiscrimi- 1 nate, upon the loyal and disloyal alike, if we may believe the correspondence published in our own papers, and information derived from other reliable sources, has been so common and conducted upon a scale so vast that it has become no longer a matter of surprise. It U perpetrated in every form, under the sem- blance of trade regulations, impressments by pretended levies upon the disloyal, and by military orders which afford sufficient pretexts for those whose choice pursuit is plunder. It is true that we hear occasionally that such men as Butler and Curtis have been suspend- ed ; but the hungry cormorants who seek plunder, and know they can obtain it under the auspices of such men, are not long in hav- ing them rcstorud to commands where their cupidity may be gratified. The robberies un- der the reign of Butler at New Orleans have been so palpable as to shock the sensibilities of mankind. No prizo was too great, no in- ducement too small for his enterprise. From the State capitol to the grave yard, from the parlor to the kitchen, his grasping hand was extended. All accounts agree that thitgs have I been done at New Orleans under the flag of' our country which if not disavowed will dis- grace the Government in all coming time. I will mention one instance as it was published in the New Orleans Era. That paper is the organ of the Administration there — the most of its articles are headed " by anthority." I •will read the Era^s report. It is in the follow- ing words : " CONFISCATIOS OF TOMBSTONES." " There was one splendid monument — a, stately column or pyramid, intended to mark the spot whero rest the remains of Colonel Charles D. Dreux, the youthful orator who fell early in tho war in command of a confederate battalion. This was constructed at a cost of $1,500, and under tho ham- mer of tho auctioneer it brought but Si 00. Cheap monument, if the purchaser intended it for his own tomb. There was another monument equal in size and beauty which brought only thirty dollars. Tombstones sold as cheap as marble." ^., ^., The whole world is familiar with the plun- der of costly mansions and large estates, with robberies of churches and public institutions. From these we turn to the pnblic bale of a dead man's tombstone. Nothing seemed too high or low for the robber's grasp. The re- sult is that, instead of a restoration of law and order, the country occupied by our armies has in many instances been given over to pil- lage and plunder ; and they who watched the approach of our proud old flag as the harbin- ger of peace, loek now only upon a ruined country and a pillaged people. The just and considerate portion of our people will remem- ber the barbarities, the shameless robberies of this man who so suddenly rose frr-- ■ . ranks of his original secession friends to the grade of major general of volunteers ; nor will they forget that his fame rests more upon his persecutions of the unarmed and un- ofl'ending than the terror he has caused among the rebels in the field. It is now nearly three years since he donned the Federal uniform. During that time he has planned Big Bethel and other similar disasters ; bat he has never, I believe, been in personal danger, or a party to the most unimportant skirmish, although by alleged violations of the laws of civilized warfare he has won for himself the outlawry of our enemies. This has been his chief mil- itary distinction ; and now, after a year of re- pose in New England, we find him appointed to an important command in Virginia and North Carolina. With a cruelty quickened by public exposure, with his avarice stimula- ted by the success of former pillaging, and with a slavish subserviency to those whoso motives he denounced for many years of his life, he is turned loose upon a rebellions peo- ple, who, whatever their sins may bo, are at least sincere in regarding him as a monster. And when a few days ago a member from New York [Mr. Fernando Wood] submitted a resolution culling for a committee to inquire-* into his conduct, the Republican members of this House, aided by one of the President's military appointees from Kentucky, [Mr. An- DEKSON,] voted to suppress the investigation ; and it was suppressed, and this man whose career is coupled with so many crimes is as- sured of immunity, and launches again with renewed license upon additional fields of plun- der. You may declaim as you will of your anxi- ety for peace, but with the President's pro- gramme of subjugating whole peoples and subverting the governments of States, and with such men as Butler despoiling whole communities in the name of confiscation, we cannot believe you sincere ; and if sincere, it but demonstrates the utter unfitness of the party in power either to conduct tho war or administer the Government in times of pro- foundest peace. I know that in calling atten- tion to these things I shall be accused by paid officials and hired sycophants of sympathy for the rebel cause. The fate of all who have hitherto spoken boldly of the public perils, or darod to arraign the motives and conduct of the Administration, warns me that I need not hope to escape the tide of calumny which is ever in reserve for the defenders of constitu- tional liberty. I have counted well the cost of these things, and am prepared for the onset. Claiming to be a Union man, I am so uncon- ditionally. I have been so consistently and persistently ever since the firing upon Fort Sumter, whatever censure I have cast upon those who conld and ought to have avoided the war ; and here in my place do I arraign the President and the supporters of his in- sane policy as willing or mistaken instruments oi disunion. Doubtless some are so, because they do not perceive the fatal tendencips of the policy to which they adhere ; but the con- test is now no les3 with armed rebels than with those who avow their purpose to change or de stray that Union which is the creature alone of the Constitution. They are, wherever found, traitors of the basest kind. Destitute, as they know themselves to be, of principle or personal eoura^'e, they are prompt in the presence of provost marshals and military guards to ejVct their spleen upon those who adhere to the Constitution. They are im- perious and insulting now because their n-ias- t^T is near ; but their cowardice is too patent to be disguised, and the "stop thief" cry of treason which they impute to others will not always shield them from personal expo- LUre and chastisement. Those who are now loudest in shouting ' * loy- alty" have spent long years in teaching trea- son to the people of the North. Their per- sonal cowardice alone restrained them from open rebellion, but their teachings and prin- ciples were in all respects as treasonable as the ravings of the vilest secessionists in the land. Chase. Sumner, Phillips, Beecher, Fred. Douglass, Wade, Seward, John Brown, and most other representative men of the Repub- lican party, have advocated the higher law doctrine of the rebellion for the last teu or fifteen years, and one of them has had the courage to make practical application of his principles. I allude, of course, to John Brown, who suddenly rose from the level of a horse- thief to the dignity of a Kepublican god, and who is now accepted by the President and his adherents as the prince of Republicans, a type of the true Chi istian reformer and "loyalist." I, sir, denounce the heretical teachings which caused John Brown to make his murderous foray upon Ilnrper's Ferry, just as I do the rebellious teachings which caused the attack on Fort Sumter. Brown acted under a pro- visional government in antagonism to that of the United States; so did Davis and Stephens; Harper's Forrj belonged to the United States, 60 did Fort Sumter ; Earper's Ferry was reta- ken by the military forces of the United States, Fort Sumter should have been reduced long ago ; it would have been, had operations there been directed to a reduction of the fort in- stead of establishing free negro colonies at liilton Ilead and Port Royal. John Brown was made prisoner, tried for murder and trea- son, fouud guilty, and hanged. Davis may be when he is captured or surrenders. Who, then, I a.-k, dared openly defend the crimes of John Brov.n i Only a few of the bolder fanatics who, like Wendell Phillips, had avow- ed themselves disunionists from the first. Who sing hosannas to his memory now ? At least three fourths of the Black Republican party, and the whole of that numerous class of paid stipendiaries and placemen who dis- grace the press and the oflBces of the coun- try. The rebels have never showered half 80 many honors upon their dead or living leaders as you have upon this old murderer wVom you venerate simply because he was a traitor. The soldiers who volunteered for the sole purpose of putting down rebellion and vindi- cating the law are often forced to mari.h among the women and children of the South, who are too often insulted and plundered by the bad spirit and pillaging propensity which seem to enter so largely into the policy upon which this war is to bo conducted ; and thoy who impatiently listened for the airs and anthems which once told of union and nationality, often hear only from negro soldiers doggrel praises of John Brown ami his murderous crew. The uniform v/hich is the badge of a gentleman and the ensign of honor is worn now by depraved negroes whoso instincts are aliHOst as low and brutal as those at whose instance the profession of arms has been dis- graced. The proud, brave, and patriotic white soldier, who left home, family, business, and everything in order to Cght for and, if neces- sary, die for a restoration of all the States to the Union, is, by the present military policy, degraded to a level with the ignorant and bru- tal negro ; and if he complain is punished, and his officer who may chance to share with him in his complaints is dishonorably (that's the word they use) dismissed the service. And these things, Mr. Chairman, are done by those iatoleraut lealots who would brand the defenders of the Constitution with such epi- thets as " traitor' ' and ' ' copperhead I " I re- peat, sir, I am among the unconditional Union men of the country. Jefferson Davis and his adherents who sought to destroy the Union by dismember- ment are traitors to the Constitution ; but they were bold enough to avow their purposes, to appeal to the sword, and risk the dreadful consequences of their crimes. Their followers may have been wicked or misguided, but they made the issue boldly, and have so far met the consequences like brave and fearless men. I repeat, they are traitors ; and to the laws of war first, and of the United States afterwards, they are amenable ; but they are not the only traitors to the Constitution with whom we have to struggle. They may he honest and misguided, but throughout the entire North they are numbered by the thousand and tens I of thousands ; and here, here among the rep- I resenatives of the people, are to be found do»- ens and scores who are as disloyal and trea- sonable to the Constitution as are the oldest and most hardened rebels in the South. It is with you as well as with the rebels of the South that the unconditional Union men have to deal. Jeflerson Davis professed to be a Union man, but only upon his terms ; but the unconditional Union men of the country re- jected his conditions, aud pointing to the Con- stitution they said, " We will have no terms but the Constitution as it is, no Union but that which it made." Sumner, Cha«e, Lincoln, Beecher, and all the leading spirits of this Administration profess to be Union men ; but like the original secessionists of the South 10 thej are so only upon their own terms. What [ warned they will not wait to he told to pre- are those terms ? Indiscriminate robhery by pare. They are ready now ; impatient for military confiscation, and the subversion of the hour when, with that weapon which is the pov.'.rnments of almost half the States of the Union ; convening them into territoiifil dependencies, changing the whole structure of the Federal Government, and ruling mil- lions of people by standing armies and the sword. Such men, I repeat, are disunionists. Too cowardly to avow their purpose at the beginningof the war, they now seek to use the men and money suppression of the rebellion to overthrow the in Btitutions which all departments of the Gov- ernment stood pledi^ed to maintain. For myself, while I reject the terms of the rebels, I turn with equal disdain from the no less treasonable conditions; of those who seek unconstitutionally to overthrow the rights of individuals and of States. lu my opinion, those who adhere to the cause of Jefferson Davisarenomoretreasouableia theiraimsthan those who would apotheosize old John Brown, or join Fred. Douglas and Sumner in their schemes to annihilate the States of the South and obliterate them froin the map of the world. Upon this issue, thus forced upon the loyal people, the battle of the Constitution is soon to be fought. Upon the result hangs a na- tion's existence. The forces are being mar- shaled for the fray. The ides of November will end the throes and agonies of an imperiled country, or the dead corpse of the Constitu "formidable to tyrants only," they may speak peare to an agonizing people, reunion to a torn and dismembered country. And why, I as>k, should not the people everywhere array themselves upon the side of the Constitution? Those who talk of peace upon any other terms than the preservation of the Constitution, pure and simple, and a re- union of the States und< heart to that instrument, with whom I make no terms here or elsewhere. Upon all such, arguments are thrown away, but the people, the real people everywhere, those upon whom the burdens of the war fall most fearfully; whose industry is paralyzed by taxation, and whose homes, day by day, are being desolated, are impatient for the end of this unnatural struggle. It would be ended before the return of spring if common sense were allowed to control our rulers for a day. The people are not unmindful of the blessings of peace ; they have felt the horrors of war ; and they know t.hat any peace;, based upon the supremacy of the Constitution and followed by a reunion of the States, will be no less honorable to them- selves than beneficial to them and their pos- terity. But the subjugation and degradation of live millions of free men cannot result in peace. A temporary truce you may have ; a sullen silence may reign in a land made dcso- tion and the liberties of the people will have late by fire and sword ; the hoof of the Federal found a sepulcher. The issue is vastly more important than the gravest which has yet been submitted to any portion of mankind. Trained, as I have been, to be ever hopeful of the good fortunes of my country, I will «ot now despair. The frightful corruption and bold usurpations of this Administration I will hope have not affected the integrity and pat- riotism of the mass of the people. This Capi- tol, from whence the stream of profligacy, ve- nality, and corruption is issued, I trust is not at all symtomatic of a general relaxation of public morality. Always confident of the horseman may press every foot of rebel soil, but there will be no peace. It will be a nation of permanent malcontents ; and while the hand of social and political inequality rests upon them, the fires of vengeance will burn in every hea't, and the flames of rebellion will again light up the land. None of us need be ignorant of the temper and character of the people who are in arms. T&ey are of the same race as ourselves. Th«iy were born free, and have been taught principles of Anglo-Saxon liberty in the same schools with us. AVhile we may abhor the treason which first impelled their honesty and intelligence of the people, I will leaders and deplore the delusion which nerves not despair of them now when such momen- tous issues are at stake. Knowing as they do that all our past greatness and glory re- sulted from adherence to the Constitution, they will cling the more closely t» it now when dangers are thickening on every side. Their forbearance will be sorely tried. Every ob- struction which usurpation can erect will im- the arms of their followers, we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that the great body of them have been sincere. It is evidenced by their patient endurance and terrible courage, their trials and sufferings, and the tenacity with which they cling to a desperate contest. I am not alone in this estimate of rebel heroism. I will remind those who declare it treasonable pede their efforts ; but they will never yield I to find anything to admire in the character of the right of suffrage while life remains. In [ a foe, that more than I have said was admitted every Northern State, with two or three hu- during the last year by one sufficiently fanat- miliating exceptions, a majority of the people ' ical to pass as orthodox, oven among contrao- are lovers of the Union, and will array them- ; tors or contrabands. Loyal Leaguers or Free selves upon the side of that Constitution by Lovers. During the last year the Reverend which it was made. Amid long suffering they I Uenry Ward Beeehor published an article in hava exhibited patience ; should force be in- ] his newspaper, the Indtptndent, in which he vokr'd to drive them from the polls, they will ! said : manifest the spirit of men who know their « !„ jyiothcr column of our paper Mr. Greeley rights and have the courage to maintain them, expresses his opinion that the war draws to ncloee, Tjiey have teen already warned, and being • and that this year will probably see it ended. Ilo 11 does not give the facts on which such judgment is based, and it must bo regarded as the impref.-ion produced by -tho whole course of events, and their present condition, upon his mind. '•But judsments of this kind are but little more than tho reflection of personal temperament. Op- posite opinions will bo formed in view of tho same facts, by two men equally wise, simply because one is sanguine, and dwells upon tho hopeful aspects, while tho other, cautious and slow of belief, weighs the difficulties and dangers. " We can see how the war easily might be short, and that it mny bo near its close. But wo sec with equal clearness that it may be protracted for several years to come. Nor is it in tho power of any man at present to jndgo which of tho two possible courses events will show. "Wo see no subatantinl evidence that the Pouth is yet discouraged. What legislature, convention, or influential man, even, has uttered a desponding word ? The spirit of tho people is not broken. With a few exceptions, tho intelligent prisoners who are taken hold one larguage, and that is of firm, resolute, bitter determination to resist to the uttermost. Nor can wc learn that those who stay at home, and who suffer great deprivations, aro weary or discouraged. Even when hunger drives women to riot and violence, it is remarkable that they dem.and 'bread,' but never 'peace !' Indeed, wo are free to say that wo cannot repress our ad- miration of tho conduct of tho southern people in this terrible struggle. It needs only a v.'orthy causo to bo regarded as heroic. They seek to establj.^h a detestable sj-stem of slavery. They seek for that end tho overthrow of a beneficial Government. Their causo is as bad as it well can be. Neverthe- less, they have given up all things for what they regard as their country. They have relinquished luxuries, submitted to hardship?, suffered bereave- ments and losses, not only without murmuring, but eagerly ; and after two years of trials that may be 6aid almost to have revolutionized tho interior of southern society, and reduced them to the minimum of comfort, they are undiscouragcd. They are oven more fierce and bitter than ever." Sir, every candid man knows tlaat this is a correct representation of th« rspirit of our enemic:'. It is still unbroken i} and if this Goverument persists in rejecting those moral agencies which should accompany tho sword, other sanguinary battles must be fought, in which the slaughter will be commensurate with the heroism of the combatants. That heroism is the birthright of all American peo- ple. Do not wisdom and humanity require that such a people should be won back to al- legiance rather than driven to that resistance which is the desperate offspring of despair ; and that our own bravo soldiers should be re- stored to their families and friends, rather than be further sacriliced to the designs of those who would protract the war for plunder | or power ? Each party to the contest has ex- hibited that courage and endurance which will , illustrate our annals in all coming time. Each i can boast of its heroes. I would to Heaven each had fewer martyrs to mourn. Every- where the prayers of millions arc being offered I up for a return of peace. There is scarcely a | rude hamlet in the land in which the cry of l Borrow is not heard ; not a household without i its seAts made vacant by the destroying hand ' I of war ; not a village which is not Bbrouded I in the drapery of woe, because of sons and I brothers, husbands and fathers, numbered I among the absent or slaiu. Arc net these I things alone suilicient to incliue our hearts to peace, and to causo us to seek it wherever it may be with honor found ? Uh who in thia hour of impending peril refu-jcs to hear or heed the wail of lamentation which comes np from the Iiovels of the poor and unoffending, or to avail himself of every honoraSle means to Btay the further effusion of blood, ia a wretch unfit to live and too base to die. If asked how I would stop the war, in a manner honorable to my country, I would answer, cease robbing whole communities, cease your vandal attempt to melt all mankind of every rawe, color, and condition into one crude, inor- ganic mass ; cease to spurn the counsels of tho Union men of tho rebellious States ; cease to place them upon a footing with traitors and rebels ; cease to regard nou-corabatants, wo- men and children, as alien enemies, fit only to plundered. Place your armies under tho control of those who war only upon armed enemies, and who will make the Hag of your country a sure protection to all who, during the long night of rebellion, have so eagerly watched its coming. Let your only object in in lighting be, and so declare it to the world, to put down rebellion, restore all the Istates to the Union, protect and defend the Consti- tution with all its guarantees. Let your Presi- dent annul those proclamations which stamp him as a usurper, and offer amnesty and par- don in good faith to all who will lay down their arms and take an oath to support, not his free- negro proclamations, but the Consti- tution of tho United States. Do this, and be- fore the breath of spring has melted the ice from your Northern lakes, the armies of re- bellion will have melted away. Such a result is foretold by all who are familiaid fif- teen per cent., flings himself back upon his chints bed, which has paid twenty-two per cent., and ex- pires in the arms of an ap^uhccary who has (.cid k liecnso of one hundred pounds for the iriviloge of pnttin<^ him to death. His whole property is then immediately ta';ed froTU two to ten per cent. Be- sides tiio probate, large fees are demanded fir bury- ing iiira in the cbanccl; his virtues arc handed down to posterity on taxed marble; and he i.< thtB gathered to Lis fathers— to bo taxed no more." 14 Sir, none of us would have supposed fonr years apo that this picture of misery and op pressicn would be so pood presented to u« a? a terrible reality. But it is so. Korwilltliis generation live to «ee the shackles of taxation Btricken from their limbs. Far off in thp dis tant future, generations yet unborn will be- wail the load of debt which is being entailed upon them by the madness of the times. I implore you in their name to retrace your Bteps, and that you listen to the voice of those who point you to the Constitution as the only road wiiich leads to a lasting Union and a permanent peace. Adherence to that instru- ment will speedily end this terrible war; it will secure and perpetuate the public repose. The friends of the Constitution look con5- dently to the approach of the November elec- tions. Upon the result we stake the life of the Constitution, the perpetuation of empire. The armies of the Democracy are ready for the conflict. Their numbers already may be counted by millions. Whatever is the past their faults and errors may have been, they never oppressed the citizen or usurped doubt- ful or forbidden powers. Their past conflicts with the enemies of constitutional union will reanimate every heart and nerve the weakest arm. Their past history in warring against despotism and usurpation is a guaranty that they will not abuse power intrusted to them by the people. They will recognize as broth- ers all who vindicate the Constitution and cling to that Union which it made. Though the terrible convulsions of the times have driven many of its Southern leaders into the armies of rebellion, though many of its once-honor- ed chieftains in the North have yielded, like Judas, to the temptations of power, and are now among the basest of the vi-nnl tribe, that grand old party has lost nothing of its ancient prestige or moral powr. It? expurgation has been thorough, its purification complete. Its Butlers, Dickinsons, Busteeds, and Milroys, of the North, its treasonable leaders of the South, no longer defile the temple, sacred to the true defenders of the Constitution. In their place we have all that was most r-ispecta- ble of the old-line Whigs, those who still cherish the teachings of their illustrious lead- ers, Webster and Clay. Honest Republicans will rally around our standard ; and even the Know-Nothings — those who atfected to trem- ble at the power of the Pope — will eagerly join that party which, in upholding the Con- stitution, secures freedom of conscience to all. Already they have learned that there is more to be feared from the unlicensed power of usurpation at home than from all the bulls which ever emanated from the Papal See. I say to the friends of Constitutional Union everywhere : Be of good cheer. Ilope illu- mines the future. The prize for which we contend is no less than the Constitution which our fathers ordained. It has borne us safely and securely amid the dangers of the past ; if we are true to ourselves now we will res- cue it from the hands of its destroyers, and, bearing it aloft everywhere, we will point to its pure and ample folds as the only harbin- ger of peace, the sole bond of union among the States, the last citadel in which the citi- zen may find security and defy the oppressor's , power. \. PKOSPECTUS FOR THE KEW YEA' THE CONSTITUTIONA.L XJNIOI^r, An Independent, National, Metropolitan Daily and Weekly Democratic Conservative Union Newspaper for the critical year and eventful Presidential Campaign of 1864 ; the Bold and Fearless Defender of Constitutional Iiiberty I Devoted earnestly to the maintenance of the Constitution as it is, and the restoration of the Union as it was — the only National Democratic Union Newspaper published in the city of Washington. The "Constitutional Union" has won, since its ostablishment, the heartiest approval of all national and conservative men, for its able and fearless advocacy of Constitutional Liberty, Constitutional Rights, and (. onstitutional rrinciples; and as the Publisher desires to enlarge the field of its operations by an increase in its subscription liot and a more extended circulation, he is cn'-ouraged in the belief that it may be made a means of vast and qrcatcr usefulness in the important work of the Preservation of the Union, which, in its inscrutable wisdom, Providence has committed to the National Conserva- tive DeoKicraoy; and in which, if our free form of Constitutional Government is to be preserved, there must be neither hesitation, timidity, or delay. 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OUU TERMS FOR CLUBS : Single Copies, one year $2 00 Two CopicH, one year 3 o' Ten Copies, to one address, with an extra Copy to the person sending the Club 17 "ic Twenty Copies, to one address, with an extra Copy to the person sending the Club.. 30 00 Additional names can be added to the Clubs, at any time, at tho usual Club rates. J6f SPECIMEN COPIES will be sent to the address of any one who may desire them. All 8ub3cri')tion3 to be invariably in advance. Address THOMAS n. FLOrvENCR, LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS ^^^ ^ '''''^' Washington, D. C. 012 027 002 3 # J pH83