284 



CONGRESS, U. S. 



to the country, so far at least as relates to their 

 object and character. It is well understood that 

 during the last six months, while our existence 

 as a nation seemed for a time to hang upon a 

 thread while large armies threatened the cap- 

 ital, and its safety was, at one period, in great 

 doubt, there were, in many of the loyal States, 

 men of dangerous character and designs allowed 

 to go at large, although it was well understood 

 they were giving aid and comfort to the ene- 

 my in every possible manner. Some of them 

 infested my own State. I am glad to be able 

 to say that they were, for the most part, emis- 

 saries from other States, and that the disgrace 

 of giving them birth, or of affording them a 

 home, did not belong to us. They first mani- 

 fested their treasonable purposes by attempt- 

 ing to institute a series of peace meetings (see 

 ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA, 1861 Connecticut), so 

 called, by which they hoped to debauch the 

 public mind and prepare it for degrading sub- 

 mission, under the false pretence of restoring 

 peaceful relations between the North and the 

 South. What effect these meetings might have 

 had in deceiving the more unthinking, does not 

 appear; but acting in accordance with the 

 wishes of almost our entire people, the Secre- 

 tary of State put a sudden stop to their treason- 

 able designs by arresting and confining one or 

 more of the most obnoxious. It was precisely 

 the right thing, done at precisely the right 

 time ; and it nipped treason in Connecticut in 

 the bud. It struck terror to the hearts of all 

 who sympathized with secession, and it en- 

 couraged the hearts and strengthened the hands 

 of every true-hearted and patriotic citizen. It 

 was, certainly, the opinion of many that the 

 summary process of arrest and confinement did 

 not go far enough ; that others, equally guilty, 

 ought to have been placed under restraint; 

 but the desired effect was produced, and an 

 appeal to the fears of a certain class accom- 

 plished what nothing else could accomplish. 



" Now, sir, I maintain that the action of the 

 Government in making the arrests alluded to 

 was not only justifiable, but that not to have 

 pursued it would have been moral treason on 

 the part of the President. Was he to see the 

 Government paralyzed by the unprincipled men 

 who, under the false pretence of peace, were 

 seeking to ruin the country by distracting and 

 dividing our people? Was he to allow infor- 

 mation and materials of war to be furnished to 

 the enemy by open, avowed secessionists ? For 

 one, sir, I thank him I thank the Secretary 

 of State, as does every loyal citizen of Connec- 

 ticut, for any and every arrest made there; 

 and I shall not vote an inquiry into the legality 

 of these arrests. They find their justification 

 in the dire necessity of the times." 



Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois, replied : " I have 

 said upon this floor that I believe the Consti- 

 tution of the United States confers all the 

 power which is necessary to enable the Govern- 

 ment to crush this gigantic rebellion. Why? 

 Because the Constitution confers on Congress 



the power to raise armies to put it down, and 

 when the power is given to raise armies to put 

 down insurrection, the power comes also to 

 crush it in the way that armies are accustomed 

 to act. It is with powder and ball that it is to 

 be done ; and neither your jury trials nor your 

 habeas corpus acts can interfere with the Army 

 which, clothed with constitutional power to 

 crush a rebellion, goes forth armed for the 

 purpose of putting it down in the very way 

 that armies subdue their enemies. But, sir, 

 this is a resolution of inquiry, simply as to the 

 arrest of persons in the loyal States. That is 

 all it is. The Senator from Connecticut tells 

 us there were persons in his State who were 

 allowed to go at large when they were giving 

 aid and comfort to the enemy. I am astonished 

 at that. I should have supposed that in the 

 goodly State of Connecticut men giving aid and 

 comfort to the enemy would have been arrest- 

 ed and tried, and if convicted by a jury, would 

 have been hung." 



Mr. Dixon, interrupting for explanation, said : 

 "If the Senator will allow me, I will repeat to 

 him what kind of aid and comfort those men 

 gave to the enemy. I stated that they gave 

 aid and comfort to the enemy by instituting a 

 series of meetings, falsely called ' peace meet- 

 ings,' in which they addressed large assem- 

 blages of the people, and attempted to debauch 

 the public mind on the question of this war, 

 claiming that we were the aggressors ; that the 

 South were acting in self-defence ; that the Ad- 

 ministration was making war upon the South. 

 Now, sir, if the Senator can inform me how 

 such men can be attacked by arms, by powder 

 and ball, I shall thank him for the information. 

 I do not know how they could be arrested for 

 treason. I do not say they were guilty of open 

 treason. They were guilty of moral treason ; 

 and the Secretary of State, to the great joy of 

 every loyal citizen of Connecticut, imprisoned 

 one or more of those men and put a stop to 

 the whole proceeding. I thank him for doing 

 it. I will not ask him a single question as to 

 the provisions of the law or the Constitution 

 upon which he acted." 



Mr. Trumbull responded : " The Senator as- 

 sumes that these persons were traitors. Who 

 is to decide that? He says he will ask no 

 questions. Why, sir, how does he know that, 

 in portions of this country where there is no 

 disturbance and no insurrection, the right per- 

 sons- will be arrested ? The unconstitutionality 

 of such action as this seems to be admitted by 

 the Senator who comes to the defence of this 

 despotic power. Why, sir, the power without 

 charge, without examination, without oppor- 

 tunity to reply, at the click of the telegraph to 

 arrest a man in a peaceable portion of the coun- 

 try arfd imprison him indefinitely, is the very es- 

 sence of despotism. I thought the Senator from 

 Connecticut was engaged in a war to defend and 

 uphold the Constitution. What, sir, becomes 

 of constitutional liberty, what are we fighting 

 for, if this broad ground is to be assumed and 



