CONGKESS, U. S. 



299 



so as to give unity to the military power, so 

 that when our array march they may march 

 with a well-decided principle in advance. If 

 the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who shall 

 prepare himself for battle ? But the trumpet 

 will give an uncertain sound just so long as we 

 have these various discordant proclamations." 



The views of members respecting slavery as 

 the cause of the war, had now become ripe, 

 and all future legislation on the subject was 

 aimed to discourage and suppress it. 



In the House, on the 20th of December, Mr. 

 Shanks, of Indiana, offered the following res- 

 olution, which was laid over and agreed to on 

 a subsequent day. 



Resolved, That the constitutional power to return 

 fugitives slaves to their masters rests solely with the 

 civil departments of the Government; and that the 

 order of the Secretary of War, under date of December 

 6, 1861, to Gen. Wool, for the delivery of a slave to 

 Mr. Jessup, of Maryland, as well as all other military 

 orders for the return of slaves, are assumptions of the 

 military power over the civil law and the rights of the 

 slave. 



Mr. Julian, of Indiana, offered the following : 



Resolved, That the Judiciary Committee be instruct- 

 ed to report a bill, so amending the fugitive slave law 

 enacted in 1850 as to forbid the recapture or return of 

 any fugitive from labor without satisfactory proof first 

 made that the claimant of such fugitive is loyal to the 

 Government. 



This was adopted : ayes, V8 ; noes, 34. 



Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, offered the following: 



Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs 

 be requested to report a bill to this House for the en- 

 actment of an additional article of war, whereby all 

 officers in the military service of the United States 

 shall be prohibited from using any portion of the 

 forces under their respective commands for the pur- 

 pose of returning fugitives from service or labor, and 

 provide for the punishment of such officers as may 

 violate said article by dismissal from the service. 



It was adopted on a subsequent day. 



Disloyalty was a most annoying offence in 

 the eyes of Congress, and no efforts were spared 

 to extinguish it. Of course, no greater crime 

 could be committed against a government 

 struggling for its existence. But this disloyalty 

 showed itself in perfectly loyal communities, 

 and consisted in almost every conceivable act 

 which could be regarded as not supporting the 

 Administration with " all the heart and soul," 

 &c. The views of members were as follows : 



In the House, on the 30th of December, Mr. 

 Potter, of Wisconsin, offered the following res- 

 olution, which was adopted. 



Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and 

 is hereby, requested to furnish, without any unneces- 

 sary delay, to the Committee of Investigation on the 

 disloyalty of persons in the employment of the Gov- 

 ernment, the information asked for by letter of De- 

 cembers, 1861, addressed bv the chairman of said com- 

 mittee to the Secretary of the Treasury. 



Mr. Potter, in explanation, said : " I have a 

 similar resolution, which I desire to offer, call- 

 ing for information from the Secretary of the 

 Interior. Before doing so, however, with the 



consent of the House I will state that, on the 

 3d day of December, I was instructed by the 

 Committee of Investigation to call upon the 

 heads of the Executive Departments of the Gov- 

 ernment for certain information information 

 which it is necessary to have in the possession 

 of the committee before they will be able to 

 prepare their report and present it to the 

 House. The committee received prompt re- 

 plies from the heads of all the departments 

 except the Treasury and Interior, but nothing 

 from them ; and on the 24th of December, I 

 addressed notes to the Secretaries of the Treas- 

 ury and Interior, calling attention to my letter 

 as chairman of the committee of the 3d instant. 

 Nothing has been heard from these depart- 

 ments in reply to either of the letters address- 

 ed to them by the committee, and we are 

 compelled, therefore, to come to the House in 

 order to obtain this information." 



Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, rose to make a 

 request. He said: "I would like the honor- 

 able gentleman from Wisconsin to furnish the 

 House with a copy of the letter which contains 

 the facts or information which he desires to 

 obtain, so that we may know what it is we 

 are calling for." 



Both letters mentioned by Mr. Potter were 

 sent to the Clerk and read, as follows : 



WASHINGTON CITT, December S, 1S61. 



SIR : I had the honor to receive from you a commu- 

 nication, bearing date the 18th of July, in which yon 

 furnish the committee authorized to inquire into the 

 loyalty of persons in office with a list of those holding 

 positions under you. I have now to request a further 

 statement of the removals which have been made, 

 designating the individuals, since your communica- 

 tion of the above date. 



I have the honor to be, very respectfullv, 



JOHN F. POTTER, 

 Chairman of Committee. 



The Hon. SECRETARY OF THE . 



WASHINGTON CITT, Dceember 24. 1?61. 



SIR : On the 3d day of the present month, I had the 

 honor to address you a communication on behalf of the 

 Committee of Investigation of the House of Representa- 

 tives, asking for certain information in relation to the 

 removal of clerks in your department. 



I have received no reply to that communication. 

 As it is important that the information asked for 

 should be imparted to the committee before their re- 

 port is made to the House, I will thank you to furnish 

 it with as little delay as possible. 



Respectfully, JOHN F. POTTER, 



Chairman of Committee. 



Hon. SECRETARY OF . 



Mr. Olin, of New York, said : " I wish to 

 propound this interrogatory. Perhaps it is 

 improper to inquire into the proceedings of this 

 committee ; but, if proper, I wish to learn from 

 the gentleman from Wisconsin whether, in 

 these cases where testimony has been taken 

 before his committee implicating any one in 

 the employment of any of the various depart- 

 ments of the Government, the gentlemen thus 

 apparently implicated have been notified of the 

 charges or representations or insinuations 

 made in reference to them, and have had an 

 opportunity to adduce such testimony as they 

 saw fit in answer to or in explanation of the 



