268 



CONGKESS, UNITED STATES. 



A motion was now made by Mr. Lane, of In- 

 diana, to postpone the resolution indefinitely, 

 which was lost yeas 11 ; nays 26 ; as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Cowan, Doolittle, Farwell, Harlan, 

 Harris, Howe, Lane of Indiana, Nesmith, Ten Eyck, 

 Van Winkle, and Willey 11. 



NATS Messrs. Anthony, Buckalew, Clark, Colla- 

 mer, Conness, Davis, Dixon, Foster, Hale, Hender- 

 son, Howard, Johnson, Lane 'of Kansas, Morgan, 

 Morrill, Nye, Powell, Sherman, Sprague, Stewart, 

 Sumner, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson, and 

 Wright 26. 



ABSENT Messrs. Brown, Carlile, Chandler, Foot, 

 Grimes, Harding, Hendricks, Hicks, McDougall, 

 Pomeroy, Ramsay, Richardson, Riddle, and Sauls- 

 bury 14. 



Mr. Doolittle, of Wisconsin, in opposition to 

 the resolution, said : " The Senator from Ohio, 

 in the course of his remarks, undertook to de- 

 nounce in very strong terms the policy adopted 

 or suggested by the President of the United 

 States in his message as the policy upon which 

 he wquld attempt the reorganization of civil 

 government and civil institutions in the States 

 where the insurrection had prevailed. There 

 has been so much saii about it, and so much 

 misrepresentation also, that I desire for a few- 

 brief moments to call the attention of the Senate 

 to that proposition. 



" Every person knows that there must be 

 some form of government in these States. If, 

 with our armies, we enter into a State or coun- 

 try, and take possession of it by military power, 

 some form of government must be established 

 military, of course, in the first instance. The 

 civil government is displaced, so to speak, by 

 military power. In the midst of arms the laws 

 are silent, is the old expression of the Kornans: 

 inter arma silent leges. When the people of a 

 district become so far obedient to their obliga- 

 tions of loyalty to the Government which thus 

 assumes, by military power, to put down an in- 

 surrection, an attempt may be made to surren- 

 der the military power and establish a civil ad- 

 ministration by the people themselves. For a 

 time the form of government may be, to a cer- 

 tain extent, a mixed form, both of civil and 

 military power, each leaning upon the other. 

 As the thing progresses and grows still further, 

 the military power may be more and more 

 withdrawn, and still greater power and author- 

 ity given to the civil administration and the 

 civil officers of the government. 



"Now, sir, what is the actual state of the 

 case in relation to Louisiana ? When we first 

 captured New Orleans, and by our forces took 

 possession of the rivers and the lands adjoining, 

 there could be no government but that of a 

 military character. But after an experience of 

 one, two, or three years, the people there be- 

 came so well satisfied of the great mistake of 

 going into rebellion against the Government of 

 the United States and of the necessity of sub- 

 mitting to its authority and its jurisdiction, that 

 they began to come back to their allegiance to 

 this Government, and were willing to join in 

 the organization of the civil government of the 

 State, and resume their relations to the Gov- 



ernment of the United States. Accordingly we 

 find that when asked to do so, eleven thousand 

 four hundred and fourteen of the loyal citizens 

 of that State joined in the organization of a 

 new constitution, which was submitted to the 

 people, adopted by them, and a Legislature and 

 other officers chosen by virtue of it, and the 

 whole machinery of civil government put into 

 full operation in that State. By virtue of the 

 authority of that constitution, they now have 

 their own government, their own Legislature, 

 they are making municipal laws and regulations 

 for themselves. Their courts are sitting every 

 day in judgment upon the rights of individuals. 

 Under the authority of this new constitution, 

 all the relations of life are now being regulated. 

 Under the authority of this new constitution, I 

 tell my friend from Ohio that nearly ninety 

 thousand slaves, who were not reached by the 

 emancipation proclamation, have had their fet- 

 ters knocked from their limbs and freedom given 

 to them. Yes, sir, freedom has been given to 

 ninety thousand slaves by this very constitution 

 which he would undertake to trample under 

 his feet as a military usurpation and as a miser- 

 able farce. Can he stand up in the face of this 

 country, when Louisiana presents herself in this 

 attitude as a free State, knocking off the chains 

 from ninety thousand of her slaves whom the 

 emancipation proclamation did not reach (for 

 they were excepted), and deny to free Louisiana 

 her rights of representation here, and her right 

 to be heard as one of the free States of this 

 Union in voting upon the very constitutional 

 amendment which we have submitted to tho 

 States for their ratification ? 



"But, sir, to return once more to this much- 

 denounced policy of the President. It is de- 

 nounced as a military usurpation. It is directly 

 the reverse of that. It is an attempt on the 

 part of the President to lay down the military 

 power, to put it into the hands of the civilians; 

 to take it from the army and to give it to the 

 people. W T hat does he say ? He says this in 

 substance: 'Whenever one- tenth or a portion 

 of the population equal to one-tenth of the 

 whole voting population of the district or the 

 State before the rebellion began are willing 

 voluntarily to undertake the business of ad- 

 ministering civil government, I, as President of 

 the United States and Commander-in-chief of 

 the army, pledge to them my good faith that I 

 will stand by them and try and enable them to 

 do it.' That is all there is of it. So far from 

 being a military usurpation, it is an attempt on 

 the part of the President to lay down his mili- 

 tary power ; and under that provision of the 

 Constitution which compels this Government, 

 to guarantee a republican form of government to 

 every State in the Union, the President is en- 

 deavoring in good faith to do it." 



Mr. Conness, of California, said: "With tho 

 Senator's consent, I ask him if he holds that 

 the right of Congress to act upon the question 

 of the organization or admission of the Stales 

 now in rebellion can only occur and take place 



