234 



CONGRESS, U. S. 



in prisons outside of the limits of said State, and who 

 have been released, what were the charges against 

 each of them, by whom the charges were made, also by 

 whose order said arrests were made, and the authority 

 of law for such arrests. 



It was laid on the table. Yeas, 74; nays, 40. 



In the Senate, on December 2, Mr. Powell, 

 of Kentucky, offered the following joint reso- 

 lution, which was read and laid over : 



Whereas, many citizens of the United States have 

 been seized by persons acting, or pretending to be 

 acting, under the authority 01 the United States, and 

 have been carried out of the jurisdiction of the States 

 of their residence and imprisoned in the military pris- 

 ons and camps of the United States, without any pub- 

 lic charge being preferred against them, and without 

 any opportunity being allowed to learn or disprove the 

 charges made, or alleged to be made, against them ; 

 and whereas, it is the sacred right of every citizen 

 that he shall not be deprived ofliberty without due 

 process of law, and when arrested shall have a speedy 

 and public trial by an impartial jury ; therefore, 



Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Represen- 

 tatives of the United States of America in Congress as- 

 terribled, That all such arrests are unwarranted by the 

 Constitution and the laws of the United States, and a 

 usurpation of power never given by the people to the 

 President or any other official. All such arrests are 

 hereby condemned and declared palpable violations of 

 the Constitution of the United States ; and it is hereby 

 demanded that all such arrests shall hereafter cease, 

 and that all persons so arrested and yet held should 

 have a prompt and speedy public trial according to 

 the provisions of the Constitution, or should be imme- 

 diately released. 



Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, offered the following 

 joint resolution, which was also laid over : 



Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, 

 <6c., That it be and is hereby recommended to all the 

 States to choose as many delegates, severally, as they 

 are entitled to Senators and Kepresentatives in Con- 

 gress, to meet in convention in Louisville, Kentucky, 

 on the first Monday in April next, to take into consid- 

 eration the condition of the United States, and the 

 proper means for the restoration of the Union ; and 

 that the Legislatures of the several States take such 

 action on this proposition as they may deem fit at the 

 earliest practicable day. 



On the same day, Mr. Sumner, of Massa- 

 chusetts, offered the following resolution, which 

 was adopted : 



Resolved, That the Secretary of War be requested to 

 furnish to the Senate any information which he may 

 possess with reference to the sale into slavery of col- 

 ored freemen, captured or seized by the rebel forces, 

 and to state what steps have been taken to redress this 

 outrage upon human rights. 



Mr. Clnrk, of New Hampshire, introduced a 

 joint resolution, approving the policy of the 

 President in setting slaves free in insurrection- 

 ary districts, which was read twice, and laid 

 over. 



In the House, on the 4th, Mr. Wickliffe, of 

 Kentucky, offered the following resolution : 



Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be 

 instructed to inquire and report to this House on the 

 following subjects : First. Under what law there has 

 been appointed a military governor for the District of 

 Columbia. Second. What powers does he possess or 

 exercise, and by and under what law has he derived 

 his power. Third. What salary or compensation is 

 paid him, and out of what appropriation. Fourth. 

 What is the entire annual expense of such military 

 governor, including all sums paid for quarters, guard- 

 houses, and prisons, and for house rent, servants, sol- 



diers, and assistants under his control. Fifth. Whether 

 the said office of military governor has interfered with 

 and obstructed the administration of justice and law 

 by the civil or judicial tribunals within the District 

 of Columbia. State the case and facts of such obstruc- 

 tion. And if, in the opinion of the committee, such officer 

 is not provided for by law, that they report a bill pro- 

 hibiting his existence and the exercise of power by 

 him. 



It was moved to add to the second inquiry 

 the words, "in the said District, or in the 

 State of Pennsylvania, or in any of the United 

 States." The resolution and amendment were 

 laid over. Yeas, 85 ; nays, 46. 



Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, offered the fol- 

 lowing resolutions, and moved their postpone- 

 ment: 



Resolved, That this Union must be and remain one 

 and indivisible forever. 



Resolved, That if any person in the employment of 

 the United States, in either the legislative or executive 

 branch, should propose to make peace, or should ac- 

 cept, or advise the acceptance, of any such proposition 

 on any other basis than the integrity and entire unity 

 of the United States and their Territories as they exist- 

 ed at the time of the rebellion, he will be guilty of a 

 high crime. 



Resolved, That this Government can never accept the 

 mediation or permit the intervention of any foreign 

 nation in this rebellion in our domestic affairs. 



Resolved, That no two governments can ever be 

 permitted to exist within the territory now belonging 

 to the United States, and which acknowledged their 

 jurisdiction at the time of the insurrection. 



Mr. Wickliffe : " If in order now to amend the 

 resolutions, I offer to add the following words: " 



That any officer of the United States, either execu- 

 tive, legislative, or judicial, who is opposed to close the 

 present war upon preserving the Constitution as it is, 

 with all its guarantees and privileges, and the union 

 of the States as established by said Constitution, is un- 

 worthy to hold such office, and should be dismissed or 

 removed from the same. 



The Speaker : "After a motion to postpone, 

 it is not in order to move an amendment." 



The motion to postpone was agreed to. 



On the next day Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio, 

 proposed the following resolutions as amend- 

 ments to those of Mr. Stevens : 



1. Resolved, That the Union as it was must be re- 

 stored and maintained one and indivisible forever un- 

 der the Constitution as it is the fifth article, providing 

 for amendments, included. 



2. Resolved, That if any person in the civil or mili- 

 tary service of the United States shall propose terms 

 of peace, or accept or advise the acceptance of any 

 sucn terms, on any other basis than the integrity and 

 entirety of the Federal Union, and of the several States 

 composing the same, and the Territories of the Union, 

 as at the (beginning of the civil war, he will be guilty 

 of a high crime. 



3. Resolved, That this Government can never permit 

 the intervention of any foreign nation in regard to the 

 present civil war. 



4. Resolved, That the unhappy civil war in which 

 we are engaged was waged in the beginning, profess- 

 edly, not in any spirit of oppression or for any purpose 

 of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing 

 or interfering with the rights or established institutions 

 of thnsr States, but to defend and maintain the su- 

 premacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union 

 with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several 

 States unimpaired, and was so understood and accept- 

 ed by the people, and especially by the Army and Na- 

 vy of the United States ; and that, therefore, whoever 



