280 



CONGRESS, U. S. 



to canse the seizure of all the estate and prop- 

 erty, money, credits, &c., of the persons guilty, 

 and apply the proceeds thereof to the support 

 of the army of the United States. 



" Here is no attainder for treason, here is no 

 confiscation of property under any provision 

 of the Constitution. Then the law goes on to 

 state how you are to seize and condemn prop- 

 erty. It is to he seized and proceeded against 

 in rem, according to the law for that purpose, 

 and condemned. As what ? As the property 

 of traitors ? No such thing. Condemned as 

 ' enemies' property.' Does not that show that 

 the Constitution has nothing to do with it on 

 the question of treason ? Here are a hody of 

 men in arms against the United States. This 

 act of Congress, so far as it refers to seizures 

 of property in fee, refers to them as seizures 

 of the property of alien enemies, to be treated 

 as such. 



" Now, where is there a word ahout attain- 

 der of treason ? That part of the act does not 

 seize property as traitors' property at all. But 

 the learned gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Spald- 

 ing) has well said all that I intended to say 

 with reference to attainder for treason. At- 

 tainder for treason is impossible under the laws 

 of the United States as they now stand. With- 

 out an express act making a conviction and 

 sentence and execution for treason an attaint 

 of treason, there is no attaint of treason in 

 the United States ; and there is no such law 

 here. 



" It is, however, essential to ascertain what 

 relation the seceded States bear to the United 

 States, that we may know how to deal with 

 them in reestablishing the national Govern- 

 ment. There seems to be great confusion of 

 ideas and diversity of opinion on that subject. 

 Some think that those States are still in the 

 Union and entitled to the protection of the 

 Constitution and laws of the United States, and 

 that, notwithstanding all they have done, they 

 may at any time, without any legislation, come 

 back, send Senators and Representatives to 

 Congress, and enjoy all the privileges and im- 

 munities of loyal members of the United 

 States. That whenever those ' wayward sis- 

 ters ' choose to abandon their frivolities and 

 present themselves at the door of the Union 

 and demand admission, we must receive them 

 with open arms and throw over them the pro- 

 tecting shield of the Union, of which it is said 

 they had never ceased to be members. Others 

 hold that, having committed treason, renounced 

 their allegiance to the Union, discarded its 

 Constitution and laws, organized a distinct and 

 hostile government, and by force of arms hav- 

 ing risen from the condition of insurgents to 

 the position of an independent Power de facto, 

 and having been acknowledged as a belligerent 

 both by foreign nations and our own Govern- 

 ment, the Constitution and laws of the Union 

 are abrogated so far as they are concerned, 

 and that, as between the two belligerents, they 

 are under the laws of war and the laws of na- 



tions alone, and that whichever Power con 

 quers may treat the vanquished as conquered 

 provinces, and may impose upon them such 

 conditions and laws as it may deem best. 



" It is obvious that this question is of vast 

 importance. If the first position should be 

 established, then the rebel States, after having 

 been conquered and reduced to utter helpless 

 ness through the expenditure of many billions 

 of money and the shedding of oceans of loyal 

 blood, may lay down their arms, which they 

 can no longer wield, claim to be legitimate 

 members of the Union, send Senators and Rep- 

 resentatives to Congress, retain all their lands 

 and possessions, and leave the loyal States 

 burdened with an immense debt, with no in- 

 demnity for their sufferings and damages, and 

 with no security for the future. 



" If the latter proposition prevails, then Con- 

 gress will readjust the Government on the firm 

 basis of individual and public justice ; will pro- 

 tect the innocent and pardon the least guilty ; 

 will punish the leading traitors; seize their 

 lands and estates ; sell them in fee-simple ; 

 pay the proceeds into the national Treasury to 

 discharge the expenses and damages of the war, 

 and provide a permanent fund for pensions to 

 the widows and orphans and the maimed and 

 mangled survivors of this infamous war ; and, 

 above all, will forever exclude the infernal 

 cause of this rebellion human bondage from 

 the continent of North America: 



" In order rightly to determine this question 

 we must inquire whether the " Confederate 

 States " are to be considered as a hostile peo- 

 ple, entitled to no other protection or privileges 

 than are due to foreign nations at war with 

 each other. Is the present contest to be re- 

 garded as a public war, and to be governed by 

 the rules of civilized warfare, or only as a do- 

 mestic insurrection, to be suppressed by crimi- 

 nal prosecutions before the courts of the coun- 

 try ? If the latter, then the insurgents when 

 proceeded against have a right to invoke the 

 protection of the Constitution and municipal 

 laws. If the former, then they are subject to 

 the laws of war alone. 



" Another important question is, is this war 

 waged by States in their corporate capacity, or 

 is it merely a treasonable outbreak by guilty 

 individuals ? Vattel, pp. 424, 425, says : 



When in a republic the nation is divided into two 

 opposite factions, and both sides take up arms, this 

 is called a civil war. The sovereign indeed never 

 fails to bestow the appellation of rebels on all such 

 of his subjects as openly resist him ; but when the 

 latter have acquired sufficient strength to give him 

 effectual opposition, and oblige him to carry on the 

 war against them according to the established rules, 

 he must necessarily submit to the use of the term 

 "civil war." 



On earth they have no common superior. They 

 stand precisely in the same predicament as two na- 

 tions who engage in a contest, and, being unable to 

 come to an agreement, have recourse to arms. 



" When an insurrection becomes sufficiently 

 formidable to entitle the party to belligerent 

 rights, it places the contending powers on pre- 



