CONGRESS, U. S. 



337 



happiness. In such contests, however unequal, and 

 however transient, the seeds of disunion would be 

 thickly sown, and those who may be destined to wit- 

 ness them will speedily thereafter be called to lament 

 the destruction of the fairest prospect of civil liberty 

 which Heaven in its mercy has vouchsafed to man. 

 * * * The committee will not enlarge upon 

 the frightful consequences of civil wars. They are 

 known to be calamitous to single governments, and 

 fatal to confederacies. 



" The prediction of the committee of the 

 destruction of the fairest prospect of civil lib- 

 erty which Heaven in its mercy has vouchsafed 

 to man, is already in great danger of heing 

 realized ; and every hour the war is continued 

 only widens the separation and increases the 

 danger." 



Mr. Long further quoted from the writings 

 of J. Q. Adams, Jackson, W. H. Seward, Pres- 

 ident Lincoln, and Senator "Wade. 



" Three years' experience in attempting ' hy 

 numerical preponderance and military prowess 

 of one section exerted to coerce the other into 

 submission, 'has convinced me more thoroughly 

 that it is 'as self-contradictory as it is dan- 

 gerous;' contradictory, because it violates the 

 great principles of free government which 

 ' derive their just powers from the consent of 

 the governed,' and dangerous, because by its 

 exercise, especially when wielded by a weak, 

 vacillating, and unscrupulous man, it destroys 

 instead of maintaining the Union. Constitu- 

 tions and organic law, civil liberty and personal 

 security are forced to yield to what is claimed 

 to be a military necessity, and the Government 

 itself, in the brief period of three short years, 

 is to-day verging on the very brink of ruin. 



" I am well aware, sir, that the cry of dis- 

 loyalty, want of patriotism, and lack of devo- 

 tion to the Government, which is in every 

 place and at all times raised against those who 

 have the independence to disapprove of any of 

 the acts of Mr. Lincoln, as well as an inordi- 

 nate desire for Government patronage, from 

 the building of a steamship and a shoddy con- 

 tract, down to the insignificant position of 

 taking charge of a mutilated and depreciated 

 greenback in the Treasury building, has changed 

 the opinions of many men, but the fixed prin- 

 ciples of free government as well as the rules 

 of right, reason, justice and truth, are unchange- 

 able ; and although it may be unpopular, and 

 even at the risk of personal liberty in times 

 like the present, to advocate them, they are, 

 nevertheless, eternal and immutable. 



" The distinguished gentleman from Penn- 

 sylvania (Mr. Stevens), who stands upon this 

 floor and before the country as an acknowledged 

 leader of the Administration party, has had the 

 honesty and independence, in a speech delivered 

 at an early part of the session, to announce 

 what he holds to be the true position of the 

 confederate States. He says : 



Some think that these States are still in the Union 

 and entitled to the protection of the Constitution and 

 the laws of the United States. 



" This idea he at once repudiates, and then 

 VOL. iv. 22 A 



boldly affirms that which he holds to be the 

 true doctrine : 



Others hold that having committed treason, re- 

 nounced their allegiance to the Union, discarded the 

 Constitution and laws, organized a distinct and hos- 

 tile government, and by force of arms have risen 

 from the condition of insurgents to the position of an 

 independent Power de facto, and having been ac- 

 knowledged as a belligerent both by foreign nations 

 and our own Government, the Constitution and 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 nations alone, 

 and that whichever Power conquers may treat the 

 vanquished as conquered provinces, and may impose 

 upon them such conditions and laws as it may deem 

 best. 



" In answer to any objections that may be 

 raised to this position, he says : 



But it is said that this must be considered a contest 

 with rebel individuals only, as States in the Union 

 cannot make war. That is true so long as they re- 

 main in the Union. But they claim to Be out of the 

 Union, and the very fact that we have admitted them 

 to be in a state of war, to be belligerents, shows that 

 they_ are no longer in the Union, and that they are 

 waging war in their corporate capacity, under the 

 corporate name of the confederate States, and that 

 such major corporation is composed of minor cor- 

 porations called States, acting in their associated 

 character. 



********* 



When an insurrection becomes sufficiently formid- 

 able to entitle the party to belligerent rights, it 

 places the contending Powers on precisely the same 

 footing as foreign nations at war with each other. 



No one acquainted with the magnitude of this 

 contest, can deny to it the character of a civil war. 

 For nearly three years the confederate States have 

 maintained their declaration of independence by force 

 of arms. * * * * 



What, then, is the effect of this public war between 

 these belligerent, these foreign nations? Before this 

 war the parties were bound together by a compact, 

 by a treaty called a " Constitution." They acknowl- 

 edged the validity of municipal laws mutually bind- 

 ing on each. This war has cut asunder all these liga- 

 ments, abrogated all the obligations. 



" Now, sir, for once at least, I agree with 

 the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania. 

 that the confederate States are out of the Union, 

 occupying the position of an independent Power 

 de facto, have been acknowledged as a bellig- 

 erent both by foreign nations and our own Gov- 

 ernment, maintained their declaration of inde- 

 pendence for three years by force of arms, and 

 that the war has cut asunder all the ligaments 

 and abrogated all the obligations that bound 

 them under the Constitution. So far I agree 

 with him, and however unwilling we may be 

 to accept such position as the actual condition 

 of the confederate States, the history of the 

 past three years, the law of nations, the gen- 

 ius of our Government, and a regard for truth, 

 compel me, at least, to accept it and my judg- 

 ment to approve it ; and if the charge of dis- 

 loyalty is Drought against me for this opinion, 

 I have only to shield myself under the broad 

 mantle of the distinguished leader of the Re- 

 publican party. 



" At the commencement of the war England 

 and France both declared the confederate States 



