CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



Not I -uhjiigation. No, sir; it was a 



..I' tin- Federal (Jovcrnn. 

 laws throughout tin- jurisdiction of 

 tin- I'nited States. It was a war on tin- part 

 of the r'ederal Government to remove all armed 

 opposition to the execution of tin- laws, and 

 maintain the supremacy of the Government ; 

 to preserve tho union of these States, ami* to 

 suppress all opposition to the just and rightful 

 aioii of the laws of the I'nited-St ;i : 



" The idea of defending this revolutionary 

 scheme on the pretext that this Government is 

 authori/cd to exercise toward the territory and 

 people of these ten States the rights under the 

 laws of nations of a conqueror, and thus over- 

 throw the Government, is one only to be con- 

 ! hy the fertile genius of the gentleman 

 from Pennsylvania (Mr. Stevens). What is the 

 territory of these States? "Who are the people 

 of these States whom you now propose to put 

 under this military despotism ? Four of those 

 States which are to be put under this military 

 government are four of tho original thirteen 

 9 which formed your Constitution, and 

 which is now to be subverted to enslave them. 

 The people of those States who are to be sub- 

 jected to this \vorso than despotism are the 

 sons and the daughters of the men who, with 

 y.iir fathers and mine, fought together in the 

 Revolutionary struggle, and by their patriotic 

 devotion, and their wisdom, aided to achieve 

 our independence, and establish this free system 

 of government. Sir, I know these people have 

 committed a great wrong in trying to break up 

 this Union. 1 have always opposed their at- 

 tempt to withdraw from the Union. I have 

 always denounced secession. But, sir, they 

 failed in their mad attempt to overthrow the 

 Union of these States, and have they not suf- 

 fered, Mr. Speaker, as no people have ever suf- 

 fer, d before? I believe they are now sincere 

 in their desire to continue idr the Union, and to 

 share the blessings and burdens of a common 

 Government with us. Sir, if we wish a real 

 Union, we must treat them as friends, and not 

 g.3 enerntes; we must have confidence in them ; 

 and a.s we and our children for generations to 

 come are to live with them and their descend- 

 ants, I submit, sir, that it is best for all of us, 

 and for the peace and prosperity of this great 

 country, that wo should live together as friends." 



Mr. Bingham, of Ohio, said : " As I said, in 

 the few words which I uttered before the re- 

 cess this afternoon, this bill is the exercise of 

 tho highest possible power of legislation which, 

 under the Constitution of the United States, 

 can be exercised by the representatives of the 

 people. This being so, I believe tho House 

 should make haste slowly. I think, at all 

 events, it should allow amendments to be of- 

 fered ; and when they are offered, it should al- 

 low at least an opportunity for their consider- 

 ation. 



Xow, my purpose is to make this bill, if it 

 is to become a law, subject to as little objection 

 as possible, without in any way impairing its 



clliciency. Andltn. tore I hall hr 



concluded the few remark- which I \ ,[- i <>*e to 



lo-nL'ht, I shall he able to 

 of the Representative- hen- assembled th 

 hill may possibly be somewhat improved. At 

 all evriils I should consider .. to my 



own sense of duty, it' I did not sc- -.: 

 this bill, so ili M t it would be in accord with the. 

 entire and continuous record of the great 

 of freemen represent- d upon \\i\- tloor. who. 

 under God. have enacted the laws through 

 which and by which we have been saved 88 a 

 nation. I chnllengo any man here to-night to 

 point to any statute pas-ed by the Congress of 



the United State-. >i the ( -leniiiL' of this 



revolt on the part of the insurgent States to 

 this hour, that by implication or otherwise, by 

 direction or indirection, intimated the dogma of 

 the chairman of the Committee of Reconstruc- 

 tion on the part of this House with which he 

 opened this debate, that those ten insurrection- 

 ary States were a foreign and conquered coun- 

 try. I stand here to-night to assert that every 

 act of legislation upon your statute-books, from 

 the day this rebellion commenced to this hour, 

 asserts the very contrary, and excludes the con- 

 clusion of the gentleman." 



Mr. Eldridge, of Wisconsin, said : " I under- 

 stand the gentleman to take the position that 

 these are States in this Union, not conquered 

 territories, and the people are not conquered 

 subjects. I desire to know by what authority 

 the gentleman, entertaining that view, would 

 fasten upon these people a military government? 

 And I would like to know further, what laws 

 are to be administered in those States, if this 

 bill passed and became a law whether it is the 

 unlimited, undefined will of the conqueror that 

 is to govern and control that people, or whether 

 there are civil laws now in force which are to 

 be administered by the military authority con- 

 ferred by this bill ? " 



Mr. Bingham replied : "I will answer the 

 gentleman, I hope, before I sit down, very fully. 

 But I desire to place this amendment before 

 the House, so that its legislation may be con- 

 sistent with itself. 



" There is another reason why this amend- 

 ment to this fourth section should be adopted ; 

 and, in presenting it, I trust the scope of my 

 remarks will be an answer to what the gentle- 

 man has said. It is true, undoubtedly true, 

 that these States remained disorganized States 

 in the Union. It is also undoubtedly true that 

 those who were the conquerors upon the field 

 of battle reduced those in rebellion to sub- 

 jection. It is also undoubtedly true that the 

 Government of the United States, by its own 

 election, extended to those insurgents the rights 

 of belligerents; and it is also true that, by their 

 rebellion, those insurgents failed to place them- 

 selves in a position to put those States out of 

 the Union, or in the condition of foreign terri- 

 tory, or beyond the jurisdiction of the (Fatted 

 States. They fully 'succeeded by their 

 lion in overturning their previously existing 



