CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



229 



Unions some commissioned officer on duty in the 



i ui. -r.-iu the PCI Mm is detained -li.ill m<|. >:-! 

 till prliii'Mi a Mat. -in. -lit, eeriil'> in:; u|>nti honor 

 that In- ha-* know lcdi;e or iiifiiritiatioii as to the cause 

 '10 alleged detention, innl that 

 .me to be wrongful ; and further, 

 that 1. 'iiat the indorsed petition is pre- 



iu m>nd faith und in furtherance of jus- 

 tice, and not to hinder or delay the punishment of 



The wealthy criminal, for his fee of $50 or 

 $100 or $500, can got a lieutenant's certificate 

 to liis petition, and go to the courts of the 

 1 States and bo heard under the laws of 

 the United States, and have some little protec- 

 tion from the Constitution of your fathers, from 

 that instrument under which you are assembled 

 here, and which you are sworn to support. 

 This is the manner in which judicial power 

 may take hold of any case, no matter how enor- 

 mous, of outrage or of iniquity, in one-third 

 of the United States, under this bill. 



The fifth section provides 



That no sentence of any military commission or 

 tribunal hereby authorized, affecting the life or lib- 

 erty of any person, shall be executed until it is ap- 

 proved by the officer in command of the district. 



There, sir, shameful as the fact appears, the 

 power over the life of an American citizen is 

 confided to either one of five military com- 

 manders, who are to be selected, not by the 

 Commander-in-chief of the armies of the United 

 States, as the Constitution requires, but by a 

 general selected by your bill ; and you might 

 just as well, instead of having selected the 

 General of the Army for this purpose, have se- 

 lected the hero of Big Bethel or any other gen- 

 eral, or even a civilian, if, indeed, this fearful 

 and unexampled power of creating military rule 

 .resides in Congress at all. The commanders 

 of these departments have the power of life 

 and death, the power to imprison at their pleas- 

 ure, the power to fine, to confiscate property, 

 and to plunder or kill the citizens, and that 

 without any redress. Why, sir, what are the 

 military commissions that are authorized here ? 

 Are not the members selected by this officer in 

 command, selected to do his bidding organized 

 to convict, if he desires conviction, and their 

 proceedings subject to his approval ? Nay, sir, 

 even sentence of death by them is to be carried 

 into execution according to his will, because 

 this bill contemplates the capital execution of 

 a citizen tried before these tribunals, simply 

 upon the approval of the officer commanding 

 the district. 



" Such, sir, is the bill introduced here, for the 

 passage of which our votes are solicited, and to 

 pass which we are driven into the hours of the 

 night, hurriedly and unprepared, while some ex- 

 pectant persons outside, perhaps, look with im- 

 patience upon the delay which is taking place, 

 this unnecessary delay, this protraction of our 

 proceedings, this waste of time, this foolish ap- 

 pealing to old records, and to principles which 

 wo have advanced far beyond in our revolu- 

 tionary career. Yes, sir, a spirit of impatience 



ami intolerance surrounds us, and finds voice 

 i-vrii ii|nin this floor. 



Sir, this hill, in the first place, is an open 

 rnnl'i^s'iun, in the face of the world, th 

 piil. licim government is a failure. It ix an 

 mid shameless confession, made by us in the 

 presence of our own countrymen, and in the 

 |in-vnrr of tin- world, that our republican in- 

 stitutions are not, as they were supposed to be, 

 destined to immortality or to future renown ; 

 that their period of life has about closed, that 

 we are to be added to the list of republics of 

 former times, and of other countries, who ran 

 hurried, but some of them not inglorious 

 careers, to end in what this bill suggests, in the 

 rule of a master, in the establishment of mili- 

 tary power, in the chastisement of crime, of 

 violence, and of private wrong, not by civil 

 law, but by military force. Yon propose to 

 put in command of one-third of the United 

 States, generals of your armies. You propose 

 to confer on them dictatorial powers. That is 

 the word. This bill establishes a military dic- 

 tatorship by congressional enactment, for one- 

 third of the United States, and its grants are 

 in the largest and vaguest terms. Under them 

 any act pertaining to civil government, any 

 act pertaining to the punishment of criminal 

 offenders, may be authorized and may be per- 

 formed by the military power which you set 

 up. That is a dictatorship. No matter by 

 what name it be designated, that is its nature. 

 That you establish by this bill. Whatever you 

 propose, that will be the authority created ; it 

 will be known as a dictatorship in all future 

 time." 



Mr. Frelinghnysen, of New Jersey, said : " I 

 do not propose, sir, to make any remarks on 

 the bill. I rise to suggest an amendment to 

 the amendment. It is in the ninth line, after 

 the word ' upward,' to insert ' who have resided 

 one year in said State ;' so that if amended 

 that portion of the amendment will read : " 



And when it shall hare provided by its constitu- 

 tion that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed by 

 all male citizens of the United States twenty-one 

 years old and upward, who have resided one year in 

 said State, without regard to race, color, Ac. 



The President pro tempore : " It is in the 

 power of the Senator from Maryland to accept 

 the amendment as a modification of his own 

 amendment, if he pleases." 



Mr. Johnson : " Then I accept it." 



Various amendments to the amendment were 

 proposed, together with a substitute designated 

 as the " Louisiana Bill " in the House, all of 

 which were rejected, with the amendment of- 

 fered by Mr. Johnson. 



Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, on February 16th, 

 moved to strike out all after the word " where- 

 as " in the preamble, and insert the following : 



No legal State governments or adequate protection 

 for life or property now exist in the rebel States of 

 Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 

 Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and 

 Arkansas ; and whereas it is necessary that peace and 

 good order should be enforced in aaid States until 





