CONGRESS, U. 8. 



229 



not only of the measure but of the motive 

 which prompted it. I propose to lend the 

 whole po\ver of the country arms, men, 

 money, and place them in his hands, with au- 

 thority almost unlimited, until the conclusion 

 of this struggle. He has asked for $400,000,000. 

 We propose to give him $500,000,000. He has 

 asked for four hundred thousand men. We 

 propose to give him half a million ; and for 

 my part, if, as I do not apprehend, the emer- 

 gency should be still greater, I will cheerfully 

 add a cipher to either of these figures. 



" But, sir, while I do that, I desire, by my 

 word and my vote, to have it clearly under- 

 stood that I do that as a measure of war. As 

 I had occasion to say, in a very early dis- 

 cussion of this question, I want sudden, bold, 

 forward, determined war ; I do not think any- 

 body can conduct war of that kind as well as 

 a dictator. But, as a Senator, I deem it my 

 duty to look forward to returning peace. I do 

 ot believe it will be longer than next February 



'Till danger's troubled night is o'er, 

 And the star of peace returns.' 



" Whether that peace shall be conquered at 

 lichmond, or Montgomery, or New Orleans, 

 in the wilds of Texas, I do not presume to 

 ; but I do know, if I may use so bold a 

 word, that the determined aggregated power 

 of the whole people of this country all its 

 treasure, all its arms, all its blood, ah 1 its en- 

 thusiasm, kindled, concentrated, poured out in 

 one mass of living valor upon any foe will 

 conquer. 



"I believe with most gentlemen that the 

 Union sentiment will yet prevail in the South- 

 ern States. Bayonets are sharp remedies, but 

 they are very powerful. I am one of those 

 who believe that there may be reverses. I am 

 not quite confident that we shall overrun the 

 Southern States, as we shall have to overrun 

 them, without severe trials of our courage and 

 our patience. I believe they are a brave, de- 

 termined people, filled with their enthusiasm, 

 false in its purposes, as I think, but still one 

 which animate? almost all classes of their pop- 

 ulation. But, however that may be, it may be 

 that instead of finding, within a year, loyal 

 States sending members to Congress, and re- 

 placing their Senators upon this floor, we may 

 have to reduce them to the condition of terri- 

 tories, and send from Massachusetts or from Il- 

 linois Governors to control them. It may be ; 

 and, sir, if need come, I am one of those who 

 would be willing to do it. I would do that. 

 I would risk even the stigma of being despotic 

 and oppressive, rather than risk the perpetuity 

 of the Union of these States. I repeat, and 

 with that repetition I close: Fight the war 

 through ; accomplish a peace : make it so per- 

 fect and so permanent that a boy may preserve 

 it : and when you have done that, you have no 

 ~ lore need for a standing army." 



Mr. Fessenden. of Maine, proposed to modify 

 the amendment by adding to the resolution 

 simply the words " provided, that nothing here- 



in contained shall be construed as authorizing 

 a permanent increase of the army or navy." 



This was approved, and the question came 

 up on the passage of the resolution. 



Mr. Polk, of Missouri, argued against the 

 resolution, saying: "I am one of those who 

 look upon the action of the President of the 

 United States in this matter as of a character 

 so grave, and, I will add, so perilous, that I 

 cannot, by my vote on this resolution or on 

 any bill or resolution that may be offered, con- 

 sent to say that he has done right in suspend- 

 ing the writ of habeas corpus, or authorizing it 

 to be suspended, or that that writ ought to be 

 suspended, or can properly be suspended, under 

 any state of circumstances that can exist in the 

 country. As far as I know, Merryman is still 

 incarcerated in Fort McHenry. If he has been 

 released I have never known it. The Senator 

 from Maryland (Mr. Kennedy) says he has not 

 been released. If he has been I have never 

 known it. The liberties of that man, as I be- 

 lieve, are trodden down in violation of the 

 Constitution of the United States. 



" This Constitution, Mr. President, was adopt- 

 ed without a bill of rights. It was supposed 

 probably by the convention of wise and patri- 

 otic men and heroes who adopted it, that no 

 such thing was necessary, because, by the Con- 

 stitution there was no authority vested in the 

 Government that it created, except that which 

 was expressly delegated. But so jealous were 

 the constituencies of those wise and patriotic 

 men on this point that they were not willing 

 that the Constitution should be adopted or be- 

 come the permanent basis of Government with- 

 out recommending amendments, which should 

 constitute a bill of rights ; and I call the atten- 

 tion of the Senate and the country to the fourth 

 of these amendments : 



' The right of the people to be secure in their per- 

 sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable 

 searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no 

 warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, sup- 

 ported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describ- 

 ing the place to be searched and the persons or things 

 to be seized.' 



" ' The right of the people to be secure in 

 their persons.' I have called attention to the 

 case of Merryman. We have only to look at 

 that case, as it is stated by the Chief Justice in 

 delivering his opinion, to see that this guaran- 

 tee of the right of the security of the person of 

 that man was trodden down without any au- 

 thority of law. On the mere intimation of a 

 military general, I believe up in Pennsylvania, 

 he is seized, without any warrant, in the night 

 time, and taken from his family, and put in 

 prison in Fort McHenry ; and that in the teeth 

 of a constitutional provision which says that 

 the right of the people to be secure in their 

 persons shall not be violated. Sir, I undertake 

 to say that in the history of England, in the 

 times of the Tudors and the Plantagenets, a 

 case more flagrant than this cannot be found ; 

 and this is not a single case. It has occurred 

 here in Maryland repeatedly. It has occurred 



