May 31, 1864 (2)

Mr. MORRIS, of New York. Mr. Speaker, the questions which now engross so much of the public attention as to the status of the several States in rebellion, and justwhatdisposition shall be made of them when finally subdued, are increasing in interest. Upon these points loyal men are known to differ; hence an examination and a discussion of them may be profitable. My own convictions are that much of thedifliculty m this, as in numerous other instances which have perplexed and divided our counsels since the organization of our Government, grows out of an element known to be at war with us avowed purposes, If each State in the Union had a republican form of government in fact, i apprehend there would be no controversy upon this subject. Or, to be explicit, were there no slavery all difficulty would vanish.

The truth is, that since the formation of the Federal Government its legislation has not only been embarrassed, but at times it has been wholly impeded by reason of this system. To such an extent has this influence prevailed that nearly every interest of the nation has been made to serve its purposes. And now; when in its death struggles it wields a giant s arm, and is as imperious as ever, its ruling passion increases as it approaches its dissolution. It is not surprising, therefore, that at this eventful period we find conflicting opinions. Not a few, I have no doubt, are influenced by a recollection of an alliance through which they and their political associates secured and for years held the ascendency in the nation. They ate in favor of a return of the revolted States to the Union; but they wish them* to return unshorn of the power through which they again hope to secure the control of national affairs. "A fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind."

Others when they contemplate this matter advert to the past. They recall the practical workings of slavery, they remember its tyrannical rule, its unholy aims, and they see its present wicked enormities. Such desire a return of those misguided States, but they insist it must be without this element of inevitable mischief. Hence each man modifies his views as he is inclined for or against the institution of slavery. In this I condemn the motives of no one. I only recite the facts, and leave it for others to judge; for every one knows a sailor at mast head may perceive anapproaching sail, while his companions on deck can see nothing but the distant horizon and the receding waves. It does not follow that those of the deck are deficient in vision, but I apprehend it does show he of the mast head Ifas the advantage in stand point In this way 1 account in part for the discrepancy of opinions in this Hall and in the country. For the same reason also the averments of one man are entitled to more regard than are another s But while I account for this conflict of views, I can hardly excuse that perversity which stubbornly remains on deck and will neither ascend nor be admonished by those at the mast head

But to the question, what is the status of the States in rebellion? Are they really in or are they actually out of the Union? Paradoxical as it may seem, 1 hold they are neither, and yet are they both. Suppose the officers and crew of anyFederal vessel should mutiny and run outapiratical flag, would this act absolve the mutineers from allegiance to the Government? When the malcontents are subdued, should they be restored to command? May they insist upon the control of the recaptured vessel? By their acts they have forfeited this privilege, and yet they are amcna<* ble to the laws. They owe the fealty of a citizen without a citizen s rights. There can be no question as to the status of the vessel. W y should there be as to who shall command it? Should this be done by piratical outlaws, or by men of unquestioned loyalty? A high way man by transgression does not absolve himself from obedience to the law he has trampled upon and defied. As far as allegiance, duty, and obligation are concerned his condition is unchanged, but he has no voice at the ballot box he may not hold an office of trust, nor can he participate as a witness or juror in any of our courts. He is a felon, he wears the taint and the disabilities of a felon. No one complains of this except the transgressor.

When Cromwell usurped the Government in Great Britain all kingly rule was suspended. He attempted to institute a new form of government, and was temporarily successful. Yet upon the death of this usurper and the dispersion of his adherents, the royal family were restored, and the suspended Government revived. Did the rulers in this instance ask the consent or seek the cooperation of those who had aimed to subvert the Government by force? Yet they were subjects of the realm as absolutely as were the adherents of the Crown. There was no difficulty here; and why? The English Government was homogeneous in all of its parts. It was monarchical, and whatever was not in harmony with this was sweptoutof being. The consequences were, recuperation and longevity; the fruit, stability and prosperity. May we not profit by thu example? A Government to be stable must be homogeneous* "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Wherein dothe rebellious States differ from the piratical crew, the outlawed felon, or the English usurpers? Ambitious men have usurped not destroyed the severalState governments at the South —they now traitorously hold them and defy the Federal authority. These felons maintain their usurpations bv force, and menace theGoveroraent with formidable armies. It is proposed to disperse these armies, capture their leaders, amUrestore order in these unfortunate States. This being done, what is their position? May fehfey claim a restoration to the places and the power they have forfeited by willful abuse? This isiot the usual rule, nor is it just. These States, while they may not claim the prerogatives of loyal constituents of the Union, yet are they as actually subject to its dominion and power as if they neverhad rebelled. I go further; a State can no more secede from the Union than can the arm from the natural body. The arm may be severed by force, but irreparable disaster would follow. A State may be separated from the body politic of which it is a member by revolution, but peacefully, rightfully, never. The efficiencyand completeness of the corporate whole would be destroyed by the act.

I insist the inhabitants of these States may be treated in a twofold light. The -Government against which they have sinned may elect to try and punish them under the civil law or under the laws of war. Or it may elect to punish some under one and some under the other. The civil code would be to them what the divine law ispto rebellious man. By this they are condemned already. They are adjudged traitors, and they must meet a traitor s doom. But under the laws of war, as under the system of grace, there may be mercy. The former would annihilate them, the latter extends pardon and forgiveneess upon repentance and faith evidenced by appropriate fruit. Man, by rebellingagainst the government of God, did not thereby absolve himself from allegiance. His dutiesand his obligations remained the same as before his transgression. The Jews did not obtain the inheritance by murdering the heir, but by reason thereof they lost their own birthright and others supplanted them.'

So it is with the rebels. They owe fealty to the Union as ever, but being felons they have forfeited their birthright. Any other rule would be destructive of government, and place virtue and vice upon a common level. The safety of society, as well as the laws of God, demands this interpretation.

Why, then, do men differ? It is owing to the stand point they severally occupy. The lookoutof each is from some point upon his own partisan barge.

It is well known that some four years since the Democratic fleet, then anchored at Charleston, through the mutiny of its commanders, if not hopelessly wrecked, was divided and thoroughly scattered. Some of this armament, with damaged timbers and tattered sails, still struggle against adverse winds, hoping to regain its former supremacy. The flag ship the most rotten of them, has been refitted, and is now cruising in our southern waters with the ensign of treason defiantly floating from its mast head

Another of these ill fated vessels, more sound, yet quite leaky and unsafe, is found in our northern waters, from which the stars and stripes still float; but its officers, with some noble exceptions, are ready to compromise with these mutineers and even to make base submission for the purpose of again reuniting their fortunes and fleet under its former command.

There is another barge. It is the Union. From its mast head and capacious deck its officers and men have their lookout. It is now recruiting. New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maryland, and Rhode Island have recently greeted this n ble vessel and sent such tokens to its patriotic .crew as will quicken their efforts, cheer their hearts, and stimulate to deeds which will enable them to subdue all enemies and again bring back the wayward fleet to allegiance and to its ancient moorings.

But I digress. I repeat, why do men differ? I again answer, it is attributable to the workings oi slavery. Our State governments are not homogeneous. To this fact we may attribute our past troubles and the present revolt. Were there no slavery the problem were solved. Hence I may as well say it here as elsewhere, that, like an evil spirit in man, there can be no rest, no health, no peace, no permanent prosperity until the turbulent and wicked devil is cast out and utterly destroyed. There is no alternative. We must have two Governments and eternal estrangement and border feuds, or one nation with slavery, or with freedom only in all of its parts. The question is, which will we have? The answer to this, as I believe, involves the happiness of coming generations, and also the perpetuity of a Government admitted by those who seek to destroy it, "with all its defects to come nearer the objects of all good government than any other on the face of the earth."

I conclude, therefore, that the revolting States are still in the Union. The converse would concede the right of secession, and stamp the present war as unjust. But these States can have no voice in the enactment of law or in amending the Constitution until they are pardoned and restored to their forfeited rights. Is this too severe? I hold this is a charitable view; and as they suffer the consequences, they may severally exclaim in truth,

"The thorns which I have reaped nrn of the tice

I planted; they have torn nns, and 1 bleed;

I should have known whatftuit

Would spring from such a seed."

I now come to the question, what shall be done with these States when subdued? 1 answer, amend the Constitution so as to for ver prohibit slavery in the Union, and then discriminate in pardoning the rebels in such a manner us to restore to citizenship such as were not voluntarily in hostility to the Federal Government. This involves the further inquiry, what power has Congress in this behalf? In discussing this 1 hope I shall be pardoned for adverting to some elementary principles, and also for quoting largely from our organic law. Man s moral and intellectual growth, as well as his weakness, constrains to intercourse and communion with his fellows. Society an. admitted necessity, and government its natural fruit. Out of society man is independent, afid subordinate to no one but his Maker. In sua* equality exists; but the new relation begets duty and responsibility from man to man. it is a principle in mechanics that what is gained m power is lost in velocity, it is conceded in ethics that each good, every substantial benefit, tuu? its countercheck. Analogous is society and government; to secure the general, certain specific advantages* must bo surrendered. Each individual makes some sucnliee, and thereby obtains a guarantee of protection. Therefore each member upon entering society covenants to yield his particular to the general good, and lo so compoitas to infract none of the rights of others, and also not to incapacitate himself for the discharge of the duties growing out of the social relations. There is mutuality of interest equality of rights, and a positive undertaking by each member to protect and defend the aggregate and also ouch constituent part. The enforcement of these duties and the redress of a breach of this covenant require the enactment and the enforcement of law. 'Therefore the founders of ourGovernruentadopted and we indorse the cardinal truths: u That all nam are createdequal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable iight; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power* man the consent ot the governed; that, whenever any fonn ol govei nnient becomes destructive of tlie e ends it is the ughtrof the people to alter *>r to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying iw foundation on such principles, and oig uii u g it* poweia m such fonn, as to them shall ^eeni most likely to elicit their baiely and happiness."

Under this authority some have stiungcly sought to justify the rebellion of the southern States. It should be borne in mind that thcpowerconferrcd by this instrument is upuu an entire, nolan integral part of a people, and us exercise is limited expressly to the altering or the aboht hingof a Government thathas bceomedestrucUve ofocrtain enumerated rights. I find no warrant in this for the secession of a State, but on the contrary find authority directing the people (the Federal Government) to alter and abolish any law or constitution whenever the public interests demand it. We sometimes err in supposing that our Government and the people are distinct entities. Hence we hear of the Government s exactions and tyranny. The truth is, the Government and the people are identical.

The Executive of the nation, the Legislature, and the Judiciary, are not severally nor are they jointly the Government; they are only servants. They represent and act for the sovereign people, and to them must yield obedience and render an account. This common error is a source of much mischief. Many suppose they may assail theGovernment and embarrass its action with impunity, not reflecting that by so doing they injuratheir own interests. In ordinary business a similar proceeding would excite suspicions of insanity. Others claim to discriminate between the Government and the Administration, and while they profess to respect the former, they abuse the latter. What is a Government? It is "the body of persons charged with the management of the executive power of a country." What is an Administration?" The collective body of persons who direct the Government of a country." I leave it for others to discriminate between them. It seems to me it were wise to aid the Administration which represents the people in the discharge of trusts in which each man has an immediate interest.

When the doctrines 1 have quoted were first announced, the original colonies were dependents. The instrument that gave them to the world also abrogated the power of the Crown and declared the colonies free and independent. In 1787 the people of these colonies, then States, being the only authority in the land, ordained and established a Constitution. This Constitution contains the following expressive preamble: k< We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more pcileet union, e t ibli«h justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pi ovule for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings ot liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain uu and CMablisdi this Constitution for the United States of America 55

Thus ttie sovereign power of the nation, for the purpose of perfecting the work so well begun in 1770, incorporated the elementary principles of the original Bill ofllights into their organic law. In the adoption of this instrument the several States in their corporate capacity are unknown, but without regard to geographical or corporate boundaries the people carved out and perfected a Government for the purposes so forcibly and eloquently expressed in the preamble of our national charter. If the framers of this instrument omitted any clause by overwightor mistake, may their descendants remedy this and perfect the plan of their ancestors? No one will doubt this, unless the Constitution inhibits it, or unless it would infract some reserved right of the States. Upon this point let the Constitution speak. Articiesix subdivision two, provides:

"The Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made m pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall he made under the authority of the United States; shall be the snpierne law of the land, and the judges in every State bJi ill be bound thereby, anything m the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding."

Thus the people of the United States, by their voluntary act, ordained and established u Constitution which is not only paramount, but it is the fundamental law of the nation. It expressly subordinates each State, and declares that any act of legislation, or any adjudication therein, which conflicts with the provisions of this fundamental law, shall be utterly void. A State, then, sustains the same relation to the Union that an individual does to society. They are constituents, are severally equal, severally dependent, and actually subordinate to the whole. The converse would create several sovereign heads in one Government, which would be as destructive to harmony and strength as would several heads m one family. Thus we have one unbroken chain from the individual to society, from society to the State, from the State to the nation: all are parts of one stupendous whole."

Once more I quote from the Constitution, article five:

"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution; oi, on the application of the Legislatures of two thiid s of the several States, shall call a convention for preparing amendment-*, which m either case shall he valid to all intents and purposes as part o( this Constitution when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as one or the oilier mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress."

The power to amend the Constitution is ex-; press.' The only remaining points are: first, is it necessary for Congress and the Stated to exercise this power? Second, what States may participate in such amendment as provided by article five just quoted?

As to the second point, I have already shown that the revolting States are within the Union so far as fealty and obedience are concerned; butns far as having a voice in the enactment o f laws and amending the Constitution, they are out of the Union. Till they are pardoned and restored to favor, they are not to be counted among the States of theUnion. Wherefore three fourths of the now loyal States are competent and they alone are to be heard in ratifying any amendment of the Constitution that may be proposed.

Upon the remaining question, is it necessary for Congress and the loyal States to exercise the power conferred, I remark itdepends much upon the question whether slavery should be cherished or destroyed.

The framers of the Constitution knew little of the true character of slavery. It was reserved for their descendants to learn this by an experience bitter and expensive. Few persons at the moment realize the danger of the first error. The snow-flake when associated with kindred particles forms a barrier of strength. The imperceptible process of evaporation furnishes the nucleus around which concentrated drops expand to an ocean. Nature generates unseen the subtle essences which nourish the embryo shoot until it becomes a stalwart oak. How similar is life! The infant thought, at first as gentle as the snowflake, intangible as is evaporation s breath, imperceptible as the agents that minister to the growth of the forest tree, by as quiet and as certain a process, becomes irresistible as an avalanche and deep as fathomless waves. In Governments, one improper influence is permitted to attain, one unpretending precedent obtains, others cluster around, until they become too powerful to be resisted. These are the lessons of experience. We have graduated in this school. Our education has been expensive, as is evidenced by an impoverished Treasury and desolated hearthstones. Shall we profit by the tuition? I aver no nation can violate any moral law without incurring a penalty. No member of society, no matter how we k or humble, can be oppressed without injury to the whole. It is an inexorable law. There is a system of compensation in the economy of God, and applicable to nations and individuals, as inevitable as that fire will burn. We may not admit it, but time will realize the fact. We may not recognize the hand, but the chastening will corneas certainly as that God is just. Legislators as well as divines should remember these truths.

Not a few attribute our troubles and sufferings to the agitation and discussion of this subject. I might reply, remove the cause and discussion will cease. But I have another answer. I knew a man; he was a noble and generous companion, endowed with wonderful powers of mind and of unusual business capacity. Industry and sobriety won him wealth and position. Butin anunguarded hour he allowed his cups to obtain the mastery. His wastingfortune, his broken health, his neglected business, his weeping family, all evidenced the effects of the first error Hjsneighbors remonstrated as was their right, pointed to the cause, and kindly advised a reformation. Poor man, he only railed at them as intermeddling fanatics, who had destroyed his business and beggared his family. He persisted in his course till his head was actually severed from his body as he lay unconscious upon an adjacent railway. Was it the friendly counsels, the truthful admonitions, the Christian efforts of these friends that wrought his ruin, or was it the law of inevitable compensation? I have supposed it was transgression and not the preaching of Noah that destroyed his contemporaries. We may attribute our misfortunes to erroneous causes, but we shall learn the fact that they follow transgression as certainly as that gravitation is an established law. This is attested by history, and the events of the last three years are fearful illustrations.

Once more: our fathers permitted slavery from a supposed necessity. This was their first error.' They expected it would become extinct under the workings of the Constitution. This was a second error. Others followed, and since the formation of our Government millions have been enslaved, An entire race has been deprived of all social rank, barred our schools, shut out from the gospel, and then held to be inferior for not rising in spite of their hinderances to an equality with the Saxon in the enjoyment of each of these privileges. Under our Government the African is a nondescript; he is not a man, nor yet is he a brute; he has not the rights nor the protection of either; he has no resting place, no refuge within this land of liberty and Christianity, and yet he is the only innocent party within its entire boundaries. Tell me where he may rear the home altar and enjoy unmolested the companionship of wife and children. Up to this hour, such is the force of prejudice, that if, rising above and forgetting the inhuman treatment of our Government, the colored man enters our armies and imperils his life in its defense, he is denied notonly the pay but the protection of a soldier. And yet we crave Heaven s blessing.

Had slavery been content with despoiling the colored race only, its existence, I doubt not, might have been prolonged for years. But, in its greed, its exactions reached beyond. It inaugurated a plan of adding territory, by conquest and purchase, to our already immense unpopulated domain, for the avowed purpose of creating slave State^, that an equilibrium might be preserved between freedom and slavery. What a scheme in a free Government! It was a procedure as prudent and quite as certain to be productive of good as it would be if a Christian church, for the promotion of harmony and a growth in grace, should, upon the receipt of each saint, admit an avowed infidel and libertine into its communion. Satisfy me that a union of holiness and sin, a blending of heaven and hell are essential to harmony and peace, and I will admit not only the policy but the wisdom and justice of retaining the system of slavery in our Government.

Territory was acquired, and yet slavery with all of its efforts could not compete with the enterprise and progress of freedom. Seeing this, and maddened by disappointment, it abrogated its solemn covenants and commanded the Federal Government to create a slave State in Kansas. Failing here, too, with a mendacity known only to unmixed wickedness, it resolved to rule or rum the nation. To this end it entered, corrupted, and divided our churches and political parties, incarcerated Christian men and women for teaching the alphabet, waged war against free speech, framed new issues, prostituted the ballot box suborned legislators, and even polluted the pure robes of the judiciary with its guilty hands. But, as if Us cup of iniquity were not full, it placed a frigid ingrate in the Executive cl air surrounded him with its instruments, and then bade the old man worship and obey it. I should except the patriot Cass, who in the trying hour nobly preferred his country to his place. Thus strengthened and guarded, with a fiendish malignity slavery grasped the implements of war, drained the coffers of the nation, and rushed to the destruction of a Government upon whose bounty and forbearance it had been nurtured and fed; and when with uplifted dagger it threatened the nation s life, men were found, ay, men at the North, who gravely asked the Government to pause arid examine the Constitution to see if there was any express clause in that instrument permitting the exercise of the power of self preservation The superannuated old man did pause. The marshaled hosts, the millions of expended treasure, (ne bleaching bones and the uncoffined ashes of half a million of brave men now scattered upon a thousand hills and valleys, are among the consequences. The scarlet waters of a hundred sweeping rivers, and the crimsoned earth dyed with patriot blood, cry out against this wicked act. The deep waitings in the land, the drooping head of age, the weeping wife and mother as she prays and watches for the absent, all witness against the criminal neglect of an Executive steeped in slavery and doomed to eternal infamy. God forgive the State that bore this degenerate son!

Self preservation it is cngiaven upon each soul by the finger of God. It is an instinct in every breast. It is recognized by every being on earth, except such as have lost their humanity through the influence of this damned sin. Self preservation 11 is written m every constitution in Christe ndom it underlies all Governments, and is tolerated even by those absolute monarchies where the tyrant s will is the only law. Pause to examine the Constitution when the assassin's .dagger is at my breast! I would first hurl him to the earth and trample him to dust, and then vindicate my act by the universal' approval of mankind, and also by the laws of Almighty God. Violate the Constitution to save the life of the nation! It is absurd. There can be no such thing. He who hesitates to repel the assault when the nation s life is imperiled, not only violates this instrument by the act, but he is a coward—he who refuses is a traitor.

"We see that slavery ,«after despoiling the African, has steadily and aggressively advanced in its exactions and lusts, till it is now thundering at our gates and threatening the nation s existence. Shall we yield this? The nation and slavery cannot both live. Which is of the greater value? I say destroy this monster at once, root out this noxious plant, leave not a fiber to again sprout and choke the tree of liberty planted by our fathers. We have the power; the necessity is apparent; therefore let us perform this duty and save the nation. To stop short of this is a criminal truce.

Sir, this is not a mere struggle between the North and the South; it is a conflict between two systems; a controversy between right and wrong. This is not a war between the Puritan and the Cavalier; freedom begat the former and slavery the latter. They are only instruments in the hands of their respective creators.

Mr. Speaker, the present American Congress occupies a position at this moment of greater responsibility than has devolved upon a like body since the year 177G. The events of an entire century transpire in ayear. The United States have made more history in the three years last past than can be written out in an ordinary lifetime. Our action upon this question will adorn or forever sully one of its pages. Our action this day will give perpetuity to a nation of freemen or of slaves* By our action at this time shall we be honored or execrated by the millions who shall people the continent of the West. The eyes of a world are upon us; the hopes of the oppressed, the interests of freedom in every land hang upon our decision, and the blessings or the cursings of Almighty God await our final proceedings.

Mr. HERRICK obtained the floor.

The House then took a recess until half past seven o clock p. m.