commissioners? Who pays the expenses of the officers making the assessment? That is a difficult matter, as any one who is familiar with the ordinary practical details of an auditor's office knows. A large amount of expenses is always incurred in collecting a direct tax. They amount ordinarily to five per cent. I think the landholders in these insurrectionary States ought to pay the tax, including the expenses of the commissioners; otherwise it would not be an equal and just tax. Mr. DOOLITTLE. I have no objection whatever to the purpose of the amendment, if it can be made practical, if you can practically fix it so that the expenses can be computed, and put upon these various lots of ground. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the amendment moved by the Senator from Ohio. Mr. POWELL. I will ask that that amendment be reported. The Secretary again read it. Mr. POWELL. It strikes me that amendment is unconstitutional. I think taxation should be uniform. This amendment certainly proposes to incumber these people with an amount of tax that the people of other States do not pay. I cannot vote for it; and I will ask for the yeas and nays upon it. The yeas and nays were ordered. Mr. SHERMANŃ. I believe the Constitution can be quoted against every proposition that can be made. The tax, the amount to be received by the General Government, is fixed by the law of last summer. This does not change it in the slightest degree. The tax is apportioned according to population, and in the constitutional mode. The amendment which I have offered does not increase the amount to be paid to the General Government. The only question is, who shall pay the cost of collecting the tax when you have to resort to extraordinary or war measures to collect it? Shall the United States pay it, and in this way absorb the tax; or shall the persons who, by taking part in this insurrection, or by living in insurrectionary districts, prevent the law from being enforced against them, pay the expense? I think it is a very simple proposition. I dislike very much to hear the Constitution quoted except on grave occasions, where it applies to grave subjects. It seems to me this is only a question as to whether these landholders shall pay this extraordinary expense of collecting the tax in insurrectionary districts, or whether the United States shall pay it, and thus exhaust the tax itself? Mr. POWELL. The amendment, as I understand it, compels these persons to pay the salaries of the officers who collect it. Mr. SHERMAN. The expense. Mr. POWELL. The salaries are a part of the expense. The Senator says he never wants to hear the Constitution alluded to except on grave matters. I think the question of taxation is as grave a matter, perhaps, as there is before the Senate; and I should not be much astonished if Senators should find that it is a question of some gravity before we get through with it. The Secretary proceeded to call the roll. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. There is no quorum voting. Mr. HARRIS. I omitted to vote, because if I vote I want in a word to explain the ground of my vote. I have very serious doubts as to the constitutionality of this proposition. I do not believe it is constitutional. With a view to make a quorum, therefore, I will vote, and I vote in the negative. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The vote shows the want of a quorum in the body present and arrests the public business. No motion is in order except to adjourn, or to direct the Sergeant-atArms to request the attendance of absent Sena ter, King, Nesmith, Pomeroy, Rice, Sherman, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson of Massachusetts, and Wright-22. NAYS-Messrs. Grimes, Harlan, Harris, Henderson, Howard, Lane of Kansas, Latham, McDougall, Powell, Saulsbury, Trumbull, Willey, and Wilson of Missouri-13. So the amendment was agreed to. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair thinks it proper to call attention to the 16th rule of the Senate, which the Secretary will read. The Secretary read as follows: 16. When the yeas and nays shall be called for by one fifth of the members present, each member called upon shall, unless for special reason he be excused by the Senate, declare openly, and without debate, his assent or dissent to the question. In taking the yeas and ways, and upon the call of the House, the names of the members shall be taken alphabetically." Mr. DOOLITTLE. There are two blanks in the second line of the second section as to the time when the proclamation of the President shall be issued. I move that they be filled by the words "15th" and "June," so that it will read, "that on or before the 15th day of June next, the President, by his proclamation," &c. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. WILLEY. I wish to direct the attention of the Senator who has this bill in charge to the fourth section. In the first place, it seems to me the phraseology might be amended a little; that the words "in fee simple" should be omitted either in the firstdine of the section or in the sixth. I suggest that to the Senator. Mr. DOOLITTLE. I have no objection to that. It seems to be a repetition. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Virginia will repeat the words to be stricken out. Mr. WILLEY. The words "in fee simple," in the first or sixth line, according as the Senator himself designates. Mr. DOOLITTLE. I prefer that the words "in fee simple," in the first and second lines, should be stricken out. The same words, "in fee simple," appear in the sixth line of the fourth section. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. No objection being made, those words will be stricken out in the places indicated by the Senator. Mr. WILLEY. I will say to the Senator from Wisconsin, that I trust there are, as he hopes, many loyal people still in the South and in the States in insurrection. There, as everywhere else, people are indebted to one another, and I have no doubt it is a fact that in many places where sales might take place under this law, there would be liens upon the lands in favor of loyal citizens, liens by way of mortgage, and in Virginia, liens peculiar to that State, liens in various forms. I suggest to the Senator whether, under these circumstances, this absolute vesting of the title in the United States and the selling of the land might not operate to the prejudice of loyal persons who are entitled to the benefit of these liens, and therefore, whether there should not be in this section or somewhere else a provision made to protect them. No doubt these sales will be made many times under circumstances where the lands will not bring near their value. At all events, I do not see any provision to protect the liens that may be existing at this time and prior to the time of the sales. I merely make this suggestion to the Senator. Mr. DOOLITTLE. I believe that always when real estate is taxed by the taxing power of the Government, the tax takes precedence of every other lien or charge whatsoever. There are provisions in the bill which have a tendency to prevent speculators from following the commissioners and bidding for these lands at the mere amount of the tax. There are provisions that if the owner himself does not appear in person at the sale, the speculators and others shall not be permitted to bid it off except at two thirds of the assessed value of the lands. If they do not bid that amount, it is struck off by the Government of the United States, and being in the Government of the United States it would have full power to do justice; or if it should be struck off by any one else, and the money paid into the Treasury of the United States, then these persons might have their claim upon the Government of the United States, if they had a bona fide lien and were bona fide loyal citizens of the United States. Mr. WILLEY. It is just to do that kind of justice that I make the suggestion. I see no provision for it in the bill. In regard to the general principle that a lien for taxes takes priority of all other liens, that is correct under ordinary circumstances when the country is at peace; but here are taxes imposed under extraordinary circumstances and in an extraordinary manner. Merchants in the loyal States, away from the insurrectionary districts, in many instances, now have judgments, liens upon these lands, and they are liable to these honest creditors. They are the only source, especially in cases where the disloyal debtor has fled from the country, remaining for the payment of the debt. It seems to me it would be unjust in this summary manner to divest the title and vest it in the United States regardless of the rights of these foreign creditors who have these liens; regardless of some provision to protect their interests in this matter. Therefore, it seems to me, there ought to be some regulation inserted in the bill by which their interests should be protected, and not leave it to what may result hereafter; not leave it to the discretion of Congress hereafter, but now, in the bill, secure those rights. The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, and was read the third time. Mr. HARRIS. I am in favor of the main provisions of this bill, but the eleventh section contains some provisions in respect to which I disagree with the Senator who framed the bill, and I want to say this: I think I do not go too far when I say that in the course of a day or two after the next meeting of the Committee on the Judiciary a bill will be reported from that committee which I introduced some two months ago, for organizing provisional governments in these seceded States. This eleventh section will be, to a great extent, in conflict with the provisions of that bill, which, as I understand, the Committee on the Judiciary are prepared to report after some details are attended to. I do not desire to have this bill passed containing the eleventh section. In my judgment the provisions of that section are injudicious, and certainly they will be in conflict with the provisions of the bill which will be reported from the Committee on the Judiciary. So far as these commissioners are authorized to go on and enforce the provisions of this bill relating to the collection of taxes, I have no objection to it; but it will be perceived that this eleventh section goes much further. It provides that the board of commissioners " may from time to time make such temporary rules for the order and government of all persons residing within the said district as shall be just and humane." In other words, it gives them unrestricted legislative authority for these districts. I do not know why the Senator from Wisconsin thought fit to insert such a provision in this bill. If he had restricted them to the framing of rules and regulations for the collection of these taxes, I should have had no objection; but it gives them unrestricted legislative power in these districts. Mr. DOOLITTLE. I have no objection, if the Senate think proper, to the striking out of this eleventh section. If a better provision than this is to be made, it should be done. My friend, however, is entirely mistaken in supposing that the commissioners are to have unrestricted legislative power. What they are to do is with the consent of the commanding general of the district, who, in fact, now has all the power there is in a military district, and I supposed it was bringing a little aid to the commanding general to take three commissioners to advise him what to do Mr. HARRIS. If the Senator from Wisconsin will strike it out, we will prepare something better. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will state that in the present position of the bill, it can only be done by unanimous consent. If no objection be made, the eleventh section will be stricken out. Does any Senator object to the striking out of the eleventh section? Mr. DOOLITTLE. If no other act is to pass Congress on the subject, I think this eleventh section very important. It is not liable to the objection raised by the honorable Senator that it is unrestricted, because it is only to be with the consent of the commanding general, who now has what we call a military power, which means a power without any boundary but the judgment of the general who exercises it. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair understands the Senator from Wisconsin as objecting to the amendment. A single objection is 1862. THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE. sufficient. The bill cannot be amended at this stage except by unanimous consent. Mr. HARRIS. Then I will move to reconsider the vote ordering the bill to be engrossed and read a third time, with a view to get at it in that way. The motion was agreed to. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill is now before the Senate, and open to amendment. Mr. HARRIS. I now move to strike out the eleventh section of the bill in these words: SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the said board of commissioners, by and with the approval of the commanding general in said district, may, from time to time, make such temporary rules for the order and government of all persons residing within the said districi as shall be just and humane, until the civil authority of the Federal Government shall be established and acknowledged as mentioned in the ninth section, which said rules and regulations shall be approved by the President, and be by him submitted to the next session of Congress for their revision and modification. The motion was agreed to. The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, and was read the third time. Mr. SAULSBURY. I ask for the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill. The yeas and nays were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 32, nays 3; as follows: YEAS-Messrs, Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Harlan, Harris, Henderson, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Lané of Kansas, Latham, McDougall, Morrill, Nesmith, Pomeroy, Rice, Sherman, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Willey, Wilson of Massachusetts, and Wright-32. NAYS-Messrs. Howard, Powell, and Saulsbury-3. MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. ETHERIDGE, its Clerk, announced that the House had passed a bill (No. 374) to secure freedom to all persons within the Territories of the United States, in which the concurrence of the Senate was requested. The message also announced that the House had passed the bill of the Senate (No. 289) to facilitate the discharge of enlisted men for physical disability, with amendments, in which it requested the concurrence of the Senate. HOMESTEAD BILL. The message further announced that the House of Representatives had disagreed to the amendments of the Senate to the bill of the House (No. 125) to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain, and to provide a bounty for soldiers in lieu of grants of the public lands, and asked a conference on the disagreeing votes of the wo Houses thereon; and had appointed Mr. JOHN F. POTTER, of Wisconsin, Mr. CYRUS ALDRICH, of Minnesota, and Mr. EDWIN H. WEBSTER, of Maryland, managers at the same on its part. The Senate proceeded to consider its amendments to the bill of the House (No. 125) to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain, and to provide a bounty for soldiers in lieu of grants of the public lands, disagreed to by the House of Representatives; and On motion of Mr. HARLAN, it was Resolved, That the Senate insist upon its amendments disagreed to by the House of Representatives, and agree to the conference asked by the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses thereon. Ordered, That the committee of conference on the part of the Senate be appointed by the President pro tempore. The PRESIDENT pro tempore appointed Mr. HARLAN, Mr. CLARK, and Mr. WRIGHT. WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT CLAIMS. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I move to take up for consideration the join resolution (H. R. No. 68) authorizing the payment of certain moneys heretofore appropriated for the compleLon of the Washington aqueduct. The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the joint resolution. The act of Congress approved June 25, 1860, having appropriated for the completion of the Washington aqueduct $500,000, to be expended according to the plans and estimates of Captain Meigs and under his superintendence; and while the work was in progress a before it was completed, Captain Meigs having been removed from such superintendence, and certain parties having claims for work done and materials furnished to and for the completion of the aqueduct which have not been paid; the bill authorizes the superintendent of the Washington The Committee on Military Affairs reported The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment was concurred in, and ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a third time. It was read the third time and passed. ADJOURNMENT OF CONGRESS. Mr. DAVIS. I desire to call up the resolution of the House of Representatives, fixing a time for the adjournment of Congress. The motion was agreed to; and the Senate proceeded to consider the following resolution adopted by the House of Representatives on the 10th of April last: Resolved, (the Senate concurring,) That the present session of the Thirty-Seventh Congress be adjourned without day on the third Monday of May next at twelve o'clock, meridian. Mr. DAVIS. I move to strike out the day mentioned in the resolution, the third Monday of May, and to insert "Monday, the 2d day of June. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I hope, sir, we shall not amend the resolution, and I am sorry we have it up here. In my opinion we ought not to think anything about an adjournment in the present condition of the country. I am very sure that we cannot adjourn at any such early day as indicated by that amendment. I doubt very much whether we can, by any possibility, adjourn before the latter part of June or the 1st of July; and I think we had better let this matter rest. We have a great deal of important business that we ought to do. We have this great measure of the tax bill that must take days, if properly con sidered by the Senate. Mr. GRIMES. Weeks. considerable consequence, which undoubtedly move, Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President Mr. FESSENDEN. If my friend desires to The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question Mr. DAVIS. I think the day indicated will sary and proper business by Congress. I am give ample time for the transaction of all necesperfectly satisfied that there will be a great deal too much legislation at this session. If the two Houses had restricted their action simply to the perfection of the tax bills and the passage of the necessary appropriation bills, in my judgment it would have been much the wisest system of think that it is imperatively the duty of Conlegislation that Congress could have adopted. I in the present state of the public feeling, gress, and in the present condition of the country, to pass only such measures of legislation as are indispensably necessary to the operations of the Government. Now, sir, so far as relates to the subject of raising supplies to carry on the Government, and to conduct the war vigorously and successfully to a speedy termination; so far as relates to measures that are necessary to sustain the credit of the Government, to raise the ways and means to enable the Government to conduct this great war to a speedy close, the whole country-that is, the sound, Union portion of it-would concur in the conclusion that such a course of legislation was indispensably necessary. But, sir, when Congress leaves these legitimate and proper sub Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. The Sen-jects of legislation and enters upon a field of exator from Iowa [Mr. GRIMES] suggests that it perimental legislation, most of which the larger portion of the country, in my judgment, deems to must take weeks, It is a very important measure be wholly and flagitiously unconstitutional, it is indeed. A vast amount of labor and thought has been bestowed upon it by the committee, and by time, I think, to set a day for Congress to adjourn that it may work up the necessary and indispensable business of legislation to its proper consummembers of both Houses of Congress; and I do not think we ought to attempt to hurry through mation, and quit the capital and the halls of legislation. It would have been infinitely better, acmeasures of such importance as that and some cording to my humble opinion, if the two Houses others that are pending before Congress. Then there are occurring daily in the country events had met together and had ascertained what were indispensable subjects of legislation according to that may require us to remain longer than we may the condition of the country, and bent their undivided attention and effort to the passage of those desire to remain. I think our duty is to take care of the country, and, as we are paid by the year, to stay the whole year if it be necessary so to do. I absolutely indispensable measures, and have left hope we shall not at this time, in the present condition of business, fix any day for the adjourn-every other subject of legislation for the future. ment of the Congress of the United States. Mr. FESSENDEN. I design to move to lay If that course had been adopted, we should have restricted the continuance of the war months and months; we should have saved to the country thousands and tens of thousands of valuable lives; and we should have saved to the people of the United States and to the Treasury hundreds of In my opinion, the millions of expenditures. course of legislation in the present Congress in a unwise. It is with a view to restrict as far as pracgreat degree has been eminently mischievous and ticable the continuance of this most mischievous system of legislation that I think the two Houses of Congress ought to fix an early day for the adjournment of Congress, that they might have all the necessary time to pass proper and legitimate measures of legislation, but no time whatever to devote to that mischievous line of legislation that is I will make this remark, Mr. President, in reproducing so much dissatisfaction in the country. lation to my own State. There are no better Union people within the pale of the Constitution in this broad Confederacy than the Union people of the State of Kentucky-none. There is not one voice in a hundred, nor, I believe, in a thousand, in that State but what is raised now in the sternest condemnation of much of the legislation of the pres ent Congress. You have passed measures at the present session of Congress that will be resisted by all the white population of the State of Kentucky, measures that are unconstitutional, that are unwise, that are unjust, that are iniquitous, and that I would counsel my people to resist by every mode of resistance that they could devise. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I call the Senator to order for uttering treasonable sentiments on the floor of the Senate. The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. SHERMAN in the chair.) The Senator from Massachusetts calls the Senator from Kentucky to order. Mr. DAVIS. He is no judge of treason. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I call the Senator to order. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Senators will take their scats. The Senator from Massachusetts calls the Senator from Kentucky to order. It is his duty to reduce the words to writing, under the rules of the body. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. Mr. President, the Senator from Kentucky said in substance-I do not pretend to quote his precise words-" Congress has passed measures that the people of Kentucky will resist, and I should counsel the people to resist them by every means in their power." I call the Senator to order for uttering words of that character on the floor of the American Senate. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky will proceed in order. Mr. DAVIS. The Senator from Massachusetts has not taken down the words which I uttered. These were the words that I uttered, and I repeat them: that in my judgment, the Congress of the United States has passed unconstitutional measures, and so far as those measures are unconstitutional I will advise my constituents to resist them. That is what I said. no. Mr. HOWARD and Mr. WILKINSON. Oh, Mr. DAVIS. What did I say, then? Mr. HOWARD. The Senator from Kentucky inquires what he said. I listened to the Senator from Kentucky while he was pronouncing the of fensive language which has been complained of, and if my memory serves me, and I paid very good attention to what he said, the language as taken down by the Senator from Massachusetts is cor rect. Mr. DAVIS. The gentleman from Massachusetts does not pretend to take down the words which I uttered. He only takes down the substance. How then can the gentleman from Michigan say that the language as taken by the Senator from Massachusetts was correct when he does not pretend to take down the language? Mr. HOWARD. I will answer. I say that the language is correctly written down upon the paper submitted by the Senator from Massachusetts, to say nothing of the substance of it, unqualifiedly-if the Senator from Kentucky desires to present a defiance of this kind. Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President, I intended to say what I believe I did say, and what I repeat, that, in my judgment, the present Congress has passed unconstitutional laws, and to the extent that I deem them unconstitutional I will advise my constituents to resist them. That is what I said. If I said anything different from that I did not express what I meant; but that was my meaning, and I now reiterate it. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Maine renew his motion? Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. We can have the words in a moment precisely as uttered. The statement as I have taken it down is the idea stated by that Senator, and I think to some extent his words. It is very near them; much nearer than the statement of the Senator now. What he states now qualifies it, puts it in a very different aspect from that in which he originally stated it. Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President, I went on and stated a context, and, in connection with that context, was the distinct proposition that some of the legislation of the present session of Congress was unconstitutional, and it was in that context that I said I would advise my constituents to resist the unconstitutional legislation of Congress; that is what I said; it is what I intended to say; it is what I now repeat. I am not a man to advise resistance to a constitutional law; I never have and never will; but I advise resistance to an unconsti tutional law. I will do it here; I will do it everywhere. Every man must judge for himself upon his own peril. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the amendment offered by the Senator from Kentucky. Mr. TRUMBULL. Was there not a motion to lay on the table? The PRESIDING OFFICER. That motion was withdrawn by the Senator from Maine. Mr. FESSENDEN. I wish to ask the Chair whether it is in order for a Senator not in argument upon a question, to charge the Senate, without qualification, with having passed unconstitutional laws? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will say that as it was understood that the Senator from Kentucky qualified the remark complained of, the question of order was not persisted in. At least, so the Chair understood. Mr. FESSENDEN. That does not meet my query. I ask whether it is in order for a Senator to charge the Senate, without qualification, with having passed unconstitutional laws? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will not decide the question until the point is made. Mr. FESSENDEN. That point is made in the words taken down. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I have had the precise words of the Senator from Kentucky written out. I believe they are ready now. I want them to go to the Chair, and I want this question of fact as to the words settled. I ask the Secretary to read the words of the Senator from Kentucky as reported by the reporter. The Secretary read, as follows: "You have passed measures at the present session of Congress that will be resisted by all the white population of the State of Kentucky-measures that are unconstitutional, that are unwise, that are unjust, that are iniquitous, and that I would counsel my people to resist by every mode of resistance that they could devise." The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Massachusetts insist upon his point of order? Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I have no disposition, sir, to insist upon this point of order; but I called the Senator to order, because I deemed his language such as should not be used on the floor of the Senate of the United States. It is language that patriotism cannot sanction. It is the language that treason in years past has uttered on this floor and in the other House. The traitors who uttered these words here in our ears years ago, who made these Halls ring with their treasonable utterances, are now in armed rebellion against the country. I do not wish to hear their language repeated here now by any one, whether by one who has courage to follow their example or not. ernment? Is that what they will do, and is that what he will counsel them to do? If so, he goes beyond the position he assumed last summer. Then, when the Government asked for the men of Kentucky to stand by the country, that Senator advised them to do no such thing, but to maintain neutrality towards their country. Last summer, he could advise the men of Kentucky to be neutral when the question was whether this nation should live or die, whether this Government should survive or perish. Now he is going to advise them to resist. They are to be more than neutral now. When the country called on the men of Kentucky to stand by it, to stand by the old Constitution and the old flag, and to defend the menaced capital of the country, Governor Magoffin, speaking for Kentucky, telegraphed back to the President the indignant refusal of Kentucky to furnish a man to stand by the periled Union. When armed traitors resisted the authority of the Government and fired upon the emblem of its sovereignty, Kentucky speaking by her Governor scornfully refused to respond to the appeal of the President for volunteers to protect the national capital and preserve the national life. After the men of Massachusetts, hastening to the defense of the capital, were smitten down in the streets of Baltimore, the Senator from Kentucky wrote from that city to the men of Kentucky to "let Kentucky look to herself and her own selfpreservation, "let her roll back the red waves of war from North or South," "and when the contending parties become worn and wasted by a prolonged and bloody war, she can then effectively interfere to command a general peace." Yes, sir, last spring the Senator from Kentucky counseled neutrality between patriotism and treason. He is progressive, one of your progressive conservatives. He will not advise Kentucky to be neutral now. He vauntingly tells us that her white people will resist. Yes, sir, he will advise them to resist by all the means they can devise. Is this the language of patriotism? Is this fit language for an American Senator to utter in this Chamber? Is it language that any man who has an American heart in his bosom, and who loves his country, can utter? Sir, it is language that ought to be rebuked, and will be rebuked by every man, who loves the country and who upholds its institutions. The Senator talks about our measures, and the time we have spent. He has spent more hours than any other Senator in discussing these measures; and I must say, too, that he has discussed them in a manner more offensive than any other Senator since the traitors took their leave of this body. Sír, I am the last man to complain of any one for freedom of speech on this floor, or anywhere The Senator tells us that we have passed un-else; but I give notice now to the Senator, and to constitutional legislation. That is his declaration. It is his opinion. It will pass here and elsewhere for what it is worth. I take it, sir, that it is only his opinion, and he is entitled to his opinion. I know nothing about that Senator which entitles his opinions to any more weight than the opinions of any other Senator in this body; and I doubt, sir, the propriety of any Senator rising on this floor and charging the Senators of the United States with having passed unconstitutional and flagitious measures, measures which ought to be resisted by all the means they can devise. I would suggesting the destruction of their country, and then that the Senator from Kentucky had better be less pretentious among his equals here. But, sir, the Senator talks about the white people of Kentucky making resistance to these measures. What measures? What measure has this, Congress passed that the white men of Kentucky are to resist? Will the Senator tell us? I should like to know what it is that has been done here from the commencement of this Congress to the present hour, that the men of Kentucky are to resist. And how are they to resist our measures? Does the Senator mean to say that the men of Kentucky will oppose what we have done to the extent of testing cases in the judicial tribunals of the country? If he means only that, he means nothing at all, for the people of any section of the country can do that, and are continually doing it. Does he mean that they will resist by wordy warfare? The Senator from Kentucky has been waging that warfare all this session. Does he mean that the people of Kentucky shall, with arms in their hands, resist the legislation of this Gov anybody who chooses to follow his example, that while I have a seat here no Senator shall ever threaten to resist by all the means he can devise the legislation of the country, that I will not call him to order; that I will not denounce such language as the language not of patriotism, but language worthy only of men who are ready to lift their hands to overthrow the institutions of their country. Sir, it was language borrowed from the Davises, the Toombses, the Breckinridges, and the men who stood here year after year threaten turned their backs to us, and took arms and raised the banner of revolt against the nation.. Now, sir, I maintain that this Congress has passed no measure in violation of the Constitution of the country; and I do not know a Senator who would vote for a measure in violation of the Constitution. Sir, when we come out of this bloody contest which has been forced upon us without cause, I desire that it may be said that we have come out of it with the Constitution of the United States vindicated and maintained, and that it shall be seen that the Constitution was ample to carry this nation through rebellion, as it had carried it through peace and through foreign wars. Now, sir, what have we done that the Senator can complain of? We have passed an act that everybody who has had the character of a statesman in all the past history of this country has maintained our power to do-I refer to the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. Will the Senator advise Kentucky to resist that measure by all the means her people can devise? We passed an act forbidding officers in the Army of the United States from aiding in the return of fugitive slaves. It is now an article of war. Will he advise Kentucky to resist that article of war? We passed through the Senate an act to enable the colored people of this District to establish and support schools for the instruction of their children. Will the Senator advise the people of Kentucky to resist, by all the means they can devise, that act of beneficence? We have passed through the Senate an act to repeal the oppressive black laws of this District. Will the Senator advise the white men of Kentucky to resist, by all the means they can devise, that act? What is it that the Senator advises this resistance to, and what is it that the loyal men of Kentucky are to resist, and how are they to resist it, as the Senator says, with all the means they can devise? I do not wish to consume the time of the Senate in speaking further on this subject, but I wish to notify the Senator that this language, although it may have been the language of treason in the past, is not proper language now or hereafter to be employed in this Chamber, and that, whenever it is used here, I will denounce it as treasonable language, language that should be condemned here, that will be condemned by the loyal heart and judgment of the nation. Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts withdraws his point of order, and the Senator from Kentucky is entitled to the floor on the original proposition. Houses of Congress. It was in enforcing that Now, Mr. President, one word, and I close- "I intend to adhere to the old flag. I will follow it where ever it leads. I will follow it even against the iniquitous measures, if I may so characterize them without offense, that have been proposed, and that are now pending before this body; but I will do it in the religious hope that the people of America are deeply and faithfully and truly attached to the Constitution and its principles. I will appeal from Cæsar here in this Chamber to the majesty of the American people" Certainly a very proper appeal to the ballot-box, "even to the armies of the United States that are now set Mr. HOWARD. Ah! Mr. DAVIS. I beg yours; you misconstrue my language. The PRESIDING OFFICER. please address the Chair. Senators will Mr. DAVIS. Certainly, sir. Mr. HALE. If this debate is proceeding by unanimous consent, I must object to it. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky has the floor. Mr. DAVIS. I will close. Mr. SAULSBURY. I think it is nothing but fair that the Senator from Kentucky should have a right to reply to the attacks made on him. I hope the Senator from New Hampshire will remain neutral on the occasion. Mr. HOWARD. I certainly hope the Senator from Kentucky will be permitted to proceed, for I regard this as a grave matter that I have read from his speech; and it is certainly due to him that he should have an opportunity fully to explain it. Mr. DAVIS. This matter does not trouble me any; but the Senator from Michigan wholly misunderstands my language as he read it, as I intended it, and as that language is subject to proper interpretation. As to producing mutiny in the Army, such an idea never entered into my head; it never passed through my fancy. What I intended to asseverate, and what I here believe, is, that the armies who are now engaged in upholding the authority of the Government, and who are endeavoring to subjugate this rebellion, are true and devoted to the Constitution; that they do not, and cannot be brought to turn this war into a crusade against slavery. That is what I intended to say, and what I now believe. If the question was referred to the soldiers of the United States now in the field, whether they wanted a reconstruction of the Union upon the old Constitution, with every State and every citizen of the United States en Again, alluding to the passage of the confisca-joying all of his rights under the Constitution, tion bill: "I trust that it will not be done, sir; but if it is done, another war has but just begun. We in the border States are few. We are derided, contemned. I ask no favors. I have never asked any from any power. I ask but justice and right under the Constitution." Now, sir, the particular point to which I desire Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President, when I choose to utter any language upon this floor or elsewhere I will not go to the Senator from Massachusetts to know in what words I shall make my utterances. What I said was this, and it is the position I have adhered to all the time, that so far as the legislation of this Congress in the judgment of my people should be unconstitutional, I would advise them to resist it by all the means they can command; I have taken that position upon full deliberation, and I mean to maintain it here and everywhere. I did not advise the people of Kentucky last summer to remain neutral in this civil war, but I advised them to the contrary. Neither the Senator from Massachusetts, nor any Senator on this floor, nor any citizen of the United States entertains more sincerely a desire and a purpose, so far as he can aid the cause of his Government in this contest, that the just and constitutional powers of the Government shall be asserted in every square foot of territory of the United States. But at the same time I assume, and my people assume, and they will always maintain that the only bond of union among the States of the United States is the Constitution. They will stand by that Constitution, they will fight for it, and they will die for it, and they receive it according to the interpretation of the courts of the United States, and always have. I would not advise my people nor any man in America to oppose any law of Congress which the Supreme Court of the United States decided to be constitutional; but on the contrary, I would advise them to submit as quiet and orderly citizens to the judgment of the courts in relation to the constitutionality of laws. The position I have assumed heretofore, and which I now assume, is that until the courts of the United States have decided a law to be constitutional every citizen has the right to judge for himself upon his own responsibility of its constitutionality; he has a right to resist it according to his own judgment and to submit himself to the judg-igan and the Senator from Kentucky that this dement of the proper courts when his own conduct shall become the subject of examination. If, by his course, he commits the crime of treason, he is justly amenable to the punishment of a traitor. That is my position. I have avowed it repeatedly upon this floor, and I intend to avow it as long as I have the breath of life. The Senator from Massachusetts admonishes me that he will not permit it to be done. I do not intend to consult or to think of the Senator from Massachusetts in considering my line of conduct; I will act for myself. On this self-responsibility I here aver that in my judgment, it is time for the Congress of the United States to pass the necessary measures and to terminate the session. I believe that the good of the country requires it; and the speedy closing of this war successfully with a view to the reunion of the States requires that that course of conduct should be adopted by the two except so far as they are forfeited by the violation and the judgment of the law, the whole Army, at least three fourths of it, would decide in favor of the affirmative of that proposition. What I intended to say in the passages which the honorable Senator has read was simply this, and I reiterate it, that the armies of the United States are not en they are engaged in this war for the purpose and within the spirit of the Crittenden resolution that was passed at the last extra session of Congress, and for no other purpose. I am for the war within the scope and within the whole meaning of that resolution, as much so as any man. to call the attention of the Senator from Kentucky,gaged in this war as a crusade against slavery; Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is the duty of the Chair to inform both the Senator from Mich bate is allowed to go on by the consent of the Sen- Mr. DAVIS. I will say that the Senator from Mr. HOWARD. I am very happy to be so informed. Mr. DAVIS. The language read by the hon- he has put upon it. What I intended to say was Mr. HOWARD. The vote of the Army! Mr. HOWARD. Will the Senator allow me to put to him another question respecting this same passage? Mr. DAVIS. I will, sir. Mr. HOWARD. I ask the Senator what he meant by the use of this language in his former speech Mr. FESSENDEN. I feel bound to call the Senators to order; at least to object to this thing going on any further. It is taking up the time of the Senate with matters entirely irrelevant. Mr. HOWARD. I submit to my friend from Maine that, as I am charged with a misapprehension and misconstruction of the gentleman's remarks, it is at least due to me to show that I am not liable to that charge. Mr. FESSENDEN. If the Senator looks upon it in that light, of course I have no objection. Mr. HOWARD. I ask the Senator from Kentucky what he meant by this passage: "I trust it will not be done, sir; but if it is done, another war has but just begun." Does that mean simply voting? Mr. DAVIS. It means this, if the honorable Senator wants an explanation, that there is another sectional conflict got up upon questions involved in the measures that have been passed and that have been proposed at this session. Those measures involve, in my judgment, the vital principles of the Constitution; and what I said in various parts of that speech and other speeches that I have made was this: that my people would stand by the Constitution; that they would fight for it; that while they were contending against the confederate armies and the confederate power arrayed for the overthrow of that Constitution; while they were making war against the confederates who made war upon the Constitution, they would equally make war against those who assailed the Constitution on this floor. That is what I said; and it is what I now repeat, and what I will always repeat. If any party or any faction gets temporarily possession of the Government, and seeks to pass unconstitutional measures to carry out its schemes of philanthropy or emancipation or any other schemes, and tramples upon the Constitution for the purpose of carrying out its measures, I will stand up in resistance against them just as I would against the southern rebels, and I would make the same war upon them and upon their movements against the Constitution, that I would against the secessioners themselves in battle array against the Constitution. That is what I said, what I meant, and what I will continue to say. and if we resisted to the last resort, it is a point Mr. FESSENDEN. If the Senator would give his people that counsel, to stand it just as long as it was tolerable, he would give them very good counsel, and I dare say they would follow it. Any sensible people would pursue that course, whether they were counseled to do it or not. Therefore it is true, as I said, that the Senator did not mean to counsel armed resistance or resistance by force, because he thought that a law was unconstitutional. He meant no such thing. He did not mean that he would resist by trying the question in the courts, because that everybody would do, as my friend from Massachusetts says, and it is idle to talk about that kind of resistance. It is open to everybody, and everybody takes it on all questions. What did he mean, then? He meant that they would resist it by a war of words. I merely intend to say that as to the people of Well, sir, we have it here every day; we have Kentucky we acknowledge obedience to the Con-had it from the Senator all the session; and we stitution; we acknowledge obedience to every constitutional law. We have the perfect right to resist, and we intend to resist by every means and agency that we can command, the execution of all unconstitutional laws, and we intend to make the same war upon the party that passes unconstitutional laws that we make against the southern confederation. Mr. FESSENDEN. Mr. President, I have just a word to say, and then I shall repeat the motion that I made before to lay this resolution upon the table. In reply to the Senator from Kentucky, I will only say that although he gives us his advice with reference to our course of proceeding, and his opinion as to the right course to pursue, and his judgment as to what would be the effect of following his opinion and the evil effects that would come from not doing so, it all comes back to this: that the majority decide these matters, and if they decide otherwise than seems to be agreeable to him, he must submit to it both with regard to matters, and as to what they shall take up, and how long they will continue questions before the Senate. I suppose that what the majority feel inclined to do in reference to the business of the Senateand when I say the majority, I do not mean any party majority, but a majority of the body-what time they will occupy, is for them to decide, and the Senator from Kentucky and myself, if we happen to be in the minority, must submit with the best grace we can. Now, sir, with reference to what the Senator from Kentucky has said about resistance, I really do not attach so much consequence to what he has said on this and on former occasions in regard to resistance as some of my friends do. I believe the Senator does not mean to say that he would counsel armed resistance at once, because he considered the legislation of this body to want some constitutional power. I do not understand him as referring to that mode of settling the question. He should not be taken literally when he says that every citizen has a right to resist and take the consequence of his resistance, because if that right exists in one it exists in many, and it amounts to rebellion. That is not the resistance that he means, because he is counseling us to put down rebellion every day that he stays here, in the strongest possible terms. What he means by resistance cannot be that, because that is getting precisely in the difficulty that the people of the South have fallen into. Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President Mr. FESSENDEN. The Senator need not interrupt me. I am saying what his meaning cannot be. Mr. DAVIS. Will not the Senator allow me just one word in explanation? Mr. FESSENDEN. We will not go into that subject. Mr. DAVIS. Was the last right to be exercised; and that I would counsel my people to submit to any oppression that was at all tolerable before they resorted to the right of revolution. Of course, the Senator's idea of my resistance is corWe would resist according to the modes and forms that appeared most advisable to us, rect. have been so used to it since I have been in Con- Now, sir, the question simply is whether we Mr. DAVIS. Mr. President- Mr. DAVIS. I was only going to say one Mr. FESSENDEN. Will the Senator renew Mr. FESSENDEN. I hope the Senator will Mr. DAVIS. When I spoke of resistance a few days ago, I indicated precisely some modes of resistance that I would counsel. I said that I believed the Congress of the United States had no power, under the pretext of confiscation, to free a slave, and that if such a law were passed I believed my State would provide, and I would counsel them to make such a provision by an enactment of theirs, to reduce again to slavery all slaves who were attempted to be emancipated by any such legislation, with the view of establishing countervailing legislation. This is one of the modes of resistance that I contemplated. I contemplated others. I do not contemplate, except as a final and dernier resort, any resort to force of arms, and I do not believe that necessity will ever come upon us, because I expressed myself in the most confident conviction that the people of the free States were just and true enough to the Constitution to do justice to the border slave States, and to all the slave States. Mr. FESSENDEN. I renew the motion that the resolution lie on the table, and I call for the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered; and being taken, resulted-yeas 32, nays 7; as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, NAYS-Messrs. Davis, Henderson, Lane of Indiana, EXCLUSION OF COLORED WITNESSES. I offer a resolution, and ask the unanimous consent of the Senate to its consideration now: Resolved, That the select committee on the confiscation of rebel property be directed to consider the expediency of providing that in all judicial proceedings to confiscate the property and free the slaves of rebels, there shall be no exclusion of any witness on account of color. Mr. SAULSBURY. I object to its consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The resolution will lie over under the rules. Mr. SUMNER. I offer, also, another resolution. The Senator will bear in mind that these are resolutions directed to a committee, and merely of inquiry. Mr. SAULSBURY. I offered a resolution in the early part of the session, and the Senator availed himself of the privilege of objecting to it. I avail myself of the same privilege now. BOUNTY FROM CONFISCATED ESTATES. Mr. SUMNER. I offer the following resolution: Resolved, That the select committee on.the confiscation of rebel property be directed to consider the expediency of providing that our soldiers engaged in the suppression of the rebellion may be entitled to bounty lands out of the real estate of the rebels. Mr. POWELL. Let it lie over. HOUSE BILL REFERRED. The bill from the House of Representatives (No. 374) to secure freedom to all persons within the Territories of the United States was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Ter ritories. The Secretary read the amendments of the House of Representatives, which was in line six, after the word "man,' to insert the words "with the consent of such soldier or enlisted man," and in the same line to change the word "hospital" to hospitals. 66 Mr. GRIMES. I understand that that provision will render it impossible for the Government to discharge any of the soldiers who are found to be incapacitated for the further discharge of their duty, except with the consent of the person who is sought to be discharged. There is another law under which such persons can be discharged. All I want now is to draw the attention of the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs to this point, whether this act is so worded that it may repeal the other law, so that it will be impossible for us to discharge one of these persons who is unwilling to be discharged. A person may have served us six months, and he may be utterly disabled, and we may want to discharge him and not retain him two years and a half longer. It seems to me we had better look into that. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts. I am very sure that there is no difficulty about the matter. I will state to the Senator from Iowa that by the existing law and practice, by regulation of the War Office, the surgeons certify that a soldier is unfitted by physical disability to remain in the service; that certificate goes to the Adjutant General's office, and the soldier is discharged. This bill does not interfere with that in any way whatever; it simply authorizes the Inspector General and each of the eight inspectors in the hospitals to discharge soldiers. The amendment provides that it shall be with their consent. In the same hospital where the inspector may go, the surgeon stationed there may every day send in to the Government a certificate that certain soldiers are disabled and ought to be discharged. That will go on; but these inspectors visit every part of the forces; they visit the various hospitals, and on making personal examinations they find that certain men ought to be discharged. We give them power to discharge them; but the very same day and from the very same place and perhaps at the very same moment, another surgeon stationed there may be forwarding for other soldiers the certificate that they are disqualified, and the Government receives them and makes the discharges. This bill does not in any way interfere with that and was not intended to do so. This bill meets the entire approbation of |