AFTERNOON SESSION.
Mr. DOUGLASS introduced a bill [181] To fix the time of holding Courts in the 10th Judicial Circuit. Rules suspended and the bill read there times and passed; by yeas 36, nays 0.
Mr. MARCH introduced a bill [182] Defining the manner of submitting to the vote of the people certain amendments to the Constitution. Read twice and referred to a select committee.
Mr. Forester's bill [H.R. 17] To make valid sales of land by foreign executors and administrators; was passed by yeas 44, nays 1.
Mr. Lake's bill [H. R. 107] For the relief of Nineveh Berry; was passed by yeas 27 nays 19.
page: 207[View Page 207]THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND THE ARMY.
Mr. COBB, on behalf of the majority of the Committee on Federal Relations, submitted a lengthy response to the several memorials presented to the Senate from Certain Indiana regiments in the field; and moved that the report lay on the table and 10,000 copies be printed for the use of the Senate.
Mr. MARCH stated that the minority would submit their report tomorrow morning, and he asked that the report they would submit be printed with the majority report. He said there was a great deal of fine language in the report just read, but there was some matters of fact that the collection should go with.
Mr. COBB. I shall look with some anxiety to see what kind of report the Senator will get up. It was charged by the Senator and his friends as these resolutions and memorials came in, that they were directed to the majority here; that they were sent here for the purpose of instructing us as to our duty. We have received them in a respectful manner, and we have prepared in respectful language an address in reply and we are going to submit it to these soldiers. We have prepared facts that the Senator and his friends cannot deny; in respectful language, as I said before, and in such forcible language sir, and embodying such sentiments, that the Senator will not be able to get up a minority report that will be respectful it self if he takes issue with it He cannot deny a single fact in that report, not one. Hey may indirectly, as he has in his place upon this floor, declare that we are traitors; but he will not dare, in his place nor upon paper, declare that the things set forth in that report are false. No, he will not dare do it. Then how can he get up a minority report that will be respectful and appropriate to accompany this majority report? I, for one, will never consent that he shall publish his minority report with it.
Mr. MELLETT. That report is far from being the kind of report I should have made; but sir, it is such an immense improvement of the feeling and sentiment of the gentleman from Lawrence.(Mr. Cobb) that I thank the gentleman for the report and the soldiers for sending the petitions that have produced it. It has produced in the Senator from Lawrence an immense change--
Mr. COBB (interrupting.) Mr. President, I deny the charge, sir; I state that the Senator is immensely mistaken. I have not changed my sentiments. The gentleman don't understand the case.
Mr. MELLETT. It is probable I dont, but I understood the Senator from Lawrence to say when these petitions came here, that they did not emenate from the soldiery, that they were from the officers--the shoulder strap gentlemen;--and now, in his report, he uses the most honied words. How is that; is there no change? I tell Senator from Lawrence that the soldiers will believe there is a change, and they will thank God there is a change. And I will tell the Senator, further, that everybody who is acquainted with him will believe there is a change. When we first met here it was an armistice; a cessation of hostilities; a peace Convention; taking the powers out of the hands of the Administration at once, and stopping this blood shed: that was their stock in trade. How is it now? Why, we have had nothing to do with this war; we did not commence it; it was our duty to pay taxes support the soldiers, and feed and clothe the sick soldiers in hospitals; that is the duty of Democracy. How humble!-- My God! what a change!
Mr. RAY (in his seat.) Will the gentleman say that we shall print 20,000 instead of ten?
Mr. MELLETT. Yes sir, I say 100,000 and will be borne out by the soldiers. I am in favor of printing 200,000 copies if gentleman will ask it, although the report is not just as I would desire it, and states some things not in accordance with my views as matters of fact. It is said in the report that the soldiers have petition us to cast aside party, and I am in favor of that. I clasp hands and say good-bye party until this war is ended. The Senator from Shelby [Mr. Ray] and myself met here on the 18th of June and we adopted a simple resolution in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war, laying aside all party. The Senator from Lawrence has not given up his party.
Mr. COBB. Has the Senator from Henry [Mr. Mellett] been serving his party since?
Mr. MELLETT. I have been voting against party.
Mr. COBB. I will testify that he is one of the best republicans in that party.
Mr. LANDERS. Does the Senator from Henry stand upon the resolutions he refers to as having been adopted in June.
Mr. MARCH (in his seat) Yes.
Mr. MELLETT. I think so. Certainly, I adopted them then and have not changed face.
Mr. LANDERS. Does the Senator endorse the proclamation of emancipation?
Mr. MELLETT. I do not think it was expedient. I would not have issued that proclamation of Lincoln's, but because Lincoln has done a thing I would not have done must I rebel against my government? Not at all. I am a no party man, sir and stand upon the platform made by the Senator from Shelby and us disappointed democrats on the 18th of June.
Mr. RAY (interposing). I had nothing to do with making the platform, but I endorsed it.
page: 208[View Page 208]Mr. MELLETT. He made the best speech in his life, and the best I have read in the last ten years, on that occasion. It was a no party speech. Now, sir. I stand upon that, but the Senator from Lawrence must save the Democratic party; the Government is good enough in its way; the Christian religion is an excellent thing, but all these things must stand aside for the Democratic party.
Mr. MARCH, I agree with the Senator from Henry that it is one of the most fortunate circumstances in the history of the country that the soldiers and officers now serving in the armies of the Union thought proper to lay their address before the General Assembly; for I doubt if there has ever been more effectual preaching since the foundation of the world, unless it was that which Paul met with when on journey to Damascus. [Laughter.) But the Senator says he is unwilling that the minority report shall be printed with the majority. Now in the first place it is usual and universally a parliamentary rule that whenever the majority of a committee make a report upon any subject whatever, and that report is printed, the minority report is printed along with it, if respectful in language; and I will say that if it is not respectful in language we will not ask to have it printed. We expect to do nothing more than report a history of facts, and let them speak for themselves. Now, sir, it is said that this army and these soldiers have been misled. It is not for me to say whether they have been misled or not; but I say they are just as competent to speak for themselves as any Senator upon this floor. These soldiers are our friends, neighbors and brothers. They have lost none of their interest in their country because they are in the army; but, rather, they have proved that they feel more of an interest in the cause of their country than those of us who stay at home; and they must necessarily watch our proceeding with more interest than we do ourselves. I would not under any circumstances cast any improper reflections upon any citizen, from the highest to the low est; but I am in favor of having the facts on both sides presented to the army and the country, I desire to join Senators in returning my thanks to these gallant men for their words of wisdom, counsel and patriotism. They expect unfaltering, undying devotion to our country; asking no armistice of traitors, but swearing they will stand by the flag of our country until every foe is trampled into the dust. Then as it is the part of the brave to be merciful, I trust they will exercise that trait in the proper time.
Mr. WOLFE. It seems to me that nothing can be done by the majority upon this floor that gentlemen in the minority will approve of! The demand made by the Senator is extraordinary.
Mr. MELLETT (interrupting). I approve most heartily of this report as a good Democratic document.
Mr. WOLFE. Some corrupt and base partisans of the State of Indiana have poisoned the mind of the soldiers in regard to the sentiments of the majority of the people of this State, or at least a majority of the members on this floor, and they petitioned the majority of this Legislature to do certain things. Their petitions were referred to the Committee on Federal Relations, for the purpose of obtaining a report from that committee presenting to the soldiers the facts in the case, so that they might not be further misled in regard to these questions. These gentlemen of the minority pretend to be opposed to party in the State, amongst the people or in the army; and what do they propose to do? Nothing to remove the false impressions made on the minds of the soldiers; but, they want to print a minority report to speak for themselves, and not for the majority on this floor. These petitions were addressed more directly to the majority on this floor, and they have the right to speak responsive; but anything the minority may say will not be in response to the petitions sent to us. They have no right to repeat the foul slander already circulated against the majority upon this floor. If they do so it will be for the purpose of keeping up a party strife among the soldiers, which we seek to remove.--Any man of any patriotism, or even common sense, can see and appreciate the fact that if this discussion is carried into the army it will get up the same kind of feeling that it has upon this floor. This report is intended to inspire the soldier upon the battle field with confidence ; that this Legislature is sustaining him. If the minority bring in a report it will be for the purpose and will have the effect of infusing a different feeling in the hearts of our soldiery. And will that be calculated to nerve the arm of the soldier, or strengthen his heart? No, sir, it will be doing the very thing these petitions seek to remove--the very thing the false and corrupt charges that were made in the first place were intended to do. For one, I am opposed to it, and will never give my sanction to any party to carry their feeling to that extent.
Mr. LANDERS What is this report? It is the majority upon this floor speaking their sentiments to the soldiers in the field in reference to their petition, that the minority insist was particularly addressed to the majority here. Now, sir, I give the opposition to understand in advance that I am not willing to allow them to speak for us in this matter. The majority report expresses our sentiments. Now we have understood that the opposition expect to bring in a minority report here for the avowed purpose of showing that this re page: 209[View Page 209] port does not reflect the sentiments of the Democratic party. It is the same kind of principle which has actuated these gentle men from the time they came here, and that is to dictate to us the resolutions we should adopt. These gentlemen have had an opportunity of conversing with the soldiers; they have had their men sent into the army to talk to them; we have had no such opportunity, and now we ask the privilege of expressing our sentiments in this way.
Mr. CLAYPOOL. I am surprised at the course the majority are taking in this matter. They seem to ignore the fact hit this is a General Assembly, and plant themselves upon the ground that it is a mere party convention. These petitions were addressed to the General Assembly of the State, and not to any particular branch; and I have no objection to this statement of the majority going to the army in the number of ten or 20,000, but while it goes I want the report of the minority to go with it. It may be that the report of the majority is only a partial statement. There may be some facts they ought to state, that are not stated there They may believe all that is stated, but other facts ought to go along with that statement. If it be true that the Democratic party is on trial, I ask if they want to submit their case to a jury without a rejoinder? But it has been said upon the floor of this Senate that, these resolutions were gotten up at the city of Indianapolis sneeringly pointing the finger at, the Executive of this State. This thing has been rebutted again and again; and I rise now more for the purpose of disabusing the public mind on that question than to speak to the motion to print. If they see proper to refuse to print the two reports together, they will find that the minority report will be printed. I have in my hand a letter from Col. John T. Wilder, of the 17th Indiana, dated Murfreesboro, February 18, 1863, addressed to Governor Morton, which will set at rest the imputation that these petitions were gotten up by the Governor. [Mr. C. read the letter. I read this for the purpose of meeting that accusation against the Governor, and leaving the matter where it belongs to the patriotism of the Army of the Cumberland.
Mr. BROWNE, of Randolph. The report of the Committee on Federal Relations will never be printed and sent to the army by my vote; gentlemen may depend upon that. It is nothing but a Democratic speech, containing: the platform of the Democratic party; not denunciatory of the minority on this floor, but containing by indirection, and I might say by direction, charges against certain persons of this State that are false in fact. The report is a long one--
Mr. COBB (interposing). I would like for the Senator to point out the falsehoods.
Mr. BROWNE. I can do it with a great deal of pleasure. It is charged directly in the memorial that funds appropriated bv the Legislature have been used by the Executive in the hiring of minions to the Executive to poison the minds of the soldiery against the Democratic party. [That's so.] and I undertake to say, sir, that it is false in a point of fact; and Senators have no reasonable grounds for making such a charge.
Mr. RAY (interrupting). There is no such accusation in the report in the language the Senator puts it.
Mr. BROWNE. It is a long report, and I cannot remember the language, but I undertake to say it is substantially charged.
Mr. RAY. The accusation is this:-- those who were sent to look after the soldiers were men actively engaged in poisoning their minds.
Mr. BROWNE. I would like to know how much the Senator has improved my language ? I undertake to say I am as well informed upon that point as the gentleman from Shelby; and whether the charge be true or not, it is an unjust charge in the absence of proof by which it is established. I do not care about the minority report. I don't believe either of the reports ought to go to the army. I do not think political arguments should be sent there. I do not expect to unite with the minority in charging disloyalty upon the Democracy of the Senate, but there have been resolutions introduced in this Legislature by Democratic members urging a compromise, an armistice, and denouncing the Administration in bitter terms, which shows there is an element at work in the State that is not in harmony with the great Union movement.
Mr. LANDERS (interrupting). Does the Senator consider it disloyal to differ with the President?
Mr. BROWNE. No, sir, I do not. But I believe that it is no part of unadulterated loyalty to propose any condition to the support of the Government in ah emergency like the present one. I believe that the old Democratic party platform was right:-- "Our country, right or wrong. " In 1847 the Whigs differed with the Democrats in reference to the justness of that war, and they told us it was a question about which we had no right to inquire; that the Government was involved in war, and it was our duty to support the Government until success crowned the efforts of our armies.
Mr. LANDERS. I will ask if the Democratic party attempted to suppress the expression of opinion in regard to that war?
Mr. BROWNE. I do not know. I remember Gen. Jackson suppressed Judges and men both in New Orleans, where he suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
page: 210[View Page 210]Mr. RAY. I am opposed to printing the minority along with the majority report, without knowing what it is. If it attempts to sustain the original charges, of course I would object to printing it at all. The Senator from Fayette (Mr. Claypool) says he wants a rejoinder-- re-affirming and attempting to prove the original charge, as a matter of course. Now I am opposed to making political issues for the use of the army, but I am ready to furnish evidence to disabuse the minds of the soldiery. I am not able to say by what instrumentality they have been imposed upon; but that they have been imposed upon is not open to question. I think a response is due them from the people of Indiana, and it is not due to the people of Indiana, to the Senate, nor to the army that a rejoinder should accompany it, reaffirming the original scandalous and infamous charge I am not willing that a partisan report shall accompany this response. Let this response go out with the memorial, and there let the question rest unless the minority feel that they are justified in presenting a minority report, and if respectful I will vote to print it.
Mr. MANSFIELD. I think it will be an advantage to the majority to have the minority report sent along with it. It appears that there rests some suspicion upon the action of the party now in power; and if this report is sent to them alone, it is a one-sided affair, and will only show that the majority have the power to keep from them the other view of the case. It is customary when a majority and minority report are submitted, for them both to go together; and in this case there is particular occasion for it.-- Our soldiers seem to express a fear that the legitimate power of their favorite man--our Governor--might be taken out of his hands: and I would like to send a word of consolation, to our boys that are fighting, and tell them that that law will not be passed, And there are many other little matters about which they should have a word of comfort, but I can't see it in what my friend terms "that Democratic speech." From first to last there is no word in it--nothing that will arouse the drooping spirits of our brave men, and I would like this minority report, to show that, there are some men here who have hearts, every pulsation of which beats in unison with theirs for the preservation of this Union. I hope the motion to print will be postponed till we see our minority report.
Mr. CORBIN. We have heard ever since the organization of this body that the difficulties in the army were in consequence of the want of that unity of feeling and concert of action on the part of the people at home; or, in other words, upon the part of the Democratic party with those that claim to be of the "Union" party. We have heard it also said by the Minority on this floor that they were the persons were encouraging soldiery--the strong arm of the Government--and it has been charged indirectly and directly that the majority upon this floor, and the Democratic party throughout the State were the very cause of creating this disaffection and division. This same sentiment comes to us from the soldiers in the field in the shape of a petition. Now, then if that is the case, what I should be the object of these men who are"the loyal men of our country?" To try and heal those difficulties and help to create a re union where there is a disunion of sentiment. Should not that, be the sentiment which should prompt every honest effort? I say, yes. We have set forth in answer to these memorials that which has a tendency to soothe their dejected spirits, and heal this disunion of sentiment on the part of these soldiers; and if this is so, why is it that the minority ask to send a minority report? Do they want to help spread oil upon the waters of discord?--Why no, they say: "We want to present a further indictment, and make it good by further charges." I say, by that act they show I ha they are not honest in their professions; that they are not for that unity of sentiment which is the strength of an army. They are false to their pledges and thy people when they seek to put forth sentiments that will produce discord. And that is why I am opposed to sending any more missiles of discord.-- I say let them go by some secret, underground railroad. They have gone to the army before, and that is what has brought forth these petitions charging the Democracy upon this floor with disloyal acts and sentiments.
Mr. WHITE. I thought this Senate was up to the standard of liberality, and why is it that the majority intimate that they will not publish our report? l am gratified that so liberal a report has come from the majority, although there are things in it which I cannot endorse. These gentle-man tell us that they had no agency in bringing on the war, and have no agency in carrying it on. I will vindicate the Democracy of Montgomery County by saying they have an agency in carrying on this war.
Mr. RAY (interrupting). The report does not say the Democracy have no agency in carrying on this war.
Mr. WHITE. You say " we."
Mr. RAY. The old Federal power is in the hands of the other party; and in the sense of power we have no agency in it.
Mr. WHITE. I don't think that explanation makes any material difference. But gentlemen accuse Governor Morton with having sent men to the army for the purpose of relieving the wants of the soldiers, who made themselves mere political page: 211[View Page 211] colporteurs. I ask whether the soldiers have not had opportunities to learn what the majority intended in regard lo this war, without any such emissaries, as they charge have been sent? On the first day we assembled here the Senator from Fayette offered a resolution setting forth that we were In favor of a vigorous prosecution of this war within the Constitution, and the majority on this floor voted that down. These are things that found their way in the papers, and the papers went to the soldiers, and the soldiers read, reflected, and spoke.
Mr DOUGLASS (interrupting). Did the Senator mean to say that the resolution was voted down.
Mr. WHITE. It was in effect voted down, from the fact that they sent it to a committee that had no creation.
Mr. COBB. Is it not in strict accordance with parliamentary law that a deliberative body has the right to send matter to a committee before it is raised ?
Mr. WHITE. The President of the Senate so decided, and on his judgment I am willing to act. But these things went to the soldiers without the decision of the President. And on that same day, it being the 8th of January, the majority on this floor refused to adjourn for the purpose of commemorating the glorious victory won by General Jackson over a foreign foe at New Orleans. I refer to these things for the purple of showing how the soldiers came to the conclusions they did, without Governor Morton sending persons there for that purpose.
Mr. RAY. Can the gentleman tell by what avenue they got the very same set of resolutions in the armies of the Potomac, Cumberland and Mississippi, all at the same fuse?
Mr. MELLETT. I would ask if they are Identical ?
Mr. RAY. Yes, sir. I can find resolutions from the Potomac, from Murfreesboro, and from Corinth all identical in preamble and resolutions with those adopted by certain regiments from Illinois.
Mr. WHITE. My view is this, and I thank God for it, that there is a concert of action between all the armies. I believe that all parts of the one grand whole are acting in concert together--all speaking the same voice for the same glorious cause. It only nerves me, and gives me brighter hopes for the future.
Mr. COBB. Did not Democrats, two years ago, vote with Republicans to furnish money to assist them in fighting ?
Mr. WHITE. Yes, sir, and I thank them for it. If there was a Democrat on this floor at that time. I did not know it; and if there was a Republican I did not wish to know it; and when I went to my people the brightest record I could hold up was the Reports of the Special Session, of the Legislature.
Mr. MURRAY. I wish to express my approbation, in the main, of this report; and that gratification chiefly arises from the fact that I have uniformly, from the first, taken issue with my Republican friends in charging disloyalty upon the Democratic party of Indiana, and my position in this respect has been literally fulfilled by this report, sir. Although there are many things I do not like, yet upon the main issue--in everything pertaining to the prosecution of this war--I can take this report home in my hand and show those Republican friends of mine there that I have not misconstrued their action--that I have been correct in my estimate of the patriotism of this party, sir. It has been my desire and wish to see all parties upon the soil of Indiana true and loyal to the Government, and willing to spend the last cent in defence of our country, and to maintain the integrity of this Union; and that has been my belief, therefore I am gratified. But how has this misapprehension got out ? Their party leaders have party politics and no other, and there has been no man attending these Abolition meetings but what has seen and heard these charges of disloyalty made upon the great Democratic party of the Union.--These speeches have been reported in the public press, and that is the way the soldiers have been made to believe that there was a great portion of the Democatic party in this State disloyal. This reports sets out by simply stating that this Democratic party has done no disloyal act, and do gentlemen want to come in and controvert that, sir? I do not think they do, sir.--That charge has been made in every county and by every stump speaker in the State against the Democratic party. When I have been home on a visit, I have been met by hundreds of inquiries to know, if this Democratic party was disloyal; if it was going to take this State out of the Union and attach it to the Southern Confederacy; and whether it would undertake to set up a Northwestern Confederacy ? I have denied these charges, sir, and said that when this Legislature broke up there would be sufficient evidence to show that I was right. And now we have a report expressive of the sentiments of that party, and I am glad of it, and am willing to vote to print it.
Mr. BLAIR. I am always glad to receive anything that is good, come from what source it may: and I am glad that the Committee on Federal Relations--at the close of the session, after they found out that the majority could not pass any peculiar schemes they were urging,--have come up with a part of a confession of faith. I am truly glad, after all these things have been defeated, that these gentlemen have come up at the close of the session and presented us with a small part of patriotism.
page: 212[View Page 212]Mr. RAY (interrupting). What measure has been defeated thus far that the I Democratic party or any member of the party has demanded, of a partisan character, except through a bolt of the opposition ?
Mr. BLAIR. That is the beet way that can possibly be devised to defeat these things. A military bill has been urged in the other end of the Capitol to take the power from the hands of the Governor; and you come presenting a resolution for an armistice--
Mr. COBB (interrupting), Who does ?
Mr. BLAIR. The gentleman from Wells.
Mr. COBB. Is he the Democratic party? The Democratic party has presented no each measure here.
Mr. BLAIR. I say these measures have been presented by men of your party, and you have not placed a negative upon any of these propositions.
Mr. RAY. The Senator says they have been defeated. Now I want to know how?
Mr. BLAIR. I say they have been defeated by the session drawing near to a close and the urging of these measures in the other branch until you succeeded in driving the minority from the Hall in order to defeat them. A resolution was read here only last evening denouncing the course of the present Administration.
Mr. LANDERS. The Senator says, if certain things be true, it is evident that we intend to rob the Governor of his military power. I ask where did the Governor get that power?
Mr. BLAIR. The Governor gets it from the Constitution.
Mr. LANDERS. Does this bill propose to take that power from him?
Mr. BLAIR. It does most assuredly. But I don't propose to discuss that measure any further. In reference to this report a strange course has been pursued, for they tell us in advance of any expression of the views of the minority that they are unwilling it shall be published.
Mr. RAY. I said to the contrary for one, and have not heard anything to the contrary come from others.
Mr. BLAIR. But there has.
Mr. COBB. I don't know who the Senator understood as saying so.
Mr. BLAIR. I understood the Senator from Lawrence (Mr. Cobb) to say so.
Mr. COBB. The Senator never understood me to say any such thing.
Mr. BLAIR. With reference to the use of funds by the Governor which that report charges have been used for the purpose of sending out emissaries to poison the minds of the soldiers, I pretend to say that is not; true. It ia nothing but just and fair that the minority--
Mr. COBB (interrupting). It does not say that the Executive has sent out these emissaries.
Mr. BLAIR. I have read over the report since it was read at the Secretary's table, and I understand that to be'the fact. The minority have a just right to set forth the facts and have them go out with the majority report; and that minority report will be prepared; and it will go out.
Mr. DOWNEY. If there is any thing, sir, which I desire above another while a member of this body, it is that Senators of all parties might agree upon one thing, and that is to sustain the government of our country in the suppression of the rebellion, and save for ourselves and posterity the Constitution that our fathers adopted, and the Government and its blessings, which resulted from the adoption of that Constitution. I am pleased, in the main, with the statements made in this report; and I am grateful to the gentlemen who have prepared and introduced that report, for it certainly will have a good tendency towards the production of that unity of sentiment and action which every friend of the country ought to desire, and which I presume he does. As for as the question is concerned as to whether this minority report shall be printed or not in connection with the report of the majority, I am not prepared to vote until I shall see and hear what that minority report is. If it is a proper report--such as ought to be printed--I shall vote for printing it; and if gentlemen who wish to bring in that report desire time, I should favor a postponement of the further consideration of this question until to-morrow or some other convenient time.
I wish to say something in regard to a question about which gentlemen have been interrogating each other, and that is this: in regard to the effort to take from the Governor his constitutional military power. Why, sir, the Senator from Hendricks [Mr. Blair] concedes in answer to a question by the Senator from Morgan [Mr. Landers] that the proposition [the military bill] pending in the other branch is unconstitutional, and yet the Senator from Hendricks, being a member of the legal profession, would contend that there would be some validity in that law. How unwise is it, sir, to create agitation upon a point in which there is nothing--as I contend there is nothing in that point. Does not every man--every Senator here know that any'law passed by the Legislature in violation of the State Constitution is a nullity? Why then talk about designing men leaving their seats because some one has introduced an enactment unconstitutional in its provisions? Suppose that bill should pass the House, it then has to come and be passed by this Senate, and alter that it must go to the Governor for his approval; and it is his high duty, sir, in that emergency, to decide whether it is constitutional or not, and if not it is within his power to veto it. Not until all this has been done, and until it has been passed page: 213[View Page 213] by a majority of the members of both branches over that, veto can it become a law, and not then if it is unconstitutional.
Mr. BLAIR (interrupting). Have not the members of the Legislature a right to judge whether the measures which come before them are constitutional or not?
Mr. DOWNEY. Why, certainly; but I suppose the gentleman is too good a lawyer to presume that members are the final arbiters in that matter.
Mr. BLAIR. But they need not make fools of themselves by letting such a bill pass.
Mr. DOWNEY. Nor are they bound to make fools of themselves by bolting from the Legislature, because they suppose a measure that is urged is unconstitutional. Let them perform the duty they are called upon to perform by voting upon that measure. As far as this body is concerned I desire to cull the attention of Senators to a report made in the early part of the session. The Senator from Randolph introduced certain resolutions, which were referred to a committee of nine, perhaps, and that committee made a report in regard to the Governor's military power.-- (Mr. D. read from the report of the committee, in which they declared they had no intention to infract the constitutional powers of the Governor.) Now, in the face of that report, sir, it is pretended that there is a disposition on the part of the majority of the members of this Senate to enact a law which would deprive the Governor of his proper constitutional authority! I do not believe any such thing. I do not believe any such measure could pass this Senate. I have too much respect for the sense and judgment of gentlemen who sit here, to think that they would pass an unconstitutional measure. I am willing to say, as far as I am concerned, that those powers given to the Governor by the State military law have been properly used. I know of no reason, and have not heard of any, for interfering with the Governor's constitutional powers as Commander-in-Chief of the State militia. You cannot take away from the Governor any power the Constitution gives him. But we might have a better military law than we have now.
Mr. MANSFIELD. I agree with the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Downey] that according to the letter of the law, there is nothing to be found in that bill which is unconstitutional. Now, sir, the Constitution directes and gives the power to the Governor to issue all commissions. how is that in the bill? Will it allow him to do that? He cannot issue a commission under that bill, but it gives to other men the power to give certificates which that bill says shall have the force and effect of commissions whether issues by the Governor or not. In effect that law is unconstitutional. Even the people are deprived of the rights which that bill pretends to give them.
On motion by Mr. DOWNEY, the farther consideration of the subject was postponed.
