HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1863.Mr. GIVEN offered a resolution, which was adopted, calling upon the special committee raised by the last Legislature to investigate the affairs of the Land Office and Wabash and Erie Canal, to report.
THE PUBLIC MONEYS.
Mr. BIRD offered the following, which was adopted:
Be it Resolved by the House, the Senate concurring, that the Attorney General be instructed to sue in the name of the State for any money drawn from the State Treasury, and appropriated by the person drawing it to a purpose not contemplated by the act of appropriation, or that has been paid to any person for the benefit of the State for advances of money or property made to the General Government by the State, and has not been paid into the State Treasury by such persons.
Mr. LEE offered a resolution, which was adopted, authorizing the Speaker to appoint a committee of one from each Congressional district, who shall prepare an address to the people showing the causes which have obstructed the necessary legislation of this session.
Mr. BROWN. Mr. Speaker: I had hoped that the excitement of
the last canvass and the charges made in that canvass
against political parties would be cast aside, and that
gentlemen of different political opinions would meet here
as equals and express their opinions with a view to the
promotion of the welfare and interest of the entire people
of this State, and not with a view to the promotion of a
political party and the manufacturing of political
capital. I thought after the election which occured last
fall, politics in Indiana would subside a little, and that
the struggle for political prominence by the political
parties would cease for a season. I supposed the large
majority the Democratic party had received at the hands of
the people of this State, as well as elsewhere, was
sufficient evidence to prove its loyalty, its fidelity to
the Constitution, its desire to preserve the Union, and to
convince the people that the charges of disloyalty,
disunion and treason which had been so loudly made against
it were false, and had been made only for political and
partisan purposes, and I presumed those charges would be
permitted to
"Sleep
the sleep that knows no waking."
I presumed that when this body met here in this hall
it met as the Representatives of the people of this State,
elected and sent here by them, not for the purpose of
creating political parties and making political platforms,
but for the purpose of enacting laws and making provision
for
page: 214[View Page 214] the carrying on
of the State Government and the management of the State
institutions which should result to the common use,
enjoyment and benefit of all the people of the Slate. But
I find I have been greatly mistaken Perhaps my youth and
inexperience is the reason for my being mistaken. Yet it
is true that scarcely had this House been called to order
before gentlemen belonging to the Abolition party--a party
whose life has been of short duration, and while it lived
was looked upon by honest men with contempt and suspicion;
a party that has been judged by the people, and by them
condemned on account of its dishonesty, corruption and
profligacy--I say, scarcely had this House been called to
order, before gentlemen belonging to that corrupt and
condemned party began introducing resolutions of a
partisan character and commenced a system of discussion
which for fanaticism, abuse, scandal and slander upon the
Democratic party, far excelled the course of conduct and
discussion pursued by the Abolitionists in the canvass of
last fall.
I have witnessed this course of conduct until I have become convinced that it is the desire and intention upon the part of the minority to prevent necessary legislation from being accomplished in order that they may have something to proclaim to the people for the purpose of promoting their party interests. They, themselves, have deceived the people. They have no merit brought about by their own action and conduct upon which they can succeed, and their intention is to attempt to succeed upon what they term faults and crimes of the Democratic party. And for the purpose of gaining something that can be made the pretext for such a course of conduct, they are willing to violate that duty which they owe to themselves and their constituents and that duty which they owe to the people of this State. They are willing to cast aside the dignity belonging to this body and convert ii into a place of resort for political scavangers and gamblers, rather than keep and protect it as a part of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, called together by the people thereof, for the purpose of making provision for their happiness and comfort.
I have too much confidence in, and too good an opinion of the patriotism and intelligence of the people of Indiana, to believe or think that they would band them selves together for the purpose of overthrowing the government or giving aid and comfort to its enemies, as has been charged upon this floor. The one hundred thousand soldiers from this State, who are now upon the field of battle, risking their lives, as they believe, for the maintenance of the Constitution and the restoration of the Union, speaks too loudly in favor of the patriotism of the people of Indiana to give credence to the charge of the existence of such a society. But it is said common rumor gives evidence of its existence, and consequently it certainly must exist Common rumor! What does "rumor" mean? It usually means a current story, passing from one person to another without any known authority for the truth of it. By prefixing the word "common" to it, it simply makes it mean that the rumor or story, is generally or widly circulated. Then we have it that the story in being widely circulated, that such a society does exist, without any known authority that the story is true.
But, sir, I cannot admit that common rumor does bear witness of the existence of such a society. If it is a rumor at all, it is a minor that has been put in circulation by the leaders of that malignant party to which the advocates of this Administration belong; that party which has done much to bring the present troubles upon the country. It is a rumor composed of slander and falsehood created by the imaginations of the rulers of the abolition party, and is now being circulated by their willing and obedient servants for party effect. This same charge or slander was made against the Democratic party by them last fall, and what was the result?-- The voice of the people at the ballot box, fairly expressed, condemned and pronounced it fake by a majority of ten thousand votes. Yet that voice, so loudly and to earnestly spoken, by the sovereign people of the State of Indiana, whose will it is our duty to obey, and whose voice it is our duty to heed, is heeded not by the advocates of this pet measure of abolitionism. Their lords, high priests find; masters, in their temple at Washington City have furnished an example for disregarding the will and voice of the people--for disregarding the Constitution and the laws; and they are commanded to follow and uphold that example. They must obey--they dare not disregard it. Like passive subjects to cruel masters, they do obey to the best of their power and ability.
But we are told that newspapers are publishing to the world that such a society exists. What class of papers are they? Are they the class which, from the commencement of our present national difficulties, have stood by the Constitution and by the laws, and desired a restoration of the Union upon the basis of the Constitution as our fathers bequeathed it to us?-- Are they a class entitled to credit and respect? They are not, and shall receive none at my hands. They are that class of papers like the Indianapolis Journal, whose editor admitted upon his oath, before a legal and competent Grand Jury of this State (as I have before stated upon this floor,) that he drew upon his imagination for the facts contained in his editorials.-- They are like that same journal which on page: 215[View Page 215] the 28th day of November, 1860, in one of its editorials declared
"That if any State in this Union feels the Union to
be injurious and oppressive, a civil war won't
change her opinion; in fact, it is not calculated to
change it, and if she will not stay in the Union it will
be cheaper and kinder to let her go;"
and
which now declares all persons who do not endorse every
political doctrine of the present Administration, and
particularly those who do not endorse the conduct of that
Administration- in the prosecution or the present civil
war, (which that same journal now declares is a war for
the purpose of changing the opinions of States and
bringing them back into the Union) to be enemies to the
government and traitors to their country. They are like
that same journal which on the 7th day of December, 1860,
in its editorial declared in favor of a peaceable
separation of the Union when states desired to secede from
it, and now it condemns all as traitors who are not in
favor of war, blood shed, fire and sword;--it now says for
the purpose of bringing back into the Union States that
have attempted to secede, and the restoration and
preservation of the Union. They are like that same journal
which, on the 31st day of July 1862, declared a convention
of the people of Indiana to be "TRAITORS IN COUNCIL. That it was a conglomerate admixture of
treason, prejudice and hypocricy. That there had not
been so much treason concentrated together since the
rebel army marched out from Richmond to attack
McClellan;" that paper well knowing
that it was one of the largest and most, respectable
Conventions that had ever assembled in the State of
Indiana; a convention composed of true and loyal men who
had come together for the purpose of expressing their
fidelity to the Constitution and their devotion to the
Union. A Convention which by resolution had declared
"That the Constitution, the American Union, and the laws made under and by authority of the Constitution, must be preserved and maintained in their rightful and proper supremacy--that the rebellion now in arms against them must be put down and suppressed, and that it is the duty of all good citizens to aid the general government in all measures necessary and proper to that end."
All that, however, did not prevent the convention from being slandered by the hypocritical and indecent paper. It had committed a great crime of omission. It had foiled to worship at the altar of Abolitionism and had not expressed love and sympathy for some "free American of African descent." The newspapers that have been giving publicity to the existence of secret political societies, the "Knights of the Golden Circle," or anything of that character, are that class of newspapers which, when this monstrous rebellion first broke out, did all in their power to compel the Administration to permit States to secede; not to undertake to restore the Union, but to recognize the Southern Confederacy. They are that class of paper which, from the commencement of the present civil war up to the present time, have done much to produce distraction and dissension here at home, where we should be a united people. They are that class of papers which have paid no respect whatever to Constitution, to law, nor to liberty; but on the other hand, they have supported the "higher law" doctrine, and have spurned and disregarded the Constitution. They are that class of papers which have supported the present Administration in its wicked progress toward the establishment of a centralized and despotic power, instead of upholding the Government of freedom and liberty which our fathers gave us. They are that class of papers which have been inviting civil war and bloodshed to our own doors and hearth stones by advocating and invoking the spirit of democracy; by endeavoring to suppress free speech, and by an attempt to place the military above the civil authority. They are that class of papers which from the commencement of the present deplorable civil war have been giving aid and comfort to the secessionists of the South vy telling them there was a large party here in the North which desired the rebellion to succeed, and was opposing the Administration for the purpose of giving aid and encouragement to the rebellion. I have no regard for them. I pay no respect to them. They have been a curse to the country, and will continue to be a curse to the country so long as their pestilential teachings and doctrines are presented to the people.
A great and fearful responsibility is resting upon the present Administration. The people are submitting to its conduct with patience; and I hope they will still exercise patience and forbearance. I desire that all differences shall be determined by law; by order; by the ballot-box. But I tell the advocates of the Administration--the men who think it can commit no wrong--that there is a point to which, in my judgment, it would be extremely dangerous to attempt to force the people. I hope the Administration will not farther attempt to encroach upon their rights. I hope it will plant itself upon the Constitution of the country, and administer the Government in accordance with the Constitution. The people desire to uphold and support the Administration. They desire to preserve the public peace, to maintain good order; to obey the laws, and to restore the Union; but they ask the privilege of enjoying that liberty and those rights which their fathers in the constitution said they might enjoy. They ask protection in the enjoyment of those rights at the hands of their public servants, and they will have it. THEY WILL NOT HAVE IT.
page: 216[View Page 216]It is said that a Grand Jury of the United States Court for this District of Indiana has published to the world that treasonable societies exist in this State. I have but little to say in reference to that Grand Jury, for its own conduct has condemned it. It was called together by authority of law to serve the people. It was a part of the Judiciary of the country.-- It was its sworn and bounden duty to perform all its labors impartially;--to preserve the rights of community in general on the one hand, and to protect the rights of citizens thereof upon the other. It was its sworn and bounden duty in the presentment of persons for violation of law to present none on account of malice or hatred, and to leave none without presentment by reason of favor or the hope of reward. When that Grand Jury was empanelled every member of it solemnly swore to keep secret all its proceedings.--The oath was properly administered to them by competent authority. It was intended to be binding upon their consciences, and should have been so treated by them, Yet what is the truth in reference to their conduct while acting under the sacred obligations of that solemn oath? Scarce one week had passed away before members of that Grand Jury were making speeches all over the State to political meetings gotten up for party purposes, and for party effect, and there retailing publicly what had transpired before them while engaged in their official capacities as Jurors, acting under the sacred obligations of an oath to keep all their proceedings secret. Not content with that, they made a publication; styled it their report; published it in the newspapers, and sent it broadcast all over the land; in which they say there came to their knowledge while acting in the capacity of Jurors evidence of the existence of fifteen thousand traitors in Indiana; that they had a society in which they were banded together by oaths to give aid and comfort to the Southern Confederacy, and also to assist in the establishment of a Northwestern Confederacy; that they had grips and signs by which they could recognize each other--signs by which, in case they we drafted, they could let the enemy in battle know them to be friends, and thus they would escape unhurt. All this that Grand Jury published as being true; and to compel the people to believe it they say they acquired their knowledge of it while engaged in the performance of their duty as Jurors. These reports are false in fact, or else these Jurors were false to their oaths. Was that all they did ? Sworn to make presentment against no person on account of hatred or malice;--the oath was so administered to them; the Judge so charged them--yet we find that citizens of Indiana were presented by that Jury; charged by it with having committed treason--the highest crime known to the law of the land--because, forsooth, they did not walk under the yoke of Abolitionism and cry with a loud voice. "Great is the latter-day Abraham." They allowed themselves to be made the willing slaves of a wicked and corrupt party. On account of the entertainment and exercise of political opinions, and upon insufficient testimony, they presented citizens as culprits and felons, and caused their incarceration in dungeons. The day for final trial came. A traverse Jury was selected--selected, too, by political friends of the Administration. The strongest possible case was selected and presen ed to that Jury, and it refused to convict the prisoner of any crime at all. Thus ends he labors of that remarkable Grand Jury. Its action and conduct is entitled to neither respect nor credit. The members of it have disgraced themselves, and time itself cannot blot it out I fear their children after them will be taunted with the disgraceful reproach that their fathers foreswore themselves.
The statement that the Democratic party is opposed to the Government, or that it is giving aid and comfort to the Southern rebellion, or that it is desirous of the formation of a Northwestern Confederacy, is false; and I appeal to the history of the Democratic party to verify the falsity of such a statement. That party is to day, as it has been for years gone by devoted to the Constitution and the Union. It desires but one Union and one Constitution, and it wants that Union to be the Union of all the States, and that Constitution to be the Constitution which our fathers gave us. I challenge the advocates of Abolitionism and Despotism--the men who obey the law given them by their wicked leaders--for the proof of their declarations that the Democracy is not true to the Union, or desires it to be divided. The proof presented is, that the Democracy speak against the Government. Speaking against the Government has become a very familiar charge, and the men who make it are either too ignorant to distinguish the difference between the Government and the Administration, or else they are too dishonest to do it.--They are that class of men who would have us believe that some high officials at Washington City are the Government. I do not believe that Abraham Lincoln and the entire body of his political satellites are yet the Government. I regard the Constitution of the country, made and adopted by the people, as the Government; and not some men who have happened to be elected to office. The Constitution is founded upon the axiom that all Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. It is the instrument which our fathers made, giving us liberty,and it protects us in the enjoyment of it. The people have ac- page: 217[View Page 217] cepted it as the Great Charter which is to hold them together, a happy, united and prosperous people. They sustain it and give it force and power. Let it not be violated and all will yet be well. It is true that the Democratic party criticises the conduct of the Administration--of men in official position. The Constitution gives the people that right. It says:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press."
What is it that makes these latter day officials so supreme and sacred that the people dare not speak in reference to their action and conduct? Is it because they have permitted the public Treasury to be pillaged, plundered and robbed, and have tailed to bring one culprit to justice? Is it because they have sat as rulers of a bleeding country and heeded not the will and voice of the people at the ballot box fairly expressed? Is it because they have trampled the Constitution and laws under foot and appealed to the "higher law" doctrine? Is it because they have seen printing presses mobbed, private property of every description sacrificed and destroyed, and have not raised their voices against it, or undertaken to compensate the owners ? Is it because they have seen the white citizens of this country, without respect for sex, age, rank or condition in life, ruthlessly kidnapped;--torn from their homes, families and friends;--cast into dungeons without charge or accusation preferred against them;--denied a trial;--but there to remain, sicken and die? The people are descendants of a noble ancestry, and that ancestry has furnished them the example for criticising the conduct of public men, and they will criticise it. You cannot prevent it. By your physical force which you now possess you may succeed for a season in abridging discussion;--you may in some instances crush out free speech;-- but your days are numbered. Truth, right and just will prevail. I warn you to retrace your steps and change your conduct, lest the indignation of an outraged people become so great, and their hatred for you so intense that reason itself cannot control them.
We are told that the Democratic party does not endorse the conduct and policy of the administration. Of course it does not. If it did it would not be a constitution-loving, a law-abiding and Union preserving party. It does not refuse to approve the conduct and policy of the Administration for the reason that it desires to op pose it in any rightful and proper efforts it may make to put down the rebellion and restore the Union, but it refuses to endorse and support the Administration in all things, for the reason that it believes the course of conduct already pursued by it and the course which it is now pursuing has a tendency to further separate rather than restore the Union. The earnest desire of the Democratic party is a restoration of the Union, and it had furnished all means ever demanded of it by the Administration for that purpose. When this rebellion first threatened the country the Democratic party desired to walk in the footsteps of the fathers, and follow the example which they left us. They desired by fair and honorable compromise--by proper concession by all parties to quell the fearful storm--to save the Constitution--to save the Union and to save liberty without a great effusion of blood; but they were spurned with contempt from the foot of the abolition throne. This new party for the first time in the history of our county had come into power, and it must rule or ruin. One of its leading advocates had declared that the "Union without a little blood-letting was not worth a rush," and that was accepted as the law which was to govern them. The war began. The President issued his proclamation for 75.000 men to engage in the contest. His call was quickly responded to by the people of all parties. No Administration was ever more unitedly supported by the people of the northern and western States than was this Administration at that time. Congress me and passed the Crittenden resolution which was
"That ths war on their part, should not be waged in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor for the purpose of interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease."
The passage of that resolution give satisfaction to the people, The nation took heart, and it was hoped ere long all would be peace and quiet again. An army of 500,000 men was asked for and he people, irrespective of party, made up that army. Indiana furnished her full share, and more; and I certainly will not claim too much for he Democratic party, if I say of Indiana's portion of our army has a least one-half belongs to the Democratic party. I certainly will no claim too much for the Democratic party when I say that in the performance of all things for the comfort of the soldiery and the maintenance of the families of the soldiery it has been at least as liberal and devoted as the abolition or republican party. Proscribed and despised as that party this be en by men having position and power, it yet has stood by the Constitution with unfaltering devotion and has done all within its power for the restoration of the Union.
What fruits have the abolitionists to bring as the results of their labors for the suppression of the rebellion and he restoration of the Union? They have abol- page: 218[View Page 218] ished slavery in the District of Columbia without the consent of their owners. They have enacted a system of the compensated emancipation, in violation of the Constitution, in violation of the rights of the States, and unjust and oppressive of the people. They have passed a law permitting the testimony of negroes in certain cases against the whites! They have repealed the law against the transportation of the mails by the negroes. They have amended the law making it a high offense for an office of the army to return a run-away slave to his master;--making no difference whether that master is loyal or disloyal.--They have refused to pass a law making it an offence for an officer to entice away a slave. They have passed a law authorizing the President to call negroes into military service, and they are not recruiting them as soldiers upon terms of equality with the whites. They have passed a law postponing the investigation of frauds upon the government for two years. They have passed a law suspending the writ of habeas corpus and also to indemnify those who have been participants in the wicked and unjust arrests which have been made. They have made Washington City an asylum for "free Americans of African descent." They have passed a law recognizing as our equal the negro governments of Liberia and Hayti--one a pretend republic and the other a despotism, and, in the language of the Hale and Julian platform, the have "placed our commercial relations with them on the footing of the most favored nations." The president has issued a proclamation attempting to give freedom of the slaves, making no difference whether they are owned by loyal or disloyal masters, which by Great Britain in 1815 was declared to be "a deviation from the usages of war;" and in which proclamation the President says: "and the Executive Government of the United States including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and do no ac or acts to suppress such persons or any of them in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom;"--hereby leaving them free of commit deeds of butchery, of assassination and murder, such as were practiced by the heathens of the dark ages. And to finish this system of insanity and folly here has been imported from France a Conscription law which the monarchs of England would despise and condemn. Lastly, from the commencement of his rebellion up to the present time, they have been giving aid and comfort to the South by publishing to them that there is a large party nor h desirous of the success of the Southern Confederacy.
The Democratic party does no approve but opposes the conduct of the Administration, for the reason that such conduct prolongs rather than shortens the rebellion, and renders a restoration of the Union the more improbable, if not impossible.--When the war first broke out Mr. Lincoln said that here was a majority of Union men in all the southern States, except it was South Carolina. How is to day?--Instead of a weak army, as it was in the beginning, and a divided people, as they then were, they have an army nearly as large as ours, and they are united people. What has caused this great change South? It is the conduct of the present Administration, such conduct that which I have referred to. The leading spirits of the secessionists in the South, would take the doings of our administration and our abolition Congress and submit it to the people as evidence of the intention of our Administration to crush out their institution of slavery; and the natural result was that they became a united people, as they supposed in the defence of that institution. Not only that, but such conduct has produced discontent and dissatisfaction at home. The people are losing confidence in the Administration. I hope it may pursue a line of policy which will regain their confidence.
I sincerely hope that the present system of fanatical legislation will be departed from by the party in power; I hope that free speech and free press will be respected; the library of the citizen preserved, and that men in position will administer the Government in accordance with the Constitution and the precepts and examines which our fathers have left us. Let that be done and let a proper effort be made to restore the Union by the means provided in the Constitution, and there long will be a united, happy and prosperous people.
A call of the House showed 56 members in attendance, 37 absent without leave and 7 with leave, when for want of a quorum the House adjourned to 9 a.m. to morrow.
