62

of the House; in which, after a long, arduous, doubtful struggle, during which Mr. Eliot's resolve was referred to the Judiciary Committee and reported against" by Mr. Ilickman, of Pa., its Chairman-" because the President has all power now"-it had been referred to a Select Committee of seven, whereof Mr. Sedgwick, of N. Y., was Chairman; whence Mr. Eliot, of Mass., reported" two bills, one providing for confiscating the property, the other for emancipating the slaves, of persistent Rebels; whereupon debate was renewed and continued for days-every Democrat and nearly every Border-State mcmber resisting Emancipation as ruinous to the National cause. Said Mr. W. S. Holman, of Ind. (one of the most loyal and non-partisan of those clected as Democrats):

"I have supported, Sir, and will still support, every just measure of this Administr tion to restore the Union. No partisan interest shall control me when the Republic is in danger. I place the interest of my country far above every other interest. I will make any sacrifice to uphold the Government; but I will not be deterred from condemning, at this time, this or any other series of measures-the offspring of misguided zeal and passion, or of want of faith in our people-which tends to defeat the hope of a restoration of the Union. The citizen soldier, stricken down in battle or worn out by the weary march, falls a willing sacrifice for the Constitution of his country, and Lis dying eyes light up with hope as they catch the gleam of its starry symbol; while we deliberate on measures which would overthrow the one, and blot out the stars from the other."

tious reverence. I have worshiped it from cipline by which we were prepared for it, in my forefathers.' In the school of rigid disthe struggles out of which it was born, the seven years of bitter conflict, and the seven to be fruitless of good; in the wisdom with darker years in which that conflict seemed which it was constructed and first administered and set in motion; in the beneficent two generations; in the blessed influences Government it has secured for more than it has exerted upon the cause of Freedom and Humanity the world over, I can not fail ing Providence. But not for the blessed to recognize the hand of a guiding and lovmemories of the past only do I cling to it. or with the want of it, who does not seo lle must be blinded with excess of light,' that to this nation, trembling on the verge of dissolution, it is the only possible bond of

unity."

Mr. Samuel S. Cox, of Ohio, asked: with negroes, taxes, and blood, with division "Must these Northern fanatics be sated North and devastation South, and peril to lief shall come? They will not halt until constitutional liberty everywhere, before retheir darling schemes are consummated. History tells us that such zealots do not and can not go backward."

Said Mr. John Law, of Indiana:

"The man who dreams of closing the present unhappy contest by reconstructing this Union upon any other basis than that prescribed by our fathers, in the compact formed by them, is a madman—ay, worse, a traitor and should be hung as high as IIaman. Sir, pass these acts, confiscate under these bills the property of these men, emancipate their negroes, place arms in the hands of these human gorillas, to murder their masters and violate their wives and daughters, and you will have a war such as was never witnessed in the worst days of the French Revolution, and horrors never exceeded in St. Domingo, for the balancə of this century at least."

M. Eliot closed the debate" in an able speech for the bills; and the Said Judge Thomas (Conservative), Confiscation bill was passed-Yeas of Massachusetts: 82; Nays 03.

"That the bills before the House are in

violation of the law of nations, and of the taken up; when, after rejecting seveThe Emancipation bill was next

Constitution, I can not-I say it with all deference to others-I can not entertain a doubt. My path of duty is plain. The duty of obedience to that Constitution was never more imperative than now. I am not disposed to deny that I have for it a superstiApril 23.

1 March 20, 1862.

ral amendments, the vote was taken on its passage, and it was defeated: Yeas 74 (all Republicans); Nays 78— fifteen members elected as Repub

63 April 30.

"May 26.

HAYTI AND LIBERIA RECOGNIZED.

licans voting Nay, with all the Democrats and all the Border-State men. The Republicans voting Nay were Messrs. Dawes and Delano, of Mass., Diven, of N. Y., Dunn, of Ind., Fisher, of Del., IIorton, of Ohio, Wm. Kellogg, of Ill., Killinger, of Pa., Mitchell, of Ind., Nixon, of N. J., Norton, of Ill., Porter, of Ind., A. H. Rice, of Mass., Stratton, of N. J., and Train, of Mass.

Mr. Porter, of Ind., now moved" a reconsideration; which narrowly escaped defeat, on a motion by Mr. Holman that it do lie on the table: Yeas 69; Nays 73. The reconsideration prevailed: Yeas 84; Nays C4: and the bill was recommitted, with instructions to report a substitute already proposed by Mr. P., which prevailed-Yeas 8-14; Nays 66: and Mr. Eliot again reported" a bill emancipating the slaves of certain specified classes of prominent Rebels, and also of all persons who shall continue in armed rebellion sixty days after the President shall have issued his proclamation requiring them to desist therefrom. The bill thus modified passed the Ilouse: Yeas 82; Nays 54. The Ilouse Confiscation bill aforesaid was taken up in the Senate; and, after debate, so amended, on motion of Mr. Clark, of N. II., as to recombine Emancipation therewith; when it was passed: Yeas 23; Nays 13. The House non-concurred" in this action: Yeas 8; Nays 124; whereupon, the Senate insisted, and asked a committee of conference; which was granted; and the Committee "" reported a bill which was in substance Mr. Clark's, providing for both Confiscation and Emancipa

265

tion. Its purport is that all slaves of persons who shall give aid or comfort to the Rebellion, who shall take refuge within the lines of the army; all slaves captured from such persons, or deserted by them, and coming under the control of the Government; and all slaves of such persons found or being within any place occupied by Rebel forces, and afterward occupied by the forces of the United States-shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be for ever free, and not again held as slaves; that fugitive slaves shall not be surrendered to persons who have given aid and comfort to the Rebellion; that no person engaged in the military or naval service shall surrender fugitive slaves, on pain of being dismissed from the service; that the President may employ persons of African descent for the suppression of the Rebellion, and organize and use them in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare.

This bill passed the IIouse by the decisive majority of 82 Yeas to 42 Nays; also the Senate, by 27 Yeas to 12 Nays; and, being approved by the President," became the law of the land.

President Lincoln having recommended, in his first Annual Message," the establishment of Diplomatic intercourse with the republics of IIayti and Liberia, Mr. Sumner reported" to the Senate, from its Committee on Foreign Relations, a bill for that purpose; which in due time was taken up," supported by its author, opposed" by Mr. G. Davis, of Ky., who proclaimed his disgust at the continued "introduction 61 July 17. 6 Dec. 3, 1862. ca Feb. 4, 'C3. "April 22. April 24.

per annum, whereof a tenth was appropriated to the support of schools, not one of their children was permitted to enter those schools or to receive any benefit whatever from the money thus wrested from thein by law for the education of the children of the Whites, many of whom paid no tax whatever. Ilis bill proposed simply that the city revenue raised for schools by the taxation of Blacks should be devoted to the education of their own children, and not those of the Whites.

of the subject of slaves and Savery of the District were taxed $20,000 into this chamber;" though no one but himself had mentioned cither in connection with this measure. He drew a ludicrous picture of "a big negro fellow," fantastically arrayed, being presented as Minister from Ilayti. Mr. Sumner rejoined; and Mr. Davis's substitute, providing for consular relations only with the republics aforesaid, was voted downYeas 8; Nays 31-and then the bill passed: Yeas 32; Nays 7. On reaching the House, it was referred to its Committee on Foreign Affairs; which Committee was discharged" from its further consideration, on motion of Mr. Gooch, of Mass., who ably and temperately advocated its passage. Mr. Cox, of Ohio, replied, à la Davis; and, after further debate by Messrs. Fessenden, of Maine, Eliot, of Mass., McKnight and Kelley, of Pa., and Maynard, of Tenn., in favor, and Messrs. Biddle, of Pa., and Crittenden, of Ky., in opposition, it was passed-Yeas 86; Nays 37-and, being signed" by the President, became the law of the land.

Previous to the triumph of Emancipation in the Federal District, there was no public provision for the education of the Blacks, whether bond or free; and very few, even of the latter, received any schooling whatever. The great obstacle to improvement having been swept away, Mr. Grimes, of Iowa, submitted" to the Senate a bill providing for the education of colored children in the city of Washington; prefacing it by a statement that, whereas the number of those children was in 1860 no less than 3,172, and while the Free Blacks GG June 2. 07 June 5. CH April 29.

This bill having been referred to and reported" from the District Committee, it was taken up," on motion of Mr. Grimes; and certain nonessential amendments of the Committee agreed to. Mr. Wilson, of Mass., then moved to add a new section, as follows:

"That all persons of color in the District of Columbia, or within the corporate limits of the cities of Washington and Georgetown, shall be subject and amenable to the same laws and ordinances to which free amenable; that they shall be tried for any White persons are or may be subject or offenses against the laws in the same manner as free White persons are or may be tried for the same offenses; and that, upon being legally convicted of any crime or offense against any law or ordinance, such persons of color shall be liable to such penalty or punishment, and only such, as would be imposed or inflicted upon free White persons for the same crime or offense: with the provisions of this act, are hereby and all acts, or parts of acts, inconsistent repealed."

This important amendment prevailed; and the bill, thus improved, passed:" Yeas 29; Nays 7. Reaching the IIouse, it was there referred to its District Committee; reported" therefrom without amendment, by Mr. Rollins, of N. H., and, on his motion, passed, under the Previous "April 30. 70 May 8. T1 May 9. May 15.

RENDITION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES.

267

Question, without a call of the Yeas Jersey. That report killed it. But Mr. Wilmot, of Pa., soon revived" the proposition, by a bill which required every person, who should apply for the legal process required for the arrest of a fugitive slave, to take a stringent oath of loyalty. The bill further provided that each al

and Nays. It received the President's signature on the 21st. Bills making further and better provision for the education of colored children were matured and enacted in the course of that and the two following sessions.

process against witnesses deemed essential to his defense, and that such witnesses should be sworn and heard, irrespective of their color. Mr. Wade promptly reported this bill; but it shared the fate of its predecessor.

80

81

Mr. Wilson, of Mass., proposed to amend the bill of 1850 aforesaid, so as to secure to every one claimed as a fugitive slave a trial by jury; which, though once taken up"Yeas 25; Nays 10-failed to command the attention of the Senate.

A treaty between the Great Pow-leged fugitive shall have compulsory ers of Western Europe, intended to provide for the more effectual suppression of the African Slave-Trade, was matured and signed at Paris in 1841. It necessarily accorded a qualified reciprocal right to search suspected cruisers to the National vessels of the subscribing parties. Gen. Cass, then our Envoy at Paris, and a prospective candidate for President, resisted and defeat:d the accession of our Government to this most righteous and necessary increase of power to the international police of the ocean, and carned thereby the qualified approbation of the Slave Power; as was evinced in the Presidential election of 1848. A similar treaty was now negotiated between the United States and Great Britain; and a bill designed to give effect to its provisions was reported" to the Senate by Mr. Sumner, considered, and passed:" Yeas 34; Nays 4. The IIouse concurred;" and the bill became a law."

Soon after the meeting of the next Congress, Mr. Stevens, of Pa., submitted" to the House a bill contemplating an absolute repeal, not only of the act of 1850, but also of the Fugitive Slave act of 1793. Messrs. Ashley, of Ohio, and Julian, of Ind., introduced bills of like tenor. Mr. Julian further proposed that the Judiciary Committee be instructed to report a bill to repeal the most obnoxious provisions of the acts in question; but this was, on motion. of Mr. Holman, of Ind., laid on the table: Yeas 82; Nays 73.

In the Senate, Mr. Sumner next introduced" a bill sweeping away all slave-catching by statute; which was referred to a Select Committee of seven, whereof he was Chairman, which had been raised to consider all propositions affecting Slavery. He

soon reported" his bill, with ample | Winkle and Willey, of West Va., reasons for its passage-Mr. Bucka- voting with the Opposition. The lew, of Pa., making a minority report President's signature, five days therein opposition. Mr. Sumner persist- after, made it a law of the land, abolently and successfully pressed the ishing for ever the least creditable consideration of his bill, offering not and most disagreeable function of the to debate it; and, after some discus- marshals of our Federal Courts. sion, the Senate adopted" an amendment proposed by Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, excepting the act of 1793 from the contemplated repeal: Yeas 21; Nays 17. The debate was still further continued; but no final action was had on the bill.

Feb. 29. Mar. 19. 87 June 6. June 13. 69 June 21. * June 23, 1864. 91 Dec. 4, 1861.