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            Statesman Edition                      VOL. IX

                            Charles Sumner

                          HIS COMPLETE WORKS

                           With Introduction
                                  BY
                       HON. GEORGE FRISBIE HOAR

                            [Illustration]

                                BOSTON
                            LEE AND SHEPARD
                                  MCM

                           COPYRIGHT, 1872,
                                  BY
                            CHARLES SUMNER.

                           COPYRIGHT, 1900,
                                  BY
                           LEE AND SHEPARD.

                          Statesman Edition.
                    LIMITED TO ONE THOUSAND COPIES.
                           OF WHICH THIS IS
                                No. 259

                            Norwood Press:
                        NORWOOD, MASS., U.S.A.




CONTENTS OF VOLUME IX.


                                                                    PAGE

    RIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY AND RIGHTS OF WAR: TWO SOURCES OF POWER
    AGAINST THE REBELLION. Speech in the Senate, on his Bill for
    the Confiscation of Property and the Liberation of Slaves
    belonging to Rebels, May 19, 1862                                  1

    NO SURRENDER OF FUGITIVE SLAVES IN WASHINGTON. Resolution and
    Remarks in the Senate, May 23, 1862                               78

    INFORMATION IN REGARD TO FREEING SLAVES BY OUR ADVANCING
    ARMIES. Resolution in the Senate, May 26, 1862                    82

    HELP FROM SLAVES, WITH RECIPROCAL PROTECTION IN THEIR RIGHTS AS
    MEN. Resolution in the Senate, May 26, 1862                       83

    TAX ON COTTON. Speeches in the Senate, May 27 and June 4, 1862    84

    TAX ON SLAVE-MASTERS. Speeches in the Senate, on Amendment to
    the Internal Tax Bill, May 28 and June 6, 1862                    93

    PROPER DESPATCH OF BUSINESS. Remarks in the Senate, on the
    Order of Business, May 30, 1862                                  110

    SHUTTING UP OF  SCHOOLS BY THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF
    NORTH CAROLINA. Resolution and Remarks in the Senate, June 2,
    1862                                                             112

    STAND BY THE ADMINISTRATION. Letter to ----, June 5, 1862        116

    POWER OF CONGRESS _vs._ MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF STATES.
    Resolutions in the Senate, June 6, 1862                          119

    AIR-LINE RAILROAD BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND NEW YORK. Resolution
    in the Senate, June 9, 1862                                      121

    ABOLITION AND PROHIBITION OF SLAVERY IN WEST VIRGINIA. Remarks
    in the Senate, on the Bill for the Admission of West Virginia
    as a State, June 26, July 1 and 14, 1862                         122

    WAR POWERS OF CONGRESS: CONFISCATION AND LIBERATION. Speech
    in the Senate, on the House Bill for the Confiscation of
    Property and the Liberation of Slaves belonging to Rebels,
    June 27, 1862                                                    128

    PRIZE MONEY AND ITS POLICY. Remarks in the Senate, June 30,
    1862                                                             148

    THE RANK OF ADMIRAL. Remarks in the Senate, on the Bill to
    establish the Grades of Navy Officers, July 2, 1862              150

    TESTIMONY OF <DW52> PERSONS IN THE COURTS OF THE UNITED
    STATES. Speeches in the Senate, on an Amendment to two
    different Bills, one relating to the Judiciary, and the other
    to the Competency of Witnesses, July 3 and 15, 1862              152

    PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENTS AND RECONSTRUCTION. Remarks in the
    Senate, on a Bill to establish Provisional Governments in
    Certain Cases, July 7, 1862                                      162

    TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE. Remarks in the Senate, on the Duties upon
    Imported Books and Rags, July 8, 1862                            166

    CONSTITUTIONAL QUORUM OF THE SENATE. Speech in the Senate, on a
    Resolution declaring the Constitutional Quorum, July 12, 1862    169

    PROTEST AGAINST FINAL ADJOURNMENT OF CONGRESS. Remarks in the
    Senate, on a Resolution for the Final Adjournment of the Two
    Houses, July 12, 1862                                            176

    PATRIOTIC UNITY AND EMANCIPATION. Letter to a Public Meeting at
    New York, July 14, 1862                                          180

    HARMONY WITH THE PRESIDENT AND EMANCIPATION. Speech in the
    Senate, on the Joint Resolution explanatory of the Act for
    Confiscation and Liberation, July 16, 1862                       182

    UNION OF GOOD CITIZENS FOR A FINAL SETTLEMENT. Letter to the
    Republican State Committee, September 9, 1862                    187

    THE PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION: ITS POLICY AND NECESSITY AS
    A WAR MEASURE FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE REBELLION. Speech at
    Faneuil Hall, October 6, 1862. With Appendix, on the Nomination
    and Reëlection of Mr. Sumner as Senator                          191

    THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION OUR CORNER-STONE. Letter to
    Fellow-Citizens at Salem, October 10, 1862                       247

    FARMERS, THEIR HAPPINESS AND LIBERAL SENTIMENTS. Speech at
    the Dinner of the Hampshire County Agricultural Society, at
    Northampton, Mass., October 14, 1862                             248

    AMBULANCE AND HOSPITAL CORPS. Resolution in the Senate,
    December 3, 1862                                                 255

    CELEBRATION OF EMANCIPATION. Letter to a Public Meeting of
     Citizens in Boston, January 1, 1863                      256

    PRUDENCE IN OUR FOREIGN RELATIONS. Remarks in the Senate, on
    Resolutions against French Interference in Mexico, February 3,
    1863                                                             257

    EMPLOYMENT OF <DW52> TROOPS. Bill in the Senate, February 9,
    1863                                                             262

    IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION, AND NOT GRADUAL. Speech in the Senate,
    on the Bill providing Aid for Emancipation in Missouri,
    February 12, 1863                                                266

    LETTERS OF MARQUE AND REPRISAL. Speeches in the Senate, on the
    Bill to authorize the President, in all Domestic or Foreign
    Wars, to issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal, February 14 and
    17, 1863                                                         278

    APPOINTMENTS TO THE NAVAL ACADEMY. Remarks in the Senate, on
    the Bill to regulate the Appointment of Midshipmen to the Naval
    Academy, February 16, 1863                                       301

    EXEMPTION OF CLERGYMEN FROM MILITARY CONSCRIPTION. Remarks on
    the Conscription Law, February 16, 1863                          303

    PROTEST AGAINST FOREIGN INTERVENTION, AND DECLARATION OF
    NATIONAL PURPOSE. Concurrent Resolutions of Congress, reported
    in the Senate, February 28, 1863                                 307

    INEXPEDIENCY OF LETTERS OF MARQUE. Letter to a Citizen of New
    York, March 17, 1863                                             313

    UNITY FOR THE SAKE OF FREEDOM, AND FREEDOM FOR THE SAKE OF
    UNITY. Letter to a Public Meeting at Cleveland, Ohio, May 18,
    1863                                                             316

    PACIFIC RAILROAD. Letter to Messrs. Samuel Hallett & Co., May
    23, 1863                                                         318

    UNION OF THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE LAKES BY CANAL. Letter to a
    Convention at Chicago, May 27, 1863                              320

    THE ISSUES OF THE WAR. Dedication of a New Edition of the
    Speech on the Barbarism of Slavery, July 4, 1863                 322

    LET <DW52> MEN ENLIST. Letter to a Convention at Poughkeepsie,
    New York, July 13, 1863                                          325




RIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY AND RIGHTS OF WAR:

TWO SOURCES OF POWER AGAINST THE REBELLION.


SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON HIS BILL FOR THE CONFISCATION OF PROPERTY AND
THE LIBERATION OF SLAVES BELONGING TO REBELS, MAY 19, 1862.

    Wherefore he deserves to be punished, not only as an enemy, but
    also as a traitor, both to you and to us. And indeed treason is
    as much worse than war as it is harder to guard against what
    is secret than what is open,--and as much more hateful, as
    with enemies men make treaties again, and put faith in them,
    but with one who is discovered to be a traitor nobody ever
    enters into covenant, or trusts him for the future.--XENOPHON,
    _Hellenica_, Book II. ch. 3, § 29.

       *       *       *       *       *

    Tum, ex consulto Senatus adversariis hostibus judicatis, in
    præsentem Tribunum, aliosque diversæ factionis, jure sævitum
    est.--FLORUS, _Epitome_, Lib. III. cap. 21.

       *       *       *       *       *

    Ego semper illum appellavi hostem, cum alii adversarium; semper
    hoc bellum, cum alii tumultum. Nec hæc in Senatu solum; eadem
    ad populum semper egi.--CICERO, _Oratio Philippica XII._ cap.
    7.

       *       *       *       *       *

    Except the Tax Bill, no subject occupied so much attention
    during this session as what were known generally as
    “Confiscation Bills,” all proposing, in different ways, the
    punishment of Rebels and the weakening of the Rebellion, by
    taking property and freeing slaves. In supporting these bills,
    Mr. Sumner did not disguise his special anxiety to assert the
    power of Congress over Slavery.

    As early as January 15th, Mr. Trumbull reported from the
    Judiciary Committee a bill to confiscate the property and free
    the slaves of Rebels, which was considered from time to time
    and debated at length, many Senators speaking. Amendments
    were made, among which was one moved by Mr. Sumner, February
    25th, requiring, that, whenever any person claimed another
    as slave, he should, before proceeding with his claim, prove
    loyalty.[1] Then came motions for reference of the pending bill
    and all associate propositions to a Select Committee. That of
    Mr. Clark prevailed. In a speech which will be found in the
    _Congressional Globe_[2] sustaining the reference, Mr. Sumner
    said:--

        “Such are the embarrassments in which we are involved,
        such is the maze into which we have been led by these
        various motions, that a committee is needed to hold the
        clew. Never was there more occasion for such a committee
        than now, when we have all these multifarious propositions
        to be considered, revised, collated, and brought into a
        constitutional unit,--or, if I may so say, changing the
        figure, passed through an alembic, to be fused into one
        bill on which we can all harmonize.”

    Mr. Clark reported from the Select Committee a bill “to
    suppress Insurrection and punish Treason and Rebellion,” which,
    on the 16th of May, was taken up for consideration. Mr. Sumner
    was among those who thought the bill inadequate, and on the day
    it was taken up he introduced a substitute in ten sections,
    which was printed by order of the Senate. The title was, “For
    the Confiscation of Property and the Liberation of Slaves
    belonging to Rebels.” The sections relating to Liberation were
    these.

        “SEC. 6. _And be it further enacted_, That, if any person
        within any State or Territory of the United States shall,
        after the passage of this Act, wilfully engage in armed
        rebellion against the Government of the United States,
        or shall wilfully aid or abet such rebellion, or adhere
        to those engaged in such rebellion, giving them aid or
        comfort, every such person shall thereby forfeit all claim
        to the service or labor of any persons commonly known as
        slaves; and all such slaves are hereby declared free,
        and forever discharged from such servitude, anything in
        the laws of the United States, or of any State, to the
        contrary notwithstanding. And whenever thereafter any
        person claiming the labor or service of any such slave
        shall seek to enforce his claim, it shall be a sufficient
        defence thereto that the claimant was engaged in the said
        rebellion, or aided or abetted the same, contrary to the
        provisions of this Act.

        “SEC. 7. _And be it further enacted_, That, whenever any
        person claiming to be entitled to the service or labor
        of any other person shall seek to enforce such claim, he
        shall, in the first instance, and before any order shall be
        made for the surrender of the person whose service or labor
        is claimed, establish not only his claim to such service
        or labor, but also that such claimant has not in any way
        aided, assisted, or countenanced the existing Rebellion
        against the Government of the United States. And no person
        engaged in the military or naval service of the United
        States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide
        on the validity of the claim of any person to the service
        or labor of any other person, or deliver up any such person
        to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the
        service.”

    May 19th, Mr. Sumner made the following speech, vindicating the
    powers of Congress.

    A debate ensued, turning on the inadequacy of the pending
    bill, in which Mr. Sumner likened it to a glass of water with
    a bit of orange-peel, which, according to a character in one
    of Dickens’s novels, by making believe very hard, would be
    a strong drink, and said: “At a moment when the life of the
    Republic is struck at, Senators would proceed by indictment in
    a criminal court.” Mr. Wade said: “I do not know that we shall
    get anything; but if we only get this bill, we shall get next
    to nothing.”

    In the course of the debate, Mr. Davis departed from the
    main question to say that he understood the Senators from
    Massachusetts sympathized with the mob in Boston, and its
    resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act. He never knew that Mr.
    Wilson had appeared “to back the Marshal of the United States
    in the execution of that law.” Then ensued a brief colloquy.

        “MR. DAVIS. I never heard that he did, or that either
        of them did, perform or attempt to perform that high,
        patriotic duty.

        “MR. SUMNER. I was in my seat here.

        “MR. DAVIS. Did you not give your sympathy to those who
        resisted the law?

        “MR. SUMNER. My sympathy is always with every slave.

        “MR. DAVIS. That is a frank acknowledgment. His sympathy is
        with every slave against the Constitution and the execution
        of the laws of his country! If that is not a sentiment of
        treason, I ask what is.”[3]

    Meanwhile the House of Representatives were considering the
    same subject, and on the 26th May passed a bill “to confiscate
    the property of Rebels for the payment of the expenses of the
    present Rebellion, and for other purposes,” which, on motion
    of Mr. Clark, was taken up in the Senate June 23d, when he
    moved to substitute the pending Senate bill. The debate on
    the general question was resumed. June 27th, Mr. Sumner made
    another speech, which will be found in its place, according to
    date,[4] especially in reply to Mr. Browning, who had claimed
    the War Powers for the President rather than for Congress.

    June 28th, the substitute moved by Mr. Clark was agreed to,
    Yeas 19, Nays 17, and the bill as amended was then passed, Yeas
    28, Nays 13.

    July 3d, the House non-concurred in the Senate amendment.
    A Conference Committee reported in substance the Senate
    amendment, which was accepted in the Senate, Yeas 28, Nays 13,
    and in the House, Yeas 82, Nays 42. July 17th, the bill was
    signed by the President.

    The sections of this bill, as it passed, relating to
    liberation, were these.

        “SEC. 9. _And be it further enacted_, That all slaves of
        persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against
        the Government of the United States, or who shall in any
        way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons
        and taking refuge within the lines of the army, and all
        slaves captured from such persons, or deserted by them, and
        coming under the control of the Government of the United
        States, and all slaves of such persons found on [or] being
        within any place occupied by Rebel forces, and afterwards
        occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be
        deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their
        servitude, and not again held as slaves.

        “SEC. 10. _And be it further enacted_, That no slave
        escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of
        Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up,
        or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except
        for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the
        person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that
        the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is
        alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne
        arms against the United States in the present Rebellion,
        nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no
        person engaged in the military or naval service of the
        United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to
        decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the
        service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any
        such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed
        from the service.”[5]

    This speech in the Washington pamphlet was entitled “Indemnity
    for the Past and Security for the Future,” which points
    directly at its object. An edition was printed in New York by
    the Young Men’s Republican Union, with the title, “Rights of
    Sovereignty and Rights of War, Two Sources of Power against the
    Rebellion,” which describes the way in which this object might
    be accomplished.

    It was noticed at the time as removing difficulties which
    perplexed many with regard to the powers of Congress.

    In Paris, the _Journal des Débats_[6] referred to it as
    explaining the confiscation proposed in the United States, and
    quoted passages especially in reply to the _Constitutionnel_,
    which had attacked the measure.

    A few opinions are given, merely to illustrate the tone of
    comment.

       *       *       *       *       *

    Hon. John Jay, afterwards our Minister at Vienna, who
    sympathized promptly with all that was done to crush the
