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
Rebellion, wrote from New York:--
“Your Confiscation speech is an admirable exposition of the
subject, and will go far to remove any lingering doubts
in the public mind in regard to the constitutionality and
necessity of the measure.”