Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and abstain from all attempts to collect revenues in the said States. March 27-Mr. TRUMBULL offered this resolution: Resolved, That, in the opinion of the Senate, the true way to preserve the Union is to enforce the laws of the Union; that resistance to their enforcement, whether under the Dame of anti-coercion or any other name, is encouragement to disunion; and that it is the duty of the President to use all the means in his power to hold and protect the public property of the United States, and enforce the laws thereof, as well in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, as within the other States of the Union. No vote was taken upon either of these propositions. First Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. IN SENATE. The resolution was laid on the table, witha call of the yeas and nays. Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. 1862, May 26-Mr. SUMNER offered this resolution: Resolved, That in the prosecution of the present war for the suppression of a wicked rebellion, the time has come for the Government of the United States to appeal to the loyalty of the whole people everywhere, but especially in the rebel districts, and to invite all, without distinction of color or class, to make their loyalty manifest by ceasing to fight or labor for the rebels, and also by rendering every assistance in their power to the cause of the Constitution and the Union, according to their ability, whether by arms, or labor, or information, or in any other way; and, since protection and allegiance are reciprocal duties, dependent upon each other, it is the further duty of the Government of the United States to maintain all such loyal people, according to the principles of the Declaration of Independ 1861, July 26-The Senate passed the follow-without distinction of color or class, in their rights as men, Ing resolution, offered by Mr. CLARK: Be it resolved, dc., That we, as representatives of the people and States, respectively, do hereby declare our fixed determination to maintain the supremacy of the Government and the integrity of the Union of all these United States; and to this end, as far as we may do so, we pledge the entire resources of the Government and people, until all rebels shall submit to the one and cease their efforts to destroy the other. The vote was-yeas 34, nays 1, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Bingham, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hate, Harris, Howe, Johnson of Tennessee, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Latham, McDougall, Morrill, Nesmith, Pomeroy, Saulsbury, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Thomson, Trumbull, Wade, Willey-34. NAYS-Mr. Breckinridge-1. IN HOUSE. ence. June 18-Mr. GRIMES offered this resolution: Resolved, (as the opinion of the Senate,) That it is the right and duty of the Government to call all loyal persons within the rebellious States to its armed defence against the traitors who are seeking its overthrow. Third Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. IN HOUSE. 1862, December 5-Mr. MORRILL offered the following resolution: Resolved, That at no time since the commencement of the existing rebellion, have the forces and materials in the hands of the executive department of the Government been so ample and abundant for the speedy and triumphant termination of the war as at the present moment; and it is the duty of all loyal American citizens, regardless of minor dif ferences of opinion, and especially the duty of every officer and soldier in the field, as well as the duty of every depart July 15-Mr. McCLERNAND offered the fol- ment of the Government-the legislative branch included lowing resolution : Whereas a portion of the people of the United States, in violation of their constitutional obligations, have taken up arms against the National Government, and are now striving, by aggressive and iniquitous war, to overthrow it and break up the Union of these States: Therefore, Rested, That this House hereby pledges itself to vote for any amount of money and any number of men which may be necessary to insure a speedy and effectual suppresson of such rebellion and the permanent restoration of the Federal authority everywhere within the limits and jurisdiction of the United States. The resolution was agreed to-yeas 121, nays 5, (Burnett, Grider, Norton, Reid, and Benjamin Wood.) July 22-Mr. VANDEVER asked consent to offer this resolution : Resolved, That the maintenance of the Constitution, the preservation of the Union, and the enforcement of the laws, are sacred trusts which must be executed; that no disaster shall discourage us from the most ample performance of this high duty; and we pledge to the country and the world the employment of every resource, national and individual, for the suppression, overthrow, and punishment of rebels in arms. Consent was first refused, but it was afterwards offered, and by unanimous consent, considered and agreed to. July 22-Mr. WRIGHT, of Pennsylvania, of fered this resolution: Resolved, That the reverses of the army of the United States yesterday, the 21st instant, at Bull's Run, caused by the rebel army, have in no manner impaired the ultimate success of our arms, but that the cause of human liberty, the preservation of the Union, and the maintenance of the laws pervading the hearts and affections of more than twenty millions of people, are a sure and certain guarantee that the flag of our country shall be upheld, and the Union preserved to the people; that we call on all loyal people of the Union to respond manfully to the demand of the Government in furnishing men and money, and to stand together in its support with their lives and fortunes. as a unit, to cordially and unitedly strike down the assas sins, at once and forever, who have conspired to destroy our Constitution, our nationality, and that prosperity and free dom of which we are justly proud at home and abroad, and which we stand pledged to perpetuate forever. Which was agreed to-yeas 105, nays 1, as follows: Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Blake, William G YEAS-Messrs. Aldrich, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Baily, Brown, Bullinton, Chamberlain, Clark, Clements, Cobb, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Corning, Cox, Cravens, Cutler, Davis, Dawes. Delano, Duell, Dunlap, Dunn, Edgerton, Eliot, Ely, Fenton, Samuel C, Fessenden, Thomas A. D. Fessenden, Fisher, Franchot, Frank, Gooch, Goodwin, Granger, Grider, Gurley, Hale, Hall, Harrison, Hickman, Holman, Hooper, Horton, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, Wm. Kellogg, Leary, Loomis, Lovejoy, Low, McPherson, Maynard, Mitchell, Moorhead, Justin S. Morrill, Nixon, Noble, Nugen, Odell, Olin, Patton, Perry, Pike, Pomeroy, Porter, Price, John II. Rice, Riddle, E. H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedgwick, Segar, Shanks, Sheffield, Shella barger, Smith, Spaulding, John B. Steele, Wm. G. Steele, Stevens, Stratton, Benjamin F. Thomas, Francis Thomas, Train, Trowbridge, Van Horn, Van Valkenburgh, Van Wyck, Walker, Wallace, Whaley, Wilson, Windom, Woodruff, Worcester, Wright-105. NAY-Mr. William J. Allen-1. Mr. Cox offered the following resolution : Resolved, That the word "assassins," used in the resolu tion this day offered by the member from Vermont, [Mr. whether from the North or the South, who have been instrumental in producing the present war, and especially those in and out of Congress who have been guilty of fla grant breaches of the Constitution, and who are not in favor of the establishment of the Union as it was and the Constitution as it is. MORRILL,] is intended by this House to include all men, Which was laid upon the table-yeas 85, nays 41, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Aldrich, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Baily, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Jacob B. Blair, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, Buffinton, Chamberlain, Clark, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Conway, Covode, Cutler, Davis, Dawes, Duell, Dunn, Edgerton, Eliot, Ely, Fenton, Samuel C. Fessenden, Thomas A. D. Fessenden, | Morrill, Justin S. Morrill, Morris, Nixon, Noble, Noell, Nor NAYS-Messrs. William J. Allen, Ancona, William G. Brown, Clements, Cobb, Corning, Cor, Dunlap, English, Granger, Grider, Hall, Harding, Holman, Johnson, Lazear, Mallory, Menzies, Noble, Norton, Nugen, Pendleton, Perry, Price, Richardson, Robinson, Shiel, Smith, John B. Steele, Wm. G. Steele, Stiles, Vallandigham, Vibbard, Voorhees, Ward, Whaley, Chilton A. White, Wickliffe, Woodruff, Wright, Yeaman 41. 1862, December 15-Mr. CONWAY offered the following resolutions: Resolved, That freedom and slavery cannot co-exist in the same Government without producing endless strife and civil war; that "a house divided against itself cannot stand;" and that "this nation must be all free or all slave." 2. That the American Union consists of those States which are now loyal to the Federal Constitution. 3. That a restoration of the Union, as it existed prior to the rebellion, would be a greater calamity than the rebellion itself, since it would give new life to the "irrepressible conflict," and entail upon the nation another cycle of bitter contention and civil war. 4. That the seceded States can only be put down, if at all, by being regarded as out of constitutional relations with the Union, and by being assailed upon principles of ordinary warfare as between separate nations. 5. That if any person in the employment of the United States, in either the legislative or executive branches, should propose to make peace, or should accept or advise the acceptance of any such proposition on any basis which would restore the slave power to its former supremacy in the Government, or by any new compromise or amendment of the Constitution recognize slavery as an element of power, such person will be guilty of a high crime. 6. That the superior resources and military prowess of the North in the struggle are beyond dispute, and that the question of its success turns not upon its relative ability, but on the fitness of its chief Executive Magistrate to give effect to its power. sym 7. That it is unsafe to intrust the execution of any system of administration to persons who are not in cordial pathy therewith, and that no change of policy in the conduct of the war is more than nominal which is not accompanied by a complete change in the personnel of the executive department. 8. That it is a matter for serious reflection whether another election for President must not supervene before the rightful authority of the nation can be established, and whether, in the mean time, it is not a flagrant waste of our energies to continue the war. 9. That unless the army of the West shall have swept through the valley of the Mississippi to its mouth, and the army of the Potomac annihilated the legions of Lee and Jackson, thus subverting the military power of the rebellion, within a reasonable time, the best interests of the country and humanity will require a cessation of hostilities. 10. That the States of the North, composing the American nation and wielding its power, must ever remain one and indivisible on the basis of freedom for all, without distinction of race, color, or condition; that their mission must ever be to extend their own civilization over the entire continent; and that whatever derangements, difficulties, checks, or defeats they may encounter, they must forever cherish and pursue the inspiring idea of nationality and con tinental dominion. Which were laid upon the table-yeas 132, nay 1, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Aldrich, William J. Allen, Alley, Ancona, Babbitt, Baily, Baker, Beaman, Biddle, Bingham, Samuel 8. Blair, Blake, William G. Brown, Buffinton, Calvert, Chamberlain, Clark, Clements, Cobb, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Cor, Crisfield, Crittenden, Cutler, Dawes, Delano, Delaplaine, Duell, Dunlap, Dunn, Edgerton, Edwards, Eliot, English, Fenton, Samuel C. Fessenden, Thomas A. D. Fessenden, Fisher, Fouke, Franchot, Frank, Gooch, Goodwin, Granger, Grider, Gurley, Haight, Hall, Harding, Harrison, Hickman, Holman, Hooper, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley, William Kellogg, Kerrigan, Killinger, Lansing, Leary, Loomis, Lovejoy, Low, McKnight, McPherson, Mallory, Maynard, Menzies, Mitchell, Moorhead, Anson P. Price, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Richardson, Riddle, Robinson, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedgwick, Segar, Shanks, Sheffield, Shellabarger, Shiel, Sloan, Smith, Spaulding, John B. Steele, Stiles, Stratton, Benjamin F. Thomas, Francis Thomas, Train, Trimble, Trowbridge, Val landigham, Van Horn, Van Valkenburgh, Verree, Wads worth, Walker, Wall, Wallace, Ward, Washburne, Whaley, Albert S. White, Chilton A. White, Wicklife, Wilson, Windom, Woodruff, Worcester, Wright, Yeaman-132. NAY-Mr. Conway-1. 1863, January 5-Mr. BLAKE offered the following resolution: speedy and effectual measures taken to put down the rebelResolved, That this House earnestly desires the most lion; that any propositions for peace or cessation of hostilities at this time on any terms other than an unconditional submission of the rebels now in arms against the Government to the requirements of the Constitution and laws, would be pusillanimous and traitorous; that the members of this House do hereby give the most earnest assurances to the people of the United States that they will cheerfully co-operate with the President as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy in any measures he may deem proper, sanctioned by the Constitution and the laws of civilized warfare, to strengthen the military power of our gallant soldiers in the field defending the Government, and to weaken that of the enemy laboring to destroy it. 2. That the only alternative Government can or ought at this time to offer to rebels, is, submit or be conquered. Which was considered, but no action taken thereon. January 8-Mr. HOLMAN offered the following resolution : the Union of the States under the present form of governResolved, That the duty of maintaining the integrity of is most sacred and obligatory, and no proposition tending to ment, with the limitations of the Constitution unimpaired, destroy the Union, or violate the obligations of the Consti tution, can rightfully be entertained or considered by the representatives of the people in any of the departments of the Government. 2. That the free and unrestricted navigation of the Mississippi river must be restored and maintained as the common and absolute right of the people of all of the States, and the duty to vindicate the same against every effort to impair it, is imperative, and cannot, under any circumstances, be abandoned by the Government of the United States. The consideration of which was postponed until the 14th instant, but not again called up. First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. IN HOUSE. 1864, January 7-Mr. AMOS MYERS offered the following, which were referred to the Select Committee on the Rebellious States: Whereas, in the opinion of this House, the Federal Gov ernment is invested by the Constitution of the United States with all necessary power and authority to suppress any resistance, whether armed or unarmed, to the rightful power and jurisdiction of the United States: Therefore, Be it resolved, That in this national emergency Congress will forego all feeling of mere passion, except that which loyalty dictates, all resentment except such as is due tc treason; and that this war of national self-defence against armed rebels, insurrectionary traitors, and sympathizing abettors, should be waged on our part until such rebels and traitors are conquered into love for the Union, and made and take the oath of allegiance to the country, and of subobedient to the Constitution and laws of the United States, mission to the emancipation proclamation, and the procla mation of December 8, 1863; and when those objects are accomplished, the leading rebels and chief traitors should be hung, and the war cease. 1864, January 18-Mr. GREEN CLAY SMITH offered this preamble and resolution: Whereas a most desperate, wicked, and bloody rebellion exists within the jurisdiction of the United States, and the safety and security of personal and national liberty depend upon its utter and absolute extinction: Therefore, Resolved, That it is the political, civil, moral, and sacred duty of the people to meet it, fight it, crush it, and forever destroy it. Mr. JAMES C. ALLEN moved to lay them on | the table; which was disagreed to-yeas 26, nays 102. The YEAS were: Messrs. James C. Allen, Ancona, Brooks, Chanler, Deming, Denison, Eden, Edgerton, Eldridge, Herrick, William Johnson, Knapp, Long, Marcy, McDowell, McKinney, Wm. H. Miller, Pendleton, Robinson, Ross, Stiles, Strouse, Voorhees, Chilton A. White, Fernando Wood, Yeaman-26. The resolution was then agreed to-yeas 112, nays 16, as follows: TEAS-Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Arnold, Ashley, Baily, Augustus C. Baldwin, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, Blaine, Francis P. Blair, jr., Jacob B. Blair, Boutwell, Boyd, Brandegee, Broomall, James S. Brown, William G. Brown, Ambrose W. Clark, Freeman Clarke, Cole, Cravens, Creswell, Dawes, Deming, Dixon, Donnelly, Driggs, Eckley, Eldridge, Eliot, English, Farnsworth, Fenton, Frank, Ganson, Garfield, Gooch, Grinnell, Griswold, Hale, Harding, Higby, Holman, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, Hutchins, Jenckes, Julian, Kasson, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, Kernan, Loan, Longyear, Lovejoy, Marvin, McBride, McClurg, McIndoe, Middleton, Samuel F. Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, Daniel Morris, Amos Myers, Leonard Myers, Nelson, Odell, Charles O'Neill, Orth, Patterson, Pike, Pomeroy, Price, Radford, William II. Randall, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Rogers, Edward H. Rollins, James S. Rollins, Schenck, Scofield, Shannon, Smith, Smith⚫ers, Spalding, Stebbins, Stevens, Strouse, Stuart, Sweat, Thayer, Thomas, Tracy, Upson, Van Valkenburgh, Wadsworth, Ellihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Webster, Whaley, Wheeler, Williams, Wilder, Wilson, Windom, Winfield, Woodbridge-112. NAYS-Messrs. J. C. Allen, Ancona, Denison, Benjamin G. Harris, Long, Marcy, Mc Dowell, William H. Miller, Morrison, John O'Neill, Pendleton, Robinson, Stiles, Voorhees, Chilton A. White, Fernando Wood-16. 1864, Feb. 8-Mr. Wm. G. BROWN offered the following resolutions, which were laid over under the rule: Whereas our beloved country, our highly cherished institutions, Constitution, and Union of the States, are all imperilled by a causeless and wicked rebellion: Be it therefore, Resolved, That it is the duty of every loyal citizen to give to the Government, and to the agents in its employ, both in the cabinet and in the field, all the legitimate aid and comfort in his power in their efforts to put down such rebellion. 2. That, as the rebels began the war, we will prosecute it until the last insurgent is disarmed and the authority of the United States acknowledged over every foot of ground belonging to the Republic. 3. That in the prosecution of the war we will use all the military power of the Government, but will combine with it all the means of conciliation calculated to give to the Government and country an honorable and lasting peace. 4. That it is the duty of the Government, so far as it is in Its power to give equal protection to all loyal citizens without reference to their locality, whether residing within the seceded or loyal States; and one of the strong incentives to a vigorous prosecution of the war is to rescue our loyal brethren of the rebellious States from the domination of a military despotism. 1864, Feb. 8-Mr. JACOB B. BLAIR offered the following preamble and resolutions, which were laid over under the rule: idea of ever ceasing his wicked designs and returning to laws he has trampled under foot; and has also declared his allegiance to the Government, whose Constitution and that no compromise would be entertained by him, or those he represents, that did not secure to the States in rebellion their independence and final separation from the United States. And whereas Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice President of the so-called Southern Confederacy, is reported to have said in a speech delivered in the month of July, 1863, at Charlotte, North Carolina, "As for reconstruction, such a thing was impossible; such an idea must not be tolerated for an instant. Reconstruction would not end the war, but would produce a more horrible war than that in which we are now engaged. The only terms on which we can obtain permanent peace is final and complete separa tion from the North. Rather than submit to anything short of that, let us all resolve to die like men worthy of freedom." And whereas John Letcher, in one of his messages to the rebel legislature of the State of Virginia, declared: "The alliance between us is dissolved, (meaning between the United States and the southern States,) never, I trust, to be renewed, at any time, under any conceivable state of circumstances." And whereas the Richmond Enquirer, one of the organs and advocates of this imaginary Southern Confederacy, in its issue of January 9, 1863, says: "Separation is inevitable. War has failed to prevent it Peace cannot stop it. An armistice with propositions for reconstruction by constitutional amendments of conventions of States would very soon reveal the fact that separa tion was final; and so far as one generation can speak for its successors, it is eternal." And whereas the Richmond Dispatch of January.10, 1863, another organ of the leaders of this wanton and unprovoked rebellion, said in response to a peace and reunion speech, delivered in New York by the editor of the Express, "That we assure him that the people of the Confederate States would infinitely prefer being the vassals of France or England; nay, they would prefer to be serfs of Russia, to becoming in any manner whatever associated politically or otherwise with the Yankee States." And further, "that President Davis expressed the sentiment of the entire Confederacy in his speech the other night, (in Richmond,) when he said 'the people would sooner unite with a nation of hyenas than with the detestable Yankee nation. Anything but that. English colonization, French vassalage, Russian serfdomall, all are preferable to any association with the Yankees."" And whereas the Richmond Sentinel, still another advocate of this new-fledged Confederacy, in its comments on the proceedings of what is known as the Frank Pierce meeting, held at Concord, New Hampshire, on the 4th of July, 1863, says, "Do the New Hampshire Democrats sup pose for one moment that we could so much as think of a reunion with such a people? Rather tell one to be wedded to a corpse; rather join hands with the flend from the pit. The blood of many thousands of martyrs is between us. A thousand feelings of horror repel the idea of a renewal of affection." And whereas the Richmond Whig, another mouth-piece of treason and of crime, in its issue of the 10th of January, 1863, speaking of those who are opposed to breaking up the Union bequeathed to them by their fathers, says, "They are by nature menials, and fitted only for menial duties. They are in open and flagrant insurrec tion against their natural lords and masters, the gentlemen of the South. In the exercise of their assumed privileges they deport themselves with all the extravagant airs, the insolence, the cruelty, the cowardice and love of rapine, which have ever characterized the revolt of slaves. The former leniency of their masters only serves to aggravate the ferocity of their nature. When they are again reduced to subjection, and taught to know their place, we must take care to put such trammels about them that they will never have an opportunity to play their tricks again." It is, therefore, 1. Resolved, That any attempt on the part of the Govern Whereas the present deplorable civil war was inaugu-ment of the United States to conciliate the leaders of the rated and is still carried on by a few desperate but daring present rebellion, or compromise the questions involved men who, without any cause whatever, have not only filled would be but an attempt on the one hand to rob the gallows of the land with widows and orphans and caused almost un- its own, and on the other to humiliate and bring into utter told millions of treasure to be spent, but have put in peril contempt this Government in the estimation of the civilized the very life of that Government which never deprived world. them of one solitary right, but which was so mild and be2. That every State which has ever been is still a State in Deficent it was only known by the blessings it conferred. the Union, and that when this rebellion shall have been put And whereas Jefferson Davis, the chief of rebels, is reported down each of the so-called seceding States will have the to have said in a speech delivered in Jackson, Mississippi, same rights, privileges, and immunities under the Constituin December, 1862: "My only wonder is that we consented tion as any of the loyal States, except so far as the holding to live so long a time in association with such miscreants of African slaves in bondage is affected by the President's (referring to the people of the North) and have loved a proclamation of the 1st of January, 1863, the action of Con Government rotton to the core. Were it ever to be pro-gress on the subject, or the events of the war. posed again to enter into a union with such a people I could no more consent to do it than to trust myself in a den of thieves." And whereas this same high official in the great synagogue of rebeldom has repeatedly since, in his messages to the Rebel Congress, utterly repudiated the 3. That this House utterly repudiate the doctrine advanced by some, that the so-called seceding States have ceased to be States of and in the Union, and have be come Territories thereof, or stand in the relation of foreign powers at war therewith. 1864, Feb. 29—Mr. SCHENCK offered these thereby secure to all native and naturalized citizens equal resolutions: Resolved, That the present war which this Government is carrying on against armed insurrectionists and others, banded together under the name of "Southern Confederacy," was brought on by a wicked and wholly unjustifiable rebellion, and all those engaged in or aiding or encour-cal-producing cruelty and oppression to the slave, d aging it are public enemies, and should be treated as such. 2. That this rebellion shall be effectually put down; and that, to prevent the recurrence of such rebellion, in future, the causes which led to this one must be permanently removed. 3. That in this struggle which is going on for the saving of our country and free government, there is no middle ground on which any good citizen or true patriot can stand; neutrality, or indifference, or anything short of a hearty support of the Government, being a crime where the question is between loyalty and treason. civil rights and privileges, regardless of all conditions birth, race, descent, worldly possessions, or religious faith and whereas the system of American slavery has been and is utterly subversive and destructive of the aforesaid prin ciples, desires, and expectations, and has been the fruitful progenitor of all manner of evils-social, moral, and polit moralization and degradation to the free laborer, and brutalization and arrogance in the slave-driver and the slave-master, and has finally culminated in robbery and murder, rebellion and civil war, and has thus conclusively demonstrated that it cannot be longer tolerated with safe to the Government and peace to the Union, and that ju tice, sound morality, and national unity, each and s demand its entire extinction; and whereas our people d African descent have in the present war been more unani mous in their loyalty to the Government and their devoted ness to the Union than any other class, and have, at the call of Congress and the Executive, sprung to arms to pro tect the one and maintain the other, and have bravely and nobly vindicated their courage and their manhood upon the land and upon the water-on the battle-field and on the gun-deck; and whereas the freedmen in the District of Columbia and elsewhere in the United States have, by their obedience to the laws, their willingness to labor, ther desire for improvement, and their ability to perform milk A division of the question having been called, The first resolution and the first branch of 'the second were agreed to. The second branch of the second resolution, "And that, to prevent the recurrence of such rebellions in future, the causes which led to this one must be perma-tary service, evinced their capabilities as citizens and nently removed," was agreed to-yeas 124, soldiers, and thus practically reversed and annihilated the nays none, as follows: monstrous judicial dictum and heartless party dogma that "they have no rights which white men are bound to re spect:" Therefore, YEAS-Messrs. James C. Allen, Alley, Allison, Ames, The third resolution was agreed to-yeas 109, nays none, as follows: Resolved, That the Congress of the United States should, by positive and effective legislation, and in accordance with the true theory of our republican form of government, guaranty and secure equality of civil rights and privileges to all classes of persons residing within the District of Co lumbia and the Territories, and whatever else the Govern ment of the United States possesses sole and exclusive juris diction, who are required and made liable, under the Co stitution and the laws, to contribute to the support and maintenance of the Government by taxation and military service, and in like manner to protect, secure, and defend all persons in life, liberty, and lawful pursuits, throughout the length and breadth of the Republic. 2. That American slavery, having engendered the rebel lion and sustained and prolonged the war, by which un counted thousands of the best citizens of the Republic have been made to suffer and bleed and die, and being subversive of natural right and justice, contrary to the spirit of our institutions, destructive of the best interests of society, dis graceful to our civi ization, dangerous to the Republic, and accursed of God and all good men, should not be longer tole rated, but should, by force of law in the adhering States and the power of arms in the rebellious States, be forever abok ished and exterminated. 3. That all statutes, legislative acts, and city ordinances, having the force of law, in the District of Columbia and the organized Territories of the United States, whereby persons of African descent residing therein are deprived of their civil rights and restrained of their just privileges, ought in justice to be repealed and declared void. YEAS-Messrs. James C. Allen, Alley, Allison, Ames, An- 1864, March 14-Mr. JOHN H. RICE offered the following resolutions, which were laid over under the rule: Whereas the vital principle of our national life emanated from and survives in the grand and Heaven-inspired declaration "that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" and whereas the Government of the United States was established and the Constitution adopted in the earnest desire and confident expectation that both would speedily and finally operate in harmony with said "declaration," and Propositions for "Peace." First Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. IN HOUSE. (See Appendix.) 1861, July 15-Mr. BENJAMIN WOOD offered this resolution: Resolved, That this Congress recommend the Governors of the several States, to convene their Legislatures for the purpose of calling an election to select two delegates from each Congressional District, to meet in general Convention at Lonisville, in Kentucky, on the first Monday in September next, the purpose of the said Convention to be to devise measures for the restoration of peace to our country. The resolution was laid on the table-yeas 93, Goodwin, Granger, Gurley, Hale, Harrison, Horton, Hutchays 51, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Appleton, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Francis P. Blair, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, Buffinton, Chamberlain, Clark, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Conway, Curtis, Cutler, Davis, Dawes, Delano, Diven, Duell, Dunn, Edgerton, Edwards, Eliot, Ely, Fenton, Fessenden, Franchot, Goh, Goodwin, Granger, Gurley, Hale, Hanchett, Harrison, Hickman, Horton, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, William Kellogg, Lansing, Loomis, Lovejoy, McKean, McKnight, McPherson, Mitchell, Moorhead, Justin S. Morrill, Nixon, Olin, Patton, Pike, Porter, Potter, John II. Rice, Biddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sedgwick, Shanks, Sheffield, Shellabarger, Sherman, Shiel, Sloan, Spaulding, Stevens, Stratton, Benjamin F. Thomas, Trowbridge, Upton, VandeTer, Van Horn, Van Valkenburgh, Van Wyck, Verree, Wall, Wallace, Charles W. Walton, E. P. Walton, Wash burne, Wheeler, Albert S. White, Windom-93. NAYS-Messrs. Allen, Ancona, Joseph Baily, George H. Browne, Burnett, Calvert, Cobb, Cooper, Corning, Cox, CraBens, Crittenden, Delaplaine, Dunlap, English, Fisher, Fouke, Grider, Haight, Harding, Holman, Jackson, Johnson, Law, Lazear, Legan, McClernand, Mallory, Morris, Noble, Noell, Norton, Nugen, Odell, Pendleton, Reid, Richardson, Robinson, James S. Rollins, Smith, John B. Steele, William G. Steele, Vallandigham, Vibbard, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Ward, Calton A. White, Wickliffe, Wood, Woodruff-61. July 29-Mr. Cox asked leave to offer this resolution: ins, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, William Kellogg, Moorhead, Anson P. Morrill, Justin S. Morrill, Olin, Pike, Lansing, Loomis, Lovejoy, McKean, McKnight, McPherson, Pomeroy, Porter, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sedgwick, Shanks, Sheffield, Shellabarger, Sherman, Spaulding, Stevens, Benjamin F. Thomas, Train, Trowbridge, Upton, Vandever, Van Wyck, Wall, Wallace, Charles W. Walton, E. P. Walton, Washburne, Albert S. White, Windom, Worcester, Wright-85. August 5-Mr. CALVERT offered the following resolution: legislation, to strengthen the hands of Government in its That whilst it is the duty of Congress, by appropriate efforts to maintain the Union and enforce the supremacy of the laws, it is no less our duty to examine into the original causes of our dissensions, and to apply such remedies as are best calculated to restore peace and Union to the couDtry: Therefore, it is committee, to consist of nine members of this House and Resolved, (The Senate concurring herein,) That a joint four members of the Senate, be appointed to consider and report to Congress such amendments to the Constitution and laws as may be necessary to restore mutual confidence and insure a more perfect and durable Union amongst these States. Which was laid on the table-yeas 72, nays 39, as follows: YEAS-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Browne, Calvert, Cox, Cravens, Crisfield, Dunlap, English, Whereas it is the part of rational beings to terminate their differences by rational methods, and inasmuch as the differences between the United States authorities and the seceding States have resulted in a civil war, characterized by bitter hostility and extreme atrocity; and although the party in the seceded States are guilty of breaking the national unity and resisting the national authority: Yet, Be it resolved, First. That while we make undiminished and increased exertions by our navy and army to maintain the integrity and stability of this Government, the common laws of war, consisting of those maxims of humanity, moderation, and honor, which are a part of the international code, ought to be observed by both parties, and for a stronger reason than exists between two alien nations, inasmuch as the two parties have a common ancestry, history, prosper ity, glory, Government, and Union, and are now unhappily engaged in lacerating their common country. Second. That, resulting from these premises, while there ought to be left open, as between two alien nations, the same means for preventing the war being carried to outrageous extremities, there ought also to be left open some means for the restoration of peace and union. Third. That to this endthe restoration of peace and union on the basis of the ConAugust 5-Mr. MAY offered the following: stitution-there be appointed a committee of one member Whereas the Government of the United States of Amer from each State, who shall report to this House, at its next ica was created by its written Constitution, and derived session, such amendments to the Constitution of the United its first powers alone from the consent of the people, as States, as shall assuage all grievances, and bring about a contained in that instrument, and it has no other powers, reconstruction of the national unity; and that for the prep- and force and arms can neither preserve nor rightfully be aration of such adjustment and the conference requisite permitted to violate it under any authority whatsoever: for that purpose, there be appointed a commission of seven and whereas Washington and other great sages and pa citizens of the United States, consisting of Edward Everett triots, who founded our General Government, solemnly of Massachusetts, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, Mil- warning their countrymen, predicted its destruction from lard Fillmore of New York, Reverdy Johnson of Maryland, the establishment of a sectional political party; and they Martin Van Buren of New York, Thomas Ewing of Ohio, also entreated a spirit of compromise whenever necessary and James Guthrie of Kentucky, who shall request from to preserve the Union; and whereas a civil war now exists the so-called Confederate States the appointment of a simi- among the States which have been united, and which, hav lar commission, and who shall meet and confer on the sub-ing already prostrated the peace, prosperity, and happiness Ject in the city of Louisville on the first Monday of Sep- of the people, and destroyed many valuable citizens, now tuber next. And that the committee appointed from this threatens their destruction in countless numbers, and by House notify said commissioners of their appointment and its inevitable tendency, if not necessity, the final overthrow function, and report their action to the next session as an of free constitutional government: Therefore, amendment of the Constitution of the United States to be proposed by Congress to the States for their ratification, according to the fifth article of said Constitution. Be it resolved, That the success of the Republican party, founded, as it is, on a sectional, social, and political ques tion, is justly responsible for the origin of our present na tional misfortunes. 2. That the uncompromising spirit hitherto manifested The motion to suspend the rules and allow its introduction was lost-yeas 41, nays 85, as by the representatives of that party has prevented a peace follows: YEAS-Messrs. Allen, Ancona, Joseph Baily, Burnett, Calvert, Chr, Cravens, Crisfield, Crittenden, Dunlap, Grider, Haight, Harding, Holman, Jackson, Johnson, Law, Leary, Logan, Mallory, May, Menzies, Morris, Noble, Norton, Nuen, Pendleton, Perry, Reid, Richardson, Robinson, Smith, William G. Steele, Vallandigham, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Webster, Chilton A. White, Wickliffe, Wood, Woodruff-41. NATS-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Francis P. Blair, Samuel 8. Blair, Blake, Buffinton, Campbell, Chamberlain, Clark, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Conway, Covode, Cutler, Davis, Dawes, Delano, Diven, Duell, Edger ton, Edwards, Eliot, Fessenden, Franchot, Frank, Gooch, ful compromise and adjustment of our unhappy difficulties when the same was practicable. refuge of constitutional government and civil liberty will 3. That if the present war continues, the only safety and be found in the constitutions and sovereignty of the several States, and afterwards, through them, the only hope of a future and more harmonious reconstruction of the Union. of the seceded States, united as they are in such numbers, 4. That it is impossible by arms to subjugate the people so fully prepared and resolved, and actuated by motives which represent the just pride and dignity of quals, of trained freemen, of American citizens; and also believing, as they do to a man, that State, home, wife, children, prop erty, all and every security and benefit of Government is at stake, and that the most cruel and merciless means, forced |