CONTENTS.. THE RELATION OF THE "SECEDED STATES" (SO CALLED) TO SPEECHES. THE RELATION OF THE "SECEDED STATES" (SO CALLED) TO THE UNION, AND THE CONFISCATION OF PROPERTY, AND EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES, IN SUCH STATES, APRIL 10, 1862. The House being in Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, Mr. THOMAS said, Mr. CHAIRMAN, I avail myself of the indulgence of the Committee to make some suggestions upon subjects now attracting the attention of Congress and of the country, -the relations of the "seceded States" (so called) to the Union, the confiscation of property, and the emancipation of slaves, in such States. Sensible how deeply the interests of the country are involved in their right decision, I can only say, I have given to them careful and patient consideration, with an earnest hope and desire to learn what my duty is, and faithfully and firmly to discharge it. The questions are novel as they are momentous. In the discussion of them, little aid can be derived from our own precedents, from the history of other nations, or from writers on constitutional and international law. The solution of the difficult problems of right and duty |