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every Democratic press and public speaker ever since. It is dead. From the first it was against the Constitution and laws, and without validity; and all proceedings under it were and are utterly null and void and of no effect.

The indignant voice of condemnation long since went forth from the vast majority of the people and presses of America and from all free countries in Europe with entire unanimity. And more recently, too, the "platform" of an earnest, numerous, and most formidable Convention of the sincere Republicans, and still further, the emphatic letter of acceptance by the candidate of that Convention, Gen. John C. Fremont, the first candidate also of the Republican party for the Presidency eight years ago, upon the rallying cry of "Free speech and a free Press," give renenewed hope that at last the reign of arbitrary power is about to be brought to an end in the United States. It is neither just nor fit, therefore, that the wrongs inuicted under "Order 38," and the other edicts and acts of such power, should be any longer endured-certainly not by me alone.

But every ordinary means of redress has first been exhausted; yet either by the direct agency of the Administration and its subordinates, or through its influence or intimidation, or because of want of jurisdiction in the civil courts which no American in former times conceived to be possible here, all have failed. Counsel applied in my behalf to an unjust judge for the writ of habeas corpus. It was denied; and now the privilege of that writ is suspended by act of Congress and Executive order in every State. The Democratic Convention of Ohio, one year ago, by a resolution formally presented through a committee of your best and ablest men in person, at Washington, demanded of the President, in behalf of a very large minority of the people, a revocation of the edict of banishment.

Pretending that the public safety then required it, he refused; saying, at the same time, that "it would afford him pleasure to comply as soon as he could by any means be made to believe that the public safety would not suffer by it." One year has elapsed, yet this hollow pretence is still tacitly asserted, and to-day I am here to prove it unfounded in fact. I appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States; and because Congress had never conferred jurisdiction in behalf of a citizen tried by a tribunal unknown for such purpose, to the laws, and expressly forbidden by the Constitution, it was powerless to redress the wrong. The time has, therefore, arrived, when it becomes me as a citizen of Ohio and of the United States, to demand, and, by my own act, to vindicate the rights, liberties, and privileges which I never forfeited, but of which, for so many months, I have been deprived.

Wherefore, men of Ohio, I am again in your midst to-day. I owe duties to the State, and am here to discharge them. I have rights as a citizen, and am here to assert them; a wife, and child, and home, and would enjoy all the pleasures which are implied in those cheerful words. But I am here for peace, not disturbance; for quiet not convulsion; for order and law, not anarchy. Let no man of the Democratic party begin any act of violence or disorder; but let none shrink from any responsibility, however urgent, if forced upon him. Careful of the rights of others, let him see to it that he fully and fearlessly exacts his own. Subject to rightful authority in all things, let him submit to excess or usurpation in nothing. Obedient to the Constition and law, let him demand and have the full measure of protection which law and Constitution secure to him.

Men of Ohio: You have already vindicated your right to hear; it is now my duty to assert my right to speak. Wherefore, as to the sole offence for which I was arrested, imprisoned, and banished-free speech in criticism and condemnation of the Administration-an Administration fitly described in a recent public paper by one of its early supporters, "marked at home by disregard of constitutional rights, by its violation of personal liberty and the liberty of the press, and, as its crowning shame, by its abandonment of the right of asylum, a right especially dear to all free nations abroad," I repeat it here to-day, and will again and yet again so long as I live, or the Constitution and our present form of Gov

ernment shall survive.

The words then spoken and the appeal at that time made, and now enforced by one year more of taxation and debt, and of blood and disaster, entreating the people to change the public servants and their policy, not by force, but peaceably, through the ballot, I now and here reiterate in their utmost extent, and with all their significancy I repeat them, one and all, in no spirit of challenge or bravado, but as earnest, sober, solemn truth and warning to the people.

Upon another subject allow me here a word:

A powerful, widely-spread and very dangerous secret, oathbound combination among the friends of the Administration, known as the "Loyal Union League," exists in every State, yet the very men who control it charge persistently upon the members of the Democratic party, that they have organized especially in the North West-the "Order of Knights of the Golden Circle," or some other secret society,

treasonable or "disloyal" in its character, affiliated with the South, and for the purpose of armed resistance to the Federal and State Governments. Whether any such ever existed I do not know; but the charge that organisations of that sort, or having any such purpose, do now exist among mem bers of that party in Ohio or other non-slaveholding States, is totally and positively false.

That lawful political or party associations have been es tablished, having, as their object, the organizing and strengthening of the Democratic party, and its success in the coming Presidential election, and designed as a counter> movement to the so-called "Union Leagues," and, therefore, secret in their proceedings, is very probable, and however objectionable hitherto, and in ordinary times, I recognize to the fullest extent, not the lawfulness only, but the propriety and necessity of such organizations for when bad men combine good men must associate." But they are no conspiracy against the Government, and their members are not conspirators, but patriots; men not leagued toge ther for the overthrow of the Constitution or the laws, and still less, of liberty, but firmly united for the preservation and support of these great objects.

There is, indeed, a conspiracy" very powerful, very sacient, and I trust that before long I may add, strongly consolidated also, upon sound principles, and destined yet to be triumphant-a conspiracy known as the Democratie party, the present object of which is the overthrow of the Administration in November next, not by force but through the ballot-box, the election of a President who shall be tre to his oath, to Liberty and the Constitution. This is the sole conspiracy of which I know anything: and I am proud to be one of the conspirators. If any other exist, looking to unlawful armed resistance to the Federal State authorities anywhere, in the exercise of their legal and constitutional rights, I admonish all persons concerned, that the act is treason, and the penalty death.

But I warn also the men in power that there is a vast maltitude, a host whom they cannot number, bound together by the strongest and holiest ties, to defend, by whatever means the exigencies of the times shall demand, their natural and constitutional rights as freemen, at all hazards and to the last extremity.

Three years have now passed, men of Ohio, and the great issue-constitutional liberty and free popular governmentis still before you. To you I again commit it, confident that in this, the time of their greatest peril, you will be found worthy of the ancestors who for so many ages, in England and America, on the field, in prison, and upon the scaffold, defended them against tyrants and usurpers, whether in

councils or in arms.

June 17-He is reported to have thus spoken in response to a serenade, in Dayton :

MY FRIENDS: I greet you to-night as you greet me, and I can truly say, that from this demonstration it is evident you are determined to support those principles which I have advocated and have suffered for. To me, this demonstra tion was unexpected, and I appear only to make my renewed acknowledgment to you for this continued expression of kindly feeling.

He would make no threats, but he did not come from a foreign country without a deliberate calculation of the cause and the consequences, and a deliberate preparation to meet them. He could be taken by any due civil process, by any crippled constable, but without that no force could do it. Three hundred men, armed to the teeth, would not again find him in his house after the door had been buttoned down, but they would find him the next day and not far of, [immense cheers,] and if any military commander of the President were to undertake such an arrest he warned them that in this town the persons and property of those instigating such a proceeding would be held as hostage. He should urge an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, so help him ever living Jehovah.

He appeared, not to speak upon questions of politics, he said, nor to add to what he had said the day before.

He had come, he said, for the purpose of living at home with the wife of his bosom and his child, to live in his own home from which he had been torn thirteen months before, and to receive in quiet the calls of his friends. He did not expect to be again molested unless by men in this city, and the former scenes revived. "If this be done," he said, “ I warn them that the result will be such as compared to it, the other was but dust in the scale."

He then reviewed his personal and political history, defying any person to show wherein he had merited the treatment he had received. He again repeated that he desired no disturbance, and believed there would be none. He did not believe there would be any attempt to arrest him again, but should there be, he repeated his warning, not, as he said, in a spirit of bravado, but to let his friends know that he and his friends were prepared for any emergency. This he several times repeated.

when he would make his purpose known.

He then announced his intention of keeping his mouth | are now, or hereafter during the rebellion shall closed until after the Democratic Convention at Chicago, be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, military prison, or other place of confinement, by court-martial or military commission. any military authority, or by the sentence of any

CINCINNATI, June 17. A despatch from Dayton to the Commercial says: "There is but little doubt that Vallandigham's arrival was unexpected to his friends. His house was open yesterday and a Large number of his friends called on him."

Vallandigham's Return.

A Washington dispatch to the New York Herald says: "A key to the policy of the President to be pursued to ward Vallandigham has been recently given in a meeting between the Kentucky delegation in Congress and Mr. Lincoln relative to the case of Colonel Wolford. This officer, it will be remembered, was arrested by General Burbridge and sent to Washington, where he has since remained, reporting daily to the War Department. In answer to the request that the order of General Burbridge be rescinded, the President replied that he should not depart from the policy before pursued concerning Vallandigham. Mr. Mallory remarked that the Vallandigham order was inoperative, that individual having returned to Ohio. Mr. Lincoln replied, in substance, that he had no official knowledge of Vallandigham's return, and that when Mr. Vallandigham made his presence known by objectionable acts, the Executive would be prepared to act. The application in favor of

Colonel Wolford was not granted."

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this twentyfourth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

1863.

GENERAL SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT. Whereas the Constitution of the United States has ordained that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety

SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF HA- may require it; and whereas, a rebellion was

BEAS CORPUS.

1861.

April 27-The PRESIDENT issued to Lieut. General Scott this order:

You are engaged in suppressing an insurrection against the laws of the United States. If at any point on or in the vicinity of any military line which is now or which shall be used between the city of Philadelphia and the city of Washington, you find resistance which renders it necessary to suspend the writ of habeas corpus for the public safety, you personally, or through the officer in command, at the point at which resistance occurs, are authorized to suspend

that writ.

By the President:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

existing on the 3d day of March, 1863, which rebellion is still existing: and whereas by a statute which was approved on that day it was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, that during the present insurrection the President of the United States, whenever in his judgment the public safety may require, is authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in any case throughout the United States, or any part thereof; and whereas in the judgment of the President the public safety does require that the privilege of the said

July 2-This order was extended to the mili-writ shall now be suspended throughout the tary line between New York and Washington.

May 10-The PRESIDENT issued a proclamation authorizing the commander of the forces of the United States on the Florida coast, "if he shall find it necessary, to suspend there the writ of habeas corpus, and to remove from the vicinity of the United States fortresses all dangerous or suspected persons."

1862.

WASHINGTON, September 24. Whereas, it has become necessary to call into service, not only volunteers, but also portions of the militia of the State by draft, in order to suppress the insurrection existing in the United States, and disloyal persons are not adequately restrained by the ordinary processes of law from hindering this measure, and from giving aid and comfort in various ways to the insurrection: Now, therefore, be it ordered:

First. That during the existing insurrection, and as a necessary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettors, within the United States, and all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting military drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid and comfort to the rebels against the authority of the United States, shall be subject to martial law, and liable to trial and punishment by courts-martial or military commission.

Second. That the writ of habeas corpus is suspended in respect to all persons arrested, or who 12

ity of the President of the United States, miliUnited States in the cases where, by the authortary, naval, and civil officers of the United States, or any of them, hold persons under their com mand or in their custody either as prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy or officers, soldiers, or seamen enrolled or drafted or mustered or enlisted in or belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States, or as deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable to the military law or the Rules and Articles of War, or the rules or regulations prescribed for the military or naval services by authority of the President of the United States, or for resisting a draft, or for any other offence against the military or naval service:

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Presi dent of the United States, do hereby proclaim? and make known to all whom it may concern, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended throughout the United States in the several cases before mentioned, and that this suspension will continue throughout the dura tion of the said rebellion, or until this procla mation shall, by a subsequent one to be issued by the President of the United States, be modi fied or revoked. And I do hereby require all magistrates, attorneys, and other civil officers within the United States, and all officers and United States, to take distinct notice of this others in the military and naval services of the suspension, and to give it full effect, and all

citizens of the United States to conduct and | Kentucky have joined the forces of the insurgovern themselves accordingly and in conform-gents, and such insurgents have on several ocity with the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Congress in such case made and provided.

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casions entered the said State of Kentucky in large force, and, not without aid and comfort furnished by disaffected and disloyal citizens of the United States residing therein, have not only greatly disturbed the public peace, but have overborne the civil authorities and made flagrant civil war, destroying property and life in various parts of that State;

And whereas it has been made known to the President of the United States by the officers commanding the national armies that combinations have been formed in the said State of Kentucky with a purpose of inciting rebel forces to renew the said operations of civil war within the said State, and thereby to embarass the United States armies now operating in the said States of Virginia and Georgia, and even to endanger their safety:

laws, do hereby declare that, in my judgment, the public safety especially requires that the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, so proclaimed in the said proclamation of the 15th of September, 1863, be made effec

Whereas, by a proclamation which was issued on the 15th day of April, 1861, the President of the United States announced and declared that the laws of the United States had been for some time past, and then were, op- Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Presiposed and the execution thereof obstructed, in dent of the United States, by virtue of the aucertain States therein mentioned, by combina-thority vested in me by the Constitution and tions too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law; and whereas, immediately after the issuing of the said proclamation, the land and naval forces of the United States were put into activity to sup-tual and be duly enforced in and throughout press the said insurrection and rebellion; and whereas the Congress of the United States, by an act approved on the 3d day of March, 1863, did enact that during the said rebellion the President of the United States, whenever in his judgment the public safety may require it, is authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in any case throughout the United States, or in any part thereof; and whereas the said insurrection and rebellion still continue, endangering the existence of the Constitution and Government of the United States; and whereas the military forces of the United States are now actively engaged in suppressing the said insurrection and rebellion in various parts of the States where the said rebellion has been successful in obstructing the laws and public authorities, especially in the States of Virginia and Georgia;

the said State of Kentucky, and that martial law be for the present established therein. I do, therefore, hereby require of the military officers in the said State that the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus be effectually suspended within the said State, according to the aforesaid proclamation, and that martial law be established therein, to take effect from the date of this proclamation, the said suspension and establishment of martial law to continue until this proclamation shall be revoked or modified, but not beyond the period when the said rebellion shall have been suppressed or come to an end. And I do hereby require and command, as well all military officers as all civil officers and authorities existing or found within the said State of Kentucky, to take notice of this proclamation and to give full effect to the

same.

ing of lawful elections, or with the proceedings of the constitutional Legislature of Kentucky, or with the administration of justice in the courts of law existing therein between citizens of the United States in suits or proceedings which do not affect the military operations or the constituted authorities of the Government of the United States.

And whereas, on the fifteenth day of SepThe martial law herein proclaimed, and the tember last, the President of the United States things in that respect herein ordered, will not duly issued his proclamation, wherein he de-be deemed or taken to interfere with the holdclared that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus should be suspended throughout the United States in cases where, by the authority of the President of the United States, military, naval, and civil officers of the United States, or any of them, hold persons under their com. mand or in their custody, either as prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy, or officers, soldiers, or seamen enrolled or drafted or mustered or enlisted in or belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States or as deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable to military law or the rules and articles of war, or the rules or regulations prescribed for the military or naval service by authority of the President of the United States, or for resisting a draft, or for any other offence against the military or naval service;

And whereas many citizens of the State of

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 5th day of July, in the year of our Lord, 1864, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
The Military Governors, appointed by tho

President, were clothed with like power. This | court in Baltimore, and selected and summoned by a maris the letter of appointment:

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., May 19, 1862. SIR: You are hereby appointed military governor of the State of North Carolina, with authority to exercise and perform within the limits of that State all and singular the powers, duties, and functions pertaining to the office of military governor, (including the power to establish all necesgary offices and tribunals, and suspend the writ of habeas corpus,) during the pleasure of the President, or until the loyal inhabitants of that State shall organize a civil government in conformity with the Constitution of the United States. EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

NOTE -Major General MCCLELLAN authorized General BANKS to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, if necessary in carrying out the instructions of the former for the arrest of certain members of the Maryland Legislature in October, 1861. (See "Military Orders respecting Elections.")

ACTION OF CONGRESS.
First Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress.
IN SENATE.

1861, July 29-Mr. TRUMBULL, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported back the memorial of Charles Howard and others, Police Commissioners of Baltimore, arrested and confined as prisoners in Fort McHenry, and asked to be discharged from the subject, the Committee being of opinion that no legislation by Congress is practicable with reference to the matter set forth in the memorial.*

Mr. BAYARD proposed to amend the report by substituting:

Resolved, That the members of the police board of the city of Baltimore ought to be either surrendered to the civil authorities on some charge sufficient in law for their arrest and detention, or be discharged from confinement at Fort McHenry, and suffered to resume their official functions.

Resolved, That the control of the municipal police of Bal

timore ought to be restored to those civil officers to whom,

by the laws of Maryland, it is intrusted.

Resolved, That George P. Kane, marshal of police in the city of Baltimore, ought either to be delivered up to the civil authorities on some charge sufficient in law to hold him in custody, or be discharged from confinement in Fort McHenry.

The subject was postponed.

Aug. 6-Mr. POWELL proposed in the Senate a resolution similar to Mr. May's in the House, but the motion to take it up was lost-yeas 7, nays 33. The seven were Messrs. Breckinridge, Bright, Johnson of Missouri, Latham, Polk, Powell, Saulsbury.

IN HOUSE.

shal appointed by the present Executive of the United States, having jurisdiction in the premises, and having fully investigated all cases of alleged violation of law, has finally adjourned its session without finding any presentment or indictment or other proceeding against thom, or either of them, and the President of the United States, being requested by a resolution of the House of Representatives to communicate the grounds, reasons and evidence for their arrest and imprisonment, has declined so to do, because he is advised that it is incompatible with the public interests: and whereas, since these proceedings, the said citizens, with others, have been, by force and against their wills, transferred by the authority of the Government of the United States beyond the State of Maryland and the jurisdiction of that court which it is their constitutional right to claim, and are to be subjected to an indefinite, a hopeless, and cruel imprisonment in some fort or military place, unfit for the confinement of the citizen, at a remote distance from their families and friends, and this without any accusation, investigation, or trial whatever: and whereas the constitutional privilege of the writ of habeas corpus has been treated with contempt, and a military officer (the predecessor of General Banks) has taken upon himself the responsibility of wilful disobedience to the writ, and the privilege of the same now continues suspended, thereby subordinating the civil to the military power, thus violating and overthrowing the Constitution of the United States, and setting up in its stead a military despotism: and whereas the Congress of the United States regards the acts aforesaid as clear and palpable vio lations of the Constitution of the United states, and destructive to the liberties of a free people: Therefore, Resolved, That the arrest and imprisonment of Charles Howard, William H. Gatchell, and John W. Davis, and others, without warrant and process of law, is flagrantly lay, be released, or their case remitted to the proper judicial unconstitutional and illegal; and they should, without de tribunals, to be lawfully heard and determined.

Ruled out of order under the rule regulating the business of the session.

Second Session. Thirty-Seventh Congress.
IN SENATE.

1861, Dec. 16-Mг. TRUMBULL offered the following resolution :

form the Senate whether, in the loyal States of the Union, any person or persons have been arrested and imprisoned, and are now held in confinement by orders from him or his Department; and if so, under what law said arrests have been made, and said persons imprisoned.

Resolved, That the Secretary of Stato be directed to in

Which was referred to the Judiciary Committee-yeas 25, nays 17, as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Harris, Howe, Johnson of Tennessee, King, Lane of Indiana, Morrill, Pomeroy, Rice, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Wade, Wilson-25.

NAYS-Messrs. Bayard, Bright, Carlile, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Kennedy, Latham, McDougall, Nesmith, Pearce, Powell, Saulsbury, Thomson, Trumbull, Wilkinson, Willey-17.

1861, December 23-Mr. KING offered this 1861, July 31—Mr. MAY offered this resolu- resolution, which was referred to the Commit

tion:

tee on the Judiciary:

order since the breaking out of the present insurrection, sons who have been arrested by executive authority or and who are now detained in custody, so that a judicial examination may be had in each case to ascertain who, if any of them, may be allowed to take the oath of allegiance detained for a further examination or be prosecuted for to the United States, and be discharged, and who shall be treason or other crime; and to communicate the names of all persons that have been so arrested, and the date of arrest, to the Senate.

Whereas the Constitution of the United States declares Resolved, That the President be requested to cause prothat no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, sup-ceedings to be instituted in the courts of law against perported by oath or affirmation; that no citizen shall be deprived of his liberty without due process of law; and that the accused shall enjoy the right of a speedy trial by a jury of the district where the offence was committed: and whereas Charles Howard, William H. Gatchell, and John W. Davis, citizens of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, were, on the 1st day of July, 1861, scized without warrant, and without any process of law whatever, by a body of soldiers from the Army of the United States, by order of Major General Banks, alleged to have been made in pursuance of orders issued from the headquarters of the Army at Washington, and were removed by force and against their will from their homes to Fort Mellenry, where they have ever since been, and now are, confined as prisoners; and whereas the said military officer, without warrant or authority of law, superceded and suspended the official functions of the said Charles Howard and others, members of the board of police of Baltimore: and whereas, since their said arrest, a grand jury attending the United States district

For further facts, see "The Conspiracy in Maryland."

CASE OF GENERAL CHARLES P. STONE.

1862, April 11-Mr. McDOUGALL offered this resolution:

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be requested to inform the Senate at once on the following points, namely: 1. Whether or not Brigadier General Charles P. Stone has been arrested by any person in authority in the War Department or in the Army of the United States; and if he has been so arrested, from whom the order for General Stone's

touching the arrest of persons in Kentucky since the 1st of September, 1861, and their imprisonment beyond the limits of that State.

Which was adopted-yeas 30, nays 7, as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Harlan, Harris, Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilmət, Wilson of Massachusetts, Wright-30.

NAYS-Messrs. Davis, McDougall, Nesmith, Powell, Saulsbury, Willey, Wilson of Missouri-7.

IN HOUSE.

arrest originally proceeded-whether the Secretary himself or the general then commanding the army of the Potomac. 2. Also, whether at the time of such arrest General Stone was not subject to the Articles of War, and entitled to the benefit of them; and if he was so subject and entitled, whether or not he was arrested for a violation of any and which of those articles; and on whose complaint General Stone was arrested, and by whom, if by any persons, charges have been preferred against him; and that the Secretary of War be requested to communicate to the Senate the specifications under such charges as fully as his present information will enable him to state them. 3. Also, whether any, and if any, what, steps have been taken toward the preparation of such charges and specifications; and if any such steps have been so taken, whether or not the prosecution of the matter has been intrusted to the judge advocate general of the Army, or of the army of the Potomac, or to some other, and what other, special judge advocate; 1861, December 10-Mr. BINGHAM, from the and if not to either of said judges advocate general, why Judiciary Committee, asked to be discharged the case of General Stone did not take the customary course when a general officer is arrested, and whether or not either from the further consideration of the memorial of the judges advocate above specially named has been, and of Messrs. Howard, Gatchell, and Davis, Police when first, consulted in this matter. 4. Also, whether or Commissioners of Baltimore. not General Stone has at any time, and when, and how often, in person or by counsel, applied for an immediate trial; and whether he has not represented to the Secretary of War the injustice which he supposed would result to him from deferring his trial by reason of the death of important witnesses in any manner connected with the administration of his late command upon the Potomac; and what answer, if any, has been made to such representation by or on behalf of General Stone. 5. Also, whether or not the substance of said charges, more or less, has been in any, and what way, and upon whose application, communicated to General Stone; and if not, why not; and if not, whether or not General Stone has applied directly or indirectly for such charges. 6. Also, whether any, and what, privileges have inured to General Stone under the Articles of War Nos. 74, 79, 80, and 82, and Nos. 221 and 223 of the Revised Reg ulations of the Army, and what degree of confinement was originally ordered in reference to General Stone, and whether any and what change has been made, and when, from its original severity. 7. Also, if General Stone was not arrested for some alleged violation of the Articles of War, upon what pretence is he kept in close custody.

April 22-On motion of Mr. WILSON, the resolution was amended so as to read thus, and passed:

That the President of the United States be requested to communicate to the Senate any information touching the arrest and imprisonment of Brigadier General Stone, not deemed incompatible with the public interest.

May 2-The PRESIDENT transmitted this message in reply:

EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, May 1, 1862.

To the SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:

Mr. PENDLETON moved to recommit the report, with these instructions:

Resolved, That the Congress alone has the power, under the Constitution of the United States, to suspend the privi lege of the writ of habeas corpus; that the exercise of that power by any other department of the Government is a usurpation, and therefore dangerous to the liberties of the people; that it is the duty of the President to deliver Charles Howard, William H. Gatchell, and John W. Davis to the custody of the marshal of the proper district, if they are charged with any offence against the laws of the United States, to the end that they may be indicted, and "enjoy the right of a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime" is alleged to have been committed.

Mr. BINGHAM moved to lay the whole subject on the table, which was agreed to-yeas 108, nays 26, as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Babbitt, Goldsmith F. Baily, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Francis P. Blair, Jacob B. Blair, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, Buffinton, Burnham, Calvert, Campbell, Chamberlin, Clark, Cobb, Colfax, Frede rick A. Conkling, Roscoe Conkling, Cravens, Davis, Dawes, Delano, Diven, Duell, Dunlap, Dunn, Edgerton, Edwards, Eliot, English, Fenton, Fessenden, Franchot, Frank, Goodwin, Granger, Grider, Haight, Hale, Hanchett, Harrison, Holman, Hooper, Horton, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, William Kellogg, Killinger, Lansing, Law, Loomis, Lovejoy, McPherson, Mallory, Maynard, Menzies, Moorhead, Anson P. Morrill, Justin S. Morrill, Nixon, Noell, Olin, Patton, T. G. Phelps, Pike, Pomeroy, Porter, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedgwick, Shanks, Sheffield, Shellabarger, Sherman, Sloan, Smith, Stevens, Stratton, Benjamin F. Thomas, Francis Thomas, Train, Trimble, Trowbridge, Upton, Van Horn, Van Wyck, Verree, Wall, Wallace, Charles W. Walton, E. P. Walton, Wash burne, Wheeler, Albert S. White, Wilson, Woodruff, Wor

NAYS-Messrs. Allen, Ancona, Joseph Baily, Biddle, George H. Browne, William G. Brown, Cooper, Fouke, Harding, Johnson, Lazear, May, Morris, Noble, Norton, Pendleton, Perry, Robinson, Shiel, John B. Steele, William G. Steele, Vallandigham, Wadsworth, Ward, Chilton A. White, Wickliffe-26.

In answer to the resolution of the Senate in relation to Brigadier General Stone, I have the honor to state that he was arrested and imprisoned under my general authority, and upon evidence which, whether he be guilty or inno-cester, Wright-108. cent, required, as appears to me, such proceedings to be had against him for the public safety. I deem it incompatible with the public interest, as also, perhaps, unjust to General Stone, to make a more particular statement of the evidence. He has not been tried because, in the state of military operations at the time of his arrest and since, the officers to constitute a court-martial and for witnesses could not be withdrawn from duty without serious injury to the service. He will be allowed a trial without any unnecessary delay; the charges and specifications will be furnished him in due season, and every facility for his defence will be afforded him by the War Department.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

1862, May 14-Mr. POWELL offered the following:

Resolved, That the Secretary of State be directed to inform the Senate, how many citizens of Kentucky have been arrested and confined outside the limits of the State by his order since 1st September last, and state the names of such citizens, places where imprisoned, and how long confined, and also the number and names of persons released and where imprisoned.

Mr. SUMNER offered the following as a sub

Third Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress.
IN SENATE.

1862, December 2-Mr. PoWELL, offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the President be requested to inform the Senate the number and the names of citizens of Kentucky who have been, and who are now confined in the military prisons and camps of the United States, outside the limita of said State; what are the charges against them, by whom made, and by whose order the arrests were made.

December 5-Mr. CLARK offered an amendment: to insert the words "if not incompatible with the public service;" which was agreed to, and the resolution as amended was adopted. December 16-Mr. SAULSBURY offered the folResolved, That the President of the United States be re-lowing resolution: quested to communicate to the Senate, if not incompatible

stitute:

with the public interests, any information in his possession Resolved, That the Secretary of War be and is hereby di

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