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PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE CITY OF READING-, BERKS COUNTY, PA.---TERMS: $1,50 A YEAR IN ADVANCE.
,T. LAWRENCE GETZ, EDITOR.]
PUBLISHED HURT SATURDAY MORRIAG
y„-rth-Treg corner of Penn and FIYTh Kree, ad
.thing. the Formers' Bank of Beading.
TER3I6 , or SUBSCRIPTION.
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1.00 for pia =oaths, in advance.
rus Four copies for $5, in advance.
Ten copies for .112,
Es 107 papers discontinued at the expiration of the
:./ . 1! pzit for.
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Special Notices, as reading matter, 10 cts. a line for one
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J R- su °Mums-, Notlem, lbsemlntions of Beneficial and
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limlnoute, at the above rates.
MT Advertisements for Religions, Charitable and Ran
coWnal objects, one bait the above rates.
ti' en advertising will be eonaidered payable in cash,
on the fi rst insertion.
timrly advertisers shall have the privilege flf desired)
of renewing their advertisements every three meeks—bat
arr. Atte Additional renewals, or advertising ea
c,tilug the amormt.contracted for. will be charged extra
4
oar-bait the rates above specified for transient adver
-1!...310.1,,
'Vesely advertisers will be charged the same rates as
tramaece advertisers for all matters sot relating strictly
h Nair business.
PRINTING OF EVERT DESCRIPTION
E. , ,cute in s superior manner, at the very forma Priaw.
vat a.go,tment of lon Ties is large awl fashionable, and
..nir Work ' , peaks for itself.
BLANKS OF ALL KINDS,
Including roncarano and PAPER DEEDS, MORTRAOF.S.
lovl, ARTICLE* OF ASEESEIENT, LEARVS, and a variety of
IILANifiL kept constantly for sale, or printed to
RICHMOND L. TONES, •
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
O
FFICE WITH. J. ULANCY JONES, ESQ.,
Pak Penn Square, smith side, Heading.
April IS, 1863-3 mo
JESSE G. HAWLEY,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Ti As REMOVED HIS OFFICE TO NORTH
Sixth Street, Opposite the Reyetesta geese, Reading_
krii 11,
-
NEWTON D. STRONG,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
VFFICE IN COURT STREET, NEAR FIFTH,
14,3.3 111 g, PAL March 14,1863-3rao
=MN lULLSTON,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
OFFICE WITH A. B. WANNER, NORTH
Sixth Street. (above the Court Howe.) Reading, Pa "
February ISd24sr
REMOVAL.
NLLIAM H. LIVINGOOD, ATTORNEY AT
Y LAW, has removed hie office to the Earth side of
Court street drat door below Shah. [dee 22-rf
Charles Davis,
TTORNET AT LAW—HAS REMOVED HIS
°rice to the Office lately occupied by the Hon. David
t Ll . l cordon, deceased, in Sixth street, opposite
shedt
[pil4
Daniel Ermentront,
A TTOR4ET AT LAW—OFFICE IN NORTH
11 Sixth street, corner of Court alley. Lang 13-ly
David Neff,
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN
.8.1 Dementia DRY GOODS, No. 2.5 Lad
bireet, Heading, Pa. March 10,1860.
_
LIVINCOOD'S
United States Bounty, Back Pay and
Pension °rice,
COURT STREET, NEAR SIXTH.
'HAVING BEEN ENGAGED IN COLLECT-
I" leg claims against the Government, I feel confident
tint all who have - heretofore employed me will cheerfully
endorse my promptness and fidelity. My charges are
In,derateand no charge made until obtained_
WILLIAM U. LIVING O OD,
oct I=kq Attorney at Law, Court fit., Mending, Ps.
DISCHARGED SOLDIERS
(lAN NOW OBTAIN THEIR 5100 BOUNTY
-1 from the 11. S. Government, by application to
ABNER. R STAUFFER,
March 7-ttl Collection °Mee. Conti street. Beading.
ASA M. HART,
(Late Hart dc Mayer')
DE:ILEA IN FOREIGN AND AMERICAN
DRY GOODS. CARPETING% &c., Wholesale and Be
ail, at Philadelphia prices. Sewn of the Golden Bee Hive,
Se. 14 Soot Penn Sarum. Dtpril 17-tr
P. Bushong & Sons,
mANUFACTURERB OF BURNING FLUID,
Absolute, Decdorized and DrageSte Alcohol; Also,
PTma On, which they will will at the /owed Wholesale
Tr ice, at Reading, Pa.
Jai- Orden] respeclituty solicited.
DR. T. 'YARDLEY BROWN,
SURGEON DENTIST.
GRADUATE OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dental College. Teeth extracted by Fran:
4 41 14 ,. ► kWh% Magnolia proems, with Clarke's
improvement. With this method teeth are
xtracted with much less pain than the usual way. No
ectra charge. Once In FM street, opposite the Presbyte
clan Church. [april 2-1 y
Dr. G. M. MILLER,
SURGEONDENTIST, FROM THE
College of Manta! &levet, Philadelphia.
( 11114„... Offee• At his residence in Main street,
Hamburg, Pa.
Sir Teeth extracted under the influence of Ether, or
by the Electro-Magnetic Machine, without extra charge.
Scurry cured.
Ha has Also Patent and other IdENCINSs for sale
at his [may 31
CHARLES LANCASTER,
MEDICAL ELECTRICIAN,
poil_rth street* above Penn, Reading,
3....x3r 2t, 1130-11
PENSIONS,
BOUNTIES & BACK PAY.
APPLICATIONS PROMPTLY ATTENDED
to. Terme modaiibs Lad ne isharge milli obtained.
A. 0. ORRRN. Attorney at Lam,
Jan 31-6moj Office in Cotirt ttreet, Reading.
SOLDIERS'
MODN I ZT-DILONXIIY, BACIE•PAX
AND PDDISION CLAZDZEI
PROMPTLY ATTENDED TO BY
A. K. STAIIFFEK.
Attorney at Law, 00lee In Court Street,
Jan 31-U) BEADING, PA-
WATCUES, GOLD AND SILVER,
CLOCKS AND JEWELRY.
t RELIABLE IN QUALITY AND AT LOW
- Prime. WATCIT R.SPAnimen.—Watchea pnt In per-
Tent order end PIM one warranted for one Year-
JACOB WORN,
21 North Viffit Street, Reading, Pa.
Loy 154m0)
F. P. HELLER,
WATCHMAKER, JE WELER.,
AND DEALER IN
WATCHES, CLOCKS, JEWELRY,
S POONS, SPECTACLES, GOLD PENS, Rte.,
Signed the "BIG WATCH: , N 0.533,1 pa Wm,
Street, above Sixth, north side, Reading. ra.
sir Byer) , atficte warranted to be what it is sold for
Watches, Glocits, Jetrelsy, die., repaired with paetieeler
attention, and guaranteed. [kb 1-tf
NOTICE.
A PRENIVEL WII L BE PAID ON
C=OLD, CPT-433 MEXATTER.
-AND
PAR SANS MXCIPT3E/Ei
/FM
EXCHANGE AND BANXING OFF/CH
-OF-
G. W. GOODRICH,
READING, Pa.
Alogasllo, 1061411
BALTIMORE LOCK HOSPITAL
~..rEsTAßl.itzli ED AS A REFUGE FROM QUACKERY
The Only Place Where a Cure Can be
Obtained.
TAR. JOHNSTON HAS DISCOVERED THE
wont Certain, Speedy end only Effectual IternedF in
the VI orld for all Private Diseases, Weakness of the Back
or Limbs, Strictures., Affections of the Kidneys and Blad
der, Involuntary Discharges, Impotency, General Debili
ty. Bercommees, Dyspepsia. Languor, Low Spirits, Confu
alon of lamb, Palpitation ofthe Reart,A imidity, Trembling,
Dimness of Sight or Oiddinees, Diseeee of the Head,
Tbs.:sal, If Sall et. Plain, illselletid of the Liver, Lanes.
Stomach or Bowels---tboan Tentble Diagrams arising from
the Solitary Habits of Youth—those mars and solitary
practices more fatal to their victims than the song of Syrene
to the Mariners of Ulysses, blighting their most brilliant
hopeeor anticipations, rendering marriage, .ha., impossible.
TOXIN%MEW_
Especially. who have become the 'victims of Solitary Vice,
that dreadful and destructive habit which annually sweeps
to an untimely grave thousands of Young bleu of the most
exalted talents and brilliant intellect, who might other
wine have entranced listening Senates, with the thunders
of eloquence or waked to ecstasy the living lyre, may call
With full confidence.
SZAUZZACUL
Married Persons, or Young Men contemplating marriage,
being aware of physical weakneee, organic debility, defor
mities, &c., speedily cured.
He who places himself under the care of Dr. J. may re
ligionely confide in his honor as a gentleman, and confi
dently rely upon his skill as a Physician.
ORGANIC MIAISMISS
Immediately Cured, and Full Vigor igestered.
This Distressing Affection—which renders Life miserable
and marriage impossible—is the penalty paid by the vic
tims of improper indulgences. Tising persons are too apt
to commit excesses from not being aware of the dreadful
consequences that may ensue. Now, who that understands
the sobject will pretend to deny that the power of procrea
tion In tent Miter by those falling into improper habits
than by the prudent I Besides being deprived the pleas
lire of healthy offspring, the most serious Cud destructive
symptoms to both body and mind arise. The system be
comes Deranged, the Physical and Mittel Functions
Weakened, LOIN of Procreative Power, 'Nervous Irritabill
ity, Dyspepsia, Palpitation of the Heart, Indigestion, Con-
etitutional Debility, a Wasting of the Frame, Gough, Con
emotion, Decay end Death,
Office, No. 7 South rrederiok street,
Left band tide going from Baltimore street, a few dome
Dom the corner. Fail not to observe name and number.
Letters must be paid and contain a stamp. The Doctor's
Diplnman bang in bin Mlle.-
A OUpE WiIItUANTED ZN
TWO DAYS.
No Mercury or Nauseous Drugs.
DR. 301111TSTON.
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, Gradu
ate from one of the moot eminent Colleges in the United
States, and the greater part of whom life ban been spent in
the hospital. of London, Paris, Philadelphia and elm
Where, hub effected soma of the most sekoniabing cures that
were ever known; many troubled with ringing io the bead
and ears when asleep, great nervonsnees, being alarmed at
sudden sounds, bashfulness, with frequent blushing, at
tended sometimes with derangement of mind, were cured
immediately.
TAME PARTICITLAR, NOTICE.
Dr..l. addressee alt those who Dave injured tbeineolvas
by improper indulgence and solitary habits. which rain
both body and mind,. unfitting them for either business,
study, society or marriage.
Tazot are some of the bad and melancholy effects produc
ed by early habits of youth, vizi Weakness of the Back and
Limbs, Fetus in the Head, Dimness of Sight, Lose of Mus
cular Power,
Palpitation of the Rout, Dyepopey, Nervous
Irritability, Derangement of t h e Digestive Functions, Gen
eral Debility, Symptoms of Consumption, arc.
lIIIMTALLY.—The fearful effects on the mind are much to
be dreaded—Loss of Memory, Confusion of Ideas, Depres
sion of Spinet, Evil Forebodings, Aversion to Society, Self-
Distrust, Love of Solitude, Timidity, Am, are some of the
Oylls produced.
Tuollsaune of Persons of all ages can now judge what in
the canes of their declining health, losing their vigor, be
coming weak, pale, nervous and emaciated, having a sin
gular appearance about the eyes, cough and symptoms of
consumption.
Who have injured themselves by a certain practice indul
ged in when alone, a habit frequently learned from evil
companions, or at school, the effects of which are nightly
felt, even when asleep, and if not cured renders marriage
impossible, and destroys both mind and body, should ap
ply immediately.
What a pity that a young man, the hope of his country,
the darling of hie parents, should be snatched front all
pruvpecte and enjoyments of life, by the consequence of
deviating from the path of nature and indulging in a cer
tain secret habit. Such persons MOOT, before contemplat
ing
DIABALEI.GE.
reflect that a sound mind and body are the most necessary
requisites to }demote seam:lllLO happineati. Indeed, 'with
out there the journey through lite becomes a Weary pit
ifrimage ; the, prospect hourly devious to the view: the
mind become , . shadowed with despair and tilled with the
Melancholy reflection that the happiness of another be
comes blighted with our own.
DISEASE OP IMPRUDENCE.
When the misguided and imprudent votary of pleasure
Ands that lie has imbibed the credo of this paiofol
it too often happens that an ill-timed 00000 of shame, or
dread of discovery, deters him from applying to those who,
from education and respectability, can alone befriend bite,
delaying till the constitutional symptoms of this horrid dis
ease make their appearance, such so ulcerated sore threat,
diseased nose, nocturnal pains in the head and limbo, dim
ess of elsht, doafriesa, tan on tan shinbones and arms,
blotchee on the head, face and extremities, programing
with frightful rapidity, till at last the palate of the month
or the bones of the nose fall In, and the victim of this aw
ful disease becomes a horrid object of commiseration, till
death puts a period to his dreadful sufferings, by aending
him to'• that Undiscovered Country from whence no tray
alter returns."
It is a melancholy fact that thousands fall - victims to
this terrible disease, owing to the email - tininess of ignor
ant pretenders, who, by the use of that Deadly Poison,
Mercury, coin the constitution and make the residue of
life miserable.
STRANGERS
Trust not your lives, or health, to the care of many Un
learned and worthless Pretenders, destitute of knowledge,
name or character, who copy Dr. Johuston'e advertise•
merits, or style themselvm, in the neaapapers, regularly
Educated Physicians, incapable of Curing, they keep you
trifling month after month caking heir filthy and poison
ous Compounds, or as long as the smallest fee can be ob
tained, and in despair, leave you with ruined health to
sigh over your own galling disappointment.
Dr, Juhativa to She only Physician advertising.
His credentials or diplomas always nog in Ile oleo.
His remedies or treatment are unknown to all others,
prepared from a life spent in the great hospital. of Europe,
the first in the country and a more extensive Private Prac
tice than any other Physician in the world. •
ZNIKIRS33BEENT OF
PILTIBEG
[march 12
The manyilioniornds nored at Me leetttntien year after
year, and the numerous important Surgical Operations
performed by Dr. Johnston, witnessed by the reporters of
the "Sun," " Clipper," and many other papers, notices of
which have appeared again and again before the public,
besides hie standing as a gentleman of character and re.
aponnibility, in a catliciegt guarantee to the aidieted.
Skin Diseases Speedily Cured.
letters received unless post-110d and containing
a stamp to he need on the reply. Persons writing ebould
state age, and send portion of advertleement describing
symptoms.
iTOELN IVL, 30ZENSTON0 M. D.,
Or the hammers Lock Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.
may 10-Iy]
FRENCH'S HOTEL,
ON TUB EUROPEAN PLAN.
CITY OF NEW YORK.
Single Rooms Fifty Cents per Day.
City Hall Square, corner Frankfort St.,
(OPPOSITE CITY HALL.)
- ATEALS AS THEY MAY BE ORDERED IN
In the epacione refectory. There le a Barber's Shop and
Bath Booms attached to the Hotel.
Afa- Beware of HURSIBBS and HAHICHRN who say we
are fall.
Jan 17 Iy3 R. FRENCH, Proprietor.
NATIONAL HOTEL,
(LATE WHITE SWAN.)
Race Street, above Third, Philadelphia.
Fl l lllB ESTABLISHMENT OFFERS GREAT
inducements, uot 0017 on ecconnt of reduced rated of
board, hut flout its central location to the avenues Of trade,
to. well ea the conveniences afforded by the several
Pamsenger Railways mauling past and contienone to tt, by
which_
- guests can rase to and from the Hotel, should they
be preferred to the regalia °meninx connected with the
Henze. lam determined to devote my whole attention to
the comfort and convenience of my guests.
rarga, 25 per day.
C. EMMET, Proprietor,
Formerly from Eagle Hotel, Lehenoo, Pa.
T. V. RAO iDI3, Clerk. (march 15-tf
LAUER'S BREWERY
READING, PA.
MAE SUBSCRIBER respectfully announces to
the public that he has recently enlarged his BREW&
RI to a zonsideralde extent, and introdueed stearu.power,
and is now ready to supply all 11emuotim for
SITPRRIOR MALT LIQUORS,
for borne and distant consumption. 11 is stock of Malt
Liquor., wrarraute.J asil clisratss, is as &nos's:—
BflowN srour, PORTER, 110TTL11.20 ALE, DRAUGHT
ALE AND LAGER 13E'Elt.
junel9-tf FREDERICK LAUER.
N. B.—Aliberal per centage will be allowed to Agents
abroad.
FRESH GROCERIES
-AT
REDUCED PRICES.
AT TUB
Corner of Fifth and !Spruce Streets
Marsh' 14 ENVFIR & pp.
CONSCRIPT ACT-
SPEECH OF
HON. S. E. A_NCONA,
OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
FEBRUARY 28th, 1863,
On the Bill for Enrolling and Calling Out the .11Tational Forces, and
MR. ANCONA: Mr. Speaker, in passing my judgment upon the
various measures before this Congress, I have thus far generally re
frained from comment upon their character, policy, and effects, confining
myself to the simple record of my vote; and choosing rather by that
silent yet important record to express my assent to or disapproval and
condemnation of the many questions involving the policy of the Ad
ministration in the conduct of the war now desolating and distracting
our Heaven-favored land, tending to destroy our national unity, the
foundation and bond of our country's power and.prosperity among the
nations, and threatening seriously the destruction of our liberties and
inestimable privileges as free American citizens udder the Constitution
and the law.
In the consideration of the bill (S. No. 511) entitled as An act for
enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,"
now before the House for its deliberation and concurrence, I propose
to avail myself of my rights as the Representative, in part, of the
patriotic and conservative people of a great State, to discuss its pro
visions and to record my solemn protest, in the name and behalf of my
constituents, against its passage in the form it is presented.
The preamble or introduction to the bill reads as follows :
" Whereas there now exist in the United States an insurrection and
rebellion against the authority thereof, and it is, under the Constitution
of the United States, the duty of the Government to suppress insur
rection and rebellion, to guaranty to each State a republican form of
government, and to preserve the public tranquillity; and whereas for
these high purposes a military force is indispensable, to raise and sup
port which all persons ought willingly to contribute; and whereas no
service can be more praiseworthy and honorable than that which is
rendered for the maintenance of the Constitution and Union, and the
consequent preservation of free Government: Therefore," &e.
In view of the policy upon which this war is now conducted, as an,
nounced in the proclamations of the President, itttted in obedience to
and at the behest of the revolutionary element of the Republican party,
controlling its organization and directing its action in Congress, repre
sented in the press, forum, and pulpit by such men as Greeley, Phillips,
and Beecher, I assert that this preamble is a false pretense, and an
attempted imposition upon the people. I deny that it is the purpose of
the party in power to either maintain the Constitution or restore the
Union. By their acts, not professions, let them be judged.
When the people of the North were aroused to a full sense of the
indignity and humiliation the national honor had sustained in the as
sault upon and reduction of Fortt. Sumter, there was but one sentiment
among the people, without regard to party, as to their duty to sustain
the Executive in upholding and maintaining the Federal authority
throughout the country. In response to the President's proclamation
and call for seventy-five thousand men to assert that authority, to repos
sess the forts and other public property taken by the insurgents, there
was an uprising and rush to arms on the part of the masses without
parallel in the previous history of the country or world. It was enough
for them to know that that starry flag, emblem of union and liberty,
representing a great nation, respected upon every sea, protecting the
humblest of her citizens in every land, and carried triumphant and in
honor through every contest in which the country united had engaged,
had been stricken down and trailed iu the dust by the fratricidal hands
of its sworn supporters. They hesitated not, though the call came
from a President who had not been their choice. There was no longer
any controversy as to the causes of the impending war; no question as
to responsibility for this dread arbitrament of the sword, which four
fifths of all the people had desired to avert and firmly believed might
have been averted by honorable and just conciliation and compromise,
such as had been presented and was embodied in the Crittenden propo
sition., All differences of opinion were east aside. The maintenance
and preservation of the Federal Union—the Constitution, the bond of
the Union—in the language of that stern and honest statesman and
patriot, Andrew Jackson, "the Union must be preserved," was the
universal sentiment of the people. For this purpose, and this only,
they offered freely and voluntarily their lives, their - .fortunes, and all
that was most dear, abandoning the comforts of happy homes and occu
pations, making every sacrifice that a. free, brave, and noble race could
offer to support the best of human Governments, secured to and be
queathed them by their patriot sires in the toil, privations, and blood
of a seven years' revolution. To preserve this unimpaired for them
selves and posterity was, as they implicitly believed and trusted, the
sole object to be attained in the demand made upon them by the
Executive.
With this call for troops came that for the assembling of the repre
sentatives of the people and States in Congress, that convened in spe
cial session nearly three months after, to consider and act upon such
measures as they might deem necessary to the public safety. Every
proposition having in view the suppression of the insurrection and res
toration of the Federal authority under the Constitutiort, by force of
arms, met with an almost unanimous support at that session. The Ex
ecutive asked for four hundred thousand men and 5400,000,000
Congress grantet him five hundred thousand men and $500,000,000.
The extraordinary powers and means exercised and used by the Presi
dent without authority of law, before the assembling of Congress, were
intended to be confirmed as set forth in a preamble and joint resolution
proposed in the Senate from its Military Committee ? to wit:
" Whereas, since the adjournment of Congress on the 4th day of
March last, a formidable insurrection in certain States of this Union
has arrayed itself in armed hostility to the Government of the United
States, constitutionally administered; and whereas the President of the
United States did, under the extraordinary exigencies thus presented,
exercise certain powers and adopt certain measures for the preservation
of this Government, that is to say: First. He did, on the 15th day of
April last, issue his proclamation calling upon the several States for
seventy-five thousand men to suppress such insurrectionary combina
tions and to cause the laws to be faithfully executed. Secondly. He
did, on the 19th day of April last, issue a proclamation setting on foot
a blockade of the ports within the States of South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Thirdly_ lie
did, on the 27th day of April ast, issue a proclamation establishing a
blockade of the ports within the States of Virginia and North Carolina.
Fourthly. lie did, by order of the 27th day of April last, addressed to
the Commanding General of the Army of the United States, authorize
that officer to suspend the writ of habeas corpus at any point on or in
the vicinity of any military line between the city of Philadelphia and
the city of Washington. Fifthly. He did, on the 3d day of May last,
issue a proclamation calling into the service of the United States forty
two thousand and thirty-four volunteers, increasing the regular Am-my
by the addition of twenty-two thousand seven hundred and fourteen
men, and the Navy by an addition of eighteen thousand seamen.
Sixthly. He did, on the 10th day of May last, issue a proclamation
authorizing the commander of the forces of the United states on the
coast of Florida to suspend the writ of haw:o corpus if necessary. All
of which proclamations and orders have been submitted to this Con
gress: Now, therefore,
"Be i.t resolved by the ,Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That all of the ex
traordinary acts, proclamations, and orders bcreinbdore mentioned, be,
and the same are hereby, approved and declared to'be in all respects
legal and valid, to the same' ntent, and with the same effect, as if they
had been issued and done under the precious express authority and
direction of the Congress of the United States."
These met with a rinosi approval in the confirmation and legalization
of all those acts substantially, in bills subsequently introduced and
passed with but little dissent or condemnation as measures deemed ne
cessary by the exigencies of the occasion, though often extravagant and
pressed with undue haste ill becoming the deliberation and dignity of
an American Congress. The Administration thus having been clothed
with all constitutional, as well as, in the opinion of conservative and
true men of the minority, many doubtful prerogatives, untrammeled
and almost unlimited as to means, the people, united in the Northern
States, looked with confidence to a vigorous, faithful, and successful use of
those means to the end that the rebellion might be speedily overthrown,
the Constitution as the foundation and basis of the Union preserved
intact, and the .seceding States thus brought back within its folds as
equal and honored members of one great nation.
SATURDAY MORNING, APRIL 25, 1863.
for other Purposes.
The sequel is before us. The very first engagement with the insur
gents, within hearing of this Capitol, prematurely brought on against
the better judgment of the military chieftain of the nation, by the
clamor of fanatics, enthusiasts, and maddened partisans, brought de
feat, humiliation, and disgrace. The very capital itself was in danger
of falling, and, as a consequent and incalculable calamity, the subver
sion and overthrow of the Federal Government seemed imminent.
With renewed vigor and patriotism, notwithstanding the discourage
ment and depression of defeat, the people responded to the urgent de
mands of the Administration for volunteers. Pennsylvania, lam proud
to say, air, appreciating the magnitude of the war and the probable
demands upon her sons, was, as she had been before, first to come to
the rescue and protection of the capital—then, with a noble corps, the
Ringgold light artillery, from my own city, in the van, organized,
drilled, and disciplined, ready to march at an hour's notice upon the
first sound of the tocsin of war, by an intelligent and intrepid officer,
who foresaw and appreciated the danger of coming storm; now,
her gallant reserves, ten thousand men, the flower of her youth ani
manhood, well organized, disciplined, and armed, ready to do battle for
the Union, were there within a week.
I may not pass them by here without paying a humble tribute to
their efficiency, bravery, and sacrifices in the many terrible conflicts
they have participated in, from the first engagement oti the Potomac at
Drainesville, through the seven days before Richmond, Antietam, and
that most disastroias and fruitless destruction of human life at Freder
icksburg. A remnant of twenty-five hundred out of ten or fifteen
thousand is all that is left in their decimated ranks—a sad spectacle of
the waste and horrors of war! Their _roll of mourned and honored
dead—numbering amone. t' them the names of Black, Simmons, Biddle,
Jackson, Bayard 7 and ahost of others less conspicuous, but none the
less honored—attests their efficiency and gallantry. Their reputation
and memories will ever remain dear to fame, and be cherished in the
hearts of their countrymen.
The order, system, and discipline,
with esprit du corps, established
in the Army by the genius of McClellan, for a season gave hope. his
vigorous and successful campaign in Western Virginia promised like
results on a larger scale on the Potomac. And but for the vacillating
policy of the Administration, the disorganization and breaking up of
the grand army of the Potomac into independent corps or military de
partments by the civil heads, prompted and encouraged by the malig
nant partisan spirit of the majority in Congress, aiding in its consum
mation by its committees on the conduct of the war, and the bloodhounds
of the partisan press and pulpit of New York and New England, it is
my solemn conviction that victory would have crowned our arms every
where, that the capital of the confederacy would have fallen, and its
junta of conspirators against our common country and most benign and
perfect Government been dispersed.
But, sir, it is useless to dwell upol the past folly, blunders, corrup
tions, and maladministration of the GVvernment, with the war perverted
now to an utterly impracticable and hopeless purpose—the emancipa
tion of that inferior race, the negro, destined by nature and its irre
versible laws to be subservient to its superior, the white. No presiden
tial edict can accomplish it, and no legislation can, if it were so designed,
elevate the poor and degraded African to an equality in social and po
litical privileges. The ignoring of State rights and lines under this
bill is clearly unconstitutional. Its scope and many of its provisions
tend directly and openly to that end.
I recognize, apart from the objectionable features which are presented
in many of its details, but one of that line of measures which seem to
be required for the successful carrying out of the general policy of this
Administration, and especially to establish that monstrous novelty in
American constitutional life, and dangerous assumption, the "war
power," the bloody goddess of despotism, at whose shrine you see
kneeling the horde of greedy contractors, with all the paraphernalia
and circumstance of reality. The Constitution is no longer the highest
authority; there is a "higher law" sprung upon the wondering people
in that new-fledged "war power," and the " Union," the old Union,
is regarded as a thing of the past, fit only to be sneered at.
"1 will not stultify myself by supposing that we have any warrant
in the Constitution for this proceeding. This talk of restoring the
Union as it was, under the Constitution as it is, is one of the absurdi
ties which I have heardmrepeated until I have become about sick of it."
"This Union never shall, with my consent, be restored under the
Constitution as it is, with slavery to be protected by it."
Such were the words in which the policy of the Administration was
boldly announced on this floor, by the recognized leader of that party,
[MR. STEVENS,] cud they at once affirm the truth of the charges
brought against the party in power, and disclose the secret motive for
their many acts leading inevitably to that end.
What is there so objectionable in the old "Union, that makes its resto
ration so distasteful to that party? Why do we justly abhor secession,
if we do not want the Union as it was? Why, then, do our fellows
citizens, our sons and brothers in the Army sacrifice life, and health,
and limbs for this same old Union, if we would not have it? Sir, the
utterance of such sentiments and purposes are at this time and in this
place abhorrent to me as the very essence of disunion.
The invasion of the dearest rights of the citizen, by arbitrary arrests
and close confinement in military prisons, without charge of offense,
without warrant of law, and without speedy trial in public, confronted
with accusers, before a jury of his peers; the proposed action of this
body to indemnify the authors of these outrages and usurpations, en
couraging and, so far as an unconstitutional enactment can, authorizing -
a continuation of them by the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus,
have my most unqualified condemnation and determined opposition.
The infamous impositions practiced upon my constituents by the cor
rupt officials of the party in power in the enrollment of the people and
conduct of the late draft' of the militia in my State, under the net of
Congress of July last; the speculations of and advantage taken by a
swarm of cormorants of the necessities and circumstances of many to
extort by collusion and favoritism enormous and most unjust fees, was
the order for weeks. Even unworthy members of that honorable pro
fession, ad - Vedatee of the law, were found engaged in these unprincipled
and truly "disloyal practices," until the dread of swift-coming and
justly deserved retribution of an outraged people caused them to relent
and ultimately abandon their nefarious swindling operations. Are we,
air, to have a repetition of these scandalous abuses under and by the
sanction of the Representatives of the people here, in the passage of
this bill in the form it passed the Senate without division or dissenting
vote, as is claimed by its friends ? Upon that pretext it was proposed
by the gentleman having it in charge, the chairman of the Committee
on, Military Affairs, to press it to a vote without a reference for con
sideration to that or to any other committee, without discussion, and
without the privilege to amend.
But, sir, to the credit of the faithful few in the minority, they boldly
and sucee,ssfidly resisted, with the rights and privileges wisely secured
by the rules and parliamentary law to them in all legislative bodies, the
perpetration of such a wrong; obtaining first the unconditional privi
lege of free discussion, and the right of amendment restricted to one
short hour, without discussion or explanation. This was conceded,,sir„
not by me, as the Representative of a stern, honest, conservative, and
liberty-loving people, who have reposed, and renewed with unmistakable
evidences of approval and confidence in a majority of the popular vote
increased by thousands, this sacred trust of guarding their interests,
rights, and liberties under the Constitution of their fathers with a jeal
ous eye and eternal, unyielding vigilance. No; with the concurrence
of these around me—Democrats, fresh from the people, sustained, in
dorsed, and approved as faithful Representatives in the late elections—
I shall make no concessions, no compromises, enter into or agree to no
arrangement by which this bill, with all its odious features, sall have
the chance to become a law. I will resist to the last hour of this Con
gress, now, thank God, approaching the limit fixed by the Constitution
for its duration, and the termination of its many ignominious acts, eon
ferling despotic power upon a faithless, corrupt, and imbecile Admin
istration,
that has proved false to its solemn oaths, registered in heaven,
repeated pledges, and sacred duty; an Administration at once unequal
to the emergencies and demands of the times, unable to appreciate their
magnitude, and incapable of grasping and successfully wielding the
immense powers and resources of a great nation, freely, lavishly placed
at its disposal, almost without the restrictions and safeguards of prudent
legislation. Yes, I hail with joy and congratulate the country upon
this early and final dissolution of a Congress that has been altogether
subservient to Executive dictation, and blindly controlled by unlimited
patronage and en intense partisan osgsaieation, foe the enactment of
this and numerous other schemes in violation of the Constitution, rea
son, sound policy, and every principle of enlightened statesmanship and
patriotism, destructive as they must inevitably be of public liberty,
rendering almost hopeless the restoration of the Union as it was, of
many sovereign and independent States, with a common history, one
purpose, inseparable interests, and a glorious destiny in the future
under one national flag.
I see nothing but ail aggravated, hopeless, and interminable revolu
tionary struggle so long us this policy obtains and holds its unchecked
[VOL. XXIV.-NO. 1.-WHOLE NO. 1965.
away, or that anarchy which will bring all its horrors, desolation, and
blood to our own doors, in the revolntion that its continuance and an
attempt to enforce this conscription will almost certainly produce. I
would gladly endure all inconvenience of a protracted and continuous
session day and night to the 4th of March, to avert this threatening
calamity. ..I would counsel the majority to abandon this bill, or so
modify it as to make the requisitions for additional troops through those
channels that are contemplated and required by the Constitution and
all laws; drafted, if need be, and organized from the enrolled militia
of the• States, under their own Constitutions and regulated by their
own laws; officered by men of their own choice, commissioned by and
under the direction of their only legitimate heads, the Governors, and
for periods of service not exceeding that already extended from three
to nine months.
How can you expect the farmer, the s mechanie, and the poor laboring
man, with a family dependent upon the production of his firm, wrought
out by the sweat of his brow under the genial showers and smiling
suns of a beneficent Providence, or on the skill of the other and the
toil of the latter, who will be subject to the harsh provisions of this
relentless conscription, known only to and enforced under some of the
despotic monarchical Governments of the Old World, to be dragged
from their homes, their helpless families, by military satraps, for an
indefinite service, in a cause and for a purpose they believe utterly
wrong, useless, and impracticable? You propose an exemption upon
the payment of $3OO. I shall make an effort to amend tile section
containing this provision, reducing it to a sum within the reach of the
poor man—the man with limited resources and large demands upon his
purse and hands by a numerous family or other necessitous and peculiar
circumstances.
But, sir, I believe it to be the settled purpose of the majority to se
cure the passage of this bill beyond the peradventure of loss between
the two Houses through material modification and amendment here and
non-concurrence by the Senate. In this they will doubtless succeed,
for r perceive now with sorrow and indignation, as I have often la
mented before when these obnoxious and pernicious measures were
pressed through this House, a want of determined, united, and persist
ent action in support of the few in earnest opposition tb this bill, and
who have borne the brunt of calumny both in and out of this House,
with their motives and purposes slandered and maligned, their actions
and words misrepresented,. suppressed, or grossly perverted by venal
officials through a corrupt partisan press. I would, then, appeal for a
speedy return to that original and only sound policy of a war for the
restoration of the Union under.and by the Constitution. I appeal, sir,
in the name of my own immediate constituents, in the name and with
the voice of the Democracy and other Union-loving men every
where, aid in behalf of the thousands of brave men, nameless. in rank,
but, sir, of proud and honorable position, the rank and file of our Army,
who have passed through a dozen fierce battles for the Constitution and
the Union, as they fondly believed, now despondent and dispirited by
the protracted struggle, the inevitable reverses that were consequent
to a departure from that original and only practicable object, and inter
ference with and final removal of the General from command whose
genius, sterling patrictism, and love of country were only, equated by
his noble forbearance and silence under all provocation, and who this
day continues to have the unbounded confidence of the Army and the
country, notwithstanding the cowardly assaults in secret, and imputa
tions unfounded and unsustained by facts made by partisan malice and
envy here or elsewhere.
I demand and make it a condition of my further support of this
Administration with the means to prosecute this war, that all these
violations of the fundamental laws shall cease; . that the rights and
safety of the citizen guarantied by that most sacred provision, the writ
of habeas corpus, shall be respected; that the shameless villains, trai
tors of the deepest dye, who have in high places, in the confidence and
under the protection of the Executive, plundered the public Treasury
of millions, for which my people and yours are to be heavily and in
terminably taxed, shall be turned out, arrested, brought to trial, judg
ment, and condemnation before the civil tribunals of the country; that
the emancipation policy announced in the bulls of September 22 and
January 1 shall be revoked and annulled, condemned as it stands in a
verdict of the people in the late elections not to be misunderstood,
announced in terms not to be lightly disregarded or unheeded save with
great peril. I demand, further, that the horde of incompetent political
generals, favored parasites of the Administration, drawing their pay,
lounging about the hotels, thronging the theaters and houses of pros
titution and vice of this city, accursed with their presence, or insulting
their superiors and masters the people by assuming to dictate to them
a discharge of their civil duties in accordance with their interests and
notions, shall be peremptorily dismissed the service they disgrace. * And
finally, I demand, in the name of the American people, and in behalf
of the thousands of faithful, true, and gallant officers, and the brave
and patiently suffering rank and file of the army of the Potomac, that
General George B. MCClellan be restored to supreme and ug i krammeled
command of the entire Army of the United States, as thTir and my
only hope of victory and ultimate peace through ne g otiation, concilia
tion, and compromise, not with the leaders of the rebellion nor their
present deluded followers, but with the conservative people, who
will, when properly encouraged by a magnanimous, Christian spirit and
policy in the prosecution of -the war to its only legitimate end, the res
toration of the Union, be ready, to meet us in that spirit in a National
Convention, after a suspension of or termination of hostilities, for the
adjustment of all subjects in controversy, and the securing of a perma
nent, honorable, and enduring peace under one and the same Constitu
tion, the old flag, and Union.
THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR.
Since the rebellion began nothing has seen the light which is so calculated
to give aid and comfort to the enemy and to dishearten the people of the loyal
States as the disgraceful report on "The Conduct of the War" issued by the
joint committee of Congress. Oh, that mine enemy would write a book 1"
is a'proverb of a very Ohl data and Jeff. Davis may valiantt that his ensmy
has not only written and printed a report, but that he is about to reproduce it
in pamphlet form, as if it were not sufficiently humiliating to the nation that
it should appear in the newspapers. The committee have been two, years at
work, and what they have produced at last recalls the fable of the mountain in
labor, which brought forth a ridiculous mouse.
The main design of the report is evidently to damage General McClellan ;
and so one-sided a document never before emanated from a Congressional
committee. It is more like the speech of a public prosecutor against a pris—
oner than the charge of an iinpartial judge, exhibiting the evidenie on both
Aides without fear, favor or affection, lint in their anxiety to injure him they
have effectually damaged themselves, and brought reproach upon all in.milita
ry authority, from the President down to the Brigadier General... For who is
responsible for the conduct of the wars' Not the subordinate generals,..but
the authorities at. Washington who appoint them.. The flippancy withwhich
a committee of civilians give expression to military opinions, and speculate
upon what would or might have been had General MCClellan done this or
omitted to do that, is quite in keeping with their profound ignoranoe.of the
subject on which they treat. •• Fools rush in where angels fear. to tread."
They are all like a set of schoolboys playing soldiers when the school master
is out. The most burly of them, Ben. Wade, shouts that they are all wrong,
and strikes right and left, after the fashion of a bull in a china shop.- He hits
the tall boys like Lincoln under the fifth rib, and the short. boye like McClellan
on the bridge of the nose. The military criticisms of Wade &Co. are about as
valuable as the prattle of children. But, while their opinions are not worth
a rush, the facts which they bring to light present a melancholy 'picture of
the folly and incapacity' which have marked - the conduct of the warmi the
Cabinet and in the camp, They represent Abe Lincoln, an 'lllinois 'lawyer,
playing the part of Napoleon the Great dictating to his marshals. This would
be extremely farcical were not the consequences Involved of the most tragic
nature. The report throughout is a satire on the President. In one portion
of it, indeed, a most serious charge is made, namely,*to the effect that Mr.
Lincoln and the two great men who sit by his side, Ilalleok and Stanton, let
out the secret of Burnside's plan of campaign, so that it reached the enemy
and compelled the abandonment of the plan.
The report is as remarkable for what it omits as what it contains. , One of
the most brilliant and successful battles of the war, that of Hanover Court
House, Iron by McClellan's right wing under Fitz John Porter--a !Victory
&cm which the capture of Richmond would have followed but for the action of
the authorities at the national capital--ii completely ignored. No mention is
made of the failure at that critical moment of McDowell to advance from Fred—
ericksburg to co-operate with McClellan, though his advance guard had heard
the sound of the cannon—a failure caused by the positive orders of the War
Department forbidding McDowell to move. McClellan - did his part well. The
authorities at Weehlogton spoiled all. The omission of all thin in a specimen
of the character of the report for fairness and impartiality.
As to generalship, the report - goes to prove that the safely of Washington
when it was not even endangered was sacrificed to everything else ;- that we
have not a man from Abe Lincoln down who is fit to lead 60,000 Men ; and
that in the principal battles in which we had an army of upwards of 100,000
men In the field not more than a portion of them, hardly 20,000, could to
brought into action. Thus our generals have always had more troops than
they knew what to do with. The decisive battles won by the masters of.,the
art of war, such as Napoleon and Frederic, were the result of a akin... which
brought to bear their whole force against the enemy. Most of the battles
fought in this war have been mere scenes of slaughter without Await: The
chief cause of failure lies in an ignorant interference se - Washington with the
generals in the field. The only man who appeared' to wideretagd,l* bushman
in theory and to have made proficiency in the practicey, the mih sit was
General McClellan, and he was dismissed just when 199fttg:ind Capabili—
ties were being. developed by experience. It yi tAnshe ri‘a Liq tepltg mitt 8.10