The Great Conspiracy, Volume 6.
by
John Alexander Logan

Part 2 out of 2



lost our Constitutional Form of Government over the Northern. * * * The
very idea upon which this War is founded, coercion of States, leads to
despotism. * * * I now believe that there are but two alternatives, and
they are either an acknowledgment of the Independence of the South as an
independent Nation, or their complete subjugation and extermination as a
People; and of these alternatives I prefer the former."

As Long took his seat, amid the congratulations of his Democratic
friends, Garfield arose, and, to compliments upon the former's peculiar
candor and honesty, added denunciation for his Treason. After drawing
an effective parallel between Lord Fairfax and Robert E. Lee, both of
whom had cast their lots unwillingly with the enemies of this Land, when
the Wars of the Revolution and of the Rebellion respectively opened,
Garfield proceeded:

"But now, when hundreds of thousands of brave souls have gone up to God
under the shadow of the Flag, and when thousands more, maimed and
shattered in the Contest, are sadly awaiting the deliverance of death;
now, when three years of terrific warfare have raged over us, when our
Armies have pushed the Rebellion back over mountains and rivers and
crowded it back into narrow limits, until a wall of fire girds it; now,
when the uplifted hand of a majestic People is about to let fall the
lightning of its conquering power upon the Rebellion; now, in the quiet
of this Hall, hatched in the lowest depths of a similar dark Treason,
there rises a Benedict Arnold and proposes to surrender us all up, body
and spirit, the Nation and the Flag, its genius and its honor, now and
forever, to the accursed Traitors to our Country. And that proposition
comes--God forgive and pity my beloved State!--it comes from a citizen
of the honored and loyal Commonwealth of Ohio! I implore you, brethren
in this House, not to believe that many such births ever gave pangs to
my mother-State such as she suffered when that Traitor was born!"

As he uttered these sturdy words, the House and galleries were agitated
with that peculiar rustling movement and low murmuring sound known as a
"sensation," while the Republican side with difficulty restrained the
applause they felt like giving, until he sadly proceeded:

"I beg you not to believe that on the soil of that State another such
growth has ever deformed the face of Nature and darkened the light of
God's day."

The hush that followed was broken by the suggestive whisper:
"Vallandigham!"

"But, ah," continued the Speaker--as his voice grew sadder still--"I am
reminded that there are other such. My zeal and love for Ohio have
carried me too far. I retract. I remember that only a few days since,
a political Convention met at the Capital of my State, and almost
decided, to select from just such material, a representative for the
Democratic Party in the coming contest; and today, what claims to be a
majority of the Democracy of that State say that they have been cheated
or they would have made that choice!"

[This refers to Horatio Seymour, the Democratic Governor of New
York.]

After referring to the "insidious work" of the "Knights of the Golden
Circle" in seeking "to corrupt the Army and destroy its efficiency;" the
"riots and murders which," said he, "their agents are committing
throughout the Loyal North, under the lead and guidance of the Party
whose Representatives sit yonder across the aisle;" he continued: "and
now, just as the time is coming on when we are to select a President for
the next four years, one rises among them and fires the Beacon, throws
up the blue-light--which will be seen, and rejoiced over, at the Rebel
Capital in Richmond--as the signal that the Traitors in our camp are
organized and ready for their hellish work! I believe the utterance of
to-day is the uplifted banner of revolt. I ask you to mark the signal
that blazes here, and see if there will not soon appear the answering
signals of Traitors all over the Land. * * * If these men do mean to
light the torch of War in all our homes; if they have resolved to begin
the fearful work which will redden our streets, and this Capitol, with
blood, the American People should know it at once, and prepare to meet
it."

At the close of Mr. Garfield's patriotic and eloquent remarks, Mr. Long
again got the floor, declared that what he had said, he believed to be
right, and he would "stand by it," though he had to "stand solitary and
alone," and "even if it were necessary to brave bayonets, and prisons,
and all the tyranny which may be imposed by the whole power and force of
the Administration."

Said he: "I have deliberately uttered my sentiments in that speech, and
I will not retract one syllable of it." And, to "rub it in" a little
stronger, he exclaimed, as he took his seat, just before adjournment:
"Give me Liberty, even if confined to an Island of Greece, or a Canton
of Switzerland, rather than an Empire and a Despotism as we have here
to-day!"

This treasonable speech naturally created much excitement throughout the
Country.

On the following day (Saturday, April 9, 1864), immediately after
prayer, the reading of the Journal being dispensed with, the Speaker of
the House (Colfax) came down from the Speaker's Chair, and, from the
floor, offered a Preamble and Resolution, which ended thus:

"Resolved, That Alexander Long, a Representative from the second
district of Ohio, having, on the 8th day of April, 1864, declared
himself in favor of recognizing the Independence and Nationality of the
so-called Confederacy now in arms against the Union, and thereby 'given
aid, Countenance and encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility
to the United States,' is hereby expelled."

The debate which ensued consumed nearly a week, and every member of
prominence, on both the Republican and Democratic sides, took part in
it--the Democrats almost invariably being careful to protest their own
loyalty, and yet attempting to justify the braver and more candid
utterances of the accused member.

Mr. Cox led off, April 9th, in the defense, by counterattack. He quoted
remarks made to the House (March 18, 1864) by Mr. Julian, of Indiana, to
the effect that "Our Country, united and Free, must be saved, at
whatever hazard or cost; and nothing, not even the Constitution, must be
allowed to hold back the uplifted arm of the Government in blasting the
power of the Rebels forever;"--and upon this, adopting the language of
another--[Judge Thomas, of Massachusetts.]--Mr. Cox declared that "to
make this a War, with the sword in one hand to defend the Constitution,
and a hammer in the other to break it to pieces, is no less treasonable
than Secession itself; and that, outside the pale of the Constitution,
the whole struggle is revolutionary."

He thought, for such words as he had just quoted, Julian ought to have
been expelled, if those of Long justified expulsion!

Finally, being pressed by Julian to define his own position, as between
the Life of the Nation, and the Infraction of the United States
Constitution, Mr. Cox said: "I will say this, that UNDER NO
CIRCUMSTANCES CONCEIVABLE BY THE HUMAN MIND WOULD I EVER VIOLATE THAT
CONSTITUTION FOR ANY PURPOSE!"

This sentiment was loudly applauded, and received with cries of "THAT IS
IT!" "THAT'S IT!" by the Democratic side of the House, apparently in
utter contempt for the express and emphatic declaration of Jefferson
that: "A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the
highest duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws
of Necessity, of Self-preservation, of SAVING OUR COUNTRY WHEN IN
DANGER, are of higher obligation. To LOSE OUR COUNTRY by a scrupulous
adherence to written law WOULD BE TO LOSE THE LAW ITSELF, with Life,
Liberty, Property, and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus
absolutely SACRIFICING THE END TO THE MEANS."

[In a letter to J. B. Colvin, Sept. 20, 1810, quoted at the time
for their information, and which may be found at page 542 of vol.
v., of Jefferson's Works.]

Indeed these extreme sticklers for the letter of the Constitution, who
would have sacrificed Country, kindred, friends, honesty, truth, and all
ambitions on Earth and hopes for Heaven, rather than violate it--for
that is what Mr. Cox's announcement and the Democratic endorsement of it
meant, if they meant anything--were of the same stripe as those
querulous Ancients, for the benefit of whom the Apostle wrote: "For THE
LETTER KILLETH, but the Spirit giveth life."

And now, inspired apparently by the reckless utterances
of Long, if not by the more cautious diatribe of Cox, Harris of
Maryland, determining if possible to outdo them all, not only declared
that he was willing to go with his friend Long wherever the House chose
to send him, but added: "I am a peace man, a radical peace man; and I am
for Peace by the recognition of the South, for the recognition of the
Southern Confederacy; and I am for acquiescence in the doctrine of
Secession." And, said he, in the midst of the laughter which followed
the sensation his treasonable words occasioned, "Laugh as you may, you
have got to come to it!" And then, with that singular obfuscation of
ideas engendered, in the heads of their followers, by the astute Rebel-
sympathizing leaders, he went on:

"I am for Peace, and I am for Union too. I am as good a Union man as
any of you. [Laughter.] I am a better Union man than any of you!
[Great Laughter.] * * * I look upon War as Disunion."

After declaring that, if the principle of the expulsion Resolution was
to be carried out, his "friend," Mr. Long, "would be a martyr in a
glorious cause"--he proceeded to announce his own candidacy for
expulsion, in the following terms:

"Mr. Speaker, in the early part of this Secession movement, there was a
Resolution offered, pledging men and money to carry on the War. My
principles were then, and are now, against the War. I stood, solitary
and alone, in voting against that Resolution, and whenever a similar
proposition is brought here it will meet with my opposition. Not one
dollar, nor one man, I swear, by the Eternal, will I vote for this
infernal, this stupendous folly, more stupendous than ever disgraced any
civilized People on the face of God's Earth. If that be Treason, make
the most of it!

"The South asked you to let them go in peace. But no, you said you
would bring them into subjugation. That is not done yet, and God
Almighty grant that it never may be. I hope that you will never
subjugate the South. If she is to be ever again in the Union, I hope it
will be with her own consent; and I hope that that consent will be
obtained by some other mode than by the sword. 'If this be Treason,
make the most of it!'"

An extraordinary scene at once occurred--Mr. Tracy desiring "to know
whether, in these Halls, the gentleman from Maryland invoked Almighty
God that the American Arms should not prevail?" "Whether such language
is not Treason?" and "whether it is in order to talk Treason in this
Hall?"--his patriotic queries being almost drowned in the incessant
cries of "Order!" "Order!" and great disorder, and confusion, on the
Democratic side of the House.

Finally the treasonable language was taken down by the Clerk, and, while
a Resolution for the expulsion of Mr. Harris was being written out, Mr.
Fernando Wood--coming, as he said, from a bed of "severe sickness,"
quoted the language used by Mr. Long, to wit:

"I now believe there are but two alternatives, and they are either the
acknowledgment of the Independence of the South as an independent
Nation, or their complete subjugation and extermination as a People; and
of these alternatives I prefer the former"--and declared that "if he is
to be expelled for the utterance of that sentiment, you may include me
in it, because I concur fully in that sentiment."

[He afterwards (April 11,) said he did not agree with Mr. Long's
opinions.]

Every effort was unavailingly made by the Democrats, under the lead of
Messrs. Cox--[In 1886 American Minister at Constantinople.]--and
Pendleton,--[In 1886 American Minister at Berlin.]--to prevent action
upon the new Resolution of expulsion, which was in these words:

"Whereas, Hon. Benjamin G. Harris, a member of the House of
Representatives of the United States from the State of Maryland, has on
this day used the following language, to wit: 'The South asked you to
let them go in peace. But no; you said you would bring them into
subjection. That is not done yet, and God Almighty grant that it never
may be. I hope that you will never subjugate the South.' And whereas,
such language is treasonable, and is a gross disrespect of this House:
Therefore, "Be it Resolved, That the said Benjamin G. Harris be expelled
from this House."

Upon reaching a vote, however, the Resolution was lost, there being only
81 yeas, to 58 (Democratic) nays--two-thirds not having voted
affirmatively. Subsequently, despite Democratic efforts to obstruct, a
Resolution, declaring Harris to be "an unworthy Member" of the House,
and "severely" censuring him, was adopted.

The debate upon the Long-expulsion Resolution now proceeded, and its
mover, in view of the hopelessness of securing a two-thirds affirmative
vote, having accepted an amendment comprising other two Resolutions and
a Preamble, the question upon adopting these was submitted on the 14th
of April. They were in the words following:

"Whereas, ALEXANDER LONG, a Representative from the second district of
Ohio, by his open declarations in the National Capitol, and publications
in the City of New York, has shown himself to be in favor of a
recognition of the so-called Confederacy now trying to establish itself
upon the ruins of our Country, thereby giving aid and comfort to the
Enemy in that destructive purpose--aid to avowed Traitors, in creating
an illegal Government within our borders, comfort to them by assurances
of their success and affirmations of the justice of their Cause; and
whereas, such conduct is at the same time evidence of disloyalty, and
inconsistent with his oath of office, and his duty as a Member of this
Body: Therefore,

"Resolved, That the said Alexander Long, a Representative from the
second district of Ohio, be, and he is hereby declared to be an unworthy
Member of the House of Representatives.

"Resolved, That the Speaker shall read these Resolutions to the said
Alexander Long during the session of the House."

The first of these Resolutions was adopted, by 80 yeas to 69 nays; the
second was tabled, by 71 yeas to 69 nays; and the Preamble was agreed
to, by 78 yeas to 63 nays.

And, among the 63 Democrats, who were not only unwilling to declare
Alexander Long "an unworthy Member," or to have the Speaker read such a
declaration to him in a session of the House, but also refused by their
votes even to intimate that his conduct evidenced disloyalty, or gave
aid and comfort to the Enemy, were the names of such democrats as Cox,
Eldridge, Holman, Kernan, Morrisson, Pendleton, Samuel J. Randall,
Voorhees, and Fernando Wood.

Hence Mr. Long not only escaped expulsion for his treasonable
utterances, but did not even receive the "severe censure" which, in
addition to being declared (like himself) "an unworthy Member," had been
voted to Mr. Harris for recklessly rushing into the breach to help him!

[The Northern Democracy comprised two well-recognized classes: The
Anti-War (or Peace) Democrats, commonly called "Copperheads," who
sympathized with the Rebellion, and opposed the War for the Union;
and the War (or Union) Democrats, who favored a vigorous
prosecution of the War for the preservation of the Union.]




CHAPTER XXVI.

"THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT" DEFEATED IN THE HOUSE.

The debate in the House of Representatives, upon the Thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution--interrupted by the treasonable episode
referred to in the last Chapter--was subsequently resumed.

Meanwhile, however, Fort Pillow had been stormed, and its garrison of
Whites and Blacks, massacred.

And now commenced the beginning of the end-so far as the Military aspect
of the Rebellion was concerned. Early in May, Sherman's Atlanta
Campaign commenced, and, simultaneously, General Grant began his
movement toward Richmond. In quick succession came the news of the
bloody battles of the Wilderness, and those around Spottsylvania, Va.;
at Buzzard Roost Gap, Snake Creek Gap, and Dalton, Ga.; Drury's Bluff,
Va.; Resaca, Ga.; the battles of the North Anna, Va.; those around
Dallas, and New Hope church, Ga; the crossing of Grant's forces to the
South side of the James and the assault on Petersburg. While the Union
Armies were thus valiantly attacking and beating those of the Rebels, on
many a sanguinary field the loyal men of the North, both in and out of
Congress, pressed for favorable action upon the Thirteenth Amendment.
"Friends of the wounded in Fredericksburg from the Battle of the
Wilderness"--exclaimed Horace Greeley in the New York Tribune, of May
31st,--"friends and relatives of the soldiers of Grant's Army beyond the
Wilderness, let us all join hands and swear upon our Country's altar
that we will never cease this War until African Slavery in the United
States is dead forever, and forever buried!"

Peace Democrats, however, were deaf to all such entreaties. On the very
same day, Mr. Holman, in the House, objected even to the second reading
of the Joint Resolution Amendatory of the Constitution, and there were
so many "Peace Democrats" to back him, that the vote was: 55 yeas to 76
nays, on the question "shall the Joint Resolution be rejected!"

The old cry, that had been repeated by Hendricks and others, in the
Senate and House, time and again, was still used--threadbare though it
was--"this is not the right time for it!" On this very day, for
instance, Mr. Herrick said: "I ask if this is the proper time for our
People to consider so grave a measure as the Amendment of the
Constitution in so vital a point? * * * this is no fitting time for
such work."

Very different was the attitude of Kellogg, of New York, and well did he
show up the depths to which the Democracy--the Peace Democracy--had now
fallen. "We are told," said he, "of a War Democracy, and such there
are--their name is legion--good men and true; they are found in the
Union ranks bearing arms in support of the Government and the
Administration that wields it. At the ballot-box, whether at home or in
the camp, they are Union men, and vote as they fight, and hold little in
common with the political leaders of the Democratic Party in or out of
this Hall--the Seymours, the Woods, the Vallandighams, the Woodwards,
and their indorsers, who hold and control the Democratic Party here, and
taint it with Treason, till it is a stench in the nostrils of all
patriotic men."

After referring to the fact that the leaders of the Rebellion had from
the start relied confidently upon assistance from the Northern
Democracy, he proceeded:

"The Peace Democracy, and mere Party-hacks in the North, are fulfilling
their masters' expectations industriously, unceasingly, and as far as in
them lies. Not even the shouts for victory, in these Halls, can divert
their Southern allies here. A sullen gloom at the defeat and
discomfiture of their Southern brethren settles down on their disastrous
countenances, from which no ray of joy can be reflected. * * * They
even vote solid against a law to punish guerrillas.

"Sir," continued he, "in my judgment, many of those who withhold from
their Country the support they would otherwise give, find allegiance to
Party too strong for their patriotism. * * * Rejecting the example and
counsels of Stanton and Dickinson and Butler and Douglas and Dix and
Holt and Andrew Johnson and Logan and Rosecrans and Grant and a host of
others, all Democrats of the straightest sect, to forget all other ties,
and cleave only to their Country for their Country's sake, and rejecting
the overtures and example of the Republican Party to drop and forget
their Party name, that all might unite and band together for their
Country's salvation as Union men, they turn a deaf ear and cold
shoulder, and sullenly pass by on the other side, thanking God they are
not as other men are, and lend, if at all, a calculating, qualified, and
conditional and halting support, under protest, to their Country's
cause; thus justifying the only hope of the Rebellion to-day, that Party
spirit at the North will distract its counsels, divide and discourage
and palsy its efforts, and ultimately make way for the Traitor and the
parricide to do their worst."

Besides the set speeches made against the proposed
Constitutional amendment in the House, Peace-Democrats of the Senate
continued to keep up a running fire at it in that Chamber, on every
possible occasion. Garrett Davis was especially garrulous on the
subject, and also launched the thunders of his wrath at the President
quite frequently and even vindictively. For instance, speaking in the
Senate--[May 31,1864,]--of the right of Property in Slaves; said he:

"This new-born heresy 'Military Necessity,' as President Lincoln claims,
and exercises it, is the sum of all political and Military villanies * *
* and it is no less absurd than it is villanous. * * * The man has
never spoken or lived who can prove by any provision of the
Constitution, or by any principle, or by any argument to be deduced
logically and fairly from it, that he has any such power as this vast,
gigantic, all-conquering and all-crushing power of Military Necessity
which he has the audacity to claim.

"This modern Emperor, this Tiberius, a sort of a Tiberius, and his
Sejanus, a sort of a Sejanus, the head of the War Department, are
organizing daily their Military Courts to try civilians. * * *

"Sir, I want one labor of love before I die. I want the President of
the United States, I want his Secretary of War, I want some of his high
officers in Military command to bring a civilian to a Military
execution, and me to have the proud privilege of prosecuting them for
murder. * * * I want the law and its just retribution to be visited
upon these great delinquents.

"I would sooner, if I had the power, bring about such an atonement as
that, than I would even put down the Rebellion. It would be a greater
victory in favor of Freedom and Constitutional Liberty, a thousand-fold,
of all the People of America besides, than the subjugation of the Rebel
States could possibly be."

But there seemed to be no end to the' attacks upon the Administration,
made, in both Houses, by these peculiar Peace-Democrats. Union blood
might flow in torrents on the fields of the rebellious South, atrocities
innumerable might be committed by the Rebels, cold-blooded massacres of
Blacks and Whites, as at Fort Pillow, might occur without rebuke from
them; but let the Administration even dare to sneeze, and--woe to the
Administration.

It was not the Thirteenth Amendment only, that they assailed, but
everything else which the Administration thought might help it in its
effort to put down the Rebellion. Nor was it so much their malignant
activity in opposition to any one measure intended to strengthen the
hands of the Union, but to all such measures; and superadded to this was
the incessant bringing forward, in both Houses of Congress, by these
restless Rebel-sympathizers, of Peace-Resolutions, the mere presentation
of which would be, and were, construed by the Rebel authorities at
Richmond, as evidences of a weakening.

Even some of the best of the Peace-Democrats, like S. S. Cox, for
instance, not only assailed the Tariff--under which the Union Republican
Party sought to protect and build up American Industry, as well as to
raise as much revenue as possible to help meet the enormous current
expenditures of the Government--but also denounced our great paper-money
system, which alone enabled us to secure means to meet all deficiencies
in the revenues otherwise obtained, and thus to ultimately conquer the
hosts of Rebellion.

He declared (June 2, 1864) that "The People are the victims of the
joint-robbery of a system of bounties under the guise of duties, and of
an inconvertible and depreciated paper currency under the guise of
money," and added: "No man is now so wise and gifted that he can save
this Nation from bankruptcy. * * * No borrowing system can save us.
The scheme of making greenbacks a legal tender, which enabled the debtor
to cheat his creditor, thereby playing the old game of kingcraft, to
debase the currency in order to aid the designs of despotism, may float
us for a while amidst the fluctuations and bubbles of the day; but as no
one possesses the power to repeal the Law of the Almighty, which decrees
(and as our Constitution has established) that gold and silver shall be
the standard of value in the World, so they will ever thus remain,
notwithstanding the legislation of Congress."

Not satisfied with this sort of "fire in the rear," it was attempted by
means of Democratic Free-Trade and antipaper-currency sophistries, to
arouse jealousies, heart-burnings and resentful feelings in the breasts
of those living in different parts of the Union--to implant bitter
Sectional antagonisms and implacable resentments between the Eastern
States, on the one hand, and the Western States, on the other--and thus,
by dividing, to weaken the Loyal Union States.

That this was the cold-blooded purpose of all who pursued this course,
would no doubt be warmly denied by some of them; but the fact remains no
less clear, that the effect of that course, whether so intended or not,
was to give aid and comfort to the Enemy at that critical time when the
Nation most needed all the men, money, and moral as well as material
support, it was possible to get, to put an end to the bloody Rebellion,
now--under the continuous poundings of Grant's Army upon that of Lee in
Virginia, and the advance of Sherman's Army upon that of Johnston in
Georgia--tottering to its overthrow. Thus this same speaker (S. S. Cox),
in his untimely speech, undertook to divide the Union-loving States
"into two great classes: the Protected States and the Unprotected
States;" and--having declared that "The Manufacturing States, mainly the
New England States and Pennsylvania, are the Protected States," and "The
Agricultural States," mainly the eleven Western States, which he named,
"are the Unprotected States"--proceeded to intemperately and violently
arraign New England, and especially Massachusetts, in the same way that
had years before been adopted by the old Conspirators of the South when
they sought--alas, too successfully!--to inflame the minds of Southern
citizens to a condition of unreasoning frenzy which made attempted
Nullification and subsequent armed Rebellion and Secession possible.

Well might the thoroughly loyal Grinnell, of Iowa--after exposing what
he termed the "sophistry of figures" by which Mr. Cox had seen fit "to
misrepresent and traduce" the Western States-exclaim: "Sir, I have no
words which I can use to execrate sufficiently such language, in
arraying the Sections in opposition during a time of War; as if we were
not one People, descended from one stock, having one interest, and bound
up in one destiny!"

The damage that might have been done to the Union Cause by such
malignant Democratic attacks upon the National unity and strength, may
be imagined when we reflect that at this very time the annual expenses
of our Government were over $600,000,000, and growing still larger; and
that $1.90 in legal tender notes of the United States was worth but
$1.00 in gold, with a downward tendency. Said stern old Thaddeus
Stevens, alluding on this occasion, to Statesmanship of the peculiar
stamp of the Coxes and Fernando Woods: "He who in this time will pursue
such a course of argument for the mere sake of party, can never hope to
be ranked among Statesmen; nay, Sir, he will not even rise to the
dignity of a respectable Demagogue!"

Within a week after this, (June 9, 1864), we find in the Senate also,
similarly insidious attacks upon the strength of the Government, made by
certain Northern Democrats, who never tired of undermining Loyalty, and
creating and spreading discontent among the People. The Bill then up,
for consideration, was one "to prohibit the discharge of persons from
liability to Military duty, by reason of the payment of money."

In the terribly bloody Campaign that had now been entered upon by Grant
--in the West, under Sherman, and in the East, under his own personal
eye--it was essential to send to the front, every man possible. Hence
the necessity for a Bill of this sort, which moreover provided, in order
as far as possible to popularize conscription, that all calls for drafts
theretofore made under the Enrolling Act of March 3, 1863, should be for
not over one year's service, etc.

This furnished the occasion for Mr. Hendricks, among other Peace
Democrats, to make opposing speeches. He, it seems, had all along been
opposed to drafting Union soldiers; and because, during the previous
Winter, the Senate had been unwilling to abolish the clause permitting a
drafted man to pay a commutation of $300 (with which money a substitute
could be procured) instead of himself going, at a time when men were not
quite so badly needed as now, therefore Mr. Hendricks pretended to think
it very strange and unjustifiable that now, when everything depended on
getting every possible man in the field, the Senate should think of
"abandoning that which it thought right last Winter!"

He opposed drafting; but if drafting must be resorted to, then he
thought that what he termed "the Horror of the Draft" should be felt by
as many of the Union people as possible!--or, in his own words: "the
Horror of the Draft ought to be divided among the People." As if this
were not sufficient to conjure dreadful imaginings, he added: "if one
set of men are drafted this year to serve twelve months, and they have
to go because the power of the Government makes them go, whether they
can go well or not, then at the end of the year their neighbors should
be subjected to the same Horror, and let this dreadful demand upon the
service, upon the blood, and upon the life of the People be distributed
upon all."

And, in order apparently to still further intensify public feeling
against all drafting, and sow the seeds of dissatisfaction in the hearts
of those drafted at this critical time, when the fate of the Union and
of Republican Government palpably depended upon conscription, he added:
"It is not so right to say to twenty men in a neighborhood: 'You shall
go; you shall leave your families whether you can or not; you shall go
without the privilege of commutation whether you leave starving wives
and children behind you or not,' and then say to every other man of the
neighborhood: 'Because we have taken these twenty men for three years,
you shall remain with your wives and children safely and comfortably at
home for these three years.' I like this feature of the amendment,
because it distributes the Horror of the Draft more equally and justly
over the whole People."

Not satisfied with rolling the "Horror of the Draft" so often and
trippingly over his tongue, he also essayed the role of Prophet in the
interest of the tottering god of Slavery. "The People," said he,
"expect great results from this Campaign; and when another year comes
rolling around, and it is found that this War is not closed, and that
there is no reasonable probability of its early close, my colleague
(Lane) and other Senators who agree with him will find that the People
will say that this effusion of blood must stop; that THERE MUST BE SOME
ADJUSTMENT. I PROPHESY THIS."

And, as a further declaration likely to give aid and comfort to the
Rebel leaders, he said: "I do not believe many men are going to be
obtained by a draft; I do not believe a very good Army will be got by a
draft; I do not believe an Army will be put in the field, by a draft,
that will whip General Lee."

But while all such statements were, no doubt, intended to help the foes
of the Union, and dishearten or dismay its friends, the really loyal
People, understanding their fell object, paid little heed to them. The
predictions of these Prophets of evil fell flat upon the ears of lovers
of their Country. Conspirators, however much they might masquerade in
the raiment of Loyalty, could not wholly conceal the ear-marks of
Treason. The hand might be the hand of Esau, but the voice was the
voice of Jacob.

On the 8th of June--after a month of terrific and bloody fighting
between the immediate forces of Grant and Lee--a dispatch from Sherman,
just received at Washington, was read to the House of Representatives,
which said: "The Enemy is not in our immediate front, but his signals
are seen at Lost Mountain, and Kenesaw." So, at the same time, at the
National Capital, while the friends of the Union there, were not
immediately confronted with an armed Enemy, yet the signals of his
Allies could be seen, and their fire upon our rear could be heard, daily
and almost hourly, both in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The fight in the House, upon the Thirteenth Amendment, now seemed
indeed, to be reaching a climax. During the whole of June 14th, until
midnight, speech after speech on the subject, followed each other in
rapid succession. Among the opposition speeches, perhaps those of
Fernando Wood and Holman were most notable for extravagant and
unreasoning denunciation of the Administration and Party in power--whose
every effort was put forth, and strained at this very time to the
utmost, to save the Union.

Holman, for instance, declared that, "Of all the measures of this
disastrous Administration, each in its turn producing new calamities,
this attempt to tamper with the Constitution threatens the most
permanent injury." He enumerated the chief measures of the
Administration during its three and a half years of power-among them the
Emancipation Proclamation, the arming of the Blacks, and what he
sneeringly termed "their pet system of finance" which was to "sustain
the public credit for infinite years," but which "even now," said he,
"totters to its fall!" And then, having succeeded in convincing himself
of Republican failure, he exultingly exclaimed: "But why enumerate?
What measure of this Administration has failed to be fatal! Every step
in your progress has been a mistake. I use the mildest terms of
censure!"

Fernando Wood, in his turn also, "mildly" remarked upon Republican
policy as "the bloody and brutal policy of the Administration Party."
He considered this "the crisis of the fate of the Union;" declared that
Slavery was "the best possible condition to insure the happiness of the
Negro race"--a position which, on the following day, he "reaffirmed"--
and characterized those members of the Democratic Party who saw Treason
in the ways and methods and expressions of Peace Democrats of his own
stamp, as a "pack of political jackals known as War Democrats."

On the 15th of June, Farnsworth made a reply to Ross--who had claimed to
be friendly to the Union soldier--in which the former handled the
Democratic Party without gloves. "What," said he, referring to Mr.
Ross, "has been the course of that gentleman and his Party on this floor
in regard to voting supplies to the Army? What has been their course in
regard to raising money to pay the Army? His vote will be found
recorded in almost every instance against the Appropriation Bills,
against ways and means for raising money to pay the Army. It is only a
week ago last Monday, that a Bill was introduced here to punish
guerrillas * * * and how did my colleague vote? Against the Bill.* * *
On the subject of arming Slaves, of putting Negroes into the Army, how
has my colleague and his Party voted? Universally against it. They
would strip from the backs of these Black soldiers, now in the service
of the Country, their uniforms, and would send them back to Slavery with
chains and manacles. And yet they are the friends of the soldier!"* * *
"On the vote to repeal the Fugitive Slave Law, how did that (Democratic)
side of the House vote? Does not the Fugitive Slave Law affect the
Black soldier in the Army who was a Slave? That side of the House are
in favor of continuing the Fugitive Slave Law, and of disbanding Colored
troops. How did that side of the House vote on the question of arming
Slaves and paying them as soldiers? They voted against it. They are in
favor of disbanding the Colored regiments, and, armed with the Fugitive
Slave Law, sending them back to their masters!"

He took occasion also to meet various Democratic arguments against the
Resolution,--among them, one, hinging on the alleged right of Property
in Slaves. This was a favorite idea with the Border-State men
especially, that Slaves were Property--mere chattels as it were,--and,
only the day before, a Northern man, Coffroth of Pennsylvania, had said:

"Sir, we should pause before proceeding any further in this
Unconstitutional and censurable legislation. The mere abolition of
Slavery is not my cause of complaint. I care not whether Slavery is
retained or abolished by the people of the States in which it exists--
the only rightful authority. The question to me is, has Congress a
right to take from the people of the South their Property; or, in other
words, having no pecuniary interest therein, are we justified in freeing
the Slave-property of others? Can we Abolish Slavery in the Loyal State
of Kentucky against her will? If this Resolution should pass, and be
ratified by three-fourths of the States--States already Free--and
Kentucky refuses to ratify it, upon what principle of right or law would
we be justified in taking this Slave-property of the people of Kentucky?
Would it be less than stealing?"

And Farnsworth met this idea--which had also been advanced by Messrs.
Ross, Fernando Wood, and Pruyn--by saying: "What constitutes property?
I know it is said by some gentlemen on the other side, that what the
statute makes property, is property. I deny it. What 'vested right'
has any man or State in Property in Man? We of the North hold property,
not by virtue of statute law, not by virtue of enactments. Our property
consists in lands, in chattels, in things. Our property was made
property by Jehovah when He gave Man dominion over it. But nowhere did
He give dominion of Man over Man. Our title extends back to the
foundation of the World. That constitutes property. There is where we
get our title. There is where we get our 'vested rights' to property."

Touching the ethics of Slavery, Mr. Arnold's speech on the same occasion
was also able, and in parts eloquent, as where he said: 'Slavery is to-
day an open enemy striking at the heart of the Republic. It is the soul
and body, the spirit and motive of the Rebellion. It is Slavery which
marshals yonder Rebel hosts, which confront the patriot Armies of Grant
and Sherman. It is the savage spirit of this barbarous Institution
which starves the Union prisoners at Richmond, which assassinates them
at Fort Pillow, which murders the wounded on the field of battle, and
which fills up the catalogue of wrong and outrage which mark the conduct
of the Rebels during all this War.

"In view of all the long catalogue of wrongs which Slavery has inflicted
upon the Country, I demand to-day, of the Congress of the United States,
the death of African Slavery. We can have no permanent Peace, while
Slavery lives. It now reels and staggers toward its last deathstruggle.
Let us strike the monster this last decisive blow."

And, after appealing to both Border-State men, and Democrats of the Free
States, not to stay the passage of this Resolution which "will strike
the Rebellion at the heart," he continued: "Gentlemen may flatter
themselves with a restoration of the Slave-power in this Country. 'The
Union as it was!' It is a dream, never again to be realized. The
America of the past, has gone forever. A new Nation is to be born from
the agony through which the People are now passing. This new Nation is
to be wholly Free. Liberty, Equality before the Law, is to be the great
Corner-stone."

So, too, Mr. Ingersoll eloquently said--among many other good things:--
"It is well to eradicate an evil. That Slavery is an evil, no sane,
honest man will deny. It has been the great curse of this Country from
its infancy to the present hour, And now that the States in Rebellion
have given the Loyal States the opportunity to take off that curse, to
wipe away the foul stain, I say let it be done. We owe it to ourselves;
we owe it to posterity; we owe it to the Slaves themselves to
exterminate Slavery forever by the adoption of the proposed Amendment to
the Constitution. * * * I believe Slavery is the mother of this
Rebellion, that this Rebellion can be attributed to no other cause but
Slavery; from that it derived its life, and gathers its strength to-day.
Destroy the mother, and the child dies. Destroy the cause, and the
effect will disappear.

"Slavery has ever been the enemy of liberal principles. It has ever
been the friend of ignorance, prejudice, and all the unlawful, savage,
and detestable passions which proceed therefrom. It has ever been
domineering, arrogant, exacting, and overbearing. It has claimed to be
a polished aristocrat, when in reality it has only been a coarse,
swaggering, and brutal boor. It has ever claimed to be a gentleman,
when in reality it has ever been a villain. I think it is high time to
clip its overgrown pretensions, strip it of its mask, and expose it, in
all its hideous deformity, to the detestation of all honest and
patriotic men."

After Mr. Samuel J. Randall had, at a somewhat later hour, pathetically
and poetically invoked the House, in its collective unity, as a
"Woodman," to "spare that tree" of the Constitution, and to "touch not a
single bough," because, among other reasons, "in youth it sheltered"
him; and furthermore, because "the time" was "most inopportune;" and,
after Mr. Rollins, of Missouri, had made a speech, which he afterward
suppressed; Mr. Pendleton closed the debate in an able effort, from his
point of view, in which he objected to the passage of the Joint
Resolution because "the time is not auspicious;" because, said he, "it
is impossible that the Amendment proposed, should be ratified without a
fraudulent use of the power to admit new States, or a fraudulent use of
the Military power of the Federal Government in the Seceded States,"--
and, said he, "if you should attempt to amend the Constitution by such
means, what binding obligation would it have?"

He objected, also, because "the States cannot, under the pretense of
amending the Constitution, subvert the structure, spirit, and theory of
this Government." "But," said he, "if this Amendment were within the
Constitutional power of amendment; if this were a proper time to
consider it; if three-fourths of the States were willing to ratify it;
and if it did not require the fraudulent use of power, either in this
House or in the Executive Department, to secure its adoption, I would
still resist the passage of this Resolution. It is another step toward
consolidation, and consolidation is Despotism; confederation is
Liberty."

It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of June 15th, that the House
came to a vote, on the passage of the Joint Resolution. At first the
strain of anxiety on both sides was great, but, as the roll proceeded,
it soon became evident that the Resolution was doomed to defeat. And so
it transpired. The vote stood 93 yeas, to 65 nays--Mr. Ashley having
changed his vote, from the affirmative to the negative, for the purpose
of submitting, at the proper time, a motion to reconsider.

That same evening, Mr. Ashley made the motion to reconsider the vote by
which the proposed Constitutional Amendment was rejected; and the motion
was duly entered in the Journal, despite the persistent efforts of
Messrs. Cox, Holman, and others, to prevent it.

On the 28th of June, just prior to the Congressional Recess, Mr. Ashley
announced that he had been disappointed in the hope of securing enough
votes from the Democratic side of the House to carry the Amendment.
"Those," said he, "who ought to have been the champions of this great
proposition are unfortunately its strongest opponents. They have
permitted the golden opportunity to pass. The record is made up, and we
must go to the Country on this issue thus presented." And then he gave
notice that he would call the matter up, at the earliest possible moment
after the opening of the December Session of Congress.




CHAPTER XXVII.

SLAVERY DOOMED AT THE POLLS.

The record was indeed made up, and the issue thus made, between Slavery
and Freedom, would be the chief one before the People. Already the
Republican National Convention, which met at Baltimore, June 7, 1864,
had not only with "enthusiastic unanimity," renominated Mr. Lincoln for
the Presidency, but amid "tremendous applause," the delegates rising and
waving their hats--had adopted a platform which declared, in behalf of
that great Party: "That, as Slavery was the cause, and now constitutes
the strength, of this Rebellion, and as it must be, always and
everywhere, hostile to the principles of Republican government, Justice
and the National safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from
the soil of the Republic; and that while we uphold and maintain the Acts
and Proclamations by which the Government, in its own defense, has aimed
a death-blow at this gigantic evil, we are in favor, furthermore, of
such an Amendment to the Constitution, to be made by the People in
conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit
the existence of Slavery within the limits or the jurisdiction of the
United States."

So, too, with vociferous plaudits, had they received and adopted another
Resolution, wherein they declared "That we approve and applaud the
practical wisdom, the unselfish patriotism and the unswerving fidelity
to the Constitution and the principles of American Liberty, with which
Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances of unparalleled
difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities of the Presidential
Office; that we approve and endorse, as demanded by the emergency, and
essential to the preservation of the Nation, and as within the
provisions of the Constitution; the Measures and Acts which he has
adopted to defend the Nation against its open and secret foes; that we
approve, especially, the Proclamation of Emancipation, and the
employment, as Union soldiers, of men heretofore held in Slavery; and
that we have full confidence in his determination to carry these and all
other Constitutional Measures essential to the salvation of the Country,
into full and complete effect."

Thus heartily, thoroughly and unreservedly, endorsed in all the great
acts of his Administration--and even more emphatically, if possible, in
his Emancipation policy--by the unanimous vote of his Party, Mr.
Lincoln, although necessarily "chagrined and disappointed" by the House-
vote which had defeated the Thirteenth Amendment, might well feel
undismayed. He always had implicit faith in the People; he felt sure
that they would sustain him; and this done, why could not the votes of a
dozen, out of the seventy Congressional Representatives opposing that
Amendment, be changed? Even failing in this, it must be but a question
of time. He thought he could afford to bide that time.

On the 29th of August, the Democratic National Convention met at
Chicago. Horatio Seymour was its permanent President; that same
Governor of New York whom the 4th of July, 1863, almost at the moment
when Vicksburg and Gettysburg had brought great encouragement to the
Union cause, and when public necessity demanded the enforcement of the
Draft in order to drive the Rebel invader from Northern soil and bring
the Rebellion speedily to an end--had threateningly said to the
Republicans, in the course of a public speech, during the Draft-riots at
New York City: "Remember this, that the bloody, and treasonable, and
revolutionary doctrine of public necessity can be proclaimed by a mob as
well as by a Government. * * * When men accept despotism, they may have
a choice as to who the despot shall be!"

In his speech to this Democratic-Copperhead National Convention,
therefore, it is not surprising that he should, at this time, declare
that "this Administration cannot now save this Union, if it would."
That the body which elected such a presiding officer,--after the bloody
series of glorious Union victories about Atlanta, Ga., then fast leading
up to the fall of that great Rebel stronghold, (which event actually
occurred long before most of these Democratic delegates, on their
return, could even reach their homes)--should adopt a Resolution
declaring that the War was a "failure," was not surprising either.

That Resolution--"the material resolution of the Chicago platform," as
Vallandigham afterward characters it, was written and "carried through
both the Subcommittee and the General Committee" by that Arch-Copperhead
and Conspirator himself.--[See his letter of October 22, 1864, to the
editor of the New York News,]

It was in these words: "Resolved, That this Convention does explicitly
declare as the sense of the American People, that after four years of
failure to restore the Union by the experiment of War, during which,
under the pretense of a military necessity, or War-power higher than the
Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every
part, and public Liberty and private right alike trodden down and the
material prosperity of the Country essentially impaired--Justice,
Humanity, Liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts
be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate
Convention of the States, or other peaceable means, to the end that at
the earliest practicable moment Peace may be restored on the basis of
the Federal Union of the States."

With a Copperhead platform, this Democratic Convention thought it
politic to have a Union candidate for the Presidency. Hence, the
nomination of General McClellan; but to propitiate the out-and-out
Vallandigham Peace men, Mr. Pendleton was nominated to the second place
on the ticket.

This combination was almost as great a blunder as was the platform--than
which nothing could have been worse. Farragut's Naval victory at
Mobile, and Sherman's capture of Atlanta, followed so closely upon the
adjournment of the Convention as to make its platform and candidates the
laughing stock of the Nation; and all the efforts of Democratic orators,
and of McClellan himself, in his letter of acceptance, could not prevent
the rise of that great tidalwave of Unionism which was soon to engulf
the hosts of Copperhead-Democracy.

The Thanksgiving-services in the churches, and the thundering salutes of
100 guns from every Military and Naval post in the United States, which
--during the week succeeding that Convention's sitting--betokened the
Nation's especial joy and gratitude to the victorious Union Forces of
Sherman and Farragut for their fortuitously-timed demonstration that the
"experiment of War" for the restoration of the Union was anything but a
"Failure" all helped to add to the proportions of that rapidly-swelling
volume of loyal public feeling.

The withdrawal from the canvass, of General Fremont, nominated for the
Presidency by the "radical men of the Nation," at Cleveland, also
contributed to it. In his letter of withdrawal, September 17th, he
said:

"The Presidential contest has, in effect, been entered upon in such a
way that the union of the Republican Party has become a paramount
necessity. The policy of the Democratic Party signifies either
separation, or reestablishment with Slavery. The Chicago platform is
simply separation. General McClellan's letter of acceptance is
reestablishment, with Slavery. The Republican candidate is, on the
contrary, pledged to the reestablishment of the Union without Slavery;
and, however hesitating his policy may be, the pressure of his Party
will, we may hope, force him to it. Between these issues, I think no
man of the Liberal Party can remain in doubt."

And now, following the fall of Atlanta before Sherman's Forces, Grant
had stormed "Fort Hell," in front of Petersburg; Sheridan had routed the
Rebels, under Early, at Winchester, and had again defeated Early at
Fisher's Hill; Lee had been repulsed in his attack on Grant's works at
Petersburg; and Allatoona had been made famous, by Corse and his 2,000
Union men gallantly repulsing the 5,000 men of Hood's Rebel Army, who
had completely surrounded and attacked them in front, flank, and rear.

All these Military successes for the Union Cause helped the Union
political campaign considerably, and, when supplemented by the
remarkable results of the October elections in Pennsylvania, Indiana,
and Maryland, made the election of Lincoln and Johnson a foregone
conclusion.

The sudden death of Chief-Justice Taney, too, happening, by a strange
coincidence, simultaneously with the triumph of the Union Party of
Maryland in carrying the new Constitution of that State, which
prohibited Slavery within her borders, seemed to have a significance*
not without its effect upon the public mind, now fast settling down to
the belief that Slavery everywhere upon the soil of the United States
must die.

[Greeley well said of it: "His death, at this moment, seemed to
mark the transition from the Era of Slavery to that of Universal
Freedom."]

Then came, October 19th, the Battle of Cedar Creek, Va. where the Rebel
General Early, during Sheridan's absence, surprised and defeated the
latter's forces, until Sheridan, riding down from Winchester, turned
defeat into victory for the Union Arms, and chased the armed Rebels out
of the Shenandoah Valley forever; and the fights of October 27th and
28th, to the left of Grant's position, at Petersburg, by which the
railroad communications of Lee's Army at Richmond were broken up.

At last, November 8, 1864, dawned the eventful day of election. By
midnight of that date it was generally believed, all over the Union,
that Lincoln and Johnson were overwhelmingly elected, and that the Life
as well as Freedom of the Nation had thus been saved by the People.

Late that very night, President Lincoln was serenaded by a Pennsylvania
political club, and, in responding to the compliment, modestly said:

"I earnestly believe that the consequences of this day's work (if it be
as you assure, and as now seems probable) will be to the lasting
advantage, if not to the very salvation, of the Country. I cannot at
this hour say what has been the result of the election. But whatever it
may be, I have no desire to modify this opinion, that all who have
labored to-day in behalf of the Union organization have wrought for the
best interests of their Country and the World, not only for the present
but for all future ages.

"I am thankful to God," continued he, "for this approval of the People;
but, while deeply gratified for this mark of their confidence in me, if
I know my heart, my gratitude is free from any taint of personal
triumph. I do not impugn the motives of any one opposed to me. It is
no pleasure to me to triumph over any one; but I give thanks to the
Almighty for this evidence of the People's resolution to stand by Free
Government and the rights of Humanity."

On the 10th of November, in response to another serenade given at the
White House, in the presence of an immense and jubilantly enthusiastic
gathering of Union men, by the Republican clubs of the District of
Columbia, Mr. Lincoln said:

"It has long been a grave question whether any Government, not too
strong for the Liberties of its People, can be strong enough to maintain
its existence in great emergencies. On this point the present
Rebellion. has brought our Republic to a severe test, and a
Presidential election, occurring in regular course during the Rebellion,
has added not a little to the strain. * * * But the election, along
with its incidental and undesired strife, has done good, too. It has
demonstrated that a People's Government can sustain a National election
in the midst of a great Civil War, until now it has not been known to
the World that this was a possibility. It shows, also, how sound and
how strong we still are.

"But," said he, "the Rebellion continues; and now that the election is
over, may not all having a common interest reunite in a common effort to
save our common Country?

"For my own part," continued he--as the cheering, elicited by this
forcible appeal, ceased--"I have striven, and shall strive, to avoid
placing any obstacle in the way. So long as I have been here I have not
willingly planted a thorn in any man's bosom. While I am deeply
sensible to the high compliment of a reelection, and duly grateful, as I
trust, to Almighty God for having directed my countrymen to a right
conclusion, as I think, for their own good, it adds nothing to my
satisfaction that any other man may be disappointed or pained by the
result."

And, as the renewed cheering evoked by this kindly, Christian utterance
died away again, he impressively added: "May I ask those who have not
differed with me, to join with me in this same spirit, towards those who
have?"

So, too, on the 17th of November, in his response to the complimentary
address of a delegation of Union men from Maryland.

[W. H. Purnell, Esq., in behalf of the Committee, delivered an
address, in which he said they rejoiced that the People, by such an
overwhelming and unprecedented majority, had again reelected Mr.
Lincoln to the Presidency and endorsed his course--elevating him to
the proudest and most honorable position on Earth. They felt under
deep obligation to him because he had appreciated their condition
as a Slave-State. It was not too much to say that by the exercise
of rare discretion on his part, Maryland to-day occupies her
position in favor of Freedom. Slavery has been abolished therefrom
by the Sovereign Decree of the People. With deep and lasting
gratitude they desired that his Administration, as it had been
approved in the past, might also be successful in the future, and
result in the Restoration of the Union, with Freedom as its
immutable basis. They trusted that, on retiring from his high and
honorable position, the universal verdict might be that he deserved
well of mankind, and that favoring Heaven might 'Crown his days
with loving kindness and tender mercies.']

The same kindly anxiety to soften and dispel the feeling of bitterness
that had been engendered in the malignant bosoms of the Copperhead-
Democracy by their defeat, was apparent when he said with emphasis and
feeling:

"I have said before, and now repeat, that I indulge in no feeling of
triumph over any man who has thought or acted differently from myself.
I have no such feeling toward any living man;" and again, after
complimenting Maryland for doing "more than double her share" in the
elections, in that she had not only carried the Republican ticket, but
also the Free Constitution, he added: "Those who have differed with us
and opposed us will yet see that the result of the Presidential election
is better for their own good than if they had been successful."

The victory of the Union-Republican Party at this election was an
amazing one, and in the words of General Grant's dispatch of
congratulation to the President, the fact of its "having passed off
quietly" was, in itself, "a victory worth more to the Country than a
battle won,"--for the Copperheads had left no stone unturned in their
efforts to create the utmost possible rancor, in the minds of their
partisans, against the Administration and its Party.

Of twenty-five States voting, Lincoln and Johnson had carried the
electoral votes of twenty-two of them, viz.: Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan,
Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, Oregon, Kansas, West Virginia,
and Nevada; while McClellan and Pendleton had carried the twenty-one
electoral votes of the remaining three, viz.: New Jersey, Delaware, and
Kentucky--the popular vote reaching the enormous number of 2,216,067 for
Lincoln, to 1,808,725 for McClellan--making Lincoln's popular majority
407,342, and his electoral majority 191!

But if the figures upon the Presidential candidacy were so gratifying
and surprising to all who held the cause of Union above all others, no
less gratifying and surprising were those of the Congressional
elections, which indicated an entire revulsion of popular feeling on the
subject of the Administration's policy. For, while in the current
Congress (the 38th), there were only 106 Republican-Union to 77
Democratic Representatives, in that for which the elections had just
been held, (the 39th), there would be 143 Republican-Union to 41
Democratic Representatives.

It was at once seen, therefore, that, should the existing House of
Representatives fail to adopt the Thirteenth Amendment to the
Constitution, there would be much more than the requisite two-thirds
majority for such a Measure in both Houses of the succeeding Congress;
and moreover that in the event of its failure at the coming Session, it
was more than probable that President Lincoln would consider himself
justified in calling an Extra Session of the Thirty-ninth Congress for
the especial purpose of taking such action. So far then, as the
prospects of the Thirteenth Amendment were concerned, they looked
decidedly more encouraging.







 


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