been preferred against them, and when all those engaged in such arrests refused to disclose the charges (if any) upon which they were thus deprived of their liberties; and whereas the people of the State of Illinois are now and ever have been true and faithful to the constitution and the laws of this State and the United States: therefore, be it Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to investigate into the causes that led to such arrests, and whether any of our citizens yet remain within the walls of such prisons, and upon what charges (if any) such: military arrests have been made, and what person or persons (if any) preferred such charges, and to what political party (if any) such persons so arrested belonged, and upon what terms (if any) such persons so arrested have been released from such prisons; and that they report to this House, at as early a day as possible, their action in the premises. On motion of Mr. Walker, The resolution was referred to a special committee. Resolved, That the committee on public printing be instructed to investigate whether or not the State has a public printer, and to investigate the public printer's bills for printing done for the State, and report to this House. Said committee is hereby authorized to send for persons and papers. Which was adopted. Mr. Boyer offered the following resolutions, viz: Resolved, That the trustee of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, on the part of the State, be requested to inform this House what amount of money, if any, and the amount of notes or obligations of any kind, given for the sale of lands or lots or material belonging to said canal, have been handed over to him by his immediate predecessor, and whether he has received any money on such notes and obligations, and, if` so, what amount. Resolved, That said trustee inform this House for what reason he has failed to respond to a similar resolution to the foregoing, adopted by the Constitutional Convention on the 13th day of February last. Resolved, That the State Treasurer be requested to inform this House what amount of money, if any, he has received from the trustee of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, on the part of the State, or his immediate predecessor, from the sale of lands, lots or material belonging to said canal. Mr. Keyes offered the following joint resolution, viz: Resolved, by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring herein, That the Senate and House of Representatives will meet in the hall of the House, on Saturday, the 10th inst., at two o'clock P. M., to elect a Senator to represent the State of Illinois in the Senate of the United States, for the unexpired term ending the 4th day of March, 1865. Which was adopted. Mr. Sedgwick offered the following resolution, viz: Resolved, by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring herein, That whereas a causeless civil war is still ravaging in our beloved country: therefore, Resolved, That we are in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war until the present unholy rebellion is subdued, and the union of all the states restored. Mr. O'Brien moved to amend by inserting before the word "until," the words, "for the preservation of the Union as it was and the constitution as it is." Mr. Haines moved to amend by adding at the bottom of said resolution the following: "And that every means necessary, in the power of the Government, should be used to accomplish this end." On motion of Mr. Burr, The resolution and amendments were referred to the committee on federal relations. Mr. O'Brien offered the following resolutions, viz: WHEREAS the war in which the country is now involved was declared to be a war to defend and maintain the constitution, and restore the Union;" and whereas the President of the United States, in his inaugural address to the people, on the 4th of March, A. D. 1861, declared as follows: "I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists; I believe I have no power to do so, and I have no inclination to do so;" and whereas, after the war had commenced, the President of the United States, in his message to the special session of Congress, convened on the 4th day of July, 1861, reiterated the opinion as to his constitutional power, and as to his purposes, expressed in his inaugural address, and declared to the people of the United States the settled purposes of the administration, as follows: "Lest there be some uneasiness in the minds of candid men as to what is to be the course of the Government toward the Southern States after the rebellion shall have been suppressed, the Executive deems it proper to say, it will be his purpose then, as ever, to be guided by the constitution and laws, and that he will probably have no different understanding of the powers and duties of the Federal Government, relating to the rights of the States and the people, under the constitution, than that expressed in his inaugural address;" and whereas Wm. H. Seward, the Secretary of State, in an official letter addressed to Mr. Dayton, Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States at the court of France, on the 22d day of April, A. D. 1861, declared the policy of the Administration, and the constitutional limitation upon its power, as follows: "I need not further elaborate the proposition that the revolution is without a cause; it has not even a pretext. It is just as clear that it is without an object. Moral and physical causes have determined inflexibly the character of each one of the territories over which the dispute has arisen, and both parties, after the election, harmoniously agreed on all the federal laws required for their organization. The territories will remain in all respects the same, whether the revolution shall succeed or shall fail. The condition of slavery in the several States will remain just the same, whether it succeed or fail. There is not even a pretext for the complaint that the disaffected States are to be conquered by the United States if the revolution fail; for the rights of the States, and the condition of every human being in them, will remain subject to exactly the same laws and forms of administration, whether the revolution shall succeed or fail. In the one case the States would be federally connected with the new confederacy; in the other they would, as now, be members of the United States; but their constitutions and laws, customs, habits and institutions, in either case will remain the same. It is hardly necessary to add to this incontestible statement the further fact that the new President, as well as the citizens through whose suffrage he has come into the administration, has always repudiated all designs, whatever and whenever imputed to him and them, of disturbing the system of slavery as it exists under the constitution and laws. The case, now, would not be fully presented if I were to omit to say that any such effort on his part would be unconstitutional, and all his actions in that direction would be prevented by the proper authority, even though they were assented to by Congress and the people; and whereas, by a resolution unanimously adopted by the Congress of the United States, on the 22d day of July, A. D. 1861, it was resolved as follows: "That this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and inaintain the supremacy of the constitution, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that, as soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought to cease;" and whereas the citizens of the United States were induced to enlist in the army of the United States by these clear and distinct declarations. of the policy of the Administration, and that they might accomplish the great purposes set forth, of maintaining and defending the constitution, and preserving the Union, with all the dignity, equality and rights of the several States unimpaired; and whereas, on the 22d day of September, A. D. 1862, the President of the United States issued the following proclamation: "That, on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixtythree, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to suppress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they make for their actual freedom. That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States, and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto at elec tions wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States;" and whereas, on the first day of January, A. D. 1863, the President of the United States, after reciting his said last-mentioned proclama tion, dated September 22d, 1862, issued the following proclamation: "Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested, as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States, as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixtythree, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States therein, the people whereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemine, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans,) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the fortyeight counties designated as Western Virginia, and also the counties of Berkely, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth ;) and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within the designated States and parts of States are and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons; and I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free, to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I recommend to them that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known, that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. In witness whereof, I have this day set my hand, and caused the great seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. (Signed,) (Signed,) ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President: WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State;" and whereas, by these proclamations, the war is avowed to be a war, not to maintain the constitution and restore the Union, but a war to abolish slavery, and an alliance is proposed to be made between the United States Government and the slaves of the South against their masters, and the military and naval power of said Government is pledged to maintain the freedom proposed to be granted by said proclamations; and whereas said proclamations are clearly beyond the legitimate and constitutional powers of the Executive, will prevent the restoration of the Union, and dishonor the national flag, by making it a protection to the servile insurrections which said proclamations were intended and are calculated to incite: therefore, Resolved, That the Administration has broken its faith, violated its repeated pledges, deceived the people, betrayed the army, and has almost succeeded in making the restoration of the Union a hopeless impossibility. Resolved, That the proclamations of Abraham Lincoln, issued respectively September 22d, 1862, and January 1st, 1863, proposing to give freedom to the slaves of the Southern States on said first day of January, 1863, are alike unconstitutional, contrary to the rules and usages of civilized warfare, calculated to bring shame, disgrace and eternal infamy upon the hitherto unsullied flag of the Republic, and that Illinois, ever ready and willing to do battle for the Union and the constitution, will protest against any war which has for its object the execution or enforcement of said proclamations. And moved that it be printed and made the special order of the day for next Tuesday, at nine o'clock A. M. Mr. Brentano offered the following substitute, viz; Resolved, That the proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, on the 22d of September, 1862, and the supplementary proclamation issued on the 1st of January, 1863, will inaugurate a most important epoch in American history; that this proclamation, when rigidly enforced, will deprive the rebels of their principal element in support of this infamous rebellion; that it aims a blow at the very heart of the rebellion, and will destroy its unholy cause. Resolved, That we heartily indorse this proclamation; that we urge its rigid enforcement, and will use our utmost endeavors to sustain it. Mr. Burr moved to lay the substitute on the table, and demanded the yeas and nays. Yeus.... It was decided in the affirmative, Nays. Those voting in the affirmative are, .49 ..31 Smith of Union, FIT Dent of LaSalle, Epler, Ford, Fuller, Gerrard, Heard, Hicks, Those voting in the negative are, Messrs. Barnard, Black, Brentano, Miles, Monroe, Morrill, Odell, Patty, Peffer, Reid, Wheat, Wike, Witt, Mr. Speaker. Messrs. Burchard, Messrs. Cook, Coler, |