Oration Of Thomas S Bocock Of Va Delivered On The Occasion Of The Inauguration Of Mills Equestrian Statue Of Washington At Washington City February 22 1860

Author : Thomas S. Bocock
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781331277422
Total Pages : 22 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (774 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Speech of the Hon. Thomas S. Bocock, of Virginia written by Thomas S. Bocock and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-07-12 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Speech of the Hon. Thomas S. Bocock, of Virginia: Delivered in the House of Representatives, February 20 and 21, 1861 I am not in the habit of expressing myself rashly, or in exaggerated terms; and I would not now speak in such language of this bill if I did not believe that I can show to every unbiased mind that what I say is just. We have now upon the statute-book, Mr. Speaker, the acts of 1795 and of 1807. Under these laws the President has ample authority to call out the regular military power of the country, in case of invasion or danger of invasion from any foreign nation or Indian tribe; also, in case of insurrection in any State against the Government thereof - in which case he shall act only upon the call of the Legislature of such State, if in session: or if not in session, then upon the call of the Governor. He has also the same power "whenever the laws of the United States shall be opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed in any State, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals," &c. Now, sir, this power has heretofore been considered ample for every case which might arise under our Constitution. But this bill does more. It authorizes the President of the United States to employ the entire military power of the country "in the case of insurrections against the authority of the United States." Insurrections against the authority of the United States! What are they? What authority has the United States beyond the enforcement of its laws? Does the Constitution contemplate the employment of the military power of the country except in the prosecution of war, the enforcement of the laws, the repelling of invasion, and the suppression of insurrection against the government and laws of a State? The sixteenth clause of the eighth section, in article one of the Constitution, gives, as one of the powers of the Congress of the United States, the following: "To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions." The phrases here employed are necessarily general in their nature, and were subject to be interpreted, and enlarged or restricted in their scope, by subsequent clauses in the Constitution. The power to use the military force of the country "to execute the laws," was susceptible of easy limitation by the existing practice of the States, and by the usage under other liberal Governments, as well as by the general scope and purpose of our own Constitution. The phrase "to repel invasions" was scarcely liable to dangerous misapprehension, for it necessarily implies an entry by a foreign Power with hostile intent; and the repulsion of such entry could do hurt in no case. But the phrase "to suppress insurrections" was of a widely different character. Insurrections by whom and against what? It is easy to see that it might be construed so as to give a power which would overthrow and destroy the real character of our complex Government. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.