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Gov. Browu’s Special Message. Executive Department. 1 Muledobvills, Ga. # November, 6th, 1-62. f J, Vt y/ '/ K‘prtßentativet : Tm *re*t ftimggles for libeny and independence • : cii we have been engaged during ihe paat \e<ir '.»inK*: ■& powerful and relentless enemy, has n o t onlv f' r the exercise of the united en c,| ~ jr whole people, but for the most cos'ly h ... „t Mood and •,'eat‘ure. When we look at 11, material of which the armies of the contending < • are comie.Mj i, v »e can out *x ittrii. how j ; ;n .. ... the contes 1 In -it a rm-ej '>! the So itb < br- . .nd her .nobles’, and best &-r»s, whose T a;- | or • poa ’he battle fi-.d n«- oeen uu-tut passed, and ! wh< - Mood in abundant pro usioo has beco pom - ed Hi:, a rich sacrifice upon the altar *f liberty. - The Northern armies, on the comraiv, hare oeen rr.t sed, in a great decree, of imported foreign ers and pauper*, and of ihe A <>rst classed of Northern society, irbo have erved as mercenaries, and whose d struct ion, m many it stances, has been rather a relief than a rnie-i rrtune to society, ifuf •: • contrast d es nrtst *p here. The motives [ % l prompt the people of the two sections ; o . ' v.rt the war, are as different as the material of w he two armies are composed, is unlike. The p-ople of the North a*e tighticg lor power a' . ider, the people ot the South lor the lib±r •v and independence of themselves and their pos» tir.tv Our enemies have it in their power to -:< } th- war whenever tbev are content to do ... jo.. ~r,d let us alone. Wo can never stop tight* they continue to atiempt our subjuga q. out must prosecute the war with vigor, it h .-..rv, to itie expenditure ot the las*, dollar and * . lies ruction ot the las*, man. It we are subju* r at(■<», it i*e only when we are exterminated. \Vc vvtie b«»<n free ; and though il be upon the ja* . held, we should die free. iI believe to be the unanioious sentiment : me . e«»ple ot Georgia who have, on tins ques t;on, laid aside all parly divisions and difference*; ihd r ave, from the commencement of the struggle, promptly discharged their whole duty to the ciUM and to their brethren ot the other Conteu* irate States. Not a requisition has been made »pon Georgia by the President <■'. the Confederacy ; r assistance which has not ■* been met wiffioal delay; and in every case ol requisiton on the State tor troops, more men Lave been tendered than were required. la the face of this proud record, no plea of necessity could be set up, so tar as Georgia was concerned, (and 1 believe the remark wilt apply gen. rally to alt the States,) tor the passage ot any act by Congress to raise troops, which either m fringed her constitutional rights or disregarded her sovereignty. The Act ot Congress of 16th April last, usually known as the Conscript Act, in my opinion, d‘»es both ; and is not only a palpable violation ot the Constitution of the Confederacy, but a dangerous assault upon both the rights aud the sovereignty of tu • Mates. Who supposed, when we entered into this revoluuon for the des tense of State Rights against Federal aggression, that, in a little over one year, the persons of the free-born citizens of the respective Stales would be regarded and claimed, while at home in pur* suit of their ordinary avocations, as the vassals of ihe central power, to be like chattels, ordered and disposed of at pleasure, without the consent, and even over the protest of the States to which they belong ; and that he wuo raised bis voice against such usurpation be denounced by the minions of power as untrue to the cause so dear to every patriotic Southern heart ? And who that has noticed the working of the Conscription policy, will say that this picture is overdrawn ? Not only the rights and the sovereignty of the States have been disregarded, and the individual rights of the citizen nave been trampled underfoot, and we 'have by this policy been reduced, for a time at least, o a State bordered upon military des* potistu. This extraordinary act has been defended, bow* ever, by two classes of individuals, upon two dis* unci grounds The first class admit its unconsti* tutionality, but justify its passage upou the plea t necessity, and say that without it the twelve months volunteers could not have been kept in the held in a time of great emergency; anu fur ther, that the Constitution is a mere rope ot sand m the midst of revolution. The second clfsi utilities It on the ground that Congress had y.« right under the Constitution to pass it. Iseitoer correct? . . . , To the first, it may be replied that the plea of uece.-sity oaunot be set up, till it cau be shown that the States when called on had ueglecied or ret used to fill the requisitions made upon them tor troops by the President. Again, in reference to the twelve months troops, it should be remem bered that the Government only called on them to volunteer tor that period before they lett their homes, and that the contract clearly implied be tween them and the Government, was that they should faithfully serve it, and do ali tbeir duty as soldiers for that period, aud that they should have all the rights of soldiers, w;ih the legal pay and allowances, and should iu good faith be discharge ed and peimuted to return home at the end ot that time. The Government cannot, therefore, be justifiable iu violating its contract, and acting in bad faith towards, them, no matter how great the emergency may have been, unless it cuu be shown that the Government, by the exercise of due foresight aud energy, coulQ not have supplied iheir places in time to meet the emergency. The fact thui they were twelve months men was well known to the Government from the lime they entered the service. Why then.were not requi sitions made upon the State for enough of troops to fill their places a sufficient time before the ex piration of their term, to have men in sufficient numbers ready for service.? But admit that the Government.bad neglected this.plain duty ml it was now too late to get the men trorn the States m time to meet the crisis, and that it had oa that account become necessary for it to violate us contract with the twelve months men, to save the cause from ruin; was it then necessary to pass a gent: ul C* ascription Act to accomplish .this pur pose? Could it not have been done bv simply passing an act compelling all twelve months meu, of every age, to remain in service for ninety days, us all under Handover 35, though not con- j scripts, were compelled to do? This would have given the Government three months more ot time 10 provide against consequences of its former neg lect, and raise the necessary force, and would have leti the troops, in the meantime, under the command of the officers appointed by tne State, us provided by the Constitution. The emergen* cy would this* have been met, more of justice bet-n done even to the twelve months voluUeers, and no dangers us precedent at war with the constitu tioual njhts of the citizen aud the sovereignty of the States would have been established. It must j also be recollected, while upon this part of the subject, that the act, by its piain letter, depriv- j ed the troops who hud volunteered for the war, in response to calls made by the States to Si. requi* i sitions made upon them, of the right to elect their officers, when so authorized by the laws of their respective States, aud Lave taem commie- j sioned by their State authorities; and that it es tablished a system of promotion of officers in vio lation <>f this right of the troops, and authorized the President to issue the comm s-.ons. What pressing necessity existed to justiiv act of palpable injustice to the State volunteers, who uad entered the Confederate service at tne call of thttr respective States for the war, with the con stitutional guaranty that their officers should be appointed by the States, and with the further guaranty trom the States, as in this State, that they shouldhave Tee right to elect those who were to command them But it is said by the first class ol advocates of conscription that the Con stitution must yieid to the exigencies of the times, ! and that those in authority may violate it when j necessary during the revolution ; if so it of course follows that those in authority must be the judges ; of the necessity tor its violation, which mi.kes | thfir will the supreme law of the land. If this ; were the intention of the people, why did they form a Constitution at the beginning of the revo* ; lntion. and why did they require all our Senators ! aud Representatives in Congress, all the mem- ! hers of the Legislatures of the several States, and j all executive and judicial officers of the Confed- : erate States, and of the several States, to take an oath to support this Constitution ‘ When tne Governor of this State and each ; member ot the General Assembly took a solemn j oath to support the Constitution of the Confeder ate States, no exception was made which re’iev* . ed them from the obligations of the oath during the revolution. This fact should be remembered by those woo admit the violation of toe Consti tution, but severely censure the public officer who, true to his obligation, throws nimselfin the breach for thesuppor'. of the Constitution against the usurpation. I here dismiss the first class of advocates, and • urn to the justification set op by the second, which from its nature, however unfounded, is en* titled to more le-p-ctful cjnsioeration. Does the CtuftsrttntKn arborize Congress to pass : an act *uch as t*.e <ne now under considera tion ? The advocates of this power in Congress rest iih case upon the 12th paragraph of the Bth secs j tiou »t t:;* nrst article o r ihe Constitution of ihe I Confederate State -, which is an exact copy of a a mi Ur paragraph of the same article aud section of ihe Commotion of the United States. This paragraph gives Congress the power “to raise and support armies ” The advocates of con* scription lake this single clause of the Constitu tion alone, and contend that il does not define any particular mode of raising armies, and that Congress has the power, therefore, to raise them either by voluntary enlistment, or by conscription or coercion, as it may judge best. The Convention which framed ihe C- n« stituticn of the United States, of wmch ours u a copy s i far as relates to this point, must be sup- , posed to Lave used terms id the sense m which I they were usnaliy understood a; the time, in the j government which had lately been their own, and fr >m which a.- descendants they ha i derived not only the terms used, but their whole system ol j language and laws, civil aud military. In placing . a just construction upon the phrase to “raise j armies, ’’ as used by the Convention, we are, theft- \ fore, naturally led to inquire how armies had been, and were at that time, raised by the British j Government, from which tne members of the Convention “had derived most of tneir ideas upon this subject.“ Bv reference to the legislation am history of ihe British Government, u wiil be found that armies were not then raised in that . Government by conscription, but only by voiuu-’ . ’ary enlistment. This was not only the case*at | 1 ihe time of the adoption of the Federal Constitu- ; tioo, but bad become the settled and established practice of that Government, alter deliberate con- ' sideratiou of the question; which fact cannot b presumed to have Oeen unknown to the Convene j iion when they used the phrase now under con siderttion. The terms used by the Convention Laving sc- j quired a definite meaning well understood and recognized by nil, we cannot justly presume that the members of the Convention intended that these terms when used by them, should be under stood in a different sense. Had this been their design, they would certainly have used such quali fying language as would have left no doubt of their intention to reject the ordinary acceptation of the terms, and uoe them in a different sense. By reference to the constitutional history of Great Britain, it will be seen that a bill was at tempted m 1704 “t j recruit the army by a forced conscription ol men from each parish, but was laid aside as unconstitutional/' It was Hied again in 1707 with like success; but it was re solved instead to bring in a bill for raising a suffi cient number of troops out of such persons as i have no lawful calling < i employment. A distin l guished author says: “The parish officers were 1 thus enabled to press men for the land Service, a t method hardly more constitutional than the for* < mer, and liable to enormous abuses.” The act t was temporary. And was temporarily revived in t 1757, but never upon any later occasion. The Convention of Fat thirty years alter the « British Government had abandoned the policy of i conscription, even of persons having no lawful employment, us unconstitutional. The Conveu- i lion was composed mostly of intelligent lawvers, : who were well acquainted with this fact, which leaves no loom to doubt that when they gave Congress the power to “raise armies,” they in* tended that the phrase to “raise armies” should « be understood in the sense then attached to it, « and that the urmies should be raised by volunteer 1 enlistment, which was the only constitutional i mode then known in Great Britain or this coun try. It had not only been solemnly determined ; by the proper authorities iu the kingly govern- i ! inent ot Great Britain long before the commence ment of the revolution, that it was : unconstitutional to raise armies by conscription, j i but even the monarchical government of r; unce, i had not yet ventured so far as to disregard the |« rights of the subject of that Government, a* j adopt this practice, which places each tnan sub ject to it, like a cbattle, at the will of him who, under whatever name, exercises monarchical power. The practice of the Government of the United Slates was also uniformly against con scription from its creation to its dissolution. In view of these facts of h story, can it now be « just to charge the great aud «. »od men who framed our republican govern met; with ihe grave mis take of having conferred upon the General Gov ernment of a Confederation of Slates powers over the persons of the citizens of the respective States, which Wire at the tune, regarded too dangerous to be exercised by the most absolute European j monarchs over their subjects ? When we construe ail that is contained in the i Constitution upon this subject together, the m*»an- j ing is clear beyond doubt, 'llie power delegated by the States to Congress, are ali it has. These j are chiefly enumerated iu the Bth section of the i Ist artic'.e ol the Constitution. Paragraph 11, gives Congress power, “To declare war; grant letters ot marque and < reprisal, and makes rules concerning captures on i land and water Paragraph I_, “To raise and support armies; but no appro* I pnation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years Paragraph 13, “To provide and maintain a Navy;” Paragraph 14, “To make rules for the government and regula- i tion of the land and naval forces.” If it were the intention ot the Convention to give Congress the power to “raise armies” by con scription, these four consecutive paragraphs gave plenary powers over the whole question ot war | aud peace, armies ana navies; and it could n t { have been necessar.' to aud any other paragrapu ; to enlarge a power which was already absolute j and complete. If Congress assessed the p >wer under the 1 9 -th i paragraph above quoted, to compel every officer ) and every citizen of every State to enter its armies 1 at its pleasure, its power was as unlimited over the persons of the officers and citizens of the States, i .is the power of the most absolute monarch in | Europe ever was over his subjects; and it was j extreme folly on the part of the Couvention to at-- | j tempt t) increase this absolute power by giving J : to Congress a qualified power over the miiitta of | j the Stales, when its power over every man com j posing the militia, was unqualified and unlimited. ; | That ihe Convention was not guilty of the straDge \ absurdity of having given Congress the absolute, j t unlimited bower now claimed tor it, will be seen i by relerence to the two next paragraphs, which give only limited powers over the militia of tne States. Paragraph 15 gives Congress the power, “ To provide for calling forth the miliua to exe cute the laws of the Contederate States; suppress insurrections, and repel invasions;” Paragraph 16, “ To provide for organizing, arming, and dis- •! ciplining the militia : and for governing such part j of them as may be employed in the service of* the I Confederate States, reserving to the States respec- I tivelv, the appointment of the officers, and toe authority of training the militia according to the ! discipline prescribed by Congress." Now. it must be admitted that Congress ba:i no j need ot the limited power over the militia of the j States, which is given by the two last paragraphs, j lif it posse.-.-ed under the 12th paragraph, the u- ; j limited power to compel everv man of whom the j militia is composed, to enter the military service ! ; of the CVnHieracy at any moment designated by j Congress. ’ When ’.. i- s'x paragraphs above quoted, are con- . | strued together, each has its proper place and its j i proper meaning; and each delegates a power not delegated by either of the others. The power to ; declare war, ;s the first given to Congress ; then ; the power to raise und support urm.es ; then the j power to prov.de u navv; then the power to make 1 I rules for the government and regulation of the j land and naval forces. Congress may, therefore, j make war ; and us .one as it can do so by the use • of its armies raised by voluntary enlistments, ! (which wa* the meaning of the term ** to raise armies,*’ when inserted in the Constitution, \ and bjr the u*e of »he nary, it may prosecute the war without calling upon ih? States for as-is’ance. or I in any way interfering with th*» milit a But if it should become nrceasary for C »ngres.s to employ more force than ’he army and the nave at its c t>mmand,iD the execution of the laws of the Con federacy, ’he suppression of iosurrecu »n, or the repulsion of mv*-i»>n, C<*ngr#eß nr. v then, under j »i e authority delegated by paragraph 15, provide j i f calling forth the miiiua of the States, for these ■ purposes. When this is done, however, paras graph 16 guards the righ*s of the States, by re serving, in plain terms, to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers to command the miiiua when employed in the service of the Con federate States. This authority was regarded by the Convention of 1787, as of such vita! import ance, that they, with almost entire unanimity, voted down a proposition to permit the genera ! government to appoint ev-n tne general officers ; I while the most ultra Federalist in the Convention, : never seriously contended that the States should I be deprived of the appointment of the field and ! company officers. Tne Convention doubtless saw , the great vaiue of this reservation to the States, as the officers who were to command the militia j when in the service of the Confederacy, would | j not be dependent up'»n the President lor their ! commissions, and would be :?upposed t be readv j to maintain witn their respective commands, if j ! necessary, the rights of the States against the en j c roach men ts of the Confederacy, in case an at- I j tempt should b- made by the latter to usurp : powers destructive ot the sovereignty of the 1 I former. On the c< ntrarv, should the - fficers to | j command the militia of the States in the service | of the Confederacy, be appointed by t eCon'ed- 1 jcrate Executive, and be dependent upon ;.::n for their commUs ns, they might be supp >sed t» be more willing instruments in his hands, to exe- ' cute his ambitious designs, in case of attempted encroachment. When, therefore, the different delegations of j ! power are construed together, the whole system | |is harmonious. When Congress has declared ! ; war. and has used ail the power it possesses in j g tiding a Navy, and still needs more forces tor the * j purposes already mentioned* it may then provide j j ior Gatling forth the mitt <a of the several States, ! as contradistinguished from its armies and Navy, 1 ! and here, for tne first time, the States** such,have 1 j a voice in the matter, as Congress cannot call j forth the militia without giving tue Slates the ap- I pomtment of the officers,which gives ibem a quah | hed power over tne.troops in me service of the | Confederacy, ana au opportunity to ue heard, as ' ! Mates, if the delegated powers have been abused 1 by Congress, or tne miiitarv force is iikeiy to De u»ed for the subversion ot their sovereignty. As the itsiauum of powers not delegated is j reserved by the States, they may, when requisi- ! nous are made upon them tor tioops by the Con* | tederacy, or when necessary ior their own protec tion or the execution of their own laws, call forth I the militia by draft or by accepting volunteers. ! The advocates of conscription by Congress | have atteropiea to sustain to doctrine by drawing technical distinctions between tne militia ot the JSiales, and all the arms»»bearing people of the States, ot whom the mililfa is composed. lu other words, they uitempt to draw a distinction between a company o! inoitia of one hundred men in a i district, and the one hundred uieu of whom the j company is composed. And while it is admitted i that Congress cannot call forth the c unpany bv ; conscription, but must take the company with its j officers, it is contended that Congress aiav call j forth, not the company, but the one hundred men J who compose the company, by conscription, and j by this evasion, get rid ot the State officers ana ! appoint its owu officers. This mode ot enlarging j tut powers of Congress and evading the constitu tional rights of the States, by unsubstantial tech nicalities, could seem to be eutttled to respect, ouiy, on account ot the distinction of the names ot its author-, and not on account of its logical truth, or the tumidness of the r asouiug by which It 15 attempted to be maintained. It Congress may get nd ot in • miiiua organi zations ot the States, at tnv tune, by disbanding them, and compelling all tue officers and tneu of whom they are composed to enter ns armies as conscripts, under officeflMLi noted by the Presi dent, iae provision in t™( • «s iiution winch re-. serv«s to the States the appointment of the offi cers to command meir miiiua, when employed in I tne service of the Confederacy, is a mete nullity j whenever Congress chooses to enact tuat it shall j t .• a nullity. I Again, if Congress has power to raise its ar.- : ' titles by conscription, it has the power to dtscrimi j cate and say whom it will first call. If it may . compel all between '0 and 35 years ot age, by j conscription to enter its armies, it has the same right to extend the act, as it has lately done, from j 35 to 45; and if it has this power, it has the power , to lakeail between 16 and 6d. The same power of discrimination authorizes it to limit its opera- • tions, and take only those between 25 and 30, or to take any particular class ot individual it may i designate. And it must be borne iu mind that I the power to raise armies is as unlimited iu Con j gress, in times of the most protouud peace, as it is in the midst of the most devastating war. It Congress possesses the power to raise armies by i conscription, it tollews that it may disband toe Suite Governments whenever it chooses to constd -1 er them au evil, as u may c.-mpeljevery Executive ; iu every State m the Confederacy, every member >: the Legislature of every State, every Judge v»t | < very court in every State, every militia officer, and every other State officer, to enter the armies j ot the Confederacy, in times ot peace or war, as { privates under officers appointed by the President; ana may provide that the armies shail be recruit ed by other State officers as fast as they are ap- I pointed by the States. Admit the power of con scripuon claimed tor Congress by its advocates, and there is no escape from the position thatCan | gress possesses this power over the States. It may be said, however, that the case supposed | ts an extreme one, and that while Congress may ! possess the power to destroy the State Govern -1 ments, it would never exercise it. If it possesses I the power, ns exercise depends upon the will of Congress, which might be influenced by ambition, , interest or caprice. "Admit the power, and 1 ex> ! ercise the functions of the Executive office of this j State, you hold your seat- a* members of the Gen ; er.v! Assembly, and our Judges perform the r ju ! dieiai by the grace and special favor of j 1 Congress, and not as niut.er of right by virtue o: j . tne inherent sovereignty us a great State, whose j | people, in the manner provided by the Constitu* j ;»oc, have invested us lor the constitutional pe- i | nod, with the right to exercise these functions. | ! For my views upon this question somewhat | j more in detail, and for the strongest reasons j I which can be given on the other side to sustain • ! this extraordinary pretension ot power in COll - gress 1 beg wave to refer you to the correspond- ; j cnee between President Davis and*myself,* upon j i this question; a copy of which is herewith trans mitted to eacb branch of the General Assembly. In my tetters totae President will also be found ; i the reasons which induced me to resist the exc • cution of the Conscription Act of 16th April last, | so far as it related to the officers necessary to the j I maintenance of the government of this State. It may be proper that 1 remark, that my firs: lette r to the President upon this question, in which i notify him that I will resist mterfetence with the ! legislative, executive or judicial departments ot : the government of the State, thougn dated the j *22d ot April, as it was expected to go by the mail of that day, was prepared on the previous day, | which was the day the Exemption Act was passed | by Congress in secret session ; of the passage of which 1 had no knowledge, nor had I ever heard that such a bit! was pending when the letter was prepared. ; The question has frequently been asked, why I ! did no; resist the operation ot the Act upon the ' privates as weii as the officers of the militia o: { the rotate. But for the extreme emergeuev in i which tne country was at the time placed, by the ! neglect of the Conieuerate Government to make ! 3 , places of the iwe.re months men at an dav, and the fact that the Conscription Act. ov tbe ;V --peal of a., other act* under which tne President \ had been author zed to raise troops, placed it out of Lis power, fur the time, to accept them unde: | the constitutional mode. I should have had no j ; hesitation in taking this course. But having 53- . j te’-ed my protest against ice constitutionality of j ! the Act, uni Congress having repealed ail other j I ac*s for rats: 2 g tro ps, 2 thought :: best, on ac- * 1 count of the great public peri!, to throw the least 1 possible obstructions, consistent with the mainte nance «»r' the gov-r ament of tie State, m the way . of tbeCoafe lerate G n*-. rnmeat in ns preparations I for our defence. 1, therefore, at the expense of public censure, which I saw I must incur by ma xing the a.stinc ion between officers and privates, detesm.ned ’ /content myself till th- meeting of tne Genera. Assemblv, with resistance to the exe cution of th- act, on y to the extern necessary to protect the State government against dissolution, and her pe pie again-*! tbe massacre and horrors, j wh cc might Lave attended negro insurrections in particular ocalities, had the militia been dis* banded, by compelling the militia officers to leave *he State, which would have left no legal vacan* j cuts that cuu : d nave been ti led by the Executive. While the fi*s - conscription act made a heavy ; dra f t upon the militia of the State, it left ail be tween thirty-live and forty-five, subject to the command of her constituted au’horities, in case of emergeoev ; and with these and her officers, 1 she stili retained a militarv organization. I did no*, at that time, anticipate an extension of the ac*, which would embrace the whole militia of j the State, before your meeting. The late act of O ngr-ss extends the conscription act to embrace . all oeiwtea thirty-five and forty-five; and, if ex i ecuted, disbands and destroys all military orgam i xat on in tne .S’ate. Not only so, but it denies to ! those between thirty-five and forty-five, the right | guaranteed by the Constitution of the Confederacy j anti .aws of this State, to every Georgian to elect I tne officers by whom he is to be commanded ' while n C-.nfcderate service, and have them com. ! missioned by tue proper authority *n h:s ! Mate. This privilege has been allowed to j troops when called into ihe field. Even thos 1 embraced in the first conscription act,were ai.owed j thirty davs to volunteer and select their own offi cer”! from among those who, at the time tbe act was passed, had commissions fiom the Secretarv * ol War to raise Kegiments. But even this limited i privilege, which tell far short oi the full Qieasure ■ of :heir consututional rights, is denied those now caiied for; and they are to be c impelled to enter | organizations m the choice of whose officers they have had do part, till ail the old organizations, : with most of their officers appointed by ihe Presi j denr, are filled to their maximum number. Tnis ' act, therefore, not only does gross injustice to.the i j c;as- of *»ur fellow-citizens now called to the field, ■ ana denies them the exercise of sacred constitu | tuna, rights which other citizens, when, they ’ entered the service, were permitted 10 enjoy, but, I t t-xecuied, it takes the Major Generals and all other militia officers of tbe State, by force, and ; ' outs them under he command of third Lieuten ants appointed by the President, and leaves the 1 | State without a military organization to execute 1 her laws, repel invasion, protect her public prop- j ; erty, or suppress servile insurrection, which the j enemv now threatens t » incite for the indis* j j criminate massacre of our wives and cur chit* ! dren. We entered into this revolution in defense of ; the rights and sovereignty s>f tbe States, and miu | derei our connection with the old Government, I because Slate lights were invaded and State sot I ertr.gnty v-enied The conscription act, at one fell j swoop, sir.kes down the sovereignty of the States, i tramples upon the constitutional rights and per*. 1 s.mai liberty of tbe citizen, and arms the Presis ! deut with imperial powers under which his \ subaltern in this State has already published his j orders to drag citizens of Georgia, who are not in ‘ military service, from their homes, “in chains,” ' ' f-r disobedience to his behests; while mralids i 1 unfit lot duty have too often been forced into camp 1 | uud victimized by exposure which t tbey were ! to endure. This action of the Govern- i ui at not only violates tbe most sacred constitu tional rights of the citizen, but tends to crush out i the spirit of freedom and resistance to tyranny whit a was bequeatoed to us by our ancestors of the Revolution of 1776. When the first conscrip tion ac; was passed, we had just gone through a senes ot reverses which saddeneu the hearts of our people, and the public mind acquiesced in the usurpation on account of the supposed necessity. The Government, presuming upon the advantage : gained by the precedent with the acquiescence, I iasteos upon the country a second conscription j act which not only detaches par; from the State j militia, but disbands tbe whole. No plea of ne cessity can be set up for this last act. instead of I reverses, ail was success at the time of its passage, j Our glorious armies had driven the enemy, at the j point of the bayonet, from every bank field, dur* j lug the most brilliant summer and fail campaigns j to be tound upon the pages of history. These successes had been achieved by men who entered the service as volunteers, and were not dragged . trom their homes as conscripts. The term of j service of the troops was not about to expire at . the lime of the passage ot the last conscription i act, tor they were then, every one, in for three years or the war. The additional number needed j to reinforce the armies, if we may judge from the I past, could be lurnished by the Slates under { requisitions, in halt the time, and with much less I than ba.f me expense which it will cost the President to get them into service as conscripts. • Under these circumstances, solemnly impressed ! with a sense of the injustice about to* be done to a large class of our fellow citizens, under an act which, m my opinion, plainly violates the Con stitution ot tbe Confederacy, and strikes down the sovereignty of the States, I felt that I should I justly torleit the confidence reposed 10 me by a people who, ever jealous of their rights, had op posed stern resistance to Federal encroachments, under my predecessors, Jackson, Troup, and Gil mer, were 1 t 3 permit the injustice, and allow the Government ot the State to be virtually disbanded and the right arm of her power severed from her, without first submitting the question of the sur* render to tbe representatives of the people. I therefore informed the President of the Confed erate States, m a letter dated the ISth of last month—a copy of which is hereto appended—that I would fill promptly with volunteers legally organized, a requisition, ( which I invited,) for her quota of the new levy of troops needed by the Government, but that 1 would not permit the en rollment of conscripts under the late conscription act, till you should have lime to meet, deliberate, and act. You have the power to adopt the proper measures, and give proper direction to ibis ques* tIOQ. During the approaching winter, the enemy will I make every effort in his power with large fleets | and armies, to take our seaport city, overrun a ■ large portion of our State, plunder our people, | and carry off our slaves, or induce them to mur- j | der the innocent and helpless portion of our : j population. At so critical a moment, tbe portion | of cur miiiua who remain m the State, should be . encouraged to volunteer and form themselves fnto ! efficient organizations, and should be kept within i the limits of the State to strike for their wives i and their children, their homes and their altars. If all our population able to bear arms are to be ! forced by Conscription to leave the State in the j greatest crisis of tee war, to protect more favored j points, and our own cities are to be left an easy prey to the enemy, and our homes to be plun's . dered by his marauding bands without resistance, I will not be privy to the deed. You are the re ’ presentatives of the people, and must make the decision. I, therefore, conjure voir to stand by \ die rights and the honor of the State, and to pro vide for the protection of the nropertv, the liber ties, and the lives of her people. Hon. Thomas W. Thomas, a judicial officer of the State, of great ability and integritv. in a case brought regularly before him in his judicial ca pacity, has pronounced the Conscription Act un constitutional, in an argument which has not been, and will not be answered. Since the decis ion was made, Congress, as the newspapers re port, has passed an additional act, authorizing the President to suspend the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus, in all cases of arrest made under the authority of the Government, which was doubtless intended to deny to the Judiciary the exercise of rs Constitutional functions, in this very case, and which places the liberty of every citizen of the Confederacy at the mercy of the President, who may imprison anv citizen under his order without legal warrant or authority, and | 1 no court dare interfere to liberate the captive! when the imprisonment is illegal. I now submit j ; me question for the consideration and decision of j • the Representatives of the people of the State, 1 f whether the Constitutional rights of her citizens i shall be respected, and her sovereignty main- j ! rained, or whether the citizen shall be told that' !he has no rights, and his State no sovereignty. ! Tbe question is not whether Georgia shall furs j nish her jast quota of men ’and means for tfiej t; common defence. This 3he has more than don? r» the present time, and this she is ready : ' 1 do, so long os shi has a man or a do.iar at’he: command. Bat it is, shall she be permitted : w f famish troops as volunteers, organized m accord • ance with her reserved rights, or shall her Tolun , j teers be rejected ana her citizens be dragged to : the field as Conscripts, in violation of their rights • and her Y Shall the pompous pretens > i sious of power, made by a Government , , constantenfcv the States as their common agent, be acquiesced in, or shall the Government be com i pelled to return to the exercise of the powers » delegated to it by the Constitution ? I am aware that it has been said by the advo* • cates of conscription, that it is no time now to cor rect errors. It so, it follows that there is no re« ■' spossibility for, and no restraint upon, their com *! mission. Again, it is Said we should first decide ; whether we are to “ have States,” before we un ji de/take to dehn? the rights of the States. We , had States before we entered into this revolution. 1 We had States before the passage of the Conscripa ? tion Acts. We still have States, but if Conscrip f • tion is to be execut-d to the extent of the pother f | ciaimed for Congress by its advocates, we cease : ! to have States, or to have Constitutional liberty or • personal rights. The solemn question now pre« - seated for your.consideration is, shall we continue > j to have States, or sna i we, in lieu thereof, have a t { consolidated military despotisms • ! MARTIAL LAW AND HABEAS CORPUS. t! We were recently informed bv tne newspapers, 1 ‘ tbat a military commander, bolding a commts* . sioa under the Government of the Confederate 1 States, Lad issued an order declaring the city of Atlanta, in this State, to be under martial .’aw, and had appointed a Governor and ins aids : i assume the government of the city. At the time »: this order was published, the headquarters of the General by whom it was passed, and most of cis command, weie, i believe, in another .State, j over one hundred and thirty miles from the city i of Atlanta. The order was issued without any conference with the Executive of this State upon • the subject, and the Governor appointed by the General, assumed the government and control o: , ; tne city. As you were soon to assemble, I though; . I it best to avoid all conflict upon this question t... i the facts should be placed before you, and tout i j pleasure, as the representatives of the sovereign people of this State, should be known in tea 1 premises. I consider this and all like proceed.ngs. 1 on the part ot the Confederate officers not on.v i high handed usurpations, depending for ;he r ! authority upon military power without shadow { of constitutional right, but dangerous precedents. which if acquiesced in by the people ot this Sta‘e. j tend io the subversion of the government ana sovereignty of the State, and ot the mdividoa i rights ot tne citizen. This order of the command ! ing General was, after some delay, annuied bv the j War Department. The sth and oth paragraphs of the 4ih Art.de j of the Constitution of the Confederate Sta’cs, are in these words: 5.‘ The enumeration iu the Constitution of certain rigtits, shall not be canstrued to deny >r i disparage others retained “by the people of the i Several .States.’’ I *>. “The powers net delegated to the Confederate • States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States re pec ively, er to the people thereof.” Under these provisions of the Constitution, z.. Department nor officer of the Confederate Gov ernment, has the right to assume or exercise any power uot delegated by the States, “each State ! acting in its sovereign and indepennent chara:- ! ter.” It follows, tne ret ore, that no Department i nor officer of the Confederate Government, has the right to suspend the writ of habeas corpui, whicn is the highest safeguard ot personal liberty, nor tn exercise the high pierogative of sovereignty, by the representative ot which alone, martial .aw may be declared, unless the grant of power from the States to do so can be found m the Constitu tion. That instrument declares: “The privilege of the writ i f habtaseofpus sha uot be “suspended, unless when, in case ot re* i beliion or invasion, “the public safe’y may require I it.” ■ This clause contains a grant, by plain implies j tion, of the power to suspend tne writ of ial-iM ; sorpu* when the public safety requires it, in the j cases of rebellion or invasion, but in no other case; and no turther in these cases man may be J required by the public safety. But we look to ‘ the Constitution in vain for any grant ot power by i the States to the Contederattf Government, or any Department or officer thereof, to declare mania, law and suspend the laws and civil process of the States, (other than the writ of habtas corpus,) n any case or under any emergency whatever. If a Confederate officer may, by a declaration of mar tial law, 6et aside the laws and civil process us a State in a particular city other locality, at h:s pleasure, ne may extend his order to embrace me whole territory of the State, and set aside the government ot tne State, and may himseit enact the laws and appoint the Governors by waic : the people of the State shall iu future be controlled- Not only so, but if the precedent in this case is :. he tolerated, this may oe done bv any military commander in any part of the Confederacy, w: chooses to send his edict to this State, an a ap point his Executive officers to carry it into efieci. IMPRESSMENT OK PRIVATE PROPERTY. It is also my duty to* call your attention another matter considered by tile people of th.s State a subject ot grievance. The power is now ciaimed by almost everv military commander, t : impress the private property ot the citizen at his pleasure, without any express order from the Secretary of War for that purpose; aad in man cases, without the payment of any compensation— the officer, who is in’some c ises, only a Captain or Lieutenant, giving a certificate that the proper ty has been taken fol public use; which seizure, after long delay, may, or may not, be recognizeu by the Government; as it may determine that | tne officer had, or had not, competent authority to make it. I am aware that the Constitution confers the power upon the Confederate Government, to tase private property for public use; paying there* z just compensation; and I nave no doubt, that every true and loyai citizen, would cheerfu-.y j acquiesce in the exercise of this power, by the g properly authorized aad responsible agents of me Government, at all times when the public necec* j sities might require it. Bui I deny that every | j subaltern in uniform who passes through the I country, has the right to appropriate what ne I pleases of the property of the citizen without * ■ being able to snowthe’authority of the Govern ment for the txercise of this bign prerogative. As ‘j our people ar? not aware of their proper remedies | tor the redress of the grievances hereinbefore mentioned, 1 respectfully suggest, that the Gen-* era! Assembly, after consideration of these qaes* tions, declare by resolution or otherwise, tfaeir opinion as to the power of the Confederate Gov ernment and its officers, in these particu.ars. ± also respectfully request tbat the General Assem - bly declare the extent to which the Executive o-. this State wiii be sustained by the representatives of the people, in protecting their rights, ana i integrity of the Government, and sovereign - - the State, against the usurpations aad aous a •*- which I have invited vour attention. Joseph E. Bro*>- Hon-. D. W. Voohhbks.—We agree with the Cin cinnati Enquirer tbat ngbt-thinkinzpeople where will be rejoiced to hear of the re. . >• to Congress of the Hon. Darnel W. -V oorhee q the eloquent champion of Democratic P n “ j Indiana. The Abolitionists made the mo’ ' perate exertions to defeat him; and tne *• aided bv the whole influence ot Ex-Go ■ r A. Wright, who lives in that District. Al* to m purpose, however. Voorhees ha.s.trintnpb an unscrupulous opposition, and win c.. member of that House, of which ne :s one few ornaments. • , = Pita ( Eli.) Expnss, Salt Excitement.— We were shown a .£- j vesterdav front Dalton, Ga., 'tj a Se^ 1 *? ~ ' this citv'which stated that a number ot i that place had gone to the State Depot »oa j manded of the Azent some salt. De ! them to the Commissary’s oflice, waen me. i paired thither and demanded s&:t or bloo • , , j officer gave them some salt, which snppuea . ' immediate wants. We regret the occurrenc. - : such scenes, hat not knowing all the sac.», w. • ! frain from any comments for the. present. . At inti O-fu.) Southtrn GenfvUn 'j, A -