8 the public service removed once more to another sphere of action, at New Orleans, I found this problem coming up in another form, and that led me to examine and eee how far had progressed this civil commotion, now carried on by force of arms. I found under our complex system of States, each having an independent government, with the United States covering all, that there can be treason to a State and not to the United States, revolution in a State and not as regards the United States, loyalty to a State and disloyalty to the Union, and loyalty to the Union and disloyalty to the organized Government of a State. As an illustration, take the troubles which almost lately arose in the State of Rhode Island*, where there was an attempt to rebel against the State Government and to change the form of that Government, but no rebellion against the United States. All of you are familiar with the movements of Mr. Dorr; in that matter there was no intent of disloyalty against the United States, but a great deal against the State Government. I therefore in Louisiana found a State Government that had entirely changed its form, and had revolutionized itself so far as it could; had created courts and imposed taxes; and put in motion all kinds of governmental machinery; and I found so far as this State Government was concerned, Louisiana was no longer in and of itself one of the United States of America. It had, so far as it could,, changed its State Government, and by solemn act had forever seceded from the United States of America and attempted to join the Confederate States. I found, I respectfully submit, a revolutionized State! There had been a revolution, by force ; beyond a riot, which is an infraction of the law; beyond an insurrection, which is an abnegation of the law; beyond a rebellion, which is an attempt to override the law by force of numbers; and, further, I found a new State Government formed, that was being supported by force of arms. Now, I asked myself, upon what thesis shall I deal with those people ? Organized into a community under forms of law, they had seized a portion of the territory of the United States; and I respectfully submit I had to deal with them as alien enemies. [Great applause.] They had forever passed the boundary of “wayward sisters,” or “erring brothers,”-unless indeed they erred toward us as Cain did against his brother Abel. They had passed beyond that and outside of it. Aye, and Louisiana had done this in the' strongest possible way, for she had seized on territory which the Government of the United States had bought and paid for. Therefore I dealt with them as alien enemies. [Applause.] And what rights have alien enemies, captured in war I They have the right, so long as they behave themselves and are non-combatants, to be free from personal violence; they have no other rights; and therefore, it was my duty to see to it, (and I believe the record will show, I did see to it,) [great applause and loud cheers,] that order was preserved, and that every man who behaved well, and did not aid the Confederate States, should not be molested in his person. I held, by the laws of war, that everything else they had was at the mercy of the conqueror. [Cheers.] Permit me to state the method in which their rights were defined by one gentleman of my staff. He very coolly paraphrased the Dred Scott decision, and said they had no rights which a negro was bound to respect. ‘ [Loud and prolonged laughter and cheers.] But, dealing with them in this way, I took care to protect all men in personal safety. Now I hear a friend behind me say: “ But how does your theory affect loyal men !” The difficulty in answering that proposition, is this : in governmental action the Government, in making peace and carrying on war, cannot deal with individuals, but with organized communities, whether organized wrongly or rightly [cheers] ; and all I could do, so far as my judgment taught me, for the loyal citizen, was to see to it that no exaction should be made of him, and no property taken away from him, that was not absolutely necessary for the success of military operations. I know nothing else that I could do. I could not alter the carrying on of the war, because loyal citizens were, unfortunately, like Dog Tray, found in bad company [laughter], and to their persons, and to their property, even, all possible protection I caused to be afforded. But let me repeat—for it is quite necessary to keep this in mind, and I am afraid that for want of so doing, some of my old Democratic friends have got lost, in going from one portion of the country to the other, in their thoughts and feelings—let me repeat that, in making war or making peace, carrying on governmental operations of any sort, governments and their representatives, so far as I am instructed, can deal only with organized communities, and men must
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