out that one which is in your judgment most clearly so.

MR. BRECKENRIDGE. They are all, in my opinion, so equally atrocious that
I dislike to discriminate. I will send the Senator the bill, and I tell
him that every section, except the last, in my opinion, violates the
Constitution of the United States; and of that last section, I express
no opinion.

MR. BAKER. I had hoped that that respectful suggestion to the Senator
would enable him to point out to me one, in his judgment, most clearly
so, for they are not all alike--they are not equally atrocious.

MR. BRECKENRIDGE. Very nearly. There are ten of them. The Senator can
select which he pleases.

MR. BAKER. Let me try then, if I must generalize as the Senator does,
to see if I can get the scope and meaning of this bill. It is a bill
providing that the President of the United States may declare, by
proclamation, in a certain given state of fact, certain territory within
the United States to be in a condition of insurrection and war; which
proclamation shall be extensively published within the district to
which it relates. That is the first proposition. I ask him if that is
unconstitutional? That is a plain question. Is it unconstitutional to
give power to the President to declare a portion of the territory of the
United States in a state of insurrection or rebellion? He will not dare
to say it is.

MR. BRECKENRIDGE. Mr. President, the Senator from Oregon is a very
adroit debater, and he discovers, of course, the great advantage he
would have if I were to allow him, occupying the floor, to ask me a
series of questions, and then have his own criticisms made on them.
When he has closed his speech, if I deem it necessary, I will make some
reply. At present, however, I will answer that question. The State of
Illinois, I believe, is a military district; the State of Kentucky is a
military district. In my judgment, the President has no authority,
and, in my judgment, Congress has no right to confer upon the President
authority, to declare a State in a condition of insurrection or
rebellion.

MR. BAKER. In the first place, the bill does not say a word about
States. That is the first answer.

MR. BRECKENRIDGE. Does not the Senator know, in fact, that those States
compose military districts? It might as well have said "States" as to
describe what is a State.

MR. BAKER. I do; and that is the reason why I suggest to the honorable
Senator that this critici