threatening, counsel, advice, or attempt, shall have the proposed effect or not, he or they shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor; and upon conviction before any Court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding —— dollars, or by imprisonment during a term not less than —— years, nor exceeding —— years; and further, at the discretion of the court, may be holden to find security for his or their good behaviour, in such sum and for such time as the court may direct.”
This section would cover the conspiracies and combinations themselves. But Douglas says that such treasonable things will be repeated as long as the causes from which they spring remain in active operation. He therefore wants to crush out the causes; which may be done by section second:
“Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any person, inhabitant of any one State or Territory, shall write, print, utter, or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered, or published, or shall knowingly or willingly authorize or aid in writing, printing, uttering, or publishing, any scandalous or malicious writing or writings against the government, inhabitants, laws, or institutions of other States or Territories, with intent to defame the said government [laughter], inhabitants, laws, or institutions, or to excite against them the hatred of the good people of any of the States, or to excite any unlawful combinations for invading, assailing, or molesting, the government, inhabitants, property, or institutions of other States or Territories, being thereof convicted before any Court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, he shall be punished by a fine not exceeding —— dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding —— years.”
Every candid person will at once admit that those two
