CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



2G1 



proper for carrying into execution the forego- 

 ing powers, and all other powers vested by this 

 Constitution in the Government of the United 

 States.' Is not the power to choose a Presi- 

 dent one that is vested in the Government of 

 the United States? It is the most essential 

 power that there is ; without it all the other 

 powers are nothing ; and the Constitution says 

 that for carrying into execution this power thus 

 granted Congress may make all laws which 

 shall be necessary. It seems to me that it 

 would be impossible to frame in broader or 

 more comprehensive terms a provision which 

 shall give Congress exclusive jurisdiction over 

 this matter than that which I have just read, 

 and it is found on the 10th page of Hickey's 

 Constitution. 



"Well, sir, what would be the common 

 sense, and what the reason of the thing ? What 

 does Congress meet for when the votes are 

 counted ? Is it to see as a matter of curiosity 

 how the thing is done ? Is it to go there to see 

 the Constitution trampled upon and not have 

 the power to remedy it ? Is it when they see 

 that there is danger of the Constitution being 

 violated, that they shall not provide by law 

 against it ? It seems to me that to say that 

 Congress has no power, is to say that the Con- 

 stitution itself is a dead letter, inoperative, and 

 of no force. 



" Now, I contend that it is the part of wis- 

 dom before the emergency comes to settle this 

 question. There never was a more favorable 

 time for its settlement than .the election of 1856 

 presented, and there will be none more favor- 

 able than this election presents. It is the part 

 of sagacity, of wisdom, and of patriotism, when 

 we see that such a contingency as this may be 

 fraught with the consequences of revolution, 

 to provide beforehand against it. There never 

 was a time when you could do it, when you 

 would be less liable to the charge of any sinis- 

 ter influence, because it cannot change the re- 

 sult, it cannot determine any thing except to 

 settle the principle : and then when an occasion 

 occurs that evil consequences may follow from 

 settling it one way or the other, here will be a 

 precedent showing that Congress at a time 

 when there was no inducement to any thing 

 hut an honest and straightforward decision of 

 the case maturely settled it, and settled it in 

 such a manner that the influence of the decision 

 will be morally binding upon our successors, 

 and will be preserved." 



Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois, followed, saying: 

 "But, sir, both the Senator from New York 

 and the Senator from Wisconsin doubt the 

 power of Congress to pass this resolution, and 

 they place themselves upon the Constitution. 

 The Senator from Wisconsin insists, as also does 

 the Senator from New York, that the Vice- 

 President, or the presiding officer of the Senate, 

 is to determine this question in the first instance. 

 The Constitution does not say that the presid- 

 ing officer of the Senate shall count the votes 

 even, and in the practice of the Government 



since the days of Washington till this moment 

 the Vice-President never has counted the vote. 

 The Constitution says, ' The President of the 

 Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and 

 House of Representatives,' do what? 'Open 

 all the certificates.' That is what he shall do. 

 Then what follows? ' And the votes shall then 

 be counted.' By whom? Another clause in 

 the Constitution already referred to declares 

 that Congress shall have authority to pass all 

 laws necessary and proper to carry into effect 

 every one of the granted powers. The power 

 to count the votes is given by the Constitution ; 

 the mode of doing it is not prescribed by the 

 Constitution ; but another clause in the Consti- 

 tution says that Congress shall have power to 

 provide by law for carrying into effect every 

 provision of this instrument ; and here is a pro- 

 vision of this instrument that these votes shall 

 be counted ; the manner of doing it is now de- 

 termined by the Constitution, and it is clearly 

 constitutional and proper for Congress, in the 

 exercise of its authority,, to carry into effect the 

 granted powers of the Constitution, to pass the 

 necessary laws to count the votes, and Congress 

 has done it from the beginning of the Govern- 

 ment. If it were not so, we should have revo- 

 lution at every Presidential election." 



Mr. Collamer, of Vermont, thus viewed the 

 question : " In relation to this resolution, its pre- 

 amble declares that certain States, naming thorn, 

 or the inhabitants of those States, were in a 

 condition of armed rebellion, and have contin- 

 ued in that condition for a certain time, and 

 then the resolution legislates of and concerning 

 those States. I think that is all wrong, all un- 

 called for. Let it be remembered that in 1861 

 Congress passed an act making a large body of 

 provisions for the condition of things which had 

 then arisen. It is an act entitled ' An act fur- 

 ther to provide for the collection of duties on 

 imports, and for other purposes,' which was 

 approved July 13, 1861. In the fifth section 

 of that act, drawn, as I know, with a great deal 

 of thought and care, it was provided : 



That whenever the President, in pursuance of the 

 provisions of the second section of the act entitled 

 " An act to provide for calling forth the militia to ex- 

 ecute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, 

 and repel invasions, and to repeal the act now in 

 force for that purpose," approved February 28, 1795, 

 shall have called forth the militia to suppress combi- 

 nations against the laws of the United States, and to 

 cause the laws to be duly executed, and the insur- 

 gents shall have failed to disperse by the time directed 

 by the President, and when said insurgents claim to 

 act under the authority of any State or States, and 

 such claim is not disclaimed or repudiated by the 

 persons exercising the functions of government in 

 such State or States, or in the part or parts thereof 

 in which such combination exists, nor such insurrec- 

 tion suppressed by said State or States, then and in 

 such case it may and shall be lawful for the President 

 by proclamation to declare that the inhabitants of 

 such State, or any section or part thereof, where such 

 insurrection exists, are in a state of insurrection 

 against the United States ; and thereupon all com- 

 mercial intercourse by and between the same and the 

 citizens thereof and the citizens of the rest of the 

 United States shall cease and be unlawful so long as 



