280 



CONGKESS, UNITED STATES. 



If untrue, I desire to know in what particular, 

 and why they are untrue. 



1. " I hold that the seceded States are still m 

 the Union, and cannot get out of it except 

 through an amendment of the Constitution per- 

 mitting it. 



2. "The seceded States being still in the 

 Union are entitled to claim all the rights ac- 

 corded to other States. 



8. " That each State now in the Union has 

 the right to stand upon the form of its consti- 

 tution as it existed at the time of its admission. 

 The people of such State may change its con- 

 stitution, provided they retain a republican 

 form of government; but neither the Presi- 

 dent nor Congress can reform, alter, or amend 

 such constitution, nor prescribe any alteration 

 or amendment as a condition of association 

 with the other States of the Union. The Gen- 

 eral Government may properly lend its aid to 

 enable the people to express their will ; but 

 any attempt to exercise power constitutionally 

 reserved to the State, beyond what may be de- 

 manded by the immediate exigencies of war, 

 will not tend to restore the Union, but rather 

 to destroy our whole system of government. 



4. " When citizens of a State rebel and take 

 up arms against the General Government, they 

 lose their rights as citizens of the United States, 

 and they necessarily forfeit those rights and 

 franchises in their respective States which de- 

 pend on United States citizenship. 



5. " If a seceded State be still in the Union, 

 entitled to recognition as a State, and a ma- 

 jority of the people have voluntarily with- 

 drawn their allegiance, the loyal minority con- 

 stitute the State and should govern it. 



6. " Congress should not reject the govern- 

 ments presented because of mere irregularity 

 in the proceedings leading to their reorgani- 

 zation. 



7. " If Congress has no right to make and 

 impose a constitution upon the people of any 

 State ; if its power extends no further than to 

 guarantee preexisting republican forms of gov- 

 ernment ; if the State still exists, and the loyal 

 men are entitled to exercise the functions of its 

 government, it follows that the only questions 

 to be examined here are, first, is the constitu- 

 tion the will of the loyal men qualified to act ? 

 and, second, is it republican in form ? 



8. " The constitutions of Louisiana and Ar- 

 kansas are thought to be republican in form, 

 and it is admitted that the loyal' men of -those 

 States respectively acquiesce in them. Hence 

 the duty of Congress to recognize them, and 

 the duty of each House to admit their repre- 

 sentatives." 



Mr. Sumner, of Massachusetts, presented the 

 following amendment for the purpose of having 

 it printed, proposing to move it at a future 

 day: 



That it Is the duty of the United States at the ear- 

 liest practicable moment, consistent with the com- 

 mon defence and the general welfare, to reestablish 

 by act of Congress republican governments in those 



States where loyal governments have been vacated 

 by the existing rebellion, and thus, to the full extent 

 of their power, fulfil the requirement of the Consti- 

 tution, that "the United States shall guarantee to 

 every State in this Union a republican form of gov 

 ernment." 



SBC. 2. And be it further resolved, That this im- 

 portant duty is imposed by the Constitution in ex- 

 press terms on "the United States," and not on 

 individuals or classes of individuals, or on any mili- 

 tary commander or executive officer, and cannot be 

 intrusted to any such persons, acting, it may be, for 

 an oligarchical class, and in disregard of large num- 

 bers of loyal people ; but it must be performed by 

 the United States, represented by the President and 

 both Houses of Congress, acting for the whole people 

 thereof. 



SEC. 3. And be -it further resolved, That, in deter- 

 mining the extent of this duty, and in the absence 

 of any precise definition of the term "republican 

 form of government," we cannot err, if, when called' 

 to perform this guarantee under the Constitution, we 

 adopt the self-evident truths of the Declaration of 

 Independence as an authoritative rule, and insist 

 that in every reestablished State the consent of the 

 governed shall be the only just foundation of gov- 

 ernment, and all men shall be equal before the law. 



SEC. 4. And be it further resolved, That, independ- 

 ent of the Declaration of Independence, it is plain 

 that any duty imposed by the Constitution must be 

 performed in conformity with justice and reason, 

 and in the light of existing facts : that, therefore, in 

 the performance of this guaranty, there can be no 

 power under the Constitution to disfranchise loyal 

 people, or to recognize any such disfranchisement, 

 especially when it may hand over the loyal majority 

 to the government of the disloyal minority ; nor can 

 there be any power under the Constitution to dis- 

 criminate in favor of the rebellion by admitting to 

 the electoral franchise rebels who have forfeited all 

 rights, and by excluding loyal persons who have 

 never forfeited any right. 



SEC. 5. And be 'it further resolved, That the United 

 States, now called at a crisis of history to perform 

 this guaranty, will fail in duty under the Constitu 

 tion, should they allow the reestablishrnent of any 

 State without proper safeguards for the rights oi 

 all the citizens, and especially without mating it 

 impossible for rebels now in arms against the na- 

 tional Government to trample upon the rights of 

 those who are now fighting .the battles of the Union. 



SEC. 6. And be it further resolved, That the path 

 of justice is also the path of peace, and that for the 

 sake of peace it is better to obey the Constitution, 

 and, in conformity with its requirements in the per- 

 formance of the guarantee, to reestablish State gov- 

 ernments on the consent of the governed and the 

 equality of all persons before the law, to the end 

 that the foundations thereof may be permanent, and 

 that no loyal majorities may be again overthrown or 

 ruled by any oligarchical class. 



SEC. 7. And be it further resolved, That a govern- 

 ment founded on military power, or having its origin 

 in military orders, cannot be a "republican form of 

 government" according to the requirement of the 

 Constitution ; and that its recognition will be con 

 trary not only to the Constitution, but also to that 

 essential principle of our Government which, in the 

 language of Jefferson, establishes "the supremacy 

 of the civil overihe military authority." 



SEC. 8. And be it further resolved, That in the 

 States whose governments have already been _va- 

 cated, a government founded on an oligarchical 

 class, even if erroneously recognized as a "repub- 

 lican form of government" under the guarantee_ of 

 the Constitution, cannot sustain itself securely with- 

 out national support ; that such an oligarchical gov- 

 ernment is not competent at this moment to dis- 

 charge the duties and execute the powers of a 

 State ; and that its recognition as a legitimate gov 



