128 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES (1869). 



adopted, 197; adopted in the House, 197; 

 proclamation by the Secretary of State, 197. 



In the House, a bill reported to repeal the 

 tax on cotton, 198 ; an exceptional tax, 198 ; 

 the time has arrived to remove it, 198 ; a boun- 

 ty for the products of India, Egypt, and Brazil, 

 198 ; a mistake, 198 ; time of repeal discussed, 

 198 ; bill passed, 199. 



In the Senate, the bill considered, 199 ; ap- 

 plies to the future crop, 199 ; better to take 

 the tax off manufactured cotton than from the 

 raw material, 200 ; not a political question, 

 200 ; amendments adopted, 201 ; assent refused 

 by the House, 201 ; conference committee not 

 able to agree, 201 ; a new conference agreed 

 to, 201 ; report agreed to by the Senate and 

 rejected by the House, 202 ; further confer- 

 ence, 202 ; report accepted, 202. 



Other measures of Congress, 202 ; eight-hour 

 law, 202 ; vacancy in the office of Chief -Justice, 

 202; Freedmen's Bureau, 202; expatriation, 

 202 ; oath of office for restored people of 

 Southern States, 202 ; adjournment, 202. 



IX. Session of 1868-'69 : Third session of 

 Fortieth convenes, 120 ; officers, 120 ; amend- 

 ment to the Constitution offered in the Senate, 

 120; amendment to the Constitution offered 

 in the House, 121 ; other amendments, 121. 



In the Senate, joint resolution of amend- 

 ment considered, 121 ; the joint resolution re- 

 lative to voting, 121 ; better wait till the other 

 House has completed its action, 121 ; amend- 

 ment relative to the mode of amendment, 121 ; 

 the States should have the power of expressing 

 their opinions, 122 ; every human being should 

 be enfranchised, 122; without regard to sex 

 or color, 122. 



In the House, motion to reconsider the vote 

 by which the bill to secure equal privileges to 

 citizens was recommitted, 122; last of the 

 great measures growing out of the war, 122 ; 

 amendment necessary, 122; at the formation 

 of the Constitution, all its friends asserted that 

 there was power in it over the elective fran- 

 chise, 1 23 ; there must be power in the Gov- 

 ernment to provide whatever is necessary for 

 its preservation, 123; consequences if the 

 question of suffrage is vested in the States, 

 123 ; meaning of the words, 123 ; one of two 

 things is true, 124; the powers existing in the 

 States are the measure of the powers which 

 Congress may exercise, 124; a republican form 

 of government is to be guaranteed, 124 ; does 



the Constitution prohibit any State from reg- 

 ulating the right of suffrage? 125; the four- 

 teenth amendment, 125 ; meaning of the word 

 " privileges," 125; other sections, 126; how 

 the bill is defensible, 126 ; object of the bill, 

 126 ; the power of Congress, 127; the right of 

 the State to determine the qualification of 

 electors is older than the Constitution, 127 ; 

 what authority is there for this bill ? 127 ; it pro- 

 poses to regulate the State elections or mem- 

 bers of the State Legislature, 128 ; the measure 

 originated in hostility to the States, 128; no 

 advocate of the Constitution at the time of its 

 adoption claimed for it the power to prescribe 

 the qualification of voters in the States, 128; 

 little force in the argument that the States 

 might refuse to send members to Congress, 

 129 ; the United States cannot guarantee any 

 particular form of republican government, 129 ; 

 the bill and resolution of amendment are a sort 

 offelo de se, 130 ; the singular anamoly present- 

 ed, 130 ; we are in no sense a nation, and, if we 

 become so, we will be a centralized despotism 

 in some form, 130; amendment offered, 181; 

 agreed to, 131 ; the designation of property 

 and educational qualifications recognizes the 

 right in any State to establish a religious test, 

 131 ; powers conferred by the different sec- 

 tions, 131 ; amendment lost, 132 ; another 

 amendment moved, 132; lost, 182; another 

 amendment, 132; lost, 132; bill passed, 133. 



In the Senate, a joint resolution proposing 

 an amendment to the Constitution considered, 

 133; a declaration to make all men, without 

 regard to race or color, equal before the law, 

 133 ; the only measure that will really abolish 

 slavery, 133 ; amendment moved, 133 ; the 

 question should be submitted to the people, 

 134; it is said we are seeking to perpetuate 

 our power, 134; only two modes of ratifica- 

 tion, 134; how can a member of a Legislature 

 elected last fall act on a question that was not 

 considered by the people when they elected 

 him? 135 ; the question taken from the people 

 at the last election, 135 ; what did the Chicago 

 platform mean? 135; not merely a question 

 of suffrage, 135 ; an independent republic must 

 necessarily control the question of suffrage in 

 its own elections, 136; amendment moved, 

 136; the principle of the Constitution in re- 

 lation to amendments, 136; it is not compe- 

 tent for the Senate, in this state of its organi- 

 zation, to act on an amendment, 136. 



