136 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES (1871). 



government, or code of laws, in this country, 

 but recognizes these rights of the people, 192 ; 

 the most important part of the first section, 

 193 ; what is the meaning of the words " with- 

 out due process of law ? " 193 ; where has this 

 equal protection ever been denied? 193; it 

 never has been believed or assumed that Con- 

 gress has power to go into the States of the 

 Union and subordinate State laws and State 

 jurisdiction to the control of Federal courts, or 

 of the President, 193 ; fourth section of the 

 fourth article of the Constitution, 194; it for- 

 bids Federal interposition, except on call of the 

 Governor, 194; the bill proposes to authorize 

 the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, 

 195; object claimed for the entire bill, 195; 

 the third section is worse than all the others, 

 195 ; the monstrous powers conferred on the 

 Federal Government and its chief officer, 196 ; 

 the President is made without responsibility of 

 any kind, 196. 



Action of the House before the last message, 

 196 ; the message is the basis for this bill, 197 ; 

 the judgment of a majority was against legis- 

 lation, 197; instead of hostility, tender the 

 olive-branch, 197; change your policy pro- 

 claim amnesty, 197 ; reference to the case of 

 Milligan, 198 ; could a more emphatic con- 

 demnation of the provisions of this bill have 

 been pronounced? 198; the fourth' section au- 

 thorizes the President to declare war against 

 a State whenever he thinks secession may re- 

 quire it, 198 ; enact these provisions, and local 

 State government is at an end, 199 ; no man is 

 equal to discussing it as it ought to be dis- 

 cussed, 199 ; the issue before this House, 199 ; 

 is it competent for Congress to provide by law 

 for a better enforcement of the Constitution ? 

 199 ; opinion in the case of Cohens vs. Virginia, 

 199 ; the act of 1789, 200 ; do. of 1795, 200 ; 

 the President the exclusive and final judge 

 whether the exigency contemplated by the law 

 has arisen, 201 ; consider the discretion which 

 is vested in Congress, 201; the people are 

 equal to the task of redressing all wrongs that 

 may be inflicted on them, 201 ; the provision 

 of the Constitution as to the protection of the 

 States does not give this power to provide for 

 protecting the guaranteed rights of the people, 

 202 ; two controlling propositions on this ques- 

 tion, 202 ; if the Federal Government cannot 

 pass laws to protect rights, why were guaran- 

 tees of those rights put in the Constitution ? 



202 ; if it has not this constitutional power, it 

 ought to have it, 202; will such vindictive 

 legislation, without proof, succeed ? 203 ; you 

 have already failed in such legislation, 203 ; 

 Federal legislation and its execution have failed 

 to produce content at the South, 203 ; measures 

 of repression and usurpation are, in their na- 

 ture, revolutionary, 203 ; Ku-klux were organ- 

 ized to scare the superstitious blacks, 204; 

 South Carolina has been infested with the 

 worst local government ever vouchsafed to a 

 people, 204 ; amendment offered, 204 ; its ef- 

 fect, 205; change proposed in the original 

 bill, 206 ; other amendments offered, 206 ; bill 

 passed, 206. 



In the Senate, the above-mentioned bill con- 

 sidered, 207; nobody objects to the first sec- 

 tion, 207 ; the second provides for the punish- 

 ment of a conspiracy, 207 ; the third is in en- 

 tire conformity to the Constitution, that, when 

 States fail to protect private rights, the Presi- 

 dent is authorized to act, 207; the fourth 

 makes some conspiracies and combinations a 

 rebellion, and authorizes the President to sus- 

 pend the writ of habeas corpus, 207; other 

 sections provide for executing the previous 

 ones, 208 ; these principles go to the founda- 

 tion of the Government, 208 ; after the Union 

 was formed, the whole power of the Govern- 

 ment was pledged to defend the rights of citi- 

 zens against encroachments, 208; object of 

 fourteenth amendment, 210; eminent authority 

 against colored citizenship, 210 ; effect of the 

 system of slavery, 210 ; clauses of fourteenth 

 amendment which it is supposed have changed 

 the Constitution, 210 ; how about the rights of 

 the colored man under the old Constitution? 

 211 ; the States are depositories of the rights 

 of individuals, 211; what are the privileges 

 and immunities of citizens of the United States? 

 212 ; clauses of the amendment, 212 ; the au- 

 thority of the United States was just as posi- 

 tive under the Constitution as originally framed 

 as under the fourteenth amendment, 213 ; Con- 

 gress has authority to carry into effect the 

 powers of Government by affirmative law, 

 213 ; when the Constitution imposes an inhi- 

 bition on the States, it does not give the Fed- 

 eral Government power to see that they do 

 not do it, 214 ; I will go as far as any one. to 

 maintain the authority of the United States, 

 214 ; let us examine what sort of a Govern- 

 ment we have, and precisely what its rights 



