CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



135 





within hor own borders, in rcgim! either to tho 

 as, liberty, or property, of her citizens. It 

 hil't- s.'ttK-il that Congress can dotor mi no 

 of a majority when to put a mili- 

 mmandor over any State, when to turn 

 Ju r out tit' the Union, when to send her Reprc- 

 ilves out of this House, and her Senators 

 ;' the Senate, and to remand her to a 

 military -Icspotisin. If that is the avowal of 

 tin- lii'i'iiblican party, as it was of tho gentle- 

 man from Massachusetts (Mr. Butler) and 

 I hut party always follows the lead of its bold- 

 ien, and since the removal from earth of 

 -tinguished Pennsylvania^ Mr. Stevens, 

 i liavo no doubt the gentleman from Massa- 

 chusetts will be acknowledged as the leader of 

 the more radical element of the Republican 

 party in that direction let this bill be passed, 

 and the precedent will soon become a funda- 

 mental principle of the party." 



The bill was subsequently passed by the 

 following vote: 



YEAS Messrs. Allison, Ambler, Arnell, Aspcr, 

 Atwood, Ayer, Banks, Seaman, Beattv, Benjamin, 

 ]5in^'lia!n x Blair, Boles, Booker, Bowen,Boyd, George 

 M. Brooks, Buck, Buckler, Buffintoo, Burchard, 

 Burdott, Benjamin F. Butler, Roderick R. Butler, 

 Cuke, Cessna, Churchill, Clarke, Amasa Cobb. Clin- 

 ton L. Cobb, Coburn, Cook, Conger, Cullom. Davis, 

 Bawes, Dickey, Dockery, Donley, Duvnl, Ferriss, 

 Kerry. Fiukoliiburg, Fisher, Garfield, Gilfilian, Hale, 

 H:miilton, Harris, Hawley, Hay, Heaton. Heflin, 

 Jlill, Hoar. Hoge, Hooper, Hotcbkiss, Ingersoll, 

 Jenckes, Alexander H. Jones, Judd. Julian, Kelley, 

 Kellogg, Ketcham, Knapp, Laflin, Lash, Lawrence, 

 , Louojhridge, Lynch, McCarthy, McCrary, 

 McKenzie. Mercur, Eliakim H. Moore, Jesse H. 

 Moore, William Moore, Daniel J. Morrell, Samuel 

 P. Morrill, Myers. Negley, O'Neill, Orth, Packard, 

 Packer, Paine, Plielps, Platt, Pomeroy, Prosser, 

 Soots, Sanford, Sargent, Sawyer, Schenck, Scofield, 

 Shanks, John A. Smith, William J. Smith, Worth- 

 ington C. Smith, William Smyth, Starkweather, 

 Stokes, Stoughton, Strickland, Strong. Tillman, 

 Townsend, Twichell, Tyner, Upson, Van Horn, Cad- 

 walader C. Washburn, William B. Washburn, Wel- 

 ker, Wheelor, Wilkinson, Willard, Williams, John 

 T. Wilson, Winans, and Witcher 125. 



NAYS Messrs. Adams, Archer, Axtell, Beck, 

 Biggs, Bird, Burr, Calkin, Cleveland, Cox, Crebs, 

 Dickinson, Dox, Eldridge, Getz, Griswold, Haight, 

 Huldcman, Hambleton, Hamill, Hawkins, Holman, 

 Johnson, Thomas L. Jones, Kerr, Knott, Marshall, 

 Mayham, McCormick, McNecly, Milnea, Niblack, 

 Potter, Randall, Reading, Reeves, Rice, Rogers, 

 Schumakcr, Sherrod, Slocum, Stevenson. Stiles, 

 Stone, Strader, Swann, Tanner, Trimble, Van 

 Auken, Van Trump, Voorhees, Wells, Eugene M. 

 Wilson, Wood, and Woodward 55. 



NOT VOTING Messrs. Ames, Armstrong. Bai- 

 ley, Barnum, Bennett, Benton, James Brooks, 

 Cpvode, Cowles, Dixon, Dyer, Ela, Farnsworth, 

 Fitch, Fox, Gibson, Hays, Kefseyj Maynard, McGrew, 

 McKee, Morgan, Morphis, Mornssev, Mungen, Pal- 

 mer. Perce, Peters, Poland, Porter, Ridgway, Lionel 

 A. Sheldon, Porter Sheldon, Joseph S. Smith, Ste- 

 vens, Sweeney, Taffe, Van Wyek, Ward, and Win- 

 chester 40. 



In the Senate, on March 18th, tho bill was 

 considered. 



Mr. Morton, of Indiana, moved to add as an 

 additional section to the bill the following : 



And be it further enacted, That so much of the act 



entitled " An act making appropriations for tho sup- 

 port of the Army for the year ending June 80, 1868, 

 and for other purposes," approved March 2, 1867, a 

 ]>n>liilit the organization, arming, or calling into 

 service of the militia force in tho State of Georgia, 

 bo, and tho same is hereby, repealed. 



Mr. Morton said : " In tho discussion of the 

 Georgia bill I will first call attention to that 

 part of it which is known as the Bingbam 

 amendment, which roads as follows : 



That nothing in this act contained shall bo oon- 

 struud to vacate any of tho offices now filled in tho 

 State of Georgia, either by the election of the people 

 or by the appointment of tho Governor thereof, t>y 

 and with the advice and consent of tho Senate of 

 said State. 



"I object to this clause because it interposes 

 a negative in a bill that contains no affirma- 

 tive. The bills we passed in regard to Missis- 

 sippi and Virginia, exactly in terms like this, 

 leaving out this proviso, contained no inference 

 or construction upon the subject. Therefore, 

 this is an attempt to insert a negative where 

 there is no affirmative in the bill to be met, 

 and is wholly gratuitous. 



Neither shall this act be construed to extend the 

 official term of any officer of said State beyond the 

 term limited by the constitution thereof, dating from 

 the election or appointment of such officer ; nor to 

 deprive the people of Georgia of the right under 

 their constitution to elect Senators and Representa- 

 tives of the State of Georgia in the year 1870. 



"I object to these clauses for the same 

 reason, that they are wholly gratuitous, un- 

 called for, and do not meet any thing that is 

 contained in the bill. But again : 



But said election shall be held in the year 1870. 

 either on the day named in the constitution of said 

 State or such other day as the present Legislature 

 may designate by law. 



" I denounce this part of what is called the 

 Bingham amendment as intended to take from 

 the Legislature of Georgia tho prerogative and 

 the right to place their own construction upon 

 the constitution of the State, and because it 

 assumes, and assumes unjustly, that tho con- 

 stitution of the State must bear a certain con- 

 struction ; that the Legislature of Georgia is 

 about to violate that construction, and that 

 therefore it is the duty of Congress to come in 

 in advance and place a prohibition upon the 

 possible violation of the constitution of Geor- 

 gia by its own Legislature. I denounce this 

 proviso as being false in fact and false in 

 theory. I denounce it as being in the interest 

 of the rebels, as carrying exultation to every 

 unrepentant rebel in the South. I say that its 

 adoption by the House of Representatives has 

 been regarded as a rebel victory, and I claim 

 that in the interest of loyalty, in the interest 

 of the protection of the loyal men of Georgia, 

 of peace and security to persons and property, 

 it is the duty of the Senate to strike out this 

 amendment. 



"This Bingham amendment has been de- 

 fended by the Senator from Illinois, the chair- 

 man of the Committee on the Judiciary ( M r. 

 Trumbull), and by the Senator from Vermont 



