154 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



we could close the breach and have the consti- 

 tutional amendment secure. There is some- 

 thing tangible and within sight. This State 

 has adopted it, and that act cannot be taken 

 back." 



Mr. Drake : " Mr. President, there is one 

 thing connected with this whole discussion that 

 takes me more by surprise than any thing that 

 has happened in this body since I have been a 

 member of it, and that is that Senators, who 

 eighteen months ago insisted upon and voted 

 for a condition of this kind to the admission of 

 Arkansas, now turn round and not only speak 

 of the doubtful efficacy of such conditions, but 

 begin to stigmatize them as idle legislation. I 

 wish that I could see the reason of this thing. 

 I wish that gentlemen on this floor would avow 

 why it is that they have changed front upon a 

 question of this kind. I wish that they would 

 inform the Senate and the country why it is 

 that they will apply one rule to five or six of 

 those rebel States, and then will refuse to apply 

 it to others. Sir, I came into this work of re- 

 construction after it Avas begun, and I never 

 have taken a step in it yet that I did not take 

 from convictions of public necessity, and I 

 never have given a vote here yet in reference 

 to it which I would be willing now or hereafter 

 to stigmatize as idle legislation. And, sir, the 

 country will make the same inquiry on this 

 subject that I am making here to-night. The 

 country will wish to know why it is that Sen- 

 ators abandon their previous position and now 

 take position with their political opponents on 

 the floor of this Chamber. 



" Sir, it matters not if the fifteenth amend- 

 ment is to be adopted ; we are acting now be- 

 fore it is adopted. "We do not know that it will 

 be adopted ; we may believe it, and yet we may 

 be disappointed. We ought to legislate in view 

 of the circumstances in which we are placed 

 at this moment, and not suffer our action to be 

 swayed by possible events in the future, of the 

 occurrence of which we have at this time no 

 sufficient guarantee." 



Mr. Carpenter, of "Wisconsin, said: "Mr. 

 President. I desire to ask of those Senators who 

 are in favor of these amendments a few ques- 

 tions for information. In so important a legis- 

 lation as this we ought to understand thor- 

 oughly the ground we are treading upon, and 

 I doubt not those Senators who tenaciously 

 adhere to these propositions of amendment to 

 this resolution do understand the ground ; but, 

 as I do not, I would like a little information 

 upon one or two points. It is proposed that 

 Virginia shall be admitted into the Union upon 

 a fundamental condition. If that condition is 

 violated, what becomes of Virginia? "What be- 

 comes of the act of admission ? "What is her 

 status after that time ? Is she in the Union or 

 is she out? That is a matter, it seems to me, 

 of very great importance, which ought to be 

 well settled in the mind of the Senate before 

 we adopt any such language." 



' Mr. Drake : " If the honorable Senator will 



allow me, I will give him another answer just 

 there, as he is seeking for information. The 

 answer is this : that I wish to lay the founda- 

 tion for subsequent action of Congress in the 

 event that that State does violate this condi- 

 tion. If we admit her without any such con- 

 dition, she can say that none such was imposed 

 upon her. If we admit her with that condition 

 and she violates it, there is the foundation 

 for action on the part of Congress to hold her 

 to the condition." 



Mr. Carpenter : " Now, as you are on the 

 subject of imparting wisdom, let me know 

 what, in that contingency, is to be the action 

 of Congress?" 



Mr. Drake: "The fourteenth article of the 

 amendments to the Constitution provides 

 that 



No State shall make or enforce any law which 

 shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens 

 of the United States; uor shall any State deprive 

 any person of life, liberty, or property, without due 

 process of law ; nor deny to any person within its 

 jurisdiction the equal protection ot the laws. 



" That is a part of the Constitution now ; and 

 when we put this proviso into this bill it serves 

 as a designation, by reference to the existing 

 constitution of Virginia, of rights of citizens of 

 the United States, that under this article of 

 the Constitution Congress shall have the power 

 to protect against all sorts of aggression." 



Mr. Carpenter : " Let me ask the Senator 

 from Missouri, because his explanation docs 

 me no good unless I can get one or two things 

 more to put with at, does he understand that 

 adopting this amendment is to enlarge that 

 amendment to the Constitution or give it, even 

 in the State of Virginia, any greater effect 

 than it would have without our adopting this 

 amendment to-night? " 



Mr. Drake: "I understand that the adop- 

 tion of this amendment to-night designates 

 distinctly the constitution of Virginia as con- 

 taining provisions which are for the protection 

 of citizens of the "United States, and that by 

 adopting this provision we do not enlarge the 

 scope of this constitutional amendment which 

 I have just quoted, but we lay the foundation 

 for the application of the powers therein given 

 to that very class of persons designated in the 

 constitution of Virginia." 



Mr. Carpenter: "Assuming that that lays 

 the foundation, what do you propose to build 

 upon that foundation ? " 



Mr. Drake: "It is not at all necessary for 

 me to undertake to express an opinion as to 

 what we would propose to build upon that 

 foundation, for it could be nothing but an opin- 

 ion, having no particular value in this discus- 

 sion. "When they do violate that provision, 

 if it is annexed to this bill, then is the time 

 when the Senate of the United States, the hon- 

 orable Senator from "Wisconsin and myself 

 among the number, if we should be here, would 

 have to determine that question." 



Mr. Carpenter : <; I do not propose to discuss 



