CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



107 



ABSEKT Messrs. Carpenter, Cattoll, Ferry, Lewis, 

 ir/, iind Sherman 7. 



: lib bill was passed. 



Mr. Butler, of Massachusetts, from the Com- 

 mittee on Reconstruction, reported a bill (II. II. 

 ">36) to admit the State of Texas to rop- 

 tation in the Congress of the United 

 -; ; which was road a first and second 

 time. 



Mr. Bntlor : " Before the bill is read, I wish 



. that it is precisely the Virginia and 



Mppi bills, with the single addition of 



a provision that the passage of this bill shall 



not affect the original conditions under which 



Texas was annexed to the United States." 



Mr. Beck, of Kentucky, said : " I offer the 

 following as a substitute for the bill : 



WhtirtM the State of Texas has a constitution of 

 State government republican in form : Therefore, 



S it enacted, etc., That the said State of Texas is 

 entitled to representation in the Congress of the Uni- 

 ted States. 



"My only reason for offering this substitute 

 is, that gentlemen on the Republican side, who 

 agree with me substantially in the view which 

 I take with reference to this measure, were 

 absent this morning from the committee ; and 

 hence I have submitted this proposition that 

 the House may pass upon it. It is precisely 

 the same which has heretofore been submitted 

 to the House in the cases of Virginia and 

 Mississippi by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 

 Bingham) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 

 Farnsworth). We were this morning called 

 upon by the chairman of the committee to 

 report in favor of the admission of Texas ; and 

 a statement, which I have no doubt was true, 

 was made by him that Texas had adopted the 

 thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth constitu- 

 tional amendments, and had complied with all 

 the terms and conditions of every act passed 

 by Congress relative to that State. This being 

 so, and there being no complaint or intimation 

 that she has ever shown any symptoms of bad 

 faith in reference to congressional legislation, 

 it occurred to me that if we intend to admit 

 her as a State on equal terms with all the 

 other States we ought to say so ; onr act of 

 admission ought to contain simply that decla- 

 ration. 



"I believe that Texas has always been a 

 State, and therefore these facts do not influence 

 my action. She has now, as everybody admits, 

 a republican form of government. Her consti- 

 tution, from whatever stand-point it may bo 

 viewed, is all that can be required of her. In 

 view of these facts, the State is entitled to rep- 

 resentation in Congress. If Congress should 

 hereafter undertake to exercise any power over 

 the State in consequence of any default which 

 she may hereafter commit, it will be upon such 

 a case as would justify a siroiliar exercise of 

 power with regard to New York, Pennsylvania, 

 Massachusetts, or any other State. When that 

 question arises, if it ever should arise, it will 



present itself as an original question. Such an 

 exercise of jurisdiction by Congress would in- 

 volve a power which of course I deny, unlean 

 the State should cease to have a republican 

 form of government, which I do not anticipate. 

 But, sir, everybody admits that the State of 

 Texas has complied with every condition wh'n-h 

 has been imposed upon her, and that her con- 

 stitution is as thoroughly republican as that of 

 any State in the Union. It has always seemed 

 to me that every condition which Congress may 

 seek to impose on a State upon its admission 

 into the Union is void ; that any State admitted 

 to the Union must come in upon an equality 

 with all the other States. Therefore I have 

 offered a substitute embracing a simple propo- 

 sition which, I think, should commend itself to 

 the judgment of gentlemen even on the Repub- 

 lican side of the House." 



The yeas and nays were ordered. 



The question was taken, and it was decided 

 in the negative, as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Adams, Archer, Beck, Biggs, Bird, 

 Blair, James Brooks, Burr, Calkin, Dickinson, 

 Dockory, Dox, Eldridge, Farnswortb, Gotz, Gris- 

 wold, Haight, Haldeman, Hamill, Hawkins, Hav, 

 Holman t Johnson, Kerr, Knott, Mayham. McCormick, 

 McKenzie, McNeely, Morgan, Mungen. Niblack, Pot- 

 ter, Randall, Reading, Reeves, Rice, Riagway, Rogers, 

 Sohumaker, Sherrod, Slocum, Stiles, Stone, Swann, 

 Trimble, Van Auken, Van Trump, Voorhees, Wells, 

 Eugene M. Wilson, and Wood 52. 



NATS Messrs. Allison, Ambler, Armstrong, Ar- 

 noll, Asper, Atwood, Ayer, Banks, Beaman, Beatty, 

 Benjamin, Boles, Booker, Boyd, George M. Brooks, 

 Buck, Buckley, Bufflnton, Burdett, Benjamin F. But- 

 ler. Roderick R. Butler, Cessna, Clarke, Amasa Cobb, 

 Coburn, Conger. Cook, Covode, DonleV, Duval, Fer- 

 riss, Ferry, Finkelnburg, Hamilton. Harris, Hawley, 

 Heaton. Heflin, Hill, Hoar, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Alex- 

 ander H. Jones, Judd, Julian, Kelley, Kelsey, Lough- 

 ridge, Lynch, Maynard, McCarthy, McCrary ? Mc- 

 Grew, McKee, William Moore, Morpliis, Daniel J. 

 Morrell, Samuel P. Morrill, Myers, Ntfgley, O'Neill, 

 Orth, Packard, Packer, Paine, Palmer, Pearoe, Peters, 

 Phelps, Poland, Pomeroy, Prosser, Roots, Sunford, 

 Sargent, Sawyer, Schenck, Scofield, Shanks, Lionel 

 A. Sheldon, Porter Sheldon, John A. Smith, Wil- 

 liam J. Smith, William Smyth, Starkweather, Ste- 

 venson, Stokes, Stoughton, Strickland, Strong, Taffe, 

 Tillman, Townsend, Twichell, Tyner, Upson, Van 

 Horn, Ward-Cadwalader C. Washburn, William B. 

 Washburn, Welker, Wheeler, Wilkinson, Willard, 

 Williams, and Winans 105. 



NOT VOTINO Messrs. Ames, Axtell, Bailey, Bar- 

 num, Bennett, Benton, Bingham, Bowen, Burchard, 

 Cake, Churchill. Cleveland, Clinton L. Cobb, Cowles, 

 Cox, Crebs, Cullom, Davis, Dawes, Dickey, Dixon, 

 Dyer, Ela. Fisher, Fitch, Fox, Garfield, Gibson, 

 Gilfillan, Hale, Hambleton, Hays, Hoge, Hooper, 

 Hotchkiss, Thomas L. Jones, Kellogg, Ketoham, 

 Knnpp, Laflin, Lash, Lawrence, Logan, Marshall, 

 Mercur, Milnos, Eliakim H. -Moore, Jesse H. Moore, 

 Morrissey, Platt, Porter, Joseph S. Smith, Worthing- 

 ton C. Smith, Stevens, Straaer, Sweeney, Tanner, 

 Van Wyok, John T. Wilson, Winchester, Witoher, 

 and Woodward 63. 



So the substitute was rejected. 

 On the passage of the bill, the vote was as 

 follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Allison, Ambler, Armstrong, Ar- 

 nell, Asper, Atwood, Ayer, Bailey, Banks, Barnum, 

 Beaman, Beatty, Benjamin, Blair, Boles, Booker, 

 Bowen, Boyd, George M. Brooks, Buck, Buckley, 



