

ARKANSAS. 



27 



and gratiUulo of tho people of Arkansas, ia 



pursuing tho policy exhibited in his oflidul uots, 



I ween tlio citizens and the un- 



.!' r;t'lir:il niiijuritii'S. A motion 



lay c:i ili.' t:i!>K'\v:is ]<-t yeas, 17; nays, ~>~>. 

 referred to tlio Committeo on Federal 



Ou December 8th tho following resolution 



red : 



That this General Assembly, and the people of the 

 i Arkansas, tender our gratitude to General 

 n Davis, for the nohle and patriotic manner 



which he conducted the affairs of our government, 

 while President of tho Confederacy ; and that we as- 

 sure him of our most earnest and heart-felt sympa- 

 thy while with unexampled fortitude he endures in 

 Northern prisons unparalleled suffering ns a martyr 

 to liberty ; and that although we may strive to forget 

 " e wrongs unjustly hcapedupon him, yet his name 



and ever shall be enshrined in every true South- 



a heart. May he outlive his persecution, to corn- 

 fort his family, honor his country, and adorn the 

 world ! 



It was referred to the Committee on Federal 



ions. 



On December 10th the following was offered, 

 and referred to the same committee: 



Resolctd, by the General Assembly of the State of 

 Arkansas, That to calm the troubled waters of our 

 political atmosphere, we ratify the Constitutional 

 Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, 

 as recommended by his excellency Governor Mur- 

 phy. 



The views of the Legislature on various pub- 

 lic questions were expressed in the reports of 

 committees, and the debates. On December 

 10th tho Committeo on Federal Relations in the 

 Senate reported the following resolution relative 

 to the Constitutional Amendment proposed by 

 Congress : 



Resolved, That the General Assembly of the State 

 of Arkansas declines to ratify the amendment, add- 

 ing article fourteen to the Constitution of the United 

 States, as proposed by joint resolution of Congress. 



The reasons urged by the committee in sup- 

 port of their recommendation were as follows : 



1. It is not known, nor can it be, to the State of 

 Arkansas, that the proposed amendment was ever 

 acted upon by a Congress of such a character as is 

 provided for by the Constitution, inasmuch as nearly 

 one-third of the States were refused representation 

 in the Congress which acted upon this amendment. 



2. This proposed amendment was never submitted 

 to the President for his sanction, as it should have 

 been, according to the very letter of that Constitution 

 under which Congress exists, aud which it has sought 

 to amend. 



3. The groat and enormous power sought to be 

 conferred on Congress by the amendment, by giving 

 to that body authority to enforce by appropriate 

 legislation the provisions of the first article of said 

 amendment, would, in effect, take from the States 

 all control over their local and domestic concerns, 

 and virtually abolish the States. 



4. The second section seems, to the committee, an 

 effort to force negro suffrage upon the States ; and 

 whether intended or not, it leaves tho power to bring 

 this about, whether the States consent or not; and 

 the committee are of the opinion that every State 

 Legislature should shrink from ever permitting the 

 possibility of sucb a calamity. 



5. The third section, as au act of disfranchisement 



u hi.-h would embrace many of our best and wisest 

 citi/.-n-i, must, of necessity, bo rejected by the peo- 

 ple of Arkansas. 



The committee say that they have partic- 

 ularly remarked one peculiar feature in tlie 

 first section of the propo-cd amendment; that 

 i-> the portion which declares, "nor shall any 

 State deprive any person of life, liberty, or 

 property without duo process of Law." " This 

 is almost identical in language with tho fifth 

 amendment to the Constitution, and if this pro- 

 vision already in existence will not secure tho 

 object designed, what assurance have wo that a 

 similar one will not be disregarded." They 

 decline to recommend it on the further grounds 

 that it imposes new and additional obligations 

 on the people not contemplated or intended 

 when the general amnesty was proclaimed, on 

 May 29, 18G5. They say : " The people of Ar- 

 kansas have accepted and performed all the 

 conditions of the surrender and general am- 

 nesty, -and with wonderful unanimity have ac- 

 cepted the results of tho war, and according to 

 all law are entitled to all their rights as guaran- 

 teed by the Constitution, and to bo restored to 

 the Union as before tho war. They have sub- 

 mitted in good faith, with an earnest desire to 

 make the United States a common country, to 

 be cherished in our hearts and defended by our 

 arms. 



" We cannot tell what may be in store 

 for this State. She and others may be forced to 

 take this amendment, and even harsher terms ; 

 but as valuable as restoration may be, the peo- 

 ple of Arkansas can never agree to purchase it 

 at such a sacrifice of principle, dignity, and 

 self-respect as is demanded in the adoption of 

 this proposed amendment. We had better bear 

 our troubles, trials, and deprivations, and even 

 wrongs, in dignified silence, than commit an 

 act of disgrace, if not annihilation, such as 

 would result from the adoption of this amend- 

 ment by the Legislature." 



No action was taken by the Legislature rela- 

 tive to the passage of this amendment previous 

 to the recess at the' close of the year. But 

 a commission, to be sent to Washington, was 

 provided for, which was to consist of the Presi- 

 dent of the Senate and three members of that 

 body, seven members of the House, and three 

 citizens, not members of the Legislature, to bo 

 appointed by Governor Murphy. The Governor 

 declined to appoint. The object of the com- 

 mission was to confer with the Federal Gov- 

 ernment respecting their mutual relations. This 

 commission was in part induced by the assem- 

 bling in convention at Fort Smith of citizens 

 calling themselves "Loyalists," who addressed 

 a memorial to Congress for the removal of the 

 existing State government, by the passage of 

 an "enabling act," authorizing them to form a 

 new State government. 



On November 23d tho following resolution 

 was offered in the House, and passed unani- 

 mously. Subsequently it was concurred in by 

 the Senate : 



