CONGRESS, UNITED STATEb. 



149 



Rttoloed, That in tho tankage of the proclamation 

 of tin- IV.-sident of May 29, 1805, "tho rebellion 

 which was waged by a portion of tho people of the 

 I States against the properly constituted .r.i- 

 tlirities of the (Government thereof in the most vio- 

 lent and revolting form, but whoso organized and 

 armed forces have now been almost entircjy over- 

 . lias in its revolutionary progress deprived the 

 people" of the States in which it was organized, "of 

 all civil government." 



Jfeaoli-tJ, That whenever the people of any State 

 ore thus "deprived of all civil government," it be- 

 comes the duty of Congress, by appropriate legis- 

 lation, to enable them to organize a State govern- 

 in.'iit, and, in the language of the Constitution, to 

 guarantee to such State a republican form of gov- 

 ernment. 



Jtoolved, That it is the deliberate sense of this 

 that the condition of the rebel States fully 

 justifies the President in maintaining the suspension 

 of the writ of habeas corpus in those States. 



Resolved, That it is the deliberate sense of this 

 House that the condition of the rebel States fully 

 justifies the President in maintaining military pos- 

 session and control thereof, and that the President 

 is entitled to the thanks of the nation for employing 

 the war power for the protection of Union citizens 

 and tho frecdmcn of those States. 



Tho first resolution was adopted yeas 102, 

 nays 36, not voting 44. The second resolution 

 was adopted yeas 104, nays 33, not voting 

 4-5. The third resolution was adopted yeas 

 120, nays 26, not voting 36. The fourth reso- 

 lution was divided at the word "thereof," and 

 the first part adopted yeas 117, nays 23, not 

 voting 42. The second part passed yeas 134, 

 nays 8, not voting 40. 



In the Senate, on February 6th, the resolu- 

 tion which had passed the House for the amend- 

 ment of the Constitution, relative to the appor- 

 tionment of representation, came up for consid- 

 eration. Mr. Doolittle, of AVisconsin, offered 

 the following amendment, as a substitute for 

 the article proposed by the House : 



After the census to be taken in the year 1870 and 

 each succeeding census, Representatives shall be 

 apportioned among the several States, which may 

 be included within this Union, according to the num- 

 ber in each State of male electors over twenty-one 

 years of age qualified by the laws thereof to choose 

 members of the most numerous branch of its Legis- 

 lature. And direct taxes shall be apportioned among 

 the several States according to the value of the real 

 and personal taxable property situated in each State 

 not belonging to the State or to the United States. 



Mr. Stunner, of Massachusetts, opened the 

 debate, in opposition to the resolution of the 

 House. It seemed to him to bo nothing less 

 than another compromise of human rights. 

 There are four million citizens now robbed of 

 all share in the government of their country, 

 while, at the same time, they are taxed accord- 

 ing to their mean?, directly and indirectly, for 

 the support of the Government. The amend- 

 ment of tho House, by its adoption, will be a 

 present renunciation of all power, under tho 

 Constitution, to apply tho remedy for a grievous 

 wrong, when the remedy is actually in hand ; 

 and it will hand over wards and allies through 

 whom the Republic has been .saved, and there- 

 fore our saviors, to the control of vindictive 



enemies, to bo taxed and governed without their 

 consent 



Tho following counter-proposition was then 

 offered by Mr. Stunner : 



A joint resolution carrying out the guaranty of a republican 

 form of government in the Constitution of ttia United 

 Bute*, and enforcing tbe constitutional amendment for 

 the prohibition of slavery. 



Whfreof, it is provided in the Constitution that the 

 United States shall guarantee to every State in the 

 Union a republican form of government ; and whereas, 

 by reason of the failure of certain States to maintain 

 governments which Congress might recognize, it 

 has become tbe duty of the Unitea States, standing 

 in the place of guarantor, where the principal has 

 made a lapse, to secure to such States, according to 

 the requirement of the guaranty, governments re. 

 publican in form; and whereas further, it is provided 

 in a recent constitutional amendment that Congress 

 may "enforce" the prohibition of slavery by " appro- 

 priate legislation," and it is important to this end 

 that all relics of slavery should be removed, including 

 all distinction of rights on account of color : Now, 

 therefore, to carry out the guaranty of a republican 

 form of government, and to enforce the prohibition 

 of slavery, 



Be it resolved ly the Senate and House of Represent- 

 ative* of the United States of Amerua in Conyress at- 

 temblea, That there shall be no oligarchy, aristocracy, 

 caste, or monopoly invested with peculiar privileges 

 and powers, and there shall be no denial of rights, 

 civil' or political, on account of color or race, any- 

 where within the limits of the United States or tho 

 jurisdiction thereof; but all persons therein shall 

 be equal before the law, whether in the court-room 

 or at tbe ballot-box. And this statute, made in 

 pursuance of the Constitution, shall be the supreme 

 law of the land, any thing in the Constitution or 

 laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 



He then further said that it was vain to ex- 

 pect the return of the States to the Union until 

 that security for the future, which is found 

 only in the equal rights of all, whether in the 

 court-room or at tho ballot-box, was obtained. 

 This is the great guaranty, without which all 

 other guaranties would fail. This was the sole 

 solution of the present troubles and anxieties. 

 He said : " The powers of Congress over this 

 subject are as ample as they are beneficent. 

 From four specific fountains they flow each 

 one sufficient for the purpose all four swelling 

 into an irresistible current, and tending to one 

 conclusion : first, the necessity of the case, by 

 which, according to the analogies of the ' Ter- 

 ritories,' disloyal States, having no local govern- 

 ment, lapse under tho authority of Congress; 

 secondly, .the rights of war, which do not expire 

 or lose their grasp^ except with the establish- 

 ment of all needful guaranties; thirdly, the 

 constitutional injunction to guarantee a repub- 

 lican form of government ; and, fourthly, the 

 constitutional amendment by \^hich Congress, 

 in words of peculiar energy, is empowered to 

 4 enforce ' tho abolition of slavery ' by appro- 

 priate legislation.' According to the proverb 

 of Catholic Europe, all roads lead to Rome, and 

 so do all these powers lead to the jurisdiction 

 of Congress over this whole subject. No mat- 

 ter which road you take, you arrive at the same 

 point." 



He then proceeded to show tho necessity and 

 duty of exercising the jurisdiction of Congress 



