CONGRESS, UMTLI) STATES. 



Previously, in the House, on February 20th, 

 Mr. Stevens, <!" Pennsylvania, from the joint 

 Committee of Fifteen, made- the following re- 

 port: 



Concurrent resolution concerning th Insurrectionary State*. 

 Jb it rttolved by tie House of Reprettntaticet (the 

 Senate concurring), Tliat in order to close agitation 

 upon a question which seems likely to disturb the 

 action i>f tin- Government, as well as to quiet the un- 

 certainty which is gHatfofl the minds of the people 

 <>t tin i-lVvcu States which Lave been declared to be 

 in insurrection, no Senator or Representative shall 

 be admitted iuto cither branch of Congress from any 

 of said States until Congress shall have declared 

 such State entitled to such representation. 



Mr. G rider, of Kentucky, presented the fol- 

 lowing minority report, which wus read: 



The minority of the Committee on Reconstruction 

 on the part of the House, beg leave to report that 

 said committee have directed an inquiry to be made 

 as to the condition and loyalty of the State of Ten- 

 nessee. There has been a large amount of evidence 

 taken, some part of it conducing to show that at 

 some localities occasionally there have been some 

 irregularities and temporary disaffection ; yet the 

 main direction and weight ot the testimony are am- 

 ple and conclusive to show that the great body of the 

 people in said State are not only loyal and willing, 

 but anxious to have and maintain amicable, sincere, 

 and patriotic relations with the General Government. 

 Such being the state of the facts, and inasmuch as 

 under the census of 1860 Congress passed a law 

 which was approved in 1863, fixing the ratio and ap- 

 portioning to Tennessee and all the other States rep- 

 resentation ; and inasmuch as Tennessee, disavow- 

 ing insurrectionary purposes or disloyalty, has, un- 

 dt r the laws and organic law of said State, regularly 

 elected her members and Senators to the Congress 

 of the United States, in conformity to the laws and 

 Constitution of the United States, and said mem- 

 bers are here asking admission ; and inasmuch as the 

 House bj the Constitution is the "judge of the elec- 

 tion, returns, and qualifications of its members," 

 considering these facts and principles, we offer the 

 following resolution, to wit : 



Resolved, That the State of Tennessee is entitled 

 to representation in the Thirty-ninth Congress, and 

 the Representatives elected from and by said State 

 are hereby admitted to take their seats therein upon 

 being qualified by oath according to law. 



Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, objected to the 

 reception of the minority report, saying : " 

 think I ir.ay say, without impropriety, that until 

 yesterday "there was an earnest investigation 

 into the condition of Tennessee, to see whether, 

 by act of Congress, we could admit that State 

 to a condition of representation here, and ad- 

 mit its members to their seats here ; but since 

 yesterday there has arisen a state of things 

 which the committee deem puts it out of their 

 power to proceed further without surrendering 

 a great principle ; without the loss of all their 

 dignity ; without surrendering the rights of 

 this body to the us'irpation of another power. 

 I call the previous question." 



A series of dilatory motions followed, but 

 the question was finally reached, and the reso- 

 lution adopted by the following vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Allison, Anderson, James M. Ash- 

 ley, Baker, Baldwin, Banks, Baxter, Beanian, Benja- 

 min,' Bidwell, Bingham, Blainc, Boutwell, Brandawe, 

 Bromwell, Brooraall, Bucklund, Sidney Clarke, Cobb, 

 ConklinjK, Cook, Cullom, Dawus, Defruus, Deming, 



Donnelly, Driggn, Ecklcjr, Eggloton, Eliot, F*nu- 



\v. rtli, Parquhur, Ferry, Osrfleld, Grinnell, GrUwold, 

 AbnerC. Harding, Mart, Hayes, Henderson. Higby, 

 Holmes, II..,,,,, r, llm.hkiss, Auahel W. Hubbard, 

 Chester D. Hubbard, l)eman Hubbard, John il. Hub- 

 l,.n.|. . lames K. Hubbell, Hulburd, Ingersoll, Jtnckec, 

 Juli.m. Kdlcy Kelao, Kctcbam, Laflin, George V. 

 Lawrence, William Lawrence, Loan, Loneyear, 

 Lynch, Marston, McClurg, Mclndoc, McKee, McRuer, 

 Mercur, Moorbead, Mori-ill, Morris, Moulton, Myers, 

 O'Neill, Orth, Paine, I'atti rx.n, 1'erham, Pike. Plant*, 

 Pomeroy, Price, William H. Randall, John U. Rice, 

 Sawyer, Schenck, Schofield, Shellabareer, Sloan, 

 Spafdine, Starr, Stevens, Tbayer, John L. Thoma*, 

 Trowbndge, Upson, Van Aernam, Burt Van Horn, 

 Ward, Warner, KlihuB.Washburnc.William B.Waah- 

 burn Welker, Wuntwnrth, Williams, Jas. F. Wilson, 

 Stephen F. Wilson, Windom, and Woodbridge 109. 



NAYS Messrs. Bergen, Boyer, Brooks, Chanler, 

 Coffroth, Dawson, ETdridge, Finck, Glossbreoner, 

 Goodyear, Gridcr, Hale, Aaron Harding, Hogan, 

 James M. Humphrey, Kerr, Latham, Marshall, Mc- 

 Cullough, Newell, Niblack, Nicholson, Phelps, Rad- 

 ford, Samuel J. Randall, Raymond, Bitter, Rogers, 

 Ross, Rousseau, Shanklin, Sitgreaves, Smith, Tabor, 

 Taylor, Thornton, Trimble, Voorhees, Whaley, and 

 Wright 40. 



NOT VOTING Messrs. Alley, Ames, Ancona, Delos 

 R. Ashley, Barker, Blow, Bundy, Reader W. Clark, 

 Culver, Darling, Davis, Delano, Denison, Dixon, Dn- 

 mont, Harris, Hill, Edwin N. Hubbell, James Hum- 

 phrey, Johnson, Jones, Kasson, Kuykendall, Le 

 Blond, Marvin, Miller, Noell, Alexander H. Rice, 

 Rollins, Stillwell, Strouse, Francis Thomas, Robert T. 

 Van Horn, and Winfield-'34. 



In the Senate, the concurrent resolution was 

 received from the House, and came up on the 

 question of its consideration on February 21st, 

 and was deferred to February 23d. 



Mr. Fessenden, of Maine, said : " The resolu- 

 tion, it will be perceived, is nothing more or less 

 than a legislative assertion by both Houses of 

 Congress that they will not proceed to act upon 

 the credentials of members from any of the 

 States which lately constituted the so-called 

 Confederate States until they have previously 

 passed a law applicable to the condition of the 

 States themselves. This, if you will allow mo 

 to say so, is in exact accordance with what Con- 

 gress has indicated as its intention heretofore. 

 It was indicated in the last Congress, and it was 

 indicated in a resolution which came directly 

 from the Committee on the Judiciary, of which 

 the honorable Senator from Maryland (Mr John- 

 son) was a member, and, as I am informed, with 

 his concurrence, not as applicable to all the 

 States, but as applicable to one of the^States. 

 It is before me in a few words, and I will read 

 it. At the close of the report that was made 

 to the Senate on the 18th of February to accom- 

 pany joint resolution S. No. 117, on the subject 

 of the credentials of members claiming seats 

 from Louisiana, the last paragraph, which I will 

 read, is : 



The persons in possession of the local authorities 

 of Louisiana having rebelled against the a ithority 

 of the United States, and her inhabitants having been 

 declared to be in a state of insurrection in pursuance 

 of a law passed by the two Houses of Congress, vcur 

 committee deem it improper for this body to admit 

 to seats Senators from Louisiana, till by some joint 

 action of both Houses there shall be some recognition 



