156 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



of an existing State government, acting in harmony 

 with the Government of the United States, and recog- 

 nizing its authority. 



Mr. Johnson: "Is that the report of the 

 18th of February, 1865?" 



Mr. Fessenden : " Yes, sir. Now, there is the 

 principle laid down in so many words, and 

 agreed to, as I understand, specifically by the hon- 

 orable Senator from Maryland, whose authority 

 we all acknowledge, that, inasmuch as the State 

 of Louisiana had been declared to be in a state of 

 rebellion, and intercourse with it had been sus- 

 pended by a law of Congress, therefore Congress 

 could not properly admit members from that 

 State, except in pursuance of a law of Congress 

 providing for her peculiar condition I do not 

 pretend to repeat the exact language. When that 

 resolution was introduced into Congress, did it 

 occasion any discussion upon that principle or 

 the propriety of its application ? Was there any 

 objection made to it here ? Was there any ob- 

 jection made anywhere? Did not everybody 

 recognize the propriety of that exact expression 

 of opinion as applied to the proposition to ad- 

 mit Senators and Representatives from such a 

 State ? I was not here at the time, but I am 

 informed that there was no discussion upon that 

 particular subject, and no fault was found with 

 the particular course that waj thus indicated, 

 so far, at least, as this principle was concerned. 



."How does it happen, then, that when a 

 similar resolution is proposed, one applicable to 

 other States that have been precisely in the like 

 condition, there seems to be so much sensitive- 

 ness in the minds of gentlemen ? How can it 

 be accounted for that what was thought to be 

 BO proper as applicable to the State of Lou- 

 isiana should be so improper as applicable to 

 these other States ? It is for gentlemen to an- 

 swer. 



" Let us look a little further, and see what 

 has occurred since that time, because I feel 

 somewhat sensitive on this subject. Charges 

 have been made with reference to the commit- 

 tee of which I have the honor to be a mem- 

 ber that have somewhat affected my view of 

 my own condition, and I feel compelled not 

 only to vindicate that committee, but to vin- 

 dicate the action of Congress with reference to 

 it" 



Mr. Fessenden then read an extract from a 

 speech of President Johnson, in which allusions 

 were made to the committee as " an irrepressi- 

 ble central directory," etc., and said : " It will 

 be noticed, Mr. President, in the extract which 

 has been read there are very serious charges 

 made. One is that there is an effort being 

 made to concentrate all power in a few, and 

 that that power is lodged in the hands of a sort 

 of central committee, and the words which im- 

 mediately follow furnish a sufficient indication 

 of what the President meant. I think the Presi- 

 dent of the United States could hardly have con- 

 sidered with care the nature of the resolution 

 under which we have been acting as a commit- 

 tee of this body ; he could hardly have looked 



at its history, and hardly have understood its 

 meaning. 



" The resolution as it finally passed stood in 

 this way : . 



That a joint committee of fifteen members shall 

 be appointed, nine of whom shall be members of the 

 House and six members of the Senate, who shall in- 

 quire into the condition of the States which formed 

 the Bo-called Confederate States of America, and re- 

 port whether they, or any of them, are entitled to be 

 represented in either House of Congress. 



"What was that? Simply the appointment 

 of a joint committee in this unexampled condi- 

 tion of the country, with a war of four years (in 

 which eleven States had been engaged against 

 the United States) just closed, after all the ex- 

 penditure of blood and treasure that had been 

 made in the country, at the first meeting of 

 Congress which occurred after actual hostili- 

 ties in the field had ceased for what purpose? 

 To inquire into the condition of those States aud 

 report whether they were entitled to represen- 

 tation. That simple provision for acquiring 

 information in order to enable the House and 

 the Senate to judge understandingly upon this 

 important question affecting themselves has 

 been represented by gentlemen and by news- 

 papers as assuming authority which did not 

 belong to Congress. I have nothing to say in 

 this connection with reference to the Presi- 

 dent. I am speaking now of the complaints 

 that were made of that resolution, a simple reso- 

 lution to inquire into the condition of those 

 States and report whether Representatives and 

 Senators could be admitted from them. Sir, 

 in this were we doing any thing more than our 

 duty? Was it not advisable? It was not a 

 single question relating, as we understood it, 

 to the credentials of members. It was believed 

 that at the very foundation of the whole ques- 

 tion of the admission of members lay this great 

 point, whether the condition of those States 

 was such as to render the admission of those 

 members safe. I have had this extract from 

 the President's speech read simply to show what 

 everybody must admit with regard to it. The 

 last paragraph of the extract that I sent to the 

 Chair and had read, is this : 



I am free to say to you, as your Executive, that I 

 am not prepared to take any such position. I said 

 in the Senate in the very inception of the rebellion 

 that States had no right to go out and that they had 

 no power to go out. That question has been settled, 

 and I cannot turn around now and give the lie direct 

 to all I profess to have done in the last five years. I 

 can do no such thing. I say that when they comply 

 with the Constitution, when they have given suffi- 

 cient evidence of their loyalty and that they can be 

 trusted, when they yield obedience to the law, I say 

 extend to them the right hand of fellowship, and let 

 peace and union be restored. 



" So say I, and so say all. When they do that, 

 let these consequences follow. There is no 

 difference on that point. The President him- 

 self, instead of saying any thing different from 

 us, says when they have complied with these 

 conditions then they ought to be admitted. Ha 

 himself in his speech makes that a Dreliminary 



