CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



I :,7 



to examining tho question of credentials to BOO 

 whether m.'ii come bore properly accredit^]. 

 Lest gentK'imm on the other side should have 

 to notice this sentence, lot mo read it 

 It is peculiarly express-he : 



I say that when they comply with the Constitu- 

 .. ln-ii tlu-v have given sufficient evidence ot 

 tlifir ]nv:iltv, and that they can be trusted, when 

 ,. : K! obedience to the law, I say extend to them 

 lit hand of fellowship, and let peace and union 

 ;ured. 



" That, it seems, is a matter into which some- 

 body has a right to inquire. I should like to 

 know if the Congress of the United States 

 have not a right to ask these very questions 

 and be satisfied upon them before they admit 

 men as Senators and Representatives in the 

 several bodies which constitute Congress. If 

 Congress have a right to inquire (and I agree 

 with the President entirely on the subject), 

 what have wo done more than to inquire? 

 When Congress appointed this committee wjth 



Eowcr to examine into the condition (for that 

 all there was of it) of these so-called Con- 

 federate States and report whether they were 

 in a fit condition to "be represented by Sena- 

 tors and Representatives, what did vvo do more 

 than simply to endeavor to carry out precisely 

 what tho President has laid down in his speech 

 as preliminary to the admission of Senators 

 and Representatives? I state this in order 

 that the country may understand what all this 

 noise has been about in reference to the ap- 

 pointment of this committee. 



" But tho President undertakes to say that 

 legislative power has been granted to this com- 

 mittee ; that the power of legislation which Con- 

 gress possesses he calls it ' the power of legis- 

 lation ' over the question of the admission of 

 Senators and Representatives has been passed 

 out of the hands of Congress and given to 

 a central power a central directory, which 

 chooses to exercise this power. Sir, is this 

 committee of fifteen any thing more than the 

 servant of Congress? Is any committee, either 

 joint or special, which is appointed, any thing 

 more than tlie mere servant of Congress? Can 

 any member of it, or the whole of it, set up its 

 will for a single day or a single hour or a single 

 moment against the will of the body which con- 

 stituted it ? Wo were appointed for a special 

 purpose, to make inquiries, and report to Con- 

 gress the result of our inquiries ; and for what 

 reason? What was the great reason? Sim- 

 ply that neither branch, acting without suffi- 

 cient information, might take a course from 

 which tho other branch would differ; and thus 

 bring about a collision between the two bodies 

 which constitute tho Congress. Under those 

 circumstances, is it quite fair to designate the 

 committee of fifteen as a central directory, as 

 a power assuming to judge and to decide ques- 

 tions which belong to the bodies which the com- 

 mittee represents? Is it quite fair to desig- 

 nate it as a central power sitting here with a 

 view to get up the government of a few against 



tho government of tho many ? I can understand 

 tho allusion in no other way ; and if any gentle- 

 man can place a different construction upon it, 

 I should like to have him do so. I am unwill- 

 ing, myself, individually, to rest under such an 

 imputation. I have the honor to be one of that 

 committee. I never understood myself as any 

 thing but the servant of Congress, or of tho 

 body which sent me there, to endeavor to ob- 

 tain information and to come to a conclusion 

 upon which the body might act undcrstand- 

 ingly ; and that wo have not come to a conclu- 

 sion yet, is only a proof that the question is a 

 much larger one than gentlemen might have 

 supposed, and involves more consideration and 

 more examination than might possibly have 

 been apparent to those who looked only upon 

 the surface, and jndged only from what they 

 could gather from common report. 



" If the Executive and I mean to speak of 

 the President with respect, because I entertain 

 for him respect has an idea that the several 

 points which he has suggested are prelimina- 

 ries to the admission of Senators and Repre- 

 sentatives from these States, the question arises, 

 who is to exercise that power of judgment? 

 Does it belong to us, if a Senator presents 

 himself here, to ascertain in the first place if 

 those conditions have been complied with on 

 tho part of these States, or does it belong to 

 him ? 



" If I have mistaken the view of the Presi- 

 dent, I shall be very glad to be corrected by 

 him or by anybody that is authorized to speak 

 for him ; and one would think there are plenty 

 of those gentlemen about ; but what he says is, 

 substantially, in my judgment, this: 'I have 

 come to the conclusion that these States are in 

 the Union to be represented in the councils of 

 the nation, and particularly is the State of Ten- 

 nessee. I admit that certain things must be 

 done ; they must show their loyalty, but I am 

 the person to decide upon whether those things 

 have been done ; whether that loyalty has been 

 shown ; whether that condition has been com- 

 plied with, and all other conditions that I may 

 judge necessary, and when I have decided that 

 question with reference to these States, Congress 

 may take up the question of the elections, quali- 

 fications, and returns of the members who pre- 

 sent themselves to them, inquire into that, and 

 have nothing to do but to settle the question 

 whether they come within the description of 

 the Constitution or not.' 



"If the President does not mean that, then 

 tho question is for Congress to decide. If he 

 does mean that, the issue of which I spoke is 

 directly presented to Congress. For myself, I 

 could not rest, as a Senator of the United States, 

 content with my position ; I could not believe 

 that I was faithful to the great interests com- 

 mitted to my care, connected with others as I 

 am, by the State which sent me here, if I yielded 

 for a moment to the idea, come from what 

 source it may, that anybody but Congress had 

 tho right with reference to Senators andRepre- 



