CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



181 



ility of his undertaking to overcome the 

 Constitution of tho United States by a resolu- 

 tion of thotwoll"iis."<. 'Hint is thei)roposiii(.n 

 pending, to overcome the plain letter of tho 

 Constitution of tho Unitod States by a reso- 

 lution of tho two Houses. There is a crime 

 known to criminal law as obtaining property 

 liy tuNe pretences ; :m<l it is said, I lu-lieve, in 

 that law, that if you pretend as to an after- 

 fact, it is not a technical false pretence. If tho 

 -intr is as to a past fact, then the person 

 charged, on the charges being proven, may bo 

 condemned and punished. It has struck me 

 that it may be a grave question now, whether 

 falsely swearing as to what one has done is per- 

 jury, while falsely swearing as to what one will 

 do, is not. It has been the practice of our Gov- 

 ernment ever since it was instituted to swear 

 all the State officers to support the Constitution 

 of the State and the Constitution of tho United 

 States, and I suppose every gentleman on this 

 floor has taken that oath many times. Falsely 

 swearing as to what you will do, perhaps may 

 not be technical perjury ; but permit me to say 

 that when gentlemen undertake to violate tho 

 Constitution which they have sworn to support, 

 and dare to say that because what they propose 

 to do is right they dare to violate their oaths, it 

 is one of tho technical ways of avoiding just 

 conclusions, which has been condemned by all 

 just men, and will be condemned above." 



Mr. Fessenden, of Maine, closed the debate, 

 saying: "Now, sir, it will bo observed that the 

 resolution does not declare that neither body 

 shall have the right to admit members until 

 Congress has made a declaration upon tho sub- 

 ject. There is nothing said about the right in 

 any way or in any terms. It is precisely what 

 I designated it to bo the other day, a mere legis- 

 lative declaration of our opinion and deter- 

 mination that, until Congress has declared the 

 State (whichever one it may be that is before 

 us) to be in a condition to be represented here, 

 neither body will act upon the credentials of 

 members. 



" It will be noticed, and I say this in answer 

 to what has been said by the honorable Senator 

 from Connecticut (Mr. Dixon) as well as the 

 honorable Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Doo- 

 little), that in no way does the resolution touch 

 the question, as commonly understood, of the 

 elections, qualifications, and returns of mem- 

 bers. It leaves that matter precisely where it 

 found it. It does not undertake to judge on 

 the subject or to investigate it ; and, in accord- 

 ance with that idea, all the credentials which 

 have been laid before the body, instead of being 

 lent to the committee, have been simply laid 

 upon the table. 



" Now, Senators inquire, why will you de- 

 prive yourselves of the power to do certain 

 tilings? The question of the admission of a 

 member is in the hands of a majority of the 

 body. The majority can control it always. It 

 can do ns it pleases with reference to it. If a 

 Majority of this body thinks that it is advisable 



that Congress Rhould first settle the question of 

 ndition of the States, whether tho States 

 have placed themselves in a condition to nend 

 members here, they have the unquestionable 

 power to lay those credentials on tho table, and 

 to keep them there until that question has been 

 determined to their satisfaction. The Senate 

 having that power to lay these credentials on 

 the table and keep them there, is it a great 

 stretch of power, is it going beyond their juris- 

 diction, to say that wo will not take them from 

 the table for it is the majority that is to de- 

 termine the question of qualifications and every 

 thing else until both branches have come to 

 the conclusion that they shall be taken from 

 tho table in each branch and be acted upon ? 

 It is nothing but a legislative declaration of the 

 course we intend to pursue with reference to 

 the credentials that have been laid on our table, 

 and I should like to inquire of anybody whether 

 we have not the perfect right to do it ? Even 

 after we have done it, after we have made that 

 legislative declaration which I deem it impor- 

 tant to make, because I think the power of 

 Congress over the question of the condition of 

 these States has been questioned we, as a Sen- 

 ate, I concede, can, in spite of this legislative 

 declaration, at any moment take them from the 

 table and act upon them without asking the 

 consent of the House of Kepresentatives, and 

 the House can, on its own side, in spite of this 

 resolution, if passed, take the credentials of 

 those claiming to be members of that House 

 from its table and act upon them if it pleases. 

 There is no question about that ; and therefore 

 this resolution is precisely what I described it 

 to be nothing in the world but a legislative 

 declaration that we do not deem it advisable, 

 and do not mean, and do not intend, to act upon 

 the question of the admission of individuals who 

 come here claiming seats, until Congress, both 

 branches, shall have investigated and settled 

 the question of the condition of the States. 



" Now, sir, for one I am free to say if matters 

 should go so far as to show that either House 

 was acting unreasonably, wilfully, from tem- 



fer, unjustly, so as to produce improper delay, 

 should conclude that it was time to reverse 

 this action so far as this body was concerned. 



" The ground on which I put this resolution 

 originally and Congress can at any time pass 

 a law to the same effect if it pleases was sim- 

 ply that we owed it to ourselves that this mat- 

 ter should be properly investigated, should be 

 investigated by botli branches, should be inves- 

 tigated in such a manner as to enable us to come 

 to a conclusion which should be satisfactory, 

 and that it had better be done by a joint com- 

 mittee of both branches ; because it would be a 

 very serious matter if one branch were to come 

 to one conclusion and admit members, and tho 

 other branch were to come to the opposite con- 

 clusion and refuse to admit members. Under 

 the circumstances by which we are surrounded, 

 1 have thought that Congress, by the concur- 

 rence of both branches, should first setUe the 



