CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



195 



or as an officer of the United States, or as a member 

 of any Stni. 1.. '-Mature, or as an executive or judi- 

 cial o'fllciT ..f :iny State, to support the Constitution 

 of the L'niti-il Stag's, shall have engaged iu insurrec- 

 tion or rebellion against tho same, or given aid or 

 comfort !,> (In- rncmiCH thereof. Hut Congress may, 

 by u vot,- uf two-thirds of each House, remove such 

 disabilitv. 



1. Tho validity of the public debt of the Uni- 

 tr<l Stai-s, authorized by law, including debts in- 

 curred for payment of pensions and bounties for 

 il in .suppressing insurrection or rebellion, 

 shall not be questioned. But neither tho United 

 - nor any State shall assume or pay any debt 

 or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebel- 

 lion against the United States, or any claim for the 

 loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such 

 tk'lits, obligations, and claims shall be beld illegal 

 and void. 



Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, 

 by appropriate legislation, tho provisions of this ar- 

 ticle. 



In the Honse, on June 13th, the question 

 was put on concurring with the amendments 

 of the Senate; and there were yeas 130, nays 

 32, not voting 32 ; as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Alley. Allison, Ames, Delos R. 

 Ashley, James If. Ashley, Baker, Baldwin, Banks, 

 Barker, Baxter, Beaman, Bidwell, Bingham, Elaine, 

 Boutwell, Bromwell, Buckland, Bundy, Reader \V. 

 Clark, Sidney Clarke, Cobb, Conkling, Cook, Cullom, 

 Darling, Davis, Dawes, Defrees, Delano, Dodge, 

 Donnelly, Driggs, Dumont. Eckley, Eggleston, Eliot, 

 Farnsworth, larquhar, Ferry, Garfield, Grinnell, 

 Griswold, Hale, Abner C. Harding, Hart, Hayes, 

 Henderson, Higby, Holmes, Hooper, Hotchkiss, 

 Asabel W. Hubburd, Chester D. Hubbard, John II. 

 Hubbard, James R. Hubbell, Jenckcs, Julian, Kelley, 

 Kelso, Ketcham, Kuykendall, Laflin, Latham, George 

 V. Lawrence, Loan, Longyear, Lynch, Marvin, Me- 

 Clurg, McKee, McRuer, Mercur, Miller, Moorhead, 

 Mornll, Morris, Moulton, Myers, Newell, O'Neill, 

 Orth, Paine, Perham, Phelps, Pike, Plants, Pomeroy, 

 Price, William II. Randall, Raymond, Alexander H. 

 Rice, John H. Rice, Sawyer, Schenck, Schofleld, 

 Shellabarger, Sloan, Smith, Spalding, Stevens, Still- 

 well, Thayer, Francis Thomas, John L. Thomas, 

 Trowbridge, Upson, Van Aeruam, Robert T. Van 

 Horn, Ward, Warner, Henry D. Washburn, William 

 B. Washburn, Welker, Wentworth, Whaley, Wil- 

 liams, James F. Wilson, Stephen F. Wilson, Win- 

 dom, and the Speaker 120. 



NAYS Messrs. Ancona, Bergen, Bover, Chanler, 

 Coffroth, Dawson, Denison, Eldridge, Finck, Gloss- 

 brcnner, Gridcr, Aaron Harding, Hogan, Edwin N. 

 Hubbell, James M. Humphrey, Kerr, Le Blond, Mar- 

 shall, Niblack, Nicholson, Samuel J. Randall, Ritter, 

 Rogers, Ross, Sitgreaves, Strouse, Tabor, Taylor, 

 Thornton, Trimble, Winfield, and Wright -82. 



NOT VOTING Messrs. Anderson, Benjamin, Blow, 

 Braudagee, Broomall, Culver, Deming, Dixon, Good- 

 year, Harris, Hill, Demas Hubbard, flulburd, James 

 Humphrey, Ingcrsoll, Johnson, Jones, Kasson, Wi!- 

 liam Lawrence, Marston, McCullough, Mclndoe, 

 Noell, Patterson, Radford, Rollins, Rousseau, Shunk- 

 lin, Starr, Burt Van Horn, Elihu B. Washbume, and 

 Woodbridge 32. 



Tho Speaker : " Two-thirds of both Houses 

 naving concurred in the joint resolution, pro- 

 posing an amendment to the Constitution of tho 

 United States, the joint resolution has passed." 



In the House, on Juno 18th, Mr. Cobb, of 

 Wisconsin, from the Committee on Enrolled 

 Bills, reported that, on June 16th, a copy of 

 tho joint resolution to amend the Constitution 

 was filed with the Secretary of State. 



Mr. Binghnrn, of Ohio, asked Icavo to in- 

 troduce tho following resolution, which WM 

 granti-il : 



Ruolned by the Route of Representative* (the Senate 

 concurring), That the President of the United States 

 be requested to transmit forthwith to the Executive* 

 of the several States of tho United States copies of 

 the article of amendment proposed by Congress to 

 the State Legislatures to amend the Constitution of 

 the United States, passed June 13, 1860, respecting 

 citizenship, the basis of representation, disqualifica- 

 tion for office, the validity of the public debt of the 

 United States, etc., to the end that the said States may 

 proceed to.act upon the said article of amendment, 

 and that he request the Executives of the States that 

 may ratify tho said amendment t> transmit to the 

 Secretary of State certified copies of such ratifica- 

 tion. 



The resolution was adopted yeas 87, naya 

 20. 



On June 22d President Johnson sent the fol- 

 lowing message to the House : 



, D. C., June 22, 1666. 

 To the Senate and House of Representatives : 



1 submit to Congress a report of the Secretary of 

 State, to whom was referred^ the concurrent resolu- 

 tion of the 18th instant respecting a submission to 

 the Legislatures of the States of an additional article 

 to the Constitution of the United States. It will bo 

 seen from this report that the Secretary of State had, 

 on the 16th instant, transmitted to the Governors of 

 the several States certified copies of the joint resolu- 

 tion passed on the 18th instant proposing an amend- 

 ment to the Constitution. 



Even in ordinary times any question of amending 

 the Constitution must be justly regarded as of para- 

 mount importance. This importance is at the present 

 time enhanced by the fact that the joint resolution 

 was not submitted by the two Houses for the ap- 

 proval of the President, and that of the thirty-six 

 States which constitute the Union eleven are ex- 

 cluded from representation in either House of Con- 

 gress, although, with the single exception of Texas, 

 they have been entirely restored to all their functions 

 as States in conformity with the organic law of the 

 land, and have appeared at the national capital by 

 Senators and Representatives, who have applied for 

 and have been refused admission to the vacant seats. 

 Nor have the sovereign people of the nation been 

 afforded an opportunity of expressing their views 

 upon the important questions which the amendment 

 involves. Grave doubts, therefore, may naturally 

 and justly arise as to whether the action of Congress 

 is in harmony with the sentiments of the people, and 

 whether State Legislatures, elected without reference 

 to such an issue, should be called upon by Congress 

 to decide respecting the ratification of the proposed 

 amendment. 



Waiving the question as to the constitutional valid- 

 ity of the proceedings of Congress upon the joint 

 resolution proposing the amendment, or as to the 

 merits of the article which it submits through the 

 executive department to the Legislatures of the 

 . I deem it proper to observe that the steps 

 taken by the Secretary of State, as detailed in the 

 accompanying report, are to be considered as purely 

 ministerial, and in no sense whatever committing the 

 Executive to an approval or a recommendation of 

 the amendment to the State Legislatures or to the 

 people. On the contrary, a proper appreciation of 

 the letter and spirit of the Constitution, as well as of 

 the interests of national order, harmony, and union, 

 and a due deference for an enlightened public judg- 

 ment, may at this time well suggest a doubt whether 

 any amendment to the Constitution ought to be pro- 

 posed by Congress and pressed upon the Legislatures 

 of the several States for final decision uoUJ after tho 



