646 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



States, it is equally true that the people of the so- 

 called Confederate 'States had no right to throw off 

 the authority of the United States ; it is equally true 

 that they are bound at all times to share the burdens 

 of government. They cannot, either legally or equi- 

 tably, refuse to bear their just proportion of these 

 burdens by voluntarily abdicating their rights and 

 privileges as States of the Union, and refusing to be 

 represented in the councils of the nation, much less 

 I by rebellion against national authority, and levying 

 war. To hold that by so doing they could escape 

 taxation would be to offer a premium for insurrec- 

 tion, to reward instead of punishing treason. To 

 hold that as soon as Government is restored to its 

 full authority it can be allowed no time to secure it- 

 self against similar wrongs in the future, or else omit 

 the ordinary exercise of its constitutional power to 

 compel equal contribution from all toward the ex- 

 penses of government, would be unreasonable in it- 

 self and unjust to the nation. It is sufficient to reply 

 that the loss of representation by the people of the in- 

 surrectionary States was their own voluntary choice. 

 They might abandon their privileges, but they could 

 not escape their obligations. And surely they have 

 no right to complain if, before resuming those privi- 

 leges, and while the people of the United States are 

 devising measures for the public safety, rendered 

 necessary by the act of those who thus disfranchised 

 themselves, they are compelled to contribute their 

 just proportion of the general burden of taxation in- 

 curred by their wickedness and folly. Equally ab- 

 surd is the pretence that the legislative authority of 

 the nation must be inoperative so far as they are 

 concerned, while they, by their own act, have lost 

 the right to take part in it. Such a proposition car- 

 ries its own refutation on its face. While thus 

 exposing fallacies which, as your committee believe, 

 are resorted to for the purpose of misleading the 

 people and distracting their attention from the ques- 

 tions at issue, we freely admit that such a condition 

 of things should be brought, if possible, to a speedy 

 termination. It is most desirable that the union of 

 all the States should become perfect at the earliest 

 possible moment consistent with the peace and wel- 

 fare of the nation; that all these States should be- 

 come fully represented in the national councils, and 

 take their share of the legislation of the country. 

 The possession and exercise of more than its just 

 share of power by any section over all others, in its 

 tendency is distracting and demoralizing, and such 

 a state of affairs is only to be tolerated on the ground 

 of a necessary regard to the public safety. As soon 

 as the safety is secured it should terminate. 



Your committee came to the consideration of the 

 subject referred to them with the most anxious de- 

 sire to ascertain what was the condition of the people 

 of the States recently in insurrection, and what, if 

 any thing, was necessary to be done before restoring 

 them to the free enjoyment of all their original privi- 

 leges. It was undeniable that the war into which 

 they had plunged the country had naturally changed 

 their relations to the loyal people of the loyal States. 

 Slavery has been abolished by constitutional amend- 

 ment. A large portion of the population had be- 

 come, instead of mere chattels, freemen and citizens. 

 Through all the struggle these had remained true 

 and loyal, and had in large numbers fought on the 

 side of the Union. It was impossible to abandon 

 them without securing them their rights as men and 

 citizens. The whole civilized world would have cried 

 out against such base ingratitude, and the bare idea 

 is ofl'ensive to all right-thinking men. Hence it be- 

 came important to inquire what could be done to 

 secure their rights, civil and political. It was evident 

 to your committee that adequate security could only 

 be found in appropriate constitutional provisions of 

 the Constitution. Representation is based on the 

 whole number of free persons in each State and three- 

 fifths of all other persons. "When atl become free-, 

 representation for all necessarily follows. As a con- 



sequence the inevitable effect of the rebellion would 

 be to increase the political power of the insurrec- 

 tionary States, whenever they should be allowed to 

 resume their positions as States of the Union. As 

 representation is by the Constitution based upon 

 population, your committee did not think it advisable 

 to recommend a change of that basis. The increase 

 of representation necessarily resulting from the aboli- 

 tion of slnvery was considered the most important 

 element in the questions arising out of the necessity 

 for some fundamental action in this regard. It ap- 

 pears to your committee that the right of representa- 

 tion to be thus increased should not be recognized by 

 the General Government. While slaves they were 

 not considered as having any rights, civil or political. 

 It did not seem just or proper that all the political 

 advantages derived from their becoming free should 

 be confined to their former masters, who had fought 

 against the Union, and withheld from themselves 

 who had always been loyal. Slavery, by building up 

 a ruling and dominant class, had produced a spirit 

 of oligarchy adverse to republican institutions, which 

 finally inaugurated civil war, the tendency of con- 

 tinuing the nomination of such a class by leaving it 

 in the exclusive possession of political power, would 

 be to encourage the same spirit and lead to a similar 

 result. Doubt was entertained whether Congress 

 had power, even under the amended Constitution, to 

 prescribe the qualifications of voters in a State, or 

 could act directly on the subject. It was doubtful, 

 in the opinion of your committee, whether the States 

 would consent to surrender a power they had always 

 exercised, and to which they were attached. As the 

 best, if not the only method of surmounting the diffi- 

 culty, and as eminently just and proper in itself, your 

 committee came to the conclusion that political power 

 should be possessed in all the States exactly in pro- 

 portion as the right of suffrage should be granted, 

 without distinction of color or race. This, it was 

 thought, would leave the whole question with the 

 people of each State, holding out to all the advantage 

 of increased political power as an inducement to allow 

 aw to participate in its exercise. Such a provision 

 would be in its nature gentle and persuasive, and 

 would lead, it was hoped, at no distant day, to an 

 equal participation of all, without distinction, in all 

 the rights and privileges of citizenship, thus afford- 

 ing a full and adequate protection to all classes of 

 citizens, since all would have, through the ballot-box, 

 the power of self-protection. Holding these views, 

 your committee prepared an amendment to the Con- 

 stitution tro carry out this idea, and submitted the 

 same to Congress. Unfortunately, as we think, it 

 did not receive the necessary constitutional support 

 in the Senate, and therefore could not be proposed 

 for adoption by the States. The principle involved 

 by that amendment' is known and believed to be 

 sound, and your committee have again proposed it in 

 another form, hoping that it may receive the appro- 

 bation of Congress. Your committee have been un- 

 able to find in the evidence submitted to Congress by 

 the President, under date of March 6, 1866, in com- 

 pliance with the resolutions of January 5 and Febru- 

 ary 27, 1866, any satisfactory proof that either of the 

 insurrectionary States, except, perhaps, the State 

 of Tennessee, has placed itself in a condition to re- 

 sume its political relations to the Union. The first 

 step toward that end would necessarily be the estab- 

 lishment of a republican form of government by the 

 people. It has been heretofore said that the provi- 

 sional governors appointed by the President, in the 

 exercise of his military authority, could do nothing, 

 by virtue of the power thus conferred, toward the 

 establishment of a State government. They were 

 acting under the War Department, and paid out of its 

 funds. They were simply bridging over the chasm 

 between the rebellion and restoration, and vet W9 

 find them calling conventions and convening legisl*. 

 tures. Not only that, but we find the conventions 

 and legislatures' thus convened acting under explicit 



