PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



M7 



.n a* to Hi :n required to IH> adnpt- 



niiitioim unl ordinances, n-^ ci.ndi- 

 :iitii-n l.\ tin- Pre-idt-nt. 

 lirld nut by tin- President for <-om- 

 pnM-d \M-II- din-ct'-d in 

 :m:ibly, thci-el'-ne, in other*, 

 latoi-.s ami KrpiT- 

 .L.MTHS. Tli- "1" the con- 



res thus usM-inlilcd was not 

 lidenec' ill tin- good faith of 



their m.'inbers. C.'Venn.r Perry nf Smith Carolina 

 veution assembled in that State be- 

 n had reached Columbia from 

 :igton that the rebel war debt should be repu- 

 diated, and (rave as his reason that it was a " revo- 

 luiim There is no evidence of the loyalty 



or disloyalty >>t tin- members of those conventions and 

 .\ivpt the fuct of pardons being asked 

 i their account. Some of these States now 

 clainu -nation refused to adopt the condi- 



.:;ipo>cd. NII reliable information is found in 

 papers as In the constitutional provisions of 

 Mates, while in not one of them is 

 ilie ^lightest evidence to ehow that those 

 :;ded ouist it iitions," as they are called, have 

 even been submitted to the people for their adoption. 

 In North Carolina alone an ordinance was passed to 

 that ell'eet, hut it does not appear to have been acted 

 v ot one of them, therefore, has been notified. 

 Whether with President Johnson we adopt the 

 theory that the old constitutions were abrogated and 

 <le>tro\ed, and the people "deprived of civil gov- 

 ernment," or whether we adopt the alternative doc- 

 tliut they were only suspended and were re- 

 liy the suppression of the rebellion, the new 

 provision must be considered as equally destitute of 

 validity before adoption by the people. If the con- 

 ventions were called for the sole purpose of putting 

 the State governments into operation, they nad no 

 either to adopt a new constitution or to amend 

 un old one without the consent of the people. Nor 

 could either a convention or a legislature change the 

 fundament*] law without power previously conferred. 

 In the view of your committee, it follows, therefore, 

 that the people of a State where the constitution has 

 been thus amended might feel themselves justified in 

 repudiating altogether such unauthorized assumption 

 of power, and might be expected to do so at pleasure. 

 So far as the disposition of the people of the in- 

 surrectionary States, and the probability of adopting 

 measures conforming to the changed conditions of at- 

 i an be inferred from the papers submitted by 

 : '-sident as the basis of his action, the prospects 

 are far from encouraging. It appears quite clear that 

 the antialavery Amendments both to the State and 

 Federal constitutions were adopted with reluctance 

 l>y the Imdie-i which did adopt them, while in some 

 they have either been passed by in silence or 

 rejected. The language of all the provisions and 

 ordinances of those States amount to nothing more 

 than an unwilling admission of an unwelcome truth. 

 As to the ordinance of secession, it is in some cases 

 declared " null and void," and in others simply " re- 

 pealed," and in no instance is a refutation of this 

 deadly heresy considered worthy a place in the new 

 Constitution. 



If, as the President assumes, these insurrectionary 

 States were at the close of the v/ur wholly without 

 State governments, it would seem that before being 

 admitted in the direction of public affairs sue! 

 ernmeuts should be regularly organized. Lonir 

 has established and numerous statutes have pointed 

 out the mode in which this should be done. A con- 

 vent ion to frame a form of government should be as- 

 sembled under competent authority. Ordinarily, this 

 authority emanates from Congre'ss, but under tin- 

 peculiar circumstances, your committee is not dis- 

 posed to criticise the President's action in assuming 

 the power exercised by him in this regard. The 

 convention when assembled should frame a constitu- 



tion of government, wliirh ^hfiiild he submitted to th 

 people fur adoption. If adopted, a legislature nhonli 1 

 be convened to pass the lawn necessary to carry it 

 into eflcct. When a State thus organized claim* 

 representation in Con^re-x, the election of : 

 ives should be provided for by law in n 

 ance with the laws of Congress regulating 

 sentation, and the proof that the action taken rias 

 l.i-i-n in conformity to law should be submitted to 

 Congress. 



In no case have these essential preliminaries been 

 taken. The conventions assembled seem to have as- 

 sumed that the Constitution which had been repu- 

 diated and overthrown was still in existence and 

 operative to constitute the States members of the- 

 Union, and to have contented themselves with such 

 amendments as they were informed were requisite 

 in order to insure them an immediate return to a par- 

 ticipation in the Government of the United States. 

 Not waiting to ascertain whether the people thus rep- 

 resented would adopt even the proposed amend- 

 ments, they at once ordered elections of represent- 

 atives to Congress ; in nearly all instances no execu- 

 tive had been chosen to issue writs of election under 

 the State laws, and such elections as were held were 

 ordered by the conventions; in one instance, at 

 least, the writs of election were signed by the pro- 

 visional governor. Glaring irregularities and un- 

 warrantable assumption of power are manifest in sev- 

 eral cases, particularly in South Carolina, where the 

 convention, although disbanded by the provisional 

 governor on the ground that it was a revolutionary 

 body, assumed to redistrict the State. 



It is quite evident from all these facts, and, indeed, 

 from the whole mass of testimony submitted by the 

 President to the Senate, that in no instance was regard 

 paid to any other consideration than obtaining imme- 

 diate adm'ission to Congress under the barren form 

 of an election in which no precautions were taken to 

 secure regularity of proceedings, or the assent of 

 the people. 



No constitution has been legally adopted, except 

 perhaps in the State of Tennessee, and such elections 

 as have been held were without authority of law. 

 Your committee are accordingly forced to the con- 

 clusion that the States referred to have not placed 

 themselves in a condition to claim representation in 

 Congress, unless all the rules which have, since the 

 foundation of the Government, been deemed essen- 

 tial in such cases, should be disregarded. 



It would undoubtedly be competent for Congress 

 to waive all formalities and to admit the Confederate 

 States to representation at once, trusting that time 

 and experience would set all things right. Whether 

 it would be advisable to do so, however, must de- 

 pend on other considerations, of which it remains to 

 treat. But it may well be observed that the induce- 

 ments to such a step should be of the very highest 

 character. It seems not unreasonable to your com- 

 mittee to require satisfactory evidence that the ordi- 

 nances and constitutional provisions which the Pres- 

 ident deemed essential in the first instance will be 

 permanently adhered to by the people of the States 

 seeking restoration, after being admitted to full par- 

 ticipation of tbe government, and will not be repudi- 

 ated when that object shall have been accomplished. 

 And here the burden of proof rests upon the latu 

 insurgents who are seeking restoration to the rights 

 and privileges which they willingly abandoned, and 

 not upon the people of the United'States, who have 

 never undertaken directly or indirectly to deprive 

 them thereof. It should appear affirmatively that 

 they are prepared and disposed in good faith to ac- 

 cept the results of the war, to abandon their hostility 

 to the Government, and to live in peace and unity 

 with the people of tbe loyal States, extending to all 

 < equal rights and privileges, and conforming 

 to the republican idea of liberty and equality. They 

 should exhibit in their acts something more than * 

 unwilling submission ; a feeling, if not cheerful, cr> 



