158 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



the Union, or almost every State in the Union ? 

 Yes. Did not the States that adopted it do it 

 under the impression that they were States 

 republican in point of form ? Did not the Con- 

 vention that inserted in the Constitution this 

 guarantee go upon the assumption that the 

 States were republican in point of form ? Why, 

 certainly, unless they intended to break up all 

 the States. That we know they did not intend ; 

 and not intending that, can it be supposed that 

 they designed by this clause to place it in the 

 hands of Congress to decide from time to time, 

 as passions might be excited, party spirit pre- 

 vailed, the exigencies of party success demanded, 

 to interfere with the State governments by 

 bringing into the enjoyment of the elective fran- 

 chise those whom the States had excluded? 

 Not only that, if the proposition is true it goes 

 a step further than that ; if possible, infinitely 

 further. Does it give to the United States the 

 authority to interfere with any of the existing 

 rights belonging to the States at the time they 

 adopted the Constitution ? If it did, then every 

 thing was thrown afloat ; the United States then, 

 by its Congress, is to become a great conven- 

 tion, not only to deliberate for the interests and 

 safety of the people of the United States, but 

 for what they may believe from time to time 

 is to be the interest and the safety of the people 

 of each State in the management of its own 

 domestic concerns. 



" There is a rule, and it is the only rule, as I 

 think, consistent with what must have been 

 the intention of the Convention and of the 

 people, and that is this : that every government 

 is republican in point of form which corre- 

 sponds with the governments in existence when 

 the Constitution was adopted. All rights se- 

 cured by positive constitutional provisions, all 

 powers prohibited by positive constitutional 

 prohibition, that were secured or prohibited in 

 the several State constitutions of the States 

 whose representatives framed the Constitution 

 and whose people adopted the Constitution, 

 are perfectly consistent with our idea and the 

 people's idea of what constitutes a republican 

 form of government. There is no other rule 

 by which you can construe the clause that will 

 not place every State in the power of the Unit- 

 ed States, exercising that power through the 

 Congress of the United States, which from time 

 to time that body may think actually or profess- 

 edly will conduce to the interest of the people 

 of each State, and give them what they consider 

 to be a government republican in point of form." 



Mi-. Wilson, of Massachusetts, said: "A bill 

 has passed the House of Representatives by an 

 immense majority and is now pending before 

 the Senate, to give suffrage without distinction 

 of color in the Territories of the United States. 

 We must and should act upon that bill. I shall 

 vote for it with all my heart. The admission 

 of this State at this time without imposing this 

 condition upon her and then the passage of that 

 bill would put us in a false position before the 

 country. The passage of that territorial bill 



will confer suffrage upon the colored men of 

 Nebraska ; the unconditional admission of that 

 new State will for a time take suffrage from 

 them. No loyal man in possession of suffrage 

 shall ever say to me, ' You, sir, robbed me of 

 my rights.' 



" I have come to the conclusion, sir, that be- 

 fore the 4th of March the constitutional amend- 

 ment will have been adopted by the country ; 

 but whether it be adopted or not, there is one 

 thing very clear to my mind as a duty that we 

 cannot shun in my opinion we are neglecting 

 it now and that is, to take the governments or 

 these rebel States out of the hands of the 

 rebels. They have no business with the gov- 

 ernments of those States. It is a betrayal of 

 the cause of the country to put the governments 

 of those States into their hands, or to continue 

 the governments of those States in their hands. 

 Whether we call them States or Territories, one 

 thing is clear : the loyal people, black and white, 

 of those States should be protected in life, lib- 

 erty, and property, and we are bound to protect 

 them. The disloyal men have no right to any 

 share or part in the governments of those States 

 and should at once be dismissed from the places 

 they have usurped through the weakness or 

 treachery of the President. Before the 4th of 

 March we must take the governments of these 

 rebel States out of the hands of disloyal men. 

 I am anxious for the passage of this bill with 

 this amendment, that this question may be sub- 

 mitted to the Legislature, that the Legislature 

 may agree to it, and that her Senators may be 

 here to aid in the good work before us." 



Mr. Fessenden, of Maine, followed, saying : 

 " I understand that this matter of admitting a 

 State is one of compact. A State may es- 

 tablish a government if it pleases, or a sort of 

 government to suit itself; it may call a conven- 

 tion ; it may institute a form of government if it 

 likes and proceed to act under it; and if the 

 Congress of the United States chooses to rec- 

 ognize that as such in a Territory, or in a State 

 situated as these rebellious States are, they have 

 the power to do so. But suppose they do not 

 choose to do it, but take exception to the form, 

 does the body assuming to act as a Legislature 

 remain a Legislature so far as we are concerned ? 

 Does the so-called State government entitle it- 

 self to be the government of the State so far as 

 Congress and the Government of the United 

 States are concerned ? Not at all, until we 

 come into the compact. I think that principle 

 will enable us to answer the question that is 



Eut by the . Senator. We do not say -that a 

 tate government is all right if it answers ' ay ' 

 but all wrong if it answers 'no.' We submit 

 our constitutional amendment in the regular 

 form ; we provide that it shall be submitted to 

 the Legislatures of the States. We do not say 

 what States. We do not submit it ourselves, 

 except by passing a vote to that effect. We 

 authorize the Secretary of State to transmit a 

 copy to the several States of the Union; no 

 more than that ; and when he receives the an- 



