172 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



ment of the House was concurred in by the fol- 

 lowing vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Cattell, Chandler, Con- 

 ness, Cragin, Fessenden, Fowler, Frelinghuysen, 

 Grimes, Harris, Henderson, Howard, Kirkwood, 

 Lane, Merrill, Poland, Ramsev, Sherman, Sprague, 

 Stewart, Sumner, Van Winkfe, Wade, Willey, Wil- 

 liams, Wilson, and Yates 27. 



NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Dixon, Doolittle, Ed- 

 munds, Foster, Hendricks, Johnson, Nesmith, Nor- 

 ton, Patterson, Riddle, and Saulsbury 12. 



ABSENT Messrs. Brown, Cowan, Creswell, Davis, 

 Fogg, Guthrie, Howe, McDougall, Morgan, Nye, 

 Pomeroy, Eoss, and Trumbull 13. 



On January 19th, the President returned the 

 bill to the Senate with his objections. (See PUB- 

 LIC DOCUMENTS.) The message and documents 

 were ordered to be printed. 



In the Senate, on February 28th, a motion 

 was made to consider the bill with the veto 

 message. A motion was made that on the 29th, 

 at half-past twelve o'clock, the vote should be 

 taken without debate. 



Mr. Buckalew, of Pennsylvania, said: " I be- 

 lieve that the greatest subject that can possi- 

 bly be considered by the American Congress 

 is legitimate to the discussion of this bill. I 

 do not mean the question whether a State, 

 under the circumstances in which Colorado 

 presents herself, shall be admitted or not ; the 

 circumstances attending the formation of her 

 constitution, irregular and without authority of 

 law, as it was ; nor whether it is proper to 

 admit that State, notwithstanding the objec- 

 tions of the President of the United States, as 

 stated in his veto message. But, sir, it is a 

 deep-rooted conviction of my mind that polit- 

 ical power in this country is unfairly and inju- 

 riously lodged, and that without some funda- 

 mental amendment it is impossible that our 

 system of republican government should go on 

 permanently. My great objection to the intro- 

 duction of Colorado and of Nebraska into the 

 Union as States has been that that existing 

 inequality and injustice are thereby increased. 



" I am not going into a debate upon this great 

 subject which I have suggested ; but I desire to 

 say that it is with extreme reluctance that I 

 shall yield my strong desire of traversing this 

 field of debate, which has not been entered 

 upon in the former discussions upon the ad- 

 mission of these States, and which, in my 

 opinion, constitutes a field of investigation 

 more important, even at this time when other 

 great questions are pressed upon our attention, 

 than any other one possibly can be. 



;i Sir, after the 4th of March next, one million 

 six hundred thousand electors of the United 

 States, representing a popula,tio'n of about eight 

 million people, will be represented in this 

 chamber by two voices only. In all the States 

 of the North and in all the States of the "West 

 including the Pacific coast, the only Repre- 

 sentatives of the political minority of the coun- 

 try will be the Senator from Indiana (Mr. 

 Hendricks) and myself. That great mass of 

 intelligent humanity will have two votes in 



this chamber, and the two million two hun- 

 dred thousand that constitute the majority will 

 have about forty. In the other House the 

 case is, if possible, still stronger, because there 

 it is supposed that the popular principle pre- 

 vails. 



" I say that if we enter upon this field of 

 debate, which is proper and appropriate upon 

 the consideration of this measure, we have a 

 more important subject presented than any other 

 which is before Congress, a more important 

 subject even than the admission of the Southern 

 States. Eight thousand voters in the State 

 of Colorado are to have two votes in this 

 chamber. Eight thousand voters in Colorado 

 are to have the same weight in the other House 

 that twenty-two thousand in other parts of the 

 country (taking the average ratio) have. 



" What I meant in rising, however, was to say 

 that upon the first favorable occasion I shall 

 not embrace this one I shall desire to be 

 heard by the Senate at length, not for the pur- 

 pose of complaining of the existing injustice, 

 not for the purpose of pointing out defects in 

 our republican system, not for the purpose of 

 showing that without amendment and without 

 change this experiment of ours must fail, not 

 for the purpose of showing that civil convul- 

 sion and war arose from these defects in our 

 system, but for the purpose of directing atten- 

 tion to useful changes, to amelioration, to im- 

 provement, by which our political system can 

 have safeguards for its permanence and for its 

 success hereafter. I regret from the bottom of 

 my heart that this Senate is admitting these 

 small States, increasing this existing inequality, 

 accumulating difficulties in the way of reform. 

 But, sir, I know that before the hot and heady 

 passions of the hour ay, and the interests of 

 the hour protest will be unavailing ; and all 

 that I could accomplish, if I were heard fully 

 to-morrow or upon any other occasion, would 

 be to convince thoughtful and honest men in 

 the country that this thing is wrong ; it would 

 be impossible to change present votes. 



" But, sir, the truth, the interests of our peo- 

 ple, and the permanence of our institutions 

 demand that this subject should be investigated, 

 and upon the first proper occasion after this, 

 when I shall be within the rules of order, and 

 when remarks from me on this subject will be 

 tolerated by the Senate, I intend to be heard, 

 and to show facts and to discuss principles that 

 are much more worthy of attention, in my 

 opinion, that the current politics of the times. 

 My political passions are not of the warmest 

 and most ardent description ; perhaps they are 

 rather lukewarm for a good partisan. I would 

 willingly sacrifice all my connections with party 

 politics and retire cheerfully from public life if 

 I could induce my countrymen to reform those 

 defects in our system out of which existing 

 troubles have arisen, and without the correction 

 of which it is impossible that our system of 

 government should continue successful and 

 glorious in the future." 



