CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



lOOl member from Ohio (Mr. Bingham) 



ndfl, I am aware, that such ;i i/tiarai ' 



wrapped up iii tin' lirst section i>f tin- amend- 



;lial \\hich relates to an equality of civil 



rights. I'.ut I confess my inability to perceive 



iK, ami I am quite sure the public 



sentiment would be better satisfied \\ith one 



more distinct ami explicit in its terms. There 



lifference of opinion as to whether the 



did, under tin- Constitution as it now 



stands, liy their attempted secession, actually 



forfeit their representation in Congress and their 



right t a share in the political power of the 



nation. 



" But there is no difference whatever in the 

 opinion that, however this may have been in 

 the past, it shall not be left open to doubt in the 

 future. I believe every State of the Union 

 those which wore loyal and those which were 

 not will now agree upon an amendment to the 

 Constitution providing that whenever hereafter 

 any State shall attempt to secede, or shall enter 

 into any compact or agreement with any other 

 State to secede from the Union, and shall sus- 

 tain such attempt or agreement by force of 

 arms, that State shall thereby and thenceforth 

 forfeit all right to participate in the national 

 Government by being represented in Congress 

 or in the electoral college until readmitted 

 thereto by law. Such a provision, imbedded 

 in the fundamental law, ingrafted upon the Con- 

 stitution, would leave no shadow of doubt upon 

 this subject hereafter, and would stand as a per- 

 petual guarantee against secession through all 

 time to come. 



" By the amendment already adopted, seces- 

 sion is not forbidden, nor are officers of the 

 Government of the United States even required 

 ear paramount allegiance to the national 

 Government. By the amendment I have sug- 

 gested, secession, or attempts at secession, are 

 not only forbidden, but are forbidden under a 

 distinct and formidable penalty. I think some 

 snch amendment should be ingrafted on the 

 Constitution, and I deem it the duty of Congress 

 to present it, in addition to the one already 

 pending, to the States for adoption. 



" As for this bill, sir, I need scarcely say that 

 it contains nothing whatever which can possibly 

 be regarded as a guarantee. It is simply a law, 

 a law which the Supreme Court will unquestion- 

 ably annul, and which any coming Congress may 

 repeal. It has no single element of stability, 

 nothing which can guarantee any thing to any- 

 body beyond the day which witnesses its en- 

 actment. In my judgment the nation demands 

 something more stable, more definite, more 

 fundamental, more radical, something which 

 reaches the very root of secession and plucks 

 it up more thoroughly than any thing contained 

 either in this hill or in the constitutional amend- 

 ment which has been proposed by Congress." 



S \eral modifications were made in his bill 

 by Mr. Stevens, one of which was to strike 

 out the seventh section. The bill and substi- 

 tute were then reported to the House, when 



Mr. Shcllabargcr oflcrcd the following uuictid- 

 inelit, to take the place of *, etioti six of the 



substitute as originally reported. See page 206. 



That every person, being at the time a citizen of 

 tin- Initid S!.ii>--, v, In. lia^ voluntarily engaged in 

 any insurrection or rebellion against the United 

 States, or the authority or laws thereof, or who has 

 voluntarily given any encouragement, aid, or com- 

 fort, to such insurrection or rebellion, in hereby de- 

 clared to have surrendered and forfeited the right*, 

 privileges, and immunities \\liich ajijicii.. 

 citizenship, in M> Jar as such Government may 

 choose to affirm and accept such iinfritun;; and 

 such forfeiture is hereby declared in so fur that all 

 such persons are hereby declared to be, and are de- 

 prived, except as hereinafter provided, of the right 

 to hold any office which, under the Constitution of 

 the United States, cannot be assume 1 without first 

 taking an oath to support such Constitution ; and 

 also of the right to-be appointed an elector for i 

 dent or Vice-President of the United States; and 

 also of the right to vote at anv election in any State, 

 District, or Territory of the United States, fo'r either 

 of the officers or electors aforesaid ; or for any mem- 

 ber of any convention which may be convened for 

 forming, altering, or amending a constitution for any 

 State, District, or Territory of the United States ; or 

 for any territorial or provisional officer of any such 

 State, District, or Territory. 



SEC. . That any person named in the preceding 

 section of this act, who never gave aid, encourage- 

 ment, or means in support of such rebellion in any 

 other manner whatever than by being engaged as a 

 soldier in the armies thereof, and that only in open 

 and civilized warfare, in a position below the rank 

 of second lieutenant, may be discharged from the 

 forfeitures hereinbefore declared, by the order of any 

 court of record of the United States, npon estab- 

 lishing, to the satisfaction of such court, by the evi- 

 dence of persons who have always borne true alle- 

 giance to the United States, such facts as shall 

 satisfy the tribunal having the matter to decide, that 

 such person is one entitled to the benefit of and com- 

 ing within the provisions of this section, and is one 

 who can truly take the oath prescribed by this sec- 

 tion ; and such person, before being so discharged, 

 shall moreover take, and upon the records ofthc 

 court subscribe, the following oath, namely : 



"I, A B, do solemnly swear (or aflirm) that upon 

 and at all times alter the 4th day of March A. i>. 

 1 voluntarily gave no aid or encouragement to the 

 late rebellion against the United States, but earnest- 

 ly desired the success of the Union and the over- 

 throw of all armed resistance to the Government 

 thereof, and that, during all that time, I would have 

 complied with the requirements of the proclamation 

 of the President of the United States of the 8th of 

 December A. D. 1863, could I have done so without 

 imminent danger ; and more, that I will hereafter 

 faithfully support the Constitution of the United 

 States and the Union of the States." 



SEC. . That all persons coming within the for- 

 feitures declared by the first section of this act, ex- 

 cept those named in the second and fourth sections 

 thereof, may be discharged from the disabilities de- 

 clared by this act by an order of any court of record 

 of the United States at any time alter five years from 

 the making, by such person, and upon the records 

 of such court "subscribing, an oath or affirmation to 

 the effect that such person intends to apply for re- 

 admission to all the rights and privileges ofc Amer- 

 ican citizenship, and that he will at nil times support 

 and defend the Constitution of the United - 

 and the Union of the States thereunder. And, at 

 the time of such readmission, such person shall 

 prove, in the manner prescribed in the second sec- 

 tion of this act, that ever since the 19th day of April. 

 A. D. l^;."), he has behaved as a man attached to the 

 principles of the Constitution of the United Statca 



