CON(.m>s, I SITED STATES. 



-Ml 



an opportunity to carry out the dm-trim- which 

 tlii- Senator i'roin Massachusetts has so otten 

 .Hid s eloquently proclaim. -.! hew, '<ii\,- me 

 tin- ballot anil I will In- satistl.-d ; tin- ballot is 

 tin- hcL'imiing and the end, tin- alpha and the 

 ;he whole theory of reconstruction.' 

 llovv long ,|i,l we hear liim d, claim about the, 

 ballot at the last session? Now lie has the 

 opportunity to give tho hallot to every male 

 of twenty-one year-* and 

 to put him on a looting of equality with his 

 former 111:1 



"Her.- is a 1-ill that cripples him by no re- 

 striction, that requires no educational qualifica- 

 'hat does not tie his hands on account of 

 pa-t ignorance, hut gives him that great power 

 which the Senator IKH so often demanded for 

 him. The Senator is not satisfied when this is 

 done by the unanimous vote of his political 

 friends in the Senate, every voice concurring; 

 and that, too, when it is supported hy military 

 law, hack, d hy the proposition that until tho 

 people of these States shall themselves arm tho 

 with political power they shall not bo 

 represented here. The Senator says that is not 

 sufficient. Although in many Southern States 

 the negroes are in the majority, and if they 

 have the intelligence and the vigor and the 

 firmness of _ tho white man they can vote down 

 the white men ; the Senator says he is not satis- 

 lied with that. Now, what is asked? What was 

 asked in the House of Representatives? That 

 wo shall disfranchise the white population and 

 leave only the negroes and the few loyal white 

 people thera are in the Southern States to vote. 

 If that is tho proposition, let us meet it boldly 

 and manfully. Sir, the people of Ohio I know 

 do not demand such a proposition. All they 

 ask is that the negro shall be protected in all 

 his natural rights, and as the highest means of 

 protection, that he shall be secured the ballot. 

 And. sir, no proposition can ever pass this Con- 

 and no bill can ever be sanctioned by the 

 Ai.'urican people which will disfranchise the 

 white population of the Southern States with 

 very few exceptions, and place tho power of 

 ten States in tho hands of ignorant, emanci- 

 pated fi-eedmeii. We want neither black nor 

 white oligarchies. 



"This bill does not proclaim universal am- 

 nesty except as to voting. On tho contrary, it 

 requires these States to adopt a constitutional 

 amendment by which the leading men disable 

 themselves from holding office. Six thousand 

 or perhaps ten thousand of the leading men of 

 the South are embraced in the restriction of 

 the constitutional amendment, and are forever 

 excluded from holding office, until two-thirds 

 of both Houses of Congress relieve them from 

 that restriction. Is not that enough? Is it 

 not enough that they are humiliated, conquered, 

 their pride broken, their property lost, hun- 

 dreds and thousands of their best and hravcst 

 buried under their soil, their institutions gone, 

 they themselves deprived of the right to hold 

 office, and placed in political power on the 

 VOL. VH. lt> 



same footing with their Conner slaves ? I not 

 that enough '. [n it i-, arid a guui-rima peo- 

 ple will not demand more." 



'I he motion to consider tho amendment* WM 

 agreed to. 



In the House, on the lluli and 20th the 

 Senate amendments were COIM<: 



The pending question was, upon seconding 

 tho cajl for the previous question, upon the 

 motion of Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, to agree to the 

 amendments of the. Senate, with the, following 

 amendment added thereto : 



Provided. That no person excluded from the privi- 

 lege of holding office by said proposed amendment 

 to the Constitution of the United States shall be 

 eligible to election as a member of i convention to 

 frame a constitution for any of said rebel States; 

 nor shall any such person vote for members of such 

 convention. 



The call for the previous question was not 

 seconded, and Mr. Shellabarger moved to add 

 the following to the amendment of Mr. Wilson : 



SEC. . And be it further enacted, That until the 

 people of said rebel States shall be admitted to rep- 

 resentation in the Congress of^the United States, 

 any civil governments which may exist therein 

 shall be deemed provisional only, and in all respects 

 subject to the paramount authority of the United 

 States at any time to abolish, modify, control, or 

 supersede the same. And in all elections to any 

 office under such provisional governments, all per- 

 sons shall be entitled to vote, and none others, who 

 are entitled to vote under the provisions of the fifth 

 section of this act ; and no person shall be eligible 

 to any office under any such provisional government 

 who shall be disqualified from holding office under 

 the provisions of the third article of said constitu- 

 tional amendment. 



The motion was agreed to. 



The Senate amendments, as amended, were 

 then concurred in by the following vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Anderson, 

 Arnell, Delos R. Ashley, James M. Ashlev, Baker, 

 Baldwin, Banks, Barker, Baxter, Beaman, Benjamin, 

 Bidwell, Biugham, Blaine, Blow, Boutwell, Branda- 

 gee, Bromwell, Broomall, Buckland, Bundv, Reader 

 W. Clarke, Sidney Clarke, Cebb. Cook, Cullom, Dar- 

 ling, Davis, Dawes, Defrees, Delano, Deming, Dodge, 

 Donnelly, Dumont, Eggleston, Eliot, Farnsworth, 

 Farquhar, Ferry, Grinnell, Griswold, Abner C. Hard- 

 ing, Hart, Hayes, Henderson, Higby, Hill, Holmes, 

 Hooper, Hotchkiss, Chester D. Hubbard, Demos 

 Hubbard, John H. Hubbard, Uulburd, Ingersoll, 

 Julian, Kasson, Kelley, Kelso, Ketchain, Koontz, 

 Li'.flin, George V. Lawrence, William Lawrence, 

 Loan, Longyear, Lynch, Marvin, Mavnard, McClurg, 

 Mclndoc, McKee, McRuer, Mercur, Miller. Moorhead, 

 Morris, Moulton, Myers, Newell, O'Neill, Orth, 

 Paine, Patterson, Perham, Pike, Plants, Pomeroy, 

 Price, Ravmond, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, 

 Rollins, Sawyer, Schenck, Scofield, Shellabarger, 

 Sloan, Spalding, Starr, St.-vcns Stokes, Thaver, 

 Francis Thomas;, John L. Thomas, Trowbridge, "tip- 

 son, Van Aernam, Burt Van Horn, Robert T. Van 

 Horn, Hamilton Ward, Warner, Henrv D. Wash- 

 burn, Willliam B. Washbum, Welker, "Wentworth, 

 Whali-y, Williams, James F. Wilson, Stephen F. 

 Wflson, Windom, and Woodbridge 126. 



NAYS Messrs. Ancona, Bergen, Dover, Campbell, 

 Chanler, Cooper, Dawson, Deuison, Eldridge, Hnck. 

 Glossbrenner, Goodyear, Aaron Harding. Hawkins, 

 lliso, K<1 win N. Hubbell, James R. Hubbell, Hum- 

 plnvv, Hunter, Kcrr, Kuykendall, Le Blond. Left- 

 wicb, Marshall, McCullough, Niblack, Nicholson, 





