246 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



atives ; Mississippi, five Representatives ; Louisiana, 

 five Representatives ; Texas, four Representatives ; 

 Tennessee, eight Representatives; Kentucky, nine 

 Representatives ; California, three Representatives ; 

 Arkansas, three Representatives; and Nebraska, one 

 Representative; in all, eighty congressional districts 

 now unrepresented on the floor of this House ; and 

 whereas of these unrepresented States, seven are of 

 the original thirteen that in 1787 met in Convention 

 and created the Constitution of the United States, 

 namely : New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecti- 

 cut, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 

 Georgia, a majority of the original thirteen : There- 

 fore, 



We, members-elect of the Fortieth Congress, do 

 now enter our most solemn protest against any and 

 every action tending to the organization of this 

 House until the absent States be more fully repre- 

 sented : 



James Brooks, New York ; A. J. Glossbrenner, 

 Pennsylvania ; William S. Holman, Indiana ; W. E. 

 Niblack, Indiana; J. M. Humphrey, New York; John 

 A. Nicholson, Delaware ; Charles A. Eldridge, Wis- 

 consin ; M. C. Kerr, Indiana ; P. Van Tromp, Ohio ; 

 Stephen Taber, New York; D. M. Van Auken, Penn- 

 sylvania ; B. M. Boyer, Pennsylvania ; Lewis W. 

 Ross, Illinois ; S. S. Marshall, Illinois ; Charles Den- 

 ison, Pennsylvania ; Fernando Wood, New York ; 

 Stevenson Archer, Maryland ; J. Lawrence Getz, 

 Pennsylvania; T. E. Noell, Missouri; W. Mungen, 

 Ohio ; W. E. Robinson, New York ; Demas Barnes, 

 New York ; John Fox, New York ; Albert G. Burr, 

 Illinois; John Morrissey, New York; F. Stone, 

 Maryland ; George W. Morgan, Ohio ; Charles Sit- 

 greaves, New Jersey ; Charles Haight, New Jersey ; 

 John W. Chanler, New York; John V. L. Pruyn, 

 New York. 



The Clerk declined to entertain the paper. 



Mr. "Wilson, of Iowa, said: "I do not pro- 

 pose to submit any extended remarks in reply 

 to what has just been said by the gentleman 

 from New York (Mr. Brooks). This body is 

 assembled in pursuance of law. That such is 

 the case is recognized by the gentleman from 

 New York and his associates from his and their 

 presence here. He seems to have forgotten that 

 for more than four years ten of the States enu- 

 merated by him, in the paper which lie has just 

 read, waged a fearful war against this Govern- 

 ment. But that fact has not been forgotten by 

 the people, nor is it forgotten by the Represent- 

 atives of the people here assembled. I will 

 not attempt to review the / precedents he has 

 cited in connection with, former extra sessions 

 of Congress. This is riot an extra session ; it is 

 the first regular session of the Fortieth Con- 

 gress, convened in pursuance of law." 



The motion was then agreed to, and Mr. 

 Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, was elected Speak- 

 er, having received 127 voters, and Mr. Samuel 

 S. Marshall, of Illinois, 30. 



The committee .of the t\vo Houses appointed 

 to wait on the President reported that he had 

 no communication to make to Congress at this 

 time. 



In the Senate, on March Yth, Mr. Sumner, of 

 Massachusetts, offered the following resolutions : 



Resolutions declaring certain further guarantees 

 required in the reconstruction of the rebel States. 



Resolved, That Congress, in declaring by positive 

 legislation that it possesses paramount authority over 

 the rebel States, and in prescribing that no person 

 therein shall be excluded from the elective franchise 



by reason of race, color, or previous condition, has 

 begun the work of reconstruction, and has set an ex- 

 ample to itself. 



Resolved, That there are other things remaining to 

 be done which are as clearly within the power of 

 Congress as the elective franchise, and it is the duty 

 of Congress to see that these things are not left un- 

 done. 



Resolved, That among the things remaining to be 

 done are the five following : 



1. The existing governments which have been de- 

 clared to be illegal must be vacated, so that they can 

 have no agency in the work of reconstruction, and 

 will cease to exercise a pernicious influence. 



2. Provisional governments must be constituted as 

 temporary substitutes for the illegal governments, 

 with special authority to superintend the transition 

 to permanent governments, republican in form. 



3. As loyalty beyond suspicion must be the basis 

 of permanent governments, republican in form, every 

 possible precaution must be adopted against rebel 

 agency or influence in the formation of these govern- 

 ments. 



4. As the education of the people is essential to the 

 national welfare and especially to the development 

 of those principles of justice and morality which con 

 stitute the foundation of republican government, 

 and as according to the census an immense propor- 

 tion of the people in the rebel States, without dis- 

 tinction of color, cannot read and write, therefore 

 public schools must be established for the equal good 

 of all. 



5. Not less important than education is the home- 

 stead, which must be secured to the freedmen, so 

 that at least every head of a family may have a piece 

 of land. 



Resolved, That all these requirements are in the 

 nature of guarantees to be exacted by Congress, 

 without which the United States will not obtain that 

 security for the future which is essential to a just 

 reconstrucion. 



They were ordered to be printed, and laid on 

 the table. On March llth they were consid- 

 ered, and laid again on the table. 



In the House, on the same day, Mr. Kelley, 

 of Pennsylvania, offered the following resolu- 

 tion : 



Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be 

 instructed to report a bill, declaring who shall call 

 conventions for the reorganization of the rebel States, 

 and providing for the registration of voters within 

 said rebel States ; and all elections for members of 

 said conventions, or for the adoption or rejection of 

 constitutions formed by said conventions, or for the 

 choice of public officers, State and municipal, until 

 the constitutions of said States shall have been ap- 

 proved by Congress, shall be by ballot. 



It .was adopted yeas 114, nays 33. 



Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, offered a resolution, in- 

 structing the Judiciary Committee to continue 

 the investigation of charges against the Presi- 

 dent, etc. "Mr. Speaker, this resolution will 

 bring the House to a vote on a question of trans- 

 cendent importance. It brings us face to face 

 with a man whose usurpations have imperiled 

 tlie Republic. We cannot escape the considera- 

 tion of this question if we would, and we ought 

 not if we could. The report which the Judici- 

 ary Committee of the last House made on Sat- 

 urday is a sufficient vindication of the action of 

 that body on the charges presented, looking to 

 the impeachment of the President. It is a re- 

 port which the moral sense of this nation will 

 approve. It is to be regretted that that com 



