648 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



prove to have been wholly fallacious ; and, in addi- 

 tion, the people of the Territory, by a deliberate 

 vote, decided that they would not assume the respon- 

 sibilities of a State government. 



By that decision they utterly exhausted all power 

 that was conferred by the enabling act ; and there 

 has been no step taken since in relation to the ad- 

 mission that has had the slightest sanction or war- 

 rant of law. The proceeding upon which the pres- 

 ent application is based was in the utter absence of 

 all law in relation to it, and there is no evidence that 

 the votes on the question of the formation of a State 

 government bear any relation whatever to the senti- 

 ment of the Territory. The protest of the House of 

 Representatives, previously quoted, is conclusive evi- 

 dence to the contrary. 



But if none of these reasons existed against this 

 proposed enactment, the bill itself, besides being in- 

 consistent in its provisions in conferring power upon 

 a person unknown to the laws and who may never 

 have a legal existence, is so framed as to render its 

 execution almost impossible. It is indeed a question 

 whether it is not in itself a nullity. To say the least, 

 it is exceedingly doubtful propriety to confer the 

 power proposed in this bill upon the "Governor- 

 elect ; " for as, by its own terms, the constitution is 

 not to take effect until after the admission of the 

 State, he in the mean time has no more authority 

 than any other private citizen. But even supposing 

 him to be clothed with sufficient authority to con- 

 vene the Legislature, what constitutes the" 

 Legislature" to which is to be referred the submis- 

 sion of the conditions imposed by Congress ? Is it a 

 new body to be elected and convened by proclama- 

 tion of the "Governor-elect," or is it that body 

 which met more than a year ago under the provisions 

 of the State constitution ? 



By reference to the second section of the schedule, 

 and to the eighteenth section of the fourth article of 

 the State constitution, it will be seen that the term 

 of the members of the House of Representatives and 

 that of one-half of the members of the Senate ex- 

 pired on the first Monday of the present month. It 

 is clear that if there were no intrinsic objections to 

 the bill itself in relation to purposes to be accom- 

 plished, this objection would be fatal ; as it is ap- 

 parent that the provisions of the third section of the 

 bill to admit Colorado have reference to a period 

 and a state of facts entirely different from the pres- 

 ent and affairs as they now exist, and if carried into 

 effect must necessarily lead to confusion. 



Even if it were settled that the old and not a new 

 body were to act, it would be found impracticable to 

 execute the law, because a considerable number of 

 the members, as I am informed, have ceased to be 

 residents of the Territory, and in the sixty days 

 within which the Legislature is to be convened after 

 the passage of the act, there would not be sufficient 

 time to fill the vacancies by new elections, were 

 there any authority under which they could be 

 held. 



It may not be improper to add that if these pro- 

 ceedings were all regular, and the result to be ob- 

 tained were desirable, simple justice to the people 

 of the Territory would require a longer period than 

 sixty days within which to obtain action on the con- 

 ditions proposed by the third section of the bill. 

 There are, as is well known, large portions of the 

 Territory with which there is and can be no general 

 communication, there being several counties which, 

 from November to May, can only be reached by per- 

 sons travelling on foot ; while with other regions of 

 the Territory, occupied by a large portion of the 

 population, there is very little more freedom of ac- 

 cess. Thus, if this bill should become a law, it 

 would be impracticable to obtain any expression of 

 public sentiment in reference to its provisions, with 

 a view to enlighten the Legislature, if the old body 

 were called together ; and, of course, equally im- 

 practicable to procure the election of a new body. 



This defect might have been remedied by an exten- 

 sion of the time and a submission of the question to 

 the people, with a fair opportunity to enable them to 

 express their sentiments. 



The admission of a new State has generally been 

 regarded as an epoch in our history, marking the 

 onward progress of the nation ; but after the most 

 careful and anxious inquiry on the subject, I can- 

 not perceive that the proposed proceeding is in con- 

 formity with the policy which, from the origin of the 

 Government, has uniformly prevailed in the admis- 

 sion of new States. I therefore return the bill to the 

 Senate without my signature. 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



WASHINGTON, January 28, 1867. 



Veto of the Nebraska Mil. 

 To the Senate of the United States : 



I return for reconsideration a bill entitled "An act 

 for the admission of the State of Nebraska into the 

 Union," which originated in the Senate, and has re- 

 ceived the assent of both Houses of Congress. A 

 bill having in view the same object was presented 

 for my approval a few hours prior to the adjourn- 

 ment of the last session, but, submitted at a time 

 when there was no opportunity for a proper consid- 

 eration of the subject, I withheld my signature, and 

 the measure failed to become a law. 



It appears by the preamble of this bill that 

 The people of Nebraska, availing themselves of the author- 

 ity conferred upon them by the act passed on the 19th of 

 April, 1864, have adopted a constitution which, upon' due 

 examination, is found to conform to the provisions and com- 

 ply with the conditions of said act, and to be republican in 

 its form of government, and that they now ask for admission 

 into the Union. 



This proposed law would therefore seem to be 

 based upon the declaration contained in the ena- 

 bling act, that upon compliance with its terms the 

 people of Nebraska should be admitted into the 

 Union upon an equal footing with the original 

 States. 



Reference to the bill, however, shows that while, 

 by the first section, Congress distinctly accepts, 

 ratifies, and confirms the constitution and State gov- 

 ernment which the people of the Territory have 

 formed for themselves, declares Nebraska to be one 

 of the United States of America, and admits her 

 into the Union upon an equal footing with the origi- 

 nal States in all respects whatsoever, the third sec- 

 tion provides that this measure 



* In 1850. 



