126 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



necessary and expedient. It has always been 

 customary for the President of the United 

 States at the opening of a session of Congress 

 to send in a formal message, to give that in- 

 formation annually, or at each session, with 

 that formality and solemnity which attaches to 

 this document. He has now done it. I con- 

 fess that I can see nothing of violence or ill 

 temper, much less of a libellous character, in 

 this message. He expresses strong opinions 

 with regard to what? With regard to the 

 constitutionality of certain laws now on the 

 statute-book." 



After further debate, the motion of Mr. Sum- 

 ner to amend was rejected by the following 

 vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Cameron, Chandler, Howard, Howe, 

 Pomeroy, Kamsey, Sumner, Thayer, and Wade 9. 



NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Buckalew, Cole, Conk- 

 ling, Conness, Corbett, Cragin, Davis, Dixon, Doo- 

 little, Drakej Edmunds, Ferry, Fessenden, Freling- 

 huysen, Grimes, Harlan, Henderson, Hendricks, 

 Johnson, Morgan, Morrill of Maine, Morrill of Ver- 

 mont, Morton, Norton, Patterson of New Hampshire, 

 Patterson of Tennessee, Boss, Sherman, Stewart, 

 Tipton. Trumbull, Van Winkle, Willey, Williams, 

 and "Wilson 36. 



ABSENT Messrs. Bayard, Cattell, Fowler, Guthrie, 

 Nye, Saulsbury, Sprague, and Yates 8. 



On December 18th the President sent to both 

 Houses of Congress the following message: 

 Gentlemen of tlie Senate and of the 



House of Representatives : 



An official copy of the order issued by Major-Gen- 

 eral Winfield S. Hancock, commander of the fifth 

 military district, dated headquarters in New Orleans, 

 Louisiana, on the 29th day of November, has reached 

 me through the regular channels of the War Depart- 

 ment, and I herewith communicate it to Congress for 

 such action as may seem to be proper in view of all 

 the circumstances. 



It will be perceived that General Hancock announ- 

 ces that he will make the law the rule of his conduct ; 

 that^he will uphold the courts and other civil authori- 

 ties in the performance of their proper duties ; and 

 that he will use his military power only to preserve 

 the peace and enforce the law. He declares very ex- 

 plicitly that the sacred right of the trial by jury and 

 the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 

 crushed out or trodden under foot. He goes further, 

 and, in one comprehensive sentence, asserts that the 

 principles of American liberty are still the inheritance 

 of this people, and ever should be. 



When a great soldier with unrestricted power in 

 his hands to oppress his fellow-men voluntarily fore- 

 goes the chance of gratifying his selfish ambition and 

 devotes himself to the duty of buildino- up the liber- 

 ties and strengthening the laws of his country he 

 presents an example of the highest public virtue that 

 human nature is capable of practising. The strongest 

 claim of Washington to be " first in war, first in 

 peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," is 

 founded on the great fact that in all his illustrious 

 career he scrupulously abstained from violating the 

 fer a d constitl itional rights of his fellow-citizens. 

 W hen he surrendered his commission to Congress the 



SSSrS ? v? J,?y; s p ke his hi g hest p raise iQ 



saying that he had "always regarded the rights of 

 the civil ^authorities through all dangers and disas- 

 ters. ' Whenever power above the law courted his 

 acceptance, he calmly put the temptation aside. By 

 such magnanimous acts of forbearance he won the 

 universal admiration of mankind, and left a name 

 which has no rival in the history of the world 



I am far from saying that General Hancock is the 

 only officer of the American Army who is influenced 

 by the example of Washington. Doubtless thousands 

 of them are faithfully devoted to the principles for 

 which the men of the Eevolution laid down their 

 lives. But the distinguished _ honor belongs to him 

 of being the first officer in high command south of 

 the Potomac, since the close of the civil war, who has 

 given utterance to these noble sentiments in the form 

 of a military order. 



I respectfully suggest to Congress that some pub- 

 lic recognition of General Hancock's patriotic conduct 

 is due, if not to him, to the friends of law and justice 

 throughout the country. Of such an act as his, at 

 such a time, it is but fit that the dignity should be 

 vindicated and the virtue proclaimed, so that its value 

 as an example may not be lost to the nation. 



ANDEEW JOHNSON. 



WASHINGTON, D. C., December 18, 1867. 



In the Senate, on December 5th, Mr. Sum- 

 ner, of .Massachusetts, moved to take up the 

 bill for the further security of equal rights in 

 the District of Columbia. It provided that 

 the word " white," wherever it occurred in 

 the laws relating to the District of Columbia, 

 or in the charter or ordinances of the cities of 

 Washington or Georgetown, and operated as a 

 limitation on the right of any elector of the 

 District, or of either of those cities, to hold 

 any office, or to be selected and to serve as a 

 juror, should be repealed, and that it should be 

 unlawful for any person or officer to enforce, 

 or attempt to enforce, that limitation after the 

 passage of the act. 



Mr. Sumner said : " This bill is in the pre- 

 cise terms of a bill that passed both Houses of 

 Congress on the last day of the last meeting in 

 July, and which, after being duly engrossed, was 

 sent to the President. It was not returned by 

 him before the rising of Congress, and I intro- 

 duced this precise copy on the first day of our 

 late meeting. At the suggestion of the Sen- 

 ator from Illinois, I forebore calling it up for 

 consideration in order to await the expiration 

 of eleven consecutive days of meeting of the 

 Senate, to see if within that time the bill would 

 be returned to Congress with or without his 

 objections. It was not returned. As that act 

 failed for the want of the President's signature, 

 I propose now simply to review what was done 

 at the last session, and to present the act again 

 for the signature of the President." 



The bill was reported without amendment, 

 ordered to be engrossed for a reading, and read. 



Mr. Hendricks, of Indiana, said : " Mr. Pres- 

 ident, in voting upon laws for the District of 

 Columbia, I have always felt it obligatory upon 

 me to vote for such laws as I would be willing 

 to vote for my own people at home' for their 

 government. The Congress of the United 

 States, under the Constitution, enacts the laws 

 for this District ; but inasmuch as the people 

 of the District have no voice in our selection, I 

 think we ought only to vote for such laws as 

 we know to be agreeable to our own folks, to 

 say the least of it. If the people of a State 

 have rejected a proposition by a decided ma- 

 jority, and we know that the white population 



