CONGRESS, HOTTED STATES. 



150 



the constitution "before it "becomes valid, "be, and the 

 same is hereby, BO far modified that a majority of the 

 votes cast at the election for the ratification or rejec- 

 tion of the constitution shall be considered as valid, 

 and as affirming or rejecting the constitution. 



SEO. 2. And be it further enacted, That the several 

 States which may be reconstructed under the act ot 

 March 2 1867, and its supplements, may, at the time 

 of voting upon the ratification of the constitution, 

 vote also for members of Congress, who shall be 

 entitled to take their seats in the next session of 

 Congress after their several States shall have been 

 admitted into the Union ; and, until a new apportion- 

 ment, the election for said members shall be accord- 

 ing to the districts as they existed in 1858 and 1859, 

 except when otherwise provided for ; and the same 

 elective officers who make the return of the votes cast 

 on the ratification or rejection of the constitution shall 

 enumerate and certify the votes cast for the members 

 of Congress, and give certificates of election to those 

 havinw the largest number of votes and whom they 

 may (feem entitled thereto. 



SEO. 3. And be it further enacted. That, until a new 

 apportionment shall be made of [Representatives, 

 South Carolina shall be entitled to six Kepresenta- 

 tives, two of whom shall be elected by general ticket ; 

 North Carolina, eight Eepresentatives, one of whom 

 shall be elected by general ticket: Georgia, eight 

 Kepresentatives, one of whom shall be elected by 

 general ticket ; Florida shall have one [Representative ; 

 Alabama eight, two of whom shall be elected by- 

 general ticket ; Mississippi six, one of whom shall 

 be elected by general ticket ; Louisiana six, one of 

 whom shall be elected by general ticket ; Texas five, 

 one of whom shall be elected by general ticket; 

 Arkansas three ; and Virginia . 



Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, said: "Sir, 

 here is a bill which we have been petitioned to 

 pass before the vacation, and it is the simplest 

 thing in the world. The bill has been printed 

 and is on our files, and every gentleman has 

 had a fair opportunity of reading it and un- 

 derstanding it. It is simple enough, and I can 

 explain it in five minutes so that no man can 

 misunderstand it. 



"In the first place, it restores the majority 

 principle in voting on the constitution of the 

 reconstructed States. In the second place, it 

 provides for the election of Representatives in 

 Congress by those States at the same time the 

 constitutions are voted on, and provides fur- 

 ther that when the constitutions are ratified 

 and declared valid, and these States are de- 

 clared entitled to representation, those Repre- 

 sentatives so elected shall be admitted into this 

 House upon taking the legal oath, and not 

 before. 



"Well, now, sir, that is the whole of my 

 bill, except that which my friend from Ohio 

 (Mr. Bingham) proposes to strike out. And 

 here, by-the-by, let me modify my substitute 

 by putting the number of Representatives from 

 Virginia at eight. The third section leaves 

 the apportionment as it was in 1860, only- 

 adding the additional number to which the 

 States are entitled in consequence of the libera- 

 tion of the negroes and the consequent change 

 in the basis of representation. If any gentle- 

 man objects to that, he can vote to strike out 

 that section. For my own part, I think the 

 States are entitled to the proposed representa- 

 tion here. 



" Now, sir, that is the whole bill. I do not 

 know if there is any thing in it to which any 

 gentleman can object; I cannot perceive it 

 myself." 



Mr. Bingham, of Ohio, said : " Mr. Speaker, 

 I find no objection to the first and second sec- 

 tions of the bill reported by the gentleman 

 from Pennsylvania (Mr. Stevens), from the 

 Committee on Reconstruction. The first sec- 

 tion, as the gentleman has very well said, 

 simply restores the majority principle to the 

 States lately in insurrection. The House will 

 remember that I made an endeavor, when the 

 Reconstruction Bill was being pressed upon 

 this House, to exclude from it the terms which 

 now embarrass the people in their action. 

 This first section, therefore, is to put into the 

 law that which I sought to have placed in it in 

 the first place the right of the majority voting 

 to determine the result. That I believe to be 

 the general if not the universal rule in the 

 several States of the Union. 



" The second section may be deemed by many 

 gentlemen to be altogether unnecessary, for it 

 may be held that the people of the late insur- 

 rectionary States, in the event of their ratify- 

 ing forms of constitutional government, have 

 the right, under the Constitution and existing 

 laws, to proceed to the election of Representa- 

 tives in Congress in accordance with the pro- 

 visions of the existing law apportioning Rep- 

 resentatives among the several States of the 

 Union. The second section, therefore, is only 

 in aid of the law, and those who desire to see 

 those States speedily represented in Congress 

 cannot well object to it. 



"The third section which the gentleman 

 reports is that which I desire to have stricken 

 from this bill, as violative alike of the spirit of 

 the Constitution and of the existing legislation 

 of Congress. The Congress of the United 

 States, in the apportionment of Representatives 

 among the several States of this Union, is 

 limited, in my judgment, to each decennial 

 period after the first census taken under the 

 Constitution. That is my first objection to 

 the third section of this bill, I do not recog- 

 nize the power implied by tne proposed legis- 

 lation in this third section, in every succeeding 

 Congress, after the apportionment of repre- 

 sentation in the mode prescribed by the Con- 

 stitution of the United States, to change the 

 basis of that apportionment. With me that 

 objection would be all-sufficient to control the 

 vote which I shall give on the pending motion 

 to strike the third section from this bill ; and, 

 if that motion fails, to control as well the vote 

 which I shall give against the bill with that 

 section in it. Under no conceivable circum- 

 stances will I consent to record my vote in 

 favor of this bill with that section retained, 

 either in the interest of the insurrectionary 

 States or of the States not in insurrection." 



Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania: "If the gen- 

 tleman from Ohio (Mr. Bingham) will allow me 

 one moment, I would like to say that I do not 



