CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



121 



as a condition of voting therein, the condition being 

 the same for all classes. 



Mr. Pomeroy, of Kansas, offered the follow- 

 ing: 



ART. XV. The basis of suffrage in the United States 

 shall be that of citizenship, and all native or natural- 

 ized citizens shall enjoy the same rights and privi- 

 leges of the elective franchise ; but each State shall 

 determine by law the age of the citizen and the time 

 of residence required for the exercise of the right of 

 suffrage, which shall apply equally to all citizens, 

 and also shall make all laws concerning the time, 

 places, and manner of holding elections. 



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

 of Pennsylvania, offered the following : 



ART. . No State shall deny to or exclude from 

 the exercise of any of the rights or privileges of an 

 elector any citizen of the United States by reason of 

 race or color. 



Mr. Eldridge, of Wisconsin, offered the fol- 

 lowing : 



ART. XV. Neither Congress nor any State by its 

 constitution or laws shall deny or restrict the right 

 of suffrage to citizens of the United States on account 

 of race or parentage of such citizens; and all qualifi- 

 cations or limitations of the right of suffrage in the 

 constitution or laws of any State, based upon race or 

 parentage, are, and are hereby, declared to be void. 



Mr. Stokes, of Tennessee, offered the follow- 

 ing: 



ART. XV. No State shall make or enforce any law 

 which shall deprive any citizen of the right of the 

 elective franchise on account of race or color. 



In the House, on January llth, Mr. Boutwell, 

 of Massachusetts, reported from the Committee 

 on the Judiciary a joint resolution proposing 

 an amendment to the Constitution, and moved 

 that it be printed and referred to the same 

 committee. The resolution was as follows : 



Be it resolved ly fhf, Senate and House of Represent- 

 atives of the United States of America in Congress as- 

 sembled (two-thirds of both Houses concurring) 

 That the following article be proposed to the Legis- 

 latures of the several States as an amendment to the 

 Constitution of the United States, which, when rati- 

 fied by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be 

 held as part of said Constitution, namely : 



ART. . Section 1. The right of any citizen of the 

 United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged 

 by the United States or any State by reason of the 

 race, color, or previous condition of slavery of any 

 citizen or class of citizens of the United States. 



Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce, 

 by proper legislation, the provisions of this article. 



In the Senate, on January 23d, Mr. Stewart, 

 of Nevada, moved to proceed to the consider- 

 ation of a joint resolution of the Senate pro- 

 posing an amendment to the Constitution. 

 The vote, on the motion to take up the reso- 

 lution, was as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. ^ Abbott, Cameron, Cattell, Chan- 



Patterson of New Ham 

 see, Pomeroy Eamsey, 



.u- wuiuvi., jjj.vyxgwii, ajAtnnL ux jjj.anitj. iYLorriH 01 Ver- 

 mont, Morton, Nye, Osborn, Pool, Boss, Sawyer 

 Sherman, Spencer, Stewart,Sumner, Thayer Trum- 

 bull, Wade, Williams, and Wilson 33. " 



NATS Messrs. Bayard, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, 

 Fowler, Hendncks, McCreery, Norton, and Vickers 



ABSENT Messrs. Anthony, Buckalew, Conness 

 Cragita, Ferry, Henderson, Howard, Howe, Kellogg, 



shire, Patterson of Tennes- 

 lice, Robertson, Saulsbury, 



i " Vrr.,i i "'""' , mi Winkle, Warner, Welch, 



hyte, Willey, and Yates 24. 



The joint resolution, as originally introduced 

 by Mr. Henderson, of Missouri, was as follows: 



Resolved ly the Senate and House of Representative* 

 of the United States of America in Congress assembled 

 (two-thirds of both Houses concurring), That the 

 following article be proposed to the Legislatures of 

 the several States as an amendment to the Constitu- 

 tion of the United States, which, when ratted by 

 three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid as 

 part of the Constitution, namely : 



ART._ XV. No State shall deny or abridge the right 

 of its citizens to vote and hold office on account of 

 race, color, or previous condition. 



The Committee on the Judiciary proposed 

 to strike out the words of the article, and in- 

 sert as follows : 



The right of citizens of the United States to vote 

 and hold office shall not be denied or abridged by 

 the United States or any State on account of race, 

 color, or previous condition of servitude. 



The Congress, by appropriate legislation, may en- 

 force the provisions of this article. 



Mr. Stewart moved to postpone the subject 

 until Thursday ensuing. 



Mr. Sumner, of Massachusetts, said : " It is 

 understood that they are this very day acting 

 on a similar proposition in the other House, 

 and under their rules, with the previous ques- 

 tion, it is supposed that within one or two 

 days they will arrive at a result. Now, the 

 question which I have to submit to my friend 

 is, whether it would not be better for us to act 

 on the proposition that shall come to us from 

 the House of ^Representatives ? That, of course, 

 will be advanced one stage further to the re- 

 sult which we are all trying to reach." 



Mr. Stewart said: "If that proposition 

 should be passed in the other House to-day, 

 our committee will have time to look at it and 

 have it before the Senate on Thursday, if this 

 resolution be postponed until that day ; and we 

 can then aot upon the House resolution, mak- 

 ing this an amendment to it, or making such 

 other amendments as the committee may sug- 

 gest or the Senate may decide upon." 



Mr. Dixon, of Connecticut, said : " Before 

 the vote is taken on the motion to postpone, 

 perhaps this is a proper time to give notice of 

 an amendment which I propose to offer when 

 the subject shall be before the Senate, so that 

 the Senate may have time to consider it. Ar- 

 ticle five of the Constitution, which relates to 

 the proposition of amendments by Congress, 

 provides that : 



The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses 

 shall deem it Accessary, shall propose amendments 

 to this Constitution, or, on the application of the 

 Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall 

 call a convention for proposing amendments, which 

 in either case shall be valid to all intents and pur- 

 poses as part of this Constitution, when ratified by 

 the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States 

 or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one 

 or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by 

 the Congress. 



" Now, sir, this proposal of an amendment 



