CONGKESS, UNITED STATES. 



147 



the Senator wishes to get away from the force 

 of the plain language of his party, understood 

 by everybody, and wants now to do that which 

 a year ago was declared to be by the platform 

 improper to do, of course he has to resort to 

 criticism upon his own platform." 



Mr. Sumner: "May I remind the Senator 

 that a conspicuous leader of the party, who is 

 now dead, made haste, when that improvident 

 resolution was put before the public, to de- 

 nounce it as foolish and utterly untenable? I 

 refer to Thaddeus Stevens. He said that that 

 position taken at Chicago was foolish and un- 

 tenable. He wrote a letter within a week after 

 that was published." 



Mr. Hendricks: "Was that letter pub- 

 lished?" 



Mr. Sumner: "It was published and exten- 

 sively circulated. I never had any hesitation 

 in saying the same thing." 



Mr. Hendricks: "Then I understand that 

 Mr. Stevens, to whom the Senator refers, and 

 the Senator from Massachusetts himself, put 

 this construction upon this clause, that it de- 

 clares the control of suffrage properly as a 

 political question, independently of constitu- 

 tional provisions, to belong to the States ; and 

 if that be the proper construction, then I say 

 to the distinguished Senator from Massachu- 

 setts that his party now proposes to do that 

 which it pledged to the people a year ago that 

 it would not do." 



Mr. Warner, of Alabama, said: "I should 

 like to ask the Senator from Indiana a ques- 

 tion. What limit is there to the power of the 

 people of this country to change the Constitu- 

 tion or the system of government ? " 



Mr. Hendricks : " Mr. President, that is a 

 very grave question that is asked. I intended 

 to ask .some Senators that question in a very 

 few minutes. There is a particular provision 

 in the Constitution of the United States that it 

 may be amended. Where, Mr. President, does 

 the power of amendment stop? I say the 

 power of amendment is limited to the correc- 

 tion of defects that might appear in the prac- 

 tical operations of the Government ; but the 

 power of amendment does not carry with it the 

 power to destroy one form of government and 

 establish another. I will ask the distinguished 

 Senator who has just propounded the question 

 to me, whether, under the form and pretext 

 of an amendment, you can change the office of 

 the Chief Executive of this nation, and make 

 him cease to be a President, and make him a 

 king?" 



Mr. Warner: "I will answer the question. 

 I think it is in the power of the people of this 

 country to establish any system of government 

 they see fit, to abolish the office of President, 

 and abolish Congress, and the Supreme Court, 

 and the whole form of government. I think 

 the whole matter is in the hands of the people, 

 and that they are sovereign." 



Mr. Hendricks: "Then I understand that 

 answer given by the Senator to be, that, under 



the constitutional provision for amendment, 

 under the proceeding for amendments, the 

 Congress of the United States by a two-thirds 

 vote of each body, three-fourths of the States 

 ratifying it, may change this Government from 

 a republic and make it a monarchy. 



" We have now a distinct proposition before 

 us. I am not going to talk in this general way 

 about what the people of the United States 

 may do. They may revolutionize, perhaps ; 

 there may be a revolution, and the present 

 Government may go down under that revolu- 

 tion, and a monarchy may be its result. Per- 

 haps we are in the midst of such a revolution 

 as that now. Perhaps we have gone very rap- 

 idly and far in that direction of revolution; 

 but I am speaking of the power of Congress 

 and of three-fourths of the States to amend the 

 Constitution of the United States ; and now I 

 understand it to be averred as a doctrine of the 

 party that the President may be displaced and 

 a king established in his stead." 



Mr. Drake, of Missouri, said : "I should like 

 to inquire of the honorable Senator whether 

 he considers that the statement of a position 

 of that kind on the part of one Senator on this 

 floor makes it the doctrine of the party? " 



Mr. Hendricks : " Mr. President, it is an an- 

 swer to a question that is propounded in the 

 Senate ; and now, if the Senator from Missouri 

 is not satisfied with the answer that has been 

 given by the distinguished Senator, I shall be 

 very much obliged to him if he and I know he 

 is a gentleman who expresses himself exactly 

 will tell the Senate just where the power of 

 amendment stops under the provisions of the 

 Constitution of the United States." 



Mr. Drake: "I would state that, if the hon- 

 orable Senator from Indiana would be so good 

 as to enlighten my dull comprehension as to 

 the importance of that question in this discus- 

 sion, I will answer him with a great deal of 

 pleasure ; but now for my part I really do not 

 see it. I do not see whether it amounts to one 

 thing or another where the limit of constitu- 

 tional amendment may be. We are discussing 

 a question now of amending the Constitution in 

 a particular which unquestionably is not sub- 

 versive of the Constitution ; not the case that 

 the Senator suggested a while ago." 



Mr. Warner: "I answered the question of 

 the Senator from Indiana very squarely, and I 

 would ask him to answer my question as frank- 

 ly. Where does the power of the people of 

 this country to amend or to change their Con- 

 stitution and system of government end?" 



Mr. Hendricks: "Mr. President, I believe 

 that there is a limit to the power of two-thirds 

 of Congress and of three-fourths of the States 

 to amend the Constitution of the United States. 

 I believe that they have a right to amend the 

 Constitution in those respects wherever defects 

 appear in the practical operations of the Gov- 

 ernment, to make it more complete and satis- 

 factory; but they have no power, in my judg- 

 ment, so to amend the Constitution as to change 



