CONGKESS, UNITED STATES. 



189 



amendments, we cannot protect the privileges 

 of United States citizens in the States, even as 

 this bill does indirectly, though in 1821 Con- 

 gress could do it directly, and that even by 

 legislating out of existence part of the Missouri 

 constitution ! 



"Thus, Mr. Speaker, by the unquestioned 

 judgment of the Supreme Court of the United 

 States, and by the whole legislative and judi- 

 cial history of the republic, I make out ab- 

 solutely, completely, and forever, the major 

 premise of my reply. I repeat that premise, 

 that it is the duty of Congress to enforce by 

 appropriate legislation every provision of the 

 Constitution where legislation is needed to 

 secure the enforcement. My second proposi- 

 tion is that these three are each provisions of 

 the Constitution : first, all persons born or nat- 

 uralized in the United States, etc., are citizens 

 of the United States; second, that no State 

 shall make or enforce any law abridging their 

 privileges and immunities; third, that such 

 States may not deny them equal protection of 

 the laws. 



"And my conclusion from these is that 

 Congress may, by legislation, 'appropriate,' 

 'enforce,' to use the Supreme Court's own 

 word in Jones vs. Yan Zandt, which is also the 

 word of the fifth section of the fourteenth 

 amendment, these 'privileges and immunities,' 

 so by these 'provisions' to be protected, and 

 hence, and lastly, may pass this bill, which 

 surely is 'appropriate' within the sense of 

 that ' wide discretion ' which, as stated by uni- 

 form authority (1 Story on Constitution, sec. 

 432), Congress has in the choice of measures 

 for enforcing its powers. 



" Mr. Speaker, I now come to the third sec- 

 tion. I will read it, so that I may get before 

 the minds of those who listen to me the exact 

 words, which are material to comprehend the 

 legal propositions which I desire to submit. 



" The section provides : 



_Tliat in all cases where insurrection, domestic 

 violence, unlawful combinations, or conspiracies in 

 any State shall so far obstruct or hinder the execu- 

 tion of the laws thereof as to deprive any portion or 

 class of the people of such State of any of the rights, 

 privileges, or immunities named in and secured by 

 this act, and the constituted authorities of such 

 State 



"Notice these words: 



and the constituted authorities of such State shall 

 either be unable to, or shall, from any cause, fail in 

 or refuse protection of the people in such rights, 

 and 



"This also must happen: 



and shall fail or neglect, through the proper author- 

 ities, to apply to the President of the United States 

 for aid in that behalf, such facts shall be deemed a 

 denial by such State of the equal protection of the 

 laws to which they are entitled under the fourteenth 

 article of amendments to the Constitution of the 

 United States. 



"Now, note, the provisions of the section 

 are, first, that there must be a condition of 

 public violence, etc., such as to deprive, not 

 one individual merely, but a ' portion or a class 



of the people,' of their rights, privileges, or 

 immunities. They must also be deprived of 

 the privileges and immunities secured by this 

 act, which are the privileges and immunities 

 of American citizens. And more than that, 

 the constituted authorities must also have been 

 unable to protect the people or have failed or 

 refused to protect them. But this is not enough. 

 They must also omit to apply to the President 

 of the United States for aid in that behalf. 

 Until all these things have occurred there is 

 no authority under this bill (but existing law 

 gives it in other cases) to send to the State the 

 military aid of the United States. 



" Now, the question is, may such aid be sent 

 by the President, under the fourteenth amend- 

 ment, without being invited by the Legislature 

 or Executive of the States, when the things 

 have happened which are described in that 

 section ? My answer is that the President 

 may, under such circumstances, send military 

 aid ; and, to make this answer complete, I now 

 again go back to the first section of the four- 

 teenth article. That section provides two 

 things which I wish to notice. The first pro- 

 vision is that 



No State shall make or enforce any law which shall 

 abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of 

 the United States. 



"This provision requires that the laws on 

 their face shall not ' abridge ' the privileges or 

 immunities of citizens. It secures equality 

 toward all citizens on the face of the law. 

 It provides that those rights shall not be 

 ' abridged ; ' in other words, that one man shall 

 not have more rights upon the face of the laws 

 than another man. By that provision equality 

 of legislation, so far as it affects the rights of 

 citizenship, is secured. But the section does 

 not stop there. It contains two other provi- 

 sions, only one of which I need now notice. 

 It provides : 



Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, 

 liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor 

 deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 

 protection of the laws. 



"The laws must be, first, equal, in not 

 abridging rights ; and second, the States shall 

 equally protect, under equal laws, all persons 

 in them. Therefore, under the provisions of 

 the fourteenth amendment, when these clauses 

 are put in juxtaposition, in order to bring the 

 idea together, Congress shall have power to 

 make and enforce all proper legislation which 

 shall be necessary to require of the States that 

 they shall not abridge the rights of citizenship, 

 and also that they shall protect all persons 

 equally. Nothing can be plainer. The thing 

 is so absolutely self-evident that it admits of 

 no enforcement by argument. Two things are 

 provided equal laws and protection for all ; 

 and, whenever a State denies that protection, 

 Congress may by law enforce protection. 



"I next come to the fourth section. I have 

 not time, sir, left to go into the details of that 

 section. I wish now to say this fourth section 



