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INDEX OF CONTENTS. 



lution, instructing the Committee on the Judiciary to 

 report a bill to enable the President to execute the 

 laws relative to organized bands of armed men in the 

 Southern States, offered, 171; the condition of affairs 

 in the South is of an extraordinary character, 171; 

 Ku-klux Klan exists in eleven States, 171 ; the state- 

 ment is the phantom of a distempered imagination, 

 171; statements of the resolution utterly untrue, 172; 

 these armed bands do exist, 172; what the witnesses 

 show, 172; thugs of India, 172; extent of the Ku-klux 

 organization, 172; extends through every county of 

 North Carolina, 173; dates of outrages, 173; peculiari- 

 ties of the crimes committed, 173; no man has ever 

 been convicted, 174; report of the minority, 174; what 

 proof of their existence in Kentucky? 174; no occa- 

 sional acts of violence have been committed in Ken- 

 tucky, 174; there is no proof against Confederate sol- 

 diers, 175; the exclusion of good men from office, one 

 cause of existence of these outrages, 175; mal-admin- 

 istration has occurred in many States, 175 ; necessity 

 of putting a stop to the outrages spoken of, 175; kind 

 of bills introduced here, 175; assert absolute jurisdic- 

 tion for Congress, 176; a constitutional question in- 

 volved, 176; state of the case, 176; provision in the 

 Constitution in regard to putting down insurrection, 

 176; two or three objections to the resolution, 177; 

 one encroachment follows close upon the heela of its 

 predecessor, 177; everybody, who maintains that this 

 Congress has not the power to sweep away the Con- 

 stitution when it pleases, is denounced as revolu- 

 tionary, 177; rights which belong to the people, 177; 

 the legal question considered, 178; the fourteenth 

 amendment, 178; the Government can act only on indi- 

 viduals, 178; intention of the fourteenth amendment, 

 178; more than nine-tenths of the testimony is mere 

 hearsay, 179; resolution agreed to, 179; concurrent 

 resolution relative to investigation offered, and 

 adopted, 179. 



In the House, the above-mentioned resolution con- 

 sidered, 179; amendment offered, 180; what will hap- 

 pen if we appoint this committee and send it down 

 South ? 180; amendment agreed to, 180. 



In the Senate, the amended resolution considered, 

 181; amendment moved to grant power to print, 181; 

 not willing to trust the committee with any such 

 power, 181 ; why has this investigation been opposed 

 at every step? 181; if the investigation shows us that 

 there are peace and security in any one State at the 

 South, let us know it, 182; let us have it, 182; we 

 should legislate now, 182; read the reports of your 

 officers, 182; if any organization exists in Georgia, it 

 has been kept wonderfully secret, 183; a change that 

 came over Congress, 183; yon already condemned nine 

 or ten States at the South, 184; amendment concurred 

 in, 184. 



In the House, a bill reported to enforce the provi- 

 sions of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitu- 

 tion, 184; this measure affects the foundations of the 

 Government, 185; what warrant have we for enacting 

 it? 185; decisions of courts, 185; their legal effect, 

 185; constitutionality of the first section, 185; the 

 second section, 186; where is the constitutional power 

 to enact it? 186; on what it rests, 187; general aspects 

 of the question of power to defend by Federal legisla- 

 tion the essential franchises of national citizenship, 

 187; reply to the charge that the second section in- 

 vades the reserved powers of the States, 188; the 

 United States always has assumed to enforce as against 

 the States, and also persons, every one of the pro- 

 visions of the Constitution, 188; provisions of the 



Constitution, 188; judgment of the Supreme Court, 

 189; the third section, 189; its provisions, 189; the 

 fourth section, 189; decision of the Supreme Court 

 sustains it, 190. 



Some of these assumptions of law are quite as ex- 

 traordinary as are the provisions of the bill, 190; 

 apology for the propositions of the bill, 190; the Con- 

 stitution guarantees to the people certain personal 

 rights, 190; the bases alleged for the enactment of 

 this bill, 191; thirteenth amendment, 191; fourteenth 

 amendment, 191; declaratory in first paragraph, 192; 

 Dred Scott case, 192; the words "privileges and im- 

 munities," 192; no Constitution, State government, 

 or code of laws, in this country, but recognizes these 

 rights of the people, 192; the most important part of 

 the first section, 193; what is the meaning of the 

 words " without due process of law ? " 193; where has 

 this equal protection ever been denied? 193; it never 

 has been believed or assumed that Congress has 

 power to go into the States of the Union and subor- 

 dinate State laws and State jurisdiction to the con- 

 trol of Federal courts, or of the President, 193; fourth 

 section of the fourth article of the Constitution, 194; 

 it forbids Federal interposition, except on call of the 

 Governor, 194; the bill proposes to authorize the sus- 

 pension of the writ of habeas corpus, 195; object 

 claimed for the entire bill, 195; the third section is 

 worse than all the others, 195; the monstrous powers 

 conferred on the Federal Government and its chief 

 officer, 196; the President ia made without responsi- 

 bility of any kind, 196. 



Action of the House before the last message, 196; 

 the message is the basis for this bill, 197; the judg- 

 ment of a majority was against legislation, 197; in- 

 stead of hostility, tender the olive-branch, 197; change 

 your policy proclaim amnesty, 197; reference to the 

 case of Milligan, 198; could a more emphatic condem- 

 nation of the provisions of this bill have been pro- 

 nounced, 198; the fourth section authorizes the Presi- 

 dent to declare war against a State whenever he 

 thinks secession may require it, 198; enact these pro- 

 visions, and local State government is at an end, 199; 

 no man is equal to discussing it as it ought to be dis- 

 cussed, 199; the issue before this House, 199; is it com- 

 petent for Congress to provide by law for a better 

 enforcement of the Constitution? 199; opinion in the 

 case of Cohens vs. Virginia, 199; the act of 1789, 200; 

 do. of 1795, 200; the President the exclusive and final 

 judge whether the exigency contemplated by the law 

 has arisen, 201; consider the discretion which is 

 vested in Congress, 201; the people are equal to the 

 task of redressing all wrongs that may be inflicted on 

 them, 201; the provision of the Constitution as to the 

 protection of the States does not give this power to 

 provide for protecting the guaranteed rights of the 

 people, 202; two controlling propositions on this 

 question, 202; if the Federal Government cannot pass 

 laws to protect rights, why were guarantees of those 

 rights put in the Constitution ? 202; if it has not this 

 constitutional power, it ought to have it, 202; will 

 such vindictive legislation, without proof, succeed? 

 203; you have already failed in such legislation, 203; 

 Federal legislation and its execution have failed to 

 produce content at the South, 203; measures of re- 

 pression and usurpation are, in their nature, revolu- 

 tionary, 203; Ku-klux were organized to scare the 

 superstitions blacks, 204; South Carolina has beoa 

 infested with the worst local government ever 

 vouchsafed to a people, 204 ; amendment offered, 

 204; its effect, 205; change proposed in the original 



