146 



CONGKESS, UNITED STATES. 



as penalties, but because these classes of men 

 were considered as unfit depositaries of public 

 power in the places from which they were ex- 

 cluded. It was political wisdom, as the fram- 

 ers of the Constitution believed, to impose 

 these disqualifications ; and, sir, it was politi- 

 cal wisdom to impose the disqualifications of 

 the fourteenth amendment at the time they 

 were imposed." 



Mr. Morton said : " Mr. President, it is 

 much more important, in my opinion, to get 

 this bill right than it is to make a hand- 

 some Christmas present, as was spoken of 

 by the Senator from Illinois. The amendment 

 that I have offered to this bill, as it now 

 stands, prevents it from relating back so as to 

 make valid the elections of persons to Congress 

 who were under disabilities when they were 

 elected ; to prevent persons who knew them- 

 selves to be disqualified by the fourteenth 

 amendment, who were known to be disquali- 

 fied by the men who voted for them, who sub- 

 mitted themselves as candidates in defiance of 

 the amendment, and were voted for in defiance 

 of the amendment, from having their elections 

 made valid by the passage of this bill. This is 

 the simple amendment now before the Senate, 

 and I am willing that the vote shall be taken 

 upon it. I do not care to discuss it." 



Mr. "Wilson, of Massachusetts, said : " Mr. 

 President, I shall vote for this bill ; not as a 

 measure of justice to the South or of equality 

 among citizens. I vote for it as a safe and 

 sound measure of public policy, as'a thing of 

 charity and mercy, of unmerited grace. In 

 passing this bill the less we say about justice 

 or equality the better. Whatever may have 

 been the wisdom of this provision of the Con- 

 stitution imposing disabilities, neither justice 

 nor equality was violated. Those disabilities 

 were, indeed, a very yes, sir, very light pun- 

 ishment to inflict by the country upon those 

 who sought through the fire and blood of civil 

 war to blot the Republic from the list of na- 

 tions. That crime and the motive for that 

 crime would never be expiated by the simple 

 prohibition for a few years of the right of a 

 few guilty leaders of rebellion to hold office. 

 Sir, when we think of justice to the actors in 

 that dreadful crime, dungeons open their 

 doors and scaffolds rise up before us. Do not, 

 sir, place this act of kindness, charity, and 

 mercy, upon that justice which would have 

 doomed these men to a swift and sure punish- 

 ment for their sin against man and their crime 

 against their country." 



The pending question being on the amend- 

 ment of Mr. Morton, the yeas and nays were 

 ordered ; and, being taken, resulted as follows : 



Cooper, Davis of Kentucky, Davis of West Virginia 

 Fenton, Ferry of Connecticut, Hamilton of Maryland' 

 Hill, Hitchcock, Johnston, Kellogg, Kelly Lewis' 

 Logan, Norwood, Robertson, Saulsbury, 'Schurz' 



' 



, , , curz 



Sherman, Stevenson, Stockton, Thurman, Tipton' 

 Trumhull, Vickers, and West 29. 



ABSENT Messrs. Boreman, Brownlow, Cameron, 

 Cole, Cragin, Gilbert, Hamilton of Texas, Harlan 

 >> Sprague > Stewart > Wilson! 



^7i EAS 1 ~r^ re8SrS - Amcs ' Ant hony, Buckingham, 

 Calclwell, Carpenter, Chandler, Clayton, Conkling 

 Corbett. Edmunds, Ferry of Michigan, Flanagan 

 Frelingnuysen, Hamlin, Merrill of Maine, Morrill of 

 Vermont, Morton, Nye, Pomeroy, Pool, Pratt, Ram- 

 soy, Rice, Sawyer, Scott, Spencer, Sumner, and 

 Wmdom 28. 

 NATS Messrs. Alcorn, Bayard, Blair, Casserly, 



So the amendment was not agreed to. 



Mr. Sumner: "Mr. President, my amend- 

 ment is already on the table. I move it now 

 as additional sections to the bill. 



"I wish to perfect the amendment, before it 

 is voted on, by introducing in line eleven of its 

 first section, after the word ' supported,' the 

 words, ' by moneys derived from general taxa- 

 tion ; ' so that the clause will read : " 



That there shall be no distinction by trustees, 

 commissioners, superintendents, teachers, or other 

 officers of common schools, and other public institu- 

 tions of learning, the same being'supported by mon- 

 eys derived from general taxation, or authorized bv 

 law. 



"I wish to have those words inserted after 

 the word ' supported.' I suppose that will be 

 done as a matter of course." 



The President pro tempore : "That modifi- 

 cation will be made." 



Mr. Sumner: "Now, Mr. President, I hope 

 there will be no question about adopting this 

 amendment. But I will ask ^once more my 

 friends over the way, who insist upon amnes- 

 ty, to unite with me now in justice to the col- 

 ored race. Let us do this work all at once. I 

 wish to have the pleasure of voting for this 

 bill. I wish to unite with the Senator from 

 Mississippi (Mr. Alcorn) in the generosity that 

 he proposes; but I do implore him to unite 

 with me in justice to his own constituents. 

 Treat the two together ; put them both in the 

 same bill; pass them by a two-thirds vote ; 

 and let the country see how grandly unanimous 

 we are in an act which is at once generous and 

 just, full of generosity, the noblest generosity, 

 the grandest magnanimity in human history, 

 and full, also, of simple justice.'" 



YEAS Messrs. Ames, Anthony, Brownlow, Buck- 

 ingham, Caldwell, Carpenter, Clayton, Conkling, 

 Corbett, Edmunds, Ferry of Michigan, Flanagan, 

 Frelinghuysen, Hamlin, Kellogg, Morrill of Ver- 

 mont, Morton, Nye, Patterson, Pomerov, Pratt, Ram- 

 sey, Rice,- Sherman, Spencer, Sumner, West, Wilson, 

 and Windom 29. 



NAYS Messrs. Alcorn, Bayard, Blair, Boreman, 

 Casserly, Cooper, Davis of Kentucky, Davis of West 

 Virginia, Fenton, Ferry of Connecticut, Hamilton 

 of Maryland, Hill, Hitchcock, Johnston, Kelly, 

 Lewis, Logan, Morrill of Maine, Norwood, Pool, 

 Robertson, Saulsbury, Sawyer, Schurz, Scott, Ste- 

 venson, Stewart, Thurman, Tipton, and Trumbull 

 30. 



ABSENT Messrs. Cameron, Chandler, Cole, Cra- 

 gin, Gilbert, Hamilton of Texas, Harlan, Howe, Os- 

 born, Sprague, Stockton, Vickers, and Wright 13. 



So the amendment was rejected. 



Mr. Edmunds: "I propose an amendment 



