CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



155 



to us to vote in favor of the motion now made 

 by the Senator from South Carolina. We are 

 asked to do it because it will divest the meas- 

 ure before the Senate of the amendment which, 

 after a considerable debate, was adopted, and 

 because it will reopen a question of order. I 

 will not speak of the amendment, but I want 

 to say a word on the question of order. 



"The Senator from Massachusetts offering 

 his amendment, a point of order was raised 

 upon it. That point was ruled by the Presid- 

 ing Officer, the honorable Senator from Khode 

 Island (Mr. Anthony), then occupying the 

 chair. An appeal was taken from his deci- 

 sion, and deliberately, I may say elaborately, 

 that appeal was discussed by the Senate, and 

 by the action of the Senate the la\v was laid 

 down in this case in favor of the propriety of 

 the amendment of the Senator from Massa- 

 chusetts. 



" Now, Mr. President, how shall it be said 

 that those who want a vote upon the amnesty 

 bill, either for or against it, and to make an 

 end of it, ought to go back, take up a measure 

 de now, and litigate over again, not only the 

 question of the amendment which has pre- 

 vailed, but even a prolix question of order? 

 It seems to me that it would be making haste 

 backward ; it would be an advance crab-fash- 

 ion toward a result and finality upon the am- 

 nesty bill. And I wish, for one, to protest 

 against being classed with the enemies of am- 

 nesty in any form if I am unable to see the 

 propriety, at this late day, of undoing all that 

 we have done, and going back and proceeding 

 again to rehearse and rehash questions of 

 amendments already passed upon, and final 

 action recorded, and even opening questions 

 of order, which have not only been made and 

 decided, but argued elaborately and decided 

 by the Senate itself. 



" Mr. President, the amendment of the Sen- 

 ator from Massachusetts has been elaborately 

 discussed. Why not vote upon it ? Can there 

 be any doubt that we shall save time by ad- 

 hering to the present bill, availing ourselves 

 of so much work as we have done, which it 

 has taken, if I mistake not, a fortnight to ac- 

 complish? Why throw that away, and go 

 back to the beginning, and litigate over again 

 all questions, including questions of order and 

 of form?" 



Mr. Morton said : " I think there cannot be 

 found a worse class of men men more unde- 

 serving of amnesty, than the men who at- 

 tempted to carry the States out of the Union 

 by their votes in those conventions. In some 

 of those conventions the vote was procured by 

 fraud; the members of those conventions 

 voted for ordinances of secession in defiance 

 of the wishes of a majority of the people of 

 the States. Take, for example, the State of 

 Virginia, the State of Tennessee, the State of 

 Alabama, and perhaps others can be named 

 where the ordinance of secession was adopted 

 by the convention in defiance of the will of 



the majority of the people, as expressed at the 

 polls at the time of the election of delegates. 

 The men who were thus guilty of a double 

 crime, and who have upon them all the re- 

 sponsibilities aud the consequences of that 

 rebellion, it is proposed to amnesty by this 

 second bill ; and that is offered as an argument 

 why the former bill should be laid aside, and 

 the second bill taken up ! 



"Mr. President, I hope this proceeding will 

 go on upon the first bill, because, if the second 

 bill should be taken up, there will be at least 

 an effort made in the Senate to put in the 

 third exception that is left out by the second 

 bill, and the amendment adopted upon the 

 first bill will at least be offered, and I believe 

 it will be adopted upon the second bill, and 

 the amendment offered by the Senator from 

 Massachusetts will certainly be renewed upon 

 the second bill, so that nothing will be gained, 

 but much time will be lost, because we shall 

 then have to fight over the very ground we 

 have gone over. For one, I am ready to vote 

 on the amendment of the Senator from Mas- 

 sachusetts. I believe the amendment that I 

 offered as applied to the officers of a church, 

 striking out those words, is accepted by the 

 Senator from Massachusetts, so that my amend- 

 ment is agreed to." 



Mr. Thurman said : " I hope the motion of 

 the Senator from South Carolina will prevail, 

 and I think it will require very little reflection 

 on the part of any Senator to see that, if it 

 does prevail, instead of losing time, we shall 

 gain time. * 



" First, in regard to the amendment that has 

 been adopted on the motion of the Senator 

 from Indiana, I do not think the Senator will 

 see the necessity of offering it again, for there 

 was but one man at whom it was aimed ; no 

 other name was suggested ; no other possible 

 name was spoken of ; it was only in respect to 

 the Senator-elect from North Carolina that the 

 amendment was supposed to have any effect, 

 and he has resigned all claim to that office, so 

 that now, if the amendment were put on the 

 bill, it would be without any office or effect 

 whatever. 



" Then, in regard to the other matter, the 

 amendment of the Senator from Massachu- 

 setts, a point of order was raised. The Sen- 

 ator from New York objects to going into 

 that question of order again. Let the Senator 

 understand precisely how the matter stands. 

 I made the question of order. The Chair had 

 to decide it without argument, for the rule 

 required him to decide it without argument. 

 He did decide it, and ruled that the amend- 

 ment was in order. I appealed. The appeal 

 was debated, and the decision of the Chair 

 was sustained by, I believe, barely a majority 

 of one." 



Mr. Sunmer: "Two." 



Mr. Thurman: "Take two, if you please ; 

 it is a de minimis non curat whether it is one 

 or two ; and there were seventeen absentees. 



