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CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



lioan government. It was intended to pre- 

 serve not the form merely, but the reality'; not 

 the fiction, but the fact of free government, re- 

 publican government, a government elected by 

 the people ; and that, too, not occasionally, 

 and after long interruptions, but at all times. 

 And if Congress ascertains that at any time 

 such government does not exist in a particular 

 State, its duty is imperative to take the proper 

 steps to give such a government to the State. 

 And what laws may Congress pass in such a 

 case ? The Constitution answers this question. 

 ' The Congress shall have power to make all 

 laws which shall be necessary and proper for 

 carrying into execution all the powers vested 

 by this Constitution in the Government of the 

 United States ' one of which is the power to 

 guarantee to every State a republican form or 

 kind of government. 



" Now, in the case before us, what law is 

 necessary and proper to confer upon the State 

 of Louisiana a government chosen by its peo- 

 ple? Evidently a law which shall authorize 

 the people of that State to fill the State offices 

 with persons of their own choice in place of 

 the present usurpers. The constitution of that 

 State is republican, the judges of the Supreme 

 Court are properly in their places, but the 

 political department of the government is held 

 by usurpers. The extent of our legislation in 

 a given case should be measured by the evil to 

 be corrected. In 1865 you found that State 

 without any government whatever, and then 

 you took the proper steps to establish a repub- 

 lican government there. You provided for a 

 convention to frame a State constitution. You 

 provided for an election by the people to fill 

 the State offices and the Legislature. It was 

 necessary at that time to do these things, be- 

 cause there was no government and no part 

 of a government intact in that State. Now it 

 is necessary to do only a part of these things. 

 It is not necessary to frame a constitution, for 

 the State has one adopted by the people. It 

 is not necessary to provide for the election of 

 judges, because the judicial department of that 

 government has not been usurped. But it is 

 necessary to provide for the election of State 

 officers and a Legislature, because those places 

 are held by usurpers, and because the govern- 

 ment is not republican in kind, unless its politi- 

 cal department, its law-making power, is held 

 by persons who have been elected by the peo- 

 ple. I do not see how any one who supported 

 the reconstruction acts of Congress can ques- 

 tion the constitutionality of this bill. As cer- 

 tainly as the whole includes its parts, so cer- 

 tainly, if Congress has the power to set up a 

 whole government, and authorize an election 

 to fill all its offices, it has the power to reclaim 

 one department of the government from usurp- 

 ers and restore it to the people. 



" It is said that this bill is in conflict with 

 the -theory of State rights ; but what right can 

 be dearer to a State than the right of self-gov- 

 ernment ? The people have been deprived of 



this right, and this bill proposes to restore it. 

 The people of every State have a right to de- 

 mand that the United States shall guarantee 

 to them a government, and a whole govern- 

 ment, of their own choosing, and shall rid them 

 of a government which exists only by usurpa- 

 tion. They secured this right by the adoption 

 of the Constitution of the United States, vest- 

 ing the power in us, and thereby casting the 

 duty upon us, to do this thing. And if any 

 State, at any time, is compelled or permitted 

 to submit to a usurping government, it is be- 

 cause we fail to perform the duty imposed upon 

 us. And whether we fail from timidity, or 

 from party prejudice or policy, it is equally a 

 disregard of our duty. 



"If I am right in asserting that it is the' duty 

 of the United States to guarantee a republican 

 government to every State, and right in saying 

 that a government held by usurpers is not a 

 republican government, then it is impossible to 

 deny the constitutionality of this bill ; because, 

 if we have the power to interfere at all, the 

 manner of interference is a matter entirely 

 within the discretion of Congress. The powers 

 conferred upon this Government are sovereign 

 powers ; that is, powers unlimited, save as the 

 Constitution regulates their exercise ; and they 

 override all State constitutions and laws. This 

 power to guarantee a republican government 

 to the States is an absolute and sovereign pow- 

 er, and its exercise wholly unrestricted by the 

 Constitution. Congress is authorized to do a 

 certain thing, and the mode of doing it is com- 

 mitted entirely to the discretion of Congress. 

 We may do in every case just what the case 

 requires ; and in this case it is evident that 

 what this bill proposes is the only remedy, the 

 only way, to give that State for the next two 

 years a government of its own choosing." 



Mr. Ferry, of Connecticut, said: "I do not 

 wish to interrupt the Senator, but I should 

 like to ask a question. Who is to decide 

 whether the officers exercising the governing 

 power in a State have been chosen by the peo- 

 ple of that State?" 



Mr. Carpenter: "Ultimately, no doubt, we 

 must decide it." , 



Mr. Ferry : " Then I understand that in all 

 cases where the officers exercising the govern- 

 ing power of a State have not been elected, or 

 are alleged not to. have been elected by the 

 people of that State, Congress has the right to 

 inquire, decide, intervene, and order a new 

 election ? " 



Mr. Carpenter : "I say undoubtedly, as a 

 question of power. My friend is seeking to 

 force me upon what he thinks the great objec- 

 tion to this power; but let me suggest to him 

 that I am discussing the power itself, and not 

 the propriety of exercising it .in every case ; 

 and that the objection suggested by his ques- 

 tion is more properly directed against the ex- 

 ercise of the power improperly than against its 

 existence. It is undoubtedly true that this 

 power might be abused ; but the same is true 



