CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



22? 



ry power conferred upon the Govern- 

 Tln- principal arguments I have heard 

 seen against the existence of this power are 

 to show, and do conclusively show, 

 it the power, if abused, would lead to dis- 

 JUH results ; and the fear is always expressed 

 hat if the power were conceded it would be 

 abased. Hut why is there more danger of the 

 alum' of this tliuii of many other powers of the 

 iiment ? No one will question, I presume, 

 tlmt, as regards mere power, Congress might 

 y decide tho existing government of Con* 

 ut not to be republican in form, and take 

 steps to supplant it by another. This would 

 urse be a scandalous abuse of the power. 

 Hut does any one fear that it will be so abused ? 

 There is no doubt of the existence of the power, 

 in >r that it was wisely conferred. The safe- 

 triianl iiL r :iinst its abuse lies in the fact that the 

 proceeding might bo taken in regard to any 

 other and every other State; and Senators are 

 not likely to vote proceedings against another 

 State which they would be unwilling to have 

 applied to their own. Everybody, in the dis- 

 cussion of this question, refers to the election 

 in Now York when Griswold was elected, but 

 1 1 oflman was canvassed in as Governor of that 

 State; and it is asked triumphantly, Is it the 

 duty of Congress to interfere in such a case ? 

 I say no ; not because Congress did not possess 

 the power, but because such a case would not 

 justify the exercise of it. There is no parallel 

 between that case and this. 



" The Senator from Connecticut must be 

 aware that extreme cases are not proper tests 

 of general principles. There are cases in which 

 Congress should interfere. There are cases in 

 which it should not. There may be other cases 

 of which it would be difficult to say to which 

 class they belong ; and where Congress should 

 be in doubt, prudence would dictate that no 

 action should be taken." 



Mr. Frelinghuysen : " In New York they had 

 a republican form of government, and that is 

 all the Constitution guarantees." 



Mr. Carpenter: "This suggests again the 

 question I have already discussed in regard to 

 the meaning of the phrase ' republican form.' 

 If you merely mean the form of government 

 fixed by the State constitution " 



Mr. Frelinghuysen : " I was using the words 

 of the Constitution." 



Mr. Carpenter : " The words of the Consti- 

 tution must be construed; and the same word 

 is used in different senses in the Constitution. 

 The constitutional phrase is, the State shall 

 have a ' republican form of government ; ' 

 which I claim means a republican kind of gov- 

 ernment, or a republican government. If the 

 Senator from New Jersey can maintain that 

 while the constitutional structure of the gov- 

 ernment is republican it is immaterial whether 

 it be administered by those who were elected 

 or by those who were defeated by the people, 

 then, in Wisconsin, which has a republican 

 constitution, and where at the lost election the 



Democrats carried their State office and the 

 Leginlat urc, while Itepuhlicanfi enough to have 

 changed the result staid at ln-m- ami did not 

 vote, if Governor Washburn had said to hit 

 successor, 'True, you were elected, but I think 

 I will stay in;' and the members of the old 

 lutnre had said, ' We don't like to tee 

 Democrats in our place; we will hold over,' 

 the government thus administered would have 

 been republican in form, if the Senator from 

 New Jersey is right, and would have satisfied 

 the requirements of the Constitution. If this 

 be so, the States of this Union are the legitimate 

 prey of fraud and violence, and the guarantee 

 of the Constitution is utterly worthless. A 

 construction of that instrument which gives 

 the people of a State over to the usurpation of 

 their rulers, and denies them all remedy, is, to 

 say the least of it, not wisely devised to insure 

 the domestic tranquillity or to secure tn*e bless- 

 ings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." 



Mr. Frelinghuysen : " I think that the Sena- 

 tor from Wisconsin strikes out of the Constitu- 

 tion the word ' form,' and makes the Constitu- 

 tion read that there shall be a republican gov- 

 ernment. I think that word ' form ' lias great 

 significance. I think the two things that were 

 guaranteed are a republican form of govern- 

 ment, and tranquillity, peace, government If 

 the people of a State have a republican form 

 of government, and if the United States main- 

 tain order and peace and tranquillity so that 

 the people can correct their own errors, their 

 own mistakes, I think that then we have done 

 all that we ought to do ; and that for the Uni- 

 ted States to intervene and force an election 

 upon them is taking from them a republican 

 form of government." 



Mr. Carpenter: "The word 'form' is in 

 the Constitution, but the question is, What does 

 it mean ? I think it is synonymous with ' kind ' 

 or ' class,' and the phrase is equivalent to ' re- 

 publican government.' There is no doubt that 

 the objection intended to be secured by this 

 provision was to compel the States to remain 

 republics, and prevent their becoming mon- 

 archies ; to perpetuate government in which 

 the people should enjoy the right of self-gov- 

 ernment by electing their officers, and to forbid 

 governments in which the people should be 

 governed either under the pretext of divine 

 right or by usurpation ; and any construction 

 of the Constitution' under which it fails to 

 accomplish this end must be a misconstruction. 

 Such a construction does injustice to the mem- 

 ory of the fathers; it is trifling with the whole 

 subject to say that so long as usurpation and 

 despotic power observe republican forms in 

 administration they are protected by the Con- 

 stitution." 



Mr. Thurman: "Will the Senator allow me 

 to interrupt him for a moment ? " 



Mr. Carpenter : "Certainly." 



Mr. Thurman : " I wish to make this sug- 

 gestion : There is nothing in the Constitution 

 of the United States that requires that a State 



